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Sharks Swim on Top of the East - Worcester Sharks Weekly

October 20, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release


Shark Snap Shot:

The Worcester Sharks (3-0-0-0, 6pts) chomped four out of a possible four points last week (3-0-0-0) after sweeping a home and home series with the Providence Bruins on Friday and Saturday. The Sharks took a 2-1 win in Providence on Friday followed by a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory in front of 5,809 in the Sharks home opener at the DCU Center on Saturday night.

The Sharks are now the only team in the Eastern Conference that has yet to lose a hockey game (3-0-0-0) as Worcester has yet to trail in a game all season long.

Highlights from the week include two point games from Petter Emanuelsson (2-0-2) and Rylan Schwartz (0-2-2) on Friday, Melker Karlsson scoring in his Sharks debut on Saturday, Dylan Demelo scoring a 3-on-3 overtime goal on Saturday, and Troy Grosenick improving to 3-0-0-0 with a pair of victories over the Bruins.

James Sheppard was loaned to Worcester from San Jose on Oct 16 on a conditioning assignment and picked up an assist in two games last week. Eriah Hayes was recalled to San Jose on Oct 18 in the first recall of the season from Worcester while Derek DeBlois was released from his PTO on Oct 16.

The Worcester Sharks player of the week nominee is forward Rylan Schwartz. The 24-year-old from Wilcox, Saskatchewan recorded two assists in the 2-1 win at Providence on Friday and finished the two game week with two points (0-2-2), fired four shots, and was +2.

COMING UP:

The Worcester Sharks six game home stand continues with three games this week.

On Tuesday, the Sharks host the Hartford Wolf Pack at 7pm.

On Friday, the Sharks host the Syracuse Crunch at 7:30pm with $2 hot dogs, popcorn, and soda all night long.

On Sunday, the Sharks welcome the Portland Pirates to town at 3pm for a Halloween Party sponsored by Lead Paint is Scary. Celebrate Halloween in a family friendly atmosphere with trick-or-treating in the concourse and an on ice costume parade during intermission! Kids tickets are just $5 on Sundays with the purchase of an adult ticket at the Box Office.

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 1271 AHL games - all with the SJ Sharks AHL affiliates. In total, Coach Sommer has been a head coach in 1,605 games in the AHL and ECHL. Roy need 10 more wins to tie John Paddock (589) for the 3rd most wins in AHL history.

Few things to know....

- The Worcester Sharks are in 1st place (3-0-0-0, 6pts) in the Atlantic Division and 1st place overall in the Eastern Conference. The Sharks are the only team in the East without a blemish on their record.

- The San Jose Sharks currently have 12 players on their roster that have spent time in Worcester (Couture, Desjardins, Pavelski, Hayes, Wingels, Braun, Demers, Stalock, Irwin, Vlasic, Nieto, Mueller).

- The San Jose Sharks are in 3rd place in the Pacific Division and 5th place in the Western Conference with 9 points and a 4-1-1 record.

- The Worcester Sharks have yet to trail in a hockey game all season and are the only team in the AHL to have two 3-on-3 overtime goals.

- Petter Emanuelsson scored his first two goals in North America in the Sharks 2-1 win in Providence on Friday.

- Forward Melker Karlsson (Sweden) played his first professional game in North America on Oct 18 and scored his first goal as a member of the Worcester Sharks.

- Defensemen Taylor Doherty (1-2-3) and Taylor Fedun lead the Worcester Sharks with three points each.

- Goaltender Troy Grosenick is a perfect 3-0-0-0 this season, ranks 2nd in the AHL with three wins, 12th in AHL with a 1.86 GAA, and 5th in AHL with 193 minutes played.

- Coach Roy Sommer currently ranks 4th in the AHL with 579 wins in his career (17th season) and 1st in games coached in the AHL with 1271.

Top 3... Last Week!

1. Petter Emanuelsson scored twice in the Sharks 2-1 win at Providence on Friday!

2. Troy Grosenick made 33 saves in the Sharks 2-1 win in Providence on Friday!

3. Dylan Demelo scored the overtime game winner in 3-on-3 action at 6:33 in the Sharks 4-3 win vs. the Bruins on Saturday!

