The Worcester Railers needed an Easter Sunday regulation win over the visiting Reading Royals and a Trois-Rivières victory over Maine to keep their slim playoffs alive, and got neither in a 3-2 loss in what was an absolute clown show of a game.
On Friday night, this writer tweeted that the officiating performance of that game, led by referee Michael Zyla, was the worst he’d seen all season. The ECHL apparently said “hold my beer” and assigned Zyla, along with Alexandre Gagne, to work Sunday’s contest. It was quite simply a clown show as Zyla and Gagne were in over their heads and completely lost control of the game before ten minutes had expired. If I go into the details about how bad those bozos in stripes were, I fear those who weren’t there would think I needed to be committed to a mental hospital.
Yes, they were that bad.
And in what was a must-win game for Worcester, assigning such incompetent officiating was a disservice to the Railers and their fans. It’s not that Worcester lost. Heck, they’ve done more than their share of that this season without any help from others. It’s that they were not given a fair shake.
That being said, they were down 2-0 before Case McCarthy beat Reading netminder Carson Bjarnason with an absolute snipe over the goalie’s left shoulder. Jordan Kaplan and Max Dorrington had the helpers.
Late in the third, with Parker Gahagen off for an extra attacker, Anthony Repaci made it 3-2, with assists from Anthony Callin and McCarthy.
But with under ten seconds left and a non-clean faceoff win, the Railers’ playoff run ended with a loose puck just rolling into their zone.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Gabe Blanchard (14-day IR/Upper body), Dalton Duhart (14-day IR/unknown), Connor Federkow (14-day IR/Lower body), Riley Ginnell (14-day IR/Lower body), Anthony Hora (14-day IR/Lower body), Xavier Jean-Louis, Tristan Lennox, Declan McDonnell, Ryan Miotto (14-day IR/Lower body), and Max Ruoho (3-day IR). Thomas Gale was the backup goaltender.
Over the years, there have been players who donned a Worcester jersey that were, let’s just say, “not very well-liked” by their teammates. Some of those players are people you could easily guess, and others, perhaps, not so easily. But the one thing they all have in common is that they didn’t have to contend with social media when they played. However, this is not true for former Anaheim Ducks and current Dynamo Moskva (KHL) forward Max Comtois, who is apparently wearing out his welcome. Usually, leagues don’t release video like this. So imagine what’s being said when it’s not being recorded.
There is a tenuous WorSharks connection as Jordan Weal, who is #91 for Dynamo Moskva and in the video, was coveted by many Worcester fans when Weal played for the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs back in the day.
The three stars of the game were
1. REA – #7 Ben Meehan
2. WOR – #21 Case McCarthy
3. WOR – #81 Anthony Repaci
The 210Sports Player of the Game is Anthony Callin.
Even Strength Lines
Repaci / A.Callin / D.Callin
Piercey / Carson / Hatten
Donhauser / DeMelis / Kaplan
Veremyev / Dorrington / Mitton
McDonald / McCarthy
Suda / Pulkkinen
Samuelsson / Corcoran
Press Releases
RAILERS: Railers fall in weekend finale 3-2 to Royals
ROYALS: None before posting time
Our affiliates last night
(Sunday)
No games scheduled
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
(Sunday)
Trois-Rivières 3, Maine 0
BOX SCORE
Reading 2 1 0 – 3
Worcester 0 1 1 – 2
1st Period-1, Reading, Johannes 12 (Robidoux, Gendron), 0:58. 2, Reading, Meehan 12 (Golder, Kurth), 10:32 (PP). Penalties-Haskins Rea (roughing), 7:28; Callin Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:28; Robidoux Rea (roughing), 9:50; Dorrington Wor (slashing), 9:50; Callin Wor (high-sticking), 10:13; Robidoux Rea (roughing), 14:01.
2nd Period-3, Worcester, McCarthy 4 (Kaplan, Dorrington), 4:04. 4, Reading, Mongo 4 (Sevigny), 14:34. Penalties-Kulakov Rea (roughing), 5:41; Piercey Wor (roughing, interference), 5:41; served by Kaplan Wor (bench – unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:18; McMenamin Rea (high-sticking), 7:47; Veremyev Wor (cross-checking), 12:13; Frasca Rea (slashing), 14:55; Meehan Rea (misconduct – inciting), 15:59; Michel Rea (tripping), 15:59; Johannes Rea (misconduct), 19:14; Kulakov Rea (roughing), 19:14; Piercey Wor (misconduct), 19:14.
3rd Period-5, Worcester, Repaci 21 (Callin, McCarthy), 19:51. Penalties-Robidoux Rea (illegal check to head), 6:30; Mitton Wor (high-sticking – double), 10:52; Suda Wor (cross-checking), 14:55.
Shots on Goal-Reading 6-4-5-15. Worcester 6-12-7-25.
Power Play Opportunities-Reading 1 / 7; Worcester 0 / 6.
Goalies-Reading, Bjarnason 1-1-0-0 (25 shots-23 saves). Worcester, Gahagen 17-11-4-1 (15 shots-12 saves).
A-2,788
Referees-Alexandre Gagne (44), Michael Zyla (34).
Linesmen-Sam Schildkraut (46), Conor Foley (86).
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