Sharks Hit the Road this Week - Worcester Sharks Weekly

November 17, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release


Shark Snap Shot:

The Worcester Sharks (8-5-1-0, 17pts) chomped two out of a possible six points last week after a three game work week (1-2-0-0). The Sharks began the week with a 4-2 victory on Tuesday afternoon on Veteran's Day in Springfield to extend the club's winning streak to three games. But the Sharks dropped a pair of games on home ice with a 5-2 loss to the Monarchs on Friday followed by a 1-0 defeat to the Falcons on Saturday.

Bryan Lerg was named the 7th captain in team history on Friday and Troy Grosenick made 45 saves in his first NHL start for the SJ Sharks on Sunday in a 2-0 victory in Carolina.

Worcester sits in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division with 17 points (8-5-1-0) and have the 4th best winning percentage in the Eastern Conferenced (.607).

Highlights from the week include the first AHL victory by JP Anderson with his 30 save performance in Springfield on Tuesday. Defenseman Matt Tennyson scored twice last week but had his four game point streak (2-2-4) come to an end on Saturday. Bryan Lerg scored his first goal of the season, the game winning in Springfield on Tuesday and rookie Chris Tierney added two assists in three games last week.

Goaltender Troy Grosenick received his first NHL recall on Nov 11 by the San Jose Sharks and made his NHL debut on Sunday in Carolina and made 45 saves in a 2-0 shutout win. Goaltender Aaron Dell was recalled to Worcester from the Allen Americans (ECHL) on Nov 11.

The Worcester Sharks player of the week nominee is goaltender JP Anderson. The 22-year-old from Toronto, Ontario picked up his first AHL victory with 30 saves in the Sharks 4-2 win in Springfield on Tuesday. JP made 75 saves on 81 shots for a .925 save % in three games last week in net for Worcester.

COMING UP:

The Worcester Sharks play three games this week as they embark on a four game road trip.

On Wednesday, the Sharks will travel north for a 10am School Day Game vs. the Manchester Monarchs. The game will be shown live at www.AHLLive.com and will air on tape delay on WTAG at 10pm after Holy Cross basketball.

On Friday, the Sharks pay their first visit to Lehigh Valley for a 7:05pm battle vs. the Phantoms.

On Saturday, the Sharks wrap up the week with a 7pm faceoff vs. the Bears in Hershey, PA.

MILESTONE ALERT:

Head Coach Roy Sommer surpassed Frank Mathers (1256 games coached) for the most games coached in AHL history on March 26 in the Sharks 5-3 win in Lewiston, ME over the Portland Pirates. Coach Sommer has coached 1282 AHL games - all with the SJ Sharks AHL affiliates. In total, Coach Sommer has been a head coach in 1,616 games in the AHL and ECHL. Roy needs 5 more wins to tie John Paddock (589) for the 3rd most wins in AHL history.

Few things to know....

- The Worcester Sharks are in 2nd place (8-5-1-0, 17pts) in the Atlantic Division and 8th place overall in the Eastern Conference. The Sharks have the 4th best winning percentage (.607) in the Eastern Conference.

- The San Jose Sharks currently have 14 players on their roster that have spent time in Worcester (Couture, Desjardins, Pavelski, Sheppard, Wingels, Braun, Demers, Stalock, Irwin, Vlasic, Nieto, Mueller, Kennedy, and Grosenick).

- The San Jose Sharks are in 5th place in the Pacific Division and 7th place in the Western Conference with 22 points and a 10-8-2 record.

- Rookie Chris Tierney has five points (1-4-5) in four games in Worcester this season after suiting up in 11 games for the San Jose Sharks (0-2-2).

- Freddie Hamilton (5-7-12) leads the Worcester Sharks with 12 points in 14 games.

- Micheal Haley is tied for the team lead in goals (5), leads the club in fighting majors (4), and tops in penalty minutes (36).

- Goaltender Troy Grosenick started ten of the first 11 games for Worcester and posted a 7-2-1-0 this season before his first NHL recall to San Jose on Nov 11. At the time of his recall, Troy ranked 1st in the AHL with seven wins, 2nd in AHL with 615:44 minutes played, and 2nd with 276 saves....Grosenick made his NHL debut on Nov 16 and set an NHL record for most saves in a shutout by a goaltender making his NHL debut (45) in the SJ Sharks 2-0 win at Carolina.

- The Worcester Sharks are the least penalized team in the AHL with only 11.14 penalty minutes per game.

- Ten of the Sharks 14 games this season have been decided by a single goal.

