Sharks Heat up in Choppy Atlantic - Worcester Sharks Weekly

Published on December 13, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release


Shark Snap Shot:

The Sharks chomped six points in a four game stretch last week highlighted by a 4-3 shootout victory over the Sound Tigers on Sunday. Jonathan Cheechoo continues to lead the Sharks offensively, recording three multi point games and six points (3-3-6) overall last week. The Sharks doubled up the Pirates 4-2 in Portland on Tuesday to start the week on the right note but stumbled in Manchester on Friday 4-1, despite firing a season high 46 shots on goal. Worcester exploded for 6 goals in a victory in Albany on Saturday followed by the 4-3 shootout victory over the Sound Tigers on Sunday highlighted by an AMAZING overtime save by Alex Stalock.

Top 3!

#1 Alex Stalock makes an AMAZING stop on Trent Campbell in overtime as Sharks defeat Sound Tigers 4-3 in the shootout! Click HERE to watch the save!

#2 Jonathan Cheechoo records six points (3-3-6), two #1 star nods, and one #2 star recognition, in four games last week to lead the Sharks offensively!

#3 Sean Sullivan scores two more from the Sharks blue line and sits on top of the AHL leader board with 9 goals among d-men!

Last Week: (3-1-0-0) 6pts, 4gp

Tue. 12/7 W Worcester SHARKS 4 @ Portland Pirates 2

Fri. 12/10 L Worcester SHARKS 1 @ Manchester Monarchs 4

Sat. 12/11 W Worcester SHARKS 6 @ Albany Devils 3

Sun. 12/12 SOW Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3 @ Worcester SHARKS 4 - Shootout

This week:

Fri. 12/17 Worcester SHARKS @ Connecticut Whale - 7:00pm

Sat. 12/18 Worcester SHARKS @ Bridgeport Sound Tigers - 7:00pm

Sun. 12/19 Worcester SHARKS @ Manchester Monarchs - 3:00pm

Rewind the Tape:

12.7.10 - Worcester 4 - Portland 2 - W - Cumberland County Civic Center

Jonathan Cheechoo (1-1-2) extended his point streak to three games and Alex Stalock made 24 saves as the Sharks swam past the Portland Pirates at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland on Tuesday night. Dan DaSilva, Sean Sullivan, and Kevin Henderson also scored goals for the Sharks and Steve Zalewski extended his point streak to three games with two assists in the victory. With the win, Alex Stalock leads the AHL with 12 victories as Worcester now has points in four straight games (3-0-0-1).

12.10.10 - Worcester 1 - Manchester 4 - L - Verizon Wireless Arena

The Sharks fired 46 shots on goal, 22 in the third period alone, but it was the Manchester Monarchs on top 4-1 at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester on Friday night. It was the first time all season the Sharks lost in regulation when scoring the first goal of the game (10-1-0-1). Matt Irwin scored a power play goal for Worcester and Sean Sullivan and Andrew Desjardins extended their point streaks to three games with an assist in the loss. With the regulation loss, the Sharks point streak was snapped at four games and their road point streak at five.

12.11.10 - Worcester 6 - Albany 3 - W - Times Union Center

The Sharks stormed out to a 3-0 lead after two periods, the Devils tied the score at 3-3, and the Sharks scored three more late in the third to double up the Devils 6-3 at the Times Union Center in Albany on Saturday night. Six different goal scorers found the back of the net for Worcester and Carter Hutton made 17 saves for his 2nd victory of the season. Tommy Wingels, Jason Pitton, and Brandon Mashinter scored late in the third period as the Sharks grabbed their 14th win of the season.

12.12.10 - Worcester 4 - Bridgeport 3 - SOW - DCU Center

The Sharks battled back from an early 2-0 deficit by scoring three goals in the second period and then won the game in the shootout, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the DCU Center. Jonathan Cheechoo, Jason Pitton and Matt Irwin scored in regulation with TJ Trevelyan scoring the winning goal in the shootout for Worcester. Alex Stalock made 20 saves in the winning effort, stopped all five shots in the shootout, and made an unbelievable game saving diving stop in overtime on Trent Campbell to force the shootout.

Sharks in the Atlantic: The Sharks are swimming in 3rd place with 35 points (15-8-1-4) in the Atlantic Division through 28 games, which is 1 point behind the first place Manchester Monarchs (30gp) and Portland Pirates (27gp). The 4th place Whale have 30 points followed by Bridgeport (29 points) and Springfield (28 points). The Providence Bruins round out a very choppy Atlantic Division in 7th place with 25 points through 26 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 1981-2009 15seasons 1,107GP 585 WINS

4. Roy Sommer 1998-current 13th season 988GP 457 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: 457-410-58-63.

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 303 of the 457 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 13 times in 28 games this season (11-1-0-1) 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 (1), Dan DaSilva (2), Andrew Desjardins (1), and Matt Irwin (1) have the others... Worcester has the 3rd best point's percentage in the AHL when scoring the first goal of the game. (.885%)

Slim Margins... 14 of the Sharks 28 games have been decided by one goal this season... Worcester is 8-1-1-4 in those 14 games.

Busy Sharks... Worcester just wrapped up a stretch of playing 14 games in 24 days and compiled a 8-4-2 record!... the Sharks can rest easy over the holiday break with just 4 games in their next 16 days.

