SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks stumble way to 5-4 shootout win over Providence

The Worcester Sharks took three different one goal leads Friday night against the Providence Bruins and couldn’t hold any of them, while the Baby B’s had the same problem with their only lead of the game as the division rivals went to and through an overtime period tied 4-4 and into a shootout where Dan DaSilva and Freddie Hamilton connected for the WorSharks and goaltender Troy Grosenick was a perfect four for four in giving the Worcester Sharks the 5-4 win and a rare victory at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island in front of a crowd of 9,363.

WorSharks forward Freddie Hamilton (#12) scored the opening first period goal for
Worcester and the closing shootout goal to give the WorSharks a 5-4 win. He also
added two assists in the contest and was the first star of the game.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

This is where we usually insert the highlights package, but apparently the Providence Bruins decided not to put one out at the usual–and league required–sites. Perhaps there were issues and for some reason they couldn’t put one together. Although it does seem to happen only when they lose. Hmmm. At least their press release on the game was on their official site’s front page. Oh yeah, it wasn’t. Surely just a coincidence.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Jimmy Bonneau, Sena Acolatse (leg), JP Anderson (hand), Nick Petrecki, and Lane Scheidl. The backup goaltender was Harri Sateri. The NHL trade deadline was Wednesday, and in a minor move for the organization that was a bigger move for Worcester the Sharks dealt James Livingston to the L.A. Kings for a conditional 7th round draft pick. Livingston, who has a bobblehead night Saturday, reported to the Manchester Monarchs. Matt Pelech played for the first time in 25 games Friday night after breaking his hand, and played defense.

If Petrecki, who the WorSharks listed as a healthy scratch but beat reporter Bill Ballou of the T&G has listed as having a back injury, is unable to play Saturday the WorSharks may have to dip into the ECHL for a defenseman as captain Rob Davison was injured during the overtime period blocking a shot while Worcester was shorthanded. Davison shed his gloves before even reaching the bench, and after a few moment on the bench with his hand bleeding badly was sent off to the locker room. A Boston Bruins blogger at the game and with a good view of the situation speculated on the extent of the injury in a text to this writer–which we will not share until confirmed–but called what he saw “(blanking) awful”.

In other transactional news, with the NHL trade deadline on Wednesday at 3pm EST the AHL also had it’s roster deadline at the same time. The rule allows only players on AHL rosters at the deadline to participate in the AHL for the remainder of the season. The San Jose Sharks assigned both Matt Tennyson and Matt Nieto to the AHL just before the deadline and recalled them just after making both eligible. Because San Jose received no salary cap relief for the transactions neither player was required to report to Worcester. The recall of both counts against the four non-emergency recalls that San Jose gets to use post trade deadline, but with unlimited emergency recalls and the other newer roster rules in the current CBA San Jose shouldn’t (and won’t) have any issue getting players as needed. To complete the record, the AHL’s trade deadline is this upcoming Wednesday at 3pm EDT.

The WorSharks have had issues giving up goals on the first shot of games, doing it about a half dozen times this season. A couple games ago a Worcester fan jokingly (or maybe not so jokingly) tweeted that the WorSharks decided to change things up a little and give up a goal on the first shot of the second period. Neither of those things happened Friday night, but instead it was the first–and for a huge portion of the stanza, only–shot of the third period that tied the score for the P-Bruins.

BTW, the last Worcester Sharks OT goal? January 11, 2013 by Nick Petrecki vs Springfield. The WorSharks have lost their last six games that were decided in the five minute sudden death period. They’re 8-1 in the shootout this season.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 12 Freddie Hamilton (g,2a,SO game winner)
2. PRO – 13 Alexander Khokhlachev (g,a)
3. PRO – 47 Malcolm Subban (no idea why; gave up four goals and allowed two in the shootout)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Yanni Gourde.

Even strength lines
Gourde/Oleksuk/Hamilton
McCarthy/Kearns/DaSilva
Hayes/Rau/Tarasov
Schwartz/Viedensky/Reid

Abeltshauser/Doherty
Davison/DeMelo
Comrie/Pelech

BOXSCORE

Worcester 2 0 2 0 – 5
Providence 1 2 1 0 – 4

1st Period-1, Worcester, Hamilton 17 (Gourde), 5:41. 2, Providence, Moore 7 (Griffith, Khokhlachev), 7:09. 3, Worcester, Gourde 4 (Hamilton, DeMelo), 16:45. Penalties-Abeltshauser Wor (tripping), 2:43; Doherty Wor (fighting), 7:06; Randell Pro (fighting), 7:06.

2nd Period-4, Providence, Spooner 6 (Campbell), 9:55. 5, Providence, Khokhlachev 16 (Spooner, Trotman), 11:48 (PP). Penalties-Moore Pro (holding), 5:28; Davison Wor (hooking), 10:43; Robins Pro (holding), 16:50.

3rd Period-6, Worcester, Viedensky 5 (DeMelo), 5:52. 7, Worcester, Tarasov 13 (Oleksuk, Hamilton), 9:37. 8, Providence, Griffith 13 11:57. Penalties-Florek Pro (hooking), 0:24; Davison Wor (hooking), 4:20; Camara Pro (high-sticking), 4:20; Flick Pro (cross-checking), 7:31; Flick Pro (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:37.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Gourde Wor (hooking), 2:13.

Shootout – Worcester 2 (Tarasov NG, Reid NG, DaSilva G, McCarthy NG, Hamilton G), Providence 0 (Cunningham NG, Khokhlachev NG, Spooner NG, Camara NG).
Shots on Goal-Worcester 9-9-18-1-1-38. Providence 12-7-3-1-0-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 5; Providence 1 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Grosenick 12-10-0 (23 shots-19 saves). Providence, Subban 11-7-4 (37 shots-33 saves).
A-9,363
Referees-T.J. Luxmore (49), Jon McIsaac (45).
Linesmen-Ed Boyle (81), Kevin Keenan (22).

WorSharks end seven game skid with 2-1 win over Bridgeport

The Worcester Sharks went into Saturday night’s contest against Bridgeport without a win in their seven games since the AHL’s All Star break, and with the Sound Tigers in the midst of a seven game winning streak of their own and them getting NHL goaltender Kevin Poulin down from the New York Islanders odds weren’t that good that the Worcester losing streak would end, but WorSharks netminder Harri Sateri made Travis Oleksuk’s late first period tie-breaking goal stand up the rest of the way as Worcester shocked the Sound Tigers 2-1 at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut in front of 5,711 fans.

Worcester Sharks forward Travis Oleksuk made his first game winning goal in his pro career count
as his late first period strike held up as the WorSharks ended a seven game losing streak with a
2-1 win over Bridgeport Saturday night. The goal was Olesuk's 12th on the season.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

For video highlights we’ll use the Sound Tigers YouTube channel. For a game with only three goals it’s inexcusable to not show all of them, but with no highlight packages on AHLlive.com or sendittonews.com this is what’s available

Scratches for the WorSharks were Sena Acolatse (leg), J.P. Anderson (finger), John McCarthy (lower body), Matt Pelech (hand), Lane Scheidl, and Rylan Schwartz. Troy Grosenick was the back-up goaltender.

There was only one fight in the contest, with Taylor Doherty taking on Brett Gallant in an pretty even battle about half way through the first period. Two other times the flame almost got to the powder keg sending the game spiraling out of control of the officials. The first was at the 2:23 mark of the second period when Eriah Hayes ran over Sound Tigers goaltender Kevin Poulin in a hit reminiscent of Logan Couture’s charging major against Hartford netminder Matt Zaba several years ago in the AHL’s Calder Cup playoffs. Cooler head’s prevailed and Hayes was sent off for goaltender interference. The second time was at 7:40 of the third period when Dan DaSilva was leveled on a hit by Bridgeport defenseman Matt Donovan on an offside play. As the players got together DaSilva, who was at that point laying on his back, got up and skated directly over to Bridgeport winger Joe Diamond, pulled him out of the pile, and cross-checked him in the head. Credit the officials for keeping the peace on that one as DaSilva was ejected and given a major for cross-checking. One can expect DaSilva will be hearing from the AHL soon.

Video review was used once in the game, although the WorSharks would have loved to have seen it used a second time. It was used after DaSilva thought he had scored short side on Poulin during the first period. The video on AHLlive was too grainy to tell, but referee Fred Leblanc had access to much better video, and after a long delay ruled no-goal. The time it should have been used was late in the third period when Bracken Kearns threw a centering pass that appeared to deflect off the skate of Daniil Tarasov and into the net. The goal was waved off by the front referee, but the back referee apparently saw it differently. After a brief conference between the two no-goal was the call. Worcester head coach Roy Sommer was livid and demanded an explanation, and shockingly–or perhaps not so much–neither official went to video replay to confirm the call on the ice.

Sommer was unhappy with many incidents in the game, and was quite frank in comments to Worcester Telegram and Gazette reporter Bill Ballou: “They tried to do it again to us,” said Sommer of the officials, “and you can put that in the paper. Tarasov never touched that puck, and how could that hit on DaSilva not have been a penalty? He might have a concussion.” More from Tarasov via Ballou: “I never touched it,” Tarasov said. “If they could do a replay, they would have seen that, but the ref said it wasn’t something they could review.” As Sharkspage found on recently, that is most definitely something that can be reviewed.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 12 Freddie Hamilton (g)
2. WOR – 35 Harri Sateri (25 saves)
3. BRI – 39 Joe Diamond (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Travis Oleksuk.

Even strength lines, courtesy of Michael Fornabaio (Connecticut Post)
Tarasov/Kearns/Hamilton
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Livingston/Viedensky/Reid
Bonneau/Rau/Hayes

Davison/Comrie
Abeltshauser/Doherty
Petrecki/DeMelo

BOXSCORE

Worcester 2 0 0 – 2
Bridgeport 1 0 0 – 1
1st Period-1, Worcester, Hamilton 16 (Tarasov, Petrecki), 5:38. 2, Bridgeport, Diamond 7 7:39. 3, Worcester, Oleksuk 12 (DaSilva, Gourde), 19:46. Penalties-Davison Wor (high-sticking), 2:08; Doherty Wor (fighting), 9:54; Gallant Bri (fighting), 9:54; Sundstrom Bri (tripping), 13:59.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Hayes Wor (goaltender interference), 2:23; Donovan Bri (slashing), 11:19; Hayes Wor (interference), 14:40.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-DaSilva Wor (major – cross-checking, game misconduct – cross-checking), 7:40; Johnson Bri (roughing), 7:40.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 14-8-5-27. Bridgeport 8-8-10-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 2; Bridgeport 0 / 4.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 13-19-1 (26 shots-25 saves). Bridgeport, Poulin 0-1-0 (27 shots-25 saves).
A-5,711
Referees-Jarrod Ragusin (54), Fred Leblanc (30).
Linesmen-Mike Baker (11), Glen Cooke (6).

WorSharks losing streak hits seven in 6-4 loss to Portland

The Worcester Sharks certainly have found the easiest way to lose games after once again allowing the opponent to score on their first shot of the game–the third time in four contests the WorSharks have done that–and then after failing to score on an extended five on three situation the only thing really in doubt was the final score as Worcester dropped a 6-4 decision to the Portland Pirates Thursday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in front of a crowd of 1,731.