- Coach Roy Sommer currently ranks 4th in the AHL with 584 wins in his career (17th season) and 1st in games coached in the AHL with 1282.

Top 3... Last Week!

1. JP Anderson made 30 saves in his first AHL victory in 4-2 win at Springfield on Tuesday!

2. Matt Tennyson scored two goals in three games last week!

3. Bryan Lerg netted the game winner, his first goal of season in 4-2 win at Springfield on Tuesday!

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

Tue. 11/11 W Worcester SHARKS 4 @ Springfield Falcons 2

Fri. 11/14 L Manchester Monarchs 5 @ Worcester Sharks 2

Sat. 11/15 L Springfield Falcons 1 @ Worcester SHARKS 0

Next Week:

Wed. 11/19 Worcester SHARKS @ Manchester Monarchs - 10am

Fri. 11/21 Worcester SHARKS @ Lehigh Valley Phantoms - 7:05pm

Sat. 11/22 Worcester SHARKS @ Hershey Bears - 7pm

Rewind the Tape:

11.11.14 - Springfield 2 - Worcester 4 - W - MassMutual Center - Springfield, MA

The Worcester Sharks (8-3-1-0, 17pts) scored four goals in the third period to defeat the Springfield Falcons (6-7-1-0, 13pts) by the score of 4-2 in front of 2,009 fans at the Mass Mutual Center on Tuesday afternoon. Matt Tennyson, Evan Trupp, Bryan Lerg, and Jeremy Langlois all scored in the third period for Worcester while JP Anderson made 30 saves in net for his first AHL victory. Chris Tierney added two assists while the first place Sharks have won three straight games headed into this weekend's action at the DCU Center on Friday and Saturday.

11.14.14 - Manchester 5 - Worcester 2 - L - DCU Center - Worcester, MA

The Worcester Sharks (8-4-1-0, 17pts) three game winning streak came to an end after a 5-2 loss to the Manchester Monarchs (8-4-0-0, 16pts) in front of 2,805 fans at the DCU Center on Friday night. Matt Tennyson extended his point streak to four games with his third goal of the season and Matt Taormina scored late in the third period to get the Sharks within a goal. Manchester charged out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and never looked back led by Jordan Weal's three point game (2-1-3). JP Anderson allowed three goals on 32 shots in the loss for Worcester in his second straight start in goal while JF Berube picked up the win for Manchester with 28 saves.

11.15.14 - Springfield 1 - Worcester 0 - L - DCU Center - Worcester, MA

The Worcester Sharks (8-5-1-0, 17pts) fired 33 shots on goal but came up empty in a 1-0 loss to the Springfield Falcons (8-7-1-0, 17pts) in front of 3,385 fans at the DCU Center on Saturday night. Sean Collins scored on a penalty shot midway through the second period as both teams combined for 54 penalty minutes. Rookie Anton Forsberg picked up his first professional shutout with 33 saves while JP Anderson made 15 saves for Worcester in the loss.

Sharks in the Atlantic:

The Worcester Sharks (8-5-1-0, 17pts in 14gp) are in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division; which is percentage three points behind the 1st place Monarchs (20pts in 14gp), percentage points ahead of the 3rd place Bruins (17pts in 15gp), one point ahead of 4th place Pirates (16pts in 16gp), and four points ahead of the 5th place IceCaps (13pts in 17gp) to round out a very choppy Atlantic Division.

Coaching Milestones....

*1257 GAMES.....With the 5-3 win in Lewiston, ME vs. the Pirates on March 26, 2014, head coach Roy Sommer surpassed Frank Mathers (1,256 games) for the most games coached in the AHL.

*1,600 GAMES... With the 3-0 loss vs. the Norfolk Admirals on April 12, 2014, head coach Roy Sommer coached in his 1,600th professional game.

*500 WINS!.... With a 3-2 shootout victory in Hershey on February 11, 2012, head coach Roy Sommer became just the 4th coach in AHL history to reach the 500 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 17seasons 1,282GP 584 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 (16th season) in the American Hockey League. His current regular season record is now: 584-539-48-57-54. (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.

Shark Bites:

*Captains for the 2014-15 season: Bryan Lerg was named the 7th captain in team history on Nov 14. Micheal Haley and Matt Taormina are the assistant captains this season.

*Breaking down October... The Sharks had a 4-2-1-0 (9pts in7) record in October with 22 GF and 19 GA. PP went 4-29 (13.8%); opponents PP was 2-20 (10.0%), and the Sharks had four fighting majors in October.

