ORLANDO — The Orlando Solar Bears came back to the Amway Center for the last five home games after facing a difficult road trip with six loses, new players and an arrest.
“Its been an interesting couple of weeks to put it mildly,” said Alisa King, long time Solar Bears fan. As for the last few games at home “I hope they will finish strong, with the new lineups I think that will be a challenge, but its a great start so far.”
The Solar Bears won their first game back against the Greenville Road Warriors, 4-0.
Losing all six games on the road trip the Solar Bears came back with a seven game losing streak and the chances of making the playoffs gone.
“I wouldn’t call it a bad road trip,” said Rob Mignardi. “Obviously we lost six games but we were playing with just two or three guys that have been here all year.”
While on the road the Solar Bears picked up six new players, forwards Brett Hartung, Ryan Berard, Nick McParland and Kyle Beattie, as well as defenseman Jason Cohen and goalie Josh Blum.
“Its fun to watch young kids play. As an organization, I think the owner has done a great job enticing players to come here,” said coach Drake Berehowsky. “We just want to keep building and as an organization, whether you are in the playoffs or out of the playoffs, you want to get better and keep improving every game.”
The team got mathematically knocked out of playoff contention while on the road.
“Every game we go and we play hard, we’ve had lots of ups and downs this year,” said Berehowsky. “We’ve had a lot of call-ups, which as an organization we are really proud of, I don’t think any other organization has had as many call-ups as we’ve had.”
The road trip also brought some controversy after the release of goalie Zoltan Hetenyi following his arrest early Sunday morning in Gwinnett County, Ga.
The former Solar Bear was charged with three counts of sexual battery and one count of disorderly conduct after grabbing a server’s buttocks twice as well as her breast during a visit to the Arena Tavern in Duluth, Ga.
Hetenyi was released from jail Monday night after posting bail, set at $7,400.
“It is unfortunate what happened with Zoltan but I’m glad that they cut ties with him,” said King. “Especially since they are trying to promote a family friendly type of event.”
As for the rest of the season and next year both fans and the coach seemed optimistic.
“Hopefully we will regroup and do better next year,” said King. The team “really did great considering that its a new start for them. I would love to see them hit the playoffs” next year.
The team is focussed on the last few home games even without the possibility of making the playoffs.
“The guys have battled hard and that is what I’m proud of, I would never say what if. They gave it all all year and they have improved as a team all year,” said Berehowsky. “We will keep improving and getting better and keep growing as an organization.”