Don't allow 4... The Sharks are 14-2-0-2 when they allow three goals or less in a game...BUT... Worcester is 1-6-1-2 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 9 games with San Jose (1-6-7) and is -2 averaging 17:30 minutes of ice time.

Sullivan Scores... Sharks defenseman Sean Sullivan already has 9 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.

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 nine games with the San Jose Sharks and has three goals and an assist and +7. 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 an 11-3-1-3 record against Atlantic Division prey this season.

Good when leading... the Sharks have a 9-1-0-1 when leading after the 1st period of play and a 13-0-0-1 when leading after the 2nd period of play this season.

Outshot but not outscored.... Worcester is 8-1-0-2 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 30 points (11-19-30) in 28 games this season and ranks 6th 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... 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.

Super Sunday... the Sharks are 7-1-0-0 on Sunday afternoon games this season... including a 5-1-0-0 record at the DCU Center.

Even Stevens... the Sharks have scored 40 goals at home and allowed 40 at the DCU Center.... while scoring 42 goals on the road and allowing 42 goals on the road.

Good Starts... Worcester has outscored their opponents 28-20 in the first period, 26-24 in the 2nd period, but outscored 25-33 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... Jason Pitton scored his first goal in a Sharks uniform on December 11 at Albany.

Streakers... Matt Irwin has a three game point streak (2-2-4)... Jonathan Cheechoo a two game point streak (2-2-4)... Nick Schaus has a two game point streak (0-2-2)... James Marcou a two game point streak (0-3-3)... Jason Pitton has a two game point streak (2-0-2).

Stole it from Bill Ballou... The Sharks are 8-1-0-0 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 +43 ration joined along with fellow Crazed Rat Dan DaSilva who is +43.

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 82 goals this season... 24 on the power play, 53 even strength goals, 2 shorthanded tallies, 2 shootout goals, and an empty net goal.

Goals for Petrecki... 2nd year defenseman Nick Petrecki has 6 points (3-3-5) and 56 penalty minutes in 28 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 in five games for the Sharks this season and scored his first pro goal in the first period vs. Charlotte on Nov 27.

Feeling Special... Worcester ranks 15th in the AHL on the PK at 82.7% (18-for-104) and 10th in the AHL on the power play with a 19.0% conversion rating (24-for-126)... The Sharks have scored three power play goals in three games this season.

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 +9 through 27 games this season. The 24-year-old from Toronto, ONT had 15 points (2-13-15) in 64 games last season.

Barely shorthanded... the Sharks have been shorthanded the 2nd fewest times in the AHL at 104 (3.71 per game)

Good Sharks!... The Sharks rank 26th in the AHL with just 14.93 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 613 saves and 2nd in minutes played with 1372... Sean Sullivan is 1st among AHL defensemen with 9 goals.... Nick Petrecki is tied for 2nd among d-men with 2 game winning goals... Jonathan Cheechoo ranks 6th in the AHL with 30 points (11-19-30)... James Marcou ranks 2nd in the AHL among rookies with 11 power play points (4-7-11).

Stalock the stopper... Alex Stalock grabbed his 50th professional win vs. Portland on December 5....He has allowed just 39 goals in his last 17 games (2.29 goals against per game) after allowing 25 goals in his first 7 games.... Alex ranks 2nd in the AHL with 1372 minutes played and 2nd in saves with 613.

Mr. Dependable.... Andrew Desjardins has dressed in 182 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 25 fighting majors this season... (Garet Hunt 3, Brandon Mashinter 5, 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:

12.12.10 - Jason Pitton released from his PTO after the game

Top Worcester Sharks:

o Goals Cheechoo (11)

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

o Assists Cheechoo (19)

o Points Cheechoo (11-19-30) - 6th in AHL

o Power play Points Cheechoo (5-7-12)

o Shots Cheechoo (86)

o PIM Petrecki (56)

o Fighting Pen. Petrecki (6)

o Plus/Minus DaSilva (+11)

o Wins Stalock (13) - 2nd in AHL

o G.A.A. Hutton (2.09)

o Save % Hutton (.929)

o Shutouts

Sharks in the Pacific:

The San Jose Sharks are 15-10-4 with 34 points through 29 games and is currently in 4th place in the Pacific Division trailing the first place Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks by two points.

Logan Couture (14-7-21) and John McCarthy (2-2-4) have played very well in San Jose to start the season. Logan is 1st on the team lead with 14 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 7 points (1-6-7) in nine games and Benn Ferriero has a four points (3-1-4) in nine games played and +7.

Mon: Dal @ SJ - Wed: SJ @ Nas - Thu: SJ @ Dal - Sat: SJ @ Stl

Sharks in the ECHL:

The Stockton Thunder are 12-5-1-3 with 28 points in 21 games good for a tie 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 games next weekend against three different Atlantic Division opponents before the holiday break!

On Friday, the Sharks travel to Connecticut for a 7pm date with the Whale.

On Saturday, Worcester travels to Bridgeport for a 7pm tilt with the Sound Tigers.

Team Teal wraps up the weekend in Manchester on Sunday at 3pm.

The Sharks return home on Sunday, December 26th for a special 6:30pm start vs. the Portland Pirates. The first 2,000 fans will receive a Worcester Sharks Slap Shot movie poster presented by WTAG. Dr. Hook from Slap Shot will be on hand to sign the movie posters!

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 13, 2010


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