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 of each month here on the blog.
1
2009 – Jay Leach claimed on waivers by San Jose from Montreal.
2011 – The Worcester Sharks promoted Mike Myers to senior director of business and community development. Myers would be responsible for overseeing the Sharks corporate sales, community relations, and merchandise departments.
2012 – The AHL suspended Worcester Sharks forward Matt Pelech three games by the league as a result of his hit to the head on Syracuse’s Mark Barberio on November 25th.
2020 – With the season officially canceled for the Railers, longtime Worcester hockey broadcaster Eric Lindquist leaves the organization to pursue other opportunities. When he left Lindquist was the second-longest full-time tenured Worcester pro hockey employee, behind only Railers COO Mike Myers.
Birthdays: Chris McAlpine (1971); Shane Walsh (1991)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/01/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-1/
2
2001 – The Worcester IceCats Booster Club named Justin Papineau is Booster Club Player of the Month for October.
2010 – The Worcester Sharks signed Jody Pederson to a PTO.
2012 – The AHL named Worcester Sharks forward Tim Kennedy Player of the Week.
2019 – The Worcester Railers sign Ian Milosz.
Birthdays: Chris Crane (1991)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/02/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-2/
3
1994 – The Worcester IceCats sign Blair Atcheynum to a PTO.
2000 – The AHL named Worcester IceCats goaltender Dwayne Roloson Player of the Month.
Birthdays: Jonathan Fauteux (1980); Kevin Henderson (1986)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/03/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-3/
4
1954 – Ed (Butch) Songin, former Boston College football and hockey star, signs with the Worcester Warriors. Songin just completed his season as QB with the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League.
1999 – The Worcester IceCats began wearing a “WFD” decal on their helmets in honor of the six firefighters killed in the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Company fire.
2018 – The ECHL named Worcester Railers netminder Mitch Gillam Goaltender of the Week.
Birthdays: Wayne Cowley (1964); Patrick Wellar (1983); Patrick McNally (1991)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/04/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-4/
5
2001 – Steven Halko traded to St. Louis by Carolina with Carolina’s 4th round choice (later traded to Atlanta – Atlanta selected Lane Manson) in the 2002 Entry Draft for Sean Hill.
2004 – Blake Evans’ ironman streak ended at exactly 140 games as he was scratched for the IceCats game on November 4th game. The 140-game streak was the longest in IceCats history. Evans last missed a game on January 10, 2003.
2007 – The AHL officially announced the 2009 American Hockey League All-Star Classic would be played at the DCU Center, with the Sharks as the host team.
Birthdays: Matthew Gaudreau (1994)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/05/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-5/
6
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/06/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-6/
7
1954 – The Worcester Warriors win their first ever game, a 6-5 home win over Clinton.
1996 – Due to a pregame illness suffered by Travis Scott, Worcester IceCats front office staffer Erin Villiotte, a former Harvard women’s team goalie, went home prior to the game and brought her equipment in as a precaution. She did not sit on the bench in uniform. There is no evidence she was ever signed to a contract. By rule, she would have been allowed to play had the IceCats lost every available rostered goaltender.
Birthdays: Marc Busenburg (1977)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/07/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-7/
8
2015 -The ECHL announced that Allan Sirois had been named to their league’s Hall of Fame. Sirois played seven games for the Worcester IceCats over three seasons in the mid to late 1990s.
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/08/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-8/
9
2003 – Garrett Stafford signed as a free agent by San Jose.
2008 – The AHL suspended Worcester Sharks defenseman Brendan Buckley for four games for leaving the bench to join an altercation and fight the Monarchs Michel Leveille in Manchester on December 5th.
2018 – The Worcester Railers acquire Matt Schmalz from the Orlando Solar Bears in exchange for future considerations.
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/09/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-9/
10
2008 – The Worcester Sharks Booster Club named Tom Cavanagh Player of the Month for November and Jamie McGinn Player of the Month for October.
Birthdays: Charlie Millen (1992)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/10/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-10/
11
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/11/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-11/
12
1997 – The Worcester IceCats released Dennis Wright from his PTO and signed him to an SPC.
1999 – The AHL named Worcester IceCats forward Marty Reasoner Player of the Week.
2013 – Dan DaSilva released from his PTO and signed to an SPC by the Worcester Sharks.
Birthdays: Mike Moore (1984)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/12/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-12/
13
1994 – Terry Virtue captured a shoplifter trying to steal a replica jersey at the Worcester IceCats team shop on Main Street.
2019 – Worcester Railers Director of Hockey Operations Eric Lindquist was behind the bench with Head Coach and GM Dave Cunniff.