*Breaking down November... The Sharks have a 4-3-0-0 (8pts in 7gp) record in November with 22 GF and 21 GA. PP is 5-34 (14.7%); opponent's power play is 5-27 (18.6%), and the Sharks have six fighting majors in November.

*That's a first... the Sharks allowed their first ever penalty shot score on home ice as Sean Collins scored at 8:08 of the 2nd period in the Flacons 1-0 win at the DCU Center on Nov 15.

*That's a first X2 (thanks Ballou)....the 1-0 loss on Nov 15 to the Falcons was the first time in Worcester hockey history that a 1-0 game was decided on a penalty shot... it was only the third 1-0 loss in Worcester Sharks history.

*OT... the Worcester Sharks won just one overtime game in 2013-14, but are already 2-1 in overtime through 14 games this season.

*Shots on goal... Worcester has outshot their opponents in nine of the first 14 games this season and rank 2nd in the AHL with 33.93 shots per game.

*Home cooking... the Sharks have played the most games at home this season (10) and have a 5-4-1-0 record at the DCU Center this season.

*Lead after 20... the Sharks are a perfect 4-0-0-0 when leading after the first period of play this season.

*Allow 3 (still not that bad!)... the Sharks are 2-1-1-0 when they allow three goals in a hockey game... Worcester went 7-6-3-1 last year when allowing three goals in a game.

*3rd period goals... Worcester has outscored their opponents 22-10 (+10) in the third period this season...which is the best goal differential in the third period in the AHL this season.

*House of Horrors... with the 4-3 loss in Hartford on Nov 2...the Sharks have lost nine of their last 10 games at the XL Center...In all, the Wolf Pack have won 16 of the last 20 games vs. the Sharks.

*Quick Strikes (thanks Ballou)... On Oct 29 vs the Pirates, the first-period goals by Matt Tennyson and Micheal Haley, one at 16:37 and the next at 16:53, were four seconds shy of the team record. Garrett Stafford and Tomas Plihal scored 12 seconds apart in the second period on Feb 2, 2007 against Bridgeport at the DCU Center. It was only the fourth time in nine seasons the Sharks have scored goals less than 20 seconds apart.

*League Leaders.... Troy Grosenick is 1st in AHL in wins (7) and 5th in minutes played (615:44).

*Good Boys... the Worcester Sharks are the least penalized team in the AHL averaging 11.14 minutes per game.

*Pro Debuts: Gus Young (Yale) made his professional debut in the Sharks 4-1 win over the Portland Pirates on Oct 26.

*Odds and ends... the Sharks have scored the fewest second period goals (5) in the AHL this season....Worcester has been outscored 5-10 in the second period.

*Close Games... Ten of the first 14 Sharks games have been decided by a single goal...Worcester is 5-4-1-0 in games decided by one goal this season.

*Northeast has been tough... the Sharks are 1-3-0-0 vs. the Northeast Division this season but 7-2-0-0 vs. the rest of the Eastern Conference.

*Score first... the Sharks have scored FIRST 7 times in 14 games this season (5-1-1-0) - Ryan Carpenter 1, Petter Emanuelsson 2, Taylor Doherty (1), Konrad Abeltshauser (1), and Daniil Tarasov (1) and Melker Karlsson (1)... the Sharks have scored first in just two of their last eight games.

*Big third period... Freddie Hamilton (3-0-3), Daniil Tarasov (0-3-3), and Evan Trupp (1-2-3) all recorded three points in the third period in the Sharks 4-1 win over the Pirates on Oct 26.

*Big third period X2... the four goals scored by the Sharks in the third period in 4-1 win vs. Portland on Oct 26 was just the 4th time this season a team has scored four goals in a period this season in the AHL.

*Thanks Ballou... despite going 10-2 in the shootout last season, the Sharks are just 31W-45L overall (40.7%).

*AHL First... Matt Taormina became the first player to score a 3-on-3 OT goal under the new overtime format in the AHL in the Sharks 3-2 overtime win in Binghamton on Oct 11. The goal came at 6:34 assisted by Evan Trupp and Taylor Fedun.

*Deja-Vu (almost).... Dylan Demelo scored at 6:33 of overtime on Oct 18.... Exactly one week after defenseman Matt Taormina scored at 6:34 of overtime on Oct 11.

*Breaking down the roster.... The Sharks opening roster featured 11 Americans, nine Canadians, two Swedes, one German, and one Russian.

