1000 Games on the Horizon - Worcester Sharks Weekly

Published on January 10, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release


Shark Snap Shot:

The Sharks chomped three out of a possible six points last week in three divisional games highlighted by Andrew Desjardins game winning goal in overtime over the Sound Tigers in Bridgeport on Saturday. Worcester kicked off the week with a frustrating 2-0 loss to the Whale on Wednesday night and concluded the three game stretch by falling to the Falcons 3-2 in the shootout at the DCU center on Sunday. The Sharks are currently in 4th place in the Atlantic Division with 43 points as they embark in a four game work week. Head Coach Roy Sommer will become just the 4th coach in AHL history to reach 1,000 games when the Sharks visit the Falcons in Springfield on Friday.

Top 3... Last Week!

#1 Andrew Desjardins scores at 1:35 of overtime in an exciting 2-1 victory over the Sound Tigers in Bridgeport on Saturday!

#2 T.J. Trevelyan and Matt Irwin each score their 7th goals of the season as the Sharks claw back and force overtime in 3-2 shootout loss to Springfield on Sunday.

#3 Carter Hutton makes 18 saves and was #3 star in 2-1 overtime win in Bridgeport on Saturday

Last Week: (1-1-0-1) 3pt, 3gp

Wed. 1/5 L Connecticut Whale 2 @ Worcester SHARKS 0

Sat. 1/8 OTW Worcester SHARKS 2 @ Bridgeport Sound Tigers 1 - OT

Sun. 1/9 SOL Springfield Falcons 3 @ Worcester SHARKS 2 - SO

This week:

Tue. 1/11 Albany Devils @ Worcester SHARKS - 7pm

Fri. 1/14 Worcester SHARKS @ Springfield Falcons - 7:30pm

Sat. 1/15 Worcester SHARKS @ Portland Pirates - 7pm

Sun. 1/16 Worcester SHARKS @ Providence Bruins - 4:05pm

Rewind the Tape:

1.5.11 - Worcester 0 - Connecticut 2 - DCU Center

Connecticut scored two goals late in the third period to defeat the Worcester Sharks 2-0 at the DCU Center on Wednesday night. Tim Kennedy had a two point night for the Whale (1-1-2 ) and Evgeny Grachev added a shorthanded insurance goal with 2:47 remaining. Chad Johnson stopped 27 shots for the shutout while Alex Stalock stopped 19 of 21.

1.8.11 - Worcester 2 - Bridgeport 1 - OT - Arena at Harbor Yard

Andrew Desjardins scored 95 seconds into overtime as Worcester defeated the Sound Tigers 2-1 in Bridgeport on Saturday evening. Chris Lawrence scored the other Sharks goal and Carter Hutton made 18 saves as the Sharks outshot Bridgeport 40-19 in the overtime win.

1.9.11 - Worcester 2 - Springfield 3 - SO - DCU Center

The Sharks battled back from a 2-0 deficit to force overtime but the Falcons won the game in the 5th round of the shootout in a 3-2 final on Sunday afternoon in front of 5,514 fans at the DCU Center.

T.J. Trevelyan and Matt Irwin scored for Worcester with Alex Stalock making 29 saves in the losing effort. Tomas Kubalik and Trevor Smith scored for Springfield to give them a 2-0 lead early in the second period.

Sharks in the Atlantic: The Sharks are swimming in 4th place with 43 points (18-13-2-5) in the Atlantic Division through 38 games, which is 9 points behind the first place Manchester Monarchs (41gp) and four points behind the 2nd place CT Whale (41gp) and Portland Pirates (37gp). The 5th place Sound Tigers (41pts) and the 6th place Falcons (40pts) are right on the Sharks dorsal fin. The Providence Bruins round out a very choppy Atlantic Division in 7th place with 34 points through 37 games.

400 WINS and chasing 1000 games....

*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.

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 13th season 998GP 460 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 (13th season) in the American Hockey League. His current regular season record is now: 460-415-59-64.