Birthdays: Daren Machesney (1986); Todd Perry (1986)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/13/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-13/
14
1954 – Ed (Butch) Songin, the star quarterback with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (predecessor of the Canadian Football League), played his first game on defense with the Worcester Warriors as the Warriors defeated the New Haven Blades 6-5. Songin would go on to be the starting quarterback for the Boston Patriots.
2000 – Four Worcester IceCats players, Mike Peluso, Ladislav Nagy, Daniel Corso, and Peter Smrek, were named to participate in the AHL All-Star Game on January 15 in Wilkes-Barre-Scranton, PA.
2011 – Jack Combs signed to an SPC by the Worcester Sharks
Birthdays: Ryan Lannon (1982); Demi Crossman (1994)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/14/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-14/
15
1996 – The AHL named Worcester IceCats head coach Greg Gilbert to the AHL All-Star team as coach of the Canadian squad. That honor goes to the head coach of the team with the best winning percentage as of December 14th, which was Worcester. IceCats associate coach Paul Pickard was named to assist Gilbert.
2004 – The AHL suspended Worcester IceCats forward Alexei Shkotov two games for a match penalty received December 12th in Hartford after he tripped Hartford’s David Liffiton from behind in the corner to the left of Wolf Pack goalie Jason LaBarbera.
2006 – Patrick Traverse traded to San Jose by Montreal for Mathieu Biron.
Birthdays: Yanni Gourde (1991)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/15/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-15/
16
1996 – Bryce Salvador signed as a free agent by St. Louis.
Birthdays: Bryce Nielsen (1993)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/16/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-16/
17
1999 – Worcester IceCats forwards Marty Reasoner and Ladislav Nagy were selected to the Planet USA All-Star team for the Kodak AHL All-Star Classic Rochester, N.Y.
2000 – Eric Boguniecki traded to St. Louis by Florida for Andrei Podkonicky. Ironically, the IceCats were in Louisville at the time of the trade. Boguniecki then bema ethe fifth IceCat to participate in the AHL All-Star Game on January 15 in Wilkes-Barre-Scranton, PA.
2004 – With the NHL’s lock-out continuing the Worcester IceCats signed Eric Boguniecki and Matt Walker to AHL contracts. The IceCats also signed David Kaczowka to a SPC.
2015 – Cliff Rucker and the DCU Center signed a lease agreement for Rucker’s yet to be approved and unnamed entry into the ECHL. It was a five-year lease set to begin with the 2017-18 hockey season, with an option for five more.
Birthdays: Paul Pickard (1958)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/17/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-17/
18
1997 – The AHL suspended Worcester IceCats defenseman Justin Hocking one game after accumulating his third instigator minor of the season in Portland on December 17th.
2000 – The AHL suspended Worcester IceCats right wing Chris Murray for three games as a result of a high-sticking penalty he received in December 16th’s 2-2 tie at Kentucky.
2003 – Worcester IceCats veteran Terry Virtue was named playing captain of the Canadian team for the AHL All-Star Classic, held in Grand Rapids on February 8th and 9th. It was Virtue’s second time as an IceCats All-Star.
2006 – The Worcester Sharks released defenseman Justin Kurtz from his PTO and signed him to an SPC.
2010 – The Worcester Sharks signed David Marshall to a PTO.
2011 – The AHL named Worcester Sharks forward Tommy Wingels Player of the Week.
Birthdays: Brian O’Hanley (1984)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/18/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-18/
19
1996 – The St Louis Blues fire Mike Keenan as Head Coach and General Manager, and name Jimmy Roberts named Interim Head Coach.
1998 – Bryan Helmer claimed on waivers by St. Louis from Phoenix.
2000 – Worcester IceCats managing general partner Roy Boe announced the proposed deal to sell his share of the team to Rick Kohn has been called off. Kohn had been introduced as the team’s perspective owner as far back as Media Day in October, just before the season started.
2003 – The AHL suspended Worcester IceCats forward Sergei Varlamov two games for making an obscene gesture in Wilkes-Barre after he was introduced to the crowd as the No. 1 star of the game on December 12th.
2004 – First official mention of “Save Our Hockey” in the Telegram.
2014 – The Worcester Sharks signed Greger Hanson to a PTO.
Birthdays: Carter Hutton (1985)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/19/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-19/
20
2003 – The Worcester IceCats signed Mike Hoffman to an SPC.
2004 – The Worcester Iceccats loan left-wing Konstantin Zakharov to Team Belarus to participate in the 2005 IIHF World Junior Championships.
