23
August
2024
|
08:01 AM
America/New_York

Travels of the Calder Cup with the 2024 Hershey Bears

See where Hershey Bears players have celebrated their day with the Calder Cup this summer

It’s been almost two months since Matt Strome’s goal 66 seconds into overtime of Game 6 of the 2024 Calder Cup Finals gave the Hershey Bears their 13th championship, giving Hershey its second of back-to-back postseason titles and extending its record-setting postseason dominance of the American Hockey League.

A spirited celebration at GIANT Center soon followed, and the Calder Cup briefly made its way around town at the various favored hotspots of the players before the Bears departed for their summer homes.

But that does not mean the celebrations have concluded.

Like the NHL’s Stanley Cup, the Bears make every effort to provide their players and hockey operations staff with their “Day with the Cup” in order to celebrate their hard-earned achievements with family and friends.

Here’s a quick look at the Cup’s travels across North America thus far:

The Travels Of The Calder Cup

The Cup made its first stop in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, as Finals rookie hero Nicky Leivermann took the trophy to his home state of Minnesota.

The Cup traveled to Roseau, Minnesota, home of Bears alternate captain Aaron Ness.

From there, it was on to Michigan, where assistant coach Nick Bootland brought the Cup to several locations.

Next up was a swing through the Windy City, where Dmitry Osipov makes his offseason home, enjoying some foods of his native Russia.

And what trip through Chicago would be complete without a visit to a famous Chicago landmark?

The Cup then made its way south to Texas, where head coach Todd Nelson was able to celebrate with a large group. In the past year, Nelson has twice become a grandfather, and the babies naturally made their way into the Cup’s sterling silver bowl.

After that, it was on to British Columbia, where defenseman Jake Massie was joined by some actual real live bears!

The Cup remained in Vancouver, where forward Henrik Rybinski took a more subdued approach.

Defenseman Vinny Iorio, meanwhile, made sure that his favorite sandwich cookie was readily available.

To close out the Cup’s stay on the West Coast, goaltender Clay Stevenson was able to embody the quote: “Life’s a garden - dig it!”

With under two months to go until Opening Night for the 2024-25 Hershey Bears season, the Calder Cup still has plenty of frequent flier miles to log in its journeys amongst players and staff for the 2024 Calder Cup champions. Be sure to continue to follow the Bears on social media to keep up with where the Cup has been!