Former WorSharks forward Tim Kennedy (#13) and current Worcester winger Eriah
Hayes (#18) battle for a loose puck during the WorSharks 6-4 loss to Portland
Thursday night. The loss pushed Worcester's losing streak to seven games.
Photo courtesy of Ron Morin/Portland Pirates)

For video highlights we’ll point to AHLlive.com

Scratches for Worcester were Sena Acolatse (leg), J.P. Anderson (upper body), John McCarthy (lower body), Matt Pelech (hand), Rylan Schwartz, and Jimmy Bonneau (upper body). Harri Sateri was the backup goaltender. During this writer’s hockey vacation last week Bracken Kearns and Matt Tennyson switched locations, with Kearns coning back east while Tennyson was summoned to sit in the press box for San Jose.

From the Worcester Sharks press release: “(Wor)Sharks have been outscored 35-10 in the seven game losing streak having scored just 10 goals on 238 shots…the (Wor)Sharks have not had a lead in 420 minutes.” Let’s be blunt here, those stats show how poorly this team is coached. They finally have enough offensive talent to compete and after a handful of weeks head coach Roy Sommer has basically once again killed his team. At what point will San Jose say “enough is enough” and get rid of their perpetually failing minor league head coach? Well, for this writer it needs to be on Thursday, March 27th. That will be, presuming no WorSharks games are postponed, the day after Sommer breaks the AHL record for most games coach, currently held by Frank Mathers. Sommer is already the losingest coach in American Hockey League history at 581 career losses.

The three stars of the game were
1. POR – 16 Brendan Shinnimin (2g)
2. POR – 9 Tobias Rieder (2g,a)
3. POR – 20 Rostislav Klesla (2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Yanni Gourde.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 1 2 – 4
Portland 2 3 1 – 6

1st Period-1, Portland, Hextall 9 (Martinook, Rieder), 5:13. 2, Worcester, Oleksuk 11 (Gourde, Doherty), 8:05. 3, Portland, Shinnimin 7 (Yip, Klesla), 11:26. Penalties-Werek Por (tripping), 2:52; Martinook Por (tripping), 11:36; Hagel Por (double minor – high-sticking), 14:02; Kennedy Por (cross-checking), 15:27.

2nd Period-4, Portland, Rieder 19 (Yip, Miele), 12:28 (PP). 5, Worcester, Abeltshauser 4 (Gourde), 15:18 (SH). 6, Portland, Miele 22 (Brown, Klesla), 15:29 (PP). 7, Portland, Shinnimin 8 (Lessio, Todd), 17:14. Penalties-Petrecki Wor (double minor – high-sticking), 9:28; Davison Wor (holding, fighting), 13:52; Lane Por (fighting), 13:52; Petrecki Wor (slashing), 18:40.

3rd Period-8, Worcester, Livingston 4 (Doherty, Viedensky), 1:04. 9, Worcester, Davison 2 (Reid, Livingston), 4:29. 10, Portland, Rieder 20 19:31 (EN). Penalties-Livingston Wor (interference), 15:36.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 20-10-9-39. Portland 7-9-6-22.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 5; Portland 2 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Grosenick 11-10-0 (21 shots-16 saves). Portland, Visentin 13-16-4 (39 shots-35 saves).
A-1,731
Referees-Graham Skilliter (48), Brett Montsion (80).
Linesmen-Jeremy Lovett (78), Joe Ross (92).

Worsharks lose 8-0 to Binghamton, worse loss in franchise history

Binghamton, NY – The Worcester Sharks (23-21-3-1, 50pts) lost by eight goals for the first time in team history with a 8-0 defeat to the East Division leading Binghamton Senators (31-15-1-3, 66pts) in front of 4,272 fans at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena on Saturday evening. The Sharks wrap up their season long five game road trip (1-3-0-0) on Sunday afternoon at 3pm in Springfield.

Seven different goals scorers lit the lamp for the Senators while rookie goaltender Andrew Hammond made 29 saves for his first professional shutout. Harri Sateri allowed eight goals on 37 shots as Worcester has now been outscored 13-1 in the two games after the All-Star break.

The high flying Senators took a 2-0 lead in the first period as Stephane Da Costa (13th) fired a one-timer past Harri Sateri at 5:15 after a great feed from Mike Hoffman and Jim O’Brien (11th) snapped home a rebound strike at 16:49. Worcester outshot Binghamton 13-10 in the opening frame.

Four different goal scorers for Binghamton found the back of the net in the middle frame; Cole Schneider (17th) at 4:48, Mike Sdao (3rd) at 6:42, Shane Prince (16th) at 16:13, and Mike Stone (10th) at 19:32 gave the Senators a 6-0 lead through 40 minutes. The Senators outshot the Sharks 17-8 in a period that saw three separate altercations as Jimmy Bonneau (12th FM), Yanni Gourde, and Nick Petrecki (2nd) all dropped the mitts for a frustrated Worcester hockey club.

Mike Sdao (4th) at 4:25 and Mike Puempel (18th) on the power play at 11:34 finished off the scoring on Sateri and the Sharks in the third period as Andrew Hammond made eight more saves for his 1st professional shutout as Worcester fell 8-0.

The Sharks overall record falls to 23-21-3-1, 50pts and 11-12-3-0, 25pts on the road.

Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Mike Stone (1-1-2) 2nd star: Mike Sdao (2-0-2, FM) 1st star: Andrew Hammond (29 save shutout)… Final shots were 37-29 in favor of Binghamton…Andrew Hammond made 29 saves on 29 shots for Binghamton… Harri Sateri made 29 saves on 37 shots for Worcester…. Worcester went 0-for-3 on the power play while Binghamton went 1-for-5… James Livingston (ill), Matt Pelech (inj), John McCarthy (inj), Marek Viedensky (inj), and Konrad Abeltshauser did not dress for Worcester… it was the first time the Sharks played in Binghamton since a 5-2 win on Dec 11, 2011….the Sharks arrived at their hotel after 4am on Saturday after the 5.5 hour trip from Manchester….Rylan Schwartz is the only Sharks player to play in all 48 games…. Daniil Tarasov returned to the lineup after missing the last nine games due to injury….athletic trainer Matt White was behind the bench for his 1,000th professional hockey game….Adam Comrie, who dressed as a forward, was the only skater that was not a minus player for Worcester.

Press release courtesy of the Worcester Sharks.

WorSharks crowned by Monarchs, lose 5-1

The Worcester Sharks started off their post All-Star break schedule the exactly opposite as they wanted to–sleepwalking through a 5-1 loss to the Manchester Monarchs Friday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire in front of 4,595 fans. Freddie Hamilton scored the lone goal for the WorSharks, while Troy Grosenick had 38 saves in a vain attempt to keep his squad in the contest. It was a game where the score makes it look closer than it really was. 2012–13 Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Award (AHL rookie of the year) winner Tyler Toffoli had a hat trick for Manchester, while Linden Vey added four assists for the Monarchs.

Freddie Hamilton scored the loan goal in the Worcester Sharks 5-1 loss to
Manchester Friday night. It took until the middle of the third period for the
WorSharks to match the Monarchs first period shot total (18).
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

For video highlights we’ll look toward the Manchester Monarchs YouTube channel.

Scratches for Worcester were J.P. Anderson (upper body), Jimmy Bonneau, Adam Comrie (travel), Matt Pelech (hand), Daniil Tarasov (concussion), and Marek Viedensky (unknown injury). Harri Sateri was the back-up netminder. Worcester went with seven defensemen in the game. During the All Star break the WorSharks released Scott Fleming from his PTO and returned him to the Fort Wayne Komets (ECHL). They also reassigned Tyler Gron to the Ontario Reign (ECHL). Fleming is a player that has more then enough talent to play in the AHL, but with the return of both John McCarthy and Eriah Hayes there was simply no spot in the line-up for him. Gron, on a two way AHL/ECHL contract with Worcester, will be playing with his fourth team of the season in the Reign as he also played with the now defunct San Francisco Bulls (ECHL) and started the season with the Idaho Steelheads (ECHL). With the huge snowstorm that whacked the New England region Thursday into Friday Comrie got grounded in South Carolina.

The away loss to start the unofficial second half of the season isn’t a shock, as every time the Worcester Sharks take to the road immediately following the All Star break they have lost. They are 0-4-1 in those games, with losses in Philadelphia (who now plays in Adirondack), Syracuse, St John’s, and Portland. The loss to the Pirates last season was in a shootout. In a statistical oddity, the WorSharks are a perfect 3-0-0 at home, with wins over Bridgeport, Springfield, and Manchester.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the WorSharks, who had to take a five-plus hour bus ride from Manchester overnight to get to Binghamton for Saturday night’s game against the Senators. From there, another three-plus hour ride back east to Springfield for Sunday’s tilt against the Falcons. And as one would expect from AHL scheduling, both the Sens and Falcons will be resting comfortably in their beds as Worcester busses across the northeast.

There is some possible good news for the WorSharks as it appears Daniil Tarasov will be ready to return from his concussion Saturday. His potential return was mentioned a couple times last night by Eric Lindquist during the radio broadcast of the game, and Sharkspage minion Tyler Lowell posted via twitter that Tarasov will be returning.

The three stars of the game were
1. MCH – 26 Tyler Toffoli (hat trick)
2. MCH – 9 Linden Vey (4a)
3. WOR – 1 Troy Grosenick (38 saves)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Freddie Hamilton.

Even strength lines
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Scheidl/Hamilton/Hayes
McCarthy/Rau/Reid
(many)/Schwartz/Livingston

Abeltshauser/Acolatse
Davison/Tennyson
Petrecki/Doherty
DeMelo

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 1 0 – 1
Manchester 1 2 2 – 5

1st Period-1, Manchester, Weal 12 (O’Brien, Vey), 8:25 (PP). Penalties-Gourde Wor (hooking), 7:01; Hayes Wor (hooking), 13:34; Vey Mch (tripping), 17:07; Bodnarchuk Mch (hooking), 19:31.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Hamilton 14 (Rau, Acolatse), 1:33 (PP). 3, Manchester, Toffoli 11 (Bodnarchuk, Vey), 11:18. 4, Manchester, Pearson 17 (Deslauriers, Shore), 14:17 (PP). Penalties-LoVerde Mch (interference), 1:10; Petrecki Wor (holding), 12:36; Doherty Wor (double minor – high-sticking), 12:50.

3rd Period-5, Manchester, Toffoli 12 (Vey), 11:03. 6, Manchester, Toffoli 13 (Vey), 14:34. Penalties-Petrecki Wor (cross-checking, roughing), 16:50; O’Neill Mch (roughing), 16:50.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 6-5-13-24. Manchester 18-10-15-43.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 3; Manchester 2 / 6.
Goalies-Worcester, Grosenick 11-6-0 (43 shots-38 saves). Manchester, Jones 13-3-2 (24 shots-23 saves).
A-4,595
Referees-Trevor Hanson (47), Jean-Philippe Sylvain (16).
Linesmen-Landon Bathe (80), Kevin Keenan (22).

WorSharks enter All-Star break on a high note beating St John’s 4-2

The WorSharks Sharks jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Travis Oleksuk, Eriah Hayes, and captain Rob Davison, only to watch that lead slowly shrink to a single goal before Dan DaSilva’s empty netter as time was winding down sealed the deal in the WorSharks 4-2 victory over the St John’s IceCaps Sunday afternoon at the Mile One Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada in front of another sellout crowd of 6,287. The win earned Worcester a split of the two game weekend series.

IceCaps goaltender Michael Hutchinson waves his glove at Worcester Sharks captain
Rob Davison's (#3) one timer during the second period of the WorSharks 4-2 win over
St John's. It was Davison's first AHL goal since March 25, 2011.
Photo courtesy of the St. John's IceCaps

For highlights we’ll do as we did Saturday and grab the video from the IceCaps YouTube channel.

