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WorSharks sleepwalk through morning game, lose 5-1 in Manchester
The Worcester Sharks schedule had them playing Wednesday morning in Manchester, but based on their performance it was as if the WorSharks missed their wakeup call as they were thoroughly outplayed by the Monarchs in a 5-1 loss at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire in front of a crowd of 8,296 that included thousands of screaming students. Evan Trupp had the only goal for Worcester, and J.P. Anderson had 35 saves in the losing effort.
Evan Trupp had the Worcester Sharks lone goal in a 5-1 loss to the Manchester
Monarchs Wednesday morning in New Hampshire. File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED
For video highlights, such as they are, we'll use the Monarchs YouTube channel.
Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau, Petter Emanuelsson (shoulder), and Gus Young. Aaron Dell was in his customary spot as backup goaltender. Word from Bill Ballou of the Telegram is Emanuelsson underwent surgery earlier this week and will miss up to four months.
With the 10am local start this writer was not around to cover the game and after watching the "highlights" has no intention of wasting his time in doing it in the future. We'll just chalk it up to "one of those games" and move on to Friday's contest in Allentown, PA against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. If folks are truly interested in the specifics they can check out Ballou's game story, and both the WorSharks and Monarchs have their takes on the game.
The three stars of the game were
1. MCH – 22 Brian O'Neill (2g,a)
2. MCH – 10 Zach O'Brien (g,a)
3. MCH – 37 Nick Shore (2a)
Looking at the box score this one is easy, the Sharkspage player of the game is Evan Trupp
Even strength lines, courtesy of Sharkspage minion Tyler Lowell:
Worcester 0 1 0 – 1
Manchester 1 2 2 – 5
1st Period-1, Manchester, O'Brien 1 (Shore, O'Neill), 10:47. Penalties-Karlsson Wor (tripping), 0:25; Langlois Wor (tripping), 11:20; Crescenzi Mch (goaltender interference), 14:30.
2nd Period-2, Manchester, O'Neill 5 7:58 (SH). 3, Worcester, Trupp 3 (Schwartz, Tierney), 9:31. 4, Manchester, O'Neill 6 (Shore, O'Brien), 10:15. Penalties-Schwartz Wor (high-sticking), 4:04; Forbort Mch (holding), 6:59; Hayes Wor (hooking), 11:52; Hayes Wor (roughing), 14:30; Forbort Mch (roughing), 14:30.
3rd Period-5, Manchester, Miller 5 (Auger, Weal), 5:59. 6, Manchester, Gravel 1 (Sabourin), 19:45. Penalties-Tierney Wor (delay of game), 2:36; Crescenzi Mch (roughing), 6:24; Doherty Wor (fighting), 8:53; Sabourin Mch (fighting), 8:53.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 6-10-7-23. Manchester 18-12-10-40.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 3; Manchester 0 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Anderson 1-4-0 (40 shots-35 saves). Manchester, Berube 8-3-0 (23 shots-22 saves).
Referees-Ryan Hersey (8), Geoff Miller (28).
Linesmen-Pat Turcotte (75), Alex Stagnone (7).
WorSharks blanked by Falcons as great effort by Anderson wasted
The Worcester Sharks surrendered a penalty shot goal for the first time since last February, and while WorSharks rookie goaltender J.P. Anderson did everything he could to keep that the only goal against the Worcester skaters were unable to solve Springfield Falcons goaltender Anton Forsberg as the WorSharks lost 1-0 to the Falcons at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts Saturday night. It was the first time in 20 years of AHL hockey in the city the only goal of the game was on a penalty shot, and just the third time in WorSharks franchise history the team has lost 1-0.
Worcester Sharks rookie goaltender J.P. Anderson, pictured from Tuesday's 4-2
win over Springfield, had several nice saves on Saturday night against those
same Falcons but was a hard luck 1-0 loser. Photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED
For video highlights we'll use the WorSharks YouTube channel. There is one highlight missing, which we'll discuss below.
Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau, Petter Emanuelsson (shoulder), and Gus Young. Aaron Dell was the backup goaltender. Bonneau was listed as a healthy scratch, but perhaps "banged up" may have been a better term as Bonneau cut his hand pretty badly in his bout Friday night against Manchester tough guy Josh Gratton. Considering what Gratton looked like after the fight perhaps he's lucky that Bonneau did hurt his hand or it could have been much worse for him.
The penalty shot against for Worcester was the first since February 8, 2014 when John Albert of St. John's beat Harri Sateri. Worcester has allowed three penalty shot goals in the last three attempts against them, but is still a very respectable seven for 12 in saves over the last nine plus seasons.
The WorSharks do a great job of putting together their highlight package, so when they miss one it really does stick out like a sore thumb. That's the case for Saturday's game as the video doesn't include a two-on-none breakaway save by Anderson when T.J. Tynan and former Worcester defenseman Denny Urban broke in all alone on the rookie netminder as time was winding down in the first period. Anderson never committed to either player, and as the puck got closer he went low to the ice hoping a crossing pass or shot would hit him. Tynan's attempt to tap the puck home was stuffed by Anderson's right pad.
It wasn't a great first half of the game for WorSharks defenseman Matt Tennyson. He was the player that hooked Springfield's Sean Collins for the penalty shot against, and earlier in the game Tennyson got caught breaking one of the easiest rules not to: playing with a broken stick. Just before Anderson's two-on-none save Worcester was on the power play with a faceoff down in the Falcons end. It was a clean win back to Tennyson, who wound up to blast a slapshot on Springfield goaltender Anton Forsberg. The blade of the stick went streaking toward the net, the puck barely moved. In a total brain cramp Tennyson held on to the broken shaft and tried to kick the puck away not once but twice. Referee Jamie Koharski quickly put his arm up to correctly call Tennyson for playing with a broken stick.
One of the things that annoys hockey fans took place at the DCU Center Saturday night. Referee Chris Brown, who is known for "letting the boys play", was teamed with Koharski, who is known for calling everything in the book. The two issued ten power plays in the first 40 minutes of the game and none in the last 20. What are the odds there was no penalties in the third period? If it's a penalty in the early part of the game it needs to be a penalty in the late part of the game. And you can trust this writer, there were many borderline calls in the first two periods that weren't as clear as the ones let go in the third.
The three stars of the game were
1. SPR – 35 Anton Forsberg (33 save shutout)
2. SPR – 17 Sean Collins (penalty shot game winner)
3. WOR – 34 J.P. Anderson (15 saves)
The Sharkspage player of the game was J.P. Anderson.
Even strength lines
Springfield 0 1 0 – 1
Worcester 0 0 0 – 0
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Ponich Spr (cross-checking, fighting), 5:58; Doherty Wor (fighting), 5:58; Tarasov Wor (slashing), 7:22; Carpenter Wor (hooking), 12:59; Sifers Spr (interference), 18:47; Tennyson Wor (broken stick), 19:06; Rychel Spr (hooking), 20:00.
2nd Period-1, Springfield, Collins 5 8:08 (PS). Penalties-McCarthy Spr (interference), 3:23; Ponich Spr (fighting, game misconduct – third major/second fight), 12:51; Rychel Spr (roughing, roughing), 12:51; Haley Wor (fighting), 12:51; Hayes Wor (roughing), 12:51; Fedun Wor (tripping), 13:47; Craig Spr (slashing), 19:50.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Springfield 8-4-4-16. Worcester 8-9-16-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 0 / 4; Worcester 0 / 6.
Goalies-Springfield, Forsberg 1-0-0 (33 shots-33 saves). Worcester, Anderson 1-3-0 (16 shots-15 saves).
Referees-Chris Brown (86), Jamie Koharski (84).
Linesmen-Ed Boyle (81), Todd Whittemore (70).
WorSharks slow start costs them in long run as they lose 5-2 to Manchester
The Worcester Sharks have gotten into the habit lately of starting off slowly and finishing with a bang, but Friday night at the DCU Center against the Manchester Monarchs the WorSharks couldn't make up the ground they lost early in the game and saw their modest three game winning streak grind to a halt after losing 5-2 to their division rivals from New Hampshire. Matt Tennyson and Matt Taormina each scored a goal for Worcester, while Jordan Weal paced the Monarchs with two goals and an assist. The teams will play again Sunday afternoon in Manchester.
Worcester Sharks rookie goaltender J.P. Anderson made his first home start of the season
for the WorSharks and despite not playing poorly allowed three goals on 33 shots in a 5-2
loss to Manchester. The Monarchs final two goals were into an empty net.
Photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED
For video highlights we once again use the WorSharks YouTube channel.
Scratches for Worcester were Konrad Abeltshauser, Petter Emanuelsson (shoulder), and Rylan Schwartz. With Troy Grosenick getting the call to replace an injured Al Stalock in San Jose the WorSharks recalled goaltender Aaron Dell from the Allen Americans, the Sharks ECHL affiliate. Dell played six AHL games last season for Abbotsford and his numbers (2.29/.922) were respectable. In three games with the Americans this season Dell's numbers are not quite so good (4.46/.831).
Prior to the game the WorSharks announced that Bryan Lerg will serve at the team's seventh captain in franchise history. It was predicted by many, including Yours truly, when he was signed over the summer. Lerg joins Graham Mink (2007-08), Ryan Vesce (2008-10), Jay Leach (2010-11), Mike Moore (2011-12), John McCarthy (2012-13), and Rob Davison (2013-14) in wearing the "C".
The official scorers at the DCU Center usually do a great job in awarding assists, but they missed one on Tennyson's first period goal. The video is pretty clear that Dylan DeMelo should get one for his pass to Freddie Hamilton.
Streaking WorSharks: Tennyson has points in four straight games (2g,2a), and Hamilton a two game streak (2a).
Bobby Howard of the Power Play Post Show has been tracking the statistics for the AHL's new overtime rules, where they play seven minutes and after the first whistle beyond the three minute mark switch from four-on-four to three-on-three. Just looking at his numbers it's a safe bet that not only will it be in the AHL to stay but the NHL will undoubtedly be adopting it for next season. Through 177 games played, this season there have been 36 games that have gone into OT and just six continued on to the shootout. Compared to last season over the same total of games played there was 45 OT games with 29 going on to a shootout. The numbers prove that the new rules do work in reducing shootout games.
The three stars of the game were:
1. MCH – 19 Jordan Weal (2g,a)
2. MCH – 35 Jean-Francois Berube (win,29 saves)
3. WOR – 5 Matt Tennyson (g)
The Sharkspage player of the game was Matt Taormina.
Even strength lines
Manchester 3 0 2 – 5
Worcester 1 0 1 – 2
1st Period-1, Manchester, Van der Gulik 3 (Miller, Backman), 1:08. 2, Manchester, Weal 4 (Sabourin), 13:00. 3, Manchester, Weal 5 (Miller, Dowd), 15:33 (PP). 4, Worcester, Tennyson 3 (Hamilton), 18:23 (PP). Penalties-Gratton Mch (fighting), 3:28; Bonneau Wor (fighting), 3:28; Crescenzi Mch (tripping), 6:45; Doherty Wor (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 15:24; Miller Mch (double minor – high-sticking), 18:10.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Crescenzi Mch (hooking), 9:17; Horvat Mch (tripping), 15:18.
3rd Period-5, Worcester, Taormina 2 17:47. 6, Manchester, Backman 4 (Weal), 18:35 (EN). 7, Manchester, Shore 6 (Auger, O'Neill), 19:15 (EN). Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Manchester 15-8-12-35. Worcester 12-11-8-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Manchester 1 / 2; Worcester 1 / 5.
Goalies-Manchester, Berube 6-3-0 (31 shots-29 saves). Worcester, Anderson 1-2-0 (33 shots-30 saves).
Referees-Jarrod Ragusin (2).
Linesmen-Ed Boyle (81), Frank Murphy (29).
WorSharks with another third period comeback in 4-2 win over Springfield
The Worcester Sharks went into Tuesday's Veterans Day matchup against the Springfield Falcons with the AHL's best record when trailing after two periods already in their pocket, and after finding themselves down a goal heading into the third period the WorSharks put up a four spot to once again come from behind to defeat the Falcons 4-2 at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. The win was the first in the AHL for rookie goaltender J.P. Anderson.
Worcester Sharks forward Chris Tierney, pictured from Saturday's 4-2 win
over Providence, had two assists Tuesday against Springfield to give him
five points in two games with the WorSharks.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED
For video highlights we'll be using the Springfield Falcons YouTube channel.
Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau, Petter Emanuelsson (shoulder), and Gus Young. Troy Grosenick was the back-up goaltender. On Monday the WorSharks released Tyler Shattock from his PTO. Shattock had no points and two fights in three games for Worcester. Just as Tuesday's game ended the Allen Americans announced goaltender Aaron Dell was recalled to Worcester. No word as to the reason. Travis Oleksuk returned to the lineup after missing six games due to a shoulder injury and had the primary assist on Evan Trupp's goal that put Worcester ahead to stay.
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 11 Bryan Lerg (gwg)
2. WOR – 34 J.P. Anderson (30 save win)
3. SPR – 12 Ryan Craig (g)
The Sharkspage player of the game is Chris Tierney.
Even strength Lines, courtesy of Sharkspage minion Tyler Lowell…
Worcester 0 0 4 – 4
Springfield 0 1 1 – 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Collins Spr (closing hand on puck), 3:19; Haley Wor (hooking), 6:54; Doherty Wor (delay of game), 10:20.
