SHARKSPAGE

Hamilton’s two shorthanded goals lift WorSharks over Penguins 4-2

The Worcester Sharks headed west for their final two games of the 2012-2013 season, and with nothing but pride left to play for got two late third period shorthanded goals from Freddie Hamilton to defeat the playoff bound Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4-2 Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in front of 7,995 clearly stunned fans.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Mike Brennan, Curt Gogol, Yanni Gourde, Tommy Grant, Bracken Kearns, Christophe Lalancette, John McCarthy, Matt Pelech, Brodie Reid, Marek Viedensky, and Dane Walters. Lalancette is the only player to not see action so far, and if he does Saturday night he’ll become the 51st player to play for them this season. That would tie the team record for most players used in games over the course of the season with the 2000-01 squad, although technically in 2000-01 Worcester had a 52nd player dress for a game that didn’t play, PTO backup goaltender Billy Sauer.

It’s funny to listen to Penguins broadcaster Tom Grace talk about the Worcester Sharks in general and Alex Stalock specifically on the highlight video. Folks call me and WorSharks broadcaster Eric Lindquist “homers”, but holy moly Grace makes us look downright impartial.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 12 Freddie Hamilton (2shg/gwg)
2. WOR – 44 Adam Comrie (g,2a+3)
3. WBS – 26 Riley Holzapfel (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Rylan Schwartz.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 0 3 – 4
W-B/Scranton 1 0 1 – 2

1st Period-1, W-B/Scranton, Payerl 3 (Farnham, Gibbons), 3:08. 2, Worcester, Schwartz 1 (Comrie, Scheidl), 14:39. Penalties-Demelo Wor (hooking), 0:40; Payerl Wbs (high-sticking), 7:50; Doherty Wor (roughing, roughing), 16:16; Farnham Wbs (goaltender interference, roughing), 16:16.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Acolatse Wor (tripping), 2:46; Dumoulin Wbs (roughing), 12:14.

3rd Period-3, Worcester, Comrie 3 (Urban, Stalberg), 6:00 (PP). 4, W-B/Scranton, Holzapfel 21 (Dumoulin, Smith), 12:56. 5, Worcester, Hamilton 12 (Comrie), 18:06 (SH). 6, Worcester, Hamilton 13 (Demelo), 19:02 (SH EN). Penalties-Doherty Wor (interference), 3:24; Gibbons Wbs (goaltender interference), 5:00; Bonneau Wor (misconduct), 6:19; Doherty Wor (instigating, fighting, misconduct – instigating), 6:19; Petrecki Wor (fighting, game misconduct – secondary altercation), 6:19; Farnham Wbs (major – boarding, fighting, game misconduct – boarding), 6:19; Grant Wbs (fighting, game misconduct – secondary altercation), 6:19; Tarasov Wor (interference), 8:29; Schwartz Wor (roughing), 12:13; Kolarik Wbs (roughing), 12:13; Urban Wor (cross-checking), 17:08.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 9-7-9-25. W-B/Scranton 6-7-9-22.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 5; W-B/Scranton 0 / 4.
Goalies-Worcester, Stalock 17-16-3 (22 shots-20 saves). W-B/Scranton, Zatkoff 26-20-0 (24 shots-21 saves).
A-7,995
Referees-Jean Hebert (43).
Linesmen-Tom George (61), Scott Pomento (25).

WorSharks miracle comeback falls short; Brace scores in third consecutive game

The Worcester Sharks dug themselves a four goal hole in the first 25 minutes of Friday night’s contest against the Norfolk Admirals, but roared back with three of their own as team MVP Bracken Kearns, enforcer Matt Pelech, and newcomer and new fan favorite Riley Brace all lit the lamp to get the WorSharks within one, but that’s as close as it was get as Worcester couldn’t connect for another and dropped the game 4-3 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 3,192 fans. The loss all but eliminates Worcester from the playoff chase.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Jimmy Bonneau, Mike Brennan, Adam Comrie (injured), Curt Gogol (injured), Yanni Gourde (injured), Christophe Lalancette, Brodie Reid (injured), Sebastian Stalberg, Denny Urban, Dane Walters, and Marek Viedensky (injured). Both Gourde (high ankle sprain) and Reid (shoulder) are out for the duration. The injury list may be growing a bit longer was captain John McCarthy didn’t return after being checked into the boards by Norfolk’s Patrick Maroon early in the first period. This writer won’t be shocked if tough guy Jimmy Bonneau replaces McCarthy in the line-up.

Sharkspage is saddened to read Bill Ballou reporting that linesmen Bob Paquette is retiring after the end of this season and that Friday was his last game in Worcester. Paquette, one of the more easily recognizable on ice officials, has been mentioned several times in this space over the years and is truly one of the best linesmen in the league.

ATO signee Riley Brace has become the second player in WorSharks history to score a goal in his first three pro games, joining Nate Raduns on the exclusive list. Raduns had a goal in each of his three first games and then added two more in his fourth for five goals in his first four games. Raduns also had an assist and went +5 over that span. Brace will need two goals and to go +3 on Saturday to match Raduns. Brace is out of luck in one category though as two of Raduns’ first three goals were game winners.

A personal note, if I may…those that follow me on twitter (@210Darryl) saw my tweet that said I had to walk away from the game for a short while because my nephew got hit with the puck late in the second period. The puck hit off the glass, hit a railing in front of him, and then hit him just under the eye. As a true hockey fan he saw he wasn’t bleeding and not being in any discomfort watched the rest of the period and then went to first aid “just in case”. After the application of an ice pack all is well and he ended up missing less of the game than I did. The WorSharks game staff, which I have heaped tons of praise on during numerous occasions, were outstanding during the whole episode. They were able to retrieve the puck for him (which had bounced away and under the seats) and had it signed by Mike Brennan.

The three stars of the game were
1. NOR – 23 Steven Whitney (2g)
2. NOR – 19 Patrick Maroon (2a)
3. WOR – 16 Bracken Kearns (g)

For the third game in a row the Sharkspage player of the game is Riley Brace.

BOXSCORE

Norfolk 2 2 0 – 4
Worcester 0 1 2 – 3

1st Period-1, Norfolk, Zolnierczyk 11 (Sarault), 12:29. 2, Norfolk, Whitney 2 (Clark, Maroon), 14:05. Penalties-Maroon Nor (fighting), 4:18; Kearns Wor (fighting), 4:18; Zolnierczyk Nor (tripping), 15:55; Crane Wor (slashing), 18:39.

2nd Period-3, Norfolk, Brittain 11 (Pelley, Letourneau-Leblond), 2:45. 4, Norfolk, Whitney 3 (Wagner, Maroon), 4:39. 5, Worcester, Kearns 21 (Tarasov, Schwartz), 12:01. Penalties-Whitney Nor (hooking), 7:42; Petrecki Wor (slashing), 12:40.

3rd Period-6, Worcester, Pelech 2 (Oleksuk, Acolatse), 3:27. 7, Worcester, Brace 3 4:05. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Norfolk 12-11-1-24. Worcester 12-17-13-42.
Power Play Opportunities-Norfolk 0 / 2; Worcester 0 / 2.
Goalies-Norfolk, Andersen 23-15-1 (42 shots-39 saves). Worcester, Stalock 16-15-3 (24 shots-20 saves).
A-3,192
Referees-Jeff Smith (49).
Linesmen-Ed Boyle (81), Bob Paquette (18).

WorSharks Booster Club announces team awards

The Worcester Sharks Booster Club held their 7th annual teams award ceremony Wednesday night at the DCU Center. The winners were:

Best offensive player: Bracken Kearns

Best defensive player: Sena Acolatse

“Tough Guy” award: Matt Pelech

Fan favorite: Alex Stalock

Rookie of the year: Daniil Tarasov

Seventh player award: James Livingston

Best single game performance: Harri Sateri, for his 50 save shootout win vs Providence on December 2, 2012

Most valuable player: Bracken Kearns

Voting was done in late March/early April by Booster Club members. Each winner received a small commemorative trophy.

Stalock, WorSharks blank Sound Tigers 3-0

The Worcester Sharks got 32 saves from goaltender Alex Stalock and goals from two amateur try-out players on their way to a 3-0 victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Tuesday night at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut to snap a franchise worse eight game winless streak.

Video courtesy of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers:

Press release courtesy of the Worcester Sharks:

Bridgeport, CT– The Worcester Sharks (30-31-3-6, 69pts) snapped a franchise worse eight game losing skid (0-6-2-0) with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (30-30-6-5, 71pts) on Tuesday evening in front of 5,378 fans at the Webster Bank Arena. With the win, the Sharks are now six points behind the 8th place Hershey Bears in the Eastern Conference playoff picture with six games remaining.

Alex Stalock made 32 saves to surpass Thomas Greiss for his franchise leading 75th victory in a Worcester Sharks sweater. Riley Brace scored in his 2nd straight game for Worcester, Derek Joslin scored his 2nd as a Shark and Matt Nieto scored his 2nd professional goal in the win. Rylan Schwartz added an assist (Colorado College) and Eriah Hayes (Minnesota State-Mankato) each made their professional debuts for Worcester as the Sharks dressed 11 rookies.

Worcester scored the only goal in a quick moving first period to take a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes. Derek Joslin (4th) fried a puck from 50 feet through a screen at 15:15 past goaltender Rick DiPietro to give the Sharks a 1-0 edge. John McCarthy and Rylan Schwartz (1st pro point) picked up the helpers for Worcester. The Sharks outshot the Sound Tigers 10-7 in the first period.

The Sharks scored twice more in the second period to go ahead 3-0. Nick Petrecki sent a snap shot from the left point with Riley Brace (2nd) in front providing a screen and tip at 1:51 to put Worcester ahead 2-0. Dylan Demelo set up Matt Nieto (2nd) who then broke down the right side and ripped a shot past the glove of DiPietro at 19:05 to put the Sharks ahead 3-0. Alex Stalock had 15 saves through 40 minutes of play.

