The Worcester Railers took on the Adirondack Thunder at Cool Insuring Arena Saturday night with just about every checkmark in the “advantage” column for them, and as they have done virtually all season promptly threw that all away by making mistake after mistake in a 5-1 loss to the Thunder.
To be blunt, there is literally nothing positive that can be said about the game, and as it’s well known this writer doesn’t wear rose-colored glasses there will be no attempt to give anything a positive spin.
And yet once again, as they have all season, the Railers still control their own playoff destiny as a regulation win Sunday and they clinch.
Just for the record, he’s Brent Beaudoin’s goal that made it 5-1.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Philip Beaulieu (IR/upper body), Noah Delmas, Nick Fea, Adam Goodsir (IR/unknown), Max Johnson (IR/unknown), Connor McCarthy, Jack Quinlivan (IR/unknown), and Quin Ryan (IR/unknown). Ken Appleby was the backup goaltender and replaced stater Henrik Tikkanen after Adirondack’s fourth goal at 5:20 of the middle period. Earlier in the week Jimmy Lambert and Reece Newkirk were added to the Worcester roster. To make space for them Chris Ordoobadi and Billy Jerry were released. Ordoobadi had come off of injured reserve to be released, while Adam Goodsir has been placed on the list effective April 6th.
This season in the ECHL all teams were supposed to have nine home games with two referees, and despite a travel hiccup along the way involving Casey Terreri the Railers did indeed have nine. There is apparently no limit to the number of times a team can see two referees in road games as Saturday night was the 12th road contest with two referees for Worcester.
It hasn’t been a great week for former Worcester hockey pros that have moved on to the coaching ranks. St. Louis decided to make several changes behind the Blues’ bench, with former IceCats defender Mike Van Ryn getting the ax as assistant head coach. Van Ryn spent five seasons as an assistant coach with the Blues starting in the 2018-2019 season. Another former IceCats defenseman, Dallas Eakins, was told his contract as the head coach of the Anaheim Ducks would not be renewed. Eakins went 100-147-44 with the Ducks after being promoted from his job as the head coach of Anaheim’s AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, in 2019.
And speaking of the Gulls, their current head coach, Roy Sommer, who was the only head coach the WorSharks ever had, announced his retirement from coaching. “After much thought and discussion with my family, I felt this is the right time to announce my retirement,” Sommer said. “I started this career when I was six years old, and I have been in it ever since. I would like to thank the Anaheim Ducks, the San Diego Gulls, and all the fans for their support throughout the entire season,” said Sommer in the Gulls’ press release. Sommer finishes his AHL coaching career at 828-773-108 and is the league’s all-time wins and games-coached leader.
The three stars of the game were
1. ADK – 21 Patrick Grasso
2. ADK – 3 Dajon Mingo
3. ADK – 39 Mike Robinson
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Brent Beaudoin.
Even Strength Lines
Bakanov / Beaudoin / Repaci
Jandric / Hayhurst / Butler
Lambert / Callin / Newkirk
Vesey / Coughlin / X
Brandt / McGurty
Cosgrove / DaSilva
Evers / Kulakov
Our affiliates last night
Providence 5, Bridgeport 3
Springfield 1, Hartford 0
In the ECHL’s North Division
Reading 6, Newfoundland 2
Maine 7, Norfolk 2
North Division Standings
Team points (points percentage)
X-Newfoundland 98 (.691)
X-Reading 88 (.611)
X-Maine 85 (.599)
Adirondack 73 (.514)
Worcester 72 (.507)
Trois-Rivieres 61 (.424)
Norfolk 47 (.311)
BOX SCORE
Worcester 0 0 1 – 1
Adirondack 2 3 0 – 5
1st Period-1, Adirondack, Vidmar 15 (Smith, Mingo), 8:31. 2, Adirondack, Mingo 4 (Harper, Grasso), 15:58. Penalties-Kulakov Wor (roughing), 15:07; Jennings Adk (roughing), 15:07; Vidmar Adk (hooking), 16:31.
2nd Period-3, Adirondack, Grasso 34 (Middendorf, Stief), 4:49. 4, Adirondack, Grasso 35 (Harper), 5:20. 5, Adirondack, Weller 13 (Fleurent, Smith), 9:20. Penalties-Callin Wor (tripping), 7:12; Hallbauer Adk (hooking), 14:46; Vesey Wor (slashing), 15:32.
3rd Period-6, Worcester, Beaudoin 20 (Bakanov, Repaci), 0:53. Penalties-Mingo Adk (slashing), 7:16.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 8-4-11-23. Adirondack 6-14-7-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 3; Adirondack 0 / 2.
Goalies-Worcester, Tikkanen 18-17-3-0 (12 shots-8 saves); Appleby 13-12-1-0 (15 shots-14 saves). Adirondack, Robinson 3-3-2-0 (23 shots-22 saves).
A-4,871
Referees-Yannick Jobin-Manseau (30), Alex Normandin (26).
Linesmen-Trevor Waite (73), Matthew Heinen (93).
—
Got something you loved (or hated) about the post? Head on over to the 210Sports Facebook page and leave a comment. You could comment on this post too, but fair warning, the spam filter catches lots of stuff it shouldn’t and it might be weeks before we see your comment. While you’re there, please give the page a like and a follow.
-30-
210Sports 