Sharks Have Feeding Frenzy in Atlantic

Published on December 6, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release


Shark Snap Shot:

The Sharks chomped five points in a three game stretch this week highlighted by a 6-4 home victory over the Pirates on Sunday. Alex Stalock had another stellar week, getting the start in all three games and compiling a .919 save percentage during the stretch. The Sharks won their first shootout of the season vs. Connecticut on Wednesday behind Dan DaSilva's game winner. The Whale and Sharks combined for 138 penalty minutes in a wild affair on Saturday in a Sharks 4-3 shootout loss. Cam MacIntyre and Nick Schaus scored their first professional goals and Steve Zalewski scored his first goal of the season during a six goal outburst vs. Portland to wrap up the weekend on Sunday.

Top 3!

#1 T.J. Trevelyan rides a two game goal scoring streak with five points (2-3-5) to lead the Sharks offensively this week!

#2 Cam MacIntyre and Nick Schaus score their first professional goals in the 6-4 victory over the Pirates on Sunday!

#3 Steve Zalewski scores his first goal of the season and is #1 star with three points in 6-4 win over Portland on Sunday!

Last Week: (2-0-0-1) 5pts, 3gp

Wed. 12/1 SOW Connecticut Whale 1@ Worcester 2 - Shootout

Sat. 12/4 SOL Worcester SHARKS 3@ Connecticut Whale 4 - Shootout

Sun. 12/5 W Portland Pirates 4 @ Worcester SHARKS 6

This week:

Tue. 12/7 Worcester SHARKS @ Portland Pirates - 6:30pm

Fri. 12/10 Worcester SHARKS @ Manchester Monarchs - 7:00pm

Sat. 12/11 Worcester SHARKS @ Albany Devils - 7:00pm

Sun. 12/12 Bridgeport Sound Tigers @ Worcester SHARKS - 3:00pm

Rewind the Tape:

12.1.10 - Worcester 2 - Connecticut 1 - SOW - DCU Center

Dan DaSilva scored the game winner in the 6th round of the shootout as the Sharks held on to defeat the Connecticut Whale 2-1 Wednesday night at the DCU Center. The shootout win was the Sharks first in four tries this season. Kevin Henderson scored for Worcester and Alex Stalock made 22 saves as the Sharks overcame a late third period goal by Connecticut. The Sharks improved to 9-0-0-0 when scoring the first goal of the hockey game.

12.4.10 - Worcester 3 - Connecticut 4 - SOL - XL Center

The Sharks fell 4-3 to the Whale in the shootout in a game that featured 138 penalty minutes on Saturday night at the XL Center. T.J. Trevelyan, Jonathan Cheechoo, and James Marcou scored for Worcester and Alex Stalock made 43 saves in the fight filled contest. A full 5-on-5 brawl at 18:23 of the 2nd period led to four ejections and a lengthy delay as the Sharks couldn't hold on to three separate leads.

12.5.10 - Worcester 6 - Portland 4 - W - DCU Center

Steve Zalewski had a three point game (2-1-3) for Worcester and Alex Stalock made 26 saves as the Sharks fought off a comeback by the Portland Pirates Sunday at the DCU Center. Nick Schaus and Cam McIntyre also scored goals for the Sharks with both tallies being their first professional goals. T.J. Trevelyan, Kevin Henderson, and Sean Sullivan also lit the lamp for Worcester. The Sharks improved to 10-0-0-1 when scoring the first goal of the hockey game this season and now have points in three straight games (2-0-0-1).

Sharks in the Atlantic: The Sharks are swimming in 3rd place with 29 points (12-7-1-4) in the Atlantic Division through 24 games, which is 5 points behind the first place Manchester Monarchs (27gp) and 1 point behind the 2nd place Portland Pirates (30 points). The 4th place Falcons and Whale each have 26 points while Bridgeport (24 points) and Providence (23 points), and round out a very choppy Atlantic Division.

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 1981-2009 15seasons 1,107GP 585 WINS

4. Roy Sommer 1998-current 13th season 984GP 454 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 after the win is now: 454-409-58-63.

Coach Sommer will coach his 1,000th AHL game on January 11, 2011 when the Sharks host the Albany Devils.

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 300 of the 452 victories (66%).

Shark Bites:

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)

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 5 CALL-UPS this season to San Jose... Currently; 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 11 times in 24 games this season (10-0-0-1) 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 (1), and Dan DaSilva (2) have the others... Worcester has the 2nd best point's percentage in the AHL when scoring the first goal of the game. (.955%)

Slim Margins... 13 of the Sharks 23 games have been decided by one goal this season... Worcester is 7-1-1-4 in those 13 games.

