| Worcester Sharks | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Worcester, Massachusetts |
| League | American Hockey League (AHL) |
| Conference | Eastern Conference |
| Division | Atlantic Division |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Operated | 2006–2015 |
| Home arena | DCU Center |
| Colors | Pacific teal, black, white, burnt orange |
| Owners | San Jose Sports & Entertainment Enterprises (Hasso Plattner, Governor) |
| Media | Worcester Telegram & Gazette WTAG AM 580 & FM 94.9 Charter TV3 |
| Affiliates | San Jose Sharks (2006–2015) |
| Franchise history | |
| 1996–2001 | Kentucky Thoroughblades |
| 2001–2006 | Cleveland Barons |
| 2006–2015 | Worcester Sharks |
| 2015–present | San Jose Barracuda |
TheWorcester Sharks were a professionalice hockey team in theAmerican Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2006 to 2015. Affiliated with theNational Hockey League'sSan Jose Sharks and located inWorcester,Massachusetts, the Sharks played their home games at theDCU Center.
On November 9, 2004, theSt. Louis Blues announced the sale of theWorcester IceCats to the owners of theirECHL affiliate, thePeoria Rivermen.[1] The new owners moved the franchise toPeoria, Illinois, for the 2005–06 season. Shocked by the loss of the IceCats, the people of Worcester bargained with severalNational Hockey League (NHL) franchises, trying to bring hockey back to the city. On January 6, 2006, theSan Jose Sharks announced they were moving their AHL affiliate, theCleveland Barons, toWorcester, Massachusetts,[2] and the Worcester Sharks played their first home game on October 14, 2006, in front of a sold-out 7,230 fans in a shootout loss to thePortland Pirates. The Sharks qualified for the playoffs in their inaugural season, but were eliminated in six games by theManchester Monarchs in the first round.
The Sharks' mainrivals were theProvidence Bruins, the genesis of which dates back toIceCats' days.[citation needed]
The Sharks were well represented in the2010 Winter Olympics held inVancouver, with former SharksJoe Pavelski (played for the United States),Douglas Murray (represented Sweden) along with the goaltending tandem from the franchise's first two years withThomas Greiss andDimitri Patzold played for Germany.
On November 1, 2009, head coachRoy Sommer became only the fourth coach in AHL history to record 400 wins. On January 14, 2011, Sommer was behind the Sharks bench for his 1,000th regular-season game as an AHL head coach, becoming just the fourth man in AHL history to reach that milestone.[citation needed] On February 11, 2012, Sommer became the fourth coach in AHL history to record 500 wins with a 3–2 shootout win over the Hershey Bears.
On January 26, 2015, it was reported that the Sharks would move to San Jose and shareSAP Center at San Jose with their parent club, theSan Jose Sharks. These reports were confirmed with the Sharks' official announcement on January 29.[3] On April 2, 2015, the team was announced as theSan Jose Barracuda.
Worcester did not initially receive anECHL team to replace the relocated AHL team, unlike the other markets with relocated AHL teams in 2015, such asManchester, New Hampshire,Norfolk, Virginia, andGlens Falls, New York. On February 8, 2016, the ECHL announced Worcester would be home to an expansion team, set to begin play for the 2017–18 season. The team is owned by Cliff Rucker, with Toby O'Brien serving as president and general manager. The team name was revealed on April 3 to be theWorcester Railers.[4]
This market was previously served by:
| Calder Cup Champions | Conference Champions | Division Champions | League Leader |
Records as of April 21, 2015.[5]
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Won | Lost | OTL | SOL | Points | PCT | Goals for | Goals against | Standing | Year | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | Finals |
| 2006–07 | 80 | 41 | 28 | 3 | 8 | 93 | .581 | 247 | 244 | 4th, Atlantic | 2007 | L, 2–4,MCH | — | — | — |
| 2007–08 | 80 | 32 | 37 | 5 | 6 | 75 | .469 | 216 | 258 | 6th, Atlantic | 2008 | Out of playoffs | |||
| 2008–09 | 80 | 42 | 35 | 1 | 2 | 87 | .544 | 223 | 223 | 4th, Atlantic | 2009 | W, 4–2,HFD | L, 2–4,PRO | — | — |
| 2009–10 | 80 | 49 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 104 | .650 | 275 | 239 | 1st, Atlantic | 2010 | W, 4–1,LOW | L, 2–4,MCH | — | — |
| 2010–11 | 80 | 36 | 31 | 4 | 9 | 85 | .531 | 210 | 245 | 4th, Atlantic | 2011 | Out of playoffs | |||
| 2011–12 | 76 | 31 | 33 | 4 | 8 | 74 | .487 | 199 | 218 | 5th, Atlantic | 2012 | Out of playoffs | |||
| 2012–13 | 76 | 31 | 34 | 4 | 7 | 73 | .480 | 191 | 228 | 4th, Atlantic | 2013 | Out of playoffs | |||
| 2013–14 | 76 | 36 | 34 | 4 | 2 | 78 | .513 | 189 | 226 | 4th, Atlantic | 2014 | Out of playoffs | |||
| 2014–15 | 76 | 41 | 29 | 4 | 2 | 91 | .579 | 224 | 198 | 3rd, Atlantic | 2015 | L, 1-3,HER | — | — | — |
| Totals | 704 | 339 | 286 | 32 | 47 | 760 | .537 | 1974 | 2079 | 4 Playoff Appearances | |||||
List of Worcester Sharks alumni who played in theNational Hockey League:
|
These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history.Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points;
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts |
| John McCarthy | LW | 277 | 63 | 88 | 151 |
| Dan DaSilva | RW | 239 | 60 | 84 | 144 |
| Tom Cavanagh | C | 202 | 46 | 92 | 138 |
| Steven Zalewski | C | 210 | 41 | 87 | 128 |
| Lukas Kaspar | LW | 216 | 46 | 79 | 125 |
| Mike Iggulden | C | 151 | 59 | 64 | 123 |
| Graham Mink | RW | 132 | 55 | 63 | 118 |
| Riley Armstrong | RW | 208 | 59 | 53 | 112 |
| Brandon Mashinter | LW | 236 | 54 | 54 | 108 |
| Benn Ferriero | C | 121 | 44 | 59 | 103 |
Nickname(s):The City of the Seven Hills,The Heart of the Commonwealth,Wormtown,Woo-town,The Woo | ||
| Topics |  | |
| Education | ||
| Government | ||
| History | ||
| Museums | ||
| Sports teams | ||
