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Sharks Dazzle Sold out Crowd at DCU Center

October 17, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release


Shark Snap Shot:

The Worcester Sharks chomped two out of a possible two points last week with a 6-1 home opening victory over the Albany Devils in front of a sellout crowd of 7,239 at the DCU Center on Saturday night. The Sharks improved to 3-1-1-1 in home openers with the win over the Devils. The Worcester Sharks player of the week nominee is rookie forward James Livingston as he scored his first two professional goals in the 6-1 victory over the Devils on Saturday.

Top 3... Last Week!

#1 Sharks power play ties franchise record with FOUR power play goals in 6-1 win over Devils on Saturday.

#2 James Livingston snipes his first two professional goals and claims #1 star with 6-1 win over Devils on Saturday.

#3 Mike Connolly scores his first professional goal and adds two assists in win over Devils on Saturday!

Last Week: (1-0-0-0) 2pts, 1gp

Sat. 10/15 W Albany Devils 1 @ Worcester SHARKS 6

This week:

Fri. 10/21 Worcester SHARKS @ Providence Bruins - 7:05pm

Sat. 10/22 Manchester Monarchs @ Worcester Sharks - 7:00pm

Rewind the Tape:

10.15.11 - Worcester 6 - Albany 1 - W - DCU Center James Livingston scored his first two professional goals in the third period and the Sharks scored four power play goals in a complete team effort as Worcester defeated the Albany Devils in fine fashion by the score of 6-1 in the Sharks 6th season home opener at the DCU Center on Saturday evening.

Worcester also received goals from Benn Ferriero, Matt Irwin, Ben Guite, and Mike Connolly as the Sharks improved to 3-1-1-1 in home openers in their six year history in the AHL. The game featured several fights and a combined 103 penalty minutes as the Sharks improved to 2-0-0-0.

Sharks in the Atlantic: The Sharks are swimming in 3rd place with four points (2-0-0-0) in the Atlantic Division through two games, which is two points behind the first place St. John's Ice Caps (4gp) and Manchester Monarchs (5gp). The Sharks are tied with Providence (5gp) and have a one point edge over the Portland Pirates (3gp) to round out a very choppy Atlantic Division.

Coaching Milestones....

*400 WINS!....With the 4-1 victory vs. Springfield on November 1, 2009, head coach Roy Sommer became just the 4th coach in AHL history to reach the 400 win plateau.

*500 WINS!.... Coach Roy Sommer is just 20 wins away from 500 in his AHL coaching career.

*1000 GAMES... With the 3-1 victory at Springfield on January 14, 2011, head coach Roy Sommer became just the 4th coach in AHL history to reach the 1,000 games plateau.

AHL COACHING WINS - ALL-TIME

1. Fred "Bun" Cook 1937-56 19seasons 1,171GP 636 WINS

2. Frank Mathers 1956-85 18seasons 1,256GP 610 WINS

3. John Paddock 1981-2010 16seasons 1,125GP 589 WINS

4. Roy Sommer 1998-current 14seasons 1,042GP 480 WINS

*Worcester Sharks Head Coach Roy Sommer, who plays a major role in developing players for the San Jose Sharks, is currently the longest-tenured coach (14th season) in the American Hockey League. His current regular season record is now: 480-433 -48 -44 -37. (W-L-T-OTL-SOL)

*In Coach Sommer's first AHL victory.... The Kentucky Thoroughblades defeated the Albany River Rats 6-4 at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky on October 17th 1998. Coincidentally, Assistant Coach David Cunniff recorded an assist as a member of the River Rats in the hockey game.

*Assistant Coach David Cunniff has joined Coach Sommer in 326 of the 480 victories (68%).

Shark Bites:

*Captains for the 2011-12 season: Mike Moore was named the Sharks 4th captain in team history on Feb 11, 2011 and was named captain again before the start of the 2011-12 season. Alternate captains for this season: veteran forward Ben Guite and forward John McCarthy.

*From east to west..... The Worcester Sharks had 13 different players (36 call-ups) receive at least one call up last season to San Jose... Currently; Andrew Desjardins, Jamie McGinn, Logan Couture, Jason Demers, Joe Pavelski, Marc-Edourd Vlasic, Frazer McLaren, Doug Murray, and Tommy Wingels are all former Worcester Sharks that are currently playing with the San Jose Sharks.

*Season Openers... The Sharks improved to 4-1-0-1 in season openers after their 4-1 win on Sunday!

*Home Openers... Worcester improved to 3-1-1-1 in home openers at the DCU Center after 6-1 victory on October 15 vs. the Devils.