Don't allow 4... The Sharks are 11-2-0-2 when they allow three goals or less in a game...BUT... Worcester is 1-5-1-2 when they allow four goals or more.

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.

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 ob Nov 24 and was the #3 star with a +2 rating in 22:48 of action.... He had two points (3-7-10) in 17 games at the time of his recall on Nov 23. Braun has played in 5 games with San Jose (1-3-4) and is +1 averaging 18:28 minutes of ice time.

Sullivan Scores... Sharks defenseman Sean Sullivan already has 7 goals (2 GWG) this season from the Sharks blue line, good for 2nd in the AHL. The 26-year-old from Boston, MA had 12 goals and 49 points in San Antonio last season.

Give me Moore... #8 has played 155 games in a Worcester Sharks jersey (11th all-time) and has compiled 43 points (10-33-43) and 232 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 Sharks offensively. Benn has played five games with the San Jose Sharks and has three goals and an assist. 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)

Sharks in the Atlantic... the Sharks have a 9-2-1-3 record against Atlantic Division prey this season.

Good when leading... the Sharks have a 7-1-0-1 when leading after the 1st period of play and a 10-0-0-1 when leading after the 2nd period of play this season.

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. Cheechoo had 56-63-119pts in 137 games under Coach Sommer. "Cheech" ranks 1st in Worcester with 24 points (8-16-24) in 24 games this season.

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... the 47 saves are an AHL high by a netminder this season.

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 12 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.

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... The Sharks won their first shootout in four chances on December 1 vs. Connecticut.... Cam MacIntyre and Nick Schaus scored their first professional goals vs. Portland on December 5... Steve Zalewski scored his first goal of the season vs. Portland on December 5.... Kevin Henderson picked up his first fighting major and game misconduct on December 4 at Connecticut.

Streakers... the Sharks have points in three straight games (2-0-0-1)... the Sharks have scored the first goal in three straight games....Alex Stalock has started eight straight games in goal (5-2-1)... T.J. Trevelyan has a two game goal scoring streak (2-3-5)... Jonathan Cheechoo a two game point streak (1-3-4)... Steve Zalewski has a two game point streak (1-3-4).

Stole it from Bill Ballou... The Sharks are 7-1-0-0 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.

Stole it from Bill Ballou 2... Cam MacIntyre became the 8th Sharks player to score in his Sharks debut on December 5 vs. Portland (Cheechoo, Darche, Spang, Pavelski, Raduns, Larose, and Lucia)

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 +41 followed by fellow Crazed Rat Dan DaSilva who is +40.

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 ten Canadians.

Breaking down the scoring... The Sharks have scored 67 goals this season... 21 on the power play, 43 even strength goals, 2 shorthanded tallies, and a shootout goal.

Pit stop for Pitton... Jason Pitton made his debut with the Sharks on Nov 27 picking up a fighting major (Blanchard) and an assist in the first period. The native of Brampton, ONT enters his 5th professional season and the Sharks are his 7th pro team.

Goals for Petrecki... 2nd year defenseman Nick Petrecki has 5 points (3-2-5) and 56 penalty minutes in 24 games for the Sharks this season....His two game winners rank 2nd in the AHL among defensemen.... Nick has six 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 the last five games for the Sharks and scored his first pro goal in the first period vs. Charlotte on Nov 27.

Feeling Special... Worcester ranks 8th in the AHL on the PK at 85.4% (13-for-89) and 6th in the AHL on the power play with a 20.2% conversion rating (21-for-104)... The Sharks have scored three power play goals in three games this season.

Henderson surpasses... Sharks 2nd year forward Kevin Henderson has three goals and six assists this season and is +5 through 23 games this season. The 24-year-old from Toronto, ONT had 15 points (2-13-15) in 64 games last season.

Man advantage a rarity... the Sharks have the 6th fewest power play chances in the AHL with 104 (4.33 per game) but have been shorthanded the 2nd fewest at 89 (3.70 per game)

Good Sharks!... The Sharks rank 26th in the AHL with just 15.71 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 2nd with 548 saves and 1st in minutes played with 1198... Sean Sullivan is tied for 2nd among AHL defensemen with 7 goals and 2 game winners.... Nick Petrecki is tied for 2nd among d-men with 2 game winning goals... Jonathan Cheechoo ranks 17th in the AHL with 24 points (8-16-24)... James Marcou ranks 3rd in the AHL among rookies with 4 power play goals.

Stalock the stopper... Alex Stalock grabbed his 50th professional win vs. Portland on December 5....He has allowed just 30 goals in his last 14 games (2.14 goals against per game) after allowing 25 goals in his first 7 games.... Alex ranks 1st in the AHL with 1198 minutes played and 2nd in saves with 548.... Alex has started in 8 straight games for the Sharks (5-2-1).