2nd Period-1, Springfield, Collins 4 (Tynan, Madaisky), 9:04. Penalties-Carpenter Wor (tripping), 2:42; Cherniwchan Spr (high-sticking), 11:04.
3rd Period-2, Worcester, Tennyson 2 (Tarasov, Hamilton), 0:51. 3, Worcester, Trupp 2 (Oleksuk, Abeltshauser), 2:21. 4, Worcester, Lerg 1 (Tierney), 6:59. 5, Springfield, Craig 7 (Madaisky, Tynan), 11:12 (PP). 6, Worcester, Langlois 3 (Tierney, Haley), 19:19 (EN). Penalties-Sifers Spr (hooking), 2:35; Carpenter Wor (high-sticking), 7:52; Tennyson Wor (cross-checking), 10:31; Schwartz Wor (hooking), 15:21.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 11-3-10-24. Springfield 10-15-7-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 3; Springfield 1 / 6.
Goalies-Worcester, Anderson 1-1-0 (32 shots-30 saves). Springfield, Dansk 4-3-0 (23 shots-20 saves).
Referees-Jon McIsaac (45), Terry Koharski (10).
Linesmen-Frank Murphy (29), Luke Galvin (2).
WorSharks stun Providence with third period comeback, win 4-2
The Worcester Sharks knew they were getting a pretty good player when Chris Tierney was reassigned to the team from the NHL by San Jose, but few expected a three point night from the rookie as Tierney's goal and two assists help propel the WorSharks into first place in the AHL's Atlantic Division after their 4-2 win over the Providence Bruins Saturday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of a crowd of 5,310. Eriah Hayes and Melker Karlsson both had a goal and an assist in the contest, while Ryan Carpenter added a late insurance goal to give Worcester some breathing room.
Worcester Sharks forward Chris Tierney, pictured while with the San Jose Sharks,
had his first professional goal Saturday night in a 4-2 win over the Providence
Bruins. Tierney also had two assists in the contest.
For video highlights we once again get to use the WorSharks YouTube channel.
Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau, Petter Emanuelsson (shoulder), Travis Oleksuk (shoulder), and Tyler Shattock. J.P. Anderson was the back-up goaltender. With Tierney being sent down from the big club San Jose also reassigned Chris Crane to the Missouri Mavericks (ECHL). Crane has just a single assist in 11 AHL games since leaving Ohio State (NCAA) in 2012-13. The word on Oleksuk's injury is pretty good as he has started practicing with the team, so his return is likely now measured in days as opposed to weeks. The word on Emanuelsson's injury is the exact opposite as the import from Sweden faces surgery and a likely long absence from the lineup.
To say Tierney looked good would be a massive understatement. The rookie center is in Worcester only because of the number of healthy forwards in San Jose is growing and they can't keep everyone they have on the NHL roster. While Tierney is here he'll get to work on his face-offs, which appear to be the only major flaw in his game. This writer didn't keep track of the numbers, but to call them "abysmal" would likely be correct. The good thing is taking face-offs is a very teachable skill, so hopefully Tierney can pick up on it rapidly.
WorSharks fans got a scare when early in the third period when Daniil Tarasov blocked a booming slapshot from the point by a Providence defenseman with his left hand. Tarasov quickly dropped his stick and shed his glove as he headed to the bench as the play rushed up into the Bruins end. In the end Tarasov, discounting the power play Worcester had to kill, didn't miss a shift.
Saturday was another of those "advantage" games the WorSharks have in the schedule as Providence played Friday night against Portland. The third period was where that advantage was evident as while Worcester outplayed the PBruins for most the game the WorSharks speed visibly wore down Providence to the point where the speedier Worcester forwards were able to get to loose pucks to develop scoring chances. In four "advantage" games the WorSharks are 3-1-0. Worcester will have its first "disadvantage" game in a couple weeks in Hershey.
You don't often see mistakes on the opening faceoff a period by the officials, but comically it happened to begin both the second and third period. In the second period with the teams lined up apparently no one checked the clock as before it wound down to the horn to end the first intermission referee Evgeny Romasko dropped the puck. Worcester "won" the faceoff that was quickly called back and the clock set to 20:00. To begin the third period somehow the puck slipped out of the hand of referee Mark Lemelin before anyone was ready. Worcester "won" that draw too–only because the PBruins center was hardly even bent over–but order was quickly restored and this time Providence won the official opening faceoff.
Worcester's next game is Veterans Day as they head to Springfield for a 3pm EST start. We won't be live tweeting the game but should have our usual post-game coverage soon after. The game will be aired live on AHLlive.com, and will be on tape delay on WTAG at 7pm.
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 50 Chris Tierney (g,a)
2. WOR – 7 Eriah Hayes (g,a)
3. WOR – 11 Bryan Lerg (2a)
The Sharkspage player of the game is Melker Karlsson.
Even strength lines
(Young mixed in throughout the pairings)
Providence 1 1 0 – 2
Worcester 1 0 3 – 4
1st Period-1, Worcester, Karlsson 3 (Lerg, Tierney), 5:50 (PP). 2, Providence, Kane 1 (Casto, MacKenzie), 14:50. Penalties-Carpenter Wor (hooking), 1:24; Knight Pro (slashing), 1:51; Florek Pro (kneeing), 3:57; Knight Pro (boarding), 8:20; Cross Pro (roughing, roughing), 16:20; Hayes Wor (roughing), 16:20.
2nd Period-3, Providence, Khokhlachev 5 (Eminger), 19:28 (PP). Penalties-Ferlin Pro (hooking), 12:57; Doherty Wor (hooking), 19:23.
3rd Period-4, Worcester, Tierney 1 (Hayes, Taormina), 7:09. 5, Worcester, Hayes 2 (Tierney, Lerg), 10:19. 6, Worcester, Carpenter 4 (Karlsson, Tennyson), 17:21. Penalties-Trupp Wor (hooking), 2:39; Randell Pro (roughing), 16:05; Abeltshauser Wor (roughing), 16:05; Taormina Wor (tripping), 18:43.
Shots on Goal-Providence 10-6-9-25. Worcester 14-16-11-41.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 1 / 4; Worcester 1 / 5.
Goalies-Providence, Subban 3-2-0 (41 shots-37 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 7-2-0 (25 shots-23 saves).
Referees-Mark Lemelin (41), Evgeny Romasko (6).
Linesmen-Alex Stagnone (7), Todd Whittemore (70).
WorSharks not spooked by Phantoms, beat Lehigh Valley 4-3
The Worcester Sharks got two goals from rookie Jeremy Langlois, a shorthanded goal by Ryan Carpenter, and multiple point night from Freddie Hamilton and Matt Taormina, along with a 32 save performance from goaltender Troy Grosenick to defeat the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4-3 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. The win was Grosenick's sixth on the season, which leads the American Hockey League.
Worcester Sharks forward Daniil Tarasov lifts a backhander over Lehigh Valley
Phantoms goaltender Anthony Stolarz to tie the game 3-3. Ryan Carpenter would
add a shorthanded goal 61 seconds later to give the WorSharks a 4-3 victory.
Photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED
For video highlight we once again get to use the WorSharks YouTube channel.
Scratches for the WorSharks were Chris Crane, Petter Emanuelsson (shoulder), Travis Oleksuk (shoulder), and Tyler Shattock. J.P. Anderson returned to his usual spot as backup goaltender. During the week there was a stop of the Worcester Shuttle as Tyler Kennedy was recalled from his conditioning loan by the San Jose Sharks. Just before posting time it was announced that San Jose had loaned Chris Tierney to Worcester. Tierney will wear #50 for Worcester, the first time a WorSharks player has worn that number.
Determining scratches for the game is usually easy, they're listed pregame for the media. The last couple games Worcester head coach Roy Sommer has had this writer (and the team's social media person) scrambling to figure out who was scratched because he changes his mind after warm-ups. In the case of last night defenseman Gus Young was listed as a scratch but played. Because of the early power play against it was difficult to determine who the last scratch for the WorSharks was. After three different players showed up on Worcester's fourth line with Jimmy Bonneau and Rylan Schwartz it became obvious the last scratch was Shattock.
The end of the game was marred by two incidents, one involving the officials and one involving a check to the head of Melker Karlsson. The first was while Worcester was on a late game power play and Lehigh Valley pulled goaltender Anthony Stolarz for a fifth skater. The Phantoms had control of the puck in the WorSharks end and Worcester was forced to ice the puck with a 19 seconds remaining. Only neither linesman blew the whistle as each apparently thought it was Worcester that was shorthanded. It took five extra seconds off the clock until it was figured out and the ensuing faceoff by rule was at center ice instead of in the Worcester zone, costing Lehigh Valley a legitimate chance to tie the game. After the final horn Darroll Powe threw a late, high hit on Karlsson, connecting the head area with his stick. After a conference the referees gave Powe a match penalty, and he is automatically suspended until a review of the incident by the AHL. Karlsson skated off under his own power.
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 28 Jeremy Langlois (2g)
2. WOR – 12 Freddie Hamilton (2a)
3. LV – 24 Petr Straka (g,a)
The Sharkspage player of the game is Ryan Carpenter.
Even strength lines
(Young mixed in throughout the pairings)
Lehigh Valley 1 1 1 – 3
Worcester 1 1 2 – 4
1st Period-1, Lehigh Valley, Leier 2 (Straka, Gostisbehere), 5:10 (PP). 2, Worcester, Langlois 1 (Hamilton, Taormina), 17:14. Penalties-Doherty Wor (slashing), 3:19; Powe Lv (holding), 9:24; Doherty Wor (roughing), 15:12; Hagg Lv (slashing), 18:03.
2nd Period-3, Worcester, Langlois 2 (Fedun, Taormina), 11:15 (PP). 4, Lehigh Valley, Straka 3 (Pettersson, Hagg), 18:39. Penalties-Doherty Wor (high-sticking), 6:39; Stortini Lv (interference), 8:25; Manning Lv (cross-checking), 11:05.
3rd Period-5, Lehigh Valley, Alderson 2 (Goumas, Lamarche), 8:02. 6, Worcester, Tarasov 3 (Tennyson, Hamilton), 8:51. 7, Worcester, Carpenter 3 (Schwartz), 9:52 (SH). Penalties-Trupp Wor (tripping), 9:08; Goumas Lv (slashing), 17:46; Powe Lv (match – check to the head), 20:00.
Shots on Goal-Lehigh Valley 12-9-14-35. Worcester 10-9-16-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Lehigh Valley 1 / 4; Worcester 1 / 5.
Goalies-Lehigh Valley, Stolarz 0-3-0 (35 shots-31 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 6-2-0 (35 shots-32 saves).
Referees-Geoff Miller (28), Jake Brenk (15).
Linesmen-Alex Stagnone (7), Scott Whittemore (96).
WorSharks dig hole too big to climb out of, lose 4-3 to Hartford
The Worcester Sharks gave up three first period goals and when Hartford added a fourth early in the third period the WorSharks looked down and out, but three quick strikes in the final stanza got Worcester within one but that was as close as they would get in a 4-3 loss to the Wolf Pack Sunday afternoon at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Rookie netminder J.P. Anderson took the loss in his first career AHL start.
Worcester Sharks forward Tyler Kennedy, on a conditioning loan from
the San Jose Sharks, had a goal and an assist plus a diving play to
help set up another goal in the WorSharks 4-3 loss to Hartford.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED
After several games of being spoiled by highlights on the WorSharks YouTube channel for the road games we'll have to go back to pointing at AHLlive's highlight video package.
The only line-up change from Saturday's win over Hershey was Anderson in net instead of Troy Grosenick. Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau, Chris Crane, Petter Emanuelsson (shoulder), Travis Oleksuk (shoulder) and Gus Young.
With his start Anderson becomes just the second right-catching goaltender in WorSharks history, with Nolan Schaefer being the first early in the 2006-07 season. In what would be called a silly stat Anderson is now in second place in all time Worcester pro hockey starts by a right catching goaltender. The Worcester IceCats only had one right catching goaltender in 11 years of play, Alex Westlund, and his entire IceCats career consisted of 7:35 worth of action at the end of a 7-6 victory in Springfield on March 23, 2001. Westlund came into the game after Brent Johnson received a serious skate cut on his back, and gave up a goal on four shots against in the relief appearance.
There were two fights in the contest, the first was Micheal Haley taking on Wolf Pack enforcer Nick Tarnasky after Tarnasty threw a big hit on a WorSharks player after the whistle blew. Tarnasky had the early edge, but Haley came on at the end and cut Tarnasky with a vicious right that sent him to the ice and then off to the dressing room for repairs. The second battle was WorSharks PTO'er Tyler Shattock fighting Steve Spinell in an even fight brought on after a high hit by Spinell, who received a minor for checking the head on the play. All such penalties are reviewed by the AHL, so potentially more on that later.
For the first time this season the Worcester Sharks lost a game where they had a potential scheduling advantage. While Worcester only had to make an hour trip to Hartford the Wolf Pack had to make a mad dash from Allentown, Pennsylvania after taking on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Saturday night. The three goal opening period outburst by Hartford shows that long bus rides may not be as big a hindrance as one would think.
The three stars of the game were
1. HFD – 30 Cedrick Desjardins (36 saves)
2. HFD – 10 J.T. Miller (g,a)
3. HFD – 17 Chris Bourque (g)
The Sharkspage player of the game was Tyler Kennedy.
