Worcester Sharks Get Ready for Their 8th Home Opener at Renovated DCU Center

October 14, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release


Shark Snap Shot:

The Worcester Sharks (0-1-0-0, 0pts) chomped zero out of a possible two points in one game last week as they finally opened up their 2013-14 regular season schedule with a 4-3 loss in Springfield on Saturday.

The Sharks host two games this weekend to open the renovated DCU Center. The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins will be the prey for the Sharks home opener on Saturday at 7pm followed by a 5pm battle vs. the Portland Pirates on Sunday.

The Worcester Sharks player of the week nominee is veteran forward Bracken Kearns. The Sharks 2012-13 MVP recorded three assists and picked up a fighting major in the Sharks 4-3 loss in Springfield on Saturday.

Few things to know....

- The Worcester Sharks are currently in 5th place (0-1-0-0, 0pts) in the Atlantic Division and 15th place overall in the Eastern Conference. - the Worcester Sharks have played the fewest games in the AHL so far this season!

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

- The San Jose Sharks are currently in 1st place in the Pacific Division and tied for 1st place in the Western Conference with 10 points and a 5-0-0 record.

- Veteran defenseman Rob Davison was named the 6th captain in Worcester sharks history before the game on Saturday. Bracken Kearns and Jimmy Bonneau are the alternate captains.

- Rookie defenseman and San Jose Sharks draft pick Konrad Abeltshauser (Halifax - QMJHL) made his professional debut for Worcester on Saturday in the Sharks 4-3 loss in Springfield. Konrad fired three shots on goal in the loss.

- Worcester Sharks alumni Matt Nieto (Oct 8 vs. NYR) and Matt Pelech (Oct 10 at VAN) each scored their first career NHL goals last week for the SJ Sharks.

- Coach Roy Sommer currently ranks 4th in the AHL with 540 wins in his career (16th season) and 2nd in games coached in the AHL with 1193.

- The Sharks play host two games this weekend at the renovated DCU Center!

o Saturday at 7pm the Sharks host the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in the home opener at the renovated DCU Center! Fan Fest begins at 5:30pm and everyone will receive a magnet schedule!

o Sunday at 5pm the Sharks host the Portland Pirates on $5 Kid's Sundays! Kids ticket are just $5 with the purchase of a fill priced adult ticket!

Top 3... Last Week!

1. Bracken Kearns recorded three assists and added a fighting major in the Sharks 4-3 loss in Springfield on Saturday!

2. Rookie Eriah Hayes scored the first goal of the season for the Sharks on Saturday!

3. James Livingston scored and added three shots in the Sharks loss in Springfield!

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

Sat. 10/12 L Worcester SHARKS 3 @ Springfield Falcons 4

This week:

Sat. 10/19 Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins @ Worcester Sharks - 7pm

Sun. 10/20 Portland Pirates @ Worcester SHARKS - 5pm

Rewind the Tape:

10.12.13 - Springfield 4 - Worcester 3 - L - MassMutual Center

Eriah Hayes, Brodie Reid, and James Livingston scored for Worcester, but it wasn't enough as the Sharks (0-1-0-0, 0pts) fell 4-3 to the Springfield Falcons (2-0-0-0, 4pts) at the MassMutual Center in the regular season opener on Saturday night. Harri Sateri made 15 saves in goal in the loss while Bracken Kearns added three assists as Worcester dropped to 4-3-0-1 in eight career season openers (all on the road). Jake Hansen scored twice for the Falcons and Tim Erixon added three assists for Springfield in the win.

Sharks in the Atlantic:

The Sharks (0-1-0-0, 0pts in 0gp) are currently in 5th place in the Atlantic Division; which is seven points behind the 1st place Monarchs (7pts in 4gp), five points behind the 2nd place Bruins (5pts in 4gp), three points behind the 3rd place IceCaps (3pts in 4gp) and one point behind the 4th place Pirates (1pts in 2gp) to round out a very choppy Atlantic Division.

Coaching Milestones....

*1000 GAMES... With the 3-1 victory at Springfield on January 14, 2011, head coach Roy Sommer became just the 4th coach in AHL history to reach the 1,000 games plateau.

*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 16seasons 1,193GP 540 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 (15th season) in the American Hockey League. His current regular season record is now: 540-471-49-51-52. (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. Coincidentally, Associate Coach David Cunniff recorded an assist as a member of the River Rats in the hockey game.

*Associate Coach David Cunniff has joined Coach Sommer in 385 of the 540 victories (71%).

*ECHL... Coach Sommer also has 176 wins in the ECHL coaching in five seasons with Roanoke Valley and Richmond.

Shark Bites:

*Captains for the 2013-14 season: Rob Davison was named the Sharks 6th captain in team history on October 12, 2013. Alternate captains for this season: Bracken Kearns and Jimmy Bonneau.