Scratches for Worcester were J.P. Anderson (upper body), Jimmy Bonneau, John McCarthy, Matt Pelech (hand), Nick Petrecki, Daniil Tarasov (concussion), Matt Tennyson, and Marek Viedensky (unknown injury). Harri Sateri was the back-up netminder. Word from the WorSharks was Tarasov skated this weekend and felt “better”, so hopefully that means he’ll be ready for action next weekend.

It hard to believe the newly acquired forward Chad Rau only has one goal for the season so far. In Saturday’s game you could tell he was still getting his feet wet in the WorSharks system, but Sunday afternoon he was in fine form grabbing an assist on Hayes’ game winner after his shot was saved by IceCaps goaltender Michael Hutchinson. All three shots Rau took were quality ones requiring more than an average-type save and his hands with the puck, at least on video, looked superb. This could turn into a very good trade for the organization if Rau can find the scoring touch he showed in previous AHL seasons.

Goaltender Troy Grosenick is showing no ill effects from his knee injury last month, picking up his third win since coming back. His goals against of 2.00 and save percentage of .930 in those three games are both right in line to where he was before his knee sprain. Right now he’s working on a personal five game winning streak. It would be six, but Sateri earned the win in the game Grosenick was injured in despite him leaving with the lead.

With no Worcester player selected for the AHL’s All Star Game it will be a four day vacation for all members of the team. Worcester continues on their usual February road trip next weekend with games in Manchester, Binghamton, and Springfield. There’s a good chance this writer will be heading out to Springfield to catch the WorSharks play the Falcons next Sunday, which will mark the start of my traditional February vacation. As usual, that’s the weekend the DCU Center returns to “Sharks Territory” and there will be a slate of home games. This season I’ll be missing two home games that weekend. Ironically, those two games are both against St John’s.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 3 Rob Davison (g)
2. STJ – 21 Kael Mouillierat (g)
3. WOR – 27 Rylan Schwartz (a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Travis Oleksuk.

Even strength lines
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Scheidl/Hamilton/Reid
Gron/Rau/Hayes
Fleming/Schwartz/Livingston

Abeltshauser/Acolatse
Comrie/Doherty
Davison/DeMelo

BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 1 2 – 4
St. John’s 0 0 2 – 2

1st Period-1, Worcester, Oleksuk 10 (Schwartz, DeMelo), 5:27. Penalties-Acolatse Wor (fighting), 11:25; Riley Stj (fighting), 11:25; Fleming Wor (high-sticking), 12:24.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Davison 1 (Livingston, Fleming), 14:57. Penalties-Brassard Stj (interference), 3:35; DaSilva Wor (hooking, unsportsmanlike conduct – disputing decision), 5:12; Gordon Stj (high-sticking), 6:39; DeMelo Wor (high-sticking), 15:10; Lowry Stj (tripping), 16:06.

3rd Period-3, Worcester, Hayes 6 (Rau, Hamilton), 2:50 (PP). 4, St. John’s, Riley 3 (Redmond, O’Neill), 8:50. 5, St. John’s, Mouillierat 14 (Klingberg, O’Dell), 14:50. 6, Worcester, DaSilva 11 (Gourde), 19:38 (EN). Penalties-Riley Stj (tripping), 0:59; Acolatse Wor (slashing), 3:12; Abeltshauser Wor (tripping), 12:14.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 11-10-7-28. St. John’s 10-9-12-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 3; St. John’s 0 / 6.
Goalies-Worcester, Grosenick 11-5-0 (31 shots-29 saves). St. John’s, Hutchinson 7-3-0 (27 shots-24 saves).
A-6,287
Referees-Mark Lemelin (41).
Linesmen-Sheldon Keough (63), Todd Horwood (34).

WorSharks face too many hurdles in St John’s, lose 5-2

The Worcester Sharks got off to a quick start but unfortunately some poor play and two outrageously bad calls by referee Mark Lemelin put the WorSharks too far behind to be able to catch up as they dropped a 5-2 contest to the St John’s IceCaps Saturday night at the Mile One Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada in front of their 100th consecutive sellout crowd of 6,287.

Worcester Sharks Rylan Schwartz scoring from the left circle to get the WorSharks within one, but
that was as close as Worcester would get in dropping a 5-2 contest to the St John's IceCaps.
Photo courtesy of the St John's IceCaps

For highlights we’ll use the IceCaps YouTube channel and take advantage of their video.

Scratches for the WorSharks were J.P. Anderson (upper body), Adam Comrie, Scott Fleming, John McCarthy, Matt Pelech (hand), Daniil Tarasov (concussion), Matt Tennyson, and Marek Viedensky (unknown injury). Troy Grosenick was the back-up goaltender. Both McCarthy and Tennyson were assigned to Worcester but did not make the trip to Canada with the team. Tarasov and Pelech also stayed behind in the Bay State due to their injuries. Eriah Hayes was assigned to the WorSharks earlier in the week and made the trip with the team. On Wednesday San Jose traded forward Curt Gogol to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forward Chad Rau. Part of that deal sent Riley Brace from Worcester to the Iowa Wild (AHL). Brace had been playing for the Ontario Reign (ECHL), and the Wild reassigned him back to the Reign.

Late in the first period with the WorSharks trailing 2-1 Nick Petrecki beat IceCaps goaltender Michael Hutchinson to apparently tie the score, but referee Mark Lemelin waved off the goal. According to the public address announcer, it was “no goal” because a Worcester player was in the crease. The only problem with that is there is no such rule in the American Hockey League, and even if that was the rule the closest Worcester player to Hutchinson, Yanni Gourde, was not in the crease at all. To make matters worse, early in the third period Lemelin awarded a penalty shot to St John’s penalty killer John Albert after Lemelin ruled Brodie Reid fouled Albert during a breakaway. If Reid hooked Albert, and if he even did is certainly debatable, that foul happened after Albert shot the puck. Albert scored on the penalty shot to make it 4-2.

Konrad Abeltshauser’s goal 35 seconds into the contest was the fourth quickest goal in WorSharks history. The quickest goal in team history belongs to Curt Gogol, who scored 28 seconds into the March 9, 2012 contest against the Portland Pirates. Both Andrew Desjardins and Patrick Traverse have goal 34 seconds into games.

Newly acquired center Chad Rau played in his 300th AHL game Saturday, and was called for his first minor penalty against since March 15, 2013, a span of 47 games without heading to the sin bin.

Worcester wore their home whites for the game as the IceCaps wore a dark third jersey. The WorSharks will again wear white tomorrow.

The three stars of the game were
1. STJ – 16 John Albert (2g)
2. STJ – 47 Adam Lowry (g)
3. WOR – 22 Dan DaSilva (no idea why)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Rylan Schwartz.

Even strength lines
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Scheidl/Hamilton/Reid
Gron/Rau/Hayes
Bonneau/Schwartz/Livingston

Abeltshauser/Acolatse
Petrecki/Doherty
Davison/DeMelo

BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 1 0 – 2
St. John’s 2 1 2 – 5

1st Period-1, Worcester, Abeltshauser 3 (Reid), 0:35. 2, St. John’s, Mouillierat 13 (Jaffray, Cormier), 14:07. 3, St. John’s, Albert 7 (Jaffray, Mouillierat), 14:23. Penalties-Melchiori Stj (interference), 4:35; DaSilva Wor (cross-checking), 19:17.

2nd Period-4, St. John’s, Samson 17 (Gordon, MacKinnon), 5:54. 5, Worcester, Schwartz 4 (Livingston), 12:12. Penalties-Davison Wor (fighting), 3:48; Brassard Stj (fighting), 3:48; Rau Wor (high-sticking), 14:30.

3rd Period-6, St. John’s, Albert 8 2:22 (SH PS). 7, St. John’s, Lowry 12 (Riley, Lipon), 8:20. Penalties-Hill Stj (high-sticking), 1:23; Reid Wor (hooking), 8:42.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 12-12-9-33. St. John’s 8-6-13-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 2; St. John’s 0 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 12-17-1 (27 shots-22 saves). St. John’s, Hutchinson 7-2-0 (33 shots-31 saves).
A-6,287
Referees-Mark Lemelin (41).
Linesmen-Justin Day (79), Todd Horwood (34).

WorSharks tickled pink in 3-2 win over Providence

The Worcester Sharks had lots of hills to climb Saturday night; they don’t win many games in front of big crowds, they don’t win often when on local TV, they lately just can’t find a way to beat the Providence Bruins, and don’t get much luck wearing specialty jerseys. Two goals by Brodie Reid and 32 saves by Troy Grosenick later the WorSharks took care of all of those things in a 3-2 win over the Baby-Bs at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts during “Pink in the Rink” night in front of 7,966 fans.

Worcester Sharks forward Brodie Reid scored the game tying goal and game
winning goal Saturday night for the WorSharks on "Pink in the Rink" night
against the Providence Bruins. Worcester won 3-2.
Photo courtesy STEVE LANAVA | T&G staff

For video highlights we once again point at AHLlive.com.

Scratches for Worcester were J.P. Anderson (upper body), Adam Comrie, Chris Crane, Nick Petrecki, Matt Pelech (hand), Daniil Tarasov (concussion), and Marek Viedensky (unknown injury). It’s already been announced that Tarasov will not accompany the WorSharks to St. John’s, Newfoundland next week. Prior to the game John McCarthy cleared waivers and was assigned to Worcester by the San Jose Sharks, but had not arrived by puck drop. As occasionally happens when the WorSharks wear specialty jerseys because of how early the jerseys have to be ordered, there was a number switch as newcomer Scott Fleming was wearing #17 instead of his usual #24.

Notable in the highlight package is the “no goal” call on Freddie Hamilton’s bid in the first period. By rule, referee Jamie Koharski got the call correct as the net was off the pegs when Hamilton scores. But that’s a rule that needs some changing. The net being an inch off the pegs played no role in the puck being fired directly into the center of the net as the puck obviously passed between the spots the net was supposed to sit on. When you consider it was Providence goaltender Niklas Svedberg who knocked it off the pegs himself that really should be the kind of goal that counts. Also take note when Hamilton skates over toward the net after the second period goal. The video cuts off, but he winds the net and bangs the near post with his stick showing the net is indeed on its pegs.

Some notable statistics: Yanni Gourde has as many points in 12 games this season (3-14-17) as he had in his first 58 AHL games (9-8-17). Hamilton has the exact same point totals (13-13-26) in 34 games this season that he had in 76 contests last season. Saturday night was the first time since January 8, 2013 that Reid had two goals in a game. The win for the WorSharks on February 1st as the first ever on that date for the team (1-2-0-1).

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 15 Brodie Reid (2g,a)
2. WOR – 12 Freddie Hamilton (g,2a)
3. PRO – 32 Nick Johnson (2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Troy Grosenick.

Even strength lines
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Scheidl/Hamilton/Reid
Livingston/Schwartz/Gron
Gogol/Fleming/Bonneau
(in the third period Fleming took Schwartz’s spot at 3rd line center)

Abeltshauser/Acolatse
Tennyson/Doherty
Davison/DeMelo

BOXSCORE

Providence 0 1 1 – 2
Worcester 0 1 2 – 3

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Robins Pro (fighting), 1:38; Bonneau Wor (fighting), 1:38; Khokhlachev Pro (tripping), 5:17; Scheidl Wor (hooking), 14:15.