Even strength lines
Worcester 0 0 3 – 3
Hartford 3 0 1 – 4
1st Period-1, Hartford, Bourque 3 (Bourque, Miller), 8:46 (PP). 2, Hartford, Miller 3 (Bodie), 11:24. 3, Hartford, Kristo 3 (Vaive, Lindberg), 14:05. Penalties-Langlois Wor (hooking), 7:34; DeMelo Wor (holding), 12:05; Tarnasky Hfd (interference), 15:54; Spinell Hfd (cross-checking), 18:03.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Lindberg Hfd (tripping), 0:38; Potulny Hfd (slashing), 1:46; Haley Wor (roughing, fighting), 9:23; Tarnasky Hfd (fighting), 9:23; Tennyson Wor (cross-checking), 15:28.
3rd Period-4, Hartford, Fast 1 (Bodie, Lindberg), 0:29. 5, Worcester, Carpenter 2 (Kennedy, DeMelo), 11:52. 6, Worcester, Hamilton 5 (Tarasov, Abeltshauser), 16:47 (PP). 7, Worcester, Kennedy 2 (Lerg, DeMelo), 18:48. Penalties-Kristo Hfd (hooking), 2:46; Shattock Wor (fighting), 5:53; Spinell Hfd (checking to the head, fighting), 5:53; Fedun Wor (hooking), 13:12; Jackson Hfd (slashing), 16:03.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 12-13-14-39. Hartford 7-7-4-18.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 7; Hartford 1 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Anderson 0-1-0 (18 shots-14 saves). Hartford, Desjardins 3-0-0 (39 shots-36 saves).
Referees-Cameron Voss (78), Keith Kaval (40).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Paul Simeon (66).
WorSharks end home stand on up note with 5-4 win over Hershey
The Worcester Sharks went into Saturday night's contest with something to prove after their lackluster performance against Portland on Wednesday, and behind multiple point nights by Daniil Tarasov, Konrad Abeltshauser, Jeremy Langlois, and Matt Taormina, and with 11 different players on the score sheet the WorSharks defeated the Hershey Bears 5-4 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts to finish their six game home stand with a 3-2-1 record. Worcester now takes to the road for a Sunday matinee in Hartford against the Wolf Pack.
Worcester Sharks forward Danill Tarasov, pictured from Wednesday's loss to
Portland, scored his first two goals of the season to help the WorSharks
defeat the Hershey Bears 5-4. Photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED
For the video highlights we once again use the WorSharks YouTube channel.
Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau, Chris Crane, Petter Emanuelsson (shoulder),Travis Oleksuk (shoulder) and Gus Young. Word is Oleksuk's shoulder injury wasn't as serious as first though and he may be ready sooner than later. Emanuelsson's injury is the same one he had in camp and there's no definitive word as to how long he'll be out. J.P. Anderson was in his usual spot as back-up goaltender, but if all goes according to plan he will be making his AHL debut Sunday in Hartford.
Tyler Kennedy, down in Worcester on an injury rehab stint from San Jose, really looks like the NHL forward that he is. Word was Kennedy was fast, but he's leaving other players behind after just a couple of strides. As you can see from the highlight video his backhander goal was exactly the kind of thing a confident NHLer can do that many AHLers still are learning. Despite his having just a single goal in two games his leaving, which will be at most in a week or so, will impact the WorSharks significantly offensively.
Saturday was one of those "advantage" game for Worcester as they had Friday night off and Hershey had to play in Manchester. The WorSharks are a perfect 2-0 in those "advantage" games. Sunday is another "advantage" for Worcester as they only have to go an hour south to get to Hartford while the Wolf Pack has to make a mad dash from Allentown, Pennsylvania after taking on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
In an odd occurrence, the WorSharks have no captain but Hershey has two from Worcester. Former Worcester Sharks captain Mike Moore plays for the Bears, and former IceCats captain Bryan Helmer is an assistant coach with Hershey. The Bears also have another former Worcester player on their roster, forward Tim Kennedy.
There was one fight in the contest, and it's one we've seen before albeit from a different angle as former WorSharks defenseman Moore did battle with Worcester's Micheal Haley. The two have had some memorable bouts going back through the years, including an epic battle on March 18, 2012 when Haley played for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Both players got into a fight and were sent to the penalty boxes. Despite several attempts from the penalty box attendants and PA booth to warn the linesmen it was going to happen as soon as the penalty box doors opened to let the two out Moore charged right at Haley and the two went at it in a long brawl that earned them the rest of the night off. On Saturday Haley dropped the gloves and helmet–which is now an additional penalty in the AHL and NHL–while Moore just dropped the gloves. After Haley taunted him Moore finally took off the lid. He probably wished he'd kept it on as Haley won decisively.
Hershey's goaltender, Pheonix Copley entered the game with a very impressive stat line, being 3-0 with a 0.64 goals against average and a save percentage of .971. After giving up five goals in 28 shots to Worcester he dropped to 1.71GAA and .927S%. Still great numbers, but it shows what one game can do to stats early in the season. Copley is from North Pole, Alaska, which would be a lot more impressive in it wasn't located in the middle of the state.
The WorSharks will never say this, but we sure can: last night was an embarrassment for referee Kendrick Nicholson. It wasn't just the more than half dozen easy calls he missed, it was also the ones he did make. Of the five non-automatic minors he did call only two were legitimate penalties, with the other three being beyond terrible calls. The boarding call against Hershey's Chandler Stephenson very weak, with Stephenson riding a WorSharks defender into the side boards in about as non-violent a fashion as a body check can legitimately be called. Nicholson later called Haley for interference despite Haley checking–and he barely did that–the puck carrier. To exacerbate the issue when Haley complained Nicholson gave Haley an additional two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct when the rules call for a 10 minute misconduct.
In all, Worcester had 11 penalty minutes called against them, and all were against Haley. He had a fighting major, and unsportsmanlike conduct minor for taking his helmet off while fighting, a terrible interference minor, and another unsportsmanlike conduct minor for letting referee Nicholson know about his displeasure. With a goal, the game winner by the way, Haley was just an assist short of a Gordie Howe hat trick. In a fact that's almost hard to believe Haley has never had one of those in the AHL. And while we're talking about it, can someone please change the name of the penalty for taking your helmet off while fighting to something other than "unsportsmanlike conduct"? Seriously, is there anything more "sportsmanlike" than removing your helmet so your opponent doesn't risk breaking his hand?
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 19 Daniil Tarasov (2g)
2. WOR – 10 Konrad Abeltshauser (2a)
3. WOR – 20 Matt Taormina (2a)
The Sharkspage player of the game is Jeremy Langlois.
Even strength lines
Hershey 1 1 2 – 4
Worcester 2 2 1 – 5
1st Period-1, Worcester, Tarasov 1 (Langlois, Abeltshauser), 1:50. 2, Hershey, Broda 2 (Gazley, Kundratek), 2:04. 3, Worcester, Kennedy 1 (Lerg, Taormina), 8:57. Penalties-No Penalties
2nd Period-4, Hershey, Schilling 1 (Burgdoerfer, Kennedy), 5:15. 5, Worcester, Hamilton 4 (Langlois, Abeltshauser), 6:17. 6, Worcester, Tarasov 2 (Hayes, Karlsson), 16:30. Penalties-Oleksy Her (cross-checking), 2:57; Moore Her (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 10:35; Haley Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 10:35.
3rd Period-7, Worcester, Haley 5 (Fedun, Taormina), 2:00 (PP). 8, Hershey, Newbury 5 (Kundratek, Byers), 4:46. 9, Hershey, Oleksy 3 (Gazley, Newbury), 18:44. Penalties-Stephenson Her (boarding), 0:27; Haley Wor (interference, unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:04; Burgdoerfer Her (cross-checking), 15:24.
Shots on Goal-Hershey 11-5-7-23. Worcester 10-11-7-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Hershey 0 / 2; Worcester 1 / 3.
Goalies-Hershey, Copley 3-1-0 (28 shots-23 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 5-2-0 (23 shots-19 saves).
Referees-Kendrick Nicholson (44).
Linesmen-Alex Stagnone (7), Joe Ross (92).
Hamilton's third period natural hat trick lifts WorSharks over Pirates 4-1
The Worcester Sharks entered the third period of Sunday's DCU Center matinee against the Portland Pirates trailing by a goal, but Freddie Hamilton and Daniil Tarasov took care of that all by themselves with Tarasov assisting on all three of Hamilton's third period goals as the WorSharks cruised to a 4-1 win in front of a crowd listed at 2,559. The win may have come at a significant cost as Petter Emanuelsson went off late in the opening period with an upper body injury and did not return. The two teams will have a rematch Wednesday at the DCU Center.
Freddie Hamilton, shown playing against the Portland Pirates last season, set the
Worcester Sharks team record for fastest three goals by a single player at 5:12
during the WorSharks 4-1 win over Portland on Sunday at the DCU Center.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED
For the highlights we once again look to the WorSharks YouTube channel.
Scratches for Worcester were Chris Crane, Jeremy Langlois, and Travis Oleksuk (shoulder). The WorSharks went with seven defensemen as Gus Young made his pro debut. J.P. Anderson was in his usual spot as the backup goaltender. Prior to the game it was indicated that Taylor Doherty was going to be scratched, but head coach Roy Sommer must have changed his mind after warm-ups and inserted the 6'8″ defenseman into the line-up.
The third goal by Hamilton was originally credited to Konrad Abeltshauser, although the fans at the DCU Center knew it was Hamilton's right away as several hats rained on to the ice. With his third period natural hat trick Hamilton sets the WorSharks team record for quickest three goals by a single player at 5:12, breaking linemate Tarasov's previous record of 19:38. That record was set in Springfield exactly on year ago Sunday, on October 26, 2013. It's also the first WorSharks hat trick at the DCU Center since P.J. Fenton had one on February 28, 2009 in Worcester's 7-3 victory over Springfield.
Sunday was the first time the WorSharks had four goals in a period since March 16, 2014, a 5-1 win over Manchester.
In another scoring change, as expected Petter Emanuelsson was given the goal originally credited to Micheal Haley on Friday night.
Just before the season started we took at look at the WorSharks schedule and indicated that there would be some games where Worcester held an advantage (or a disadvantage) based on the opponent's schedule. This was one of those games, and the check mark was in the WorSharks column. Getting the two points in that instance is one of the things that will help propel the team into the playoffs, and right now the team is off on the right foot in that circumstance. Next Saturday is another one of those "advantage" games as the WorSharks have the previous night off while Hershey plays in Manchester.
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 12 Freddie Hamilton (hat trick)
2. WOR – 19 Daniil Tarasov (3a)
3. WOR – 1 Troy Grosenick (28 saves)
The rule of thumb here at Sharkspage is the #1 and #2 stars of the game aren't eligible for Sharkspage player of the game, but in this case how can it not be Hamilton for record breaking night?
With seven defensemen dressed and Emanuelsson injured the even strength lines were all over the place, so we'll skip them for today.
Portland 1 0 0 – 1
Worcester 0 0 4 – 4
1st Period-1, Portland, Oberg 1 (Shinnimin), 4:16. Penalties-Louis Por (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 8:56; Bonneau Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 8:56.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Martinook Por (hooking), 0:28; Haley Wor (holding), 6:17; Hayes Wor (roughing), 18:57.
3rd Period-2, Worcester, Hamilton 1 (Tarasov, Trupp), 2:41. 3, Worcester, Hamilton 2 (Tarasov, Trupp), 6:48 (PP). 4, Worcester, Hamilton 3 (Abeltshauser, Tarasov), 7:53. 5, Worcester, Trupp 1 (Schwartz, Lerg), 18:33 (EN). Penalties-Gormley Por (tripping), 5:20.
Shots on Goal-Portland 11-8-10-29. Worcester 9-11-15-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 0 / 2; Worcester 1 / 2.
Goalies-Portland, McKenna 1-4-0 (34 shots-31 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 4-1-0 (29 shots-28 saves).
Referees-Geno Binda (22), Fred Leblanc (30).
Linesmen-Bob Bernard (42), Scott Whittemore (96).
Travis Oleksuk injured in WorSharks 3-2 OT loss to Syracuse
The Worcester Sharks managed to get their Friday night contest at the DCU Center against the Syracuse Crunch game into overtime with an extra attacker goal after being outplayed for most of the early parts of the contest, but for the first time this season couldn't capitalize on the open ice of the new three on three extra session in the AHL and instead found themselves having to kill a penalty. A little bad luck resulted in a Crunch goal, but some worse luck in the opening period may have some longer term effects as Travis Oleksuk appears to be lost for some time with a right shoulder injury after crashing into the boards during the first period.
Worcester Sharks goaltender Troy Grosenick made 33 saves Friday night against
the Syracuse Crunch, some certainly of the 'highlight' variety, but that was
not enough as the WorSharks lost 3-2 in overtime.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED
For video highlights we once again take a look at the WorSharks YouTube channel.
Scratches for the Worcester Sharks were Chris Crane and Gus Young. Eriah Hayes was assigned to the WorSharks before the game but wasn't expected to arrive in the Bay State until late Friday evening. J.P. Anderson was once again the back up goaltender.
Looking at Worcester's upcoming schedule barring an injury to Troy Grosenick it's anyone's guess as to when Anderson will see his first action in the AHL. The WorSharks don't have a three-in-three until mid-December, which is usually an automatic two goaltender weekend. November 2nd at Hartford might be the day as that Sunday afternoon roadie comes after a Saturday night home game for Worcester, but many times previously Sommer has stayed with the same goaltender on occasions like that. The team record for consecutive starts to begin a season is nine, with both Thomas Greiss (2008-2009) and Alex Stalock (2011-2012) tying the mark. That Hartford game would be the WorSharks eighth game, so if Anderson doesn't start that game it's possible Grosenick will shatter the old mark.
