Hershey, PA - The Hershey Bears announced today that defensemen Bryan Helmer and Greg Amadio have been signed to a contract for the upcoming 2008-09 season. The announcement was made today by BEARS President/GM Doug Yingst.

Helmer, 36, is a veteran of 134 games played in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks and Phoenix Coyotes. He has also played in the American Hockey League with the Albany River Rats, Worcester IceCats, Manitoba Moose, Grand Rapids Griffins and most recently the San Antonio Rampage. With the Rampage in 2007-08, Helmer scored five goals and assisted on 15 others for 20 points. He also accumulated 53 minutes in penalties last season in 66 games played. One of the AHL's most durable defenseman over the last four seasons, Helmer has skated in 296 games since the start of the 2004-05 season, including all 80 regular season games in both 2004-05 and 2005-06 with Grand Rapids.

“I'm very excited to be here,” Helmer said. “Hershey has always been a great organization, and I've talked to a lot of past players that love it there. They (the Bears) are always right there in the end it seems playing for the Calder Cup, and I'm glad to be on board and be a part of it.”

A native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Helmer scored 12 goals with the Griffins in 2005-06, and has on two occasions in his AHL career scored as many as 14 goals in a single season. He scored his first NHL goal on February 12, 2000 against Anaheim while playing for St. Louis. Helmer was also a member of Albany's 1995 Calder Cup championship team.

Amadio, 27, has 208 games of AHL experience, including 50 games in 2007-08 with the Binghamton Senators. He recorded 120 minutes of penalties with Binghamton last season, and 110 in 44 games for Iowa in 2006-07. Amadio has also played in the AHL for the Grand Rapids Griffins and Manitoba Moose.