Hockey News
Former Worcester Hockey Players Continue to Top pro Leagues During the Holiday Season
Worcester Sports Blogger Darryl Hunt wrote a post discussing how well former Worcester AHL players are doing among their respective leagues. Many former Worcester Sharks players are continuing to make big names for themselves, including fan favorites John McCarthy, Alex Stalock, and Dan DaSilva. Former IceCats Ladislav Nagy and Daniel Corso continue to still do well in European Leagues. We encourage hockey fans to check out the post linked below.
ECHL Coming to Portland in 2018-19?
Last Saturday, Portland News Station reported that another ownership group has expressed interest in bringing an ECHL franchise to Portland for the 2018–19 season. The company that owns the Philadelphia Flyers and the company that owns Portland’s Cross Insurance Arena have begun discussions for a team. The Philadelphia Flyers were the original parent club of the Maine Mariners, Portland’s first pro hockey team which debuted in 1977.
While the deadline for applications for any new teams for next season has passed, Portland Hockey fans have hope for pro hockey to return as early as next year. As this develops, we’ll pass more information on.
NHL Winter Classic and Centennial Classic to Be Held This Weekend
The NHL is hosting two of their special exhibition games this weekend. The annual Winter Classic game is being held in St. Louis, Missouri featuring the St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks. The Centennial Classic will be held in Toronto, Canada featuring the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The NHL Winter Classic will air on Monday, January 2, at 1 p.m. ET on NBC.
The NHL Centennial Classic will air on Sunday, January 1, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
Railers HC News
Worcester Railers Steam toward Full ECHL Membership
Earlier this week, Telegram and Gazette’s Bill Ballou wrote about the state of the Railers ECHL membership status. Back in February, the ECHL gave Cliff Rucker two conditions in order to gain full ECHL membership: One was it had to have sold 1,500 season tickets by January’s league meetings, and the other was that it had to have at least $250,000 worth of corporate sponsorships in hand.
As of this week, the Railers have completed one of the two conditions put out by the league. The Worcester Railers currently have $800,000 in corporate pledges and another $200,000 in handshake agreements with a total of $1,000,000. The total of $1,000,000 exceeds that requirement and ranks higher than half of the existing ECHL franchises.
The second condition of 1,500 season tickets is almost met, but appears that the Railers will not meet that requirement by the league meetings in January. As of this writing, the Railers have a little less than 1,100 memberships so having another 400 memberships will be a stretch will just weeks to go. However, this won’t be an unrealistic goal to reach when the puck drops in October.
Ballou writes that the ECHL is expected to officially make the Worcester Railers an ECHL franchise next month. The league is impressed with the amount raised for sponsorships and that will balance out the unmet condition of 1,500 memberships.
ECHL commissioner Brian McKenna said: “We know that they are working hard. The last time I checked, I heard they’ve done exceptional numbers on the sponsorship side. In cases like this, we look at the total business base, and that looks strong, and I know there will be continued efforts between now and first puck drop, all of which is promising.”
$23,400 Donated So Far to T&G’s Santa Fund
As of December 30, the Worcester Railers Foundation has donated a total of $22,400 to Telegram & Gazette.
The Telegram & Gazette’s Grand Total is currently: $154,318.07
To learn more about the Telegram’s Santa Fund, click here.
Current Member Count: 1069
#AllAboard! Hope on the #RailersHC train today! Call 508-365-1750! pic.twitter.com/n9awT6IfQp
— Worcester Railers (@RailersHC) December 30, 2016
Worcester Sharks Alumni News
Asuchak Named ECHL Player of the Week
The ECHL announced on Wednesday that Spencer Asuchak was the Sher-wood Hockey ECHL Player of the Week for December 19-23. Spencer Asuchak scored three goals (two of which were game winning goals) last week.
Spencer Asuchak (@Asuchak16) of @AllenAmericans named @sherwoodhockey #ECHL Player of the Week | https://t.co/Ph3H7BtjRL pic.twitter.com/N5azBewyMM
— ECHL (@ECHL) December 28, 2016
Worcester IceCats Alumni News
IceCats Alumni Scheduled to Play in Winter Classic Alumni Game
The NHL Winter Classic is this weekend, featuring the St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks. With every Winter Classic event comes the alumni game taking place the day before. This year features former Worcester IceCats players playing on both Alumni Rosters:
St. Louis Blues Alumni: Terry Yake (#27), Barret Jackman(#5), Jamie Rivers(#6), Bryce Salvador(#27)
Chicago Blackhawks Roster: Jamal Mayers (#22)
The Winter Classic Alumni game will be taking place on December 31st at 1:30 PM at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
IceCats Alumni Scheduled to Play in Centennial Classic Alumni Game
The NHL Centennial Classic is also taking place this weekend. The event will honor the centennial season of the Maple Leafs, and will also kick off a year-long celebration of the NHL’s centennial year of operation.
Former Worcester IceCat Gary Leeman (#11) will be playing in the Alumni game for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Centennial Classic Alumni game will also be taking place on December 31st at 12 PM at Exhibition Stadium (BMO Field) in Toronto.
Transactions
Yanni Gourde was recalled to the Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL) from the Syracuse Crunch (AHL).