(Photo: Heather Stebbins, The Pink Puck)
That opening headline might be unfamiliar to Worcester Sharks fans, but that’s exactly how the season has started. They are the only team in the Eastern Conference that has not yet lost a game. They join the reigning Calder Cup Champion Texas Stars and the Milwaukee Admirals of the Western Conference as the only undefeated teams in the league.
The Sharks opened their season on the road against the Binghamton Senators. The teams only face off twice this season and game one went to the Sharks. Although it had to go to overtime, the Sharks came off on top by a score of 3-2.
Next up for the Sharks was a home and home series with the Providence Bruins. They first took the trip down route 146 to Providence to take on the Bruins on Friday night. It was the first of 12 meetings for the teams that have been serious rivals season in and season out.
Worcester wasted no time in getting on the board first, something they have done in each of their three games so far. Petter Emanuelsson had his first professional goal in just his second game and followed that up with a second goal later in the first. The lone goal for the Bruins came from Justin Florek. All three goals that stood came in the first period.
What was possibly more bizarre from this game was that there were also two disallowed goals. The first goal under review came from the Sharks. However, it appears that the review was not working at that time. The officials stuck with the call on the ice that there had been no goal with no video review. Later in the game, it appeared that Justin Florek might have scored another. This time, the video review played numerous times throughout the arena. It looked like it could have been a close call. The puck crossed over the line just as the net was coming off it’s hinges. But, one of the Bruins was also tangled up with Sharks goalie Troy Grosenick. Either way, the rule on the ice of no goal stood.
Although the Bruins pulled retuning goalie Malcolm Subban towards the end of the game, the Sharks held on for the win and to keep their win streak going into their home opener.
When Saturday, October 18th came around, the Sharks geared up for their home opener. They were also celebrating twenty years of Worcester Hockey. The Worcester IceCats were in the city for 11 seasons and now the Sharks are entering their 9th season. The Opening Ceremony included raising a special banner with the 20th anniversary logo for the city designed by a fan.
As was the case in the first and second games of the season, the Sharks struck first. This time it was defenseman Taylor Doherty with a shot from the blue line that looked like it bounced off a Bruins player and went by Malcolm Subban, who was once again in net for the Bruins. The Sharks followed this up with an impressive first professional goal for Melker Karlsson in his first game in the AHL. It was an impressive goal as he fell to the ice but committed.
The next two goals would be for Providence as they tied up the score. But halfway through the second period, veteran and new Sharks forward Micheal Haley netted his second of the season in just three games.
Just as was the case in the game Friday, this game was not without excitement. Once again, the Bruins pulled Subban towards the end of the game. This time, however, the result was a little different. With less than 5 seconds remaining, Alexander Khokhlachev beat Grosenick for his first of the season. Khokhlachev also assisted on both Bruins goals.
This meant that Sharks were headed to overtime for the second time in three games. Overtime started as four on four. Once again, the Sharks made it past the four minute mark before anyone scored. So, with the new rules in the AHL, that meant that the overtime went to three on three. It was familiar territory for the Sharks, who made it to that point in their season opener as well. Just like in Binghamton, it was once again a defenseman that came to the rescue to give the Sharks the win. This time, it was Dylan DeMelo, who returned for his second full season with the Sharks and is the youngest member of the team.
What Sophomore Slump?
It’s still early in the season and there are a lot of things that can change, but some players have been shining in their second professional seasons.
Troy Grosenick made a strong showing in his first season. His numbers might not have always told the whole story, but he impressed a lot of people in his first season. His second season has not been different, so far. He has gotten all three starts and has three wins to show for it. So far he has a GAA of 1.86 and a save percentage of .944. This season, Grosenick will likely have to take on a heavier workload. Last season, he split time with Harri Sateri, but this season he will be the clear starting goalie.
Like the San Jose Sharks, the Worcester Sharks are rotating through a series of alternate captains. Through the first three games, only one player has been an alternate captain in all the games. Dylan DeMelo is coming off his first full professional season where he lead defensemen in points. He has already recorded his first goal of the season. More importantly than that, Demelo seems to have grown a lot, building off of last season. He has become an incredibly strong force and already looks reliable in front of Grosenick.