*Coach Sommer will coach his 1,000th AHL game on January 14, 2011 when the Sharks visit the Springfield Falcons.

*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 306 of the 460 victories (66%)... Coach Cunniff filled in for Roy in a 3-2SOW in Springfield on December 29, 2010 as coach Sommer was in California attending his father's funeral.

Shark Bites:

*Gone but not forgotten... Before the Sharks on January 10th, there was a moment of silence for former Sharks and Falcons player Tom Cavanagh who passed away on January 6th in Providence, RI. Tom Cavanagh played for coach Sommer in Cleveland, and then came to Worcester when the franchise relocated for the 2006-07 season. He played for the Sharks through the end of the 2008-09 season and finished his Worcester career with point totals of 46-92-138. He remains the team's all-time leader in points and assists. A graduate of Toll Gate High in Warwick, R.I., and then Harvard University, Cavanagh eventually went on and played for the San Jose Sharks. Our thoughts and prayers to the entire Cavanagh family.

*Captains for the 2010-11 season: Captain Jay Leach (1st year), Assistant Captains on the road: Jonathan Cheechoo (1st year) and Nick Petrecki (1st year). Assistant Captains at home: Andrew Desjardins (1st year) and Sean Sullivan (1st year)... Dan DaSilva has also worn the assistant captain "A".

*From east to west..... The Sharks had 12 players that saw action in both the AHL and NHL last season (McLaren, Zalewski, Vesce, Joslin, McGinn, Couture, Callahan, Ferriero, Mitchell, Demers, McCarthy, and Helminen). The Worcester Sharks have had 8 CALL-UPS this season to San Jose... Currently; Brandon Mashinter, Benn Ferriero, Logan Couture, Jason Demers, Derek Joslin, John McCarthy, Jamie McGinn, Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi, Marc-Edourd Vlasic, and Doug Murray are all former Worcester Sharks that are currently playing with the San Jose Sharks.

*Home openers... the Sharks are 2-1-1-1 in five home openers at the DCU Center, including a 4-3 overtime loss to the Bruins on Saturday. Worcester was the last team in the AHL to host their home opener, and October 23rd was the Sharks latest home opener on record. The Sharks lost in a shootout 5-4 to Portland in 2006, defeated Portland 3-2 in 2007, defeated the Bruins in overtime 3-2 in 2008, and lost to Lowell 7-5 in 2009.

*Score first... the Sharks have scored FIRST 16 times in 38 games this season (14-1-0-1) after scoring first in 42-of-80 games last season (34-6-0-2).... Benn Ferriero (3) Jonathan Cheechoo (2), Kevin Henderson (2), T.J. Trevelyan (1), Sean Sullivan (2), Dan DaSilva (2), Andrew Desjardins (1), Matt Irwin (1), Steve Zalewski (1), and Chris Lawrence (1) have the others... Worcester has the 2nd best point's percentage in the AHL when scoring the first goal of the game. (.906%)

*Slim Margins... 22 of the Sharks 38 games (currently 7-of-last-8 games) have been decided by one goal this season... Worcester is 11-4-2-5 in those 22 games.

*Don't allow 4... The Sharks are 17-6-1-3 when they allow three goals or less in a game...BUT... Worcester is 1-7-1-2 when they allow four goals or more.

*Can't score 4... The Sharks have been held under four goals in 10 straight games (18GF) and have just a 3-5-1-1 record during that stretch.

*Quarter Mark... the Sharks finished the 1st quarter of the AHL season with a 10-6-1-3 record good for 24 points through 20 games. It was the best first quarter by the Worcester Sharks in five seasons.

*T.J. reaches 100.... Sharks forward T.J. Trevelyan skated in his 100th game for the Sharks on January 10th and scored his 35th goal as a Shark in the 3-2 shootout loss to Springfield.

