For the 12th time in their storied history, the Hershey Bears are the Calder Cup champions 2023.
The Bears extended their league record and captured their first championship since 2010 with a 3-2 overtime victory over Coachella Valley Firebirds at Acrisure Arena, winning the Calder Cup Finals 2023 series four games to three.
Bears forward Mike Vecchione became the first player in AHL history to score a sudden-death overtime goal in Game 7 of a Calder Cup Finals, clinching the championship at 16:19 of OT.
Top Washington Capitals prospects Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre scored in regulation for Hershey, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit to become the first road team to win a game in the series.
Ryker Evans and Max McCormick scored for the Firebirds, who fell one goal short of a championship in their inaugural season.
Goaltender Hunter Shepard won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs.
Shepard started all 20 games for Hershey during the postseason and posted a record of 14-6 with a 2.27 goals-against average, a .914 save percentage and three shutouts, capped by a 45-save performance in Game 7.
More: AHL Calder Cup Finals Schedule, Dates, Scores, Hershey Bear 2023 Winner.
More: Hershey wins 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs Full Bracket, Schedule, Scores.
- The Bears’ 2023 championship marks their fourth Calder Cup since becoming the top development affiliate of the Capitals in 2005.
- Under head coach Todd Nelson, who won his second Calder Cup as a head coach and fourth overall.
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