Dynamic Duo on Defense
This season, Worcester is rolling with a defensive pair so tall that it must be one of the tallest in the league. Taylor Doherty, who is back for his fourth season and comes in at 6’8 has been skating with Konrad Abeltshauser, a 6’5 defenseman who is in his second season.
Again, it is early in the season, too early to tell for sure what the shape of a team will be. However, these two seem to be made to play together on the blue line. Both impressed in camp with San Jose and were among the last defensemen cut. Doherty brings an imposing presence to the ice and continues to increase his physicality. Abeltshauser moves the puck well and covers the blue line well. Both of them, being so tall, cover a lot of ground and move surprisingly fluidly for players so tall.
Rookies Adjusting Quickly
This season saw two players come over together after playing on the same Swedish Hockey League team. Petter Emanuelsson has been playing with what would probably be called the fourth line. But, that has not stopped him from contributing. His two goals in the second game tie him for the early lead in goals on the Sharks.
Melker Karlsson was injured during preseason but made his AHL debut on Opening Night. It was immediately clear that he had the same quick speed that Emanuelsson has. Having played in the Swedish Hockey League, they were used to having to skate at a faster pace. The commitment that Karlsson showed when he scored his first AHL goal from his knees was nothing short of impressive.
Ryan Carpenter, the only other rookie to have played a game yet, played on a line with Karlsson and Haley in the Home Opener. Carpenter joined the Sharks at the end of the 2013-2014 season after finishing at Bowling Green University. He skated in 12 games but was without his first professional goal. But, he got onto the scoresheet early this year, registering the first goal of the season for his first professional goal. He also assisted on Karlsson’s first goal. He has also shown good speed as well as a quick shot.
What’s Next?
The Sharks have 5 more home games before they have to hit the road again. Their next game is against the Hartford Wolf Pack.
(Photo: Heather Stebbins, The Pink Puck)
The Manchester Monarchs undeniably had a great 2013-2014 regular season. They ended up with the best record in the Eastern Conference. What was possibly more impressive was the way that the Monarchs did this.
Coming into the season, the Monarchs had high hopes for the season. They had a top line of Tyler Toffoli, Tanner Pearson, and Linden Vey. But, every member of that line spent time in LA and they were rarely able to stay in Manchester together. Toffoli got the most time up in the NHL, but still notched 15 goals and 8 assists through his 18 games with Manchester. Many fans might have expected those three to be up and down throughout the season.
However, what likely came as a surprise was losing impressive goaltender Martin Jones. When Kings starting goalie Jonathan Quick got hurt, Jones got the call he had been waiting for. Instead of relying just on Ben Scrivens to fill in, Jones had the chance to play. And Jones impressed them all, prompting the Kings to ultimately trade Scrivens away so that Jones could be the full-time back-up
Without Jones and the top line of Toffoli, Pearson, and Vey, the players in Manchester had to step up. Rookie Monarchs goaltender JF Berube showed just what he had. He had some big skates to fill when Jones left, but he made it look easy. Forwards like Jordan Weal, Brian O’Neill, and rookie Nick Shore stepped up too. If one thing was certain, it was that the Monarchs were a deeply talented team.
Then, the playoffs came. In a weird twist of events, the Monarchs did not have home ice advantage in the first round against the Norfolk Admirals. They played the first two games at home and then were due to play the next three on the road. Unfortunately, they dropped the series 3-1 and their Calder Cup hopes were over.
This season, the Monarchs are looking to learn from last season. Not only would they like to make it back to the playoffs, but they are hoping to make it all the way to the Calder Cup. As is to be expected, their roster looks a little different from last season. But with LA having won the Stanley Cup two out of the past three years, it is an appealing organization to join.
One big change is the change in coaching staff from last year to this year. Mark Morris and the LA Kings parted ways. Morris had been head coach of the Monarchs for 8 seasons and had his best winning percentage last season. Mike Stothers will be taking over the reigns this year. He has experience as an assistant coach in the AHL and NHL as well as head coaching experience in the OHL and WHL. Chris Hajt will join Stothers behind the bench. Hajt played part of 10 professional seasons before making the switch to coaching. He spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach in the OHL. The two will help guide the returning and new players back to the playoffs.