*Sharks feast on Falcons... Worcester has a point in 13 straight games against the Springfield Falcons (11-0-2) and 19-2-2 in the last 23 games vs. the Falcons. Alex Stalock is 10-0-1 in 11 appearances against Springfield with at 1.96 GAA and a .920 save %. (Stole from Bill Ballou)

*Braun in NHL... Justin Braun made his NHL debut in Vancouver on Nov 26... Justin played 16:56 in the loss to the Canucks... Braun recorded two assists in his 2nd NHL game in a 4-3W in Edmonton on Nov 24 and was the #3 star with a +2 rating in 22:48 of action.... Braun has played in 14 games with San Jose (1-8-9) this season. His first NHL goal came in a 4-0 win in Ottawa against Pascal LeClaire on December 2.

*Sullivan Scores... Sharks defenseman Sean Sullivan already has 10 goals (2 GWG) this season from the Sharks blue line, good for 1st in the AHL. The 26-year-old from Boston, MA had 12 goals and 49 points in San Antonio last season. Sean ranks 2nd on the Sharks with 21 points this season.

*Defense Scoring... Sharks defensemen have scored 24 of the Sharks 97 goals this season, good for 24.7% of the Sharks goals scored this season.

*Irwin scoring... Sharks rookie defenseman Matt Irwin has 7 goals and 9 assists from the Sharks blue line this season. The rookie from UMASS-Amherst has six goals in his last 19 games for the Sharks.

*Give me Moore... #8 has played 162 games in a Worcester Sharks jersey (11th all-time) and has compiled 45 points (10-35-45) and 242 penalty minutes. His +30 is 4th best in Sharks history. He recorded his first professional two goal game on November 14 vs. Norfolk and was the #1 star. Moore scored his first NHL goal in his 2nd NHL game in a 4-3OTL in Colorado on November 17th. Mike scored at 9:14 of the 2nd period on a slap shot assisted by Dany Heatley on Peter Budaj to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead.

*Who's your BF ... Sharks 2nd year forward Benn Ferriero started his sophomore campaign on FIRE with NINE goals through 10 games to lead the Worcester Sharks offensively. Benn has played 23 games with the San Jose Sharks and has four goals, four assists and +5. Ferriero is currently on recall with San Jose.

*Sheriff back in town... Frazer McLaren returned to Worcester on Nov 20 after beginning the season with the San Jose Sharks. Frazer has played in 133 games in a Worcester Sharks sweater accumulating 24 points (11-13-24) and 346 penalty minutes. McLaren ranks 3rd all time in penalty minutes by a Worcester Sharks player (Brennan Evans 381, and Brad Staubitz 462). The Sherriff has not dressed in the last 21 games due to a lower body injury.

*More Muscle... the Sharks signed 6'4" forward Erick Lizon to a PTO on December 16th. The 25-year-old native of Kitchener, Ontario began the season with Bakersfield in the ECHL accumulating 117 penalty minutes, nine fighting majors, and four points, in 23 games for the Condors. Lizon had four fights (Justin Johnson, Justin Soryal, Theo Ruth, and Nick Tarnasky) in eight games for Worcester before being released on January 10.

*Fresh Face... David Marshall made his debut for the Sharks on December 18th in Bridgeport and scored a goal and recorded a fight. Marshall was signed to a PTO from the Wheeling Nailers in the ECHL where he had 11 points (7-4-11) in 16 games. David has also played 9 games with the Rochester Americans this season and recorded two goals. The 5-11 185lbs winger from Buffalo, MN played four seasons at Quinnipiac and has also previously skated in 24 games with the Lake Erie Monsters.

*Sharks in the Atlantic... the Sharks have a 14-8-2-4 record against Atlantic Division prey this season.

*Good when leading... the Sharks have a 11-1-0-1 when leading after the 1st period of play and a 15-0-0-1 when leading after the 2nd period of play this season.

*Outshot but not outscored.... Worcester is 8-2-0-2 when they get outshot during a game.

