The Modesty of the Hershey Bears
Friday · Jan 7 · 2011 | 8:05 PM PSTWait, that's not right. I meant "immodesty."
Bears sport Moose patch / photo by Winnipeg Free PressGary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press wrote today about how the Hershey Bears are flaunting their recent championship victories over the Manitoba Moose and Texas Stars with patches on their jerseys, reminiscent of notches on a bedpost.
Warning: The rest of this post features opinions you may or may not agree with. Proceed cautiously.
In his article, Lawless thrashes the arrogance of an organization that — despite a rich and classy hockey history — would resort to such childish behavior. I can understand why he'd see it that way. I'm kind of appalled, myself, to be honest.
On the other hand, who says teams have to be gracious in victory? Being classy is overrated. A hockey championship is a long, hard-fought physical/emotional/mental battle. That's just how it is. It's not easy, to say the least. Why should you keep your excitement to yourself when you do win? And on the other side of the coin, who says losing teams have to keep their chins up?
You have bad losers — like the Pittsburgh Penguins refusing to shake hands with the Washington Capitals after their Winter Classic defeat. And you have bad winners — like Penguins fans, who chanted Steven Stamkos' name after an embarrassing fall during a penalty shot amidst an 8-1 Pens victory. Was that necessary? No, but there's nothing wrong with not being classy. This is a sport played by grown men. It's not a debutante ball.
But I seem to have gotten a little off track. I'm not saying it's a classy move for the Bears to brag about their championships by wearing the logos of their victims. I'm just saying it doesn't matter if it's classy. The only thing getting hurt by a patch is feelings. Time to be an adult.
Still... there's a certain level of pettiness that goes with this kind of bravado. If you're going to take the low road, be prepared for the steep drop in respect that follows. And that's what this story is really about. It's hard to have respect for a team that doesn't know how to win well.
That's where I stand. I have no problem with what the Bears are doing, but I certainly wouldn't do it. I'm curious to see how the rest of you feel. Is being classy important to hockey? Do you feel that it in some ways separates our sport from others? Or should we all just get a thicker skin?
Reader Comments (51)
Nice jabs at the Pens. Looks like someone is still a little bitter about that 8-1 loss ;)
I like how you keep using the Pens as Bad Losers AND Bad Winners. :)
When I first heard of this story, I was a little surprised but I could see it becoming a tradition in the AHL. I think we all should get a thicker skin and enjoy the trash-talking. That's hockey for yah.
Remember Dion Phaueuf and Sean Avery? That was old time hockey right there. Hockey shouldn't be toned down.
If one more person mentions the hand shake at the Winter Classic I am going to go through the roof. Who cares if it was done in Chicago and Boston. It wasn't done the first year in Buffalo, I didn't hear any Penguins fans complaining that the Sabres didn't shake their hands. It's a regular season game. No need for a handshake.
As for the Hershey Bears, isn't there some sort of trademark infringement here.. They are sporting the other teams logo and I am sure it is without their permission.
There's a difference in an organization and its players being classy and a fan base being classy. What makes hockey so great (among other things) is that after 7 games of 60 minutes of toe-to-toe, hard-fought, hard-hitting, fast-paced action, the players can shake hands. Part of what makes the hockey experience so great is the dedication and rowdiness of the fans (the Nashville Predators fans have a 2-minute, extensive chant at the opposing goalie after every goal they score; Philadelphia fans will rip you apart if you wear a Rangers jersey there). But we don't need teams putting their prey's logos on their jerseys. A patch (or 2) will do just fine. It sends the same exact message to have a "Conference Championship" patch and a "League Championship" patch on the shoulders, and the teams they are aimed at will get the message, but in a classy way.
LOL Alex, yes, indeed I am bitter. But it's necessarily not because of the Penguins or their fans. I was unhappy with the way my team played. Or didn't.