Birthdays: Joe Callahan (1982)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/20/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-20/
21
1954 – The Worcester Warriors win their third game in a row, a 5-3 home win over Washington. It would be their final win of the season.
1994 – The AHL suspended Worcester IceCats forward Kevin Sawyer for two games for coming off the bench to start an altercation in the game with Springfield on December 16th.
2002 – The Worcester IceCats Booster Club named Sergei Varlamov Player of the Month for November.
2012 – The Worcester Sharks signed Denny Urban to a PTO.
2014 – The Worcester Sharks game at Bridgeport was postponed when the Sound Tigers bus allegedly broke down in New Jersey on their way back home from Norfolk, Virginia. It has been dubbed the “Magic Bus” game ever since.
2018 – The Worcester Railers Booster Club named Josh Holmstrom as Player of the Month for October and Tyler Barnes Player of the Month for November.
Birthdays: Alexis Vanier (1995)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/21/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-21/
22
2000 – The Worcester IceCats Booster Club named Dan Corso Player of the Month for November.
2003 – The St Louis Blues loaned Jame Pollock to Team Canada for the 2003 Spengler Cup. Pollock would have a goal and two assists in the five games as Team Canada earned the gold medal.
2017 – The Worcester Railers Booster Club named Patrick McNally Player of the Month for October and Chris Langkow Player of the Month for November. Also, the ECHL suspended Worcester Railers defenseman Justin Hamonic one game for a match penalty for intentionally shooting a puck at Adirondack’s Conor Riley at the end of December 21st’s game against the Thunder.
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/22/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-22/
23
Birthdays: Matt Smith (1976)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/23/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-23/
24
Birthdays: Trent Campbell (1982)
25
26
1994 – The Worcester IceCats’ mascot was given the name “Scratch”. The name was selected from entries by youths 12 and under in the McDonald’s-WORC Name the Mascot Contest.
1997 – The Worcester IceCats Booster Club named Robert Petrovicky Player of the Month for November.
2014 – Willie Coetzee signed to an SPC by the Worcester Sharks.
2006 – The Worcester Sharks sign Josh Prudden to a PTO.
2009 – Sports Illustrated names Josh Harding’s mask as “Mask of the Decade”. The mask was painted by Worcester Railers COO Mike Myers.
2010 – The Worcester Sharks game vs the Portland Pirates was postponed due to weather. The game was rescheduled for Tuesday, January 18th.
2013 – The Worcester Sharks Booster Club named Daniil Tarasov Player of the Month for October and Troy Grosenick Player of the Month for November.
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/26/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-26/
27
1999 – The Worcester IceCats add a “WFD” patch to their jerseys to commemorate the six firefighters who died in the Worcester Cold Storage Fire.
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/27/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-27/
28
1999 – On the night he was named Worcester IceCats Booster Club Player of the Month for November Jim Campbell had three goals and three assists for six points, still the most ever by a Worcester player in a single game.
2000 – St. Louis sent Marc Bergevin to the Penguins in exchange for defenseman Dan Trebil.
2002 – The AHL suspended Worcester IceCats defenseman Ed Campbell for two games for slashing Dmitry Afanasenkov in Worcester’s 4-0 victory at Springfield On December 26th.
Birthdays: Alex Westlund (1975); Patrick Davis (1986)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/28/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-28/
29
1996 – The Worcester IceCats Booster Club named Stephane Roy Player of the Month for November.
1998 – The Worcester IceCats signed Jaroslav Obsut to a PTO.
2003 – The Worcester IceCats Booster Club named Ernie Hartlieb Player of the Month for November
2008 – Claude Lemieux signed as a free agent by San Jose.
2009 – The AHL named Logan Couture and Danny Groulx to the Canadian team for the AHL All-Star Classic.
2012 – The Worcester Sharks Booster Club named Sebastian Stalberg Players of the Month for October and Tim Kennedy Players of the Month for November.
Birthdays: Harri Sateri (1989)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/29/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-29/
30
1996 – Travis Scott signed as a free agent by St. Louis.
1999 – The San Jose Sharks acquired Todd Harvey and a 2001 fourth-round pick (Dimitri Patzold) from the New York Rangers in exchange for Radek Dvorak.
2003 – Jeremy Yablonski signed as a free agent by St. Louis.
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/30/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-30/
31
2018 – The Worcester Railers receive forward Bo Brauer from the Atlanta Gladiators to complete their trade with Atlanta for Nick Bligh.
Birthdays: Jason Lawmaster (1978); Ashton Rome (1985)
Games: https://210sportsblog.com/2019/12/31/today-in-worcester-hockey-history-december-31/
-30-
210Sports 