*Reunion of sorts...Jonathan Cheechoo returns to the Sharks organization in Worcester and will once again play for head coach Roy Sommer.... Coach Sommer coached Cheechoo in Kentucky and Cleveland in the AHL before his NHL days. Before this season, Cheechoo had 56-63-119pts in 137 games under Coach Sommer. "Cheech" ranks 1st in Worcester with 35 points (13-22-35) in 34 games this season and ranks 12th in the AHL points scoring race.

*Familiar Faces...19 players return to the 2010-11 roster from the regular season Atlantic Division championship team including four 20 goal scorers (DaSilva, Mashinter, Trevelyan, and Zalewski) and team MVP Alex Stalock.

*56... The Sharks allowed a franchise record 56 shots on goal in Norfolk on Saturday, October 16th in a 7-2 loss to the Admirals... the previous high for most shots allowed in a game was on April 6, 2007 when the Sharks allowed 52 shots in a 4-1 win over the Wolf Pack at the DCU Center.

*47... Carter Hutton made 47 saves in his Sharks debut on Saturday, October 16th in Norfolk.

*Nice Start... Carter Hutton made his first start of the season on Sunday, October 31st in Providence and made 37 saves to pick up the victory in a 6-1 win over the Bruins.

*Sweet 16...The Worcester Sharks are the 16th professional team that Sharks captain has suited up for in this, his 10th professional season (Mississippi - ECHL, Springfield - AHL, Augusta - ECHL, Long Beach - ECHL, Providence - AHL, Trenton - ECHL, Bridgeport - AHL, Boston - NHL, Norfolk - AHL, Tampa Bay - NHL, Portland - AHL, Lowell - AHL, New Jersey - NHL, Montreal - NHL, San Jose - NHL, and Worcester - AHL)

*Young Guns... the Sharks have dressed 13 rookies, including three from UMASS-Amherst (Braun, Irwin, and Marcou) and two from UMASS-Lowell (Hutton and Schaus).

*Vets... Three veterans will provide leadership for the Sharks squad this season, which include: former Maurice Richard winner Jonathan Cheechoo, former Boston Bruins defenseman Jay Leach, and the leading goal scorer for the Sharks from last season, T.J. Trevelyan.

*Super Sunday... the Sharks are 8-2-0-1 on Sunday afternoon games this season... including a 6-1-0-1 record at the DCU Center.

*Home/Away goals... the Sharks have scored 46 goals at home (18 games) and allowed 49 at the DCU Center.... while scoring 54 goals (20 games) on the road and allowing 60 goals on the road.

*Good Starts... Worcester has outscored their opponents 34-26 in the first period, 31-31 in the 2nd period, but outscored 30-45 in the third period.

*I'll take a draft....EIGHT Worcester Sharks players were drafted by the San Jose Sharks. (Braun, Cheechoo, Lucia, McLaren, Petrecki, Stalock, Wingels, and Zalewski)

*You always remember your first pro..... Justin Braun (UMASS-Amherst) scored his first professional goal vs. Providence on October 23... Matt Irwin (UMASS-Amherst) scored his first professional goal vs. Rochester October 29... Joe Loprieno scored his first professional goal vs. Charlotte on November 27... Cam MacIntyre scored his first professional in his first professional game vs. Portland on December 5... Nick Schaus scored his first professional goal, the game winner vs. Portland on December 5.

*Firsts last Week... Chris Lawrence scored his first goal as a Shark in Bridgeport on Saturday and Andrew Desjardins scored his first OTG in the AHL in the same game.

*Streakers... Mike Moore has a two game point streak (0-2-2)... Matt Irwin a two game point streak (1-1-2).

*Stole it from Bill Ballou... The Sharks are 8-3-0-0 when there two referees calling penalties... Worcester did not have a single power play in their 4-3W over Springfield on Nov 21 - it marked the first time in 337 regular season games the Sharks did not have a power play chance.

