Former Boston Bruin defenseman Johnny Crawford (1950-52) coached the Bears to another Division title in 1951-52 with more All Star netminding by "Red" Henry before player-coach Murray Henderson (1952-56) -- another former Bruin blueliner -- took over the Hershey bench for the next four seasons. And another key player arrived in 1952 in 25-year old right winger Dunc Fisher, a former New York Ranger and Boston Bruin, who would earn All Start berths as a Bear in five consecutive seasons (1953-58) and collect 561 points (260-301) in his eight seasons in Hershey.
Although the Bears would not win a second Calder Cup title until the club's twentieth season, 1957-58, Hershey's teams of the early and mid-1950's always provided their fans with hard-hitting, entertaining hockey. Those clubs also placed their share of players on the AHL's All Star Teams of the era including goalie "Red" Henry, defensemen Rollie McLenahan and player/coach Henderson, and forwards Fisher, Lorne Ferguson and George "Red" Sullivan. In 1953-54, Sullivan -- who also played ten years in the NHL with Boston, Chicago and New York and later coached both the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals -- became the second Bear to win a scoring title. He was also the first Bear to be named the league's MVP as he collected 119 points (30-89) in just 69 games to set an AHL scoring record which would stand for almost thirty years!
Although never an All Star, another player to briefly skate in Hershey during this era is today over forty years later one of the game's most visible-and controversial-figures, Don "Grapes" Cherry. Then a wide eyed 20-year old defenseman from Kingston, Ontario, Cherry made his professional debut with the Bears during the 1954-55 season and also played for the club in 1956-57. Now as a TV personality and longtime commentator on Hockey Night in Canada, this former Bear is currently one of the best-known figures in Canada -- in any field.
The single event with the most long term significance in the history of the Bears-before or since-also occurred as the Bears' approached their Twentieth Anniversary. Following the 1955-56 season, the powerhouse Pittsburgh Hornets -- winners of two Calder Cups over the previous five seasons -- folded because their deteriorating arena, the ancient Duquesne Gardens, was torn down. With so much talent suddenly available, Sollenberger and Blinco acted quickly to acquire the services of seven of the Hornets' best players including four-time All Star goalie Gil Mayer, all-time scoring great Willie Marshall, and the AHL's only ever five-time First Team All Star defenseman -- Frank S. Mathers.
Mayer moved on after three seasons in Hershey to Cleveland and later Providence. Marshall, who by the end of his record twenty-year AHL career was (and still is) the league's all-time leader in games played (1,205), goals (523), assists (852) and total points (1,375), would lead Hershey in scoring in each of his seven seasons as a Bear (1956-63). And Frank Mathers, of course, would remain active with the Bears for an unprecedented thirty-five seasons as everything from player/coach to team President. (As if these seven were not enough, also added that same year was tough-as-nails defenseman Larry "The Rock" Zeidel who would appear in 517 games for the Bears between 1956 and 1963).
Curiously, the then 31 -year old Mathers had considerable misgivings at first about coming to Hershey after eight years in Pittsburgh, but John Sollenberger could be extraordinarily "persuasive" when he wanted you. And so Frank Mathers -- after a brief but intense period of Sollenbergerian courting -- soon relented and agreed to become player/coach of the Bears in 1956-57. Of course it did not take long for Mathers to be won over by Hershey (or Hershey by him), and over the next three-and-a-half decades he led the club on the ice, from behind the bench, and in the front office to six Calder Cup titles and in excess of 1,500 victories. All these remarkable achievements also earned Frank Mathers well deserved personal honors, too, culminating with the Lester Patrick Award in 1987 for his "contributions to hockey in the United States," and, in 1992, his game's ultimate individual honor-election to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Mathers' era in Hershey started slowly with a fourth-place finish in 1956-57, but the next two seasons saw his Bears capture back-to-back Calder Cup titles.
With Bobby Perreault and Gil Mayer in goal, the league's leading scorer Willie Marshall (whose 104 points bested the AHL's number two marksman, linemate Dunc Fisher, by sixteen points), and Mathers himself earning All Star honors on defense for the sixth time in seven years, the Bears won both the regular season and play-off championships in 1957-58.
Hershey's road to the Cup in 1958-59, however, was much more difficult as the Bears ended the regular season with just a .500 record (32-32-6) and were the fourth and final team to qualify for post-season play. But after taking a full seven games to defeat the Cleveland Barons in the first round, the Bears upset the regular season champion Buffalo Bisons in the finals, four-games-to-two, to win their third Calder Cup title.
While that win was certainly significant, an event vastly more important to the long term success of the club also happened in 1958 when the Bears acquired the services of a 23-year old center named Mike Nykoluk who had split the previous two seasons between the Toronto Maple Leafs and their AHL club in Rochester. When Nykoluk retired fourteen years later, he was the AHL's fourth all time leader in points with 881 on 195 goals and 686 assists and his 972 games as a Bear are 219 more than Arnie Kullman's second overall 753 in a Hershey uniform. (Nykoluk has since been passed on the AHL's all time scoring list by Jody Gage and Tim Tookey.)
Upon Nykoluk's retirement in 1972 to become assistant coach to Fred Shero with the Philadelphia Flyers, the "Big Bear's" familiar number "8" became the first jersey ever to be retired by the club. After helping Shero guide the Flyers to Stanley Cup titles in 1974 and 1975, Nykoluk eventually went on to be head coach of his old NHL club, the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 1990, however, he returned to Hershey to see his name and number finally raised to its rightful place high over the same Arena ice surface on which he scored -- and set up -- so many goals during his fourteen seasons as a Bear.
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