Start of a Rivalry

Hershey Bears v Philadelphia Phantoms, November 8, 1996

The Spectrum, Section Q Row 21

The 1996-97 campaign brought Hershey both a new affiliation with the just crowned Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche -- and rekindled an old on-ice rivalry with Philadelphia of a kind not seen since the first year 1938-39 Bears had fought it out tooth and nail with their first arch foes, the Philadelphia Ramblers. With the vast majority of the first year Phantoms' roster made up of former Bears, the intensity of play generated in each of the seventeen regular season and playoff games eventually contested between the two clubs in 1996-97 reached increasingly higher levels as the season progressed. By January every meeting between the two clubs in either building was invariably played to SRO crowds. And with Bill Barber returning to Philadelphia to guide the Phantoms, ironically the Bears were taken over by Bob Hartley who in both 1994 as assistant coach and 1995 as head coach had helped lead his former club, the Cornwall Aces, to playoff series victories over the Bears.

As had also been the case in Hershey's first AHL season in 1938-39, only Philadelphia finished 1996-97 with more points than Hershey-and also (as six decades earlier) these two rivals dominated the league's All Star Teams. Bears' netminder Jean-François Labbe took both the Cunningham (MVP) and Holmes (top goalie) awards to go along with his First All Star Team berth while right wing Blair Atcheynum, Hershey's leading scorer (42-45-87), also collected First Team honors. (Three former Bears -- Darren Rumble, Vaclav Prospal and Patrik Juhlin -- represented the Phantoms on the First Team.) Hershey defenseman Pascal Trepanier rounded out the Bears' all stars with a Second Team berth.