Mr. Dependable.... Andrew Desjardins has dressed in 178 straight games for Worcester breaking the record held by Derek Joslin (114 games).... Desjardins has the 2nd longest streak in the AHL (Nick Dodge in Charlotte).

Five for fighting...The Sharks have 24 fighting majors this season... (Garet Hunt 3, Brandon Mashinter 4, Sean Sullivan 2, Jay Leach 2, Nick Petrecki 6, Andrew Desjardins 3, Dan DaSilva 1, Jason Pitton 1, Joe Loprieno 1, Kevin Henderson 1). 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:

12.1.10 - Worcester Sharks sign Jody Pederson to a PTO (Elmira in ECHL)

12.4.10 - Mike Moore loaned to Worcester from San Jose

Top Worcester Sharks:

o Goals Ferriero (10) - currently on recall to San Jose

o Game Winners Desjardins, Petrecki, and Sullivan (2)

o Assists Cheechoo (16)

o Points Cheechoo (8-16-24)

o Power play Points Cheechoo (5-6-11)

o Shots Cheechoo (72)

o PIM Petrecki (56)

o Fighting Pen. Petrecki (6)

o Plus/Minus DaSilva and Desjardins (+8)

o Wins Stalock (11)

o G.A.A. Hutton (1.95)

o Save % Hutton (.940)

o Shutouts

Sharks in the Pacific:

The San Jose Sharks are 12-9-4 with 28 points through 25 games and is currently in 5th place in the Pacific Division trailing the first place Dallas Stars by 5 points.

Logan Couture (10-6-16) and John McCarthy (2-2-4) have played very well in San Jose to start the season. Logan is 3rd on the team lead with 10 goals. Former Worcester Sharks; Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi, and Torrey Mitchell have all scored goals for San Jose. Derek Joslin has returned to the lineup and has two assists in eight games. Justin Braun has 4 points (1-3-4) in five games and Benn Ferriero has a four points (3-1-4) in five games played.

Mon: SJ @ Det - Wed: SJ @ Phi - Thu: SJ @ Buf - Sat: Chi @ SJ

Sharks in the ECHL:

The Stockton Thunder are 11-4-1-3 with 26 points in 19 games good for 1st place in the Pacific Division in the ECHL. Ryan Constant (AHL contact) and Tyson Sexsmith (NHL contract), are all in Stockton to begin the season. Sexsmith is 3-1-1-1 with a 2.93 GAA and a .881 save % and one fighting major.

Coming Up:

The Sharks hit the road for three straight before returning home to host the Sound Tigers on Sunday!

On Tuesday, the Sharks visit the Portland Pirates at 6:30pm in a battle for the Unum Cup. The Sharks are 1-0-0-1 in two games vs. Portland this season.

On Friday, the Sharks travel to Manchester for a 7pm date with the Monarchs.

On Saturday, Worcester will make their first trip to Albany for a 7pm affair with the Devils.

On Sunday, the Sharks host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at 3pm! Bring your skates and helmets and stick around after the game and skate with the Sharks for the annual Hat & Mittens Holiday Skate presented by Bay State Savings Bank! Enjoy free hot chocolate from SAVOR catering, free cookies from Eric's La Patisserie of Worcester, and enjoy festive holiday music while skating with the Sharks! Fans are encouraged to bring new or slightly used winter hats and mittens/gloves to benefit Community Healthlink of Worcester! There will be NO skate rentals available. Please bring your skates and helmets with you to the game!

Its $5 Kids Sundays presented by Papa Gino's! Kids 12-and-under are just $5 with a purchase of an adult gold level ticket! With each complete purchase (along with the purchase of an adult gold level ticket) fans will receive a FREE large cheese pizza coupon to be used at participating Papa Gino's locations. The $5 Kids Sunday ticket offer will only be available at the DCU Center Box Office on the day of the game.

Get your family fun pack (4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, and 4 sodas) for just $69 for all Friday and Saturday games! (must be purchased through the Sharks front office in advance at 508-929-0500)

Marina Riva, Chris Curtis, Jonathan Forsberg, Jason Jones, Kristen Moore, and Matt Renzulli are all selling group ticket specials and exciting holiday ticket offers! Jump in today and save over 30% off box office prices! Some of the exclusive benefits for full season ticket holders will include:

Guaranteed same seat for all 40 home dates and playoff home games at the DCU Center

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

Five FREE friends and family vouchers

Exclusive events with the Worcester Sharks players

Merchandise discounts and much, much, more!

Season ticket packages and group tickets for the 2010-11 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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American Hockey League Stories from December 6, 2010


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