Bridgeport came out flying in the third period and had a goal disallowed with about seven minutes remaining. Slalock made several big saves as he saw 17 shots in final frame to preserve the shutout. After Taylor Doherty (4th FM) knocked down Matt Donovan (4th FM) with a series of rights at 19:49, a brawl almost broke out after the final horn as Brandon DeFazio jumped Travis Oleksuk after time expired.

Notes: FIVE GUYS BURGERS Three Stars: 3rd star: Matt Nieto (1-0-1) 2nd star: Derek Joslin (GWG) 1st star: Alex Stalock (32 save shutout)… Final shots were 32-28 in favor of Bridgeport… Rick DiPietro made 25 saves on 28 shots for Bridgeport… Alex Stalock made 32 saves on 32 shots for Worcester in the win…. Worcester went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Bridgeport went 0-for-6…Curt Gogol (inj), Adam Comrie (inj), Marek Viedensky (inj), Jimmy Bonneau (scr), Bracken Kearns (inj), Dane Walters (scr), Yanni Gourde (inj), Jimmy Bonneau (scr), Denny Urban (scr), and Brodie Reid (inj) did not dress for Worcester… with the one fight; the Sharks now have 78 through 70 games… on Monday, the San Jose Sharks reassigned forward Jon Matsumoto from Worcester to Chicago (AHL)…. With his roughing penalty in the 3rd period, Matt Pelech now has 1,000 penalty minutes in the AHL.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 2 0 – 3
Bridgeport 0 0 0 – 0

1st Period-1, Worcester, Joslin 4 (McCarthy, Schwartz), 15:15. Penalties-Acolatse Wor (hooking), 17:58; Donovan Bri (cross-checking), 18:51.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Brace 2 (Petrecki, Livingston), 1:51. 3, Worcester, Nieto 2 (Demelo), 19:05. Penalties-served by Stalberg Wor (bench minor – too many men), 5:52; Sundstrom Bri (tripping), 11:13.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Demelo Wor (slashing), 4:03; Pelech Wor (roughing), 8:54; Sundstrom Bri (roughing), 8:54; served by DeFazio Bri (bench minor – too many men), 12:41; Hayes Wor (slashing), 14:52; Crane Wor (tripping), 18:29; Doherty Wor (elbowing, fighting), 19:49; Donovan Bri (fighting), 19:49; Oleksuk Wor (roughing), 20:00; DeFazio Bri (roughing, misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 10-12-6-28. Bridgeport 7-8-17-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 3; Bridgeport 0 / 6.
Goalies-Worcester, Stalock 16-14-3 (32 shots-32 saves). Bridgeport, DiPietro 8-7-0 (28 shots-25 saves).
A-5,378
Referees-Jean Hebert (43).
Linesmen-Paul Simeon (66), Luke Galvin (2).

WorSharks loss to Bridgeport spoils pro debut of Matt Nieto

The Worcester Sharks once again found a way to lose two valuable points in the standings to a team they absolutely had to beat to keep their longshot playoff chances alive after surrendering another multi goal lead and then never getting back on track Tuesday night in dropping a 4-2 contest to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the DCU Center in front of the smallest crowd ever to catch a WorSharks game.

The scratches for Worcester Curt Gogol (ankle), Mike Brennan, Yanni Gourde, Marek Viedensky (upper body), Dane Walters, Lane Scheidl, and Brodie Reid (shoulder–out for season). Harri Sateri was the back-up goaltender.

The loss not only dropped the WorSharks playoff chances to around 5%–math is not this writer’s strong suit so someone smarter than he had to figure it out–it also spoiled the pro debut of one of the San Jose Sharks highest rated prospects Matt Nieto. The Boston University product left school with one year of eligibility remaining after BU was not one of the 16 teams selected to play for the NCAA championship. Nieto reportedly practiced with the line of Sebastian Stalberg and Freddie Hamilton, but Tuesday night played left wing on a line with John McCarthy and James Livingston. Ironically, Nieto’s first pro point came when he replaced Jon Matsumoto on a line change and had the secondary assist on Hamilton’s goal. Nieto got time on Worcester’s second power play unit and was part of the penalty killers in the third period.

Matt Nieto in his pro debut with the Worcester Sharks on April 2, 2013.
Photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

The WorSharks even strength lines, courtesy of Michael Fornabaio of the CT Post:
Tarasov/Kearns/Sivak
Matsumoto/Hamilton/Stalberg
Nieto/McCarthy/Livingston
Bonneau/Oleksuk/Pelech

Joslin/Acolatse
Comrie/Doherty
Petrecki/Urban

The three stars of the game were
1. BRI – 18 Ryan Strome (g,a)
2. BRI – 32 Joe Diamond (g,a)
3. WOR – 40 Matt Nieto (a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Daniil Tarasov.

BOXSCORE

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

1st Period-1, Worcester, Tarasov 10 (Sivak, Kearns), 1:26. 2, Worcester, Hamilton 10 (Stalberg, Nieto), 6:54. 3, Bridgeport, Strome 1 (Nelson), 17:59. Penalties-Riley Bri (roughing), 1:26; Bonneau Wor (roughing), 1:26; Riley Bri (fighting), 3:29; Bonneau Wor (fighting), 3:29; Persson Bri (goaltender interference), 11:08.

2nd Period-4, Bridgeport, Wishart 6 (Backman, Sundstrom), 2:16. 5, Bridgeport, Diamond 1 (Strome), 19:07. Penalties-Strome Bri (high-sticking), 4:26.

3rd Period-6, Bridgeport, DeFazio 11 (Campbell, Ness), 5:10. Penalties-Diamond Bri (boarding, fighting), 0:35; Doherty Wor (fighting), 0:35; Acolatse Wor (boarding), 5:47; McIver Bri (fighting), 8:10; Doherty Wor (fighting), 8:10; Livingston Wor (boarding), 8:52; Persson Bri (elbowing), 10:59; Matsumoto Wor (holding the stick), 12:21; served by Nieto Wor (bench minor – too many men), 18:51.

Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 14-9-12-35. Worcester 11-8-6-25.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 0 / 4; Worcester 0 / 4.
Goalies-Bridgeport, DiPietro 6-5-0 (25 shots-23 saves). Worcester, Stalock 15-13-3 (35 shots-31 saves).
A-1,777
Referees-Terry Koharski (10), Geoff Miller (28).
Linesmen-Joe Ross (92), Brian MacDonald (72).

WorSharks playoff chances quickly fading away after shocking overtime loss to IceCaps

The Worcester Sharks were cruising along after three straight goals in the late second period and early third gave them a 4-2 lead and looked to have the game well in hand being backstopped by NHL netminder Thomas Greiss down on a conditioning assignment, but once again a team showed what happens when you take your foot off the accelerator as the St John’s IceCaps were able to race by them with two late third period goals and then a quick tally in overtime to defeat the WorSharks Saturday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 4,143 stunned fans

Curt Gogol, Mike Brennan, Marek Viedensky, Dane Walters, Lane Scheidl, and Brodie Reid did not dress for Worcester. Prior to the game Matt Tennyson took the Worcester shuttle out west for the first time.

Just after both anthems were sung and while members of the Worcester Sharks Booster Club were at center ice handing out Player of the Month Awards (December’s was Daniil Tarasov, January’s was Harri Sateri) it was noticed that Thomas Greiss, the announced starter, was heading toward the WorSharks bench and Sateri was skating to take over the net. Greiss then went just a little bit down the player tunnel and began stretching his left shoulder, and then after a few moments he sat down on a stool in the runway and just sat there waiting with his mask on. 51 seconds later after the first whistle of the game Greiss skated back on the ice and relieved Sateri in net. There was no official explanation given by the Worcester Sharks for what happened, although there are rumors abound that Greiss purposely skated off so Sateri could start, extending his starting streak to 12 games.

The 12 game starting streak by Sateri bests his personal mark of 11 (from March 18 to April 13 last season), and is just four behind the WorSharks regular season team record for goaltender starts currently held by Greiss at 16 that he set from March 13 until the end of the 2008-2009 regular season on April 11. Greiss then tacked on 12 playoff starts to make the overall record an incredible 28 consecutive starts. Greiss also has a streak of 22 games in a row where he received the decision, but one of those games was a relief appearance against the Hershey Bears on March 16, 2007 when Dimitri Patzold gave up four goals in the first period and in a wild game Greiss eventually won 7-6 in a shootout.

The overtime loss now puts Worcester seven points out of the final playoff spot with 11 games to go, but they do have at least a game in hand–in most cases two–on everyone between them an eighth place. The big issue they face is they need to climb over four teams to get there and they play one of the toughest remaining schedules in the AHL. The WorSharks also need to land in eighth all by themselves as they don’t appear to own the tiebreaker against any of the teams they are competing against. People smarter than this writer, which is not exactly a small subset, say Worcester’s chances are well under 20%. No matter the actual number, it’s a long shot at best.

Matt Pelech’s roughing minor in the second period gave the defenseman turned forward 212 penalty minutes on the season, setting a new team record. The previous record was held by Brennan Evans, set during the 2007-08 campaign. Pelech has some work to do to set the city mark, which is 337 set by Sylvain Blouin in 1999-2000 for the Worcester IceCats. The odd part about Blouin’s season is not only did he set his personal high in penalty minutes that campaign but also set career marks in goals (16), assists (17), and points (34). He then tacked on 3-5-8 and 30PIMs in 8 playoff games. That’s a pretty good season for anyone, not just an enforcer type player.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 16 Bracken Kearns (2g,a)
2. STJ – 49 Ben Maxwell (2g,a)
3. STJ – 23 Will O’Neill (g,a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Daniil Tarasov.

BOXSCORE

St. John’s 1 1 2 1 – 5
Worcester 1 1 2 0 – 4

1st Period-1, Worcester, Sivak 3 (Tarasov, Kearns), 3:29. 2, St. John’s, Gregoire 10 14:41 (SH). Penalties-Ezekiel Stj (fighting), 2:24; Bonneau Wor (fighting), 2:24; Petrecki Wor (cross-checking), 5:22; Gourde Wor (boarding), 10:01; Sol Stj (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 13:42; Bonneau Wor (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 13:42; Cullity Stj (cross-checking), 13:55.