2nd Period-1, Worcester, Hamilton 13 (Reid, Fleming), 5:19 (PP). 2, Providence, Griffith 11 (Johnson, Warsofsky), 14:43. Penalties-Randell Pro (interference), 3:43; Schwartz Wor (hooking), 5:40; Gogol Wor (hooking), 12:39.

3rd Period-3, Providence, Trotman 5 (Johnson, Florek), 6:30 (PP). 4, Worcester, Reid 6 (Hamilton, Gourde), 7:51. 5, Worcester, Reid 7 (Hamilton, Scheidl), 15:24. Penalties-Livingston Wor (hooking), 5:32; Khokhlachev Pro (hooking), 8:37; Gourde Wor (tripping), 15:49.

Shots on Goal-Providence 9-14-11-34. Worcester 14-6-15-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 1 / 5; Worcester 1 / 3.
Goalies-Providence, Svedberg 16-11-3 (35 shots-32 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 10-5-0 (34 shots-32 saves).
A-7,966
Referees-Jamie Koharski (84).
Linesmen-Chris Millea (33), Jack Millea (23).

WorSharks use quick start to defeat Springfield 5-2

The Worcester Sharks started off slowly Wednesday night, and looked determined not to let that happen against another division leader as the WorSharks came out on firing on all cylinders. Worcester eventually got three assists from Yanni Gourde and two goals each from Dan DaSilva and Travis Oleksuk to defeat the Springfield Falcons 5-2 Friday night at the DCU Center in front of 2,685 fans. Troy Grosenick had 19 saves for the win in his first game back since injuring his knee on January 12th.

Worcester Sharks forward Dan DaSilva (#22) fights for position with Falcons defenseman
Blake Parlett as Springfield goaltender Mike McKenna makes a blocker save on Travis Oleksuk's
shot. DaSilva and Oleksuk would each score twice in the WorSharks 5-2 win.
Photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

For highlights, as we usually do we’ll once again point to AHLlive.com.

Scratches for Worcester were J.P. Anderson (upper body), Adam Comrie, Chris Crane, Dylan DeMelo, Matt Pelech (hand), Daniil Tarasov (concussion), and Marek Viedensky (unknown injury). Harri Sateri was the back-up goaltender. On Friday the San Jose Sharks put John McCarthy on waivers, and David Pollock of the San Jose Mercury News reported that should McCarthy clear waivers he will be headed to the WorSharks.

While it may take time to get to Jamie Koharski levels, referee Graham Skilliter certainly seems to be headed along that route. The number of clearly missed calls was astounding, and even the ones he called he wasn’t entirely accurate on. Skilliter called six penalties and got half of those wrong. He correctly got the fighting majors to Jimmy Bonneau and Dalton Smith, which was basically a hug-fest, and the tripping call to Sena Acolatse. The interference call on Nick Petrecki was a clean hit on the puck carrier, the minor to Falcons forward Andrew Joudrey for high-sticking Freddie Hamilton should have been a double minor as Hamilton was cut. This writer still hasn’t found anyone other than Skilliter that saw WorSharks PTO’er Scott Fleming hook anybody. Add to that Skilliter missing one of the most obvious hand passes ever. Luckily for him his linesmen saw it and blew the whistle because it looked odd having all ten skaters stop while Skilliter was washing out the call. It doesn’t get better for Worcester Saturday night as the aforementioned Koharski will be officiating their “Pink in the rink” game against Providence.

Speaking of Petrecki, the interference call, deserved or not, was his 500th regular season penalty minute for Worcester. That joins him with Frazer McLaren (577) as the only two WorSharks players at the milestone mark. Petrecki is sixth all-time in Worcester hockey penalty minutes, with Tyler Willis (515) and Reed Low (517) catchable this season. Just behind McLaren on the all-time list is Kevin Sawyer at 567 for third. There’s virtually no chance Petrecki–or anyone else, for that matter–will catch the all-time penalty minute leader. As with most things Worcester hockey, that record is owned by Terry Virtue at a whopping 1,083 minutes.

During the game I tweeted that there was no reason for referee Graham Skilliter to be reviewing DaSilva’s first goal because the AHL only reviews if the puck is in the net and the net on the pegs to determine if a goal was good, and both those things were obviously true without video replay. Turns out those were the rules last season, and this season referees can use the single camera replay system to determine if it’s a good goal by looking for a long list of incidents that mirror the current NHL rule. Skilliter was checking to see if DaSilva kicked the puck in the net. Feel free to watch the video highlights to see how ludicrous that thought was. My apologies for any confusion my error caused.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 22 Dan DaSilva (2g,a)
2. WOR – 21 Travis Oleksuk (2g)
3. WOR – 37 Yanni Gourde (3a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Rob Davison.

Even strength lines
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Scheidl/Hamilton/Reid
Gron/Schwartz/Livingston
Gogol/Fleming/Bonneau

Abeltshauser/Acolatse
Petrecki/Tennyson
Davison/Doherty

BOXSCORE

Springfield 1 1 0 – 2
Worcester 3 2 0 – 5

1st Period-1, Worcester, Oleksuk 8 (Gourde), 1:15. 2, Worcester, Reid 5 (Hamilton, Scheidl), 9:57. 3, Springfield, Collins 8 (Chaput, Madaisky), 14:20. 4, Worcester, DaSilva 9 (Doherty, Davison), 18:42. Penalties-Petrecki Wor (interference), 4:48.

2nd Period-5, Springfield, Sedlak 7 (Aleardi, Erixon), 7:56. 6, Worcester, Oleksuk 9 (DaSilva, Gourde), 15:48. 7, Worcester, DaSilva 10 (Gourde, Acolatse), 18:46. Penalties-Smith Spr (fighting), 6:36; Bonneau Wor (fighting), 6:36; Joudrey Spr (high-sticking), 6:49; Acolatse Wor (holding), 7:06.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Fleming Wor (hooking), 8:15.

Shots on Goal-Springfield 6-8-7-21. Worcester 18-20-2-40.
Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 0 / 3; Worcester 0 / 1.
Goalies-Springfield, McKenna 10-5-0 (40 shots-35 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 9-5-0 (21 shots-19 saves).
A-2,685
Referees-Graham Skilliter (48).
Linesmen-Brian MacDonald (72), Todd Whittemore (70).

WorSharks slow start leads to 6-3 loss to Binghamton

The Worcester Sharks’ schedule said Wednesday night’s game against the Binghamton Senators started at 7pm, but apparently the WorSharks thought it started about 40 minutes later as Worcester fell behind 3-0 early to the American Hockey League’s best offense and could never catch up in dropping a 6-3 contest at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 2,533 clearly disgruntled fans. Binghamton left wing Mike Hoffman had four goals on his own, while Konrad Abeltshauser lead the WorSharks with a goal and an assist.

Worcester Sharks enforcer Jimmy Bonneau takes on Binghamton winger Darren Kramer during the first period of
Wednesday's game against the Senators. Bonneau won the fight, but the WorSharks lost 6-3 to the Senators.
Photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

For highlights, and despite the lopsided score there were a bunch of them, we once again point to AHLlive.com. A second highlights package, one that includes the Bonneau/Kramer fight, is at SendItToNews.com. One highlight that didn’t make the cut was an absolutely mind-bogglingly great save by Senators goaltender Nathan Lawson, where Lawson was down and out but still managed to snag Travis Oleksuk’s shot out of the air with the glove.

Scratches for Worcester were Chris Crane, Rob Davison, Matt Pelech (hand), Nick Petrecki, Brodie Reid (back), Daniil Tarasov (concussion). Troy Grosenick was the back-up goaltender. With the folding of the San Francisco Bulls, the San Jose Sharks and WorSharks ECHL affiliate, most of the contracted players to the Sharks organization ended up with the Ontario Reign (ECHL). Those staying on the west coast include defensemen Kyle Bigos and Steve Tarasuk, and forwards Riley Brace and Sebastian Stalberg. Goaltender J.P. Anderson, who currently has the dreaded “upper body injury”, was recalled to Worcester to work with San Jose assistant GM and goaltender coach Wayne Thomas for the week. Forwards Chris Crane and Tyler Gron were already in Worcester. And after all those transaction the WorSharks added another, signing left winger Scott Fleming to a PTO. Fleming was 11-23=34 and +13 in 39 games with the Fort Wayne Komets this season.

As it will be all weekend, the ice at the DCU Center was colored pink for Saturday’s “Pink in the rink” game against the Providence Bruins. It’s just a guess of this writer but it seems that the lines are tough to see for the linesmen–or at least it was for one of them–as many times plays that were obviously one way of the other were called incorrectly. It will be interesting to see what happens if video review is needed because the crease/goal line isn’t all that sharply contrasted either. A by-product of the pick ice is the white “snow” that accumulates during play is clearly visible. With about five minutes to play in the opening period you didn’t need to look at the scoreboard to see who was winning the game as the Worcester defensive end was all chewed up and the Senators side of the ice looked relatively clean.

Unofficial post count: the WorSharks found the iron four times behind Lawson, while Binghamton had three of there own against Worcester and Harri Sateri. There’s nothing better than hearing that sound while on defenseman and usually nothing worse while on offense.

With the oddities of the AHL scheduling the WorSharks and Senators, despite being in the same conference, hadn’t played each other since December 17, 2011. It was a 5-2 Worcester victory at Binghamton in a game that featured a four goal second period outburst by Worcester, including a Sean Sullivan shorthanded penalty shot goal. The two teams will meet again in Binghamton in just about two weeks, on February 15. The WorSharks are 6-3 all time against the Senators.

The three stars of the game were
1. BNG – 27 Mike Hoffman (4g,a)
2. BNG – 44 Jean-Gabriel Pageau (4a)
3. WOR – 37 Yanni Gourde (2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Konrad Abeltshauser.

Even strength lines
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Scheidl/Fleming/Hamilton
Gron/Schwartz/Livingston
Gogol/Viedensky/Bonneau

Abeltshauser/Acolatse
Comrie/Tennyson
DeMelo/Doherty

BOXSCORE

Binghamton 3 0 3 – 6
Worcester 0 2 1 – 3

1st Period-1, Binghamton, Robinson 8 (Eckford, Dziurzynski), 3:22. 2, Binghamton, Hoffman 19 9:08. 3, Binghamton, Hoffman 20 (Pageau, Wideman), 12:01 (PP). Penalties-Kramer Bng (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 2:00; Bonneau Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 2:00; Comrie Wor (cross-checking), 10:43.

2nd Period-4, Worcester, Oleksuk 7 (Acolatse, Gourde), 6:45 (PP). 5, Worcester, Abeltshauser 2 (Gourde, DaSilva), 13:35 (PP). Penalties-Blood Bng (interference), 6:34; Viedensky Wor (hooking), 10:12; O’Brien Bng (tripping), 12:43; Cowick Bng (hooking), 15:24.

3rd Period-6, Binghamton, Schneider 15 (Hoffman, Pageau), 3:38 (PP). 7, Worcester, Gron 2 (Livingston, Abeltshauser), 7:38. 8, Binghamton, Hoffman 21 (Pageau, Schneider), 9:28. 9, Binghamton, Hoffman 22 (Pageau), 13:30. Penalties-Puempel Bng (slashing), 0:20; DaSilva Wor (slashing), 1:55; Schwartz Wor (hooking), 15:54; Kramer Bng (tripping), 18:36.