Back for his sophomore season will be stand out goaltender, JF Berube. This season, he’ll be pairing up with rookie Patrik Bartosak. Bartosak joined the Monarchs at the end of last season, after finishing up his juniors season. Although Berube had an excellent rookie season, the indication seems to be that he will share time with Bartosak.
While the Monarchs will not have Toffoli or Pearson at all, as both have earned spots on the Kings roster, or Vey, who has joined the Canucks organization, fans still have a lot to be excited for. Brian O’Neill and Jordan Weal, who both impressed last season, will return to the line-up. Forward Nick Shore and defenseman Derek Forbort also return to the line-up hoping to build off their rookie seasons. Manchester also had arguably one of the best defensive pairs in the AHL last season in Andrew Bodnarchuk and Vinny LoVerde, both of whom will rejoin the team.
To supplement the losses, the Monarchs will have some veterans joining their rank. David Van Der Gulik, who has played 8 professional seasons, all of which were in the Western Conference, joins the team as a forward. He already has two goals during the first three games the team has played. Josh Gratton, another forward, also joins the Monarchs this season. The veteran tough guy is in his 12th season and has already registered a fighting major.
Aside from the veterans, the Monarchs will have a young team. They are adding seven rookies to their rosters. They will add a variety of things from scoring to toughness and physicality. Through the first couple games, they have already contributed. Nic Dowd leads the overall scoring with points, all assists. Kevin Raine, along with the returning Scott Sabourin, have also showed they the Monarchs are not a team to mess around with.
The Monarchs opened their season with a 4-1 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. But the real excitement was when Manchester headed down to Norfolk, Virginia for a two game series against the Norfolk Admirals. Although there is not usually a rivalry between the two teams since they don’t play often, it was clear that one carried over from when the Admirals knocked the Monarchs out in the first round of the playoffs.
The teams split the series in Norfolk with the Admirals taking the first game, on Friday, by a score of 3-2. But, Manchester came back and took the game Saturday night 4-2 in Patrik Bartosak’s first start of the season. The six Monarchs goals came from five different players, a good sign that they could be a team with deep scoring yet again.
In the first game of the series, there were also four fights. Second year forward Scott Sabourin also fell victim to one of the new rule changes in the AHL this year. After his second fight of the night, he was ejected from the game. Players are no longer allowed to get in more than one fight in a game. It is one of many rule changes for this season and it will be interesting to see how it affects the game.
After playing their first three games on the road, the Monarchs will make their return to Manchester this weekend. They host the Portland Pirates in their home opener on Friday, October 24th. Once again, the two teams will battle for the VIP Cup. It is a sort of mini-series the teams have come up with decided by the 12 games they play against each other during the regular season. The Monarchs follow that up when they host the Providence Bruins on Saturday, October 25th.
11,100 fans were in attendance at the October 18th Arizona Coyotes game against the St. Louis Blues. For the few that were Blues’ fans, the game was a pleasure to see; for the ‘Yotes fans, though, it was a game to forget. There was no one specific thing that you could single out that the Coyotes’ did wrong. The game was messy, and unforgiving, and unfortunate.
“We’re looking to play better”, was the overall message from coach Dave Tippett, after the loss to the Blues. “We didn’t fare very well”, also followed suit, and was reiterated a numerous amount of times.
“We’re looking to play better…. Mistakes, unmarked, all of the above…. We didn’t move quick enough, we didn’t move the puck quick enough, we didn’t check quick enough, all of the above. Like I said, it was a test against a real good team and we didn’t fare very well.”
Simple as that? Tippett, as per usual, was not specific in the issues at hand. Though it is hard to address what the main struggle is, frustration seems evident in everyone.
During the post-game press rounds with Tippett, the idea that team members might be pointing fingers at one another came up and Coach was quick to jump on it and say that it really just boils down to “emotions running high”. That was evident just by walking into the locker room and seeing the glum look on the players faces as they packed up for their first road trip of the season.