2nd Period-3, St. John’s, Gagnon 11 (Maxwell, Chiarot), 1:41. 4, Worcester, Kearns 18 (Tarasov, Doherty), 17:26. Penalties-Sol Stj (roughing), 4:10; Ezekiel Stj (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:34; Pelech Wor (roughing), 7:34; Petrecki Wor (roughing), 14:08.

3rd Period-5, Worcester, Matsumoto 14 5:40 (TXT_PS). 6, Worcester, Kearns 19 (Stalberg, Tarasov), 7:33. 7, St. John’s, O’Neill 2 (Mouillierat), 17:16. 8, St. John’s, Maxwell 8 (O’Neill, Cullity), 19:07. Penalties-No Penalties

OT Period-9, St. John’s, Maxwell 9 (Gagnon, Pasquale), 0:23. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-St. John’s 9-10-7-1-27. Worcester 14-10-9-1-34.
Power Play Opportunities-St. John’s 0 / 3; Worcester 0 / 3.
Goalies-St. John’s, Pasquale 15-21-4 (34 shots-30 saves). Worcester, Sateri 14-17-3 (0 shots-0 saves); Greiss 0-1-0 (27 shots-22 saves).
A-4,143
Referees-Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Bob Paquette (18), Todd Whittemore (70).

WorSharks keep playoff hopes alive with 5-3 win over Providence

The Worcester Sharks, who despite allowing goals in the final minute of two different periods and coughing up a two goal lead, got goals from five different first year AHL players and points from four more to give them a 5-3 win over the Providence Bruins Saturday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 6,557 fans to keep the WorSharks slim playoff hopes alive.

The Sharks celebrate a goal by Peter Sivak, right, in the third period. (Photo Courtesy: T&G Staff/STEVE LANAVA)

Early in the contest the defense ruled as both squads really clamped down in their own end and shots–never mind scoring chances–were at a premium. With the defensive feel to the game it wasn’t that shocking when a nice play from a blueliner set up the first goal. Worcester had the puck in the PBruins zone but really couldn’t get anything going, and just when it looked like Providence was going to break out of their zone WorSharks defenseman Matt Tennyson stood his ground and poked the puck away from PBruins forward Alexander Fallstrom right on to the stick of Yanni Gourde. The quick turnaround allowed Freddie Hamilton to be all alone in the slot behind the Providence defense, and Gourde’s perfect pass right to the tape of Hamilton’s stick gave Hamilton ample time to throw a little deke at PBruins goaltender Michael Hutchinson and then beat Hutchinson to the far post for the 1-0 lead at 16:09.

One of the big unwritten rules of hockey is don’t give up goals in the first or last minute of periods, and this season the WorSharks have found lots of different ways to break that rule. In the first period it happened after Matt Pelech just absolutely destroyed Providence center Kyle MacKinnon with a nice open ice hit in the Worcester end. That check unfortunately opened a passing lane for defenseman Kevan Miller, who had skated down toward the goal line to the left of Worcester netminder Harri Sateri, to the high slot where winger Jamie Tardif was waiting for the pass. Tardif’s laser through traffic beat Sateri with 42.2 seconds remaining in the period.

Tennyson would grab his second assist of the game when John McCarthy outraced PBruins defenseman Garnet Exelby to a loose puck behind the Providence net after Tennyson’s pass up the right wing boards was too hot to handle and was going to be an icing call. Newcomer Peter Sivak, signed to a PTO contract earlier this week out of the WorSharks ECHL affiliate in San Fransisco, trailed the play down the right wing side and when McCarthy got full control Sivak went right to the net. McCarthy’s nice pass from the corner hit Sivak in stride, and the 13 year pro playing in his first season in North American and just his second AHL contest snapped a hard wrist shot from the low circle over the left shoulder of Hutchinson and just inside the corner of the net at 3:33 of the second period for the 2-1 lead.

Travis Oleksuk would give Worcester a 3-1 lead when his hard work in front of the net battling PBruins defenseman David Warsofsky paid off. Taylor Doherty, not exactly known great offensive skills, took a cross ice feed and fired a low, hard shot toward the front of the net where Oleksuk was providing a screen. The shot hit Oleksuk and bounded away off the end boards. Lane Scheidl, an amateur tryout signee from the Regina Pats (WHL) who had been streaking through the slot just prior to the shot, retrieved the puck and with no better option fired it back on net from a bad angle. Hutchinson was totally square to the bid and made the easy save, but the rebound went right back to the slot where Oleksuk banged it home at 10:57.

But nothing has come easy for the WorSharks this season, and as has happened too many times this season Worcester allowed an opponent back into the game by giving up a couple goals late in periods. The first went to Carter Camper, who was so wide open in the lower part of the left wing circle that the closest person to him was sitting in the stands. Camper one-timed Miller’s feed into a yawning net at 16:04 to make it 3-2. The PBruins would get back to even on a power play score with just 12 seconds remaining in the middle period when Torey Krug beat Sateri blocker side.

The early part of the third period was all Providence with the WorSharks hardly ever possessing the puck in the PBruins end, and not having much possession time in the neutral zone either. Worcester didn’t register a shot in the stanza until the 11 minute mark, but no one would classify that bid as anything resembling a legitimate scoring chance. Despite being outplayed all over the sheet the score remained tied, and when Sebastian Stalberg raced into the Providence zone and was hooked down by Miller it gave Worcester its second power play chance of the game. Fate being what it is it was Stalberg that would convert the opportunity into a 4-3 lead when he fed McCarthy and the captain took the puck to the net. McCarthy couldn’t get at the near post so he attempted to throw a pass through the slot to Bracken Kearns–and got buried by Exelby for his troubles–but the puck deflected right to Stalberg’s back hand. In a goal scorers move Stalberg froze the puck and wheeled to his forehand and beat Hutchinson low glove side at 15:04. Derek Joslin had the secondary assist on the goal.

As soon as the puck beat him Hutchinson appealed the play to referee Jamie Koharski apparently looking for a goaltender interference call on McCarthy, but Koharski adamantly signalled it was a good goal and pointed at Exelby as if to indicate Exelby had checked McCarthy into Hutchinson. The video shows that McCarthy never actually hit Hutchinson, that he instead hit the post and fell behind the net.

With the ice tilted again toward the Worcester end the WorSharks fans were hoping Sateri was up to the challenge, but out of the blue Denny Urban turned nothing into something when he skated down the left wing side and threw a soft backhander on Hutchinson. It’s a play that really was just putting the puck on net hoping something good would happen, and when that something happened the red light went on and Urban threw a fist pump in celebration that might have knocked out Mike Tyson. Sena Acolatse and Daniil Tarasov were credited with the assist on the goal at 18:39.

It took Providence a long while to get Hutchinson out of the net, and when they did it was Tarasov that had the best bid, but his shot after wheeling the net rang off the iron. From that point on the PBruins were just going through the motions and when the final horn sounded Worcester grabbed two badly needed points in regulation.

GAME NOTES
The only change in the line-up from Friday night was Derek Joslin replaced Nick Petrecki on the blue line.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 8 Sebastian Stalberg (gwg)
2. WOR – 5 Matt Tennyson (2a)
3. PRO – 28 Kevan Miller (2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was John McCarthy

BOXSCORE

Providence 1 2 0 – 3
Worcester 1 2 2 – 5

1st Period-1, Worcester, Hamilton 9 (Gourde, Tennyson), 16:09. 2, Providence, Tardif 27 (Miller, MacKinnon), 19:17. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-3, Worcester, Sivak 1 (McCarthy, Tennyson), 3:33. 4, Worcester, Oleksuk 3 (Scheidl, Doherty), 10:57. 5, Providence, Camper 7 (Miller, Cunningham), 16:04. 6, Providence, Krug 10 (Cunningham, Cohen), 19:48 (PP). Penalties-Exelby Pro (slashing), 7:36; Matsumoto Wor (hooking), 19:02.

3rd Period-7, Worcester, Stalberg 10 (McCarthy, Joslin), 15:04 (PP). 8, Worcester, Urban 4 (Acolatse, Tarasov), 18:39. Penalties-Miller Pro (hooking), 14:24.

Shots on Goal-Providence 8-12-11-31. Worcester 7-7-6-20.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 1 / 1; Worcester 1 / 2.
Goalies-Providence, Hutchinson 9-13-3 (20 shots-15 saves). Worcester, Sateri 14-14-3 (31 shots-28 saves).
A-6,557
Referees-Jamie Koharski (84), Jeff Smith (49).
Linesmen-Bob Paquette (18), Ed Boyle (81).

WorSharks drop 2-1 contest to Falcons; Derek Joslin to return to Worcester

The Worcester Sharks bussed an hour west down the Massachusetts Turnpike where their goal scoring woes continued, and the WorSharks inability to put the puck in the net despite having great scoring chances coupled with an early game brain cramp by Worcester’s top defensive pair lead to a painful 2-1 loss to the Springfield Falcons Friday night at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.

As you can see from the highlight video WorSharks defenseman Adam Comrie thought the play that resulted in the Falcons first goal was going to be whistled dead for icing, and you can also see WorSharks netminder Harri Sateri with his arm up to indicate to Comrie it was going to be icing. But there’s an old adage that says “play until the whistle blows” and Worcester did not do that. Notice that the Falcons did, and that’s how they jumped out to that early 1-0 lead. Several players indicated post game that there was no wave-off of the icing call, but the fact of the matter is there was no wave off because icing was never going to be called. For proof of that we take a still from the video, which clearly shows the linesman signaling the play onside instead of chasing the play which would be the usual for an impending icing call.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Gogol, Viedensky, Brennan, Bonneau, and Reid. Thomas Heemskerk was the back-up goaltender.