Last Week: (2-0-0-0) 4pts, 2gp

Fri. 10/17 W Worcester SHARKS 2 @ Providence Bruins 1

Sat. 10/18 OTW Providence Bruins 3 @ Worcester SHARKS 4 - OT

Next Week:

Tue. 10/21 Hartford Wolf Pack @ Worcester SHARKS - 7pm

Fri. 10/24 Syracuse Crunch @ Worcester SHARKS - 7:30pm

Sun. 10/26 Portland Pirates @ Worcester SHARKS - 3pm

Rewind the Tape:

10.17.14 - Providence 1 - Worcester 2 - W - Dunkin Donuts Center - Providence, RI

The Worcester Sharks (2-0-0-0, 4pts) carried an early first period lead throughout the game to defeat the Providence Bruins (1-2-0-0, 2pts) by a 2-1 score in front of 8,311 fans at the Dunkin Donuts Center on Friday evening. Petter Emanuelsson (2-0-2) accounted for both Worcester goals, tallying his first two goals in North America to lead the Sharks to their second win of the season in their second game. The first came at 3:50, with help by James Sheppard (0-1-1) and Rylan Schwartz (0-2-2). Providence responded with a tying goal by Justin Florek (1-0-1) at 9:41, but Emanuelsson returned Worcester's lead with the game decider at 17:14 before the opening frame closed out. Worcester tender Troy Grosenick was outstanding in net, making 33 crucial saves on 34 of Providence's shots in the wining effort. Bruins' netminder Malcolm Subban pushed aside 30 of the Sharks' 32 shots on goal.

10.18.14 - Providence 3 - Worcester 4 - OTW - DCU Center - Worcester, MA

The Worcester Sharks (3-0-0-0, 6pts) swept the Providence Bruins (1-2-1-0, 3pts) in the home-and-home series with an exciting 4-3 overtime victory in front of 5,809 fans at the 20th AHL home opener at the DCU Center on Saturday evening. The Sharks led 2-0 and 3-2 before the Bruins tied the score at 19:55 of the third period to force overtime. Dylan Demelo scored the game winner at 6:33 with a rocket past Malcolm Subban to send the sellout crowd home happy. Taylor Doherty (1-1-2), Melker Karlsson, and Michael Haley also scored for the Sharks while Troy Grosenick improved to 3-0 with 27 saves in net. Alexander Khokhlachev (1-2-3) and David Pastrnak (1-2-3) led the way offensively for Providence while Malcolm Subban made 27 saves in net. The Sharks improved to 3-0 in the young season and continue their six game home stand on Tuesday vs. the Wolf Pack.

Sharks in the Atlantic:

The Worcester Sharks (3-0-0-0, 6pts in 3gp) are in 1st place in the Atlantic Division; which is 1 point ahead the 2nd place Bruins (5pts in 5gp), two points ahead of the 3rd place Monarchs (4pts in 3gp) and the 4th place IceCaps (4pts in 5gp), and four points ahead of the 5th place Pirates (2pts in 4gp) 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 1,271GP 579 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: 579-534-48-56-54. (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: No captain has been named.... Taylor Fedun, Dylan Demelo, and Travis Oleksuk all wore the "A" on the road while Dylan Demelo, Bryan Lerg, and Matt Taormina all wore the "A" in the Sharks home opener on Oct 18.

*Breaking down October... The Sharks have a 3-0-0-0 (6pts in 3gp) record in October with 9 GF and 6 GA. PP is 0-11 (00.0%); opponents PP is 0-9 (0.0%), and the Sharks have 0 fighting majors in October.

*Home Openers.... the Sharks are now 4-3-1-1 in home openers at the DCU Center after the 4-3OTW on Oct 18 vs. the Bruins.

*Season openers....the Sharks record in season openers now stands at 5-3-0-1 after the 3-2OTW in Binghamton on Oct 11.

*First goal of the season goes to... Ryan Carpenter scored the 1st goal of the season in Binghamton on Saturday, joining: Mathieu Darche in 2006, Graham Mink in 2007, Cory Larose in 2008, Andrew Desjardins in 2009, Jonathan Cheechoo in 2010, Curt Gogol in 2011, Sebastian Stalberg in 2012, and Eriah Hayes in 2013.

*Starting Goalies... Troy Grosenick allowed two goals on 42 shots in Saturday to kick off the 2014-15 season... Past starting goaltenders on opening night include; Dmitri Patzold 3GA in 2006, Thomas Greiss 2GA in 2007, Thomas Greiss 5GA in 2008, Alex Stalock 2GA in 2009, Alex Stalock 5GA in 2010, Tyson Sexsmith 3GA in 2011, Alex Stalock 3GA in 2012, and Harri Sateri 4GA in 2013.

*OT... the Worcester Sharks won just one overtime game in 2013-14, but are already 2-0 in overtime through three games this season.

*Haven't trailed... the Sharks have yet to trail in the first three games of the season....the Sharks are the only team in the AHL that hasn't trailed in a game this season.

*League Leaders.... Troy Grosenick is 2nd in AHL in wins (3), 12th in GAA (1.86), 5th in saves (101), and 5th in minutes played (193:04)....Taylor Doherty is 6th among AHL defensemen with three points (1-2-3)...Taylor Fedun is 12th among defensemen with three points (0-3-3).

