The Worcester Railers finished their opening weekend with an afternoon game against the Trois-Rivières Lions Sunday at the DCU Center and they did pretty much nothing right in a 4-1 loss.
The talk from the Railers hockey ops during training camp was how much quicker this year’s team was, and that they were going to play bigger than they did in previous seasons. Saturday night’s 5-2 win over Adirondack made it look like the team had all the tools in place to put last season’s failures behind them and open up a new era in Worcester hockey. But Sunday’s game against the Lions showed there’s at least one tool missing.
And that’s an alarm clock.
For the opening twenty minutes, both clubs played like it was the last game of a four-in-five week at the end of the regular season, with slow, sloppy play being the rule rather than the exception. The teams combined for 24 shots, but neither Worcester goaltender Tristan Lennox nor Lions netminder Zachary Bouthillier were tested.
The second frame was a different story as Trois-Rivières came out of the gates wide awake while Worcester still looked like they were sleeping. Goals from Justin Ducharme (11:07) and Matthew Boucher (shorthanded at 12:45) put Worcester down 2-0.
It looked like it was going to get worse when Artyom Kulakov went off for tripping, but Worcester captain Anthony Repaci seemed to wake up his squad with a shortie of their own.
Turned out all the Railers did was hit the snooze alarm, as 19 seconds later Jakov Novak converted on that same power play to make it 3-1. Cedric Montminy would add a third-period empty netter for the 4-1 final.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Anthony Callin, Zsombor Garat, Keeghan Howdeshell, Jack Quinlivan (IR/unknown), and Jake Schultz. Henrik Tikkanen was the backup goaltender.
We mentioned the possibility in yesterday’s post, and today it became official that Blake Christensen was suspended by the Newfoundland Growlers for not reporting after they claimed him off waivers from Worcester.
If you think the Railers have had some head coaching issues having three in just over five seasons, that’s nothing compared to the Trois-Rivières Lions. Eric Belanger was named the first head coach of the team in 2022-23 but lasted just 13 games before resigning to take the head coaching job with the Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL). General manager Marc-Andre Bergeron then took on the head coaching role. This past summer Bergeron was fired and former Worcester IceCats forward Pascal Rhéaume was appointed as new head coach and general manager of the Lions. Less than three months later Rhéaume was out, moving on to the Bridgeport Islanders as an assistant coach. Ron Choules, who was hired as an assistant coach in July, was named the GM and head coach of the Lions in August.
As we always do when the Railers face an opponent for the first time in a season, we’ll take a look at some of the roster and area connections between Worcester and the Trois-Rivières Lions. Railers defenseman Connor Welsh played the last seasons for the Lions, going 3-19-22 in 74 games with a minus-16 rating. For Trois-Rivières, forward Jakov Novak spent two seasons at Northeastern University, serving as alternate captain in his senior year last season.
The average physical stats between the Worcester and Trois-Rivières, which we remembered to do for their first meeting, show that the teams are close to the same size. According to Elite Prospects, the Railers average height it 6’1″ (185.21 cm), which is tenth in the ECHL. The Lions also average 6’1″ (184.92cm), good enough for 12th. Worcester’s average weight is 193 lbs (87.67 kg), eighth in the league, versus 189 lbs (85.88 kg) for 25th ranked Trois-Rivières. The Railers are the fourth youngest in the ECHL at 24.5 years old, with the Lions being even younger 23.88, with only the Wheeling Nailers (23.68) below them.
The three stars of the game were
1. TR – 31 Zachary Bouthillier
2. TR – 86 Jakov Novak
3. WOR – 81 Anthony Repaci
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Tristan Lennox.
Even Strength Lines
Calder / Jankins / Repaci
Piercey / Ryan / Pivonka
Bakanov / Robbins / White
Goodsir / X / Cipollone
Krygier / Copeland
Kulakov / Verrier
Welsh / Cosgrove
Our affiliates last night
Hershey 3, Bridgeport 2 (OT)
In the ECHL’s North Division
@Newfoundland 2, Reading 1 (OT)
BOX SCORE
Trois-Rivières 0 3 1 – 4
Worcester 0 1 0 – 1
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-White Wor (roughing), 4:51; Hjorth Tr (high-sticking), 5:32; Beauregard Tr (slashing), 8:59.
2nd Period-1, Trois-Rivières, Ducharme 2 (Novak), 11:07. 2, Trois-Rivières, Boucher 2 (Hjorth, Montminy), 12:45 (SH). 3, Worcester, Repaci 2 (Jenkins), 15:55 (SH). 4, Trois-Rivières, Novak 2 (Ortiz, Hjorth), 16:14 (PP). Penalties-Jermain Tr (high-sticking), 11:44; Kulakov Wor (high-sticking), 15:08; Kulakov Wor (tripping), 17:15; Ortiz Tr (slashing), 19:05.
3rd Period-5, Trois-Rivières, Montminy 2 16:26 (EN). Penalties-Beauregard Tr (hooking), 14:09.
Shots on Goal-Trois-Rivières 14-13-9-36. Worcester 10-10-11-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Trois-Rivières 1 / 3; Worcester 0 / 5.
Goalies-Trois-Rivières, Bouthillier 1-0-0-0 (31 shots-30 saves). Worcester, Lennox 0-1-0-0 (35 shots-32 saves).
A-2,729
Referees-Steven Sailor (5), Rocco Stachowiak (28).
Linesmen-Shane Kanaly (74), Matthew Heinen (93).
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