There's a good chance Friday's loss will have some significant longer term consequences after Travis Oleksuk was forced to leave the game in the first period after crashing awkwardly into the boards deep in the Syracuse end. Oleksuk got up and off under his own power as the play moved into the WorSharks zone, but after sitting on the bench for a few moments was quickly ushered into the Worcester dressing room by trainer Matt White. Oleksuk did not return to action and was seen by many after the game with his right arm in a sling. There was no official work of the extent of Oleksuk's injury, although WorSharks head coach Roy Sommer guessed to T&G reporter Bill Ballou that it was a "shoulder-separation" type injury.
The Worcester Sharks have given up 14 goals in five games this season, and Taylor Doherty has been on the ice for more than half of them. Presuming there are no late fixes to box scores (and this writer doesn't expect any in this area) Doherty has been on the ice for eight goals against. The rest of the defensive corps and their goals against are Dylan DeMelo (6), Konrad Abeltshauser (5), Matt Taormina (4), Matt Tennyson (3), and Taylor Fedun (2).
Funny aside about the Syracuse Crunch. Generally in AHL arenas teams are listed on the scoreboard by their nickname instead of their city/location name. That is, predictably, also the case in Hershey where the Bears play. The exception in Hershey is for when the Crunch are in town, where they are shown on the in-arena scoreboards as Syracuse as they refuse to use the word "Crunch" in the building. The reason? The Hershey Company, which nearly everyone knows as the makers of various candies, makes a chocolate bar made of milk chocolate with crisped rice mixed in called "Krackle". Their prime competition in the US market for chocolate bars is Nestlé, whose version of that candy bar is called the Nestlé Crunch.
The three stars of the game were
1. SYR – 89 Nikita Nesterov (gwg)
2. WOR – 18 Micheal Haley (gtg)
3. SYR – 33 Dalton Smith (g)
The Sharkspage player of the game is Troy Grosenick.
Even strength lines
Syracuse 1 1 0 1 – 3
Worcester 1 0 1 0 – 2
1st Period-1, Worcester, Abeltshauser 1 (Hamilton, Trupp), 7:54 (PP). 2, Syracuse, Smith 1 (Samson), 8:27. Penalties-Vermin Syr (boarding), 1:45; Blujus Syr (tripping), 6:53.
2nd Period-3, Syracuse, Angelidis 1 (Paradis), 9:54. Penalties-Witkowski Syr (fighting), 4:13; Haley Wor (fighting), 4:13; Richard Syr (roughing), 4:58; Smith Syr (fighting), 4:58; Bonneau Wor (fighting), 4:58.
3rd Period-4, Worcester, Haley 4 (Emanuelsson, Carpenter), 18:49. Penalties-Tarasov Wor (high-sticking), 0:28; Corrente Syr (tripping), 11:13.
OT Period-5, Syracuse, Nesterov 1 (Marchessault), 5:08 (PP). Penalties-Trupp Wor (tripping), 4:01.
Shots on Goal-Syracuse 12-12-6-3-33. Worcester 9-3-16-0-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Syracuse 1 / 2; Worcester 1 / 4.
Goalies-Syracuse, Gudlevskis 2-1-0 (28 shots-26 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 3-1-0 (33 shots-30 saves).
Referees-Garrett Rank (48).
Linesmen-Frank Murphy (29), Todd Whittemore (70).
Turnovers and mental mistakes cost WorSharks in 5-4 loss to Hartford
The Worcester Sharks found themselves down a couple goals early in the third period due to their inability to keep possession of the puck, but two quick strikes got them back to even and when it seemed the contest was bound for overtime a huge mental mistake on a line change resulted in a Hartford Wolf Pack goal with just 18 seconds remaining in regulation to send the sparse crowd home unhappy after a 5-4 loss Tuesday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was the WorSharks first loss of the season.
Worcester Sharks forward Melker Karlsson had a goal and two assists
Tuesday night, but it wasn't enough as the WorSharks caused their own
demise with poor play in a 5-4 loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED
For the highlight video we once again turn to the Worcester Sharks YouTube channel.
Scratches for Worcester were Daniil Tarasov and Gus Young. J.P. Anderson was the backup goaltender. On Sunday the San Jose Sharks recalled James Sheppard from his rehab assignment, and with head coach Roy Sommer sending an early season message to Tarasov that allowed spaces for fan favorite Jimmy Bonneau and rookie Chris Crane to get into the lineup. Bonneau hadn't played since opening night in Binghamton, while Tuesday was Crane's first action of the season. That just leaves Young as the last roster player yet to suit up for the WorSharks.
Despite being just four games into the 2014-15 season turnovers are already a big issue. Nearly every goal scored against the WorSharks this season has come off a turnover. There are two notable exception; on Saturday Dylan DeMelo fanned on a clearing attempt that led to Providence tying the game, and on Tuesday veteran Micheal Haley missed a line change that allowed Hartford to have a five skater on four advantage. By the time Haley could get into the play it was all but over for Worcester. If the WorSharks can cut down on the senseless turnovers and mindless errors they could be a very good team.
Well traveled netminder Cedrick Desjardins started the game for the Wolf Pack, but after twice having Worcester players crashed into him by his defenseman he had to leave the game at 7:54 of the middle period with what looked like an arm injury. Six foot eight inch Jason Missiaen, the tallest goaltender in pro hockey, took over for Desjardins and earned the win.
The WorSharks had two goals disallowed by the referee tandem of Geoff Miller and Olivier Gouin, with one each happening on both ends of the rink. In the first period Worcester had a goal waved off because while the puck was under Desjardins and in the net it appeared the WorSharks forwards may have pushed Desjardins into the net, which is a no-no. The second time, in the middle period, the puck was clearly in the net but the goal disallowed because the referee claimed it was "frozen" by Desjardins. Let's just say this writer disagrees with the second call, and from my perch just in front of the press box it was clear the puck was loose and not covered by the goaltender.
In the last four periods of regulation hockey Worcester has allowed a goal in the last minute three times. If that turns into a trend it will undoubtedly turn into more losses.
Streaking WorSharks: Melker Karlsson (2g,2a), Haley (2g,a), Taylor Fedun (g,a), Ryan Carpenter (2a), Jeremy Langlois (2a), and Travis Oleksuk (2a) have points in two straight. Fedun is the only player with a shot on goal in each of the four Worcester games.
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 15 Melker Karlsson (g,2a)
2. WOR – 18 Micheal Haley (g,a)
3. HFD – 29 Danny Kristo (g,2a)
The Sharkspage player of the game was Taylor Fedun.
Even strength lines
Hartford 2 1 2 – 5
Worcester 1 1 2 – 4
1st Period-1, Worcester, Emanuelsson 3 (Oleksuk), 2:05. 2, Hartford, Allen 1 (Kristo), 11:30. 3, Hartford, Lindberg 3 (Haggerty, Vaive), 19:15. Penalties-Fedun Wor (cross-checking), 6:26; Miller Hfd (tripping), 8:14; Spinell Hfd (interference), 15:32.
2nd Period-4, Worcester, Karlsson 2 (Tennyson, Langlois), 7:54 (PP). 5, Hartford, Kristo 1 (Tarnasky), 11:39. Penalties-Crabb Hfd (hooking), 5:27; Potulny Hfd (hooking), 6:47; Noreau Hfd (holding), 12:23; Haley Wor (slashing), 17:37.
3rd Period-6, Hartford, Bourque 1 (Miller, Haggerty), 1:52 (PP). 7, Worcester, Haley 3 (Karlsson, Carpenter), 2:30. 8, Worcester, Fedun 1 (Haley, Karlsson), 4:25. 9, Hartford, Bodie 1 (Hughes, Kristo), 19:42. Penalties-Hamilton Wor (high-sticking), 0:51; served by Vaive Hfd (bench minor – too many men), 5:30; Trupp Wor (goaltender interference), 6:06; Oleksuk Wor (hooking), 10:09.
Shots on Goal-Hartford 8-11-8-27. Worcester 11-14-11-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 1 / 5; Worcester 1 / 6.
Goalies-Hartford, Desjardins 2-0-0 (19 shots-17 saves); Missiaen 1-0-0 (17 shots-15 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 3-1-0 (27 shots-22 saves).
Referees-Geoff Miller (28), Olivier Gouin (66).
Linesmen-Alex Stagnone (7), Robert St. Lawrence (10).
DeMelo strikes in OT as WorSharks defeat Providence 4-3
The Worcester Sharks had regulation goals by Taylor Doherty, Melker Karlsson, and Micheal Haley, and another outstanding performance in goal by Troy Grosenick put the WorSharks in a great position to beat the Providence Bruins but two late failed clearing attempts allowed the PBruins to tie it with just 4.7 seconds remaining in the third period. In what is hopefully going to be a trend Worcester capitalized on the open ice of the new three-on-three portion of overtime and Dylan DeMelo sent the home town fans home happy on a wrist shot laser over the glove of Providence goaltender Malcolm Subban with just 26.8 seconds left in the extra session for a 4-3 WorSharks win Saturday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 5,809 fans.
Worcester Sharks defenseman Dylan DeMelo celebrates his game winning
OT goal Saturday night in the WorSharks 4-3 victory over the Providence
Bruins at the DCU Center in Worcester.
Photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED
The WorSharks have uploaded the game highlight to YouTube, and since they went to all that trouble we may as well give them a shoutout for doing it and then use the video here.
Scratches for the Worcester Sharks were Jimmy Bonneau, Chris Crane, and Gus Young. Prior to the game Eriah Hayes was recalled by San Jose to New Jersey where the Sharks were taking on the Devils. Hayes was didn't have a point in 7:38 of action and had three shots on goal for the big club. The backup goaltender for the WorSharks was J.P. Anderson.
Before the start of the game the WorSharks raised a banner commemorating the 20th season of AHL hockey in the city of Worcester. Among the banner raisers was the standard group of city officials, DCU Center general manager Sandy Dunn, some San Jose Sharks brass, WorSharks Booster Club president Rich Lundin, former IceCats Shawn Heaphy and Shayne Toporowski, and current WorSharks player Jimmy Bonneau. Lundin also played another role in the celebrations, although few outside section 108 knew about it. Skating out of the Sharks' head at the Zamboni entrance were youth hockey players wearing a jersey from each of the 20 AHL seasons. All those jerseys, which were all game worn, are owned by Lundin.
DeMelo's overtime goal, officially at 6:33, is the second latest regular season OT game winner in AHL history. The earliest OT game winner was the first scored in the AHL's new three-on-three format, by the WorSharks Matt Taormina at 6:34 October 11th in Binghamton. I don't think it should be overlooked that both of Worcester's three-on-three goals have been scored by defenseman. That's going to be a key in the new OT format, and the WorSharks have five blueliners that should excel at it.
Speaking of the new OT format, which is in place to reduce shootouts, it's hard to call it anything but a success. Through 12 overtime games this season in the AHL there have been five four-on-four goals, six three-on-three goals, and just a single game went to the shootout. Having watched several of the three-on-three sessions via streaming video and now last night's at the DCU center I can tell you the fans are really in to it. I have no doubt the NHL will adopt the rule for next season.
More on DeMelo's overtime game winner…that makes two overtime wins on the season for the WorSharks, already surpassing last season's single extra session game winner and ties the mark of the 2012-13 squad. The WorSharks team record for overtime goals is seven set in the 2008-09 season, where Ryan Vesce also set the individual team record with four on the season. Both records are likely in jeopardy under the new overtime format.
The WorSharks are now 3-0-0 on the young 2014-2015 season, their best start since Worcester started with four straight wins to start the 2007-08 campaign. The win in their home opener improves the WorSharks record to 4-3-1-1 in their first game at the DCU Center of the season. It was the third time Worcester entertained Providence in the home opener during the Sharks era, and amazingly enough all three games have been decided in overtime. The first was won by Worcester on a Ryan Vesce OT game winner to begin the 2007-2008 campaign, and Providence won the WorSharks 2010-2011 home opener on a Martin St. Pierre OT goal.
Had a brief conversation during a pregame VIP gathering with WorSharks Vice-President Jon Gustafson and GM Joe Will. I did ask one "on the record" question, and although it was a little tongue-in-cheek their answer was worth mentioning. Knowing that neither would give any insight about a lease extension at the DCU Center I asked if San Jose chose the Allen Americans as their ECHL affiliate because the Americans have the best looking logo in that league. Both laughed and agreed it was one of the best minor league hockey logos out there, but then went on about how great an operation the folks down there have going on, how good the facilities are, and overall gave the organization in Allen huge kudos. And it wasn't like they were just spouting PR-type answers, both were legitimately excited with the affiliation. When you consider how good the San Jose folks are at dodging question to get such a positive reply from two ranking members of the organization is really saying something about the Allen Americans.
Just a note for history's sake: during the off season the AHL introduced a player safety rule that requires players who lose their helmets during the course of play to either immediately return to their team bench or to retrieve and replace their helmet–chin strap included–before returning to the play. Saturday night saw the first called violation of the rule when Oklahoma City's Steve Pinizzotto was assessed a minor for "helmet violation".
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 2 Dylan DeMelo (game winning OT goal)
2. PRO – 13 Alexander Khokhlachev (g,2a)
3. WOR – 4 Taylor Doherty (g,a)
The Sharkspage player of the game was Troy Grosenick.