Shots on Goal-Binghamton 12-8-8-28. Worcester 6-15-8-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Binghamton 2 / 4; Worcester 2 / 5.
Goalies-Binghamton, Lawson 15-5-0 (29 shots-26 saves). Worcester, Sateri 12-16-1 (28 shots-22 saves).
A-2,533
Referees-Ryan Hersey (8), Tim Mayer (19).
Linesmen-Bob Bernard (42), Brian MacDonald (72).

WorSharks lose three goal lead, still win 4-3 in shootout

The Worcester Sharks had a quiet first 27 minutes of Sunday’s game against the Manchester Monarchs, only to explode for three goals in the next seven minutes and then watch that lead slowly roll away as the game headed into overtime and then a shootout where the WorSharks finally prevailed to win 4-3 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of a crowd of 5,091.

Worcester Sharks forward Jimmy Bonneau opened up the scoring Sunday with his second
goal of the season. The WorSharks would lead 3-0 before losing that lead and going to a
shootout when they defeated the Manchester Monarchs 4-3.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

We’ll use the Sendittonews.com video for now, but because the video autoplays we’ll replace it with a link to AHLlive.com before the next posting.
EDIT: The AHLlive.com link.

Scratches for Worcester were Matt Pelech (hand), Nick Petrecki, Brodie Reid (back), and Daniil Tarasov (concussion). Troy Grosenick was back to his usual spot backing up Harri Sateri, and as such Thomas Heemskerk was released from his PTO. Just prior to game time it was announced that San Jose was returning Taylor Doherty to Worcester, although he was not available for the game. Pelech’s hand has apparently turned into an issue, and word is Pelech plans on going to see a specialist about it. Hockey history is full of the names of players forced to retire because of hand injuries, and as Pelech makes his living using his hands on other players a prolonged injury–or worse, one that doesn’t heal properly–could be a major issue for him.

Looking at the box score you’ll see referee Pierre Lambert called a penalty seldom seen in pro hockey: clipping. This writer could get into a long explanation as to what the rule is, but it’s essentially throwing yourself at someone’s knees to knock them over. It is most often called on failed hip checks. Curt Gogol’s hip check was not failed. It was textbook, exactly as the film shows you how to do it. Referee Lambert miscalled it, and it resulted in a power play goal against. Ironically, Gogol’s hip check happened in almost exactly the same spot as one of the best hip checks ever thrown, by Worcester IceCats defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick in the late 1990’s. Fitzpatrick’s hip check was so good it was used in hockey training videos for years. Oh, by the way, Fitzpatrick was called for clipping too.

What you won’t see in the box score are two penalties to Manchester for players using broken sticks. Both happened right where the puck was and where referee Lambert should have been looking. Alas, no calls. There was also no call when Manchester had nine skaters on the ice and possession of the puck at their own bench. Perhaps there were too many to count…

In sort of a good news/bad news thing, the hit of the game was thrown in the open ice at the WorSharks blue line by Marek Viedensky. The bad news portion was the player he hit was teammate Chris Crane. Worse news for Crane was he also got crushed later in the game by a Monarchs player. Crane really doesn’t seem to have the talent level to play in the AHL, so it won’t be a shock if Worcester looks in a different direction by next Wednesday’s game.

The three stars of the game were
1. MCH – 19 Jordan Weal (g,a)
2. WOR – 5 Matt Tennyson (g)
3. WOR – 22 Dan DaSilva (SO game winner)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Harri Sateri.

Even strength lines
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Scheidl/Hamilton/Gron
Gogol/Schwartz/Livingston
Crane/Viedensky/Bonneau

Abeltshauser/Acolatse
Comrie/Tennyson
Davison/DeMelo

BOXSCORE

Manchester 0 2 1 0 – 3
Worcester 0 3 0 0 – 4

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-1, Worcester, Bonneau 2 (Viedensky, Crane), 7:32. 2, Worcester, Tennyson 5 (Comrie, Gron), 12:26. 3, Worcester, Gourde 3 (DaSilva, Oleksuk), 14:29 (PP). 4, Manchester, Weal 10 (Vey, Deslauriers), 15:24 (PP). 5, Manchester, Miller 3 (Weal, O’Neill), 18:22. Penalties-Andreoff Mch (hooking), 13:53; Gogol Wor (clipping), 14:54; Backman Mch (slashing), 15:42.

3rd Period-6, Manchester, Gale 7 (LoVerde, Shore), 8:54. Penalties-Schwartz Wor (hooking), 2:24.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Campbell Mch (slashing), 4:48.

Shootout – Manchester 1 (O’Brien G, Shore NG, Weal NG, Vey NG, Pearson NG), Worcester 2 (Gourde G, Livingston NG, DaSilva G, Gron NG).
Shots on Goal-Manchester 8-11-12-0-0-31. Worcester 9-10-8-4-1-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Manchester 1 / 2; Worcester 1 / 3.
Goalies-Manchester, Niederberger 0-0-1 (31 shots-28 saves). Worcester, Sateri 12-15-1 (31 shots-28 saves).
A-5,091
Referees-Pierre Lambert (39).
Linesmen-Joe Ross (92), Jeremy Lovett (78).

WorSharks come up small in front of a big crowd, lose 3-2 to Providence

The Worcester Sharks always have problems playing in front of large crowds at home, and despite a Gordie Howe hat trick by Dan DaSilva and a pretty good performance from Harri Sateri the WorSharks once again couldn’t get the job done against the Providence Bruins in dropping a 3-2 contest Saturday night at the DCU center in front of 9,005 fans. It was the third largest crowd in Worcester Sharks franchise history.

The Worcester Sharks Dan DaSilva (#22, far right) heads toward the bench followed by his
teammates after scoring a power play goal in the first period. The WorSharks would grab two
power play markers in the game but still lose 3-2 to the Providence Bruins.
Photo courtesy of STEVE LANAVA | T&G Staff

For the game highlights we once again point at AHLlive.com.

The injury list for the WorSharks remains unchanged; Troy Grosenick (knee), Matt Pelech (hand), Brodie Reid (back), and Daniil Tarasov (concussion). The only line-up change from Friday night was Jimmy Bonneau dressed in place of Chris Crane. Thomas Heemskerk was once again the back-up goaltender.

You can once again add Dan DaSilva to another piece of Worcester Sharks history. Saturday night he became the first WorSharks player ever to record a hat trick and a Gordie Howe hat trick in his Worcester Sharks career. In Worcester hockey lore Terry Virtue is known by many as “Mr. IceCats”. At this rate pretty soon people may start calling DaSilva “Mr. WorSharks”.

As previously mentioned, the Worcester Sharks have had all sort of problem playing in front of big crowds at the DCU center. The WorSharks are just 3-5-2 in front of the top ten attended games in franchise history, and are 0-4 in front of the four largest. Nine of the top ten crowds have been against the Providence Bruins. The tenth game, the second highest attended contest at 9,803 fans, was the first Worcester IceCats night against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on January 22,2011. The largest crowd ever (10,170) witnessed a Rob Gronkowski “puck spike” and a 5-3 loss to Providence on February 24, 2012.

The three stars of the game were
1. PRO – 32 Nick Johnson (2g)
2. WOR – 22 Dan DaSilva (Gordie Howe hat trick)
3. PRO – 13 Alexander Khokhlachev (gwg)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Sena Acolatse.

Even strength lines
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Scheidl/Hamilton/Gron
Schwartz/Viedensky/Livingston
Gogol/Comrie/Bonneau

Abeltshauser/Acolatse
Petrecki/Tennyson
Davison/DeMelo

BOXSCORE

Providence 0 2 1 – 3
Worcester 1 0 1 – 2

1st Period-1, Worcester, DaSilva 8 (Abeltshauser, Acolatse), 6:45 (PP). Penalties-Youds Pro (slashing), 6:36; served by DaSilva Wor (bench minor – too many men), 7:43; Camara Pro (fighting), 14:07; DaSilva Wor (fighting), 14:07.

2nd Period-2, Providence, Johnson 15 (Youds, Cunningham), 4:19. 3, Providence, Johnson 16 (Youds, Warsofsky), 15:21 (PP). Penalties-Tennyson Wor (tripping), 15:06.

3rd Period-4, Worcester, Acolatse 4 (DaSilva, Abeltshauser), 2:04 (PP). 5, Providence, Khokhlachev 9 (Camara, Robins), 9:08. Penalties-Florek Pro (tripping), 0:52.

Shots on Goal-Providence 10-13-4-27. Worcester 10-8-12-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 1 / 2; Worcester 2 / 2.
Goalies-Providence, Subban 7-6-2 (30 shots-28 saves). Worcester, Sateri 11-15-1 (27 shots-24 saves).
A-9,005
Referees-Terry Koharski (10), Nic Leduc (12).
Linesmen-Chris Low (88), Brian MacDonald (72).

WorSharks can’t get it done in Manchester, lose 2-1

The Worcester Sharks six game point streak came to an end not with a bang but with a slow yawn as the WorSharks sleepwalked through a 2-1 loss to the Manchester Monarchs Friday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire in front of a crowd laughingly listed at 4,507. Matt Tennyson notched the only goal for Worcester, while Harri Sateri had 25 saves in a losing effort.

Worcester Sharks defenseman Matt Tennyson scored a goal in Friday night's
2-1 loss for his second in consecutive games. Tennyson has four points (2-2)
since returning from his recall to San Jose last week.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

For highlights, which somehow the folks in Manchester made look mildly interesting, we look toward the Monarchs YouTube channel.

Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau, Troy Grosenick (knee), Matt Pelech (hand), Brodie Reid (back), and Daniil Tarasov (concussion). Thomas Heemskerk was once again the back-up goaltender. Word from the WorSharks was Grosenick skated with the team and is close to returning, with a guess saying they have next weekend penciled in for him being ready. In one of those head scratching moments Worcester used a defenseman (Adam Comrie) at forward and Manchester used a player that had primarily been playing forward (Nick Deslauriers) on defense. Chris Crane made his debut for the WorSharks this season, wearing #33 instead of the #45 he sported last season.

The AHL did make the scoring change on Dan DaSilva’s hat trick goal Tuesday night in Portland, taking an assist away from Travis Oleksuk and correctly giving it to Yanni Gourde. That makes Gourde’s scoring line 2-8-10 in the seven games he’s played with Worcester this season.

Upon further review…a couple weeks ago this writer mentioned that the quickest opening goal in WorSharks franchise history was by Mike Iggulden, who scored 35 seconds into a 7-3 win in Houston on March 31, 2007. Turns out that was incorrect, that the quickest goal in team history actually belongs to Curt Gogol, who scored 28 seconds into the March 9, 2012 contest against the Portland Pirates. To make matters worse, the Iggulden tally isn’t even the second fastest for the WorSharks, with both Andrew Desjardins and Patrick Traverse scoring 34 seconds into games.

It was an interesting night for a few former WorSharks, with Benn Ferriero scoring the game winner for the Utica Comets in overtime against Abbotsford, and in Texas Brennan Evans (Grand Rapids) threw a nasty elbow at Stars center Justin Dowling which caused former San Jose draft pick and Worcester PTO’er William Wrenn to drop the gloves against Evans.

The three stars of the game were
1. MCH – 35 Jean-Francois Berube (32 save win)
2. MCH – 10 Zach O’Brien (g)
3. MCH – 23 Brian O’Neill (g)

For the second game in a row, the Sharkspage player of the game was Matt Tennyson.