I just think it's embarrassing on the part of the bears, you're in the AHL. this is something I expect to see in junk leagues looking to boost some interest in the team. that said I'm sure Atlanta and Phoenix will be doing it next week haha
Livng 15 mins from Hershey and being a big time fan since the mid 80s I can say one word about the Bears....class. All the way especially the last 5 season with three cups including the last two in a row. It will never happen again here and most defintely not this year. We lost all of our talent to other teams and to the Caps.
Now onto the jersey when i first read it I couldn't believe they would do that. I believe in Hockey gods and the Bears are going to have to pay this back at some point. Best to left alone for sure, i'm sure Winnipeg is still stinging from us beating them two years ago.
I do love that the do a special jersey once a year after they win, they are awesome. Should have left the losing team off of it for sure. Not cool.
Go Bears!
First of all, they are not wearing the jerseys all season. IIRC, the Bears wore them maybe twice, and then auctioned them off for charity.
Second or all, if Manitoba or Texas wanted to keep the Bears from rubbing it in that they won the Calder, those teams should have won it themselves, but they didn't.
Looking at the Bears website it look like they have two championship jerseys these logos appear on. If you look at the regular home and road ones they don't have them. I personally have no issue with they championship jersey itself, my home team did one for the first game of this season. But having the Moose and Stars logo is a little over kill for me.
JB's right!! I also believe in the hockey gods, and karma. The hockey gods always come back to get you!! lol
DONBRANDT has a good point regarding the legality of this, it would be interesting to know the situation there. If I were top brass for the Moose im sure I wouldnt be happy.
I dont have a big problem with it really, but it seems like a cocky thing to do, rubbing salt in the wound, I think class is important in hockey, so I wouldnt do it.
Haha, right there with you in your bitterness, Chris. Just returned home from a 6-0 Ducks beat down on my beloved Jackets; embarassing. At least those Anaheim fans aren't so harsh. Pittsburgh is rarely known for the "traditional sportsmanship". Remember, it was Crosby that broke the "untouchability" of the Prince of Wales trophy in '09. Quite frankly, I like the diversity in how teams view the game. Some teams embrace sportsmanship, and others simply don't. You could even say the preservation of jerseys is one way in which classiness is embraced. Look at the Wings, the Habs, heck, even the Yankees get league-wide honors for their respected identities.
I'm with Drew. Have a "Champions" patch or something like that is good enough boasting. Putting an opponent's logo on your sweater is not only classless, but just dumb. How many times do you want to answer the question, "Dude, why is there a moose on your Bears sweater?".
Class does separate hockey from other sports. The other day my family was at our rink and a visiting high school team was showing up for their game and every player was wearing slacks and a tie and I realized that I've never seen a visiting hockey team of any level dressed in casual clothes and that's one of the things I like the best about hockey.
That is such a horrible move on Hershey's part. When you lose say little, when you win say less. Teams should have class. And I think a lot of class is leaving hockey(just look at the last two stanley cup winners...) Or even in other sports, I noticed that when the lakers won, the team was chanting "Boston sucks, Boston sucks!" which is incredibly low and clearly you dont deserve the win if thats how your goibg to behave. The sport is played by grown men, so they should act their age.
I've always like the Bears' jerseys. This is going too far though. They should've just put a couple Calder Cup trophies on their shoulders.
"Pittsburgh is rarely known for the "traditional sportsmanship". Remember, it was Crosby that broke the "untouchability" of the Prince of Wales trophy in '09."
That has nothing to do with sportsmanship, it's a superstition. The conference champs (East AND West) usually don't touch the trophy because they want the Stanley Cup and don't want to 'jinx' themselves. Crosby didn't touch it in '08 and the Penguins lost in the Finals, so I guess he thought he'd switch it up to see if their luck would change. But please, don't talk about that as if it's a matter of sportsmanship or class, because that's not what it's about.
They did shake hands at the Winter Classic in Buffalo, but it's not like it's the Stanley Cup finals or anything. Not a big deal in my opinion. Hershey Bears are just another example of an arrogant organization filled with arrogant players, no team should EVER do anything that low. Not appropriate at all.