Even strength lines
Providence 1 1 1 0 – 3
Worcester 2 1 0 1 – 4
1st Period-1, Worcester, Doherty 1 (Tarasov, Oleksuk), 3:08. 2, Worcester, Karlsson 1 (Carpenter, Abeltshauser), 9:14. 3, Providence, Pastrnak 2 (Khokhlachev, Youds), 15:43. Penalties-Fallstrom Pro (hooking), 5:34; Knight Pro (elbowing), 16:46.
2nd Period-4, Providence, Caron 1 (Pastrnak, Khokhlachev), 4:56. 5, Worcester, Haley 2 (Hamilton, Doherty), 13:17. Penalties-Tennyson Wor (holding), 17:01; Pastrnak Pro (high-sticking), 17:41.
3rd Period-6, Providence, Khokhlachev 1 (Pastrnak, Trotman), 19:55. Penalties-Warsofsky Pro (holding), 3:51.
OT Period-7, Worcester, DeMelo 1 (Fedun, Langlois), 6:33. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Providence 9-12-8-1-30. Worcester 11-7-7-6-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 0 / 1; Worcester 0 / 4.
Goalies-Providence, Subban 1-1-0 (31 shots-27 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 3-0-0 (30 shots-27 saves).
Referees-Mark Lemelin (41).
Linesmen-Brian MacDonald (72), Alex Stagnone (7).
Petter Emanuelsson nets both goals in WorSharks 2-1 victory over Providence
The Worcester Sharks got two first period goals from newcomer Petter Emanuelsson and 33 saves from goaltender Troy Grosenick to defeat the Providence Bruins 2-1 Friday night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island in front of 8,311 fans. Rylan Schwartz assisted on both WorSharks goals while James Sheppard had an official assist on the first Emanuelsson tally and an unofficial one on the second. The two teams meet again Saturday night at the DCU Center in Worcester's home opener.
Worcester Sharks winger Petter Emanuelsson (#41 in teal) from the top of the crease
deflecting Rylan Schwartz's cross ice pass past PBruins' goaltender Malcolm Subban
while David Warsofsky (#5 in gold) attempts to get back into the play
Photo credit: Video capture for Sharkspage
For video we point to SendToNews.com as AHLLive seems to be lagging way behind in the posting of highlights. There's no announcer sound on the tape, but the video quality is very good. WorSharks at Providence video highlights.
Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau, Chris Crane, Melker Karlsson (day to day, undisclosed injury), and Gus Young. Before the game the WorSharks had a couple transactions, with forward Derek DeBlois being released from his PTO and James Sheppard heading to Worcester on a conditioning assignment. It was a little odd that Worcester released DeBlois as many hockey operations people, including head coach Roy Sommer in a pregame interview on WTAG, referred to DeBlois as "a young Andrew Desjardins". Considering how he turned out how is DeBlois not worth an AHL contract? J.P. Anderson was the backup goaltender.
Video replay could have been an issue in Providence last night, and the Pbruins may have shot themselves in the foot because of it. After a wild goal mouth scramble in front of Providence goaltender Malcolm Subban referee Ryan Hersey went to go look at the video to determine when the puck crossed the line. Only the replay equipment wasn't working. Later in the game when a potential Pbruins was scored into a net that was off the goal pegs the video was working but Hersey correctly–because it was unavailable for Worcester–refused to view it. Providence then violated AHL rules by showing the video to the crowd in attendance.
With the WorSharks in their standard teal road jerseys and Providence in their Friday gold sweaters we had another color on color game between the two clubs. We're entering dead horse territory when I mention once again the AHL should do what it can to make sure more of these type of games happen.
We're only two games into the season and already we've gotten a scoring change, although an expected one. Bryan Lerg was indeed credited with a "plus" on Matt Taormina's overtime game winner last Saturday. There's an outside chance we might have another on Emanuelsson's second goal, but the video isn't clear that Sheppard touched the puck before it went to the left wing half boards to Schwartz.
The San Jose Sharks and Worcester Sharks have signed an affiliation agreement with the Allen Americans of the ECHL. The Americans were one of the CHL clubs that merged with the ECHL–technically called an expansion team by the league–and Worcester already has a player on the squad in goaltender Aaron Dell. There probably won't be too many Sharks players assigned to Allen, but they have a pretty cool logo so that's worth something. The Americans have also done something that has never happened in the Sharks organization: won a championship. Allen is the two time defending Ray Miron President's Cup champion, and with the CHL folding they may hold on to that trophy for some time.
Speaking of the ECHL. with their rosters finalized–or more correctly, as finalized as an ECHL roster can be–we'll look at the former WorSharks playing at the AA level. As of yesterday it was Chad Costello (ALN), Riley Gill (ALN), Jim McKenzie (BAK), Jason Pitton (BRM), Brodie Reid (ELM), Nathan Moon (EVN), Ty Wishart (EVN), Mikael Tam (FW), Mike Banwell (GRN), James McEwan (GWI), James Livingston (IDH), Lane Scheidl (KAL), Nathan Longpre (KAL), Sacha Guimond (KAL), Brock Higgs (REA), David Marshall (REA), Adam Comrie (REA), Jeff Jakaitis (SC), Garet Hunt (STK), Mike Pereira (STK), Peter Sivak (STK), Michael Pelech (UTA), Riley Brace (WHL), Erick Lizon (WIC), Alex Bourret (WIC).
As noted previously, the WorSharks have a few players signed to AHL deals assigned to ECHL clubs: Goaltender Aaron Dell (ALN) that was mentioned above, defensemen Kyle Bigos (ONT), Brendan Ellis (SC), and Nick Jones (IND).
The three stars of the game were:
1. WOR – 41 Petter Emanuelsson (2g)
2. WOR – 1 Troy Grosenick (33 saves)
3. PRO – 47 Malcolm Subban (30 saves)
The Sharkspage player of the game is Rylan Schwartz. It still being early in the season we neglected to mention the Sharkspage player of the game for last Saturday in Binghamton, and it was Troy Grosenick.
Even strength lines
Worcester 2 0 0 – 2
Providence 1 0 0 – 1
1st Period-1, Worcester, Emanuelsson 1 (Sheppard, Schwartz), 3:50. 2, Providence, Florek 1 (Ferlin ), 9:41. 3, Worcester, Emanuelsson 2 (Schwartz), 17:14. Penalties-served by Sheppard Wor (bench minor – too many men), 10:18; served by Khokhlachev Pro (bench minor – too many men), 19:17.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Doherty Wor (roughing), 3:17; Robins Pro (roughing), 3:17; Werek Pro (holding), 5:59; Carpenter Wor (hooking), 8:36; Carpenter Wor (slashing), 17:37.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Pastrnak Pro (tripping), 9:50; Haley Wor (goaltender interference), 16:22.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 13-9-10-32. Providence 8-12-14-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 3; Providence 0 / 4.
Goalies-Worcester, Grosenick 2-0-0 (34 shots-33 saves). Providence, Subban 1-1-0 (32 shots-30 saves).
Referees-Ryan Hersey (8).
Linesmen-Chris Millea (33), Jack Millea (23).
WorSharks use record setting goal by Matt Taormina to defeat Binghamton 3-2 in OT
The Worcester Sharks jumped out to two single goal leads on tallies by Ryan Carpenter and Michael Haley but twice Binghamton Senators forward Ryan Dzingel turned WorSharks turnovers into goals to send the two teams into overtime, where Worcester defenseman Matt Taormina converted in the new three on three portion of the extra stanza to give the WorSharks a 3-2 win in their 2014-2015 season debut. Eriah Hayes and Taylor Fedun both had two assist for Worcester while Troy Grosenick turned aside 41 of 43 Senators shots.
Worcester Sharks defenseman Matt Taormina (#20) with the overtime game winner
to give the WorSharks a 3-2 victory. At 6:34 of OT it is currently the latest
regulation OT goal scored in American Hockey League history.
Photo credit: Video capture for Sharkspage
For video highlights we usually point at AHLlive, but there doesn't seem to be any at all from last night there. Hopefully that's not something new. So for highlights we'll link to SendToNews.com. They are embeddable but because they autoplay we'll just link to them. It's broken into three videos, for the other two just look for "additional clips" on that page. WorSharks vs Senators video highlights.
Scratches for the WorSharks were Chris Crane, Derek DeBlois, Melker Karlsson (upper body injury, didn't make the trip to Binghamton), and Gus Young. J.P. Anderson was the back-up netminder. Before Worcester's season even started there was a visit from the Worcester Shuttle as Eriah Hayes cleared waivers and was sent down by San Jose. Hayes took the red eye into Syracuse, New York but the cross country trip didn't seem to bother him as Hayes assisted on both WorSharks goals in regulation.
Dylan Demelo, Travis Oleksuk, and Taylor Fedun all wore the "A" on their jerseys as no captain has been named as of yet. Apparently the plan is to have three alternate captains on the road and three different alternate captains at home. There's been no press release from the WorSharks about the situation so we'll just have to wait and see who will be wearing "A"s next Saturday at home against Providence. Worcester has named a captain every season except 2006-2007, the WorSharks first in the city.
The WorSharks set a franchise record for most shots in a season opener with their 48 last night. The previous record was 43, set in the opener of the 2007-08 season in a 6-4 loss to the Lowell Devils. Oddly enough Worcester just had a single shot in overtime, Taormina game winner. The 43 shots they surrendered to Binghamton is also a record for shots against in a season opener.
For a franchise that has a hard time scoring Carpenter's goal at 8:15 of the first is just the fifth fastest to open a season for the WorSharks. The fastest goal to start a season was in 2009-10 in Worcester's 3-2 win over Adirondack. Andrew Desjardins scored at 3:08 of the opening period, assisted by "Crazed Rats" linemate Dan DaSilva and eventual Eddie Shore Award (AHL best defenseman) winner Danny Groulx.
A scoring oddity may have bitten the official scorer in Binghamton. The overtime game winner is listed as giving Evan Trupp and Fedun assists on Taormina's game winner and all three players are listed as having a "plus" on the play. The problem is in the picture shown above, taken straight from the game highlight video, the WorSharks player shown to the left of Senators goaltender Andrew Hammond is Bryan Lerg (#11). While the assist may belong to Fedun the plus belongs to Lerg. Worcester Sharks play by play and PR man Eric Lindquist is very good at straightening out those things, so we'll pay attention to see what scoring changes are made by the AHL.
Turnovers were a big issue for the WorSharks last season and it appears that issue hasn't been fixed. Both of Ryan Dzingel's goals were a direct result of a Worcester defensive turnover. It could have been worse as Troy Grosenick bailed out Taormina when his turnover sent the Senators Max McCormick in all alone shorthanded late in the middle period. Grosenick did it again in the three on three portion of overtime when a Tennyson turnover sent Matt Puempel in all alone in a long breakaway.
A quick search of AHL rosters on opening night shows 15 former WorSharks players still playing in the AHL. They are Sena Acolatse (ADK), Steve Bernier (ALB), John McCarthy (CHI), Nathan Longpre (CHI), Brennan Evans (GR), Tim Kennedy (HER), Mike Moore (HER), Curt Gogol (IWA), Nick Petrecki (RCH), Denny Urban (SPR), Yanni Gourde (SYR), Kevin Henderson (TEX), William Wrenn (TEX), Frazer McLaren (TOR), Bobby Farnham (WBS). We'll run down the ECHL rosters once their regular season starts.
Even Strength Lines
Worcester 2 0 0 1 – 3
Binghamton 1 1 0 0 – 2
1st Period-1, Worcester, Carpenter 1 (Hayes, Fedun), 8:15. 2, Binghamton, Dzingel 1 (Thompson, McCormick), 14:34. 3, Worcester, Haley 1 (Doherty, Hayes), 18:06. Penalties-Doherty Wor (hooking), 4:24.
2nd Period-4, Binghamton, Dzingel 2 (Grant), 16:37. Penalties-Doherty Wor (hooking), 5:00; Johnson Bng (interference), 6:03; Grant Bng (holding), 11:33; Robinson Bng (hooking), 18:19.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Pageau Bng (cross-checking), 8:39; Tarasov Wor (holding), 9:03; Trupp Wor (holding), 12:23.
OT Period-5, Worcester, Taormina 1 (Trupp, Fedun), 6:34. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Worcester 19-15-13-1-48. Binghamton 12-9-16-6-43.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 4; Binghamton 0 / 4.
Goalies-Worcester, Grosenick 1-0-0 (43 shots-41 saves). Binghamton, Hammond 0-0-0 (48 shots-45 saves).
Referees-Darcy Burchell (42), Ryan Fraser (14).
Linesmen-John Everett (82), Francis Trempe (85).
A closer look at the WorSharks 2014-15 schedule
Never let it be said I wouldn't steal a blogging idea to help Worcester Sharks fans get a better understanding of what the team faces in the upcoming season. Good friend Michael Fornabaio over at the Connecticut Post wrote a blog post where he looked at the number of three-in-three weekends the Bridgeport Sound Tigers have this season and the road the Sound Tigers and that Sunday afternoon opponent would take get to that game. Noticing that the WorSharks made Fornabaio's list I was curious to see how such a list would look for Worcester. I took it one step further and added any game where one team could have an advantage over the other due to travel.
This list makes a couple of presumptions. It presumes that teams will be traveling the day before to games that are more then three and a half hours (give or take) away if possible. That would seem to negate the traveling disadvantage the road team would have. It also doesn't take into account the "outpost" franchises of St John's or Norfolk that spend larger amounts of time away from home, and conversely, longer home streaks. Just their previous couple games are taken into account.