Even strength lines
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Scheidl/Hamilton/Gron
Schwartz/Viedensky/Livingston
Comrie/Crane/Gogol

Abeltshauser/Acolatse
Petrecki/Tennyson
Davison/DeMelo

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 0 1 – 1
Manchester 1 0 1 – 2

1st Period-1, Manchester, O’Neill 10 (Shore, O’Brien), 14:36. Penalties-Miller Mch (tripping), 6:06; DeMelo Wor (hooking), 12:28; Andreoff Mch (boarding), 18:57.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Gourde Wor (roughing), 0:54; Deslauriers Mch (delay of game), 6:35.

3rd Period-2, Manchester, O’Brien 4 (Shore), 6:20. 3, Worcester, Tennyson 4 (DeMelo, Hamilton), 11:46 (PP). Penalties-Bodnarchuk Mch (interference), 11:06.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 5-15-13-33. Manchester 10-11-6-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 4; Manchester 0 / 2.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 11-14-1 (27 shots-25 saves). Manchester, Berube 16-12-2 (33 shots-32 saves).
A-4,507
Referees-Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Luke Galvin (2), Derek Wahl (46).

DaSilva DaMan in WorSharks 6-3 win over Portland

The Worcester Sharks got four point nights from both Dan DaSilva and Travis Oleksuk, including a hat trick for DaSilva, and three assists from Yanni Gourde to help lead the WorSharks to a 6-3 win over the Portland Pirates at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine in front of 1,632 fans in a rare Tuesday night contest. The win extended Worcester’s point streak to six games (5-0-1-0), and jumped the WorSharks to tenth in the AHL’s Eastern Conference at the half-way mark of their season, just three points out of the final playoff spot.

Portland winger Brandon Yip (#32) tries to prevent Worcester Sharks forward Dan DaSilva (#22) from carrying the
puck into the slot during Tuesday's 6-3 win for the WorSharks. DaSilva had a hat trick and an assist in the game,
while Yip notched a goal and an assist in the losing effort for the Pirates.
Photo courtesy of the PORTLAND PIRATES

For highlights of the contest, we once again point at AHLlive.com

Scratches for Worcester were Adam Comrie, Troy Grosenick (knee), Matt Pelech (hand), and Brodie Reid (back). Thomas Heemskerk was the back-up goaltender. In the first period Daniil Tarasov was blasted in the open ice by Portland defenseman Connor Murphy. Tarasov did not return after being helped to the dressing room. This is about the fifth time in two weeks someone has taken a run at Tarasov. Is it out of place to ask where the “Goon Squad” is after these hits? Just prior to the WorSharks heading up to Lewiston, Maine Taylor Doherty was recalled to San Jose. It’s the first recall for the 6’7″ defenseman, and while it’s likely he won’t appear in a game for the big club the NHL experience will be nothing but a positive for the third year pro. Doherty takes the place of Matt Tennyson on the San Jose roster as Tennyson was loaned back to the WorSharks Sunday.

Comrie was the only healthy scratch, which was predictable when he took a silly double minor for a spearing attempt while Worcester was shorthanded on Saturday in Norfolk. With seven capable defensemen on the roster fighting for playing time giving head coach Roy Sommer a reason to sit you isn’t a good idea. Far too often this season Comrie has done just that.

The hat trick for DaSilva ties him with Mike Iggulden for the most all time for the WorSharks–at two. Hat tricks are not a common thing in the eight and a half season the franchise has been here, with only seven different players logging one for Worcester. Mathieu Darche, P.J. Fenton, Dennis McCauley, Daniil Tarasov, and Riley Armstrong each have one a piece. The WorSharks have never had a natural hat trick.

This writer expects a scoring change to be made on DaSilva’s hat trick goal. It currently reads “DaSilva, (7) (Tennyson, Oleksuk), 6:38”, but it should be Gourde’s fourth assist of the game in place of Oleksuk. The video is pretty clear that the assist belongs to Gourde. The WorSharks are pretty good at getting things like this corrected, so presumably they will get it changed. During the game there was one glowing error in the box score, as it listed DaSilva with three goals and just one shot. As soon as Sharkspage mentioned the error on twitter it was fixed.

And speaking of Gourde, how long until Worcester upgrades that PTO to a regular contract? One would expect it won’t be much longer.

Worcester finished the game with 47 shots in goal, but somehow didn’t have one for over nine minutes to start the second period. The WorSharks ended the first period with a 16-6 shots advantage, but Brandon Yip’s goal for Portland at 7:08 of the second period swung the shots lead over to Portland at 17-16. It’s easy to tell when Worcester’s first shot of the period took place, at 9:04, because that’s when Tennyson scored to tie the game 2-2.

Giving up goals in the first or last minutes of a period is a big “no-no” in hockey, and until recently was something that happened to the WorSharks far too often. The WorSharks finally got one of those in the plus column when Oleksuk tipped Tennyson’s blast past Portland netminder Louis Domingue with 3.7 seconds remaining in the second period. One could easily say that was the turning point of the game as from that point on as the Pirates had as many shots, three, as the WorSharks had goals.

The American Hockey League finally got around to suspending Max Friberg, the Norfolk Admirals winger who butt ended Tarasov in Friday night’s game. The penalty was called “boarding”, and had it been called what it actually was–Friberg driving his stick into the head area of Tarasov as Friberg crushed Tarasov into the boards–perhaps the AHL would have suspended him more than just the one game it did. One has to wonder why Friberg wasn’t suspended for Saturday night’s game against Worcester as the AHL did suspend players for Saturday games due to infraction committed the night before.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 22 Dan DaSilva (hat trick, assist)
2. WOR – 21 Travis Oleksuk (g,3a)
3. WOR – 37 Yanni Gourde (3a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Matt Tennyson.

Even strength lines
Scheidl/Hamilton/Gron
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Tarasov/Viedensky/Livingston
Gogol/Schwartz/Bonneau
The lines jumbled a bit after Tarasov’s injury, including Scheidl and Gourde seeing shifts at center.

Acolatse/Abeltshauser
Davison/DeMelo
Petrecki/Tennyson

BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 2 3 – 6
Portland 1 2 0 – 3

1st Period-1, Worcester, DaSilva 5 (Oleksuk, Gourde), 11:17. 2, Portland, Lessio 13 (Gormley), 18:03. Penalties-Klesla Por (roughing), 2:06; Klesla Por (tripping), 5:15; Scheidl Wor (interference), 5:46; Klesla Por (delay of game), 13:10.

2nd Period-3, Portland, Yip 3 (Todd, Lessio), 7:08. 4, Worcester, Tennyson 3 (Oleksuk, DaSilva), 9:04. 5, Portland, Gormley 3 (Yip, Lessio), 14:13 (PP). 6, Worcester, Oleksuk 6 (Tennyson, Gourde), 19:56. Penalties-Acolatse Wor (roughing), 13:31; DeMelo Wor (holding), 13:31; Hextall Por (roughing), 13:31.

3rd Period-7, Worcester, DaSilva 6 (Acolatse, Gourde), 2:54 (PP). 8, Worcester, DaSilva 7 (Tennyson, Oleksuk), 6:38. 9, Worcester, Acolatse 3 (Livingston), 16:08. Penalties-Brisebois Por (interference), 1:48; Gron Wor (goaltender interference), 3:51; Brisebois Por (tripping), 7:25; Tennyson Wor (high-sticking), 12:58; Gogol Wor (roughing), 16:03; Brown Por (roughing), 16:03; Brisebois Por (roughing), 19:52.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 16-13-18-47. Portland 6-19-3-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 6; Portland 1 / 4.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 11-13-1 (28 shots-25 saves). Portland, Domingue 6-2-2 (47 shots-41 saves).
A-1,632
Referees-Mark Lemelin (41), Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Jeremy Lovett (78), Joe Ross (92).

WorSharks scoreless but not pointless in 1-0 OT loss to Norfolk

The Worcester Sharks did about as well as you could possibly do without scoring a goal when Saturday night’s contest against the Norfolk Admirals once again turned into the Harri Sateri and John Gibson Show, only unlike Friday night it was Admirals coming out on top while the WorSharks earned the bonus point after Konrad Abeltshauser was called for a penalty in overtime and Admirals defenseman Jesse Blacker connected on the power play for the only goal in a 1-0 game in front of a sellout crowd of 8,701 at The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia on “Pink in the Rink” night.

The Worcester Sharks on the penalty kill just seconds before the puck slid out into the slot where Admirals
defenseman Jesse Blacker was able to net the game winner in a 1-0 Norfolk win Saturday night
Photo courtesy of FOX43TV.COM

For video highlights we do as we did yesterday and point to Sendittonews.com.

Both team went with the same line-up, so like Friday the scratches for Worcester were Rob Davison (flu-like symptoms), Troy Grosenick (knee), Matt Pelech (hand), and Brodie Reid (unknown). Thomas Heemskerk was the back-up goaltender.

The 1-0 overtime loss Saturday was just the second time the WorSharks had a single goal game decided in the extra session. The first was a 1-0 win over Springfield on October 24, 2009 when Logan Couture scored the game winner at 3:49 of OT against Falcons goaltender Devan Dubnyk. Only once has a WorSharks game made it to the shootout when scoreless where Alex Stalock and Worcester prevailed over Manchester and Martin Jones on November 4, 2012. Counting playoffs the WorSharks are 4-2-1 in 1-0 games.

If regulation had been 60 minutes and one second long Rylan Schwartz would have ended the game just before the horn sounded when he beat John Gibson on a breakaway, but Schwartz’s shot clearly crossed the line after the horn went off so on to overtime the clubs went. Schwartz ended the game shotless, ending his streak at 22 games. The roster player with the longest shots on goal streak is now Dan DaSilva at 12 games.

After the game this writer read a little, then watched some TV, and went to bed. It’s only mentioned because both clubs had different plans than I, with the WorSharks heading on an 11 hour bus ride north to come back home and the Admirals heading south for six hours to take on the Charlotte Checkers early this afternoon. Such is life in minor league hockey.

The three stars of the game were
1. NOR – 4 Jesse Blacker (OT gwg)
2. NOR – 23 Devante Smith-Pelly (a)
3. NOR – 20 Alex Grant (a)

No Sateri or Gibson again. It’s almost like the people picking the stars in Norfolk don’t watch the game. Again, the easy choice for Sharkspage player of the game is Harri.

Even strength lines
Gron/Hamilton/Tarasov
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Scheidl/Viedensky/Livingston
Gogol/Schwartz/Bonneau

Petrecki/Demelo
Comrie/Doherty
Abeltshauser/Acolatse

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 0 0 0 – 0
Norfolk 0 0 0 1 – 1

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-DeMelo Wor (tripping), 15:38; Comrie Wor (double minor – spearing (attempt)), 16:42.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Petrecki Wor (tripping), 9:05; Sauve Nor (hooking), 11:37; Friberg Nor (high-sticking), 13:28.

OT Period-1, Norfolk, Blacker 6 (Smith-Pelly, Grant), 2:21 (PP). Penalties-Abeltshauser Wor (tripping), 1:27.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 7-6-6-1-20. Norfolk 7-8-9-3-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 2; Norfolk 1 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 10-13-1 (27 shots-26 saves). Norfolk, Gibson 12-9-4 (20 shots-20 saves).
A-8,701
Referees-Dave Lewis (46).
Linesmen-Mark Hamlett (81), Bill Lyons (27).