*Special Teams of late... The Sharks outscored their opponents 17-8 in special teams in the first 13 games; BUT have been outscored 25-11 in the last 25 games. The Sharks power play is just 5-for-68 (7.3%) in their last 15 games.

*Through the years... the Sharks finished 2010 with a 45-25-10 record.... Followed by a 45-31-4 record in 2009, a 35-41-7 record in 2008, and a 41-27-10 record in 2007.

*I like Bridgeport... Sharks forward Cory Quirk has scored twice this season with both tallies coming in Bridgeport. "Quirky" has ten goals in a Sharks sweater with 6 of them coming against the Sound Tigers.

*Score in Game #1... David Marshall became the 9th Sharks player to score in his Sharks debut on December 18 at Bridgeport. (Cheechoo, Darche, Spang, Pavelski, Raduns, Larose, Lucia, MacIntyre)

*Crazed Rat grabs 30... with his game winning goal on Nov 21st vs. the Falcons, Andrew Desjardins became the 9th player in franchise history to score 30 goals.

*Plus Players... Andrew Desjardins ranks 1st in franchise history with a +45 rating while line mate and fellow Crazed Rat Dan DaSilva is +44.

*Massachusetts... The Sharks have THREE players born and raised in Massachusetts (Sean Sullivan - Boston, Corey Quirk - Brockton, and Benn Ferriero - Essex) In all, the Sharks have 13 American born players and 11 Canadians.

*Breaking down the scoring... The Sharks have scored 100 goals this season... 26 on the power play, 68 even strength goals, 2 shorthanded tallies, 3 shootout goals, and an empty net goal.

*Goals for Petrecki... 2nd year defenseman Nick Petrecki has 7 points (3-4-7) and 80 penalty minutes in 36 games for the Sharks this season....His two game winners rank 3rd in the AHL among defensemen.... Nick has 8 fighting majors to lead the Sharks....The 21-year-old from Schenectady, NY had 14 points last season (2-12-14) with the Sharks.

*Loprieno the forward... D-Man Joe Loprieno has played forward in eight games for the Sharks this season and scored his first pro goal in the first period vs. Charlotte on Nov 27.

*Special Teams... Worcester ranks 19th in the AHL on the PK at 81.4% (27-for-145) and 25th in the AHL on the power play with a 15.3% conversion rating (26-for-170).

*16-0... Worcester outshot the Sound Tigers 16-0 in the 2nd period on December 12 at the DCU Center... it was the first time all season an AHL team did not fire a shot in a period.

*46 shots fired... The Sharks fired a season high 46 shots in Manchester on December 10th.... But lost 4-1 as Martin Jones made 45 saves.

*Henderson surpasses... Sharks 2nd year forward Kevin Henderson has 4 goals and 6 assists this season and is +8 through 34 games this season. The 24-year-old from Toronto, ONT had 15 points (2-13-15) in 64 games last season.

*Good Sharks!... The Sharks rank 25th in the AHL with just 15.74 penalty minutes per game.

*Bad Sharks!... The Sharks and Whale combined for 138 penalty minutes (WOR 47, CT 91) on December 4 at CT, with 124 penalty minutes in the 2nd period alone (10 majors,7 minors, 2 misconducts, and 4 game misconducts).

*Follow the AHL leaders.... Alex Stalock ranks 4th with 15 wins, 1st with 815 saves, and 2nd in minutes played with 1859... Sean Sullivan is 1st among AHL defensemen with 10 goals.... Nick Petrecki is tied for 3rd among d-men with 2 game winning goals... Jonathan Cheechoo ranks 12th in the AHL with 35 points (13-22-35).

