It’s a shame the Worcester Railers can’t play against Adirondack every game.
That’s because going into Friday night’s matchup against the Norfolk Admirals the Railers were 3-1-1-1 against the Thunder and a woeful 3-6-1-0 against the rest of the ECHL. Well, you can now make that seven regulation losses as Worcester once again showed that they were nowhere close to being ready to consistently take on one of the top teams in their division with a 4-1 loss to Norfolk.
Postgame, head coach Jordan Smotherman talked to Bill Ballou. “If you look outside the records a lot of the games we played don’t reflect the scores. We’re having a problem building momentum right now. We’re very one and done….you can’t win a game scoring one goal. We’ve played against some good goalies and (Yaniv Perets) certainly had a good game, made some big saves, but I think we’ve made some goalies look better.”
The big problem in hockey is, just like every single sport on the planet, it’s pretty much all about the score and your record. You can look terrible and win, which is fine to an extent because you won. You can also look great and lose, which is bad because you wasted that effort and didn’t win. The Railers’ big problem, as it has been for nearly a full calendar year now, is they often look terrible and lose.
Worcester is averaging 2.61 goals per game, second-worst in the ECHL behind only Kalamazoo. They rank 15th in goals against at 3.28. Subtract those two numbers, and that’s why the Railers have four more losses than wins. The Railers’ special teams are atrocious. Their power play is 25th in the ECHL and trending downward. Their penalty kill is 26th.
The Railers’ top goal scorer, Ashton Calder, ranks tied for 13th with nine goals, A respectable ranking. Second best is Jake Pivonka’s seven goals, which ties for 35th. The third best is Brendan Robbins, whose five goals don’t break the top 80 in the ECHL. And after that Worcester’s offensive production drops like a stone in water.
Just like their playoff chances unless some major changes are made soon.
As for the game, it was Norfolk that would grab the only goal in the opening frame when a high looping clear from Artyom Kulakov landed in the neutral zone at the feet of Riley Piercey, who whiffed on it. Keaton Jameson picked up the puck and skated into the Worcester zone, beating Henrik Tikkanen high-glove side at 16:31 for the unassisted goal.
While the play was going on it looked to many on this writer’s side of the ice that Norfolk had six skaters playing during the turnover, but a careful look at the video shows that wasn’t the case.
In the second period, it was Worcester that had the only goal of the stanza when Aston Calder connected on the power play.
To the third the teams went tied 1-1, and unfortunately it was the Admirals that would break the deadlock at 4:24 when John Copeland took himself out of the play with a poorly executed stick check on a two-on-two break. We’ll include the video so fans can see how little the trailing three Railers players did in the play.
For fans who want to see the absolute wrong way to play defense in professional hockey, we’ll use the following video of Ryan Verrier pinching in at the worst possible moment as an example of what not to do.
Norfolk would add a late empty netter for the 4-1 final.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Keeghan Howdeshell, Christian Krygier (IR/upper), Jack Quinlivan (IR/unknown), Quinn Ryan, and Jake Schultz. Tristan Lennox was the backup goaltender.
Thursday the ECHL’s newest team announced their name and logo, and the Tahoe Knight Monsters were officially born. The Knight Monsters, owned in part by Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, will have a teal, black, and gold color scheme. While they haven’t officially named an NHL affiliate, it’s likely to be the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. Their AHL affiliate would then be the Henderson Silver Knights, placing all three teams in Nevada. The team will begin play in the 2024-25 season at the new Tahoe Blue Event Center in Stateline, Nevada. For those who wish to see the logo, and it is very cool looking, you can head on over the ECHL site.
Former Worcester Sharks tough guy and fan-favorite–don’t those descriptors often go hand in hand–Jimmy Bonneau was at the game Friday night in his role as a professional scout for the San Jose Sharks organization. Despite being based out of Boston it was his first trip back to the DCU Center to watch a hockey game. As one would expect, he was welcomed by longtime fans as a conquering hero, and also as one would also expect, he took the accolades humbly. He signed many autographs, including several for the Worcester Railers Booster Club fundraising efforts, and watched the middle period sitting at this writer’s perch along with Booster Club president Rich Lundin. Bonneau then did a radio interview in the third period with Railers broadcaster Tim Foley.
The three stars of the game were:
1. NOR – 1 Yaniv Perets
2. NOR – 16 Keaton Jameson
3. WOR – 16 Ashton Calder
The 210Sports Player of the Game was no one.
Even Strength Lines
Piercey / Callin / Repaci
Bakanov / Robbins / White
Jenkins / Pivonka / Calder
X / Cipollone / Goehring
Welsh / Cosgrove
Verrier / Garat
Kulikov / Copeland
Our affiliates last night
Providence 6, Bridgeport 3
In the ECHL’s North Division
Idaho 8, Newfoundland 3
Maine 5, Kansas City 2
Adirondack 5, Florida 3
BOX SCORE
Norfolk 1 0 3 – 4
Worcester 0 1 0 – 1
1st Period-1, Norfolk, Jameson 2 16:31. Penalties-Caron Nor (holding), 9:50.
2nd Period-2, Worcester, Calder 9 (Welsh, Jenkins), 8:49 (PP). Penalties-Golder Nor (delay of game), 7:53; Golder Nor (interference), 9:00; Robbins Wor (hooking), 18:29.
3rd Period-3, Norfolk, Liwiski 2 (Golder, Jameson), 4:24. 4, Norfolk, Iverson 2 (Liwiski, McDougall), 8:35. 5, Norfolk, Roy 9 19:51 (PP EN). Penalties-Young Nor (tripping), 16:13; McDougall Nor (delay of game), 17:13; White Wor (hooking), 18:24.
Shots on Goal-Norfolk 11-9-8-28. Worcester 12-10-9-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Norfolk 1 / 2; Worcester 1 / 5.
Goalies-Norfolk, Perets 3-5-1-0 (31 shots-30 saves). Worcester, Tikkanen 2-4-1-1 (27 shots-24 saves).
A-1,839
Referees-Nolan Bloyer (31).
Linesmen-Patrick Philbin (88), Shane Kanaly (74).
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