Sunday morning this writer began his game posting for Saturday’s 8-2 Railers win over Maine by saying that based on past history nothing this team does on the ice really surprises anyone anymore.
So, yeah, about that.
During Sunday’s 9-5 win over Maine, Railers forward Ashton Calder scored five goals, tying Worcester’s pro hockey single-game record, to help overcome a three-goal deficit and put two more important points up on the board for the Railers.
For those that missed it, we’re going double old school and will link to the highlight package posted on ECHL.com.
Lost in all of the Calder excitement was the fact that the Railers had four shots in the third period and scored on three of them.
So, now some record keeping to update. In records we know for certain were set or tied, Ashton Calder’s five goals tie John Carter’s city pro record for goals in a game. Carter went five goals on eight shots against Cape Breton at the then-named “Centrum in Worcester” on January 4th, 1995. Calder went five for six on Sunday. As the first Railers player to score four goals in a game Calder’s final four goals being scored in 19:38 of play sets a franchise mark for a single player. Calder is again the only Railers player to score five goals in a game, so his five goals in 34:14 is also a franchise mark. Carter still holds both of those city records. Calder was plus-5, tying the Railers franchise mark, and just missed Peter Smrek’s city record of plus-six.
The nine team goals set a new Railers franchise mark, and it was the first time they earned any points after trailing by three goals in a game.
In one record that we’ll call “disputed” right now, Bill Ballou says Calder’s seven total points (five goals and two assists) tie Jim Campbell for his three goals and four assists on December 28, 1999, in the IceCats’ 9-4 victory over Saint John at the Centrum. My notes, Ballou’s article written that night for the game in the Worcester Telegram, the official score sheet, and several other Ballou Telegram stories all have Campbell as 3-3-6 for the contest. We’ll make sure to touch base with Ballou at the next opportunity to reconcile the differences, but for now this writer feels it’s safe to say Calder owns that record now.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were John Copeland (IR/unknown), Ryan Dickinson (IR/unknown), Austin Heidemann, Tristan Lennox (IR/lower body), Jack Quinlivan (IR/unknown), C.J. Regula, Anthony Repaci (IR/upper body), and Zach White (ill). John Muse was the backup goaltender.
Looking forward to next weekend’s series in Trois-Rivières against the Lions, the Railers easiest path to the playoffs is two regulation wins. There are other possible scenarios for them to make it in, along with a longshot chance at finishing third in the North Division, but all they need to do is win and they’re in.
As noted above Ashton Calder is listed as having five goals on six shots, so of course this writer needed to know about the one that missed. It’s listed as coming at 13:29 of the first period, but a check of the video shows he’s not on the ice at that time. Calder does have a shot attempt at 13:17 on a partial breakaway, but it ends up going wide and Brad Arvanitis didn’t make a save. So technically it appears Calder was five for five shooting in the game.
And since the video was up on the screen, a look at the third period shot the Railers failed to score on was in order. It was by Jake Pivonka, and it was to the five-hole of Shane Starrett, who had replaced Arvanitis in goal to start the third period. Starrett made the save but looked behind him unsure if he had the puck. He did.
GROWLERS/LIONS
As promised in Friday’s post, a few thoughts on the Newfoundland Growlers situation. The blame for the Growlers folding falls at the feet of one person, and that’s Dean MacDonald, chair of Deacon Sports and Entertainment. The rent owed by both of the teams involved has been widely reported as one of the major reasons why, but looking back at previous in-season situations involving ECHL teams with lease issues the league would not take such drastic actions so late in the season over simply rent monies owed.
The issue is MacDonald and DSE owe the ECHL money, and whispers are it’s a significant amount, and that’s the reason the membership of the Growlers was revoked, and the Trois-Rivieres Lions potential sale was allowed to go through. MacDonald has had months to rectify the situation, and while there is a potential buyer for the Lions despite his public comments there doesn’t appear to be a viable interested party to purchase the Growlers. Now how do we know that? Because the ECHL folded the team rather than run it for the remainder of the season to allow a sale to go through. Buyer or not, MacDonald lost his teams when he missed a deadline to have both clubs sold.
