If the Hershey Bears have one thing going for them in the Calder Cup Finals, it's resiliency.
As Bears winger Andrew Gordon told Russian Machine Never Dies, even when the team falls behind, the players don't lose hope.
After allowing the first goal of the game (another unfortunate bounce off of poor Karl Alzner’s face), we remained calm and composed. It was as if the goal had never even happened. To me, this is a sign that we were ready for battle. Playoff games are often won in the third period or later, so allowing a goal in the first didn’t intimidate us. We have come from behind in every game we’ve won in this series, as well as many times in prior series, so it did not seem insurmountable.
The Bears' overtime victory in Game 5 proved that. On Monday night, the Hershey Bears will go for their second straight Calder Cup, and 11th all time. A win in Game 6 on Monday, or in Game 7 on Wednesday if necessary, would also make the Bears the first team in AHL history to go down 2-0 on home ice and still come back to win the final series.
So if the Bears fall behind early tomorrow night, don't worry. Falling behind early actually suits them quite well.