Bears, Frank Set to Take on Checkers

Hershey is the marquee franchise of the American Hockey League. Of all the professional hockey franchises in North America, only the fabled Original Six NHL franchises have been operating from their current cities and in the same circuit continuously for longer period of time than the Bears. The Hershey franchise has been in operation continuously in the same league since 1938-39, when the loop was known as the International-American Hockey League. It was shortened to its current (AHL) name in 1940.

Over more than 80 seasons of hockey in Hershey, the Bears have hoisted the Calder Cup on 11 occasions, more than any other franchise in the League's history. The first of those titles came in 1947, and the last three were earned during the current partnership with the Capitals, a run that began with a Calder Cup championship under the tutelage of Bruce Boudreau in 2005-06, the first season of current ongoing relationship between the Caps and the Bears.
Among the players who have won at least one Calder Cup in Hershey and have also played for Washington over the last two decades are: Eric Fehr, Mike Green, Tomas Fleischmann, Boyd Gordon, Dave Steckel, Brooks Laich, Jeff Schultz, Mathieu Perreault, Karl Alzner, Jay Beagle, John Carlson, Michal Neuvirth and Braden Holtby. In addition to the three Calder Cup titles in the last two decades, the Bears have advanced to the Cup Final series on two other occasions (2006-07 and 2015-16) over that span.
Since the Caps and Bears renewed affiliation acquaintance in 2005-06, the Bears' .623 points percentage is a shade better than the Capitals' mark of .607 over the same span, a figure that ranks third in the NHL over that time frame. While Washington has missed the Stanley Cup playoffs three times over that stretch, Hershey has missed just twice.
This season, with Todd Nelson in his first season behind the Bears' bench, Hershey rolled up a 44-19-5-4 record (.674), the team's best points percentage - excluding the pandemic-abbreviated '20-21 season - since the 2009-10 Bears won a franchise record 60 games (60-17-0-3) and a second consecutive Calder Cup title.
On Friday in Charlotte, the Bears head into the Calder Cup playoffs when they take on the Checkers in the opener of a best-of-five Atlantic Division semifinal series. Game 2 is in Charlotte on Saturday, and the series shifts to Hershey for Game 3 on Wednesday. Should Games 4 and/or 5 be necessary, they would also be played at Hershey's Giant Center on May 4 and May 7, respectively.
Hershey's roster features several Washington-drafted prospects and a handful of veteran players with varying degrees of NHL experience, but one of its most intriguing players is rookie winger Ethen Frank, who led the Bears - and all AHL freshmen - with 30 goals in his first AHL season. The second-leading goal scorer in the AHL was Coachella Valley's Tye Kartye, who marked his NHL debut - in the Stanley Cup playoffs, no less - with his first goal in Seattle's thrilling 3-2 Game 5 victory over Colorado on Wednesday night.
Following two full seasons with the USHL Lincoln Stars, Frank attended Western Michigan University, where ex-NHL head coach Andy Murray coached for 10 seasons after his lengthy NHL coaching career concluded. Beginning in 1988-89, Murray was an assistant coach for six seasons in the NHL and he was later a head coach for 10 seasons with Los Angeles and St. Louis before moving on to Kalamazoo where he coached the Broncos for 10 seasons, including the first four of Frank's five seasons there.
In addition to Murray, ex-Caps winger Todd Krygier was an assistant coach at Western Michigan for Frank's first two seasons with the Broncos. Having the opportunity to be coached by a couple of longtime NHLers was beneficial to Frank's development.
"I think it's drastic, not only in my case but in everybody that plays hockey," says Frank. "I think you want that experience, and they know what it takes and what they're looking for at the next level, and they know what you need to work on to improve your game to take that next step. I think it's good because they know the details that we can't really see, and they see the game differently than we do and from a different perspective. And so it means a lot, and it helps out a lot, too."
A native of Papillon, Neb., Frank was able to sign on for a fifth season at Western Michigan because of the pandemic - the NCAA didn't count that '20-21 season toward any players' four-year eligibility clock - and he wisely took the option. It turned out to be the right move; Frank led the Broncos with 13 goals - in just 24 games - in his fourth season with the program, and he doubled that total in his fifth and final season in Kalamazoo, scoring 26 goals in 38 games in 2021-22, a total that led the entire NCAA.
"I think it helped a lot," he says, of that fifth collegiate campaign. "You never want to rush into that next step until you're ready for it. And with the opportunities that were there with COVID and with everything going on, the next step wasn't really a good option for me to take, and so I was really thankful that they gave us the opportunity to come back for another year and pay for the scholarship for one more year.
"I think it helped a lot. It helped me mature more, helped me become a bigger leader with the group, helped me do different things within the group, and not only the group but myself too. I developed a lot that year."
He did, and that development in turn led to Frank signing a one-year pro deal with the Bears in 2022-23.
"It was nothing really crazy or anything like that," says Frank of the process of turning pro. "I just got a call from my agent one day and he was like, 'Hey, I think the Hershey and Washington organizations are interested in you. They've got some of their scouts and guys that really like you and like the way you play. They just want to see you work on X, Y and Z and they're going to offer you a contract. We're going to look through it and check out the details and if it works, we'll take it and if not, we'll look elsewhere.'
"It ended up working out, and I am really thankful I got a couple of games in at the end of the year last year, just to meet people, new faces, and kind of get accustomed to it a little bit. I'm really thankful it worked out that way."
Frank was able to get in a five-game trial with Hershey at the tail end of the '21-22 season, scoring his first pro goal in the process. His first pro goal came on the power play against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, on April 15, 2022.
"Getting that first one, it meant a lot that they had a lot of confidence in me and were just telling to shoot it, and I honestly thought I missed it," he recalls. "I was really happy to see everybody celebrate it, so I could throw my hands up, too."
Frank made the most of his one-year Hershey deal, scoring the most goals by a Bears' rookie in over three decades, making the All-Star team - where he won the fastest skater competition - and being just the fifth player in Hershey's long and storied history to earn postseason All-Rookie Team honors in the AHL. On March 2, he signed a one-year contract with Washington for the upcoming 2023-24 season.
Frank, who turned 25 in February, is an intriguing prospect because he features elements - speed and scoring ability - that were lacking in Washington this season. He has yet to play in his first NHL exhibition game, but he has put himself on the map with his performance on the ice these last two seasons at two different levels. In between that dominant final season with the Broncos and his eye-opening freshman campaign in Hershey, Frank had a good training camp showing with Washington last fall.
"I think it's priceless," he said of the NHL training camp experience last fall. "I don't think you could ever ask for anything more than what they're giving you. The experience has been great since I've been here - almost three weeks now I think - and I've learned a ton every day. I'm realizing what they expect from the systems and knowing where to be and when to be there and things like that. And all the older guys on the varsity squad are great human beings, and when you have any questions and you ask to talk to them, they're great humans. And that helps you feel more comfortable and adapt to everything when everybody is nice, and they help you to feel at home and make you feel like you're one of them."
Frank will look to make the unique jump of three levels in as many seasons when Caps' training camp opens in September. But first, he'll aim to help the Bears in a quest for a 12th Calder Cup title.
"I didn't really think when I started playing ice hockey that it would go anywhere near where it has gone," he admits. "But once I started getting into college and a couple of my friends got drafted in the USHL, I kind of realized that I was close to that next step. Putting in that extra couple of hours of work a week makes a big difference. And if it didn't happen, I was majoring in sports management and starting my master's, and I'd still want to stick around the game and be an agent or a scout or something like that just to stay involved in the game. Hockey is pretty much the only think I've ever known, and I'm in love with it."