There's a right way to go about your business and a wrong way. The Bears disrespecting their opponent like that is the wrong way. Even just using a Calder Cup trophy patch is arrogant and karma has a way of evening things out. Why would you want to give the Moose any extra motivation to beat you?
Is this like those rednecks in big trucks that have balls hanging from the bumper? What'd I miss? ;-)
I think we are overlooking some middle ground between "they're just arrogant" and "we're just sensitive". It is possible to not agree with something without having hurt feelings. The Bears can do this all they want, and it is definitely kind of a jerk move, but that doesn't mean that anyone that disagrees is thin-skinned. Much like the kids from the Jersey Shore, they are probably jerks, but I just can't really care about that.
Here is my real issue though: from a coaching and player standpoint, all eyes should be on 2011. You had a great couple years fellas, and a couple off-seasons to celebrate, but now is the time to win another, and until the cup is awarded you have nothing over Manitoba or Texas. It will be really embarrassing for Hershey to lose this year, especially if in the process Manitoba or Texas walks over them. You know this on the Moose's and Star's minds and bulletin boards.
Hockey has the most class out of any of the 4 major sports in the united states. The tradition of shaking of the hands after each playoff series, the coaches and players wearing suits/ dress clothes to games, and the fact that you never or hardly hear of any "off ice incidents" dealing with NHL players and some sort of crime. I have to disagree and say that this is classless and that the AHL should step in and make them take off the patches as well as fine the team and or take some points away. However im not sayin that a winning team or a player can not have a little fun. The way price celebrates after shootouts is fine with me, if you make a big save to win a game you should be able to celebrate and show some emotion, just the way a forward would if he scored a game winning OT goal. Hockey is the greatest sport on earth not just because of the sport itself but because of the level of respect and class between teams. If we loose that class we will be just like any other sport where its a big joke and everythings about making attention to oneself and being obnoxious. Please god lets not become like the NBA for christ sake.
The Hershey Bears response might be worth mentioning in this article:
1. The jerseys were worn one time. At a home game. In October, two months ago. On a special night celebrating their back-to-back Calder Cup victories. Then auctioned off for a cancer charity. (the article referenced makes it sound like they're always wearing them, including on the road, which is completely false).
2. Hershey GM Doug Yingst contacted both organizations asking if it was okay to use the patches, and they were told "yes."
After hearing that this is a specialty jersey, I find it a little less irritating. But it is still somewhat arrogant. Like someone else mentioned, how would they be allowed to do this without getting prior approval from the respective teams? I can't help but feel like the other teams must have agreed to this is some fashion.
I don't think the Capitals were necessarily standing all lined up at ceneter ice waiting for the Penguins to shake hands. (bad winners? I don't think so) I think it was 2 teams that don't like each other and mutually decided after a hard fought game not to shake hands. Bad losers would be Philly fans chanting "CROSBY SUCKS" during the game after he already has a goal and a few points lol.
Ha our Pens announcer tried to say that Stamkos lost an edge and fell, when he clearly lost the puck and fell after reaching over for it. It was funny when it happened, but it does happen and i'm glad he was blasted by espn.
(I'm a Penguins fan if nobody could tell, lol)
@Bossy22: No, the Calder Cup trophies are in the chest logo.
I think you all are crazy, maybe the other teams need to
up the ante and play better hockey.
your lord,
cypre$$ god.
Ok, first off, born and raised in Winnipeg, still proud to be here, and damn proud to be a Moose fan.
That being said, Hershey has always been a very professional and very classy organization. But SOMEONE messed up BAD on this stunt. Hershey and Manitoba are the two best run AHL franchises and both of them like to model themselves like the NHL. However, not ONE NHL team would ever stoop to this level. It's pathetic, it's classless, and the league needs to step in and tell the teams owners to tone it down.
The AHL has an agreement between teams allowing use of each others logos, mainly for promotional use, you know, tickets, banners, etc. But this is taking things way too far. Maybe the hockey gods have already stepped in, with their best scorer for the last 2 years running to OKC and Hershey finding themselves 4th in their division for a change.