*Great Start.... The Sharks are 2-0-0-0 to start the season for only the 2nd time in franchise history. The Sharks opened the season 4-0-0-0 in 2007-08 but eventually did not make the playoffs.

*Score first... the Sharks have scored FIRST 2 times in 2 games last season (2-0-0-0); Curt Gogol 1 and Benn Ferriero 1.

*First goal of the season goes to... Curt Gogol scored the first Worcester Sharks goal of the season on Sunday at Providence, joining: Mathieu Darche in 2006, Graham Mink in 2007, Cory Larose in 2008, Andrew Desjardins in 2009, and Jonathan Cheechoo in 2010.

*First Pro Goals this season... Curt Gogol (Oct 9 @ PRO vs. Khudobin), James Livingston (Oct15 vs. ALB vs. Frazee), and Mike Connolly (Oct15 vs. ALB vs. Frazee).

*100 AHL goals.... Veteran Ben Guite scored his first goal as a member of the Worcester Sharks in a 6-1 win over the Devils on October 15. The goal turned out to be his 100th AHL goal in his career. Ben also has 19 NHL goals in 175 career NHL games.

*Starting Goalies... Tyson Sexsmith allowed just one goal on 21 shots on Sunday in Providence to become the first goaltender to allow less than two goals in a Sharks opener. Dimitri Patzold 3GA in 2006, Thomas Greiss 2GA in 2007, Thomas Greiss 5GA in 2008, Alex Stalock 2GA in 2009, and Alex Stalock 5GA in 2010.

*Great first impression... Curt Gogol became just the 5th Sharks player to score in his professional debut joining Joe Pavelski, Nate Raduns, Tony Lucia, and Cam MacIntyre. (Thanks Bill Ballou, Worcester TG)

*We like Providence... with the 4-1 win in Providence on Sunday, the Sharks improved to 9-4-0-0 in their last 13 meetings at the Dunkin Donuts Center.

*Sharks in the Atlantic... the Sharks had a 29-20-4-7 record against Atlantic Division prey this season and are 1-0-0-0 in the division this season.

*Streakers!... Nick Petrecki (0-3-3), Matt Irwin (1-2-3), Benn Ferriero (2-1-3), Ben Guite (1-1-2), and Sean Sullivan (1-1-2) all have a TWO game point streak. Goaltender Tyson Sexsmith is riding a two game winning streak (2-0-0).

*Multiple Points... the Sharks had six players with multiple points on Oct 15 in 6-1 win vs. the Devils!

*Good when leading... the Sharks area 2-0-0-0 when leading after the 1st period of play and 2-0-0-0 when leading after the 2nd period of play this season.

*Pro Debuts: Five players made their professional debuts in the Sharks 4-1 victory in Providence on Sunday; Curt Gogol, Nathan Moon, Brodie Reid, James Livingston, and Mike Connolly.

*5 National Champions... The Sharks have five players that have won the NCAA Division 1 Championship.... Mike Connolly was co-captain for Minnesota-Duluth in 2011, John McCarthy was co-captain for Boston University in 2009... Benn Ferriero and Nick Petrecki with Boston College in 2008... and Ben Guite with Maine in 1999.

*Young Guns... the Sharks dressed seven rookies in their season opener on October 9 at Providence. (Curt Gogol, Nathan Moon, Brodie Reid, James Livingston, Mike Connolly, Taylor Doherty, and Tyson Sexsmith)

*Super Sunday... the Sharks went 14-4-0-2 on Sunday afternoon games in 2010-11 and are 1-0-0-0 on Sundays this season.

*I'll take a draft... Six Worcester Sharks players were drafted by the San Jose Sharks. (Braun, Doherty, McCarthy, Petrecki, Sexsmith, Viedensky,)

*NHL Experience.... The Sharks have seven players with NHL experience totaling 324 games led by veteran Ben Guite with 175... breakdown of the rest... John McCarthy 41, Mike Moore 6, Benn Ferriero 57, Matt Pelech 5, Justin Braun 28, and Brandon Mashinter 13.

*Heard it from Ballou.... The Sharks are 7-1-1-1 in their last nine games when Jamie Koharski is the lone referee.

*Five for fighting...The Sharks have four fighting majors this season good for 12th in the AHL... Four different players dropped the mitts this season for the Sharks this season: (Jimmy Bonneau 1, Curt Gogol 1, Nick Petrecki 1, and Cam MacIntyre 1)... The Sharks had 81 fighting majors last season, 73 fighting majors in 2009-10, 78 fighting majors in 2008-09, 68 fighting majors in 2007-08 and 54 in 2006-07.

