Sports stats



Feisty Sharks Remain in Third Place in Chilly Atlantic

December 8, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release


Rewind the Tape:

12.3.08 - Worcester 1 - WB / Scranton 4 - DCU Center

After a night of physical, hot-tempered hockey and 118 combined penalty minutes, the Worcester Sharks came up on the short end of a 4-1 score against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday night at the DCU Center. Two power play goals and solid goaltending vaulted the Penguins, who snapped Worcester's three game home winning streak. The game featured five fighting majors a side and Steven Zalewski recorded the only strike for the Sharks.

12.5.08 - Worcester 2 - Manchester 3 - Verizon Wireless Arena

The Sharks fell behind 3-0 early and could not force overtime despite outshooting the Monarchs 45-15 and 23-1 in the third period in Manchester on Friday night. Steven Zalewski and Cory Larose scored third period goals for Worcester and Taylor Dakers made 12 saves in net for the Sharks. The game featured 92 penalty minutes, including four fights. The Sharks went 1-9 on the power play and allowed a key shorthanded goal to Brian Boyle late in the first period.

12.6.08 - Worcester 4 - Portland 2 - DCU Center

Claude Lemieux scored his second goal during his comeback bid breaking a 2-2 tie in the second period and it proved to be the game winning goal over the first place Pirates at the DCU Center on Sunday. Jason Demers scored his first professional goal and Derek Joslin added three points (1-2-3) for the Sharks. Thomas Greiss was solid in net, picking up his 7th win of the season.

Sharks in the Atlantic...

The Sharks (13-11-0-0) swim in third place in the Atlantic Division with 26 points, 5 points behind the first place Providence Bruins and Portland Pirates. Just eight points separate all seven teams in a very tight Atlantic Division.

Shark Bites:

*Worcester leads the AHL with shots per game (35.7) and first in shots against per game (23.9)

*The Sharks have 35 fighting major penalties this season through 24 games including 9 fights in three games this week. 11 different players have dropped the gloves already this season (Frazer McLaren (11), Westgarth (9), Moore (3), Staubitz (3), Demers (2), Cavanagh, McGinn (2), Dan DaSilva, Andrew Desjardins, Kyle McLaren, Brendan Buckley.

*Derek Joslin is first in the AHL among defensemen with 75 shots on goal and has a two game point streak (1-3-4).

*Frazer McLaren is second among AHL rookies with 11 fighting major penalties.

*Steven Zalewski ranks 8th in the AHL among rookies in points (6-12-18) and currently has a three game point streak (2-1-3).

*Ryan Vesce has nine points in his last seven games (4-5-9).

Roster Moves:

* San Jose recalled forward Tom Cavanagh on Wednesday. Cavanagh has played in two games since his recall, adding an assist in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Oilers on Saturday in San Jose.

*San Jose returned Riley Armstrong on Wednesday to Worcester after his first recall to the NHL. Riley skated in two games for the San Jose Sharks recording no points and two penalty minutes.

*Worcester recalled rookie center Matt Fornataro and rookie defenseman Michael Wilson from the Phoenix Road Runners of the ECHL on Saturday. Fornataro skated in 21 games with the Road Runners recording 18 points (9-9-18) along with three power play goals and 54 penalty minutes. He started the season with the Worcester Sharks recording one assist in one game played. Wilson skated in 15 games with the Road Runners recording 10 points (2-8-10) along with two power play goals and 14 penalty minutes. He started the season with the Worcester Sharks recording a goal and an assist along with two penalty minutes in five games.

Top Sharks:

o Goals Larose (10)

o Assists Vesce (16)

o Points Vesce (21)

o Shots Joslin (75)

o PIM F. McLaren (75)

o Fighting Pen. F. McLaren (11)

o Plus/Minus Desjardins, Moore (+6)

o Wins Greiss (7)

o G.A.A. Dakers (2.18)

o Save % Dakers (.905)

Worcester to host the 2009 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Charter Communications!

The Sharks and the city of Worcester will host the 2009 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Charter Communications on January 25th and 26th at the DCU Center. Tickets are on sale to the general public now. The 2009 event in Worcester will mark the fourth time since it was revived in 1995 that the AHL All-Star Classic will take place in New England. The AHL All-Star Classic was last held in Massachusetts in 1959 at the Eastern States Coliseum in West Springfield.

Coming Up:

The Sharks host the Springfield Falcons on Wednesday, December 10th at the DCU Center at 7:05 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to be played on November 15th, but due to a power failure the game had to be rescheduled. Tickets issued for the November 15th game will be honored at the turnstiles. The first 500 fans will receive a Sharks Flashlight presented by Office Depot in part of "Guaranteed Lights Night." If the lights stay on throughout the whole game, everyone in attendance will receive a free ticket voucher!

The Sharks' Wednesday night contest will mark another edition of "Dollar Dog Wednesdays" at the DCU Center, where fans can enjoy hot dogs for one dollar each.

Be sure not to miss any of the action of the 2008-09 Worcester Sharks season and buy your tickets today! Fans can also purchase tickets to the 2009 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Charter Communications. Purchases can be made by visiting the box office, 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.

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from December 8, 2008


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.

Other Recent Worcester Sharks Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central