Lots of people on social media say that the ECHL revoked the franchise because of the travel other teams had to make to get to St John’s, which is laughable. This is a league that once had a team in Anchorage, Alaska. Teams that are that distant from other teams are required to pay a travel subsidy to visiting clubs, and that’s a known fact before any team even begins operations. The ECHL doesn’t care where a team is, only that it be financially viable. Is travel to St John’s sometimes a pain in the rear end? Yes, absolutely. Is it a reason to take away a team? No, no it’s not.
Originally a group led by Steven Leal, CEO of Quebec-based Fix Network World, was going to purchase the Lions, but backed out of the deal. Rumors abound that DSE was asking $3.5 million for the ECHL team, an amount that seems outrageous considering the debt owed. One would think the amount will be much lower now that MacDonald and DSE are essentially out of the equation.
The debt the Lions owe also raises some questions. Is it possible that MacDonald and DSE were funneling money away from Trois-Rivieres to use in running the Growlers? Sure, that’s nothing but conjecture, but it doesn’t seem to be out of the question that was happening. And might that have been a reason for Leal to drop his bid for the team, seeing the books and knowing something was fishy? Even if there was, we’ll never hear about it, as not discussing it would absolutely be a condition of the purchase. But it would be a prime reason why someone would balk at a $3.5M price tag, essentially paying for someone else taking money out of a franchise.
One thing is for certain, anyone who knows the whole truth will never be telling anyone.
The three stars of the game were:
1. WOR – 16 Ashton Calder
2. WOR – 13 Jake Pivonka
3. WOR – 8 Christian Krygier
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Ryan Verrier.
Even Strength Lines
Newkirk / Jenkins / Callin
Howdeshell / Pivonka / Calder
Bakanov / Scarfo / Robbins
Piercey / Cipollone / X
Welsh / Cosgrove
Verrier / Krygier
Garat / Kulakov
Our affiliates last night
Rochester 5, Bridgeport 4 SO
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
Adirondack 3, Allen 2 OT
BOX SCORE
Maine 3 1 1 – 5
Worcester 1 5 3 – 9
1st Period-1, Maine, Stockdale 1 (Doherty, Mechura), 9:32. 2, Worcester, Calder 18 (Pivonka), 10:34. 3, Maine, Kalmikov 19 (Kile, Mechura), 11:39. 4, Maine, Ritchie 8 (Sarlo), 13:07. Penalties-served by Stockdale Mne (bench – too many men), 7:03.
2nd Period-5, Maine, Vidmar 10 (Mechura, Kile), 3:24 (PP). 6, Worcester, Calder 19 (Garat, Howdeshell), 5:10. 7, Worcester, Calder 20 (Cipollone, Piercey), 6:50. 8, Worcester, Newkirk 7 (Cosgrove, Welsh), 10:42. 9, Worcester, Krygier 2 (Calder), 11:11. 10, Worcester, Calder 21 (Scarfo, Pivonka), 18:14 (PP). Penalties-Pivonka Wor (roughing), 3:12; Mechura Mne (roughing), 10:05; Kulakov Wor (roughing), 10:05; Pederson Mne (holding), 18:05.
3rd Period-11, Maine, Drevitch 10 (Vidmar, Stockdale), 1:43. 12, Worcester, Calder 22 4:48. 13, Worcester, Robbins 8 (Callin, Tikkanen), 18:17 (EN). 14, Worcester, Verrier 4 (Pivonka, Calder), 18:37. Penalties-Doherty Mne (delay of game), 7:19; Kulakov Wor (tripping), 11:06.
Shots on Goal-Maine 8-12-7-27. Worcester 11-11-4-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Maine 1 / 2; Worcester 1 / 3.
Goalies-Maine, Arvanitis 19-9-2-0 (22 shots-16 saves); Starrett 7-12-3-0 (3 shots-1 saves). Worcester, Tikkanen 10-6-1-1 (27 shots-22 saves).
A-4,867
Referees-Tyler Hascall (8).
Linesmen-Shane Kanaly (74), Antoine Bujold-Roux (72).
—
Do you have 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.
You can also follow along and comment on the following sites:
Twitter/X (210Darryl), Twitter/X (210Sports), Post.news, Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon.
-30-
210Sports 