The Worcester line-up had two new faces, with Peter Sivak being signed to a PTO earlier in the week from San Francisco (ECHL) and Lane Scheidl being signed to an ATO now that his junior season with the Regina Pats is over. Both players got into the boxscore the wrong way as they each were whistled for a minor. Sivak was called for an automatic delay of game minor for accidentally shooting the puck out of play in his defensive end. This writer is on record many times saying this is an incredibly silly rule, and Sivak’s minor again proves that point as his intent was to bank the puck off the glass not to clear the puck but to send his line mate off on a breakaway. Scheidl’s minor was about as weak of a goaltender interference call as you will ever see when he brushed by Falcons netminder Curtis McElhinney after shooting the puck wide and with the play rushing off in the opposite direction.

Earlier in the day the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks made a trade of AHL loans when the Sharks sent Danny Groulx to the Chicago Wolves and Vancouver reassigned former WorSharks defenseman Derek Joslin to Worcester. Each player will remain the property of their loaning organization. On paper this “trade” seems a little one-sided in the favor of the Wolves, but the WorSharks organization is very excited to have Joslin back in the fold. When asked if there was a locker room issue with Groulx that led to the trade the WorSharks were adamant that there wasn’t and that Groulx has been a very good team player, which from personal experience with Groulx is undoubtedly a true statement. Only John McCarthy and Nick Petrecki remain with the team since the last time Joslin was here, although presuming Alex Stalock returns he’ll be added to that list. Joslin should be on the ice Saturday vs Providence, and upon learning he would be facing the PBruins reportedly Joslin was very excited to suit up against a team he historically has done well against. Groulx made his debut with Chicago last night, and as always seems to happen notched two assist in the contest.

The three stars of the game were
1. SPR – 30 Curtis McElhinney (win, 25 saves)
2. SPR – 5 Nick Holden (g)
3. SPR – 17 Sean (B.) Collins (g,a)

Ordinarily the Sharkspage player of the game would go to Comrie for the WorSharks lone goal, but his brain cramp the lead to the Falcons score takes him out of consideration. So it looks like the next best candidate is James Livingston.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 0 1 – 1
Springfield 1 1 0 – 2

1st Period-1, Springfield, Collins 8 (Machacek), 0:13. Penalties-Moon Spr (interference), 13:01; Scheidl Wor (goaltender interference), 15:48.

2nd Period-2, Springfield, Holden 6 (Craig, Collins), 16:24 (PP). Penalties-Sivak Wor (delay of game), 1:22; Holden Spr (closing hand on puck), 6:44; Audy-Marchessault Spr (slashing), 9:15; Pelech Wor (fighting), 13:01; Petrecki Wor (roughing), 13:01; Moon Spr (roughing), 13:01; Smith Spr (fighting), 13:01; Acolatse Wor (cross-checking), 15:48; Craig Spr (hooking), 17:48.

3rd Period-3, Worcester, Comrie 2 (Livingston, Gourde), 9:03. Penalties-Matsumoto Wor (hooking), 9:26; Helmer Spr (hooking), 11:37; Tennyson Wor (hooking), 19:12.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 12-6-8-26. Springfield 10-6-5-21.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 5; Springfield 1 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 13-14-3 (21 shots-19 saves). Springfield, McElhinney 25-13-3 (26 shots-25 saves).
A-4,356
Referees-T.J. Luxmore (49).
Linesmen-Luke Galvin (2), Frank Murphy (29).

WorSharks dig a hole they can’t climb out of, lose 5-3 to Penguins

The Worcester Sharks played twenty minutes of great hockey Friday night, unfortunately it was just about all in the final period after they were already trailing by two goals, and despite having a six skater on three advantage late in the third period couldn’t get the game tying goal and eventually dropped a 5-3 decision to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 5,865 fans.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Mike Brennan (lower body), Jimmy Bonneau, Marek Viedensky (undisclosed, “banged up” was how it was described), and Brodie Reid (shoulder). Curt Gogol went awkwardly into the boards during the first period and went off to the locker room. After an attempt to play later in the period Gogol returned to the locker room and did not return. James Livingston took a stick up high that required some stitches, but returned to play and score a goal. Thomas Heemskerk once again did a stellar job opening and closing the bench door for Worcester.

There were some comments on social media after the game from some fans criticizing Worcester head coach Roy Sommer not returning Harri Sateri to the WorSharks net with a face-off deep in the Worcester zone with 11 seconds remaining in regulation, which resulted in Penguins center Warren Peters getting an easy empty net goal after winning the face-off. This writer has been a critic of many of Sommer’s coaching decisions in the past, but no one should fault him for leaving Sateri out of the net and going with a five skater on four advantage. The entire game comes down to winning that face-off, Worcester didn’t, and they lost. The empty net goal is irrelevant there to the equation.

A review of the game video may be in order to confirm this, but it appeared that in at least in the third period the Penguins were using left winger Chris Collins to shadow WorSharks forward Daniil Tarasov. It was either that or an odd coincidence that every time Tarasov was on the ice in the final period Collins was on the ice and about five feet away. If you look at the boxscore you’d think Tarasov had a poor game, no points, minus-two, 4 PIM), but the rookie had two great break-ups on back-checks to break up odd man rushes and deflected a couple long passes in the neutral zone to turn the play back toward the Wilkes-Barre end that don’t appear on the stat sheet.

The three stars of the game were
1. WBS – 23 Trevor Smith (2a)
2. WBS – 26 Riley Holzapfel (g,a)
3. WOR – 21 Travis Oleksuk (2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was James Livingston.

BOXSCORE

W-B/Scranton 1 3 1 – 5
Worcester 0 1 2 – 3

1st Period-1, W-B/Scranton, Reese 6 (Dumoulin, Smith), 14:48 (PP). Penalties-Petrecki Wor (double minor – high-sticking), 11:29; Gourde Wor (closing hand on puck), 13:39.

2nd Period-2, W-B/Scranton, Kolarik 23 (Holzapfel, Smith), 3:07 (PP). 3, W-B/Scranton, Thompson 15 (Mormina, Peters), 3:30. 4, Worcester, Gourde 8 (Oleksuk, Livingston), 3:44. 5, W-B/Scranton, Holzapfel 17 (Kolarik, Grant), 16:35. Penalties-Comrie Wor (interference), 1:26; Collins Wbs (roughing), 4:04; Mormina Wbs (holding), 10:44; Samuelsson Wbs (interference), 20:00.

3rd Period-6, Worcester, Livingston 6 (Oleksuk, Doherty), 2:33. 7, Worcester, Matsumoto 13 (Kearns), 15:05. 8, W-B/Scranton, Peters 11 19:52 (EN). Penalties-Tarasov Wor (high-sticking), 0:19; Doherty Wor (slashing), 10:18; Peters Wbs (roughing), 17:45; Smith Wbs (slashing), 19:10; Tarasov Wor (high-sticking), 19:49.

Shots on Goal-W-B/Scranton 11-10-8-29. Worcester 12-10-15-37.
Power Play Opportunities-W-B/Scranton 2 / 6; Worcester 0 / 5.
Goalies-W-B/Scranton, Thiessen 14-10-1 (37 shots-34 saves). Worcester, Sateri 13-13-3 (28 shots-24 saves).
A-5,865
Referees-Trent Knorr (44), Ryan Fraser (14).
Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Kevin Redding (16).

WorSharks power past Penguins, win 5-1

The Worcester Sharks went into Wednesday night’s contest in the middle of the pack on special teams but managed to score four power play goals against the American Hockey League’s best penalty killing team and go a perfect five for five while shorthanded en route to a 5-1 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of an intimate crowd of 2,419.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Mike Brennan (lower body), Jimmy Bonneau, Brodie Reid (shoulder), and Denny Urban. Thomas Heemskerk was the back-up goaltender.

The real turning point in the contest started with Taylor Doherty getting called for a pretty weak tripping call and thirteen seconds later Matt Tennyson losing his cool and getting a well deserved minor for roughing, both with a little less than six minutes remaining in the opening period. The Worcester penalty killers really played well while down two men, with the best scoring chance for either team being Marek Viedensky breaking in on Penguins goaltender and usual WorSharks killer Jeff Zatkoff. Viedensky looked to have Zatkoff beat for the rare goal down two skaters, but Wilkes-Barre defenseman Joe Morrow just got a piece of the shot to deflect it away. A little later during the kill captain John McCarthy showed a physical side you don’t normally see by clearing out two Penguins attackers from in front of Worcester netminder Harri Sateri.

The goal posts got a good work out in the game, with my unofficial count having the teams combine for six shots off the iron. Two of them were very loud ringers, a sound that’s great when you’re on defense and not so great while on offense.

This writer was joined for the early portions of the third period by WorSharks Senior Director of Business & Community Development Mike Myers, who like this writer was in awe at Adam Comrie’s lob pass to Bracken Kearns on Worcester’s fourth goal. The video, which is shot from the radio booth located at the same height at the first row of seats in the upper 200 sections, does not adequately show how high Comrie really got that pass. And then to see it land almost perfectly in the exact right spot was astonishing. A true highlight goal.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 16 Bracken Kearns (2g,a)
2. WOR – 44 Adam Comrie (g,3a)
3. WOR – 25 Marek Viedensky (g, solid on PK)

The Sharkspage player of the game was John McCarthy.

BOXSCORE

W-B/Scranton 0 0 1 – 1
Worcester 0 2 3 – 5

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Grant Wbs (high-sticking), 1:53; Comrie Wor (hooking), 2:08; Gibbons Wbs (interference), 3:19; Kolarik Wbs (slashing), 5:42; Doherty Wor (tripping), 14:36; Tennyson Wor (roughing), 14:49; Thompson Wbs (slashing), 19:10.

2nd Period-1, Worcester, Viedensky 4 (McCarthy, Comrie), 0:16 (PP). 2, Worcester, Tarasov 9 (Gourde, Hamilton), 16:13 (PP). Penalties-McCarthy Wor (hooking), 7:12; Holzapfel Wbs (hooking), 14:48.

