The Worcester Railers took on the Maine Mariners at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland Saturday night and for the first time this season got a gander at what the team would look like without Captain Anthony Repaci as the franchise’s career all-time almost everything leader was an injury scratch, and what Worcester fans saw was not good as the Railers bumbled their way to a 3-1 loss.
With the loss and Reading’s win, the Railers are now in fifth place in the ECHL’s North Division with 38 points and are currently in the all-too-familiar spot of being out of the playoffs. Sixth place Maine is just three points behind at 35 points and Adirondack is eight behind at 30. The Mariners and Thunder both have enough games in hand to pass Worcester in the standings.
Just like Friday night the Railers allowed an early goal and then had to play catch-up hockey, and they didn’t have enough offense to catch up. Over the weekend Worcester trailed 113:49 of a possible 120 minutes, and that’s the reason they got no points and have tumbled down the standings.
Was it great to see Lincoln Hatten stand up for his teammates and pound the snot out of Maine captain Wyllum Deveaux? Yeah, sure. But it doesn’t win games.
The Railers did manage one goal, by Riley Ginnell, just as a power play ended. Matt DeMelis and Griffin Luce had the assists.
Worcester, who relies on their power play for much of their offense, went scoreless in seven extra-man opportunities over the weekend, including an extended time playing six on four.
If Bridgeport isn’t going to send back some of their recalled players soon Railers GM Nick Tuzzolino needs to quickly find some players who can put the puck in the net or Worcester fans will be looking at another long off-season.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Matthew Boudens (IR/upper body) and Anthony Repaci (unknown injury). Michael Bullion was the backup goaltender.
Ordinarily, this writer would be arguing for a color-on-color matchup against Maine as they would usually be in green or blue while the Railers could easily be in their orange third jerseys, but with the Mariners wearing lavender Hockey Fights Cancer jerseys to benefit Maine Children’s Cancer Program, it’s probably best Worcester was in white. But next time…
While only one current full-time AHL player started their pro career with a Railers contract, Drew Callin with the Springfield Thunderbirds, there are currently none in the NHL. But that doesn’t mean the Railers haven’t produced some NHL-level talent. In addition to Jackie Avola, Game Presentation Manager for the Washington Capitals, and former Senior Manager for Live Experience and Production for the New Jersey Devils Katie Arsenault, Paul “Pablo” Harris is the Programs Manager for the Dallas Stars and the Dallas Stars Foundation. Along with being the Railers Community Relations Manager and winning the ECHL’s Community Service Team of the Year award for four consecutive seasons, Pablo was also the Community Relations and Foundation Manager for the Texas Stars before moving on to his current NHL job. Earlier this week Pablo, along with others from the Dallas Stars Foundation, helped raise $515,000 for charity, a record-breaking amount for their annual Casino Night. It’s great to see Pablo continuing the great charity efforts in the NHL that he took part in while in Worcester.
Railers fans will remember that the last game the Newfoundland Growlers played was at the DCU Center at the end of last March before the ECHL terminated the team’s membership in the league for failure to fulfill league bylaws. Rumors of significant amounts of money being owed to the league by the team have never been confirmed. But in any case, fans at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland didn’t need to wait long for high-level hockey to return as the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) will be relocated to The Rock for the 2025-26 season. This week it was announced the team will be rebranded as the Newfoundland Regiment. The logo looks great, along with solid jersey color choices. Former Worcester players Vincent Arseneau, Mitchell Balmas, Danny Groulx, Zach Malatesta, Myles McGurty, and Jonathan Tremblay all played for Acadie-Bathurst in the past.
And speaking of announcing a nickname for a team, there’s a lot more to it than just holding a contest and picking a winner, including some things we has the general public might not think about. Dan Marrazza, who has worked for the Vegas Golden Knights, DraftKings, and the NHL amongst other places, put up a great tweet highlighting some of the issues involved. It’s well worth the couple of minutes it takes to read. Thanks to former Railers’ scout and all-around great guy Dave Salter for sharing it.
The three stars of the game were
1. ME – Justin Bean
2. ME – Nolan Maier
3. ME – Xander Lamppa
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Riley Ginnell.
Even Strength Lines
Donhauser / Kaplan / Mahshie
Ginnell / Callin / Loughran
Cheremeta / DeMelis / Dudek
Rons / Hatten / Johnson
Welsh / Luce
Savijoki / Dickinson
Hora / Klee
Our affiliates last night
NY Islanders 3, Carolina 2 OT
Lehigh Valley 2, Bridgeport 1
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
Kansas City 7, Wheeling 1
Reading 3, Greenville 2 SO
Adirondack 6, Norfolk 1
BOX SCORE
Worcester 0 1 0 – 1
Maine 1 1 1 – 3
1st Period-1, Maine, Bean 5 (Zieky, Jermain), 5:04. Penalties-Zieky Mne (interference), 1:25; Hatten Wor (fighting – major), 5:11; Deveaux Mne (fighting – major), 5:11; Donhauser Wor (roughing), 15:01; Massicotte Mne (roughing), 15:01.
2nd Period-2, Maine, Hudson 7 (Bean, McCallum), 4:05. 3, Worcester, Ginnell 5 (DeMelis, Luce), 11:03. Penalties-served by Zieky Mne (bench – too many men), 8:58.
3rd Period-4, Maine, Lamppa 4 (Vidmar, Bean), 2:07. Penalties-McCallum Mne (tripping), 15:13; Massicotte Mne (high-sticking – double), 17:34.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 6-13-13-32. Maine 9-7-5-21.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 5; Maine 0 / 0.
Goalies-Worcester, Ollas 4-8-1-2 (21 shots-18 saves). Maine, Maier 4-6-0-0 (32 shots-31 saves).
A-5,588
Referees-Trevor Wohlford (38), Hayden Verbeek (57).
Linesmen-Davids Rozitis (90), Benjamin Lord (98).
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