Sateri, WorSharks take two from Norfolk in 3-2 shootout win

The Worcester Sharks spent 11 hours on a bus on Wednesday for a weekend trip south to Norfolk, Virginia, and for the first 35 minutes of Friday night’s game it was like they never left home as their hot streak from last weekend’s three-in-three victories continued in The Old Dominion State. Unfortunately a momentum changing penalty and a tough third period for the WorSharks allowed their two goal lead to disappear, but goaltender Harri Sateri came up big to carry Worcester into overtime and a shootout where Dan DaSilva connected in the sixth round to give the WorSharks a 3-2 win over the Norfolk Admirals at the Scope in front of a good crowd of 5,807

Worcester Sharks forward Curt Gogol gets ready to take on Norfolk's John Kurtz after Gogol
took a hit along the sideboards by Admirals defenseman Alex Grant. WorSharks defenseman
Sena Acolatse went after Grant, leaving Kurtz for Gogol to battle.
Photo courtesy of WAVY.COM

It appears that AHLlive is having technical issues because there are no highlights packages for any games since Wednesday. Should they get that fixed we’ll add the highlights and will update via twitter (@210Darryl).

EDIT: Found some video highlights, which are courtesy of Sendittonews.com.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Rob Davison (flu-like symptoms), Troy Grosenick (knee), Matt Pelech (hand), Brodie Reid (unknown). With Grosenick injured Worcester dipped into their past again and signed Thomas Heemskerk to a PTO to back up Sateri. Reid was injured in the pregame skate on Friday, and there were no details as to what occurred.

The opening goal for the WorSharks came from Lane Scheidl at 1:50 of the first period, and was the quickest opening goal for Worcester this season and fastest since Daniil Tarasov scored at 1:26 on April 2, 2013 in a 4-2 loss to Bridgeport. The quickest opening goal in WorSharks franchise history was by Mike Iggulden, who scored 35 seconds into a 7-3 win in Houston on March 31, 2007.

Both Sateri and Norfolk goaltender John Gibson had incredible games, and they would look even better if the off ice officials at The Scope counted all the shots on goal. Officially Worcester outshot the Admirals 27-19, but there sure seemed to be a whole lot more shots from each side.

Worcester had many chances to put the game away, but Gibson and the crossbar had other ideas. On an extended five on three early both Tarasov and Adam Comrie both found the iron. In the third period Marek Viedensky also hit the crossbar, and with Gibson pulled for an extra attacker James Livingston and Travis Oleksuk both missed the empty net. Gibson also had about ten great saves to keep his team in the game.

Norfolk winger Max Friberg might be hearing from the AHL after his high hit on Tarasov at 14:46 of the third period. Friberg butt-ended Tarasov in the head while they were along the boards, and received a major and game misconduct for his actions. Referee Dave Lewis called it boarding, but the result is the same. Worcester had a stick infraction of their own called when Jimmy Bonneau accidentally highsticked Norfolk’s John Kurtz along the board to the right of Sateri. It drew blood earning Bonneau a double minor, and that’s where the Admirals really stepped up their play and grabbed their first goal of the game.

After the game Sharkspage minion Tyler Lowell reported via twitter (@TmanLowell11) that Tarasov suffered a cut and had 11 stitches above his eye.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 11 Lane Scheidl (g)
2. NOR – 39 Dave Steckel (g,a)
3. WOR – 14 Sena Acolatse (g)

No Gibson? No Sateri? Really? Well, that makes this easy, the Sharkspage player of the game is Sateri.

Even strength lines
Gron/Hamilton/Tarasov
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Scheidl/Viedensky/Livingston
Gogol/Schwartz/Bonneau

Petrecki/Demelo
Comrie/Doherty
Abeltshauser/Acolatse

BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 1 0 0 – 3
Norfolk 0 1 1 0 – 2

1st Period-1, Worcester, Scheidl 2 (Livingston, Viedensky), 1:50. Penalties-Acolatse Wor (fighting), 1:57; Gogol Wor (fighting), 1:57; Grant Nor (roughing, fighting), 1:57; Kurtz Nor (fighting), 1:57; Etem Nor (goaltender interference), 2:16; Gourde Wor (high-sticking), 17:36.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Acolatse 2 (Abeltshauser, Gourde), 6:23 (PP). 3, Norfolk, Whitney 9 (Steckel, Grant), 16:06 (PP). Penalties-Wagner Nor (slashing), 5:15; Bonneau Wor (double minor – high-sticking), 14:26.

3rd Period-4, Norfolk, Steckel 4 (Smith-Pelly, Grant), 19:34. Penalties-Friberg Nor (major – boarding, game misconduct – boarding), 14:46; DaSilva Wor (high-sticking), 18:15.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Etem Nor (delay of game), 4:55.

Shootout – Worcester 2 (Gron NG, Livingston NG, Gourde G, Hamilton NG, Tarasov NG, DaSilva G), Norfolk 1 (Etem NG, Blacker G, Whitney NG, Sarault NG, Smith-Pelly NG, Steckel NG).
Shots on Goal-Worcester 9-8-7-2-1-27. Norfolk 8-7-3-1-0-19.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 5; Norfolk 1 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 10-12-1 (19 shots-17 saves). Norfolk, Gibson 11-9-4 (26 shots-24 saves).
A-5,807
Referees-Dave Lewis (46).
Linesmen-Mark Hamlett (81), Bill Lyons (27).

WorSharks defeat Pirates 4-3 for six point weekend

The Worcester Sharks new look offense continued on their latest hot streak, but unlike Friday and Saturday’s wins Sunday’s contest came down to the final horn as Worcester defeated the Portland Pirates 4-3 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 3,558 fans. Ten different WorSharks players recorded points and both Troy Grosenick and Harri Sateri saw action in net for Worcester in the full team effort. The six point weekend moves the WorSharks to fourth in the AHL’s Atlantic Division and they are now just four points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Worcester Sharks forward Yanni Gourde, pictured from Saturday's game vs Norfolk where he
had a goal and two assists, continued his scoring streak with a second period shorthanded
goal Sunday against Portland. The WorSharks went on to win 4-3.
Photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

For highlights, and like the last two games they’re certainly worth watching, we once again point to AHLlive.com.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Sena Acolatse, Jimmy Bonneau, and Matt Pelech (hand). Curt Gogol was originally listed as a scratch but just prior to game time he was inserted into the line-up for Bonneau. The WorSharks had Bonneau listed as a healthy scratch, but in his fight Saturday against Norfolk’s Zack Stortini Bonneau mashed up his hand a bit, which might account for his post-warmups scratch.

On a more worrisome note, at the 7:39 mark of the second period WorSharks starting goaltender Troy Grosenick went down with a right knee injury after making a save at the near post and then getting accidentally bumped with his leg pinned awkwardly under him. As the play headed toward the Pirates zone the trailing referee, Terry Koharski, said something to Grosenick and the netminder replied shaking his head. Koharski then blew the whistle to stop play. After a few moments of being tended to by trainer Matt White Grosenick was helped off the ice. Word after the game, and reported by Bill Ballou this morning in the Worcester T&G, is it’s a sprain and not considered serious. Hopefully for Worcester that turns out to be correct.

With the San Jose Sharks hockey operational meetings taking place in Worcester there was a fairly large contingent of Sharks brass in attendance, and once the final horn went off to give the WorSharks the 4-3 win to a man they were all high-fiving and congratulating each other. And as it was all weekend, both Mark Ricci and Bryan Marchment joined coaches Roy Sommer and David Cunniff for the game behind the bench.

The game winning goal was the first in defenseman Taylor Doherty’s 141 game AHL career. In a statistical oddity, all three of Doherty’s goals this season have been four on four tallies, and are the only times the WorSharks have scored in that situation this season.

The most surprising thing in the box score is Daniil Tarasov’s line of goose eggs. Not only was it the first time this season Tarasov went shotless in a game, it’s the first time in his 67 game AHL career he didn’t have one, which sets the WorSharks team record for consecutive games with a shot on goal. It was still a pretty good weekend for the Moscow, Russia native as he finished the three game set with two goals and two assists. To complete the record, the longest “active” streak of consecutive games with a shot belongs to Logan Couture at 41 in a row. It’s a good bet that unless something odd happens that streak won’t come close to Tarasov’s. The current longest streak for roster players belongs to Rylan Schwartz at 21 games.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 4 Taylor Doherty (gwg)
2. WOR – 11 Lane Scheidl (g)
3. POR – 18 Jordan Martinook (g,a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Yanni Gourde.

Even strength lines
Gron/Hamilton/Tarasov
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Scheidl/Viedensky/Livingston
Gogol/Schwartz/Reid

Davison/DeMelo
Abeltshauser/Petrecki
Comrie/Doherty

BOXSCORE

Portland 1 0 2 – 3
Worcester 2 1 1 – 4

1st Period-1, Worcester, Scheidl 1 (DeMelo, Viedensky), 5:18. 2, Worcester, Oleksuk 5 (DaSilva), 8:21 (PP). 3, Portland, Brodeur 1 (Hextall, Martinook), 18:24. Penalties-Gormley Por (holding), 7:18; Comrie Wor (cross-checking), 15:18.

2nd Period-4, Worcester, Gourde 2 (Hamilton), 3:57 (SH). Penalties-DeMelo Wor (interference), 2:21; Gourde Wor (tripping), 4:48; Jones Por (roughing), 9:06.

3rd Period-5, Portland, Martinook 6 (Jones, Brown), 3:36. 6, Worcester, Doherty 3 (Livingston, Schwartz), 8:11. 7, Portland, Brown 6 (Todd, Gormley), 10:56. Penalties-Gogol Wor (goaltender interference), 6:32; Todd Por (tripping), 7:59; DaSilva Wor (slashing), 13:41.

Shots on Goal-Portland 6-10-12-28. Worcester 15-15-12-42.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 0 / 5; Worcester 1 / 3.
Goalies-Portland, Visentin 9-12-3 (42 shots-38 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 8-5-0 (8 shots-7 saves); Sateri 9-12-1 (20 shots-18 saves).
A-3,558
Referees-Geoff Miller (28), Terry Koharski (10).
Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Robert St. Lawrence (10).

WorSharks torpedo Admirals in 5-1 victory

The Worcester Sharks got a delayed video review goal from Freddie Hamilton, followed by nice goals from Adam Comrie and Yanni Gourde, and behind a solid 24 save performance from Troy Grosenick turned back the Norfolk Admirals 5-1 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of a crowd of 3,616. With a win Sunday the WorSharks will sweep their three in three weekend since the last week of the 2007-08 season.

The Worcester Sharks celebrate at center ice after Saturday night's 5-1 win over Norfolk.
Photo courtesy of Joey Nereu | Yeahmop.com

For video highlights we once again point at AHLlive.com. If you’re looking for highlights of Hamilton’s goal that needed video review to determine if it was a good goal or not, there isn’t any in that package. For a full explanation we’ll look toward WorSharks beat reporter Bill Ballou of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Below is a truncated view of the events; for his full posting you can check out his notes column

At 2:53 of the second period, during a stoppage of play, referee David Banfield headed toward the scorer’s bench and asked to look at the replay screen. After a long, long look, Banfield pointed to center ice, signifying a goal for Worcester. After briefly visiting with Norfolk coach Trent Yawney, who didn’t put up much of an argument, Banfield dropped the puck. The goal went to Freddie Hamilton, who put a wrist shot literally through the net 38 seconds into the period.

“I could tell by the sound,” Hamilton said. “I heard it hit mesh, and not the goalie’s glove. But everybody kept playing like nothing happened, so I figured it must not have gone in after all.”

However, the Sharks asked Banfield to take a look, telling him to focus on the action right about when Rob Davison got out of the penalty box, which was at 0:40. “(Banfield) told me that he didn’t think it was a goal at first,” Hamilton added.