3rd Period-3, Worcester, Comrie 1 (McCarthy, Kearns), 9:20 (PP). 4, W-B/Scranton, Peters 10 (Morrow, Samuelsson), 10:32. 5, Worcester, Kearns 16 (Comrie, Sateri), 11:46. 6, Worcester, Kearns 17 (Comrie, Tarasov), 13:44 (PP). Penalties-Pelech Wor (interference), 6:50; Morrow Wbs (slashing), 8:59; Sill Wbs (interference), 12:17; MacIntyre Wbs (roughing, roughing, misconduct), 17:55; Pelech Wor (roughing, misconduct), 17:55.

Shots on Goal-W-B/Scranton 13-6-10-29. Worcester 15-13-12-40.
Power Play Opportunities-W-B/Scranton 0 / 5; Worcester 4 / 8.
Goalies-W-B/Scranton, Zatkoff 19-18-0 (40 shots-35 saves). Worcester, Sateri 13-12-3 (29 shots-28 saves).
A-2,419
Referees-Trevor Hanson (47), Jamie Koharski (84).
Linesmen-Kiel Murchison (79), Robert St. Lawrence (10).

WorSharks sink Pirates, win 5-3 (Edited boxscore)

The Worcester Sharks have had issues the last couple weeks putting the puck into the net, but Sunday against Portland it all seemed to come together for the WorSharks as four different players lit the lamp and 11 total players notched points during a 5-3 win over the Pirates at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of a crowd of 3,604 that sounded like ten thousand with each passing goal.

Not only did Worcester light the lamp five times they also hit the posts behind Pirates goalie Chad Johnson four times, with Freddie Hamilton doing it twice within a couple minutes. It has been a long time since the WorSharks swarmed the net like they did Sunday, and if they want to make the playoffs that’s the way they’re going to need to play.

Head coach Roy Sommer only made one change from Saturday night’s line-up, with Jimmy Bonneau taking Tommy Grant’s place in the line-up. Bonneau got into it with Joel Rechlicz at the 16:33 mark of the opening period, and this writer won’t be shocked if Rechlicz gets a phone call from the AHL over his abuse of linesman Todd Whittemore. The general consensus along press row was that Rechlicz should have gotten a game misconduct for his actions.

The regular season series between the WorSharks and Pirates is over, with Worcester going 6-5-0-1 against the division rivals. In the 12 games 26 different WorSharks players scored points against Portland.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 44 Adam Comrie (2a)
2. POR – 18 Jordan Martinook (g,a)
3. WOR – 26 James Livingston (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Bracken Kearns.

BOXSCORE

Portland 0 1 2 – 3
Worcester 2 1 2 – 5

1st Period-1, Worcester, Livingston 5 (Gogol, Oleksuk), 5:11. 2, Worcester, Kearns 14 (Groulx, Comrie), 16:39 (PP). Penalties-Rechlicz Por (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 16:33; Bonneau Wor (fighting), 16:33; Gormley Por (cross-checking), 18:42.

2nd Period-3, Worcester, Tarasov 8 (Petrecki, Tennyson), 5:55. 4, Portland, Rundblad 7 (Gormley, Martinook), 11:14 (PP). Penalties-served by Stalberg Wor (bench minor – too many men), 2:57; Comrie Wor (tripping), 10:21.

3rd Period-5, Portland, Bolduc 21 (Dziurzynski, Brodeur), 0:43. 6, Portland, Martinook 6 (Szwarz, Miele), 1:34. 7, Worcester, Viedensky 3 (Comrie, Hamilton), 1:57. 8, Worcester, Kearns 15 (Hamilton, Doherty), 18:56 (EN). Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Portland 14-11-7-32. Worcester 13-5-9-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 1 / 2; Worcester 1 / 2.
Goalies-Portland, Johnson 15-12-1 (26 shots-22 saves). Worcester, Sateri 12-12-3 (32 shots-29 saves).
A-3,604
Referees-Jeff Smith (49), Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Kiel Murchison (79), Todd Whittemore (70).

WorSharks grab point in 4-3 shootout loss to Providence

The Worcester Sharks finally broke their long drought of even strength goals with tallies by Sebastian Stalberg, Freddie Hamilton, and John McCarthy, but the lack of an real goal scoring reared its ugly head in the shootout where defenseman-playing-forward Denny Urban was the lone WorSharks skater to light the lamp as Worcester went a woeful 1-7 for the bonus point round to drop a 4-3 contest to the Providence Bruins Saturday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of a crowd of 7,804.

Apparently there was some confusion and controversy about Trent Whitfield’s shootout goal against WorSharks netminder Harri Sateri, where the goal light didn’t go on and it took until referee Terry Koharski skated past the red line and pointed at center ice for it to be official, but from where this writer sits it was clearly a goal as both Sateri and the puck ended up in the net. To paraphrase rule 24, which is the penalty shot rule that shootouts are governed by, the shot is not complete until the puck stops or crosses the goal line. The puck obviously crossed the goal line and entered the net before it stopped, therefore it was a goal. The confusion stemmed from neither referee signalling goal and the goal light not going on. Neither of those things happening doesn’t change the fact the puck was in the net.

The goal by Stalberg at 7:40 of the first period ended the WorSharks streak of minutes with an even strength goal at 201:27. The time between Stalberg’s and Hamilton’s even strength tallies was just 25:22, but it could have been just seconds were it not for PBruins goaltender Niklas Svedberg, who made about a dozen really nice saves. Svedberg was fighting the puck all night and giving up some juicy rebounds, but the WorSharks couldn’t convert on any of them. At the other end of the ice Sateri was just as good, having no chance at all on either of Craig Cunningham’s backdoor power play goals.

Someone will need to explain to me why Worcester changed lines with 13 seconds left in regulation and breaking into the Providence zone. This is not a single time occurrence either, it’s a long running issue of terrible line changes and line changes at times that make no sense to anyone with an ounce of hockey knowledge. And while the roster doesn’t have a whole lot of goal scorers on it perhaps putting Curt Gogol, Travis Oleksuk, James Livingston, and Taylor Doherty all on the ice down a goal and with less than four minutes remaining in regulation might not be the best strategy.

A good rule of thumb is referee Koharski is going to have 55 minutes of calling a decent game and five minutes where it’s like he’s never seen the game before. Unfortunately for the WorSharks that’s exactly what happened with quick consecutive minors to Adam Comrie (cross-checking) and Freddie Hamilton (hooking). were both of them really penalties? Maybe, maybe not. But considering what was let go by Koharski and fellow referee Trevor Hanson both before and after those calls neither should have been called. This is one of the issues this writer has had for a long time in the AHL–consistent call levels. Maybe someday someone from the AHL will be interested in speaking to me about it.

More on referee Hanson; he appeared to injure himself trying to avoid the play deep Providence zone early in the third period and really labored in his skating afterward. Hanson is scheduled to work the Connecticut at Providence game Sunday afternoon so it will be interesting to see if he is able to work that game.

It’s been a long time since the Worcester Shuttle was this busy, with Bracken Kearns heading to San Jose and back again. Goaltender Alex Stalock was recalled Friday as Thomas Greiss is day to day with a neck injury, and San Jose apparently though Stalock needed some help carrying his bags so they summoned Matt Pelech to take the flight too. Thomas Heemskerk was brought in from the Sharks’ ECHL affiliate in San Fransisco to wear a ball cap and open and close the bench door.

Worcester had just one healthy scratch, Jimmy Bonneau. PTO defenseman Mike Brennan (lower body) and Brodie Reid (shoulder) comprise the injury list. While the WorSharks have issued no recent updates about Reid’s shoulder the buzz is it appears this is not a short term injury and might be bad enough to end Reid’s season.

What would have been an odd fight never materialized as both Providence forward Bobby Robins and WorSharks defenseman Sena Acolatse were wearing full face cages to protect facial injuries. This writer occasionally points out other blogs, and Robins’ blog is a great one. It’s worth the time to check it out.

The three stars of the game were
1. PRO – 14 Craig Cunningham (2g)
2. WOR – 7 John McCarthy (gtg)
3. PRO – 1 Niklas Svedberg (45 saves)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Harri Sateri.

BOXSCORE

Providence 0 2 1 0 – 4
Worcester 1 1 1 0 – 3

1st Period-1, Worcester, Stalberg 9 (Urban, Grant), 7:40. Penalties-Miller Pro (hooking), 1:16; Tarasov Wor (slashing), 19:06.

2nd Period-2, Providence, Cunningham 19 (Krug, Bourque), 0:21 (PP). 3, Providence, Cunningham 20 (Bourque, Krug), 11:39 (PP). 4, Worcester, Hamilton 8 (Oleksuk, Sateri), 13:02. Penalties-Gogol Wor (hooking), 2:15; Comrie Wor (cross-checking), 10:16; Hamilton Wor (hooking), 10:53.

3rd Period-5, Providence, Hanson 9 (Bartkowski, Florek), 16:36. 6, Worcester, McCarthy 9 (Kearns, Tarasov), 19:00. Penalties-No Penalties

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Providence 2 (Sauve NG, Tardif NG, Bourque NG, Spooner NG, Cunningham G, Mink NG, Whitfield G), Worcester 1 (Matsumoto NG, Urban G, Tarasov NG, Viedensky NG, Oleksuk NG, Acolatse NG, Hamilton NG).
Shots on Goal-Providence 13-15-11-3-1-43. Worcester 15-11-17-5-0-48.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 2 / 4; Worcester 0 / 1.
Goalies-Providence, Svedberg 28-7-2 (48 shots-45 saves). Worcester, Sateri 11-12-3 (42 shots-39 saves).
A-7,804
Referees-Terry Koharski (10), Trevor Hanson (47).
Linesmen-Ed Boyle (81), Bob Goodman (90).

NHL/AHL organizational scoring rankings

This is just a straightforward list of combined goals per game for each NHL team and its AHL affiliate. The NHL uses live scoring, so the stats used are as of 1930 EST (or so) today. The AHL stats are as of yesterday’s games. For Sharks fans it shows exactly what’s been seen with their eyes–the organization isn’t scoring enough goals.

