The Worcester Railers begin their eighth campaign Saturday, October 18th, against the Maine Mariners with a 6pm puck drop. If you’re looking for their full season schedule, you can click right here, and it will bring you down to that section of the post.
The last few seasons have ended in heartbreak for the team and its fans, missing the playoffs on the last weekend by not being able to win games on the road during the final weekend of the regular season. Once again, the Railers finish the upcoming season on the road with three games at the expansion Greensboro Gargoyles, but Head Coach and General Manager Nick Tuzzolino is putting together a squad he hopes will be playing for a higher seed that weekend as opposed to fighting for its postseason life.
Goaltending is the backbone of any hockey team, and over the years, it has unfortunately let the Railers down at all the wrong times. Except for Mitch Gillam’s historic run at the end of the team’s first season that dragged Worcester into the playoffs, they’ve had little luck with netminders rising to the challenge.
That will hopefully change with the return of Tristan Lennox, who is starting a season completely healthy for the first time in his pro career. After a long rehab, he looked very rusty at the end of last season in Bridgeport and had a forgettable NHL debut, but make no mistake that a Lennox playing at 100% will be a force to reckon with in the ECHL.
He’s joined in the nets by Henrik Tikkanen, who has had periods of great play followed by times where he’s not played anywhere near as close as he’s capable of. Hopefully, Islanders goaltending coaches Sergei Naumovs and Piero Greco have managed to get the tall Finnish netminder completely on track.
Rookie Thomas Gale, a Holy Cross graduate, could also play a major factor in Worcester’s success. Being under contract to the Railers, he should be available all season and, at least on paper, is more than a capable fill-in for Lennox and Tikkanen should they be recalled to the AHL. While he may not start off getting in as many games as the two Islanders’ property goaltenders, he will get an opportunity to show what he can do at this level. And if he wins, it will put pressure on Tuzzolino to use him more often, which would be a great problem to have.
Defensively, the Railers have never been great, but they looked to be vastly improved over last season with the additions of veteran Cole Fraser, almost-veteran Matt Stief, and Jason Horvath. Cam McDonald returns to the Worcester blue line, this time under a Railers contract. That’s a solid four defenders right there.
The key early on will be the play of Calle Odelius, the NY Islanders’ second-round pick from 2022. He didn’t have a great statistical season in Bridgeport in 2024-25, but that team was historically bad, so it’s hard to tell if he was actually that bad or his numbers were a result of being on one of the worst AHL teams of all-time. He will get plenty of opportunities to show what he can do here.
Two of the top three point-scoring forwards return to the Railers lineup, and it’s the two that you would absolutely pick over the third, as Anthony Repaci and Anthony Callin can hopefully continue to put the puck in the net for Worcester. Callin’s brother Drew is a great addition, rejoining Worcester after several seasons with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds.
A potential full season of Riley Piercey, on a Railers contract this time, certainly bodes well for Worcester, although just as in the case with Blade Jenkins a couple of seasons ago, an AHL team might come calling for him if he looks great here. It will also be interesting to see what Tyler Kobryn can do over a full season here. He looked great as a late-season addition; now he needs to step it up as a full-time player.
Another forward that could be poised to make a big splash this season is Lincoln Hatten, who played every single role asked of him last season, from fourth-line sandpaper to top-line scoring forward. His full-throttle style fits the team that Tuzzolino has put together this season, and Hatten will have his chance to shine, and if he does, he may get looks from AHL teams.
We’ve all heard it before, that “this season is the year”. But for some reason, it feels different this time. The key components for skaters are not Islanders property, and Tuzzolino has made sure that if we lose a goaltender to Bridgeport, he’s got a very good replacement.
It would be great if that final trip to Greensboro took place with a playoff spot already clinched, and Tuzzolino and the Railers can get that started with a win on opening night.
