Potomac's Sam Anas To Play Overseas After Winning Title With Hershey

POTOMAC, MD — Sam Anas, a professional ice hockey player who grew up in Potomac and helped the Hershey Bears win the Calder Cup this year, has signed a contract to play overseas with the Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, according to reports.

This will be the first time that Anas, a former member of the Washington Little Caps and Team Maryland youth programs, is moving overseas in his hockey career.

A year ago, Anas, 30, signed a one-year American Hockey League deal with the Hershey Bears. He became a free agent at the end of the Calder Cup run and decided to sign with a KHL team.

In his first season with the Bears, Anas helped the team, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Washington Capitals, defeat the Coachella Valley Firebirds 3-2 in overtime in Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals last month to capture the franchise's AHL-record 12th championship.

On Monday, KHL club Dinamo Minsk, based in Belarus, announced it has signed the former AHL leading scorer to a contract, RMNB reported Monday. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Anas, who attended Landon School in Bethesda, said he grew up a die-hard Washington Capitals fan.

“I grew up idolizing all those players. It’s truly special to be in this organization and to win it with [Joe] Snively, too,” Anas told the news media during the team’s celebration of the Calder Cup victory at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on June 24. “We grew up, we trained together, we went to high school together, we played together for a year. We won a state championship together as Landon Bears, so it’s only fitting that we got the job done together now.”

Joe Snively is also a former Little Cap and attended high school with Anas at Landon School. Snively has played 24 games with the Capitals over the past two years in his time with the organization.