Tampa Bay/Syracuse 3.44
Detroit/Grand Rapids 3.12
Carolina/Charlotte 3.08
Toronto/Toronto 3.07
Buffalo/Rochester 3.01
Chicago/Rockford 3.00
Columbus/Springfield 2.95
NYIslanders/Bridgeport 2.95
Edmonton/Oklahoma City 2.93
Phoenix/Portland 2.92
Dallas/Texas 2.86
Los Angeles/Manchester 2.81
Boston/Providence 2.79
NYRangers/Connecticut 2.79
Colorado/Lake Erie 2.77
Ottawa/Binghamton 2.77
Vancouver/Chicago 2.75
Anaheim/Norfolk 2.67
New Jersey/Albany 2.65
Washington/Hershey 2.64
Pittsburgh/Wilkes-Barre 2.63
St. Louis/Peoria 2.59
Florida/San Antonio 2.58
Minnesota/Houston 2.56
Philadelphia/Adirondack 2.52
Winnipeg/St John’s 2.47
San Jose/Worcester 2.42
Montreal/Hamilton 2.39
Nashville/Milwaukee 2.38
Calgary/Abbotsford 2.34

Sateri leads WorSharks to 2-1 shootout win over Pirates

The Worcester Sharks managed just to score just a single goal against the Portland Pirates Saturday night, but that Sebastian Stalberg power play tally combined with a 37 save outing by goaltender Harri Sateri was enough to get them a point for going into overtime and the shootout, where Marek Viedensky connected for the only score in the bonus round to give the WorSharks a 2-1 victory at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine in front of 6,164 fans. It was Worcester’s first win in the building since the day after Christmas, 2011.

Worcester actually got a few pucks past Pirates goaltender Chad Johnson, who was playing his first game since suffering a concussion on February 15th in a game against the Connecticut Whale, but each time the puck slid just wide of the goal mouth. Johnson also had issues controlling rebounds but the WorSharks, who have gone 133:47 without an even strength goal, couldn’t bang one home. Johnson got stronger as the game went on and was the single reason the Pirates even made it to the shootout as he made some great saves in the overtime period when Worcester was given a rare power play in the extra session.

The shootout win was the sixth for the WorSharks on the season, breaking the team mark of five wins set during the 2010-2011 campaign. In general Worcester has been woeful in the bonus skill competition, going just 25-41 all time. Only twice, in 2009-10 (3-3) and 2008-09 (2-2), have the WorSharks been .500 or better in a season in the shootout.

Scratches for Worcester were Tommy Grant, Mike Brennan (lower body), Denny Urban, and Brodie Reid (shoulder). Alex Stalock was the back-up netminder.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 35 Harri Sateri (37 saves)
2. POR – 30 Chad Johnson (31 saves)
3. WOR – 25 Marek Viedensky (shootout game winner)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Sebastian Stalberg.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 0 0 0 – 2
Portland 0 1 0 0 – 1

1st Period-1, Worcester, Stalberg 8 (Comrie, Tennyson), 17:42 (PP). Penalties-Brodeur Por (roughing), 0:57; Valabik Por (roughing), 16:05.

2nd Period-2, Portland, Lane 8 (Dziurzynski, Martinook), 4:19. Penalties-Louis Por (delay of game), 4:23; Tennyson Wor (hooking), 9:25; Petrecki Wor (tripping), 13:27; Viedensky Wor (tripping), 16:16; Acolatse Wor (boarding), 19:21.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Kearns Wor (cross-checking), 13:39.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Goncharov Por (interference), 2:54.

Shootout – Worcester 1 (Tarasov NG, McCarthy NG, Kearns NG, Viedensky G), Portland 0 (Werek NG, Conner NG, Martinook NG, Shinnimin NG, Bolduc NG).
Shots on Goal-Worcester 14-7-6-5-1-33. Portland 10-16-12-0-0-38.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 4; Portland 0 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 11-11-2 (38 shots-37 saves). Portland, Johnson 14-10-1 (32 shots-31 saves).
A-6,164
Referees-Dave Lewis (46).
Linesmen-Joe Andrews (32), Jeremy Lovett (78).

WorSharks chomp Falcons 5-1 to earn four point weekend

The Worcester Sharks scored five goals in a game for the first time in two months and has several players break goal scoring droughts, but it was goaltender Alex Stalock’s 37 save performance that stole the show as he lead the WorSharks to a 5-1 win over the Northeast Division leading Springfield Falcons Sunday afternoon at the DCU Center in snowy Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 4,034 fans.

WorSharks forward Matt Pelech, sans glove, screens Falcons netminder Curtis McElhinney during a Worcester
power play. Pelech scored the eventual game winning goal in Worcester's 5-1 victory.
Photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

When your team scores five goals it’s odd that your goaltender is your most valuable player, but over the first 40 minutes of the game the WorSharks were outshot, outhit, outworked, outeverything you could possibly be in a hockey game except outscored. And that was one hundred percent due to Stalock, who stopped everything he saw coming at him. Unfortunately for Stalock, Michael Chaput’s laser through traffic off a clean face-off win by Jonathan Audy-Marchessault was one he didn’t see as the Falcons forward’s shot went threw a path not much larger than a postage stamp to beat Stalock over the right shoulder and ring in off the crossbar at 10:07 of the middle period to get Springfield within one at 2-1. But thanks to Stalock, that was as close as the Falcons would get.

Despite being outshot 11-4 in the opening 20 minutes it was the WorSharks that would end the period with a 2-0 lead. Worcester’s first goal came from James Livingston on a rush down the right wing side as he took a Jon Matsumoto feed off on a two on one break with Daniil Tarasov. Livingston’s wrist shot, which was the WorSharks first shot of the game, came from the slot just inside the face-off circle and beat Falcons netminder Curtis McElhinney at 4:21 for the 1-0 lead. The goal was Livingston’s first since his game winner against these same Falcons on January 25th.

Just yesterday this writer mentioned that Matt Pelech was the last Worcester regular without a goal on the season, and while the odds are long that Pelech read that he did join the goal scorers club with an unassisted tally at 5:13 to give the WorSharks a 2-0 lead. The play began innocently enough, as if any play with Pelech and Jimmy Bonneau on the ice can be labeled as “innocently”, with Pelech on the forecheck and the Falcons defense well in control of the puck. With Pelech bearing down on Cody Goloubef the defenseman tried to backhand the puck off the endboards over to his defensive partner on the other side of the goal, but in his haste to try to avoid being pasted against the endboards by Pelech his pass struck the side of the net and laid flat on the ice right on the goal line to the right of McElhinney’s net. Pelech was able to grab the puck and bank it off McElhinney to light the lamp for his first goal since December 28, 2011.

Ironically, in Pelech’s 99 games with Worcester he has two goals–both game winners.

For the remainder of the first 40 minutes it was the Alex Stalock Show as he continued to make save after save as the WorSharks looked flat and the Falcons ramped up the pressure. At one point in the second period the shots on goal read 21-6 in favor of Springfield and it was 25-11 after two periods, and with the Falcons getting a power play on fresh ice to start the third period there was some grumbling that Worcester was really going to have to step it up to earn the two points for the win. And they did.

After a nice penalty kill where the Falcons didn’t get any good chances Worcester clamped down defensively and an errant pass from the Falcons went all the way down to their own end of the ice where McElhinney played the puck along the back of his net up along the boards to the right wing half boards. With the WorSharks forwards entering the zone and crashing the net Sebastian Stalberg grabbed the loose puck outside the face-off circle and fired the puck on goal from a bad angle looking for a rebound chance for his line mates, but the puck hit a Springfield defender and beat McElhinney at 3:02 for Stalberg’s first goal since December 29th.

Marek Viedensky would make it 4-1 for Team Teal after a defensive blunder by the Falcons allowed him to break in all alone on McElhinney. Matt Tennyson had sent Livingston down the left wing side where two Springfield players went to defend him. That left Viedensky all alone streaking through the neutral zone, and while Livingston’s back hand pass had some loft to it Viedensky calmly plucked the puck out of the air and drove to the net unmolested, beating McElhinney glove side just under the crossbar at 11:13 for his first AHL goal since March 16, 2012.

Danny Groulx would add a power play goal off a booming slapshot at 18:30 for the 5-1 final. The goal was assisted by Tarasov and Denny Urban.

GAME NOTES
WorSharks head coach went with the same line-up as Saturday night’s 4-1 win over Portland, with Sena Acolatse (jaw), Mike Brennan (lower body), Curt Gogol, Yanni Gourde, Tommy Grant, and Nick Petrecki all being scratched. Harri Sateri was once again the back-up goaltender.

The win was Alex Stalock’s 74th for Worcester, tying him all-time with Thomas Greiss for wins in Worcester pro hockey history. Obviously, 74 would also be the franchise record for wins by a goaltender. Stalock actually has 76 career AHL wins after winning two games for the Peoria Rivermen last season when he was loaned to the St Louis Blues affiliate at the end of last season.

The boxscore shows Worcester’s top line of John McCarthy/Brodie Reid/Bracken Kearns as being the only WorSharks players “minus” for the game, and that was due to the Falcons making a concerted effort to keep that line from producing any offense. Well, Springfield won that battle but lost the war. I’m sure those three will take that every night.

Streaking WorSharks: Matt Tennyson has points in three straight games (2-2-4), Danny Groulx has goals in consecutive games and has been even or better in six straight. Jimmy Bonneau has gone 13 games without being a minus for a contest. Travis Oleksuk has a seven game even or better streak going, and Marek Viedensky is at six in a row. Taylor Doherty has been even or better since November 30th, but due to missed time because of an injury his streak is just five games. Adam Comrie is also at five games.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 32 Alex Stalock (win, 37 saves)
2. WOR – 23 Matt Pelech (gwg)
3. WOR – 26 James Livingston (g,a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Marek Viedensky.

BOXSCORE

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

1st Period-1, Worcester, Livingston 4 (Matsumoto), 4:21. 2, Worcester, Pelech 1 5:13. Penalties-Groulx Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:26; Holden Spr (hooking), 13:06.