Worcester Railers 2025-26 Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Time |
| 10/18/25 | Maine | 6:05 pm EST |
| 10/19/25 | Adirondack | 3:05 pm EST |
| 10/24/25 | at Norfolk | 7:05 pm EST |
| 10/25/25 | at Norfolk | 7:05 pm EST |
| 10/31/25 | Reading | 7:05 pm EST |
| 11/01/25 | Reading | 6:05 pm EST |
| 11/07/25 | at Maine | 7:15 pm EST |
| 11/08/25 | Maine | 6:05 pm EST |
| 11/09/25 | Maine | 3:05 pm EST |
| 11/14/25 | Trois-Rivières | 7:05 pm EST |
| 11/15/25 | Trois-Rivières | 6:05 pm EST |
| 11/18/25 | Maine | 10:05 am EST |
| 11/21/25 | Maine | 7:05 pm EST |
| 11/22/25 | Greensboro | 6:05 pm EST |
| 11/23/25 | Greensboro | 3:05 pm EST |
| 11/28/25 | at Adirondack | 7:00 pm EST |
| 11/29/25 | at Adirondack | 7:00 pm EST |
| 11/30/25 | at Adirondack | 3:00 pm EST |
| 12/05/25 | at Reading | 7:00 pm EST |
| 12/06/25 | at Reading | 7:00 pm EST |
| 12/10/25 | at Adirondack | 7:00 pm EST |
| 12/13/25 | at Maine | 6:00 pm EST |
| 12/17/25 | Norfolk | 7:05 pm EST |
| 12/19/25 | Norfolk | 7:05 pm EST |
| 12/20/25 | Norfolk | 6:05 pm EST |
| 12/26/25 | at Maine | 7:15 pm EST |
| 12/27/25 | Adirondack | 6:05 pm EST |
| 12/28/25 | Adirondack | 3:05 pm EST |
| 12/31/25 | at Wheeling | 6:10 pm EST |
| 01/02/25 | at Wheeling | 7:10 pm EST |
| 01/07/25 | at Adirondack | 7:00 pm EST |
| 01/09/25 | Florida | 7:05 pm EST |
| 01/10/25 | Florida | 6:05 pm EST |
| 01/11/25 | Florida | 3:05 pm EST |
| 01/14/25 | Reading | 7:05 pm EST |
| 01/16/25 | at Maine | 7:15 pm EST |
| 01/17/25 | at Maine | 6:00 pm EST |
| 01/18/25 | Maine | 3:05 pm EST |
| 01/23/25 | at Norfolk | 7:05 pm EST |
| 01/24/25 | at Norfolk | 7:05 pm EST |
| 01/25/25 | at Norfolk | 3:05 pm EST |
| 01/30/25 | Wheeling | 7:05 pm EST |
| 01/31/25 | Wheeling | 6:05 pm EST |
| 02/01/25 | Wheeling | 3:05 pm EST |
| 02/04/25 | at Adirondack | 7:00 pm EST |
| 02/07/25 | at Trois-Rivières | 3:00 pm EST |
| 02/13/25 | Trois-Rivières | 7:05 pm EST |
| 02/14/25 | Trois-Rivières | 6:05 pm EST |
| 02/15/25 | Trois-Rivières | 3:05 pm EST |
| 02/19/25 | at Rapid City | 7:05 pm MST |
| 02/20/25 | at Rapid City | 7:05 pm MST |
| 02/21/25 | at Rapid City | 7:05 pm MST |
| 02/27/25 | at Trois-Rivières | 7:00 pm EST |
| 02/28/25 | Maine | 6:05 pm EST |
| 03/01/25 | Adirondack | 3:05 pm EST |
| 03/07/25 | at Trois-Rivières | 3:00 pm EST |
| 03/08/25 | at Trois-Rivières | 3:00 pm EST |
| 03/11/25 | Norfolk | 7:05 pm EST |
| 03/14/25 | at Reading | 7:00 pm EST |
| 03/15/25 | at Reading | 3:00 pm EST |
| 03/20/25 | Maine | 7:05 pm EST |
| 03/21/25 | at Maine | 6:00 pm EST |
| 03/22/25 | Adirondack | 3:05 pm EST |
| 03/27/25 | at Wheeling | 7:10 pm EST |
| 03/28/25 | at Wheeling | 7:10 pm EST |
| 03/29/25 | at Wheeling | 4:10 pm EST |
| 04/02/25 | Reading | 7:05 pm EST |
| 04/03/25 | Reading | 7:05 pm EST |
| 04/05/25 | Reading | 3:05 pm EST |
| 04/10/25 | at Greensboro | 7:00 pm EST |
| 04/11/25 | at Greensboro | 7:00 pm EST |
| 04/12/25 | at Greensboro | 3:00 pm EST |
—
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), Bluesky, and Mastodon.
-30-
210Sports 