*Oh boy...Troy in the Shootout!.... goaltender Troy Grosenick went 6-0 last season in the shootout - tied for most shootout wins in the AHL.... Troy stopped 25 of 28 shootout attempts (.892%) and was the only goalie to have at least six wins in the shootout without a shootout loss!

*3 National Champions... The Sharks have three players that won the NCAA Division 1 Championship.... Gus Young was captain with Yale University in 2013....Travis Oleksuk with University Minnesota Duluth in 2011...Bryan Lerg with Michigan State in 2007.

*Memorial Cup... rookie defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser won the Memorial Cup in 2013 with the Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) and was named to the 2013 Memorial Cup All-Star Team.

*Swedish Elite League Championship.... both Melker Karlsson and Petter Emanuelsson won back-to-back championships with Skelleftea AIK in the SWEHL in 2013 and 2014.

*Young Guns... the Sharks have dressed 6 AHL rookies already this season. (Ryan Carpenter, Jeremy Langlois, Evan Trupp, JP Anderson, Gus Young, and Chris Tierney)

*Tallest Shark.... Worcester Sharks rookie defenseman Taylor Doherty is the tallest player in team history standing at 6'8" 235lbs.... Doherty has six goals, 28 assists, and 279 penalty minutes in 189 games with the Worcester Sharks. Taylor has yet to make his NHL debut.

*First Pro Goals this season... Ryan Carpenter scored his 1st pro goal (Andrew Hammond) in 3-2OTW at Binghamton on Oct 11...Chris Tierney scored his 1st (Malcolm Subban) in 4-2W vs. Providence on Nov 8.

*Sharks in the Atlantic... went 21-22-1-2 vs. the Atlantic in 2013-14 and are 4-2-0-0 in divisional play this season.

*Massachusetts!... the Sharks have one player that hails from Massachusetts this season (Gus Young - Dedham).

*I'll take a draft... six Worcester Sharks players were drafted by the San Jose Sharks. (Abeltshauser, Hamilton, Doherty, Crane, Demelo, and Tierney)

*NHL Experience.... The Sharks have ten players on their roster with NHL experience... Matt Taormina 56, James Sheppard 332, Matt Tennyson 4, Freddie Hamilton 11, Eriah Hayes 19, Taylor Fedun 4, Micheal Haley 52, Tyler Kennedy 445, Chris Tierney 11, and Troy Grosenick 1.

*Keeping your hat on (Thanks Ballou)... Worcester had gone 263 games without one of its players recording a hat trick before Daniil Tarasov scored three goals in Springfield on Oct 26. That was easily the longest active streak in the AHL. The Sharks' last hat trick had belonged to Dan DaSilva, who scored three times in Manchester during a 5-2 Worcester victory in Manchester on Feb. 14, 2010. Freddie Hamilton scored the first home hat trick in 206 games with three goals in a 5:12 span in the third period in a 4-1 win over the Pirates on Oct 26, 2014. It was the first home hat trick since P.J. Fenton had one on Feb. 28, 2009 in the Sharks' 7-3 victory over Springfield. In all, Worcester players have recorded hat tricks only ten times in the franchise's 643 games. The Sharks are 10-0 in those games and 1-15-3 in the 19 games in which the opposition has had a hat trick.

* Brothers... Freddie Hamilton is the older brother of Dougie Hamilton, who currently plays with the Boston Bruins.... Rylan Schwartz is the younger brother of Jayden Schwartz, who currently plays for the St. Louis Blues.

*Major Bonneau... Worcester Sharks tough guy Jimmy Bonneau has racked up 52 fighting majors in 130 games for the Worcester Sharks. Bonneau has set the Worcester Sharks record for most fighting majors in a season in 2011-12 with 22, surpassing Frazer McLaren (21 in 2008-09). Jimmy has 124 fighting majors in 326 AHL games along with 925 penalty minutes.

*Five for fighting... The Sharks have 10 fighting majors through 14 games this season (Bonneau 3, Haley 4, Shattock 2, Doherty 1)....The Sharks had 70 fighting majors in 2013-14, 84 fighting majors in 2012-13, 120 fighting majors in 2011-12 (1st in AHL), 81 fighting majors in 2010-11, 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: 8-5-1-0, 17 points - 2ndin Atlantic

Win percentage: .607% - 8th in AHL, 4th in East

Home Record: 5-4-1-0

Away Record: 3-1-0-0

Attendance: 29,994 through 10 games this season - 2,999 average

Goals Scored: 44, 3.14 goals per game, 8th in AHL

Goals Allowed: 40, 2.86 goals against per game, 15th in AHL

Shots per game: 33.93 - 2nd in AHL

Shots allowed per game: 28.93 - 10th in AHL

Score 1st: 5-1-1-0 when scoring first (.786%) - 7th in AHL

1 goal games: 5-4-1-0 in one goal games

PP: 14.3%, 21st in AHL (9-63)