2nd Period-3, Springfield, Chaput 9 (Audy-Marchessault), 10:07. Penalties-Viedensky Wor (tripping), 3:22; Comrie Wor (hooking), 5:56; Bass Spr (roughing), 16:23; Bonneau Wor (roughing), 16:23; Livingston Wor (hooking), 20:00.

3rd Period-4, Worcester, Stalberg 7 3:02. 5, Worcester, Viedensky 1 (Livingston, Tennyson), 11:13. 6, Worcester, Groulx 4 (Urban, Tarasov), 18:30 (PP). Penalties-Hansen Spr (hooking), 3:41; Goloubef Spr (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:10; Stalberg Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:10; Groulx Wor (holding), 11:32; Vogelhuber Spr (holding), 17:02.

Shots on Goal-Springfield 11-14-13-38. Worcester 4-7-9-20.
Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 0 / 5; Worcester 1 / 3.
Goalies-Springfield, McElhinney 21-10-2 (20 shots-15 saves). Worcester, Stalock 15-11-3 (38 shots-37 saves).
A-4,034
Referees-Jean-Philippe Sylvain (16).
Linesmen-Bob Bernard (42), Brian MacDonald (72).

Stalock, WorSharks beat Pirates 4-1

The Worcester Sharks entered Saturday night’s contest with the Portland Pirates on a streak that hadn’t seen them beat a team that wasn’t sitting in last place since January 25th, and were mired in a seven game home losing streak stretching back even further. Add to that the WorSharks having lost five straight to the Pirates and coming off a 7-2 drubbing by the Manchester Monarchs just 24 hours earlier and you had a recipe for what looked like another long night for Worcester. But thanks to three first period goals in the span of 4:09 and some great goaltending by Alex Stalock the WorSharks were able to defeat the Pirates 4-1 and maybe turn a corner to keep their playoff hopes alive.

With Jimmy Bonneau notching his first of the season the only WorSharks regular without a goal in the current campaign is Matt Pelech, who is goalless in 39 games. Pelech’s last goal was more than a calendar year ago, a game winner against the Monarchs on December 28, 2011. PTO defenseman Mike Brennan does not have a goal in 24 games played for Worcester, nor did have have one in his nine games with the Florida Everblades (ECHL) to start the season.

Scratches for Worcester were Sena Acolatse (jaw), Mike Brennan (lower body), Curt Gogol, Yanni Gourde, Tommy Grant, and Nick Petrecki. Harri Sateri was the back-up goaltender.

The WorSharks wore specialty jerseys in the game to benefit the Autism Resource Center of Central Massachusetts. Marek Viedensky was wearing #40 instead of his usual #25, and newcomer Adam Comrie was in #24 instead of #44.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 43 Jimmy Bonneau (g)
2. WOR – 16 Bracken Kearns (shg)
3. WOR – 32 Alex Stalock (36 saves)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Matt Tennyson.

BOXSCORE

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

1st Period-1, Worcester, Groulx 3 (Tennyson, Oleksuk), 13:15. 2, Worcester, Kearns 13 (McCarthy), 15:25 (SH). 3, Worcester, Bonneau 1 17:24. Penalties-Lane Por (interference), 0:23; Oleksuk Wor (holding the stick), 3:01; Brophey Por (goaltender interference), 7:39; Bonneau Wor (interference), 15:15; Dziurzynski Por (roughing), 17:48; Tennyson Wor (holding), 18:17.

2nd Period-4, Worcester, Tennyson 5 (Livingston, Viedensky), 16:52. Penalties-Reid Wor (holding), 0:40; Bonneau Wor (goaltender interference), 15:27; Brown Por (roughing), 16:17.

3rd Period-5, Portland, Lane 5 (Klinkhammer), 4:47. Penalties-Brown Por (roughing), 0:29; Tennyson Wor (tripping), 7:42; Rechlicz Por (slashing, game misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 11:50.

Shots on Goal-Portland 10-12-15-37. Worcester 13-14-9-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 0 / 6; Worcester 0 / 6.
Goalies-Portland, Lee 5-1-0 (13 shots-10 saves); Domingue 0-0-0 (23 shots-22 saves). Worcester, Stalock 14-11-3 (37 shots-36 saves).
A-5,045
Referees-Darcy Burchell (42).
Linesmen-Ed Boyle (81), Bob Paquette (18).

San Jose Sharks player waiver statuses

With the NHL season now in full swing and many transactions taking place between the San Jose Sharks and Worcester Sharks there’s lots of questions about waivers and the new collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and NHLPA. The major change in the new agreement involves re-entry waivers, where a player making more than $105,000 in the AHL would need to pass through waivers to be recalled to the NHL. Re-entry waivers no longer exist. Players may now be recalled from the AHL to the NHL without the need of passing though waivers.

The waiver rules for assigning players from the NHL to AHL are basically unchanged. The only difference is if player is on emergency recall he will now need to clear waivers to be assigned to the minor leagues after 10 games or 30 days on the NHL roster, both cumulative, have elapsed just like a standard recall.

The following players are on the SJ Sharks roster and would need to clear waivers to be sent to the AHL

Boyle, Dan
Braun, Justin
Burish, Adam
Burns, Brent
Couture, Logan
Clowe, Ryane
Demers, Jason
Desjardins, Andrew
Galiardi, T.J.
Gomez, Scott
Greiss, Thomas
Handzus, Michal
Havlat, Martin
Marleau, Patrick
Murray, Douglas
Niemi, Antti
Pavelski, Joe
Sheppard, James
Stuart, Brad
Thornton, Joe
Vlasic, Marc-Edouard
Wingels, Tommy

The following players are on the SJ Sharks roster and have already cleared waivers to be sent to the AHL. If 10 games or 30 days on the NHL roster elapses, both cumulative, since the last time they cleared waivers they will need to do so again before being assigned to the AHL.

Pelech, Matt
Kennedy, Tim

The following players have cleared waivers and have been assigned to the Worcester Sharks.

Grant, Tommy
Groulx, Danny
Kearns, Bracken
Petrecki, Nick
Matsumoto, Jon
McCarthy, John

The following players are waiver exempt and are assigned to the WorSharks

Acolatse, Sena
Doherty, Taylor
Gogol, Curt
Hamilton, Freddie
Heemskerk, Thomas (currently with San Francisco [ECHL])
Irwin, Matt
Livingston, James
Oleksuk, Travis
Reid, Brodie
Sateri, Harri
Stalberg, Sebastian
Stalock, Alex
Tennyson, Matt
Viedensky, Marek

To complete the record, the following are playing for the WorSharks under AHL contracts and would need to be signed to NHL contracts to be recalled to the NHL

Bonneau, Jimmy
Comrie, Adam
Gourde, Yanni
Nelson, Taylor (currently with San Francisco [ECHL])
Tam, Mikael (currently with San Francisco [ECHL])
Tarasov, Daniil
Urban, Denny

Sateri, WorSharks rock IceCaps to sweep mid-week series

The Worcester Sharks had to battle the weather just to get to St. John’s, Newfoundland, and then while there had a handful of key players get hit with the flu bug. But thanks to some rock solid goaltending by Harri Sateri and late third period goals by Bracken Kearns and Daniil Tarasov the WorSharks came away 3-2 winners over the IceCaps on Tuesday night, and Sateri’s 21 save shutout highlighted a Worcester 4-0 victory Wednesday night. Tarasov finished the two game series with three goals, with Kearns adding a goal and an assist. Captain John McCarthy broke out of his goal scoring drought with a pair of tallies in Wednesday night’s game.

Tuesday’s highlights:

Wednesday’s highlights:

The three stars for Tuesday were
1. WOR – 22 Tim Kennedy (3a, was originally given credit for Tarasov’s game winner)
2. STJ – 15 Jason Jaffray (2g)
3. WOR – 16 Bracken Kearns (g,2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game for Tuesday was Daniil Tarasov

The three stars for Wednesday were
1. WOR – 7 John McCarthy (2g)
2. WOR – 22 Tim Kennedy (2a)
3. WOR – 19 Daniil Tarasov (1g)

The Sharkspage player of the game for Wednesday was Harri Sateri

Tuesday’s BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 0 2 – 3
St. John’s 1 0 1 – 2

1st Period-1, Worcester, Tarasov 4 (Kennedy, Kearns), 1:32. 2, St. John’s, Jaffray 7 (Macenauer), 10:05 (SH). Penalties-Pelech Wor (tripping), 4:38; Schnell Stj (roughing), 8:12; Kearns Wor (cross-checking), 12:16; Jaffray Stj (holding), 12:16.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Kearns Wor (hooking), 0:55; Petrecki Wor (slashing), 2:29; Sawada Stj (hooking), 11:47; Urban Wor (holding), 15:23; Livingston Wor (fighting), 17:55; Cormier Stj (fighting), 17:55.

3rd Period-3, St. John’s, Jaffray 8 (Sawada, Meech), 6:31 (PP). 4, Worcester, Kearns 11 (Kennedy, Urban), 16:42 (PP). 5, Worcester, Tarasov 5 (Kearns, Kennedy), 18:29. Penalties-McCarthy Wor (closing hand on puck), 5:22; Macenauer Stj (tripping), 15:34.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 12-8-12-32. St. John’s 10-10-12-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 3; St. John’s 1 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 10-9-2 (32 shots-30 saves). St. John’s, Pasquale 14-17-2 (32 shots-29 saves).
A-6,287
Referees-Trevor Hanson (47), Tim Mayer (19).
Linesmen-Sheldon Keough (63), Joe Maynard (24).

Wednesday’s BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 3 1 – 4
St. John’s 0 0 0 – 0

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Tam Wor (fighting), 0:04; Tremblay Stj (fighting), 0:04; Kearns Wor (fighting), 1:16; Sawada Stj (fighting), 1:16; Petiot Stj (interference), 5:27; Petrecki Wor (slashing), 9:31; Bonneau Wor (fighting), 15:48; Schnell Stj (fighting), 15:48.

