Over on the 210Sports Facebook page I’ve been posting daily updates for each day in Worcester hockey history. In case people missed some, I’ll gather them at the end each month here on the blog.
1
2002 – The St. Louis Blues re-signed forwards Daniel Tkaczuk and Marc Brown, defenseman Dale Clarke, and goaltender Cody Rudkowsky.
2017 – The Worcester Railers announced that an agreement has been reached between Worcester Sports Center LLC and Fidelity Bank for the naming rights to the $18 million practice facility, to now be called The Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center.
2019 – Worcester Railers sign Kyle Thomas.
Birthdays: Jason Widmer (1973)
2
1994 – Worcester IceCats name Ed Krayer as assistant general manager.
2000 – St. Louis Blues announce the re-signings of goaltender Brent Johnson and forward Reed Low.
2013 – The San Jose Sharks have re-signed forwards Bracken Kearns and Marek Viedensky to one-year contracts
Birthdays: Scott Stirling (1977)
3
Birthdays: Sandis Ozolinsh (1972)
4
1995 – The St Louis Blues acquire a 1996 first round pick (Marty Reasoner) and a 1997 first round pick from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Curtis Joseph and the player rights to Mike Grier.
Birthdays: Kris Kasper (1980)
5
2020 – The ECHL Board of Governors, in conjunction with the Professional Hockey Players’ Association, has approved a revised start date for the 2020-21 ECHL Season. The anticipated start date is December 4, 2020, for a full 72-game schedule.
Birthdays: John Laliberte (1983); Jamie McGinn (1988)
6
1996 – Greg Gilbert named head coach of the Worcester IceCats. Paul Pickard promoted from assistant coach to associate coach.
2020 – Worcester Railers re-sign Myles McGurty and Tyler Poulsen
Birthdays: Shayne Toporowski (1975); Kevin Hart (1991)
7
2001 – St Louis Blues sign Curtis Sanford to an AHL contract, and sign Phil Osaer to an NHL entry-level contract.
2011 – James Sheppard traded to San Jose by Minnesota for San Jose’s 3rd round pick (Kurtis Gabriel) in 2013 NHL Draft.
Birthdays: Andrew Blazek (1988); Petter Emanuelsson (1991); Meghan Turner (1994)
8
1994 – The Worcester IceCats sign goaltenders Les Kuntar and Wayne Cowley to SPCs.
2001 – The St Louis Blues sign defenseman Steve McLaren. Years earlier McLaren was the player who sucker-punched Bryce Salvador in a tunnel battle at the Centrum several seasons back. Salvador was sidelined with a concussion because of that.
2016 – The US Hockey Hall of Fame announced longtime Mount Saint Charles hockey head coach Normand “Bill” Belisle had been selected for induction. Belisle played for the Worcester Warriors of the Atlantic Hockey League during the 1955-56 season.
Birthdays: Philippe Johansson (1994)
9
2001 – With the addition of direct access from the ice surface to the home locker room at the DCU Center and the IceCats changing player benches the team “flipped” the seating chart.
2006 – Mathieu Biron signed as a free agent by San Jose.
Birthdays: John McCarthy (1986)
10
1998 – Steve Pleau, assistant coach of the U.S. under-18 national hockey team, was named an assistant coach for the Worcester IceCats.
2017 – Worcester Railers sign Frank Dichiara.
Birthdays: Woody Hudson (1992)
11
2000 – Worcester IceCats head coach Greg Gilbert resigns to become an assistant coach for the NHL Calgary Flames. Gilbert’s contract with the Blues was through the end of the 2000-2001 season, so he had to get St. Louis’ permission to make the move to Calgary.
Birthdays: Marc Bergevin (1965); Don Granato (1967)
12
Birthdays: Terry Virtue (1970); Colin Hemingway (1980)
13
2008 – Ryan Vesce signed as a free agent by San Jose.
2020 – Worcester Railers sign Jacob Hayhurst.
