Washington Capitals Return Holtby to Hershey Bears

The Washington Capitals are sending Braden Holtby back to the Hershey Bears. The goalkeeper had been an emergency addition to the Capitals after regular goalkeeper Tomas Vokoun had been injured. Vokoun recovered quicker than expected and Holtby is now able to return to the Bears. Though it may be disappointing to Holtby, the goalkeeper is a key part of the team and his return is likely a relief to fans. Unfortunately, it is looking increasingly unlikely that another Bears player, Keith Aucoin, will be returning. He recently played in his 10th game with the Capitals, which means that if he plays in one more game, he will need to go through the waiver process before he could be sent back down to the Bears. Although the Capitals allowed the Bears to have Aucoin on their Clear Day roster, it seems unlikely that the Capitals would risk waiving the player.

Since the Hershey Bears got Holtby back, the team sent Philipp Grubauer back to the South Carolina Stingrays. Grubauer, who is only 20 years old, has had a great season with the Stingrays so far this year. His impressive record means that fans of the Bears, and potentially the Capitals, should be seeing more of him in the next few years.

Though the Hershey Bears had been on a five game losing streak before the team returned to the Giant Center for two games, the Bears have now won two in a row. Up next for the team is a trip to St. John's, Newfoundland, to play the St. John's IceCaps. The team has never played against the IceCaps at their home venue before so this will be a new experience for the team. The IceCaps will likely be a formidable opponent, so the Bears will need to be at the top of their game to continue their winning streak.

The Bears did not make any surprising changes to the roster for Clear Day. Clear Day was March 6, 2012, and it is the final day that AHL teams can make changes to the roster, excluding emergency changes. Though the team had hoped to add a last minute deal, the deal fell through minutes before the deadline.

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