The town of Hershey is located on the ancestral home of the Susquehannock people.

Sure, fall is football season. But in our household, fall is hockey season. 

Pennsylvania is a hotbed for hockey with two NHL teams and four minor league affiliates. We’re fortunate to live within two hours of all of them except the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

And while the Reading Royals are our hometown team, we make at least one trip a year to Hershey to see PA’s original minor league hockey team, the Hershey Bears. 

The Bears have been playing hockey for nearly 100 years. The team was founded by Milton Hershey in 1932 and originally named the B’ars (with a bear as a mascot), but the name was deemed an advertisement, and thus against league rules, so they officially became the Bears in 1936. 

Since 2003, Hershey’s home ice has been Giant Center, a 10,000-seat arena at the far end of the parking lot it shares with HersheyPark. Parking is the biggest pain point when going to a game, not because it’s difficult but because it’s $35 just to get on the parking lot. (Save more than $10 by purchasing a pre-paid parking pass online). 

Passing through the front gates, the Giant Center is your typical mid-size arena. The concourse wraps around the seating bowl with souvenir stands, food vendors, and sponsors set up around the arena. 

My son, Jakob, is always on the lookout for pizza at sports events so that was our first stop. I splurged and got him a $10 refillable souvenir cup which held enough pink lemonade to last the game and more. 

I decided to stop at the Nathan’s Famous stand, not for hot dogs, but for chicken fingers and fries. The fries weren’t quite as crispy as they should have been, but it was still a decent meal for less than $25 with a drink. 

The Hershey Bears play in the AHL, a step below the National Hockey League where the team has been affiliated with the Washington Capitals for the last two decades. Those 20 years have also been some of the most successful in franchise history; the Bears have won five titles in that time, including back-to-back championships in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons. 

Overall, the team had 13 Calder Cup trophies for winning the AHL title. The team’s high level of play gives the games a major league feel, especially when the 10,500 seats are all filled. 

That’s not to say that it doesn’t have the charm of minor league sports because it does. Intermission entertainment routinely includes games from local youth leagues as the small skaters take the ice in between periods.

And one of the hallmarks of Bears games is the blimp – a miniature airship that flies around and drops coupons and vouchers over the crowd while the Zamboni cleans the ice. 

Then there’s Coco, the club’s lovable mascot. While Coco will make his way into the stands and bang his drum during the game, he also entertains on the ice as he skates, shoots and scores smiles in between periods. 

Arrive early and you and your family can visit with the hockey-playing bear at Coco’s Corner. Coco is available for autographs and photos for the first 20-30 minutes after the gates open. 

If you visit on Mascot Mania night, which we did in 2023, you’ll find Coco joined by mascots from other pro sports teams, local schools, and businesses. Coco and friends played their own game during intermission with Reese (yes, the peanut butter cups) guarding one of the nets while Cylo from the Lancaster Stormers tended the other goal. 

But with a track record of success, the highlight of a Bears game is usually what happens during the 60 minutes of play. Since their 2023-2024 championship season, the Bears have won 65% of their games so there’s a good chance you’ll be chanting “B-E-A-R-S BEARS! BEARS! BEARS!” after a couple goals. 

While there are two levels to the seating bowl, there’s not really a bad seat in the house. The 200-level is still close enough to offer a great view of the action. But there’s nothing like sitting down close where you can feel every hit and every puck that ricochets against the glass. 

Tickets start at around $20 for the upper bowl, but you can usually find discounts and deals. I took advantage of a special offer for October home games: buy a game ticket for $30 and get a free HersheyPark pass to use through the end of the Christmas season. 

But there are also games where the prices are higher. Passes for HersheyParks’s summer season are the most popular giveaway, and on those nights, prices are doubled. It’s even higher for the ever-popular Teddy Bear Toss night where fans are encouraged to bring stuffed animals to throw on the ice with the plushies being donated to charities throughout the region. 

If you’re a hockey fan, and tickets are within your price range, a Hershey Bears game is definitely worth the price of admission.

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