PK: 85.1%, 10th in AHL (7-47)

SHG - 1 shorthanded goals scored

SHGA - 2 shorthanded goals allowed

PIMS - 11.14 penalty minutes per game, 30th in AHL

Fighting Majors: 10 - 23rd

OT Games - 3 - (2-1 record in OT)

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

Roster Players - the Sharks used 23 players this season

Goalies - the Sharks used 2 goaltenders this season

Players receiving call-ups to San Jose - 4

NHL debuts - 1 Worcester Sharks alumni making their NHL debuts this season (Troy Grosenick)

Call-ups to San Jose - 4 different call-ups to San Jose this season

TRANSACTIONS:

Date Player Team Transaction

11/11/2014 Aaron Dell (G) Worcester ADD Recalled from loan to Allen (ECHL)

11/11/2014 Troy Grosenick (G) Worcester DEL Recalled from loan by San Jose (NHL)

11/10/2014 Tyler Shattock (RW) Worcester DEL Released from PTO

Top Worcester Sharks:

o Goals Hamilton and Haley (5)

o Game Winners Taormina, Emanuelsson, Demelo, Hamilton, Haley, Carpenter, Lerg (1)

o Assists Tarasov and Hamilton (7)

o Points Hamilton (5-7-12)

o Power play Points Hamilton (2-2-4)

o Shots Tarasov (37)

o PIM Haley (36)

o Fighting Pen. Haley (4)

o Plus/Minus Abeltshauser +4

o Wins Grosenick (7) - leads AHL

o G.A.A. Anderson (2.53)

o Save % Grosenick (.908)

o Shutouts N/A

Sharks in the NHL:

The San Jose Sharks currently have 14 players on their roster that have spent time in Worcester (Couture, Desjardins, Pavelski, Sheppard, Wingels, Braun, Demers, Stalock, Irwin, Vlasic, Nieto, Mueller, Kennedy, and Grosenick).

The San Jose Sharks are in 5th place in the Pacific Division and 7th place in the Western Conference with 22 points and an 10-8-2 record.

Upcoming San Jose Sharks schedule: (all times are Eastern)

TUE Nov 18 @ Buffalo 7:30pm

THU Nov 20 V. Florida 10:30pm

SAT Nov 22 V. Arizona 10:30pm

Coming Up for the Worcester Sharks:

The Worcester Sharks play three games this week as they embark on a four game road trip.

On Wednesday, the Sharks will travel north for a 10am School Day vs. the Manchester Monarchs. The game will be shown live at www.AHLLive.com and will air on tape delay on WTAG at 10pm after Holy Cross basketball.

On Friday, the Sharks pay their first visit to Lehigh Valley for a 7:05pm battle vs. the Phantoms.

On Saturday, the Sharks wrap up the week with a 7pm faceoff vs. the Bears in Hershey, PA.

Worcester celebrates 20 years of AHL hockey!

The 2014-15 season marks the 20th season of AHL action at the DCU Center in the city of Worcester. Over 3.8 million fans have attended either an IceCats (11 seasons) or Sharks (9th season) game in downtown Worcester since 1994.

Score a 20 Flex Pack with a commemorative puck!

In honor of 20 years of AHL action in Worcester, the Sharks are offering fans a special ticket package that includes 20 vouchers redeemable in any combination to any regular season home games plus a commemorative puck. Redeem your vouchers to Worcester IceCats night, Worcester Hockey Alumni doubleheader game or any of the other great promotional nights! Call for details 508-929-0500.

2014-15 Flex ticket packages are on sale now! Score your 40 or 12 ticket flex package by contacting the Sharks front office at 508-929-0500. You decide how many tickets and how many games YOU want to attend while saving $$$ off box office pricing! It is that EASY!

Bring a group to sing the national anthem, book a fundraising event, host a birthday party, or have a blast in the high fin tunnel.... secure your personalized Sharks experience today!

Season ticket packages and group tickets for the 2014-15 season are on sale now by contacting the Worcester Sharks Office at 508.929.0500 or by crashing the net at www.SharksAHL.com.

Socialize with the Worcester Sharks all year long! Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WorcesterSharks, follow us on Twitter @WorcesterSharks, and download the Worcester Sharks App for free on your Droid or iPhone today!



American Hockey League Stories from November 17, 2014


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