One wouldn’t ordinarily think that July is a hockey month, but with the official hockey year starting on July 1st Worcester hockey has reached two milestones. The 2022-2023 season will be the fifth that the Worcester Railers take to the ice, and it’s the 25th season of pro hockey in the city.
There is a story for every single one of the 1,295 regular season and playoff pro games played in Worcester right here on 210Sports. There’s even a write-up for just about every preseason game that the IceCats, WorSharks, and Railers have played. There’s also information on most of the Worcester Warriors games played in 1954-55.
You can then add a couple Boston Bruins preseason games, and both Hartford vs Hershey games played at the DCU Center when the XL Center wasn’t available for the Wolf Pack to play in after the WorSharks were eliminated in 2014-15, and once they’re compiled, the game stories for the Worcester Blades. With everything, that’s a whole lot of hockey information to go through.
But the big thing that’s missing is the stories about the fans.
For 25 years fans have shared the stories of Worcester hockey with each other, and while occasionally there’s been a mention of them in columns written by Bill Ballou, for the most part, these stories are not well known by most people.
At every single gathering of fans, new stories are shared, and many have nothing to do with the actual game. It’s the goings-on at the DCU Center that people most talk about. Yes, of course, some of it is gossip, but in many cases, it’s really about how this person met that person, or how they decided to join the Booster Club, or about the friendships cultivated at the games. Off the ice, Worcester hockey has always been about family.
And after 25 years, it’s about time some of these stories were told to a larger audience.
So this summer I’m inviting fans of Worcester hockey to tell their stories on 210Sports. No matter if you’re a fan, a player, or work in the front office, everyone is invited to share their stories. People can either fill out the form below or send an email to memories (at) 210sportsblog.com. Clicking the link will open your email client, and the email address is shown that way to keep spam bots from reading it.
Don’t worry about it not being written well, or thinking it’s not a long enough story to tell, I’ll work with you to make sure it’s everything you want to say in a way you want to say it. Pretty much any Worcester hockey story you want to tell, or any personal experience involving hockey and other fans you want to share is welcome. When I mentioned this project to folks I was asked if pictures could also be submitted. If you wish to submit a couple with your story let me know and we’ll work out how to go about doing so.
You should also indicate how you wish to be identified in the post about your story. Unfortunately, you can’t be anonymous. But you shouldn’t want to be anyway.
OK, now for some “official speak”…
*You must be 18 years or older to participate. If there is any question about your age your submission will be deleted.
*Your email address will be kept private and will not be shared with anyone at any time for any reason.
*Only submissions to 210Sports will be accepted. Posts to any social media sites/groups will not be considered.
*You may be contacted to provide further proof of your identity.
Again, this is open to everyone, and we all look forward to reading your story. And if you have more to say than just one story, just submit another!
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