Sun, Oct 26, 2014 Portland at Worcester
WorSharks have Saturday off while Portland plays at Manchester Friday and home vs Syracuse Saturday. Advantage: Worcester
Sat, Nov 1, 2014 Hershey at Worcester
WorSharks are off Friday night while Hershey plays at Manchester. Advantage: Worcester
Sun, Nov 2, 2014 Worcester at Hartford
WorSharks play at home Saturday night while Hartford has to make a mad dash from Lehigh Valley for Sunday's game. Advantage: Worcester
Sat, Nov 8, 2014 Providence at Worcester
WorSharks are off Friday while Providence hosts Portland. Advantage: Worcester
Sat, Nov 22, 2014 Worcester at Hershey
WorSharks play at Lehigh Valley Friday while Hershey is idle. Advantage: Hershey
Fri, Dec 12, 2014 Worcester at Hartford
WorSharks idle Thursday while Hartford hosts Albany. Advantage: Worcester
Sun, Dec 14, 2014 Portland at Worcester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks play at Hartford and then host Manchester. Portland hosts Manchester and then at Providence. Advantage: Push
Sun, Dec 21, 2014 Worcester at Bridgeport
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks play at Manchester and Portland while Bridgeport has a pair in Norfolk and then has to make a long trek home. Advantage: Worcester
Sat, Dec 27, 2014 Worcester at Syracuse
WorSharks host Manchester and then has to make a mad dash to Syracuse, who are at home vs Albany on Friday. Advantage: Syracuse
Sun, Jan 4, 2015 Worcester at Providence
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks host Manchester and then at Springfield, Providence hosts Bridgeport and then plays at Portland. Advantage: Push
Sat, Jan 17, 2015 W-B/Scranton at Worcester
WorSharks host Manchester while Wilkes-Barre has Friday night off. Advantage: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Sun, Jan 18, 2015 Worcester at Manchester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks host Manchester and Wilkes-Barre while Manchester plays at Worcester and then hosts Providence. Advantage: Push
Sun, Feb 22, 2015 Worcester at Manchester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks host Norfolk twice. Manchester hosts two for St John's. Advantage: Push
Sun, Mar 1, 2015 Worcester at Manchester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks host St John's for a pair. Manchester hosts Hartford and then goes to Portland. Advantage: Push
Sun, Mar 8, 2015 Worcester at Providence
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks host Hartford and Bridgeport. Providence hosts Hershey and Springfield. Advantage: Push
Sun, Mar 29, 2015 Springfield at Worcester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks play at Springfield and then host St. John's while Springfield hosts Worcester and Hartford. Advantage: Push
Sun, Apr 12, 2015 Albany at Worcester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks are home and home vs Providence while Albany is at Binghamton and Hartford. Advantage: Worcester
Sun, Apr 19, 2015 Portland at Worcester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks are at Providence and Manchester while Portland is at Manchester and hosts Providence. Advantage: Push
My totally subjective count has the WorSharks with the scheduling advantage seven times while their opponents have it on just three occasions. Eight times, all being three-in-threes, both teams have it pretty much equal with the scheduling. It will be interesting to look back this spring to see how Worcester did in each of these games.
WorSharks announce 2014-2015 regular season schedule
The long awaited AHL schedule was released today, and it's more of the same for the Worcester Sharks as they will once again play a division heavy schedule as 40 of their 76 games will be played against their Atlantic Division rivals. With games split evenly home and away the WorSharks will face the Providence Bruins and Manchester Monarchs a dozen times each, and will see the St. John's IceCaps and Portland Pirates eight times. The rest of Worcester's schedule are the remaining Eastern Conference teams. The WorSharks will face the Springfield Falcons six times; the Albany Devils, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hershey Bears, Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and Norfolk Admirals four times each. The remaining Eastern Conference teams, the Binghamton Senators, Syracuse Crunch, and Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins will see the WorSharks twice.
Thirty-two of the 38 Worcester home games will be played on the weekends, with 20 of the 32 occurring on either Saturday or Sunday. The WorSharks also have a weekday home game during December school vacation week (Tuesday, December 30th). Worcester will host 12 Friday home games this season with a start time of 7:30pm. The Friday December 26th game has a special 5pm starting time. The season opener is October 11th in Binghamton, the home opener is Saturday, October 18th against the Providence Bruins.
As has become tradition, Sharkspage tries to predict the number of nights the WorSharks will spend in hotels. In past years we've been almost spot on, so if that trend continues and knowing that the team will take advantage of an extra travel day or two built into the schedule it looks like Worcester will be spending 22 nights on the road, with most of them taking place in Pennsylvania or St. John's.
Stay tuned to Sharkspage for full season coverage of the Worcester Sharks, and follow me on twitter for up to date goings on with the WorSharks.
Sat, Oct 11, 2014 Worcester at Binghamton 7:05 pm EDT
Fri, Oct 17, 2014 Worcester at Providence 7:05 pm EDT
Sat, Oct 18, 2014 Providence at Worcester 7:00 pm EDT
Tue, Oct 21, 2014 Hartford at Worcester 7:00 pm EDT
Fri, Oct 24, 2014 Syracuse at Worcester 7:30 pm EDT
Sun, Oct 26, 2014 Portland at Worcester 3:00 pm EDT
Wed, Oct 29, 2014 Portland at Worcester 7:00 pm EDT
Sat, Nov 1, 2014 Hershey at Worcester 7:00 pm EDT
Sun, Nov 2, 2014 Worcester at Hartford 3:00 pm EST
Wed, Nov 5, 2014 Lehigh Valley at Worcester 7:00 pm EST
Sat, Nov 8, 2014 Providence at Worcester 7:00 pm EST
Tue, Nov 11, 2014 Worcester at Springfield 3:00 pm EST
Fri, Nov 14, 2014 Manchester at Worcester 7:30 pm EST
Sat, Nov 15, 2014 Springfield at Worcester 7:00 pm EST
Wed, Nov 19, 2014 Worcester at Manchester 10:00 am EST
Fri, Nov 21, 2014 Worcester at Lehigh Valley 7:05 pm EST
Sat, Nov 22, 2014 Worcester at Hershey 7:00 pm EST
Wed, Nov 26, 2014 Worcester at Portland 7:00 pm EST
Fri, Nov 28, 2014 Springfield at Worcester 7:30 pm EST
Sat, Nov 29, 2014 Providence at Worcester 7:00 pm EST
Fri, Dec 5, 2014 Worcester at St. John's 7:30 pm NST
Sat, Dec 6, 2014 Worcester at St. John's 7:30 pm NST
Fri, Dec 12, 2014 Worcester at Hartford 7:00 pm EST
Sat, Dec 13, 2014 Manchester at Worcester 7:00 pm EST
Sun, Dec 14, 2014 Portland at Worcester3:00 pm EST
Fri, Dec 19, 2014 Worcester at Manchester 7:00 pm EST
Sat, Dec 20, 2014 Worcester at Portland 7:00 pm EST
Sun, Dec 21, 2014 Worcester at Bridgeport 3:00 pm EST
Fri, Dec 26, 2014 Manchester at Worcester 5:00 pm EST
Sat, Dec 27, 2014 Worcester at Syracuse 7:00 pm EST
Tue, Dec 30, 2014 Bridgeport at Worcester 7:00 pm EST
Fri, Jan 2, 2015 Manchester at Worcester 7:30 pm EST
Sat, Jan 3, 2015 Worcester at Springfield 7:00 pm EST
Sun, Jan 4, 2015 Worcester at Providence 3:05 pm EST
Fri, Jan 9, 2015 Binghamton at Worcester 7:30 pm EST
Sat, Jan 10, 2015 Providence at Worcester 7:00 pm EST
Tue, Jan 13, 2015 Manchester at Worcester 7:00 pm EST
Fri, Jan 16, 2015 Manchester at Worcester 7:30 pm EST
Sat, Jan 17, 2015 W-B/Scranton at Worcester 7:00 pm EST
Sun, Jan 18, 2015 Worcester at Manchester 3:00 pm EST
Wed, Jan 21, 2015 Worcester at Portland 7:00 pm EST
Fri, Jan 23, 2015 Albany at Worcester 7:30 pm EST
Sat, Jan 24, 2015 Worcester at Albany 2:00 pm EST
Fri, Jan 30, 2015 Worcester at Providence 7:05 pm EST
Sat, Jan 31, 2015 Providence at Worcester 7:00 pm EST
Wed, Feb 4, 2015 Worcester at Lehigh Valley 7:05 pm EST
Fri, Feb 6, 2015 Worcester at Norfolk 7:30 pm EST
Sat, Feb 7, 2015 Worcester at Norfolk 7:15 pm EST
Sat, Feb 14, 2015 Worcester at St. John's 7:30 pm NST
Sun, Feb 15, 2015 Worcester at St. John's 4:00 pm NST
Fri, Feb 20, 2015 Norfolk at Worcester 7:30 pm EST
Sat, Feb 21, 2015 Norfolk at Worcester 7:00 pm EST
Sun, Feb 22, 2015 Worcester at Manchester 3:00 pm EST
Fri, Feb 27, 2015 St. John's at Worcester 7:30 pm EST
Sat, Feb 28, 2015 St. John's at Worcester 7:00 pm EST
Sun, Mar 1, 2015 Worcester at Manchester 3:00 pm EST
Fri, Mar 6, 2015 Hartford at Worcester 7:30 pm EST
Sat, Mar 7, 2015 Bridgeport at Worcester 7:00 pm EST
Sun, Mar 8, 2015 Worcester at Providence 3:05 pm EDT
Wed, Mar 11, 2015 Worcester at Bridgeport 7:00 pm EDT
Fri, Mar 13, 2015 Worcester at Albany 7:00 pm EDT
Wed, Mar 18, 2015 Hershey at Worcester 7:00 pm EDT
Fri, Mar 20, 2015 St. John's at Worcester 7:30 pm EDT
Sat, Mar 21, 2015 Lehigh Valley at Worcester 7:00 pm EDT
Fri, Mar 27, 2015 Worcester at Springfield 7:00 pm EDT
Sat, Mar 28, 2015 St. John's at Worcester 7:00 pm EDT
Sun, Mar 29, 2015 Springfield at Worcester 3:00 pm EDT
Wed, Apr 1, 2015 Worcester at Hershey 7:00 pm EDT
Fri, Apr 3, 2015 Worcester at W-B/Scranton 7:05 pm EDT
Tue, Apr 7, 2015 Worcester at Portland 7:00 pm EDT
Fri, Apr 10, 2015 Worcester at Providence 7:05 pm EDT
Sat, Apr 11, 2015 Providence at Worcester7:00 pm EDT
Sun, Apr 12, 2015 Albany at Worcester 3:00 pm EDT
Fri, Apr 17, 2015 Worcester at Providence 7:05 pm EDT
Sat, Apr 18, 2015 Worcester at Manchester 7:00 pm EDT
Sun, Apr 19, 2015 Portland at Worcester 3:00 pm EDT
2013-2014 WorSharks final report card
As the American Hockey League playoffs swing through the second round and more teams join the Worcester Sharks in having the rest of the spring off it's time to grade the WorSharks players. We've set the limit at 38 games played–half the season–and are only grading players that finished the season playing in the organization. The players are listed by position, with forwards going first, followed by the defense and goaltenders. Forwards and defenseman are listed in order of their point totals for no other reason than that's how we've always done it. The last section is off ice personnel.
Players have been graded on how well they've done against the expectations that have been set for them and how well they've done compared to the other players on the roster. When looking at the grades remember that a "C" is average, meaning the player has done what was expected of them or that their play, based on the other players on the roster, has been average in nature. The contract status listed is what they will be as July 1st at the time of this posting, and NHL salary listed is their potential amount against the NHL salary cap.
Freddie Hamilton (64 games, 22-21-43, -14, 6PIM)
Contract status: Final season of NHL ELC ($626,667/$67,500)
Hamilton is on the cusp of being an everyday NHL player, although it won't be in the top six role he plays in Worcester. Hamilton should do well in San Jose as a third line checking forward and penalty killer. Likely will never see the twenty goal plateau in the NHL, if he gets enough games in the AHL next season he should easily hit that number again. He was one of the few players that excelled with everyone he was teamed with, and in turn made every one of those players better.
Grade: A
Travis Oleksuk (74 games, 19-21-40, -1, 20PIM)
Contract status: NHL RFA
Oleksuk started off the 2013-14 season the same way he ended the 12-13 campaign, and that's not a good thing. Oleksuk looked over his head at the AHL level and once again slowly drifted down the depth chart. The beginning of 2014 was like the light finally going on and Oleksuk suddenly was on fire and almost couldn't be stopped. His 16 goal and 27 point improvement from last season are anecdotally the best ever in Worcester pro hockey history. An almost certainty San Jose qualifies him in the off season.
Grade: B
Dan DaSilva (61 games, 17-20-37, -13, 67PIM)
Contract status: UFA
After two seasons of WorSharks fans screaming they wanted DaSilva back in a teal jersey Worcester Sharks GM Joe Will knew exactly who to turn to when the WorSharks offense was sputtering and on the verge of collapse. It took DaSilva a week to get back into the swing of things, but from that point on the Worcester Sharks were a completely different team. Fans are now yelling for DaSilva to be brought back for next season to wear the captain's "C". Hopefully Will is listening.
