Hershey Bears

I have been a longtime fan of Hershey Bears hockey. I am NOT SO MUCH a fan of the behavior of some fans who think they can and do get away with disregarding the rules and disrespecting other patrons. A visiting team should be treated as guests in the GC even though they are opponents. A recent incident illustrated this point. A season ticket holder was being obnoxious and rude to the opposing team. Instead of removing him, he was rewarded by being escorted to the best seat in the house — a private box seat! The poor security guard who tried to eject this obnoxious fan was booed and not supported by other security personnel. He should have been ejected from the building and given a refund on his tickets and asked NOT to return. Hershey is TOO AFRAID of certain people and are afraid of enforcing the «rules». If someone consistently disobeys the rules, they shouod lose the right to attend.

I HATE the Hershey bears. 100%. Through and through. I hate their «chocolate» nonsense, their B-​E-​A-​R-​S cheers and their 11 Calder Cups.
I’m a fan of the WB/​S Penguins. The Bears are our arch southern rival. Why the 5 stars? Simply put Bears games are fun, even more so when the Bears lose and the Pens win. Here’s why:
1. The Bears always seem to have a competitive team. I think being independently owned really helps. Seeing the Pens beat the Bears always puts a smile on my face or is like a punch in the gut when they lose. Drama always unfolds at these games.
2. There are always LOTS of passionate Bears fans nearby. Sometimes you end up sitting next to real old timers who have sat through DECADES of Bears hockey. It’s always a treat to talk hockey, talk about the NHL or AHL, and just geek out with like minded individuals. That’s great. Sometimes you end up sitting next to drunken rednecks though. I think this is where some of the complaints come from. But I think it’s a blast to play the heel and have a little fun. All part of the rivalry.
3. Also the Giant center is excellent. My Giant center review:
«As much as it pains me to admit, the Giant Center is a palace for AHL Hockey. See I’m a Penguins fan from up North and the Bears are our arch southern rival. The Bears’ arena is excellent in all respects. It’s easy to navigate and find your seat. The sight lines are superb. The tickets are fairly priced. For 26 bucks you can sit in the lower bowl on the blue line. In most NHL arena’s these are ~200 $ seats. The food isn’t cheap, but it certainly isn’t grossly overpriced like you’d find at most other arenas. Plus they have some really unique Central Penna treats. Uncle Andy’s Pretzels are my favorite. For ~8 bucks you can get a pretzel, topping, and a lemonade. That seems like a real steal for arena food. My only complaint is they have dogs on the concourse for some SPCA type charity. I don’t think dogs belong in the arena under any circumstance.
So even if your team is getting clobbered by the Bears, put on your favorite visiting team’s sweater, come to the Giant Center and embrace the heel role of making friends with the locals. I’m certain you’ll have fun»

Tonight was the 3^rd & last Hershey bears game I will ever attend. The 1^st game we sat near an obnoxious fan who was sitting behind the visitor’s bench. He yelled & screamed insults at the opposing team the ENTIRE game. He had no interest in watching the game, he was just interested in getting drunk & trying to think of any insult he could, the guy must not have been shown enough attention as a child & was obviously picked on growing up & now wants to get even with the world. A security guard asked him to stop several times, but the guy laughed & hurled insults at him.
I thought this was an isolated incident, so we went back the 2^nd time. Unbelievably, this guy was there again & acted the same exact way, he had season tickets! Everyone around us felt very uncomfortable & we were told by other season ticket holders that this was an every game thing for this guy. I complained to security that night, again, and they said their hands were tied because the Giant Center management refuses to do anything about it or enforce their own «fan conduct» policies. So I contacted Hershey Bears management, as well as Giant Center management, the following day. They were both very familiar with this fan saying they’ve had numerous complaints about him. They said they would talk to him & try to tone him down, but said as long as he doesn’t break any laws, there’s not much they can do! Really? This guy has to commit a crime before banning him from the arena? How about enforcing your own policy on fan conduct which «strictly» prohibits this kind of behavior? So I was dumb enough to go back for the 3^rd time, and there he was drinking beer after beer and getting louder & more obnoxious the more he drank! Never again, I’ll never go to the giant center ever again for any kind of event!
The following is the Hershey Bears fan conduct policy which they do NOT enforce:
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES — FAN GUIDELINES
Guests must refrain from conduct that is inconsistent with the fun and family atmosphere at Giant Center. Such conduct includes but is not limited to: interfering with other guests’ ability to enjoy an event; using foul or abusive language or gestures; appearing to be in a drunken or diminished capacity; failure to produce a ticket on request or sitting in a seat which is not ticketed; possession of unauthorized items; and interfering with an event. Violators are subject to ejection and possible arrest.

I recently took a youth group to see a Hershey Bears event, in which they played against the Falcons. I will list the pros and cons to this event, so you can understand why I’m only giving them a 2 out of 5
Pro:
The Hershey Bears played an excellent game of hockey. This was a lot of fun to watch, the team work was well played and audience participation with the team was for the most part good. The stadium was clean, and seating was great, you could see the rink from every angle. Concessions were also good, although overpriced (as all stadium concessions are).
Con:
No one is monitoring the consumption of alcoholic beverages. I don’t care what they say on their website about refusing service. By the end of the game, the group behind ours was so slobbering drunk that they were becoming dangerous. In contrary opinion to others who call this a family oriented place, I would disagree. Beware, if you’re taking little ones or a youth group, as the advertisement came across my desk, there is potential here for this to be a dangerous environment.

Now this is my kind of fun! Whether you take along a group of friends or go with the entire family everyone is sure to have a great time!

B-​E-​A-​R-​S, Bears, Bears, Bears, Woooo!
Family oriented place for wholesome fun! Hershey Bears are currently the AHL affiliate team of Washington Capitals, and some Bears players will go back and forth to the Capitals as they need players. Games average about 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Giant Center is a new, Very clean, well lit arena. There is not a bad seat in the building. The Bear’s fans really get into the game cheering with the occasional comment for the opposing team, so it’s LOUD!
Staff is helpful and friendly, I have never seen an unhappy employee (There aren’t many places I can say this about.)
Tickets are around 13 $ — 23 $, parking 7 $, beer ~5 $, meals ~7 $. Lots of season ticket packages available!

The team is a perenial Calder Cup contender, the players are a mix of top-​notch AHL veterans brought in by the Bears front office and exciting prospects drafted by the Washington Capitals, the Giant Center is nicer than a lot of NHL arenas, the building is regularly sold out, the food is good, and lower bowl seats are $ 24.50 (save $ 4 if you have a Giant/​Martins Bonus Card). How can you beat that?

What a class organization! Congratulations to them as they won their 11^th Calder Cup championship. I hope the Caps keep them as their AHL affiliate for many, many years.
If you’re looking for a hockey team that knows how to win a cup (unlike certain other local teams *cough* 2009 — 2010 Washington Capitals *cough*), this is the team.
From what I’ve seen, a cup looks really shiny and pretty and exciting. I wouldn’t know about them… I’ve never seen one close up here in the area. I’ve just heard rumors of them. Well… there was that one time I saw it in person about 13 years ago… but it was given away to people from Detroit and it happened so quickly that I’m not sure that it actually really existed. I’m convinced a hockey cup is mythical, much like unicorns, leprachauns, and Bret Michaels’ real hair.