2nd Period-1, Worcester, Tarasov 6 (Kennedy, Petrecki), 10:28. 2, Worcester, Kearns 12 (Urban, Kennedy), 19:03 (PP). 3, Worcester, McCarthy 6 (Tennyson, Pelech), 19:33 (PP). Penalties-Petiot Stj (checking to the head), 17:41; Chiarot Stj (delay of game), 17:46.

3rd Period-4, Worcester, McCarthy 7 (Brennan, Oleksuk), 10:46. Penalties-Tennyson Wor (delay of game), 1:16; Gogol Wor (roughing, fighting, misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:38; Cormier Stj (fighting), 6:38; Schnell Stj (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:38; Petrecki Wor (fighting), 11:08; Meech Stj (cross-checking), 11:08; Sawada Stj (fighting), 11:08; Livingston Wor (cross-checking), 14:00; Hamilton Wor (hooking), 17:41; Macenauer Stj (tripping), 17:41; Pelech Wor (major – cross-checking, misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct, game misconduct – cross-checking), 19:56; Clark Stj (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:56.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 14-14-6-34. St. John’s 6-6-9-21.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 2 / 4; St. John’s 0 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 10-9-2 (21 shots-21 saves). St. John’s, Pasquale 14-17-2 (34 shots-30 saves).
A-6,287
Referees-Trevor Hanson (47), Tim Mayer (19).
Linesmen-Joe Maynard (24), Jim Vail (5).

WorSharks grab point in 3-2 shootout loss to Portland

The Worcester Sharks bussed two and a half hours north to take on the American Hockey League’s Atlantic Division leading Pirates at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine where the WorSharks record was a woeful 4-25-4. After trailing 2-0 halfway through the game they looked to be heading toward loss 26, but a power play tally by Tim Kennedy and a late third period goal by rookie Daniil Tarasov got the WorSharks to even and into overtime for a much needed point. Despite several nice bids during the extra session and two solid ringers off the posts in the shootout Worcester couldn’t light the lamp again and dropped a 3-2 contest in a shootout Friday night.

Despite Kennedy’s power play goal and Tarasov’s goal coming just a couple seconds after a Portland penalty expired the WorSharks as a whole looked pretty poor with the extra attacker, officially going just one for nine power play. The WorSharks were at one point in the top ten in the AHL on the power play, but have dropped like a stone to tied for 19th (15.9%). A small portion of that was due to all the recalls during San Jose’s training camp, but for the most part the line-up being used by head coach Roy Sommer is the one we all expected for Worcester. And with all the puck moving defensemen on the squad there’s no reason for that group to be playing so poorly.

Another area that needs to be addressed is Worcester going to the net on rushes into the attacking zone. Far too many times players pull up and peel off with the puck instead of forcing the issue by going to the net. So many players are doing it it’s obvious that’s some sort of system that’s been implemented. You’d be hard pressed to find any knowledgeable hockey fan that will tell you that tactic is working.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Sena Acolatse, Mike Banwell, Jimmy Bonneau, Taylor Doherty, Curt Gogol, and Travis Oleksuk. Prior to the game Worcester announced defenseman Danny Urban was signed to an AHL contract for the remainder of the season. Earlier during the AHL’s All-Star break veteran forward Patrick Rissmiller was released from his PTO. Rissmiller was 0-2-2 in six games with the WorSharks. On Thursday forward Frazer McLaren was claimed off waivers away from the San Jose organization by the Toronto Maple Leafs. In a scheduling oddity instead of facing off against the Providence Bruins Saturday night at the DCU Center it looks like McLaren will instead face the Boston Bruins at the Air Canada Centre.

Tarasov’s assist on Tim Kennedy’s 2nd period goal made Tarasov the 22nd different WorSharks player to register a point against Portland this season. In total Worcester has used 32 skaters against the Pirates. When this writer posted that stat in twitter (@210Darryl) the question was raised about what was the most players used by Worcester in a season. Unofficially, that number appears to be 51 during the 2010-11 season. So far this season Worcester has had 37 players appear in games. A quick rundown of the unoffocial count of players used by season for the WorSharks is:

2006-07: 40
2007-08: 42
2008-09: 36
2009-10: 42
2010-11: 51
2011-12: 44

The three stars of the game were
1. POR – 31 Mike Lee (36 saves)
2. POR – 12 Rob Klinkhammer (g,a)
3. WOR – 22 Tim Kennedy (g,a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Daniil Tarasov.

BOXSCORE

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

1st Period-1, Portland, Klinkhammer 10 (Lane, Sinkewich), 5:42. Penalties-Summers Por (interference), 0:23; Hextall Por (holding, unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:04; Wilson Wor (interference), 12:02; Werek Por (hooking), 14:45; Reid Wor (checking to the head), 19:10.

2nd Period-2, Portland, Werek 8 (Klinkhammer, Summers), 8:56 (PP). 3, Worcester, Kennedy 13 (Tarasov, Kearns), 15:05 (PP). Penalties-Conner Por (high-sticking), 2:39; Tennyson Wor (tripping), 4:18; Hamilton Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:14; Valabik Por (slashing), 9:40; Brodeur Por (delay of game), 14:29; Groulx Wor (holding the stick), 16:46; Tam Wor (roughing, fighting), 19:32; Lane Por (fighting), 19:32.

3rd Period-4, Worcester, Tarasov 3 (Urban, Kennedy), 16:43. Penalties-Tennyson Wor (interference), 5:06; Dziurzynski Por (high-sticking), 7:25; Szwarz Por (slashing), 14:41.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Worcester 0 (Tarasov NG, Urban NG, Kennedy NG, Matsumoto NG, Reid NG), Portland 1 (Klinkhammer NG, Szwarz NG, Werek NG, Brown G).
Shots on Goal-Worcester 14-12-7-5-0-38. Portland 5-8-14-3-1-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 9; Portland 1 / 7.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 8-9-2 (30 shots-28 saves). Portland, Lee 3-0-0 (38 shots-36 saves).
A-4,280
Referees-Terry Koharski (10), T.J. Luxmore (49).
Linesmen-Joe Andrews (32), Jeremy Lovett (78).

San Jose Sharks from the past: where are they playing now? (2012-13 edition)

When I posted the Worcester Sharks list last season several people asked if I was doing one for San Jose. I didn’t do one last season, but figured that this season was a good time to start.

Below is a list every former player for the San Jose Sharks still playing pro hockey but no longer in the San Jose organization, and where they are playing this season. The teams that are listed are the highest level a player had played this season. Players that were signed/recalled but did not appear in games are not listed, nor are players from this season. This list is accurate as of Sunday, January 27, 2013.

Riley Armstrong – Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)
Mark Bell – Iserlohn Roosters (DEL)
Steve Bernier – New Jersey Devils (NHL)
Brian Boucher – Adirondack Phantoms (AHL)
Brad Boyes – New York Islanders (NHL)
Joe Callahan – Abbotsford Heat (AHL)
Brian Campbell – Florida Panthers (NHL)
Matt Carkner – New York Islanders (NHL)
Matt Carle – Tampa bay Lightning (NHL)
Jonathan Cheechoo – Oklahoma City Barons (AHL)
Rob Davison – Salzburg EC (Austria)
Niko Dimitrakos – Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams (DEL)
Ben Eager – Edmonton Oilers (NHL)
Christian Ehrhoff – Buffalo Sabres (NHL)
Benn Ferriero – New York Rangers (NHL)
Marcel Goc – Florida Panthers (NHL)
Josh Gorges – Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
Scott Hannan – Nashville predators (NHL)
Dany Heatley – Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Shawn Heins – Fribourg-Gotteron (Swiss-A)
Dwight Helminen – Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL)
Kent Huskins – Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Mike Iggulden – Rogle Angelholm (SEL)
Derek Joslin – Chicago Wolves (AHL)
Lukas Kaspar – Donbass HC (KHL)
Miikka Kiprusoff – Calgary Flames (NHL)
Alexander Korolyuk – Chekhov Vityaz (KHL)
Viktor Kozlov – CSKA Moscow (KHL)
Jay Leach – Albany Devils (AHL)
Lynn Loyns – Ravensburg Tower Stars (2.GBun)
Manny Malhotra – Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
Brandon Mashinter – Connecticut Whale (AHL)
Jamal Mayers – Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Jamie McGinn – Colorado Avalanche (NHL)
Milan Michalek – Ottawa Senators (NHL)
Torrey Mitchell – Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Travis Moen – Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
Mike Moore – Milwaukee Admirals (AHL)
Andrew Murray – Peoria Rivermen (AHL)
Evgeni Nabokov – New York Islanders (NHL)
Scott Nichol – St Louis Blues (NHL)
Antero Niittymaki – TPS Turku (SM-liiga)
Jed Ortmeyer – Missouri Mavericks (CHL)
Sandis Ozolinsh – Moscow Oblast Atlant (KHL)
Dmitri Patzold – Hannover Scorpions (DEL)
Ville Peltonen – HIFK Helsinki (SM-liiga)
Tomas Plihal – Karpat (SM-liiga)
Tom Preissing – TPS Turku (SM-liiga)
Mikael Samuelsson – Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Nolan Schaefer – Ambri-Piotta (Swiss-A)
Teemu Selanne – Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Alexei Semenov – St. Petersburg SKA (KHL)
Devin Setoguchi – Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Jody Shelley – Philadelphia Flyers (NHL)
Brad Staubitz – Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Niklas Sundstrom – Modo Hockey Ornskoldsvik (SEL)
Jim Vandermeer – Chicago Wolves (AHL)
Ryan Vesce – Skelleftea HC (SEL)
Kyle Wellwood – Winnipeg Jets (NHL)
Ian White – Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Ray Whitney – Dallas Stars (NHL)
Brad Winchester – Milwaukee Admirals (AHL)
Daniel Winnik – Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Chad Wiseman – Albany Devils (AHL)
Miroslav Zalesak – Chomutov Pirati (Czech)
Steven Zalewski – Albany Devils (AHL)