HERSHEY, Pa. — Editor's note: The above video is from June 22 Calder Cup on-ice celebration.
The Hershey Bears' full 2023-24 regular season schedule is now available.
The puck drops on the AHL season in just 93 days on Friday, October 13. The Bears begin their defense of the Calder Cup one day later on Saturday, October 14 in Hershey.
The championship banner will be raised that night before a 7 p.m. puck drop against the Belleville Senators.
A two-game opening weekend homestand concludes with a 5 p.m. game versus the Cleveland Monsters.
One of the big standouts on this season's schedule is four games against a Western Conference opponent. The Iowa Wild are slated to travel to GIANT Center for back-to-back games over Thanksgiving weekend.
The Bears and Wild will play Saturday, November 25 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, November 26 at 3 p.m.
Hershey will then travel to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines for back-to-back games on Friday, April 5 and Saturday, April 6.
These are Hershey's first games against a Western Conference team since the 2018-19 season.
The Chocolate and White will then head north of the border in February.
The Canadian road trip kicks off Saturday, February 17 in Toronto and wraps up on Feb. 21 in Laval, Québec.
Hershey will face Belleville on Monday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. The Presidents' Day matinee is one of two weekday afternoon games on this year's schedule.
The Bears will be in Bridgeport, CT for a 3 p.m. puck drop against the Islanders on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday, January 15.
Hershey will face its Atlantic Division rivals Lehigh Valley and Wilkes-Barre Scranton the most with 12 games versus each team.
The Bears will see Charlotte eight times. Bridgeport and Providence will play Hershey six times each.
The Bears will see Hartford and Springfield 4 times each and will face every team in the North Division at least twice.
Hershey will play Cleveland four times.
Hershey's will face it's busiest month in December with 13 games.
October and April will mark the slowest months with eight games a piece.
Hershey has four sets of three games in three days. They'll happen in October, December, March, and April.
The Bears will experience their longest road trip of the season three separate times, as Hershey will spend stretches of four games on the road from Oct. 20-25, Nov. 29-Dec. 8, and March 3-15.
The longest homestand is five games during the stretch of December 9-17.
Hershey will play three preseason games in October. They'll face the Penguins in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 10:30 a.m. and will play in Hershey on Friday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m.
The Bears will finish their preseason play on Sunday, Oct. 8 in Lehigh Valley against the Phantoms.
A promotion schedule and FOX43 television schedule for the 2023-24 season will be announced at a later date.