Wednesday night, the Worcester Railers ended their long holiday layoff with a New Year’s Eve matchup against the Wheeling Nailers at WesBanco Arena and scored six goals on special teams on their way to a 7-2 routing of the ECHL’s top team in the standings. Anthony Callin led the way for Worcester with his first pro hat trick, and netminder Thomas Gale picked up his first win of the campaign, making 28 saves.
WesBanco Arena is a tough building to play in because the ice surface is 15 feet shorter than the usual-sized NHL rink, and that’s usually an advantage for Wheeling, as teams aren’t used to the shortened neutral zones. It’s “usually”, because it wasn’t an issue for the Railers Wednesday night, nor has it usually been for Worcester as the win improved their record to 3-1-0-3 in the building.
Although it looked early on that might not be the case this time when Jack Works connected on an odd-man rush just 3:16 into the game.
Callin’s first of the game came with the Railers on a five-on-three power play at 17:12, with Michael Suda and Anthony Repaci assisting.
With Callin in the box for interference, Matt DeMelis would grab Worcester’s first shorthanded goal of the game with 21.7 seconds left in the frame to give the Railers a 2-1 lead.
In the second period, Ryan Miotto would have two goals, the first coming at even strength at 3:15 of the period. Tanner Schachle and T.J. Walsh had the helpers.
Miotto’s second of the frame came at 9:53 on the power play, from DeMelis and Max Dorrington, to make it a 4-1 Railers lead.
At 2:04 of the third period, Brent Johnson, not in any way related to the IceCats netminder of the same name, cut the Worcester lead to 4-2 with a power play goal with Riley Piercey sitting in the box for a holding the stick minor.
Soon after, Riley Ginnell found his way to the sin bin for a completely unnecessary slashing minor, and longtime hockey fans know that’s the kind of penalty that can get teams back into games. Only this time, it helped Worcester bury the Nailers as Callin connected for the Worcester’s second shorthanded of the game, with the assist going to Cole Donhauser, at 5:03. There were issues with the stream so the Railers didn’t post any video, but in the Wheeling postgame highlights they showed the play, so this is as good as it will get for the goal.
Later in the period, Schachle the elder ended up in the penalty box for a holding call this writer thought was, to be kind, weak, but in the end, all it did was allow Ross Mitton to set a Railers franchise record with the team’s third shorthanded goal of the game. Callin and Anthony Hora assisted at 8:43.
At first, I thought this tied the city’s pro record, but after a few minutes of research, it’s likely a new record. As with many things Worcester hockey, Bill Ballou will likely have the final word on this.
The hat trick goal for Callin came at 11:57 on the power play, with Suda grabbing the lone assist.
The win was the third in a row for the Railers on New Year’s Eve, and improves the record of Worcester pro teams to 7-12-1 on December 31st.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were MacAuley Carson (14-day IR/Unknown), Michael Ferrandino (14-day IR/Unknown), Luke Pavacich, and Porter Schachle (14-day IR/Unknown). Tristan Lennox was the backup goaltender.
In transactions since the players’ strike was settled, Drew Callin and Cam McDonald were signed to professional tryout contracts (PTO) by Bridgeport, and the AHL Islanders recalled Parker Gahagen. Tristan Lennox was also reassigned to Bridgeport by the NY Islanders, and the next day, they sent him back to Worcester. Worcester lost another player when Hartford recalled defenseman Case McCarthy. The Railers then signed defenders Lazarus Kaebel and Connor Federkow, both out of the SPHL.
It will be interesting to see if the Railers ask the ECHL to review Craig Armstrong’s shove of Lincoln Hatten into the boards that Wheeling kept showing in their highlights. It meets the definition of boarding, “A boarding penalty shall be imposed on any player who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently or dangerously”, but it likely doesn’t rise to the level of being suspension-worthy. Worcester probably won’t, but it is something to keep an eye out for.
With the elder Callin in the AHL, Lincoln Hatten was given the alternate captain’s “A” for the game. During the broadcast, Tim Foley mentioned that Cole Donhauser will also wear an “A” at some point, which we’ll assume for now will be during home games.
In a scoring change from the series against Norfolk, add an assist to Adam Samuelsson on Riley Ginnell’s opening goal on Wednesday. That goal now reads “1, WOR, Ginnell 3 (Callin, Samuelsson), 5:39.”
