SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks are no-shows in 7-1 lost to Bridgeport

The Worcester Sharks schedule said they had a Friday night game at the DCU Center but everyone on the team must have read the listing as a public skate as the WorSharks played virtually no hockey at all and got thrashed 7-1 by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the only team that started the night behind them in the AHL’s Eastern Conference. Freddie Hamilton was the lone Worcester skater to score.

If for whatever reason you wish to watch what looked like a Bridgeport practice session you can catch the game highlights via AHLlive.com.

Pardon this longish rant. As long time readers will know this writer does not repost other reporter’s quotes. If I were interested in what a coach or player had to say I would go to the dressing rooms after the game and ask. Last night had I gone down there I would have likely been thrown out of the building. Worcester Telegram and Gazette reporter Carl Setterlund (who is taking normal beat report Bill Ballou’s place as Ballou recovers from the Red Sox World series run) headed down to gather some information and got a quote from WorSharks head coach Roy Sommer that has turned my simmering blood into a full boil. Sommer, as quoted by Setterlund:

“I thought we had a grittier bunch than we had in here. I saw a lot of stuff that turned my stomach. Not a lot of guys wanted that puck tonight. Some guys couldn’t get off the ice quick enough.”

What turned my stomach was in the last media timeout of the second period, while the game was still in theory competitive despite it being 3-0 down for Worcester, as every Sound Tiger player was at their bench being instructed by Bridgeport head coach Scott Pellerin and assistant coach Eric Boguniecki over on the Worcester side of the ice the players were milling about with their heads down as the alleged prospect development expert Roy Sommer stood behind his bench with his hands in his pockets. That sure seems to me to be a good spot to do some coaching. Apparently not for Sommer though. One has to wonder how having their behinds handed to them by the opposition and then having their head coach say nothing to them really helps their development.

Another from Sommer, on Worcester playing Saturday night: “I’m glad we do play, because we’ll see what we’re made of. We had a lot of no-shows.” The WorSharks sure did have a lot of no-shows, including the biggest no-show of them all who decided to point fingers instead of taking responsibility for his team. Maybe things would be better for Worcester if WorSharks GM Joe Will or Doug Wilson threw Sommer under the bus in the newspaper.

Not that it looked like anyone was really playing out there, but the actual scratches for the WorSharks were Dylan DeMelo, Konrad Abeltshauser, Lane Scheidl (knee), Collin Bowman (head), Marek Viedensky (unknown injury) and Jimmy Bonneau (leg). Troy Grosenick started the game as the backup goaltender and replaced starter Harri Sateri with a little more than 15 minutes to go in the game. During the second period it was noticed that Matt Pelech was no longer on the Worcester bench.

The injury to Bonneau took place last Saturday night when he got a skate cut to the back of his left leg after throwing a check. While it’s nowhere near as serious as the injury former WorSharks goaltender Alex Stalock suffered it’s still going to be a while before Bonneau can get back out there. There’s no official timetable for his return but it’s thought to be weeks instead of months. Bonneau was on crutches and was, as he almost always is, full of smiles while talking to fans along the concourse before the game.

The WorSharks even strength lines, at least during warm-up, were
Tarasov/Kearns/Reid
Schwartz/Hamilton/Hayes
Gogol/Brace/Stalberg
Pelech/Oleksuk/Livingston

Petrecki/Tennyson
Davison/Acolatse
Doherty/Comrie

The three stars of the game were
1. BRI – 18 Ryan Strome (2g,3a)
2. BRI – 26 Mike Halmo (2,2a)
3. BRI – 17 Nick Larson (g,a)

For the first time ever there is no Sharkspage player of the game.

BOXSCORE

Bridgeport 1 4 2 – 7
Worcester 0 0 1 – 1

1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Strome 2 (Lee), 15:51. Penalties-Tarasov Wor (hooking), 0:47; Diamond Bri (roughing), 9:58; Keenan Bri (delay of game), 18:04.

2nd Period-2, Bridgeport, Strome 3 (Halmo, Keenan), 3:17 (PP). 3, Bridgeport, Larson 1 (Halmo, Strome), 10:52. 4, Bridgeport, Halmo 3 (Lee, Strome), 16:47 (PP). 5, Bridgeport, Halmo 4 (Ness, Strome), 18:41 (PP). Penalties-Brace Wor (hooking), 2:12; Johnson Bri (roughing), 7:07; Petrecki Wor (roughing), 7:07; Halmo Bri (goaltender interference), 8:43; Tennyson Wor (roughing), 14:26; Doherty Wor (interference), 16:17; Gallant Bri (fighting, misconduct – continuing altercation), 16:54; Johnson Bri (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 16:54; Doherty Wor (fighting), 16:54; Comrie Wor (hooking), 18:09.

3rd Period-6, Bridgeport, Diamond 2 (Quine, Larson), 4:39. 7, Bridgeport, Persson 3 (Clark, Sundstrom), 6:12 (PP). 8, Worcester, Hamilton 2 (Comrie, Doherty), 13:03 (PP). Penalties-de Haan Bri (tripping), 1:23; Livingston Wor (hooking), 5:07; Petrecki Wor (slashing), 6:08; Doherty Wor (boarding), 8:11; Quine Bri (roughing), 11:19; Gallant Bri (roughing, misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:30; Doherty Wor (roughing), 19:30; Gogol Wor (slashing, roughing), 19:30.

Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 9-17-10-36. Worcester 12-9-7-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 4 / 9; Worcester 1 / 5.
Goalies-Bridgeport, Nilsson 2-3-0 (28 shots-27 saves). Worcester, Sateri 1-4-0 (29 shots-23 saves); Grosenick 1-0-0 (7 shots-6 saves).
A-2,424
Referees-T.J. Luxmore (49).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Luke Galvin (2).