If ever there was a game in the 2009-10 regular season that could be considered a measuring stick for the Monsters, it is Wednesday’s matchup against the Hershey Bears. In hosting the Bears in a 10:45 a.m. school day game, the Monsters take on the AHL’s best team. With a 43-11-0-2 mark to go with 88 points, the Bears have six more wins than any other team in the league and are eight points ahead of the second place Hamilton Bulldogs in the overall AHL standings.

Much of Hershey’s success this season can be attributed to the team’s offense and special teams play. The Bears power play and penalty kill are both first in the entire AHL, as the power play clicks at a 21.8 percent pace and the penalty kill conversion rate is currently at an 89.2 percent success rate.

Helped by the power play, the Bears average 4.3 goals per game, which is the most in the AHL and almost a goal more than the Chicago Wolves, who have the second-best goals-per-game average, netting 3.4 tallies each contest. Hershey’s offensive firepower is fueled largely by the dynamic duo of Keith Aucoin and Alexandre Giroux, who are one and two in the AHL scoring race as Aucoin, with 75 points (28G, 47A), leads the league, while Giroux is right behind his teammate, challenging for the scoring title with 72 points (29G, 43A).

Already put off by the early start, Monsters fans will also be a bit disillusioned when they see goalie Jason Bacashihua Wednesday. Coming in from Chocolate Town with the visiting Hershey Bears, Bacashihua spent the first two seasons of the Monsters franchise history with the club. Nicknamed “Cash,” the Michigan native posted an 18-32-5 mark in 57 games with Lake Erie from 2007-09.

After Wednesday’s game with Hershey – which will be the second and final of the 2009-10 regular season between the teams – the Monsters play three home games in just as many days this weekend when they host the Syracuse Crunch on Friday and the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday and Sunday.

Wednesday's game and every game this season will be broadcast on the Monsters flagship radio station, ESPN 850 WKNR.  Listen Live on ESPN 850 WKNR | Watch here via AHL Live