During a Q-and-A that took place after the new seats were unveiled at the DCU Center, incoming Railers assistant head coach Bob Deraney said that the group of guys that had been assembled for the team by general manager and head coach Jordan Smotherman would be good enough to compete on their own, and that getting players on AHL and NHL contracts from Bridgeport would almost be a luxury.
So, yeah. About that…
Worcester found out what a team full of NHL and AHL contracted players can do as they were soundly defeated by the Norfolk Admirals 5-2.
One of hockey’s unwritten rules is never to give up a goal in the first or last minute of a period. Technically, the Railers didn’t do that as Thomas Caron’s goal came at 1:06 of the opening frame, but the effect is exactly the same.
It was the pure hustle of Zack White that tied the game for the Railers.
The Admirals would take the lead for good at 13:04 when Ryan Foss connected from between the circles just as a penalty to Jake Schultz expired. Then that rule popped up again as the Railers allowed a goal in the period’s final minute when Justin Young scored a power play goal on a nice deflection at 19:00.
In the second frame, Worcester outshot Norfolk 16-3, but as has happened far too often in Railers history they couldn’t light the lamp with the massive shot advantage but their opponents get one. After Norfolk collected an errant pass, the Admirals would eventually put the puck behind Henrik Tikkanen when Mathieu Roy deflected a Mark Liwiski centering feed into the net with his skate. It went to video review and was ruled a good goal. This writer disagrees, but in the long run, it didn’t matter.
In the third Norfolk would grab a fifth goal before Keeghan Howdeshell managed to grab the first Railers power play goal of the season
The two teams will meet again Friday night, with a third contest slated for Sunday afternoon.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Adam Goodsir, Riley Piercey, Jack Quinlivan (IR/unknown), Ryan Verrier, and Connor Welsh. Tristan Lennox was the backup goaltender.
Anthony Callin avoided an injury when he was checked in the head by Norfolk center Keaton Jameson during the first period, an obvious penalty missed by referee Evan Reddick that will hopefully be getting a look by the ECHL, but it appears Worcester captain Anthony Rapaci may not have been so lucky as he took a sort of stick-check type hit in the open ice from Stepan Timofeyev with just over three minutes left in the middle period. Broadcaster Tim Foley commented a Railers player needed help getting off the ice at the end of the period, and Dylan “WooHockey” Schofield reported that Repaci did not return to action.
As we do when teams play the Railers for the first time in a season we’ll look at some connections between the two clubs. For Norfolk, defenseman Domenick Fensore spent four seasons at Boston University, and was captain of the squad in his senior season in 2022-23. Forward Brian Bowen was born in Littleton, MA, and played 11 games with the Railers in 2017-18, going 3-1-4. There are no Worcester connections to Norfolk.
In a new thing for these postings, we take a look at the average size of the players on each roster, with the Railers being slightly taller at 6’1″ (185.21 cm) vs 6’0″ (183.96 cm) for Norfolk. Worcester ranks 10th in the ECHL while the Admirals rank 19th. The eighth-ranked Railers are just a touch heavier at 193 lbs (87.67 kg) than 13th-ranked Norfolk’s 192 lbs (87.30 kg). The Admirals average a half-year older than Worcester, 25.0 to 24.5. Both are in the bottom half of the ECHL.
While checking for connections between the two teams, Admirals defenseman Ian White stood out because his pro rookie season was 2004-05 with the St. John’s Maple Leafs, and he even played a few games for them the previous season when his CHL team, the Swift Current Broncos, were eliminated from the playoffs. That’s the last two seasons of the IceCats, so into the vaults this writer went to see if he had played against them. Unfortunately, he did not as the IceCats and Maple Leafs didn’t play each other in either season. He did manage a single game against the WorSharks, on November 29, 2014, while playing for the Providence Bruins. White didn’t hit the scoresheet in the 5-2 Worcester win, finishing with a minus-1 rating for the game. Hannu Toivonen remains as the only player to play against the IceCats, WorSharks, and Railers, and barring something unforeseen will likely be the only one to accomplish that feat.
The three stars of the game were:
1. NOR – 35 Thomas Milic
2. NOR – 27 Ryan Foss
3. NOR – 15 Mathieu Roy
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Zach White.
Even Strength Lines
Repaci / Jenkins / Calder
Howdeshell / Robbins / White
Bakanov / Pivonka / Ryan
X / Cipollone / Callin
Kulakov / Schultz
Cosgrove / Copeland
Krygier / Garat
Our affiliates last night
No games last night
In the ECHL’s North Division
No games last night
BOX SCORE
Worcester 1 0 1 – 2
Norfolk 3 1 1 – 5
1st Period-1, Norfolk, Caron 1 (Roy, Robidas), 1:05. 2, Worcester, White 1 (Schultz), 7:24. 3, Norfolk, Foss 1 (McDougall, Timofeyev), 13:04. 4, Norfolk, Young 1 (Mendel, Fensore), 19:00 (PP). Penalties-Cipollone Wor (tripping), 2:20; Schultz Wor (cross-checking), 10:58; Liwiski Nor (cross-checking), 14:46; Bakanov Wor (slashing), 17:34.
2nd Period-5, Norfolk, Roy 2 (Liwiski, Foss), 5:15. Penalties-Liwiski Nor (tripping), 5:25; Roy Nor (hooking), 8:57; Kulakov Wor (fighting – major), 19:30; Liwiski Nor (fighting – major), 19:30; Roy Nor (slashing), 19:55.
3rd Period-6, Norfolk, Mendel 1 4:54. 7, Worcester, Howdeshell 1 (Jenkins, Garat), 11:25 (PP). Penalties-Kubicek Nor (interference), 9:49.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 4-16-7-27. Norfolk 11-3-7-21.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 5; Norfolk 1 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Tikkanen 1-1-0-0 (21 shots-16 saves). Norfolk, Milic 1-0-0-1 (27 shots-25 saves).
A-2,489
Referees-Evan Reddick (21).
Linesmen-Mark Dungan (61), Evan Knox (83).
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