14
Birthdays: Josh Gorges (1984)
15
2002 – Aris Brimanis signed as a free agent by St. Louis.
Birthdays: Dennis McCauley (1985)
16
Birthdays: Dan Spang (1983); Kellen Jones (1990)
17
1994 – The Worcester IceCats signed free-agent center Denis Chalifoux.
1999 – The Worcester IceCats named David Garabedian public relations and marketing coordinator.
2001 – The Worcester IceCats name Rudy Cantu athletic trainer.
2017 – The Worcester Railers sign Nick Saracino.
18
1995 – The Worcester IceCats re-signed Terry Virtue.
Birthdays: Marek Viedensky (1990)
19
1994 – The Worcester IceCats announced the signing of two defensemen, Roy Mitchell and Brian Straub.
20
2013 – Rob Davison signed as a free agent by San Jose.
2018 – The Canadian Women’s Hockey League announced the relocation of the Boston Blades to Worcester. The Worcester Blades will play the 2018-19 CWHL season at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center
2020 – The Worcester Railers sign Joel Kocur.
Birthdays: Jack Kirrane (1928); Steven Zalewski (1986)
21
2001 – Christian Laflamme signed as a free agent by St. Louis.
22
1995 – Worcester IceCats re-sign defenseman Shaun Kane.
Birthdays: Kyle Jones (1983); Chris Langkow (1989)
23
1954 – Larz Anderson, who would eventually be awarded a team in the newly reformed Eastern Hockey League, attended the first gathering of potential league owners held in Springfield, Massachusetts.
2000 – St Louis hires Don Granato to be the head coach of the Worcester IceCats. Granato had been the head coach of the Blues ECHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen.
2009 – Benn Ferriero signed as a free agent by San Jose.
2018 – The Worcester Railers sign Tyler Barnes.
Birthdays: Jamey Hicks (1969); Tony Lucia (1987); Linus Soderstrom (1996)
24
2007 – The Worcester Sharks hired Eric Lindquist to replace Jamie Smock as the team’s radio voice.
2017 – The Worcester Railers sign Chris Langkow.
Birthdays: Ricard Persson (1969); Samy Nasreddine (1976); Troy Riddle (1981); Shannon Hickey (1995)
25
1999 – Sylvain Blouin signed as a free agent by St. Louis.
Birthdays: David Williams (1967); Brodie Reid (1989)
26
1995 – The Worcester IceCats re-signed right wing Lindsay Vallis.
1998 – Mark Puleo has been reappointed equipment manager for the Worcester IceCats. Puleo came to Worcester midway through last season when the IceCats’ previous equipment manager resigned abruptly.
1999 – Doug Friedman signed as a free agent by San Jose.
Birthdays: P.J. Fenton (1985)
27
1999 – The St. Louis Blues have announced that they have hired Larry Thornton as an athletic trainer and appointed him to that post for the Worcester IceCats, their American Hockey League affiliate. Thornton, who is the brother of IceCats public relations director Michael Thornton, replaces Chris Phillips, who left for a job with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim of the NHL.
2014 – The Worcester Sharks announce the signings of Kyle Bigos, Nick Jones, Jeremy Langlois, Evan Trupp, and Gus Young.
2020 – The Worcester Railers re-sign Brent Beaudoin and sign Neil Robinson. The Railers also acquire forward Andrew DeBrincat from Cincinnati in exchange for Anthony Florentino going to Kansas City in a three team trade.
Birthdays: Troy Grosenick (1989)
28
Birthdays: Justin Murray (1998)
29
2001 – St Louis re-signed forward Eric Boguniecki to a multiyear contract.
2003 – John Ferguson Jr., the Worcester IceCats general manager for five years, was named general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
2019 – The Bridgeport Sound Tigers sign J.D. Dudek.
Birthdays: Jon Casey (1962); Tommy Grant (1986)
30
2018 – The Worcester Railers sign Alexis Vanier.
31
Birthdays: Jamie Russell (1966); Mike Stuart (1981)
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