*Stalock the stopper... Alex Stalock grabbed his 50th professional win vs. Portland on December 5....He has allowed just 56 goals in his last 25 games (2.24 goals against per game) after allowing 25 goals in his first 7 games.... Alex ranks 2nd in the AHL with 1859 minutes played and 1st in saves with 815. Stalock is a perfect 4-for-4 stopping penalty shots, including two this season (the Bruins Roussel on Oct 23 and the Monarchs Elkins on Dec 19)

*Mr. Dependable.... Andrew Desjardins had dressed in 188 straight games for Worcester breaking the record held by Derek Joslin (114 games).... Desjardins had the 2nd longest streak in the AHL (Nick Dodge in Charlotte) before his first NHL recall on January 2, 2011.

*Monster Mash... Sharks power forward Brandon Mashinter received his first NHL recall on December 29, 2010. Mash made his NHL debut on December 29th in Minnesota (13 shifts and 7:17 of ice) in the Sharks 5-3 loss. Brandon has played seven games in San Jose this season with no points and one fight and is currently on recall.

*Five for fighting...The Sharks have 41 fighting majors this season good for 15th in the AHL... (Garet Hunt 3, Brandon Mashinter 6, Sean Sullivan 2, Jay Leach 3, Nick Petrecki 8, Andrew Desjardins 4, Dan DaSilva 3, Jason Pitton 1, Joe Loprieno 1, Kevin Henderson 3, David Marshall 1, and Erick Lizon 3, Mike Moore 2). The Sharks had 73 fighting majors last season, 78 fighting majors in 2009-10, 68 fighting majors in 2007-08 and 54 in 2006-07.

Coming and goings from the Shark Tank:

1/10/11 - DELETE - Erick Lizon released from his PTO

1/5/10 - ADD - San Jose Sharks loan Andrew Desjardins to Worcester

Top Worcester Sharks:

o Goals Cheechoo (13)

o Game Winners Desjardins (3)

o Assists Cheechoo (22)

o Points Cheechoo (13-22-35) - 12th in AHL

o Power play Points Cheechoo (5-9-14)

o Shots Cheechoo (105)

o PIM Petrecki (80)

o Fighting Pen. Petrecki (8)

o Plus/Minus DaSilva (+13)

o Wins Stalock (15) - 4th in AHL

o G.A.A. Hutton (2.60)

o Save % Stalock (.909)

o Shutouts

Sharks in the Pacific:

The San Jose Sharks are 21-17-5 with 47 points through 43 games and is currently in 5th place in the Pacific Division trailing the first place Dallas Stars by 8 points.

Logan Couture (19-9-27) has ripped it up in his first full season in San Jose. Logan is 1st on the team with 19 goals and 1st in the NHL with 5 game winning goals. Former Worcester Sharks; Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi, Torrey Mitchell, and John McCarthy have all scored goals for San Jose. Derek Joslin has four points (1-3-4) in 13 games. Justin Braun had 9 points (1-8-9) in 14 games and Benn Ferriero has 8 points (4-4-8) in 23 games played and +5. Brandon Mashinter is scoreless in seven games with one fight

Tue: Tor @ SJ - Thu: Edm @ SJ - Sat: Stl @ SJ

Sharks in the ECHL:

The Stockton Thunder are 14-11-2-4 with 34 points in 31 games good for 3rd place in the Pacific Division in the ECHL, 5 points behind the first place Las Vegas Wranglers. Ryan Constant (AHL contact) and Tyson Sexsmith (NHL contract), are both in Stockton this season. Sexsmith is 3-1-1-1 with a 2.93 GAA and a .881 save % and one fighting major.

Coming Up:

On Tuesday, the Sharks host the Albany Devils at 7pm at the DCU Center! Buy tickets for just $11 by calling the Sharks front office at 508-929-0500! The game will be shown LIVE on Charter TV3!

The Sharks travel to Springfield on Friday for a 7:30pm clash with the Springfield Falcons. The game will mark Roy Sommer's 1,000th game behind the bench in the AHL!

On Saturday, Worcester travels to Portland for a 7pm battle with the Pirates as the two teams compete for the Unum Cup Challenge.

On Sunday, the Sharks travel to Providence for a 4:05pm start against the Bruins.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2011


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