Goalie competition fueling Atlantic Division-leading Hershey Bears through record-setting season

HERSHEY — There's a white board in the Hershey Bears' locker room just outside coach Spencer Carbery's office that has the AHL Atlantic Division standings written on it.

From the start of the season in September through the end of November, the Bears weren't too high on that list. They had a record of 10-10-2-3, and they were allowing 2.88 goals per game.

Since the calendar flipped to December, the Bears have been moving up that white board. They set a franchise record with back-to-back months of at least 10 wins in December and January, and have kept the momentum running into February. Now the Bears (31-16-3-3) are in second in the Atlantic Division with 68 points, after falling just under the Hartford Wolf Pack (29-13-5-5), who have 68 points but one fewer game played, on Saturday in a 4-2 loss to the Binghamton Devils.

Oh, and the goals allowed since then? It's down to 2.19, with goalies Vitek Vanecek and Pheonix Copley each rising to the top 10 in the AHL in goals against average with 27 and 26 games played, respectively, this season.

The two started off the season alternating starts as Carbery has done in the past when he has a pair of top-quality goalies on his team, but about 20 games into the year, he said he changed his system up and allowed each net-minder to earn more starts than the other. Copley said that the competition element drove each other out on the ice.

"It helps us both out having that competition. In December, that's kind of when it was heating up and [Vanecek] was playing extremely well, so I knew I had to play really well when I got my opportunities so I could stay in there," Copley said.

Before the season began, it seemed possible that either one might be in the NHL. Copley was the backup to Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby during the team's 2018 Stanley Cup Championship run and resumed the role for the 2019-20 season. He appeared in 27 games with 24 starts and posted a 16-7-3 record with a 2.90 goals against average and .905 save percentage. But due to his salary, Copley was sent down to Hershey so Washington could clear up the cap space.

Then it appeared Vanecek could be the backup for the 2019-20 season with a preseason battle with Ilya Samsonov, but Samsonov ultimately was given the spot, and Vanecek returned to Hershey for his fourth full season with the Bears.

In 23 games during Samsonov's rookie season, he has started 19 games and posted a 16-4-1 record with a 2.38 goals against average and a .917 save percentage. He also has one shutout.

"I thought they were a little disappointed obviously, and you wouldn't expect anything less because they want to play in the best league in the world, and they believe in themselves and they have a valid argument," Carbery said. "Eventually you get over that and you go, 'OK, well what am I doing today to get better and get myself back there and give myself an opportunity to play in the NHL.'

"I can't say enough positive things about that they've handled it and the way they've conducted their business, the way they've tried to work to get better, try to help us win games and be complete team guys."

The goalies each started the season slowly, but as the competition between the two improved, so too did the players. In the month of December, it was Vanecek who dominated the playing time, starting seven games to Copley's three and allowing just 1.71 goals per game. The strong month propelled Vanecek to be named as a replacement on the AHL All-Star team, marking his second straight All-Star game appearance. He was named the game's MVP in February.

Copley predominantly started in January, minding the net for eight games to Vanecek's six and allowing two goals per game.

Carbery said he takes a number of different factors into determining who will start for him in net on any given day.

"Volume through the previous night, we'll look at opponent matchup a little bit, we'll base it on workload, what's coming up," Carbery said. "There's a lot of different factors, but the main factor's obviously the level of play and how they played and if we feel like that guy deserves to play that next game."

As the season has gone on, not only have the two goalies found one another competing for playing time, but each has learned from one another.

Copley said he often sees aspects of Vanecek's game that he tries to implement into his own, while Vanecek said Copley's experience in the NHL has helped him learn more about the game.

"He was already in the NHL, so we've got experience," Vanecek said. "It's nice watching him on the ice, what he's doing."

There's no guarantee either will be back on Hershey's roster at the start of next season. Washington Capitals' goalie Braden Holtby become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and while Samsonov, 22, seems all but assured to return to Washington's roster after a strong rookie campaign, that would still leave one spot open for another goalie on the Caps.

Both goalies are signed to long-term deals. The Capitals signed Vanececk, 24, to a three-year deal before the start of the 2019-20 season with the final two years of the deal being one-way contracts, while Copley, 28, signed a three-year extension that will keep him in the Washington organization through the 2021-22 season.

For now, however, neither are focusing on what could await them in the following year. Sure, viewing the season as a tryout for the Capitals could be extra incentive, but it would take away from the current season's goal: winning a championship for Hershey and adding another banner to the decorated rafters of the Giant Center.

And besides, that white board still has plenty more eraser marks left to be put on it between now and the end of the season.

"I don't worry about this right now because playing for Hershey right now and then just trying to win the games, and then I will see what happens next season," Vanecek said. "But I need to keep going, get good games and then try to get to the NHL for sure."

-- Follow Ed Sutelan on Twitter, @EdwardSutelan

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