OK, let me get this straight: The Bears, as part of their celebration of back-to-back Cups, created a special sweater that they planned to (and did) wear once at home and then auction off as a fundraiser for cancer. The the-one time, for-charity sweaters celebrating their back-to-back Cup wins included the logos of the teams that they defeated in the finals. And you folks are having a cow over it? Jeez -- get a life.
For some reason I feel compelled to weigh in here because of the attacks on Pittsburgh and its fans. I feel that the cheers for Stamkos are expected considering how the played developed and Stamkos reputation as a big time goal scorer. If you go into any other NHL city, you will here fans chanting at opposing teams. It's how hockey and any other sport are.
As for the Penguins not shaking hands with their rival in the Winter Classic, I don't understand why they would. It is a long standing rivalry and aside from the fact that the game was in front of 68,000 people, it was a regular season game. You don't shake hands after a regular season game. It's not poor sportsmanship.
Now for my next point, the Bears wearing these patches are a sign of an arrogant organization. The Capitals are affiliated with the Bears and it has been stated before about how the Caps carry themselves with arrogance like they have won several Stanley Cups. This has trickled its way down to the minor leagues. Just imagine what the unis in Washington would look like if they just made it to the conference finals. Showing up your opponents does nothing but show how immature you truly are. If you win, celebrate, don't rub it in.
Now let's talk about classy organizations, the Red Wings. They never show up their opponent. They win and never gloat about. They hang banners and move on. The Canadiens have won the most stanley cup championships, but you don't see shoulder patches celebrating how many times they beat the Rangers, Bruins, Maple Leafs, or anybody else. The logo on the front of the sweater is the symbol of success, just like the interlocking NY on pinstripes stand for the dominance of the Yankees.
"Pittsburgh is rarely known for the "traditional sportsmanship". Remember, it was Crosby that broke the "untouchability" of the Prince of Wales trophy in '09."
"untouchability" REALLY!! Says who, show me in the NHL rule book that you're not allowd to touch the Prince of Wales or Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, it's a player/team superstition. Besides, Mario Lemiex himself touched the P.o.W trophy in 1991 and 1992 (Pens won Back to Back Cups those years)
All of you who think this is classless are ignorant. These jerseys (1 white, 1 maroon) were for 1 home game each at the start of the year and then AUCTIONED FOR CHARITY.
I work in Hershey and know many members of the organization INCLUDING their GM. There was no foul intent intended and the writer of this OPINION article just has his panties in a bunch.
The reason the logos were put on the jerseys were just to show who they beat, NOT to rub their noses in it or to show how great the Bears are.
Get over yourselves, this is hockey... it's a real man's sport, if you don't have thick enough skin to deal with it, WATCH FIGURE SKATING
@IAN K
Still licking your wounds from last night? The Bears division is tough seeing as they have MORE POINTS than the Moose and would be leading your pathetic division.
actually, if you watched the winter classic, the caps started to celebrate towards the end like they just won a game worth more than 2 points.
caps and pens hate each other. im sure if it wasnt for the sake of tradition they wouldnt shake hands after playoff matches.
people need to stop being so sensitive. oh man, pens fans made fun of stamkos. once. after he fell. ooooh. impossible to watch one pens road game without hearing crosby sucks, no matter how good he is doing that night. same goes for most other teams stars when they visit rival cities. it happens. deal with it. or go watch another sport.
really, if im a member of a team that got beat in the playoffs, and i meat this team again and see they are sporting my logo as a trophy, i'll get pissed and maybe play better, not sit in a corner and bitch about it.
Another 'controversy' about the Pens making a handshake line? Do the people who dislike this team have nothing else to go after them for? The only complaints Ive heard about this have come from fans, considering the scrum that took place with under a second left in the game, and the fact that Washington didnt look to go out of their way to form a line of their own, neither team cares.
As for jobbing Stamkos planting himself on a penalty shot, this cant be serious criticism. What would have been the proper reaction? Total silence, or all pens fans signing and mailing him a sympathy card?