Grade: A
Daniil Tarasov (47-17-14-31, +2, 40PIM)
Contract status: Final season of NHL ELC ($680,000/$65,000)
Tarasov has tons of raw offensive skill and his defensive game is getting better, but his big issue is avoiding injury. Multiple stints on the injured list have hampered his development, and Tarasov's game really needs lots of refinements for him to have any chance at the NHL. The only question is if San Jose wants to keep trying to tap into his potential or will they look in another direction. With so little offensive talent in the pipeline the Sharks may have no choice but to keep trying with Tarasov.
Grade: C
Brodie Reid (55 games, 11-14-25, -1, 8PIM)
Contract status: NHL RFA
Another oft-injured player, Reid's big issue most of the season was staying out of WorSharks head coach Roy Sommer's dog house. A player with legitimate AHL top six talent Reid spent a significant amount of the season on the third and fourth lines where his skills couldn't be put to good use. On a team that lacked scoring having a player with his skill level in the bottom six, for whatever the reason, is inexcusable. It will be interesting to see if San Jose qualifies Reid. In this writer's opinion, they should.
Grade: C
Bracken Kearns (45 games, 6-19-25, -12, 72PIM)
Contract status: UFA
Kearns had some success in the NHL but with Worcester his play was very streaky and he never seemed to find his groove. Many times it seemed like Kearns was a half-step behind where he should have been, and he was never able to really establish himself in front of the net as he had in years past. His play on the power play was still fairly good because of the extra space he was given, but at even strength he was "just another guy" out there as opposed to the offensive leader he was expected to be.
Grade: C
Marek Viedensky (54 games, 6-17-23, +1, 29PIM)
Contract status: NHL RFA
It was another odd year for Viedensky, who looked good when he played but spent far too much time on the injury list or being a healthy scratch. For a guy that was so highly regarded coming out of juniors there is obviously something going on that is causing issues with him getting in the line-up. Viedensky certainly has the skills to play in the AHL but it's still a question if he can play in the NHL. It's also a question if San Jose qualifies him, and I'm far from certain they will. He's currently playing for Slovakia in the World Championships.
Grade: C
Eriah Hayes (59 games, 12-9-21, -15, 43PIM)
Contract status: Final season of NHL ELC ($655,000/$70,000)
Hayes made his NHL debut just after the new year following a rather pedestrian end to 2013, but if San Jose had a deeper prospect pool he likely would not have seen any NHL action. His play right after his return from the NHL was unimpressive, but a positive March and April showed signs of what Hayes has the potential to do over an entire season. The Sharks should bring in a veteran AHL power forward to really show Hayes the ropes so he can hopefully reach his full development.
Grade: C
Rylan Schwartz (73 games, 5-13-18, -16, 25PIM)
Contract status: Final season of NHL ELC ($650,000/$50,000)
Another player with an impressive scouting report that didn't meet those expectations. Schwartz was supposed to be an above average play maker and goal scorer but didn't do either of those things particularly well in the AHL. Schwartz did have a four game points streak in early March, but was otherwise mostly invisible on the ice. With so many centers in front of him on the depth chart Schwartz will need a big 2014-15 campaign to stick in the organization.
Grade: D
Jimmy Bonneau (45 games, 2-3-5, +3, 106PIM)
Contract status: UFA
Bonneau is the type of enforcer teams covet: knows when to drop the mitts, doesn't take dumb penalties, and doesn't kill you when he's on the ice taking a shift. You don't often see an enforcer wearing the alternate captain's "A", but Bonneau does and deservedly so. A plus player both on and off the ice the WorSharks should really be looking at bringing him back next season, and based on how–and when–Bonneau's 2013-14 campaign ended it seems like they may be looking to do that.
Grade: B
Matt Pelech (32 games, 3-1-4, -2, 73PIM)
Contract status: UFA
Pelech is a player that WorSharks fans love and fans of everyone else hates. He's tough to play against because he's so physical and because he often skirts the line between clean and "not so clean" play. If you're carrying the puck and Pelech is near you, you're going to get hit. Being able to play both forward and defense in the AHL is a huge plus for a player like Pelech, and that is probably enough for the organization to think about bringing him back for another season. But after breaking his hand in a fight and then being reluctant to drop the gloves after he may have seen the last of the NHL.
Grade: C
Dylan DeMelo (68 games, 2-22-24, -17, 51PIM)
Contract status: 2nd of 3 year NHL ELC ($633,333/$65,000)
In an odd contradiction, as a defenseman Demelo lead all WorSharks in assists but also lead the team in being in the penalty box when a power play goal was scored against. His constantly turning the puck over in his own end that led to more than a handful of chances against his goaltender where the goalie had literally no chance at all of making a save was a tremendous issue. DeMelo really needs to work on his vision of the ice when he's in his own end, otherwise he'll be just another in a long line of offensive-minded defenseman littering low level minor league hockey.
Grade: D
Matt Tennyson (54 games, 7-14-21, -25, 33PIM)
Contract status: NHL RFA
To say Tennyson had a terrible season would be a massive understatement. His (-25) is by far the WorSharks worst ever, and were it not for a late season recall to San Jose Tennyson may have made a run at the lowest ever plus/minus in Worcester pro hockey history (Jarrett Deuling's (-28) in 1994-95). Tennyson did do well on the power play (3-8-11), but the rest of his game was down right awful. San Jose will undoubtedly make him a qualifying offer because his upside is so high, but another season like 13-14 would be his last in the organization.
Grade: F
Konrad Abeltshauser (57 games, 6-15-21, E, 18PIM)
Contract status: Final season of NHL ELC ($633,333/$67,500)
With an over-ager year in juniors under his belt expectations were high for Abeltshauser, and after a slow start as he got used to the speed of the pro game his play began to look like what was expected out of him. A great end to the season solidified Abeltshauser as Worcester's best overall defenseman, and were it not for a knee injury he would have been representing Germany in the ongoing World Championships. Word is he will be fully recovered by training camp next season, which is good because he'll be looked at as a guy that might be splitting time between Worcester and San Jose.
Grade: B
Adam Comrie (56 games, 3-16-19, -11, 38PIM)
Contract status: NHL RFA
Comrie had a great end to the 2012-13 season and earned himself an NHL contract, but his 13-14 season will likely earn him a trip out of the organization. Comrie never got it going in the right direction this season, and was a healthy scratch for a large part of it. Silly penalties and poor play was his biggest issue, and the huge holes in his game were constantly exploited by opponents. In an organization with lots of defensive depth Comrie's offensive skills might be useful, but as an everyday pro defenseman there are far too many with more complete games available.
Grade: D
Sena Acolatse (41 games, 5-12-17, -5, 66PIM)
Contract status: NHL RFA
Another season, another long-term injury for Acolatse. After back to back seasons with facial injuries this season Acolatse broke bones in his leg. It's not like these are injures that could have been avoided by anything other than some luck, but once a player gets tagged with the "injury prone" label it's hard to shake that off. He does have the skills to play pro hockey, and if he can actually stay on the ice for a full season might turn into a serviceable NHL player. It's an almost certainty San Jose qualifies him, and hopefully luck will be on Acolatse's side in 14-15.
Grade: C
Taylor Doherty (69 games, 4-11-15, -6, 111PIM)
Contract status: NHL RFA
A much better offensive season for Doherty than the past two, his biggest issue is once again his lack of ability to use size to his advantage. Because Doherty doesn't play a particularly physical game opponents have no worries about skating toward him and trying to skate by him, and Doherty simply doesn't have the speed or agility to stop them. He does use his reach fairly well, but that won't be near good enough to make the NHL. Doherty really needs to learn to use his size or his future will be as an AHL depth defenseman.
Grade: D
Rob Davison (65 games, 3-6-9, -5, 113PIM)
Contract status: UFA
Davison was a serviceable NHL defenseman during his career, and he likely ends his pro career as a borderline serviceable AHL defenseman. Davison no longer possesses the speed to stop offensive players skating near him, and his physical game was far too often out of control and caused issues with everyone he was paired with by them being forced to cover more ground. Davison had a decent run as a pro hockey player, but unless something odd happens the end has come for him.
Grade: D
Troy Grosenick (35 games, 18-14-0, 2.62, .903)
Contract status: 2nd year of two year NHL contract ($625,000/$80,000)
No one really knew what Grosenick was going to bring to the pro game, but his upside was thought to be high enough that San Jose burned his entry level year last season and signed him to a two year NHL contract over the summer. What Grosenick brought to Worcester was visions of fan favorite Alex Stalock: a mobile, athletic goaltender that plays an unconventional style but just finds ways to keep the puck out of the net. Regardless of what happens with other players Grosenick should be entering next season as the organization's #3 goaltender and getting the majority of starts in Worcester.
Grade: A
Harri Sateri (45 games, 18-24-2, 2.95, .894)
Contract status: NHL RFA
Sateri had a hot and cold season, and unfortunately for him and the WorSharks it was cold far too often and never really hot enough during the rare occasions it was going well. While a poor defense in front of him lead to lots of problems, Sateri constantly failed to help himself by just not being able to consistently make the easy saves a pro goaltender at this level should make. Sateri was tied for second in the AHL for most losses this season and was not in the top 30 in either goals against or save percentage. San Jose will probably still qualify him, but don't be shocked if Sateri bolts for Europe.
Grade: D
Head coach Roy Sommer
Once again on paper this was a team that should have made the AHL playoffs. Instead, for the fourth season in a row, they finish outside the post season. Sommer did set the AHL record for career games as a head coach and the Sharks organization held a large ceremony honoring that achievement. Sommer is also the losingest head coach in the 78 year history of the AHL, but for some reason the organization didn't hold a ceremony honoring that. At some point hockey operations in San Jose has to realize the Roy Sommer era needs to end, and that some new blood in developing prospects might help them in winning the Stanley Cup.
Grade: F
WorSharks GM Joe Will
Taking over for Wayne Thomas, Will inherited a team lacking any sort of offensive firepower. After giving the WorSharks players some time to see if a goal scorer emerged Will then went out and signed several legitimate minor league goal scorers to bolster the Worcester line-up. Some worked out, other didn't. But Will kept trying, including having San Jose trade (or loan) away some NHL contracts in an "addition by subtraction" effort. For the most part, that worked out for the WorSharks. Will's real test is next season. let's see who he brings in to get this team into the post season.
Grade: B
The "210 Awards" for the WorSharks 2013-2014 season
With the Worcester Sharks regular season campaign coming to an end without a playoff run for the fourth season in a row, it's time to start with the end of season paperwork. Up first are the "210 Awards". For those new to the "210 Awards", they are a mix of serious and (hopefully) slightly humorous awards named for the moniker this writer uses on many message boards. This season's winners are…
Best Forward: Freddie Hamilton wins this one, not because he was the WorSharks point leader on the season but because no matter who he was lined up with he helped those players produce. Hamilton will likely not be a top-six forward in the NHL, but in the AHL there is little doubt he was the top forward in Worcester.
Best Defenseman: Konrad Abeltshauser. Defense was supposed to be the strength of the WorSharks, but it turned into its major Achilles' heel. While Abeltshauser had a slow start to his rookie campaign by the end of the season he was by far the team's best defender, and had he not been injured he was headed to the World Championships to play for Germany.
Tough Guy Award: Jimmy Bonneau. This award doesn't have to go to the best fighter on the team, but this time it does as Bonneau was not only the best with his fists on the squad he was also one of the toughest guys for opposing forwards to play against.
Best Single Game Performance: Matt Nieto. In a last minute switch from Dan DaSilva's Gordie Howe hat trick, Nieto's two goals and three assists on December 6th against Portland takes this award after a "recount". Things might have been different in Worcester this season had Nieto been here for more than two games.
Most Improved: Travis Oleksuk. Last season Oleksuk went 3-10-13 (and -12) in 60 games, and looked just totally overmatched most of the season. Oleksuk unfortunately picked up where he left off, going just 3-3-6 thru the end of December. The changing of the calendar was good for Oleksuk, as he turned it all around to finish 19-21-40. It's, anecdotally at least, the biggest improvement ever in Worcester pro hockey history.
Seventh Player: Travis Oleksuk. See "most improved" for the reason.
Rookie of the Year: Troy Grosenick. No one knew what Worcester was going to get from the Union alum, but San Jose was right in burning his ELC season at the end of last campaign to make sure Grosenick was in the fold. Most believe the rookie netminder has passed Harri Sateri on the depth chart. If he hasn't, he will soon.
Most Valuable Player: Dan DaSilva. You don't need stats to know why, because it doesn't tell the whole story anyway. This team was a complete mess before DaSilva arrived from the ECHL for his second stint with the team, and his presence helped solidify the squad and got the WorSharks pointed in the right direction. By far the most valuable player on the roster.
The Sharkspage Player of the Year: Troy Grosenick. For the first time ever we had a three way tie for the most times named as the Sharkspage player of the game, so we opened it up to fan voting and Grosenick prevailed. Bracken Kearns and Travis Oleksuk were originally tied with Grosenick at six.
So now that we've gotten the serious awards out of the way, here's a few that this writer thinks should be handed out…
The Mike Moore Award: For the player that gives 100% every single shift no matter the score or the situation, the obvious answer this season is Matt Pelech. WorSharks fans love him, opposing fans hate him, but he's always 100% every shift.
The Two-By-Two Award: Adam Comrie, for having the most penalty minutes without a major. Comrie had a very questionable ten minute misconduct in a game vs Portland, but still wins the award if you take that away.