*Don't mess with the captains.... Rob Davison, Bracken Kearns, and Jimmy Bonneau all picked up a fighting major in the Sharks 4-3 loss in Springfield on Saturday.

*From east to west..... The Worcester Sharks have already had two players (2 call-ups) receive at least one call up to the San Jose Sharks already this season. (Pelech and McCarthy)

*Season Openers... the Sharks fell to 4-3-0-1 in season openers after their 4-3 loss in Springfield on Saturday.

*Home Openers.... the Sharks are 3-2-1-1 in home openers at the DCU Center.

*Score first... the Sharks scored FIRST 37 times in 76 games last season (20-13-2-2); but have yet to score first in one game this year.

*Streakers... the Worcester Sharks have lost nine straight home games (0-6-3-0) at the DCU Center (franchise record) dating back to last season...... no current player streaks

*First goal of the season goes to... Eriah Hayes scored the Sharks 1st goal of the 2013-14 season in Springfield 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, and Sebastian Stalberg in 2012.

*Starting Goalies... Harri Sateri allowed four goals on 19 shots in Saturday to kick off the 2013-14 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, and Alex Stalock 3GA in 2012.

*Pro Debuts: One player made their professional debuts in the Sharks 4-3 loss in Springfield on Saturday; Konrad Abeltshauser

*3-for-3!...veteran defenseman Rob Davison became the first player to play for the SJ Sharks AHL affiliate in three different cities after his game for Worcester on Oct 12 at Springfield. Davison played 72 games for the Kentucky Thoroughblades in 2000-01 and 112 games for the Cleveland Barons in 2001-03!

*3 National Champions... The Sharks have three players that have won the NCAA Division 1 Championship.... Travis Oleksuk with University Minnesota Duluth in 2011... John McCarthy was co-captain for Boston University in 2009... and Nick Petrecki with Boston College in 2008.

*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.

*Young Guns... the Sharks dressed five rookies in the season opener on Friday in Norfolk. (Troy Grosenick, Konrad Abeltshauser, Eriah Hayes, Rylan Schwartz, and Riley Brace)

*Breaking down October... The Sharks are 0-1-0-0 (0pts in 1gp) record in October with 3 GF and 4 GA. PP is 1-6 (16.7%), opponents PP is 1-for-5 (20.0%), and the Sharks have three fighting majors in October.

*Tallest Shark.... Worcester Sharks rookie defenseman Taylor Doherty is the tallest player in team history standing at 6'7" 235lbs.... Doherty scored his first professional goal in game #70 and added an assist in the Sharks 3-2OTL to the IceCaps on Nov 3, 2012. Doherty has one goal in 107 games with the Worcester Sharks.

*Four straight seasons with 20?.... Forward Bracken Kearns scored his 21 goals last season and hit the 20 goal plateau for the third straight season having scored 20 and 22 goals the previous two seasons with San Antonio.

*First Pro Goals this season... still waiting!

*Sharks in the Atlantic... Worcester went 19-14-3-4 in the Atlantic Division in 2012-13 and has yet to play any divisional games in 2013-14.

*Massachusetts!... the Sharks have one player that hails from Massachusetts that suited up for the team this season (John McCarthy - Andover) In addition, associate coach David Cunniff hails from South Boston.

*Hockey East Alumni!... the Worcester Sharks had four players from Hockey East Schools; (McCarthy - BU, Reid - NU, Petrecki - BC, Stalberg - Vermont)

*I'll take a draft... Eight Worcester Sharks players were drafted by the San Jose Sharks. (Abeltshauser, Davison, Hamilton, Doherty, McCarthy, Petrecki, Sateri, and Viedensky)

*NHL Experience.... The Sharks have six players on their roster with NHL experience led by Rob Davison with 219.... Breaking down the rest....John McCarthy 53, Matt Pelech 10, Bracken Kearns 6, Matt Tennyson 4, and Nick Petrecki 1.

*Keeping your hat on (Thanks Ballou)... Worcester has gone 260 games since one of its players recorded a hat trick. That is easily the longest active streak in the AHL. The Sharks' last hat trick belongs to Dan DaSilva, who scored three times in Portland during a 5-2 Worcester victory in Portland 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 164 games. In the meantime, Worcester has had 49 two-goal games, including five each by Benn Ferriero, Brandon Mashinter and T.J. Trevelyan. In all, Worcester players have recorded hat tricks only seven times in the franchise's 552 games. The Sharks are 7-0 in those games and 1-11-3 in the 15 games in which the opposition has had a hat trick.

* Brothers... Sebastian Stalberg is the younger brother of Viktor Stalberg, who currently plays with the Nashville Predators.... 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.