I honestly don't see anything wrong with the patches. It's no different than putting the losing team's logo on your championship ring. The Bears earned their victories and therefore reserve the right to gloat how they wish.
@ BEARSFAN85,
I know the Bears will beat the Moose in most games, it doesn't really make a difference. We won tonight, you did last night, seems pretty level. A Calder Cup series in 6, including game 1 being the best hockey game I've ever seen live. I often have nothing but respect for the Bears organization, I just wish they'd chosen a slightly less gaudy way of celebrating a well-earned Calder Cup.
I'm all for a little gamesmanship here, if the teams gave the thumbs up, then fine, no harm no foul. However, I really didn't like when the Cleveland Indians for many years in the late 90s wore a patch celebrating their AL Central titles, however, this works both ways. It can actually fuel the teams involved, I mean, they won, they have some right to gloat. It will simply make whoever does beat them feel much more vindicated when they do.
This is some fine gamesmanship, and not some, as I heard in an unrelated topic on ESPN's Around The Horn earlier this week, substandard hustlin'.
There is an old saying that "if you score a goal, act like you've been there before" This can be applied to more than just scoring goals. Winning a championship in hockey is a very daunting task with the way the playoffs are set up, but its kind of funny to me that they need to remind themselves how great they were "in the past" by dawning these patches. most of the guys wearing the patch probably weren't even on the team anyways. A dumb idea, but like you said, there is no real problem with it.
It should be pointed out the Moose organization--as far as I'm aware--has not gone out of its way to complain about this, either to the media or to the league. It was a sports columnist who asked a few players about it, and they responded, so this isn't a sore loser dwelling on a perceived slight.
I am a Winnipegger but I also could care less about the Moose; why would I care about the farm team of a future divisional rival of our eventual new NHL team? But those patches are unbelievably petty, and reveal a deep arrogance within that organization. This wasn't one player trash talking. This wasn't a bunch of players pulling an Ovechkin-style excessive celebration. This was team management making the decision to produce and wear a specialty jersey. Those kinds of decisions aren't made by one guy on the equipment staff, the entire front office was likely consulted, and that apparently no one in that organization looked at it and said "wait a minute, is this beneath us?" is what's really disappointing
I think a certain bearsfan here needs to calm down a little bit. 90% of this site is written on the authors opinion about what he thinks of hockey jerseys. Then he lets us give our opinions in the comment section. When the Flyers played the Blackhawks in 2011 does Chicago sew Phillys logo on their shoulder? No. I'm all for letting everyone know you won the championship (signs, banners, being announced the defending calder cup champs) but don't go after the team you beat in the finals directly. Obviously the Moose are a good team so show some respect. Id rather Hershey wera a patch that reads "WE WON THE CALDER CUP AND YOU DIDN'T"
If I were the owners of the the Moose, I'd just threaten to sue Hershey for copyright infringement for using my logo without permission.
ESPECIALLY if the patch was on the jerseys sold to the general public, in which I'd demand a portion of their profits from merchandising as well.
Actually, this is just arrogant, just their parent club, the Washington Capitals. Here's my solution as to what should be done about it: The Bears forfeit their next game against Manitoba and Texas. Seriously, no hockey team would do this. Take them off or go to the NBA.
I don't see how any of you see this is arrogant or petty by any means. The jerseys were auctioned off after one game's use for charity. The logos of the different teams were used to distinguish between the two different teams. The logos were both used with permission from their respective clubs, and neither of their teams have a single complaint about it. So, why do you?
Secondly, you can't attack the players on this. This has no reflection on the players and who they are as people, or athletes. The players have nothing to do with the creation of the jersey, they have nothing to do with when the jersey is worn, and they have no say in whether or not they wear the jersey. The jersey is hung up in their stall, they put it on, and go play hockey. How many other terrible "commemorative" or "specialty" jerseys have we seen that made you want to say, "why would a player ever wear that?" This site is littered with them. In the case of the Connecticut Whale, it's a question one could pose every night. The players have nothing to do with the jerseys. If you want to attack people who make bade jersey decisions, attack management. The guys in the jerseys are there to play hockey.
