Prospect Info: Hershey Bears/South Carolina Stingrays 2023-24 Seasons | Hershey 12x (and Defending) Champions Edition

[Strawberry Fields]

This is a really cool story about winding sports following.

I grew up in DC so have always been a Caps fan. I landed in Raleight from 1991 to 1998 and had season tickets to the Raleigh Ice Caps (ECHL). That was insane times. My season tickets were 225 per seat for the entire season. Then i was an inaugural Hurricanes season ticket holder. The first two years they played in Greensboro so first year I commuted to games from Raleigh. The second year I commuted from Charlotte. Then they moved into RBC and I could only go occasionally. Moved back to DC area in 2001 and have been full hog on Caps since.

For me, the Bears weren't affiliated with the Caps when my parents first started taking my brother and me to games; it was the last year of the Colorado affiliation. The Phantoms won the Cup that year on the backs of Carter, Richards, etc. and they showed some of those games on CSN Philly, so I followed that run a bit, and when the NHL came back the next season, I watched and followed the Flyers since we got the channel their games were on. Of course, that wound up also being the first year of the Bears-Caps affiliation and it's still one of my favorites to look back on. So Bears-Phantoms games were kind of weird for me for a while, lol.

I don't necessarily concern myself with what the Caps do with their roster at the NHL level (trades, free agency, etc) unless it directly impacts the Bears, but I do follow their draft picks and minor league signings with interest each year. And of course, it's always good to see the former Bears succeed.