The Iron Man Award: Usually given out to the player(s) playing in all 76 regular season games, will sit unawarded this season and no WorSharks player played every game this season. Travis Oleksuk gets an honorable mention for appearing in 74 of 76 games.
The Man In The Box Award: Dylan DeMelo, for being the reason Worcester was shorthanded when a power play goal was scored against them most often. DeMelo was in the sin bin seven times when a power play goal against was given up.
The Dead-Eye Award: Nick Petrecki, for having the lowest shooting percentage of any player with 50 or more shots on goal. Petrecki went 1 for 55, for 1.8%, with Worcester. Petrecki then went on to go 0 for 12 after being loaned to Rochester.
The Buzzer Beater Award: Tie; Brodie Reid for his goal with 1.5 seconds remaining in 1st period March 8th vs Portland; and Matt Pelech for his goal with 1.5 seconds left in the first period March 26th at Portland.
The "It's not how many, it's when" Award: Matt Pelech, whose lone NHL goal was a game winner for San Jose on October 10th, and who had three AHL goals that were a game winner, and buzzer beater, and a potential momentum shifting goal.
The "Get a Calendar" Award: The AHL, for having head coach Roy Sommer break the all-time games coached record on the road.
The "Why Is He In The Shootout" Award: Riley Brace's dad, whose name I do not know, who after hearing Brace announced as the third shooter in a shootout in late November quipped to fans after the game "I have no idea why (Sommer) picked Riley, he can't score on shootouts and never has". Apparently not so surprisingly, Brace missed his attempt.
The "He's My Favorite" Award: Tie between Dylan DeMelo and Chris Crane. This writer, when asked on Twitter how Crane was doing, replied that he didn't belong in the AHL yet. Crane favorited the tweet, and then a couple days later was reassigned to the ECHL. Later in the season I tweeted that I'd seen enough of DeMelo, who favorited the tweet a day or so after. In the handful of games that followed DeMelo was an aggregate (-10).
The "I love to play against Portland" Award: Matt Pelech, who scored all three of his AHL goals this season vs the Portland Pirates.
The "Nostradamus" Award: To myself, for deciding to look up the last time the WorSharks scored 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 goals in a game just a few hours prior to Worcester's December 6th game vs Portland. The WorSharks went on to score 8 goals that game.
The "Are You Nuts?" Award: To WorSharks broadcaster Eric Lindquist and Worcester Sharks Booster Club president Rich Lundin, for the look they gave this writer when I told them I had brought that information along "just in case". I got the same look after the game too.
The "Not-so-Nostradamus" Award: WorSharks head coach Roy Sommer, for during the preseason season ticket gathering predicting Worcester would win the Calder Cup. For the fourth time in a row, the WorSharks failed to make the playoffs.
The "Just the two of us" Award: Harri Sateri and Troy Grosenick, who were for the first time in 20 years of AHL hockey in Worcester the only two goaltenders to man the net for the entire season.
The "Take your time, we'll wait" Award: referee Tim Mayer, whose video review (which included a call to the goal judge) of Travis Oleksuk's disputed goal in the season finale took almost 11 minutes. He eventually ruled the goal was good.
The "44 Award": Head coach Roy Sommer, who after winning the "35 Award" last season did it again and put the wrong player (43-Bonneau, instead of 44-Comrie) on his game roster. This is the third time in recent memory Sommer has incorrectly filled out a lineup.
The "Wrong Time To Make A Big Mistake" Award: Roy Sommer, who won the "44 Award" while the entirety of San Jose's hockey operations was at the DCU center.
The "Grand Entrance" award: ATO goaltender Scott Barchard, who, while filling in for an ailing Harri Sateri stumbled out of the bench door as he went on to the ice in warm-ups.
The "Grand Exit" award: Matt Pelech, after receiving 14 minutes in penalties late in the third period against St John's on April 18th. This is s family blog, so we won't mention what he did as he passed the IceCaps bench. It was funny as all heck though.
The "Can We See That Again?" award: Referee David Banfield, who went back nearly two full minutes to check to see if Freddie Hamilton's shot went into the net on January 11th. It did.
The "Just Checking" award: Freddie Hamilton, who after having a goal disallowed for the net being off the pegs on February 1st vs Providence showed referee Jamie Koharski the net was still in place after scoring his "second" of the game by tapping his stick on both posts after celebrating the score.
The "They did it to me again" Award: Freddie Hamilton, who had a goal disallowed against Providence–this time in the WorSharks final game–for "inadvertent goaltender interference" despite there not being a Worcester player close to interfering with PBruins netminder Malcolm Subban.
The David Haas Award: For the seventh time in eighth seasons, there is no winner of this "prestigious" award that goes to the player with the most talent that chooses to use none of it. There has been some squawking that Jon Matsumoto should retroactively be given the award for the 2012-13 season, but his poor play since leaving Worcester saves him from that happening. For now.
WorSharks end disappointing season on up note with 2-0 whitewashing of Providence
The Worcester Sharks were hoping to play spoiler in Saturday night's game against the Providence Bruins, but with all the AHL's Eastern Conference playoff teams determined on Friday all the WorSharks were doing was playing for pride, and they showed lots of it after Troy Grosenick's 23 saves and Eriah Hayes and Travis Oleksuk lit the lamp to defeat the Baby-Bs 2-0 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 6,470 fans. The WorSharks end the season in 11th in the East, 13 points out of the final playoff spot.
The Worcester Sharks salute the crowd after their 2-0 season finale win over
the Providence Bruins. The WorSharks finished the 2013-14 season 36-34-4-2
and missed the post season for the fourth consecutive season.
SHARKSPAGE photo
For video highlights for the final time this season we'll point to AHLlive.com. Note the Freddie Hamilton disallowed goal in the package and see if you agree it was a terrible call.
Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau ("unavailable"), Konrad Abeltshauser (knee), John McCarthy (hand), Brodie Reid (upper body) and Marek Viedensky (groin). Harri Sateri was the back-up goaltender. With Reid being out and Bonneau "unavailable"–note the quotes–the WorSharks used 11 forwards and 17 skaters, one short of the usual 12/18.
Interesting note on Bonneau. By being scratched for the last six regular season contests the three year Worcester enforcer and fan favorite now sits at 320 AHL games, which still qualifies him as a "development player". AHL teams must dress at least 12 players that have played in 260 or fewer professional games (including AHL, NHL and European elite leagues), and one must have played in 320 or fewer professional games. All calculations for development status are based on regular-season totals as of the start of the season. Bonneau sits right at the max for the 13th player. I'm sure we'll be hearing more on that later.
With the WorSharks doing a "jerseys of their backs" auction Worcester wore their road teal jerseys and Providence decided on their gold third jerseys for the night. A color vs color game is a great thing to watch, and while the AHL plays virtually no role in determining what jerseys teams wear (the edict 'white at home' is generally followed but not strictly enforced) they should encourage teams that have the opportunity to go color vs color to do so. The big issue is, apparently, helmet color. Teams don't want their players wearing the same color helmets because on the fly it can cause issues. The WorSharks had black helmets, the PBruins gold. No issues there.
Worcester announced their team awards during the game, with Freddie Hamilton being named team MVP, Travis Oleksuk earning the Unsung Hero Award, Dan DaSilva receiving this season's Three Stars Award, and goaltender Troy Grosenick named the Rookie of the Year Award. Sharkspage will be announcing our "210 Awards" later on this month.
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 1 Troy Grosenick (23 save shutout)
2. WOR – 21 Travis Oleksuk (g,a)
3. WOR – 18 Eriah Hayes (g)
The Sharkspage player of the game was Freddie Hamilton.
Even strength lines
Providence 0 0 0 – 0
Worcester 0 1 1 – 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Oleksuk Wor (slashing), 15:17; Lindblad Pro (hooking), 18:00.
2nd Period-1, Worcester, Hayes 12 (Davison, Oleksuk), 5:47. Penalties-Carpenter Wor (hooking), 1:11; Khokhlachev Pro (slashing), 8:07; Acolatse Wor (cross-checking), 19:08.
3rd Period-2, Worcester, Oleksuk 19 (DaSilva, Acolatse), 8:50 (PP). Penalties-Doherty Wor (roughing), 6:13; Subban Pro (delay of game), 7:50; Cross Pro (holding), 8:06; Hayes Wor (tripping), 14:01.
Shots on Goal-Providence 9-9-5-23. Worcester 6-9-12-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 0 / 5; Worcester 1 / 4.
Goalies-Providence, Subban 15-10-5 (27 shots-25 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 18-14-0 (23 shots-23 saves).
Referees-Tom Chmielewski (43), Tim Mayer (19).
Linesmen-Bob Bernard (42), Jack Millea (23).
WorSharks blanked for seventh time this season
The Worcester Sharks had a game scheduled for Friday night at the DCU Center against the St. John's IceCaps but apparently no one told the players as the WorSharks were dominated in every single way possible in a hockey game and lost 6-0 in front of 4,909 fans, whose jeering of Worcester head coach Roy Sommer was audible throughout the arena for most of the second half of the game and well after the final buzzer in the DCU parking garage. The loss extends Sommer's AHL career leading coaching loss record to 590, which is 78 more than Hershey Bear's legendary coach Frank Mathers has in second place.
Worcester Sharks forward Matt Pelech (#23) was just about the only WorSharks player that showed
any intensity at all in Worcester's 6-0 loss to St John's Friday night. After being elbowed by
the IceCaps Brenden Kichton Pelech jumped the Kichton for some retribution.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED
For video highlights, and to be blunt there's no reason at all to watch them, we once again point to AHLlive.com.
Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau ("unavailable"), Konrad Abeltshauser (knee), John McCarthy (hand), and Marek Viedensky (unknown injury). Troy Grosenick was the back-up netminder. Sena Acolatse returned back to the lineup after missing 24 games with a broken lower leg. With just one more regular season game and no playoffs for the WorSharks the injury list is sort of moot, but it likely will have another member added after Brodie Reid got caught up in a massive check thrown by Worcester captain Rob Davison that accidentally collected Reid while Davison was wiping out two IceCaps players. If Reid can't go Saturday the WorSharks may play one skater short as everyone else is either injured not available to play.
This writer just about never borrows quotes from other reporters; if I was that interested in getting some I'd go to the dressing rooms post game and get them myself. But what WorSharks head coach Roy Sommer told Worcester T&G reporter Carl Setterlund (Bill Ballou is off covering the Red Sox) really bothered me. You can read Setterlund's entire story here.
"The other (losses against St. John's) I thought we played all right, at least we were in them," Sommer said. "But tonight we weren't in it, from the first goal on. They got that first goal and you could kind of see the bench just go 'Uh-oh, here we go again.' "
Really? Sommer "could kind of see the bench just go 'Uh-oh, here we go again.'"? Then why did Sommer stand there for 60 minutes with his hands in his pockets? How could a coach that has a reputation for being great at developing prospects just stand there behind the bench and do nothing when he sees his team struggling? Perhaps the better question is why the San Jose organization thinks Sommer is great at developing prospects, because if he really was there'd be more than the small handful of players developed by him in the playoffs in either the NHL or AHL.
As someone that pays close attention to all the rumors about the western NHL teams moving their affiliates out to the west coach, allow me to add some context to each and every story that has been posted since the one about the Phoenix Coyotes wanting their prospects closer to them hit the internet a couple weeks ago: not a single bit of information in any newspaper story or blog post contains one speck of new information. It's all rehash of rumors that's been going on for a very long time. If your search skills are good enough you can find news stories and message board rumors talking about this for years. You'll find many people saying they have "sources" telling them information and then just rewording the rumors that are already out there. It's the exact same with all the current news stories. Now it doesn't mean that it won't eventually happen, because the odds are good that at some point it will. But all these current stories are just like a meteorologist predicting rain enough times…eventually, they'll be right.
The three stars of the game were
1. STJ – 17 Jerome Samson (g,3a)
2. STJ – 33 Michael Hutchinson (23 save shutout)
3. STJ – 18 Ben Chiarot (g,a)
The Sharkspage player of the game is Matt Pelech.
Even strength lines
St. John's 2 2 2 – 6
Worcester 0 0 0 – 0
1st Period-1, St. John's, O'Dell 17 (Lipon, Samson), 11:56. 2, St. John's, MacKinnon 12 (Chiarot), 14:15. Penalties-Mouillierat Stj (roughing), 5:26; Hill Stj (hooking), 17:12.
2nd Period-3, St. John's, Lunden 4 (Samson, Hill), 11:13. 4, St. John's, Chiarot 6 (Lipon, Samson), 13:58. Penalties-Doherty Wor (hooking), 0:10; Pelech Wor (cross-checking), 3:17; Riley Stj (hooking), 15:54; Carpenter Wor (hooking), 16:42.
3rd Period-5, St. John's, Klingberg 22 (O'Dell, Hutchinson), 7:29 (PP). 6, St. John's, Samson 26 (Lipon, Klingberg), 16:04. Penalties-Acolatse Wor (hooking), 6:56; Kichton Stj (elbowing), 18:36; Pelech Wor (roughing, roughing, misconduct – continuing altercation), 18:36.
Shots on Goal-St. John's 8-11-9-28. Worcester 8-8-7-23.
Power Play Opportunities-St. John's 1 / 5; Worcester 0 / 3.
Goalies-St. John's, Hutchinson 16-5-1 (23 shots-23 saves). Worcester, Sateri 18-24-2 (28 shots-22 saves).
Referees-Darcy Burchell (42).
Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Ed Boyle (81).