Everytime I go to watch the Pens play at the St. Pete Times Forum I hear the crowd chant "Crosby sucks!" Over and over and your going to say that Penguins fans aren't classy? You used to hear all the time when a goalie is performing poorly the crowd would mockingly chant his name. That's not bad class, That's Hockey. At least we don't chant something the we heard the Flyers chant and think that its cool.
HSTEBBS, while I haven't read every single comment, from what I have read, I get the impression most are referring to the organization, not the players. As for the Connecticut Whale, I firmly believe that whole debacle is an elaborate scheme set in motion by MSG to shame Wade Redden into walking away from the remaining years on his contract. And I'm only half joking on that.
That's messed up and childish. It's something I would expect the Anaheim "Mighty" Ducks to do.
Wow, you Penguins fans all need to calm down. You're acting as if someone has killed your first born.
My opinion on this (being a huge Bears fan since like 1993...I was like 7):
This is ice hockey, not ballet. Last time I checked, ice hockey was a physical, competitive sport. Besides, it's not like they ONLY had the Moose and Stars logos on their shoulders. Their other shoulder had their own logo on it, as it merely to say "These two teams were the ones playing for the Calder Cup". Besides, how do any of you know that the Bears DIDN'T get permission to use their logos on their shoulders? They probably did get permission, unless being in a LEAGUE allows you to use the other teams logos for things. You all sound like a bunch of lawyers trying to get them in trouble. Did the Bears beat your team to win the Calder Cup or something?
If putting their logo on the shoulder of TWO (and only two, the only wore two specialty jerseys each year...one home, one away...they were auctioned off afterwards) jerseys is a crime, then I guess it's a crime to put their logos on their website to display who the Bears next opponents are. Or I guess it was a crime to sell merchandise at the final game played in the Hershey Park Arena with Phantoms logos on it.
Sure, while they probably shouldn't have done it, the teams they played should have won it to prevent the Bears from wearing those jerseys at all.
All in all, the Bears wore these jerseys at home, and I'm pretty sure they didn't wear them against the teams they beat to win the Cup both years. It was something the Bears did for THEIR fans, not to rub it in the other team's faces. If they wanted to do that, they would have waited until they played the Moose and Stars and wore their jerseys then. But they didn't so it doesn't really matter does it. Along with the fact that this is OLD news...the jerseys were worn the first two home games last season, and the, I believe, second and third home games this year (since they had their 75th anniversary jerseys opening night). So, they already wore them, nothing will change now because you don't like it.
If the other teams don't like it, they will make sure the Bears don't win the cup (they are already trying to do that to prevent them from winning 3 straight). Besides, having won the most Calder Cups in AHL history, I'm pretty sure the Bears have earned the right to gloat.
I'm all for hockey injecting more life and personality into the culture of the sport. In today's sports culture driven by personalities and soundbites, an area where hockey is lagging far too behind the other 3 major sports, usually anything to stir the pot is a good thing. But putting another team's logo on your jersey? That's too much. To further your bedpost analogy, imagine if instead of scratching a notch, it's more akin to wearing a t-shirt with the girl's face silk-screened on the front. It's kinda funny, but in poor taste nonetheless.
In mys opinion, the way to go is how the Islanders handled it: Using the stripes on the shoulder to represent each championship. To me, it's more symbolic of their own team's achievements, not a display of the people required to be stepped on to get there. Plus, and perhaps most importantly on this site, the stripes freaking match their team's color scheme! The Moose on Hershey's jersey is almost as out of place as the blue Alberta flag on the Flames jerseys or baby-blue on the Panthers third.
For all of those still going off about how "classless" the Bears are, please see this article
Also, you do realize the uniforms were for charity right? And were done out of respect for the teams.
Also, Bears President/GM GOT PERMISSION FROM BOTH TEXAS AND MANITOBA to use the logos.
its pretty douche bag-ish, but pretty funny at the same time