*Special Teams... the Sharks are a perfect 9-for-9 on the PK this season.

*Good Boys... the Worcester Sharks are the least penalized team in the AHL averaging 6.67 minutes per game.

*Pro Debuts: not yet!

*Score first... the Sharks have scored FIRST 3 time in 3 games this season (3-0-0-0) - Ryan Carpenter 1, Petter Emanuelsson 1, and Taylor Doherty (1).

*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 had two 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 4 rookies already this season. (Ryan Carpenter, Jeremy Langlois, Evan Trupp, and JP Anderson)

*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 260 penalty minutes in 178 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.

*Sharks in the Atlantic... went 21-22-1-2 vs. the Atlantic in 2013-14 and are 2-0-0-0 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... five Worcester Sharks players were drafted by the San Jose Sharks. (Abeltshauser, Hamilton, Doherty, Crane, and Demelo)

*NHL Experience.... The Sharks have had seven players on their roster with NHL experience... Matt Taormina 56, James Sheppard 323, Matt Tennyson 4, Freddie Hamilton 11, Eriah Hayes 16, Taylor Fedun 4, and Micheal Haley 52.

*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. No Worcester player has recorded a hat trick on home ice in more than three years, or since P.J. Fenton had one on Feb. 28, 2009 in the Sharks' 7-3 victory over Springfield. The home-ice drought has lasted for 204 games. In all, Worcester players have recorded hat tricks only nine times in the franchise's 569 games. The Sharks are 9-0 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 49 fighting majors in 126 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 121 fighting majors in 321 AHL games along with 908 penalty minutes.

*Five for fighting... The Sharks have 0 fighting majors through 3 games this season....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: 3-0-0-0, 2 points - 1st in Atlantic

Win percentage: 1.000% - tied 1st in AHL, 1st in East

Home Record: 1-0-0-0

Away Record: 2-0-0-0

Attendance: 5,809 through 1 game this season - 5,809 average

Goals Scored: 9, 3.00 goals per game, 10th in AHL

Goals Allowed: 6, 2.00 goals against per game, 10th in AHL

Shots per game: 37.00 - 2nd in AHL

Shots allowed per game: 35.67 - 29th in AHL

Score 1st: 3-0-0-0 when scoring first (1.000%) - 1st in AHL

1 goal games: 3-0-0-0 in one goal games

PP: 0.0 %, 28th in AHL (0-11)

PK: 100%, 4th in AHL (0-9)

SHG - 0 shorthanded goals scored

SHGA - 0 shorthanded goals allowed

PIMS - 6.67 penalty minutes per game, 30th in AHL

Fighting Majors: 0

OT Games - 2 - (2-0 record in OT)

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

Roster Players - the Sharks used 20 players this season

Goalies - the Sharks used 1 goaltender this season

Players receiving call-ups to San Jose - 1

NHL debuts - 0 Worcester Sharks alumni making their NHL debuts this season

Call-ups to San Jose - 1 different call-ups to San Jose this season

Top Worcester Sharks:

o Goals Haley and Emanuelsson (2)

o Game Winners Taormina, Emanuelsson, and Demelo (1)

o Assists Fedun (3)

o Points Fedun (0-3-3) and Doherty (1-2-3)

o Power play Points N/A

o Shots Langlois (10)

o PIM Doherty (6)

o Fighting Pen. N/A

o Plus/Minus Fedun (+3)

o Wins Grosenick (3)

o G.A.A. Grosenick (1.86)

o Save % Grosenick (.944)

o Shutouts N/A

Sharks in the NHL:

- The San Jose Sharks are in 3rd place in the Pacific Division and 5th place in the Western Conference with 9 points and a 4-1-1 record.

The San Jose Sharks currently have 12 players on their roster that have spent time in Worcester (Couture, Desjardins, Pavelski, Hayes, Wingels, Braun, Demers, Stalock, Irwin, Vlasic, Nieto, Mueller).

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

TUE Oct 21 @Boston 7pm

THU Oct 23 V. Columbus 10:30pm

SAT Oct 25 V. Buffalo 4pm

SUN Oct 26 @Anaheim 8pm

Coming Up for the Worcester Sharks:

On Tuesday, the Sharks host the Hartford Wolf Pack at 7pm.

On Friday, the Sharks host the Syracuse Crunch at 7:30pm with $2 hot dogs, popcorn, and soda all night long.

On Sunday, the Sharks welcome the Portland Pirates to town at 3pm for a Halloween Party sponsored by Lead Paint is Scary. Celebrate Halloween in a family friendly atmosphere with trick-or-treating in the concourse and an on ice costume parade during intermission! Kids tickets are just $5 on Sundays with the purchase of an adult ticket at the Box Office.

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.

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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.

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