Perhaps even odder, the goal was originally credited to James Livingston with two assists handed out (this writer didn’t catch who they were) but was changed to Hamilton unassisted later in the game. The oddity? Livingston wasn’t even on the ice when the goal was scored.

Scratches for Worcester were Matt Pelech (hand), Nick Petrecki, and Lane Scheidl. Harri Sateri recovered enough from his illness to be the back-up goaltender, so Scott Barchard was released from his ATO. “It was a blast to be part of a great organization and fan base. Huge win by the guys and I will never forget the experience,” Barchard told Sharkspage via twitter, adding he was allowed to keep his jersey and that he “couldn’t be happier”. Coming off a knee injury the WorSharks held Scheidl out for precautionary reasons, and he should be in the lineup Sunday against Portland.

Like Friday night, it was crowded behind the Worcester bench as the same cast of characters occupied the same spots. One could expect the same again Sunday as San Jose’s organizational meetings come to a close.

In addition to the delayed video replay referee Banfield was involved in a second rarity for pro hockey when he wound the clock down to end the game after a whistle with 2.6 seconds remaining in the contest. Tempers were flaring, and after seeing Admirals defenseman Alex Grant come off the bench to attack Curt Gogol–how Grant didn’t get an instigator is beyond this writer’s comprehension–and then minutes later a near line brawl with just those few seconds remaining Banfield had seen enough and ordered Norfolk to the dressing room while indicating to the official timer to start the clock.

Norfolk goaltender Frederik Andersen is “the real deal” and will most definitely be a number one goaltender in the NHL some day. Just this season alone he’s 10-2 with a 2.07 goal against average and a save percentage of .923 for the Anaheim Ducks. His action so far this season in the AHL has been limited because of his NHL time, but when you consider how poorly the WorSharks have been putting the puck in the net the following is a little shocking: Andersen entered Saturday’s game with a 0.96 GAA and ended the game at 2.27. His save percentage went from .971 to .933. Not bad for a gang that until recently couldn’t shoot straight.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 37 Yanni Gourde (g,2a)
2. WOR – 1 Troy Grosenick (24 save win)
3. WOR – 12 Freddie Hamilton (g,a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Dan DaSilva.

Even strength lines
Gron/Hamilton/Tarasov
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Reid/Viedensky/Livingston
Gogol/Schwartz/Bonneau

Abeltshauser/Acolatse
Davison/DeMelo
Comrie/Doherty

BOXSCORE

Norfolk 0 1 0 – 1
Worcester 0 3 2 – 5

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Stortini Nor (fighting), 6:11; Bonneau Wor (fighting), 6:11; Steckel Nor (tripping), 14:39; Davison Wor (kneeing), 18:40.

2nd Period-1, Worcester, Hamilton 12 0:38 (SH). 2, Norfolk, Smith-Pelly 11 (Blacker, Sarault), 6:04 (PP). 3, Worcester, Comrie 2 (Gourde, DaSilva), 12:15. 4, Worcester, Gourde 1 (Tarasov, DeMelo), 15:32 (PP). Penalties-Whitney Nor (hooking), 3:32; Gourde Wor (hooking), 4:40; Gogol Wor (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:21; Comrie Wor (holding), 7:41; Smith-Pelly Nor (slashing), 14:28; Comrie Wor (interference), 19:35.

3rd Period-5, Worcester, Tarasov 11 (Hamilton), 3:20. 6, Worcester, DaSilva 4 (Oleksuk, Gourde), 17:24. Penalties-Grant Nor (interference), 3:34; Tarasov Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:34; Grant Nor (roughing, fighting), 18:25; Acolatse Wor (fighting), 18:25; Gogol Wor (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:25; Zahn Nor (roughing), 19:57; Davison Wor (roughing), 19:57.

Shots on Goal-Norfolk 6-8-11-25. Worcester 12-17-6-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Norfolk 1 / 4; Worcester 1 / 4.
Goalies-Norfolk, Andersen 2-1-0 (35 shots-30 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 8-5-0 (25 shots-24 saves).
A-3,616
Referees-David Banfield (77).
Linesmen-Bob Bernard (42), Todd Whittemore (70).

WorSharks new look pays dividends early in 3-1 win over Hartford

The Worcester Sharks did some roster shuffling over the past week, and at least in the short term it worked out well as newcomer Tyler Gron scored the WorSharks first goal of the game and returning fan favorite Yanni Gourde added an assist on the go ahead tally to help lead Worcester to a 3-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack Friday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of a crowd listed at 3,203 but certainly seemed much larger.

Newly signed Worcester Sharks forward Tyler Gron celebrates his first American Hockey League goal with
his second period game tying strike against Hartford Friday night. The WorSharks would go on to win 3-1.
Photo courtesy of STEVE LANAVA | Worcester T&G Staff

For video highlights we point to AHLlive. As the game was on local cable in the Worcester area in addition of the golden voice of WorSharks broadcaster Eric Linquist you also hear 2008–09 James H. Ellery Memorial Award winner Kevin Shea providing color commentary. The James H. Ellery Memorial Awards are presented annually to the individuals of the news media (newspaper, radio and television) for outstanding media coverage of the American Hockey League. The awards are given in memory James Ellery, former publicity director for the AHL. The first award was handed out to one individual in 1965. Since 1976, three awards have been given, one to each type of media. It will come as a shock to no one to hear WorSharks beat reporter Bill Ballou has won it twice.

Scratches for Worcester were Adam Comrie (unknown injury) Curt Gogol, Matt Pelech (hand), Harri Sateri (as we say in New England: “wicked sick”). To take Sateri’s place the WorSharks signed goaltender Scott Barchard to an ATO. In the previously mentioned roster shuffling Worcester brought forward Yanni Gourde in from the Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL) on a try-out contract and signed San Francisco Bulls (ECHL) forward Tyler Gron to an AHL/ECHL deal. To make room for the pair of players Worcester sent Riley Brace to San Francisco and San Jose reassigned Sebastian Stalberg to the Bulls. Both will benefit greatly from the change of scenery. Lane Scheidl returned to the lineup after missing the first 32 games due to a knee injury.

It was a bit crowded behind the WorSharks bench as both Mark Ricci and Bryan Marchment joined coaches Roy Sommer and David Cunniff for the game. When you add in Head Athletic Trainer Matt White and Head Equipment Manager Chris Davidson-Adams (a.k.a Critter), that’s w hole lot of folks in a small area. With the Worcester win you should expect the same crew again Saturday night.

One of the infuriating things that happens with the WorSharks are line changes at very inopportune times. Friday night was no exception as with seven seconds left in the second period and with full possession of the puck in the Hartford end, Worcester changed lines. This is an all too common occurrence that really needs to be looked at. Correct game management game easily get you a couple of extra wins a season, and the WorSharks are terrible at it.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 15 Brodie Reid (gwg)
2. WOR – 1 Troy Grosenick (21 save win)
3. WOR – 36 Tyler Gron (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Tyler Gron.

Even strength lines
Gron/Hamilton/Tarasov
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Scheidl/Viedensky/Livingston
Bonneau/Schwartz/Reid

Petrecki/Doherty
Davison/DeMelo
Abeltshauser/Acolatse

BOXSCORE

Hartford 1 0 0 – 1
Worcester 0 1 2 – 3

1st Period-1, Hartford, Bourque 6 (Lindberg, Fast), 7:23 (PP). Penalties-Gourde Wor (goaltender interference), 6:35; Haley Hfd (tripping), 9:05; Gron Wor (high-sticking), 10:25.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Gron 1 (Tarasov), 10:16 (PP). Penalties-Viedensky Wor (hooking), 5:37; Johnson Hfd (delay of game), 9:22; Bickel Hfd (roughing), 12:48; Livingston Wor (boarding), 12:48.

3rd Period-3, Worcester, Reid 4 (Gourde), 13:39. 4, Worcester, Tarasov 10 (DeMelo), 19:25 (EN). Penalties-Yogan Hfd (boarding), 15:18.

Shots on Goal-Hartford 7-6-9-22. Worcester 8-13-12-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 1 / 3; Worcester 1 / 3.
Goalies-Hartford, Grumet-Morris 3-10-4 (32 shots-30 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 7-5-0 (22 shots-21 saves).
A-3,203
Referees-Ryan Murphy (5).
Linesmen-Chris Aughe (74), Brian MacDonald (72).

An open letter to San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson

Dear Doug Wilson:

First off, I’d like to welcome you back to Worcester. It’s been pretty cold here, and most everyone is hoping that it will warm up a little in the near future. Of course, we have lots of New England curmudgeons that think it will never heat up, but there are a few of us that still hold out some hope. Oh, I’m sorry, I’m not talking about the weather. I’m talking about the Worcester Sharks.

You see, in case you hadn’t heard we haven’t made the playoffs here in three seasons and are languishing near the bottom of the standings yet again. For an organization that prides itself in instilling a winning tradition in its prospects and players you’d think at some point you’d want your minor league team to, you know, win something. And I’m not talking about the Calder Cup, I’m really just referring to one small thing: win a single playoff game. Just like the NHL, in the AHL more than half the teams in the league make the playoffs. In seven seasons Worcester has only made the playoffs three times. Perhaps I misunderstand what “winning tradition” means.

Of course I’d love it if the WorSharks went all the way and won the Calder Cup, but that just doesn’t seem realistic when the philosophy of the organization is “draft and develop”. And, to be honest, that’s OK. We get it. Everything that goes on here is in part to make sure San Jose has the best team available at any given moment, with an eye still on the future as younger players emerge into potential NHL players. Only when I look at the WorSharks roster I don’t see that many future NHL players.

It’s very cool to turn on the TV and watch guys that have come though Worcester playing in the NHL. The problem is, there aren’t all that many. My count has 33 players that made their NHL debut after having played for the WorSharks. That seems like a lot, until you notice that there are many names like Lukas Kaspar, Mike Moore, Riley Armstrong, Brandon Mashinter, Steven Zalewski, and Mike Iggulden on the list. I’m not sure about San Jose, but we don’t see much of those guys on TV around here.

The fans here in Worcester were told that this season changes would be coming, that the WorSharks would be playing almost the exact same system as you do in San Jose and that would go a long way in making this team better. Again, in case you haven’t noticed, that doesn’t seem to be happening. And I’m not talking about making the team better, I’m talking about playing the same system as in San Jose.

It’s a rare occasion in San Jose to see a five foot pass between two players as the recipient of the pass is skating directly toward the passer with no hope of doing anything with the puck once he gets it. It’s a common occurrence here. You don’t see many players skating into each other in the offensive zone in San Jose. That happens all the time here. There’s lots of offensive zone movement in San Jose. In Worcester they look like trees out on the ice. I see tons of puck support in San Jose. Here, not so much. I see the big club creating traffic in front of the opposing net. In Worcester, I see wild goal mouth scrambles as the WorSharks forwards try in vain to put the puck in the net.

It’s obvious that you see things that I don’t, otherwise you would have stepped in ages ago to correct these issues. So I’m inviting you to come sit with me and explain what I’m not understanding. I have the absolute best seats in the house at the DCU Center, so our view of the game will be perfect as we talk about what we’re seeing on the ice. For all three games this weekend, seat 10 in row A of section 108 is yours. All you need to do is walk down and sit in it during the periods of play. The folks in row A will even make sure you’ll get your favorite beverage while we watch and chat. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours in hockey,
Darryl Hunt