Worcester Sharks

On November 9, 2004, the St. Louis Blues announced the sale of the Worcester IceCats to the owners of their ECHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen.^[1] The new owners moved the franchise to Peoria, Illinois, for the 2005–06 season. Shocked by the loss of the IceCats, the people of Worcester bargained with several National Hockey League (NHL) franchises, trying to bring hockey back to the city. On January 6, 2006, the San Jose Sharks announced they were moving their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Barons, to Worcester, Massachusetts,^[2] and the Worcester Sharks played their first home game on October 14, 2006, in front of a sold-out 7,230 fans in a shootout loss to the Portland Pirates. The Sharks qualified for the playoffs in their inaugural season, but were eliminated in six games by the Manchester Monarchs in the first round.

The Sharks' main rivals were the Providence Bruins, the genesis of which dates back to IceCats' days.^{[citation needed]}

The Sharks were well represented in the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, with former Sharks Joe Pavelski (played for the United States), Douglas Murray (represented Sweden) along with the goaltending tandem from the franchise's first two years with Thomas Greiss and Dimitri Patzold played for Germany.

On November 1, 2009, head coach Roy Sommer became only the fourth coach in AHL history to record 400 wins. On January 14, 2011, Sommer was behind the Sharks bench for his 1,000th regular-season game as an AHL head coach, becoming just the fourth man in AHL history to reach that milestone.^{[citation needed]} On February 11, 2012, Sommer became the fourth coach in AHL history to record 500 wins with a 3–2 shootout win over the Hershey Bears.

On January 26, 2015, it was reported that the Sharks would move to San Jose and share SAP Center at San Jose with their parent club, the San Jose Sharks. These reports were confirmed with the Sharks' official announcement on January 29.^[3] On April 2, 2015, the team was announced as the San Jose Barracuda.

Worcester did not initially receive an ECHL team to replace the relocated AHL team, unlike the other markets with relocated AHL teams in 2015, such as Manchester, New Hampshire, Norfolk, Virginia, and Glens Falls, New York. On February 8, 2016, the ECHL announced Worcester would be home to an expansion team, set to begin play for the 2017–18 season. The team is owned by Cliff Rucker, with Toby O'Brien serving as president and general manager. The team name was revealed on April 3 to be the Worcester Railers.^[4]

This market was previously served by:

• Worcester Warriors (1954–1956) - members of the Eastern Hockey League (1954–55) and Atlantic Hockey League (1955–56)
• Worcester IceCats (1994–2005) - affiliated with the St. Louis Blues

Radio

• Eric Lindquist - Play-by-Play

Television

• Eric Lindquist - Play-by-Play
• Kevin Shea - Color Commentary

Records as of April 21, 2015.^[5]

• Graham Mink, 2007–2008
• Ryan Vesce, 2008–2010
• Jay Leach, 2010–2011
• Mike Moore, 2011–2012
• John McCarthy, 2012–2013
• Rob Davison, 2013–2014
• Bryan Lerg, 2014–2015

• Mathieu Darche, 2007 Canadian
• Mike Iggulden, 2008 Canadian
• Derek Joslin, 2009 Canadian
• Ryan Vesce, 2009 PlanetUSA
• Logan Couture, 2010 Canadian
• Alex Stalock, 2010 PlanetUSA
• Justin Braun, 2011 Eastern
• Jonathan Cheechoo, 2011 Eastern
• Matt Irwin, 2012 Eastern
• Bracken Kearns, 2013 Eastern
• Matt Taormina, 2015 Eastern

List of Worcester Sharks alumni who played in the National Hockey League:

• Games Played: Nick Petrecki, John McCarthy, 277
• Goals: John McCarthy, 63
• Assists: Tom Cavanagh, 92
• Points: John McCarthy, 151
• PIM: Frazer McLaren, 577
• Wins: Thomas Greiss, 74
• Losses: Thomas Greiss, 60
• Shutouts: Alex Stalock, Aaron Dell 4
• Lowest GAA : Aaron Dell, 2.06

• Most Goals: Mathieu Darche, 35 (2006–07)
• Most Assists: Danny Groulx, 52 (2009–10)
• Most Points: Mathieu Darche, 80 (2006–07)
• Most Penalty Minutes: Matt Pelech, 238 (2012–13)
• Most Power-Play Goals: Mathieu Darche, 16 (2006–07)
• Most Shorthanded Goals: Ryan Vesce, 3 (2008–09)
• Most Appearances: Alex Stalock, 61 (2009–10)
• Most Minutes Played: Alex Stalock, 3,534 (2009–10)
• Most Wins: Alex Stalock, 39 (2009–10)
• Most Losses: Thomas Greiss, 24 (2008–09)
• Most Shutouts: Alex Stalock, 4 (2009–10) Aaron Dell, 4 (2014-15)
• Lowest GAA (min. 25 games): Aaron Dell, 2.06 (2014–15)
• Highest Save Percentage (min. 25 games): Aaron Dell, .927 (2014–15)

• Games Played: 14 players tied, 12
• Goals: Patrick Traverse/Jamie McGinn/Andrew Desjardins, 4
• Assists: Riley Armstrong, 11
• Points: Riley Armstrong, 14

• First Game & Win: October 6, 2006. Worcester Sharks 4, Portland Pirates 3 [SO]
• Franchise First Goal: October 6, 2006. Worcester Sharks 4, Portland Pirates 3 [SO]. Goal scored by Mathieu Darche
• Franchise First Shutout: January 11, 2008 by Dimitri Patzold. Worcester Sharks 3, Providence Bruins 0.
• Franchise First Hat Trick: December 22, 2006 by Mathieu Darche. Worcester Sharks 6, Manchester Monarchs 4.
• Franchise Largest Crowd: February 24, 2012. 10,170 Providence Bruins 5, Worcester Sharks 3.

• Last Game: May 1, 2015. Worcester Sharks 4, Hershey Bears 10 [Game 4, Round 1 of Playoffs]
• Last Win: April 29, 2015. Worcester Sharks 4, Hershey Bears 1 [Game 3, Round 1 of Playoffs]
• Franchise Last Goal: May 1, 2015. Worcester Sharks 4, Hershey Bears 10 [Game 4, Round 1 of Playoffs] Goal scored by Matt Taormina assisted by Oleksuk, Langlois.
• Franchise Last Shutout: April 7, 2015 by Aaron Dell. Worcester Sharks 1, Portland Pirates 0
• Franchise Last Hat Trick: February 27, 2015 by Evan Trupp. Saint John's IceCaps 3, Worcester Sharks 6
• Franchise Last Home Game: April 25, 2015 Hershey Bears 3, Worcester Sharks 1 [Game 2, Round 1 of Playoffs] Attendance:4,045

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points;

• Roy Sommer, 2006–2015

• Worcester Sharks Supporters Website
• Worcester Sharks Booster Club