For an injured hockey player, the press box can feel like a prison. It can be a place of exile, where the ice feels tantalizingly close yet frustratingly out of reach.
But for the Hershey Bears winger Matt Stromethe view from the top of Giant Center has become a new kind of classroom – and a temporary stage.
Hershey’s 2024 Calder Cup hero, sidelined since late November with a lower-body injury, has found a way to stay in the game by trading in his skates, stick and helmet for a headset as a guest color commentator alongside Bears senior manager of hockey communications and broadcasting Bag of fishwho serves as the club’s play-by-play voice.
For fans who have been watching broadcasts of Hershey’s second-period home games in recent weeks on the Bears Radio Network, AHLTV on FloHockey and television broadcasts on WPMT-FOX 43, Strome’s voice has offered something the typical broadcast cannot: the immediate, visceral insight of a player who was fighting in the corners just over a month ago.
A different kind of shift
After a hot start to the 2024–25 season that saw the winger record 10 points in 15 games, Strome suffered a lower-body injury during a game in Cleveland on November 22, leaving him facing a recovery timeline that would keep him out of the lineup for several weeks. Strome was inspired by his older brother Ryana forward for the Anaheim Ducks.
“Maybe about a month ago, Ryan was out with an injury and went to the Anaheim broadcast for the second period. So one day I saw Fisch and I joked about wanting to try it out, and it went well the first time and then we kept doing it for the next few weeks,” Strome shared. “It was a lot of fun. I had never done that before, and it was actually something I always wanted to do. The guys that were there really helped me and let me know questions and let me get started with it.”
It was a natural fit for Strome since he first put on the headset during the middle frame of Hershey’s Dec. 7 game against Lehigh Valley. Strome – who has become known to Bear Nation as both an intense competitor and an approachable fan favorite – cemented his status in Chocolatetown history when he scored the overtime goal that clinched the Bears’ 13th Calder Cup title in 2024, and now fans of the team have gotten to hear the hockey IQ behind the heroics.
“It’s definitely different. You can see the whole ice and where the play is going to develop next, so when you look up there it almost looks a little easier,” Strome said of his recent appearances on the mic. “When you’re on the ice it’s all a split-second reaction time, so to be able to decide a few games from above I think it will help when I come back.”
Chemistry in the ether
Pairing an active player with no broadcast experience with a seasoned play-by-play veteran can be a gamble at times, but the chemistry between Strome and Fisch was seamless. Fisch – a veteran in his tenth season as the team’s on-air voice – sets the table and provides the who-what-where, while Strome adds further context, including the why and how.
“Any broadcaster will tell you that preparation is king,” says Fisch. “Stromer not only brought a great wealth of knowledge about the current team to the broadcast, but he also did his homework. He was able to provide information about what the team is trying to accomplish, things he knows about the opponent, the x’s and o’s of the game, and he really gave the fans a good look behind the curtain in the locker room. Matt is such an articulate guy and a smart player on the ice. had a lot of fun in the booth together.”
During the club’s December 13 televised game against Charlotte, Strome broke a Henrik Rybinski goal against the Checkers, noting Rybinski’s tendency to use a similar shot approach with regularity in practice, leading to his tally against Charlotte’s Louis Domingue.
A history lesson from the broadcast team turns into a highlight as Ryby connects for his third of the season!
Leah
Miroshnichenko https://t.co/ftLhUlPTIk pic.twitter.com/KjQfFNIUbe— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 14, 2025
A crowded stand with legends
In addition to Fisch, the Bears have a robust and well-established color commentator team, featuring franchise legend and AHL Hall of Famer Mitch Lamoureux on the radio side, and recently retired former captain Garrett Mitchell about television tasks. Strome is quick to make it clear that he has no intention of stealing a job; he only borrows the chair.
Mitchell, who moved from the ice to the broadcast booth the season after his retirement in 2023, knows exactly what Strome is going through. Mitchell – who served as Strome’s captain during the latter’s rookie pro season with the ECHL’s Reading Royals in 2019-2020 – noticed a natural ease in Strome.
“One of the hardest things as a player when you’re injured is you want to be in the locker room, but it also gets tiring, showing up while the guys are trying to be nice and asking the same question: ‘how are you?’ but after a month or two of answering the same questions, it can be difficult. Mitchell said of his former teammate. “I’m sure it’s been nice for Stromer to be able to stay involved and stay in touch with the game. I think he was able to jump into this and he did a great job because at the end of the day you never know where it’s going to lead.”
The arrangement saw Strome slip into the “third man’s seat” during the second period, with color commentary bridging the gap between the technical analysis of the experienced color commentators and the fresh, on-ice reality of the current roster.
Stepping into that rotation – even for just a period of game action – can be intimidating. But Strome felt like he got nothing but encouragement from the trio, while getting a crash course in the amount of preparation done by the broadcast team.
“All three of them were great,” Strome said. “Being with Fisch for the last three seasons, it felt like I was having a conversation with them, but if no one is talking at the moment, you have to step up and be ready to say something. As we went along, it felt more natural to know when there was a little break to jump in. The way they prepare is impressive. Every game Fisch has at least one big sheet of paper for each team with all these stats on it. They do almost as much work as us players do before a game, just to be prepared, so that really struck me.
“I thought it went pretty well. The first game was on the radio and the second game was on TV – I was a little more nervous about the TV game – but I got great feedback from some friends and family who were listening.”
The mental replays and eyes focused on a return
For Strome, the deployment was more than just a way to pass the time while he physically recovers; it has helped as a form of mental rehabilitation.
“It definitely helped,” Strome confirmed. “When you go game after game you have to be there to support your team, but it was nice to be able to do that and give a little insight into what happens when you have an injury or when you’re not playing. I just thought it was a great opportunity to do that.”
The experience has also given him a new appreciation for the media side of the sport. He has learned to follow the rhythm of a broadcast, knowing when to jump in with color and when to prepare for Fisch’s play-by-play. It’s a skill set that could serve him well long after his playing days are over, even if he’s in no rush to hang up the skates permanently.
Despite his comfort behind the microphone, Strome has made one thing clear: his true home is on the ice. The headphones are temporary; the goal is to get back in the lineup and help Hershey chase a 14th Calder Cup title. He has returned to skating with the team in practice, and if Strome has his way, the next time his name is mentioned on the air will be this weekend against Rockford, with Fisch calling for his return to the lineup.
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