HARTFORD, Jan. 19 — Defenseman Bryan Yoon made his American Hockey League debut for the Hartford Wolf Pack in a losing effort against the Hershey Bears just hours after signing a professional tryout contract on Friday.

Yoon, who spent the 2022-23 campaign with the East Coast Hockey League’s Utah Grizzlies, started his AHL career with a positive experience.

“I wish we would’ve won that game, but it’s a good team. We need to capitalize on the power play, but I felt pretty comfortable out there,” Yoon said. “Hillman made it pretty comfortable for me, just talking and making it feel easy, and the guys welcomed me with open arms, so it’s all good.”

Yoon said he was not expecting to play the day of signing his contract but was glad he got the opportunity to play immediately.

“It was a pleasant surprise,” Yoon said, “I’m happy I got out there.”

Jake Leschyshyn opened the scoring for the Wolf Pack with his fourth goal of the season, after which Hershey scored four unanswered goals. The final goal of the night for the Wolf Pack came off the stick of Brett Berard, his 10th of the season, with less than one second left in the final period. Hartford was outshot 25-24 throughout the game.

The game not only marked Yoon’s first in the AHL but also featured a total attendance of over 8,000 fans, an uncommon occurrence in the XL Center.

“This building is fun when the fans are here,” Wolf Pack interim head coach Steve Smith said. “It’s a fun place to play hockey. There’s good acoustics here, the fans are loud, and the fans are into it.”

The Wolf Pack are currently on pace to have their highest season-average attendance in over a decade.

“They cheer us on; our guys feed from that,” Smith said. “We just unfortunately didn’t give enough to feed off of.”

The Pack’s next game is on Saturday night in Bridgeport for a tilt with the Islanders, who currently sit in last place in the division.