With the NHL finally announcing that all the stats once they restart their season will be considered to be in the postseason we can take our final look at how some current and former Worcester pro players did in the shortened 2019-20 season.
For the North American pro leagues at the ECHL level or higher any player in their league’s top-20 gets listed, and in the SPHL and the overseas leagues, it’s just those in the top-five for the league. Goaltenders only get a mention if they meet their league’s qualifying minimums. All of the stats and rankings are as of the shutdown of the particular league mentioned.
In the NHL Ottawa’s Chris Tierney tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals with four. San Jose’s Tomas Hertl, Colorado’s Matt Nieto, and Tampa Bay’s Yanni Gourde all tied for 15th with two shorties each.
Sharks captain Logan Couture was tied for second in overtime goals with three and Dallas’ Joe Pavelski was tied for ninth with two. San Jose’s Barclay Goodrow rounds out the NHL skaters with 97 penalty minutes, which tied him for fifth in the NHL.
For the goalies, Minnesota’s Alex Stalock had 20 wins, good enough to tie for 17th. He had five shutouts, which tied him for fifth. Buffalo’s Carter Hutton had two shutouts, tying him for 17th.
Looking at AHL skaters, Utica’s Nikolay Goldobin gets two mentions, with his 50 points tying him for tenth in the league, and his 31 assists tied him for 18th. His Comets teammate Vincent Arseneau ranked 17th in penalty minutes with 90.
As he has done for many of the past seasons Milwaukee’s Troy Grosenick hits the list multiple times. His 20 wins tied him for sixth, his 2.29 goals against average put him in seventh, a .920 save percentage landed him in eighth, and his two shutouts tied him for 17th.
Switching to the ECHL, six Railers managed to crack the league’s top 20 listings, starting with Nic Pierog tying for the league lead in shorthanded goals with five. Barry Almeida and Jordan Samuels-Thomas each added two shorties, tying for 14th in the ECHL.
Worcester has a long history of players racking up penalty minutes, and 2019-20 was no exception with Yanick Turcotte being assessed 153 minutes, good enough for third in the league. The ECHL obviously doesn’t keep track of penalty minutes a player receives but didn’t deserve, but if they did it’s a safe bet Turcotte would lead that one running away. Ross Olsson earned almost every one of the 120 minutes he received, which landed him in the sixth spot for the league.
Evan Buitenhuis finishes the list of current Worcester players, with his 14 wins just cracking the ECHL’s top 20.
For the remainder of the ECHL, Reading’s Frankie DiChiara hits the listing three times, with his 59 points tying him for eleventh, his 37 assists tying him for 14th, and his seven power play goals tying him for 16th. Greenville’s Michael Pelech also had 37 assists.
For the goalies Adirondack’s Eamon McAdam and Wichita’s Mitch Gillam both had 15 wins tying them for 17th in the league and each had two shutouts, tying them for eleventh. Gillam also managed a top-20 in save percentage, with his .905 tying him for 17th.
Down in the SPHL Fayetteville’s Brian Bowen led the league with 30 goals and was second in points with 58. Teammate Blake Wojtala tied for fourth with a .920 save percentage.
Taking a look overseas Brock Higgs was third in the Asia League with 30 assists. Trevor Parkes led the DEL with 28 goals while Chad Costello ranked second in points with 54 and fourth in assists with 34. In DEL2 Tyler Gron tied for fifth with 29 goals. And finally, in Norway Daniel Ciampini was tied for third in goals with 23 and was fifth in points with 52.
No former Worcester Blades have stats that qualify for the post, and for the first time ever there are no former IceCats listed.
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