Hershey won a sixth Calder Cup in 1979-80 under player/coach Doug Gibson who replaced first year coach Gary Green when he was unexpectedly promoted to the Bears' then NHL affiliate, the Washington Capitals, early in the season. Gibson also led the Bears in play-off scoring with a dozen goals and seven assists for 19 points in sixteen Calder Cup games while goaltending was shared by Gary Inness (6-1) who himself would later coach the team and Dave Parro (6-3). Although Hershey had finished four games below .500 during the regular season (35-39-9), the Bears defeated the Syracuse Firebirds (4-0) in the opening round before upsetting both the Southern Division champion New Haven Nighthawks (4-2) in the semifinals and the Northern Division winning New Brunswick Hawks (4-2) in the finals with two of their four wins in the championship series in double overtime.