Photo: Team Shred Photography
The Hershey Bears continued adding veteran depth to the roster on Thursday with the signing of defenseman Ed Wittchow. On Tuesday the Bears announced that former Penn State Nittany Lion Casey Bailey was signed to a Professional Tryout (PTO) Agreement and yesterday, the Bears announced the signing of forward Matthew Weis to an American Hockey League contract for the 2019-20 season. Today’s signing brings the Bears current camp roster total to 35. 18 forwards, 13 defensemen and four goaltenders.
FROM BEARS MEDIA RELEASE
Wittchow, 26, returns to North America after playing the 2018-19 season with KooKoo Kouvola in Finland. Wittchow was drafted in the 6th round, 154 overall by the Florida Panthers in the 2011 NHL Draft.
The rugged, 6-4 defenseman spent parts of two season with the Springfield Thunderbirds from 2016-2018 and posted 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) and 138 penalty minutes in 97 games. The Burnsville, Minnesota native spent four seasons playing collegiate at the University of Wisconsin, and served as the Badgers captain for the 2015-16 campaign.
Wittchow played one USHL season in 2011-12 with the Waterloo Blackhawks, and was named to the USHL All-Rookie Team after tallying 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 60 games.
MORE ON WITTCHOW
Wittchow has a fair bit of “junkyard dog” in him:
Happy August, Jon!
NovaCapsFans continues to deliver top-notch Caps’ analysis
Can there be any doubt but that the Caps’ and Bears’ brass have reacted to the latest imperatives of NHL Playoff success? 6-7 years ago (LA Kings) it was fielding a “heavy” team. 2-4 years ago (mostly PIT) it was “team speed.” I’m not sure what the “thing” was in 2018 with the Washington Capitals bringing home the Stanley Cup. But in 2019 it was definitely “hitting” and “physicality.” The St. Louis Blues took it to Marchand’s Bruins, and the meaner team won.
So the Caps and Bears have loaded up on all sorts of bone-rattling animals, from Gudas and Hathaway to Bergdoerfer, Casey Bailey and Wittchow. Every one of them specializes in snarl / grit / hitting. I like it! I’m still mortally embarrassed the the mighty Washington Capitals succumbed to cheap shots and lucky bounces from the (cough, barf, gag) Justin Williams CAR Hurricanes. It was disgraceful.
GM MacLellan and GM Brian Helmer “get it.” This is good. If you can’t hit and combat successfully with every possible NHL opponent, all the rest if it is meaningless
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