The Hershey Bears had a big surprise waiting for them at Harrisburg International Airport after their 5-2 victory in Game 2 of the 2024 Calder Cup Finals.
The New England Patriots’ charter plane took the Bears to the Coachella Valley for Games 3, 4 and 5 at Acrisure Arena, and it was suitable for the 12-time Calder Cup champions. The Boeing 767 featured the New England Patriots wordmark on the side; the red, white and blue NFL team colors; and six Lombardi Trophies painted on the tail.
Many of the players seemed impressed and excited about their trip. Garrett Roe, who was unable to play in Game 2 due to injury, took a selfie as he tackled. Massachusetts native Mike Vecchione did the ROAR for the cameras as he walked up the stairs.
“Air Belichick”, Ethen Frank he wrote on his Instagram story. “Is that good?”
So how did they end up with the NFL team’s plane, operated by Omni Air International?
“When we won Game 7, the plan to travel to Palm Desert came together quickly,” a Bears representative told RMNB. “Charter aircraft availability may be limited, but the entire Hershey Entertainment and Resorts team is ‘All In’ and thanks to some quick logistical work, we were able to find an aircraft the size we needed. “We were fortunate that the plane was the New England Patriots plane, which will give our team a first-class experience on the club’s trip to California.”
The second game ended at 7:41 pm. Three hours and 13 minutes later, the Bears took off at 10:54 p.m. and are expected to land at Palm Springs International at 12:31 a.m. Pacific Time after completing a 4-hour, 37-minute flight.
While the Bears head to California tonight, the Coachella Valley Firebirds will spend the night in Hershey before flying home Tuesday morning.
Heading to the West Coast in style 😎 pic.twitter.com/9lV42bv3mT
– Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) June 17, 2024
The final night in central Pennsylvania caps off two full weeks of the Firebirds not being home. After playing Games 3, 4 and 5 in Milwaukee, where they became Western Conference champions, the Firebirds immediately flew to Hershey to acclimate to the time zone. Milwaukee is on Central Time, just one hour behind Eastern Time.
“I’m going to need my GPS to get home,” Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma joked Sunday night. “It’s just playoff hockey. They are long stretches of road. We had finished a series and had to come here, so it was a long two weeks. But it wasn’t really like that: we were eager for this to start here on the road. And being on the road for two weeks, almost two weeks, is just part of it. We are ready for it now. “We are ready to go home, we have three in our barn and we have to make hay.”