*Franchise Player... Sharks defensemen Nick Petrecki is 2nd in Sharks history with 243 games played (Mike Moore had 253)... Nick also ranks 2nd in penalty minutes with 477 (Frazer McLaren had 577).... Nick made his NHL debut in San Jose's 3-2SOW over the Anaheim Ducks on 1/29/13 and played 11:58... the 216 games before his first NHL game was the most of any Worcester Sharks graduate to San Jose.

*200/50.... Captain John McCarthy played in his 200th game for the Sharks on Jan 26, 2013... J-Mac scored his 50th goal as a member of the Worcester Sharks joining Riley Armstrong, Mike Iggulden, Graham Mink, and Brandon Mashinter as the only five players to score 50+ goals as a member of the Worcester Sharks.

*Like Father, Like Son... Rookie Curt Gogol finished 2nd on the Sharks with 139 penalty minutes in just 38 games in 2012-13... his father Brent racked up 892 penalty minutes in 157 professional games in the IHL, CHL, EHL, and the AHL including 380 pims in 1978-79 in 57 games with the Flint Generals.

*Piling up the PIMS with Pelech... Forward/Defenseman Matt Pelech played in his 300th AHL game on Oct 20, 2012 vs. the Devils. The 6-foot-5 bruising defenseman turned forward from Toronto, ONT has accumulated 1,000 penalty minutes and 77 fighting majors in 350 AHL games. "Pelly" led the Sharks with 238 penalty minutes last season in 58 games. #23 is only the 2nd player in Worcester Sharks history to hit the 200 pim plateau (Evans 211 in 2007-08). Matt led the Worcester Sharks with 17 fighting majors and had one fighting major (Jared Boll) in two games last year with the SJ Sharks in 2012-13... Pelech is currently on recall and has a goal and a fighting major in three games with the San Jose Sharks.

*Major Bonneau... Worcester Sharks tough guy Jimmy Bonneau has racked up 34 fighting majors in 81 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 106 fighting majors in 274 AHL games along with 807 penalty minutes.... Jimmy has 1 fighting major and 5 penalty minutes through 1 game this season.

*Five for fighting... The Sharks have 3 fighting majors through 1 game and rank 15th in the AHL (Kearns 1, Bonneau 1, and Davison 1). The Sharks had 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: 0-1-0-0, 0 points - 5th in Atlantic

Win percentage: .000% - 30th in AHL

Home Record: 0-0-0-0

Away Record: 0-1-0-0

Attendance:

Goals Scored: 3, 3.00 goals per game, 15th in AHL

Goals Allowed: 4, 4.00 goals against per game, 29th in AHL

Shots per game: 29.00 - 17th in AHL

Shots allowed per game: 19.00 - 1st in AHL

Score 1st: 0-0-0-0 when scoring first (.000%)

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

PP: 16.7%, 14th in AHL (1-6)

PK: 80.0%, 19th in AHL (1-5)

SHG - 0 shorthanded goals scored

SHGA - 1 shorthanded goals allowed

PIMS - 35.00 penalty minutes per game, 2nd in AHL

Fighting Majors: 3 - 15th in AHL

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

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

Roster Players - the Sharks have used 19 players this season

Goalies - the Sharks have used 1 goaltender this season

Players receiving call-ups to San Jose - 2

NHL debuts - 1 Worcester Sharks alumni making their NHL debuts this season

Call-ups to San Jose - 2 different call-ups to San Jose this season

Coming and goings from the Shark Tank:

Date Player Team Transaction

10/11/2013 John McCarthy (LW) Worcester ADD Reassigned by San Jose (NHL) from San Francisco (ECHL)

10/09/2013 Matt Pelech (RW) Worcester DEL Recalled from loan by San Jose (NHL)

Top Worcester Sharks:

o Goals Hayes, Reid, Livingston (1)

o Game Winners

o Assists Kearns (3)

o Points Kearns (0-3-3)

o Power play Points several tied at 1

o Shots Hayes (5 shots)

o PIM Davison (15)

o Fighting Pen. Kearns, Bonneau, and Davison (1)

o Plus/Minus Kearns (+2)

o Wins

o G.A.A. Sateri (4.07)

o Save % Sateri (.789)

o Shutouts

Sharks in the ECHL:

The San Francisco Bulls begin their 2nd season as the Sharks ECHL affiliate with a pair of games in Alaska this weekend.

Sharks players under an AHL contract currently playing in San Francisco include:

Forward Chris Crane

Defenseman Kyle Bigos

Goaltender JP Anderson

Forward Ryan McDonough

Defenseman Collin Bowman

Defenseman Steve Tarasuk

Week ahead for the Bulls:

Fri. Oct 18 at 11:15pm (EST) at Alaska

Sat. Oct 19 at 11:15pm (EST) at Alaska

Coming Up for the Worcester Sharks:

On Saturday at 7pm the Sharks host the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in the home opener at the renovated DCU Center! Fan Fest begins at 5:30pm and everyone will receive a magnet schedule!



American Hockey League Stories from October 14, 2013


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