by Jesse Liebman | AHL On The Beat
For an injured hockey player, the press box can feel like a prison. It can be a place of exile, where snow feels amazingly close but frustratingly out of reach.
But with the Hershey Bears winger Matt Stromethe view from the top of the Giant Center has become a new kind of classroom – and a temporary stage.
Sidelined since late November with a lower-body injury, Hershey’s 2024 Calder Cup champion has found a way to stay in the game, trading in his skates, stick and helmet for a headset as a guest color analyst and the Bears’ senior manager of hockey communications and broadcasting. Zack Fischwho serves as the play-by-play voice of the club.
For fans watching second-period broadcasts of Hershey’s home games over the past few weeks on the Bears Radio Network, AHLTV on FloHockey and telecasts on WPMT-FOX 43, Strome’s voice offered something that regular broadcasts couldn’t: a quick, visual insight into a player who was fighting in the corners a month ago.
A Different Kind of Switch
After a hot start to the 2024-25 campaign in which the defenseman collected 10 points in 15 games, Strome suffered a physical injury on Nov. 22 in Cleveland, facing a recovery timeline that would keep him out of the lineup for several weeks. Strome found inspiration in his older brother Ryanforward with the Anaheim Ducks.
“Maybe a month or so ago, Ryan was out with an injury and he continued to broadcast Anaheim in the second half. So one day I saw Fisch and kind of joked about wanting to try it, and it went well the first time and then we kept doing it for the next few weeks,” Strome recounted. “It was a lot of fun – I’d never done that before, and it was something I always wanted to do. The guys at the top helped me a lot and asked me questions and let me run with it.”
It’s been a natural fit for Strome since he first threw on the headset during the middle frame of Hershey’s Dec. 7 game against Lehigh Valley. Strome — already known among Bear Nation as a competitor and an accessible fan favorite — cemented his place in Chocolatetown history when he scored the overtime goal that clinched the Bears’ 13th Calder Cup title in 2024, and now the team’s fans have been hearing the hockey IQ behind the heroes.
“It’s definitely different. You can see the whole ice and where the play is going to go next, so when you look up it looks easy,” Strome said of his recent performance on the mic. “When you’re down, it’s all about second-guessing, to be able to call a few plays from the top, I think it will help when I come back.”
Chemistry on the Airwaves
Pairing an active player with no broadcasting experience with a play-by-play veteran can sometimes be a gamble, but the chemistry between Strome and Fisch was seamless. Fisch — a veteran of his 10th season as the team’s on-air voice — sets the table, providing a who-who-where, while Strome adds more context, including why and how.
“Any broadcaster will tell you that preparation is king,” Fisch said. “Stromer not only brought a wealth of knowledge about the current team to the radio, but he also did his homework. He was able to provide information about what the team is trying to achieve, what he knows about the opposition, the x’s and o’s of the game, and he gave the fans a good peek behind the curtain in the locker room. Matt is a good talker and I’m not surprised and I’m a smart player when he talks and I’m a smart guy. We had a lot of fun together.”
During the team’s December 13 televised game against Charlotte, Strome broke a Henrik Rybinski his goal against the Checkers, noting Rybinski’s tendency to use the same shooting technique that usually led to his meeting with Charlotte. Louis Domingue.
A history lesson from the broadcast team to the goal highlight as Ryby connects for the third time of the season!
Lesson
Miroshnichenko pic.twitter.com/KjQfFNIUbe– Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 14, 2025
A crowded booth of legends
In addition to Fisch, the Bears have a strong and established color analyst team, which includes a franchise veteran and an AHL Hall of Famer. Mitch Lamoureux on the radio side, and the recently retired former captain Garrett Mitchell in television activities. Strome is quick to clarify that he’s not looking to steal a job; he just borrows a seat.
Mitchell, who is making the transition from the ice to broadcasting in the offseason following his retirement in 2023, knows exactly what Strome is up against. Mitchell — who served as Strome’s captain during his most recent rookie season with the ECHL’s Reading Royals in 2019-20 — saw a natural relief in Strome.
“One of the hardest things as a player when you’re injured is that you want to be in the dressing room, but it’s also tiring, you show up when the guys try to be polite and ask the same question of ‘how are you feeling?’ but after a month or two I answer the same questions, it can be difficult.” Mitchell said it was an old colleague. “I’m sure it’s been nice for Stromer to stay involved and stay connected to the game. I think for him he’s been able to jump into this and he’s done a great job, because at the end of the day you never know where it’s going to lead.”
The show saw Strome slide into the “third-person” seat in the second half, providing color commentary that bridges the gap between the technical analysis of veteran color analysts and the fresh, on-ice reality of the current lineup.
Stepping into that cycle – even just for a moment in the game – can be intimidating. But Strome felt he got nothing but encouragement from the trio, while getting a crash course on the number of preparations the broadcast team made.
“All three were great,” Strome said. “Since I was with Fisch in the last three seasons, it was like talking to them, but if no one is talking at that time, you have to stand up and be ready to say something. As we continue, it felt natural to know when there is a short break to come in. The way they prepare, it’s amazing. Every game Fisch has at least one big paper where they all do the same job in each team. They work like the same amount in each team. just for the game to prepare, so that really caught my eye.
“I thought it went really well. The first game was on the radio and the second was on TV – I was a bit nervous about the TV show – but I got a great response from some friends and family watching.”
Mental reps and eyes on the return
For Strome, broadcasting has been more than just a way to kill time while he physically recovers; it helps to act as a way to refresh the mind.
“It definitely helped,” Strome confirmed. “When you watch game after game, you have to be there to support your team, but it was good to be able to do that, it gives you a little bit of an understanding of what happens when you’re injured or not playing, and I thought it was a good opportunity to do that.
This incident made him once again interested in the media side of the game. He’s learned to navigate the rhythm of the broadcast, knowing when to jump in color and when to lean into Fisch’s play. It’s a skill that may serve him well long after his playing days are over, though he’s in no rush to hang up his skates forever.
Despite his comfort behind the mic, Strome has made one thing clear: his real home is on the ice. The headset is temporary; The goal is to get back in the lineup, and help Hershey chase its 14th Calder Cup title. He’s back skating with the practice squad, and if Strome has his way, the next time his name is on the radio, it will be this weekend against Rockford when Fisch calls his return to the lineup.