Season by the numbers...

Record: 2-0-0-0, 4 points - 3rd in Atlantic

Home Record: 1-0-0-0

Away Record: 1-0-0-0

Attendance: 7,239 through 1 game at DCU Center

Goals Scored: 10, 5.00 goals per game, 3rd in AHL

Goals Allowed: 2, 1.00 goals against per game, 1st in AHL

Shots per game: 31.00 - 10th in AHL

Shots allowed per game: 18.00 - 1st in AHL

Score 1st: 2-0-0-0 when scoring first (1.000 win %)

1 goal games: 0-0-0-0 in one goal games

PP: 33.3%, 2nd in AHL (5-15)

PK: 100%, 1st in AHL (0-8)

SHG - 0 shorthanded goals scored

SHGA - 0 shorthanded goals allowed

PIMS - 33.50 penalty minutes per game, 1st in AHL

Fighting Majors: 4 - 12th in AHL

OT Games - 0 - (0-0 record in OT)

SO Games - 0 - (0-0 record in SO)

Roster Players - the Sharks have used 20 players this season

Goalies - the Sharks used 1 goaltender this season

Players receiving call-ups to San Jose - 0

NHL debuts - 0 Worcester players made their NHL debuts this season

Call-ups to San Jose - 0 different call-ups to San Jose this season

Coming and goings from the Shark Tank:

Nathan Moon was signed to an AHL contract on October 15.

Ian O'Connor was signed to a PTO on October 16.

Top Worcester Sharks:

o Goals Ferriero (2)

o Game Winners Sullivan (1) and Irwin (1)

o Assists McCarthy and Petrecki (3)

o Points Ferriero (2-1-3), Connolly (1-2-3), Irwin (1-2-3), McCarthy (0-3-3), Petrecki (0-3-3)

o Power play Points McCarthy (0-2-2)

o Shots Sullivan (8 shots)

o PIM Gogol (19)

o Fighting Pen. Bonneau, Gogol, Petrecki, and MacIntyre (1)

o Plus/Minus several players at +2

o Wins Sexsmith (2)

o G.A.A. Sexsmith (1.00)

o Save % Sateri (.944)

o Shutouts N/A

Sharks in the Pacific:

The San Jose Sharks are 1-2-0 with two points through 3 games and currently six points behind the first place Dallas Stars. Andrew Desjardins (2-0-2), Tommy Wingels (0-1-1), and Jamie McGinn have played all three games for the San Jose Sharks this season.

Week ahead:

Mon., Oct 17 at 10:30pm vs. Anaheim

Fri., Oct 21 at 7pm at New Jersey

Sat., Oct 22 at 7pm at Boston

Sharks in the ECHL:

The Stockton Thunder are 0-1-0-1 in two games this season with 1 point. Worcester Sharks training camp invite, Gabriel Levesque, leads the Thunder with four points (2-2-4) in two games.

Week Ahead:

Fri., Oct. 21 at 9:05pm at Colorado

Sat., Oct. 22 at 9:05pm at Colorado

Coming Up:

The Sharks travel to Providence on Friday for a 7:05pm tilt vs. the Bruins before returning home to host the Manchester Monarchs at 7pm on Saturday, October 22 at the DCU Center! The first 2,000 fans will receive a free poster schedule featuring Andrew Desjardins!

Score a family fun pack today for only $74! Four tickets, four hot dogs, and four sodas for a portion of the price! Available only through the Sharks front office for every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday games this season!

Starting now, the Sharks are offering groups to partake in a Sharks hockey experience with many interactive activities; including friends and family skates on the DCU Center ice before or after a game, the high FIN tunnel (high-fiving players as they take the ice), singing the National Anthem, intermission performances, and more.

Marina Riva, Jonathan Forsberg, Jason Jones, Chris Curtis, and Kristyn Galante are ready to take your orders and answer your questions today! Jump in today and save up to 35% off box office prices! Some of the exclusive benefits for full season ticket holders will include:

* Guaranteed same seat for all 38 home dates and playoff home games at the DCU Center

* Priority access to purchase tickets to other DCU Center events (subject to availability)

* Seven FREE friends and family vouchers

* Exclusive events with Sharks players

* Merchandise discounts and much, much, more!

Season ticket packages and group tickets for the 2011-12 season are on sale now by contacting the Worcester Sharks Office at 508.929.0500 or by crashing the net at www.SharksAHL.com.

All games can be heard live on 580AM and 94.9FM WTAG, as well as online through AHL Live, by following the link on the Sharks website at www.SharksAHL.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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