With it being the first time Worcester and Wheeling have faced off, we’ll take a look at some roster and area connections between the teams. Wheeling forward Owen Cole played four seasons at UMass-Lowell, captaining the River Hawks in 2024-25, while Mike Posma played four seasons at Boston College, wearing the alternate captain’s “A” in 2024-25. Matt Quercia was born in Andover and played three seasons at Boston University. Fellow forward Ryan Mahshie played 43 games for the Railers last season, going 3-4-7 with a minus-8 rating. For Worcester, forward Ryan Miotto played five games for Wheeling in 2023-24, notching his first pro goal with the club, and goaltender Thomas Gale played two games with the Nailers last season, going 1-1-0 with a 3.58 GAA and .899 save%. Railers head coach Nick Tuzzolino played three games for the Nailers in 2010-11 and earned an assist before being traded to Utah.
Folks who are familiar with the “Save Our Hockey” initiative that took place after the Worcester IceCats were sold and moved to Peoria likely know that there was a plan in the works to have the Albany River Rats sold and moved to Worcester, a deal that ultimately fell through because Devils’ general manager Lou Lamoriello balked at extending the affiliation. The leader of the group that was going to purchase the River Rats was Wyllys Godfrey Wood, who passed away a couple of weeks ago in Falmouth, Maine. His obituary only skims the surface of what he did in hockey. Railers Booster Club President Rich Lundin, who at the time was leading the “Save Our Hockey” group, said of Wood’s passing, “I really admired that guy.” I don’t think any more needs to be said.
For the second time this season, an ECHL club signed and then quietly released convicted sex offender Ben Johnson. This time, it was the Allen Americans, who knew exactly what they were doing as they limited replies to their social media accounts immediately after signing Johnson. After the expected uproar, Allen Americans General Manager Steve Martinson released Johnson, saying in a press release, “After discussions today with ownership and management, the Americans made the decision to release forward Ben Johnson.” It should be noted that part of the Americans’ ownership group is Myles Jack, who was recently arrested on a felony gun charge after police say he fired shots inside his Frisco home and then climbed out a second-story window to escape. Neither incident is a great look for the ECHL.
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – #44 Anthony Callin
2. WOR – #10 Ryan Miotto
3. WOR – #37 Matt DeMelis
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Michael Suda.
Even Strength Lines
Repaci / Miotto / Mitton
Ginnell / Dorrington / A.Callin
Donhauser / DeMelis / Hatten
Walsh / X / T.Schachle
Samuelsson / Suda
Hora / Blanchard
Piercey / Kaebel
Federkow
Press Releases
RAILERS: Railers close 2025 with dominant 7-2 win in Wheeling
NAILERS: Special teams key in victory for Worcester
Our affiliates last night
Bridgeport 4, Hartford 0
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
Trois-Rivières 3, Savannah 1
Adirondack 3, Maine 2 OT
Reading 2, Norfolk 1
BOX SCORE
Worcester 2 2 3 – 7
Wheeling 1 0 1 – 2
1st Period-1, Wheeling, Works 6 (Parker, Cole), 3:16. 2, Worcester, Callin 6 (Suda, Repaci), 17:12 (PP). 3, Worcester, DeMelis 9 19:38 (SH). Penalties-Hodass Whl (roughing), 10:12; Federkow Wor (holding), 13:24; Lockhart Whl (slashing), 15:30; Hodass Whl (delay of game), 16:08; Callin Wor (interference), 18:57.
2nd Period-4, Worcester, Miotto 4 (Schachle, Walsh), 3:15. 5, Worcester, Miotto 5 (DeMelis, Dorrington), 9:53 (PP). Penalties-Andrew Whl (interference on the goalkeeper), 8:09; Dorrington Wor (roughing), 12:48; Tymkin Whl (roughing), 12:48; Hodass Whl (holding), 13:02; Walsh Wor (tripping), 16:11.
3rd Period-6, Wheeling, Johnson 4 (De St. Phalle, Lockhart), 2:04 (PP). 7, Worcester, Callin 7 (Donhauser), 5:03 (SH). 8, Worcester, Mitton 3 (Callin, Hora), 8:43 (SH). 9, Worcester, Callin 8 (Suda), 11:57 (PP). Penalties-Piercey Wor (holding the stick), 1:09; Ginnell Wor (slashing), 4:15; Quercia Whl (roughing, misconduct – continuing altercation), 5:03; Schachle Wor (holding), 8:14; Johnson Whl (roughing), 11:19; Quercia Whl (misconduct), 11:19; Works Whl (tripping), 17:16.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 13-13-8-34. Wheeling 15-7-8-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 3 / 8; Wheeling 1 / 6.
Goalies-Worcester, Gale 1-3-0-0 (30 shots-28 saves). Wheeling, Pavlenko 9-6-0-0 (34 shots-27 saves).
A-3,116
Referees-Tyler Hascall (8), -.
Linesmen-Garrett Gaydosh (96), Austin March (80).
—
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 a lot 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 