The Coyotes’ were one of only 5 teams that had yet to have a PP goal scored on them this season. Going into the game their stats read 10-for-1o on the penalty kill, after tonights game they went to 12-for-16. Four out of the Blues six goals were scored on the PP. Though, the one thing you need to consider is who is going to be on the Blues power play. You have some very strong players, and this was brought up by several of the Coyotes’ Players post game.
Tippett on the PP:
“It [the power play against the blues] was a good test for our team, and obviously we didn’t fare very well. ”
Keith Yandle on the PP:
“You look at their guys, they got a really good power play. When you give a team the opportunity to score on the power play like that, its going to be tough. It’s one of those things, it’s just the pucks were bouncing our way on the PK, especially when they make good plays and you’ve got to give them credit.”
If you watched the game and saw what was happening down on the ice, you would see messy passes and a defense that was lacking immensely. There were several notable times where the goalie, Mike Smith, was lucky enough that the puck was shot wide, considering the odd man rush, and the defense realizing their mistakes way too late. One of the times it was due to a bad line change from the Coyotes’, and the Blues’ took full advantage, almost scoring. Silly mistakes were made like this all game, and it ultimately lead to the Coyotes’ 6-1 loss. The David Backes line contributed the whole game, and they took full advantage of all of the turnovers. This kind of thing leads to goals being scored, and you saw that during the game. The overall disorder out there needs to change in order for the team to get better results.
The biggest headline of the game was Martin Hanzal leaving the game. Hanzal is day-to-day with a lower body injury sustained in the second period. He will be reevaluated as soon as possible, but the prospect of one of the Coyotes’ best forwards being out could be just what it sounds like. He was carted out after the game, and no reports have been released, besides the fact that he is day-to-day. The whole team needs to step up in a big way to fill the space of Hanzal, if need be. There are members on this team held to much higher of a standard than what they are performing at, if Hanzal is indeed hurt, then they need to step up. Tippett expounded upon that topic during his presser:
On Marty and the team not performing:
“Marty [Hanzal] is a big part of our team. It’s hard anytime you lose a guy that’s a big chunk of that. We just have too many players that are playing below what we need them to play. You just go through the whole lineup there. There are areas we just need to be better in, and we just need people to play better. [On expectations] I am surprised at some of them [the players], yes. I’ve got a lot higher expectations for some of them, but we will get to work on that on Monday.”
What it really boils down to is the locker room and Captain Shane Doan, himself, said that it is the root of the issue.
Doan on the game and the team overall:
“Just that we need some push from within, we need some push from inside the room and that’s kind of the gist of it. You see the way that we played tonight, and that’s not acceptable. As a group we’ve got to have some push from inside this room, and a lot of people, myself included, have to be a lot better than that and find ways to push each other if it’s in practice, if it’s in games, if it’s doing the little things… be harder in every area and they were a good example of the way we have to be.”
On the offensive part of the game:
“We need to find a way to contribute offensively, and create more offensively. We did hardly anything offensively. We need to be better we need to win more battles. [We’ve got to] get the forecheck going. and We’ve got to stop it instead of letting them break out. Once they get in our zone, we’ve got to get out quicker. You can go right through our game. [On focus] I don’t think it’s [the issue] focus, I think it’s willingness to win those hard battles.”
Doan on the four game home-stretch they’ve had:
“Yeah I mean tonight’s not close to the way we need to play. The game against L.A. is probably the way we need to play. The game against Edmonton wasn’t the way we needed to play… One out of four isn’t exactly what we’re looking for, but we’ve got two wins. We’re at 500, we’ve got to go on the road and find a way to get above 500 on the road.”
The Coyotes’ went 1-for-4 on their power plays. There were not a whole lot of shots on the game, and it was obvious just from the 36-25 shots on goal, that the Blues outplayed the ‘Yotes. The majority of the game was spent in the Coyotes’ zone, and they couldn’t seem to get it out. The one goal scored was from #28 Lauri Korpikoski who was assisted by Doan and OEL.
Lauri Korpikoski on the game:
“You can’t let it slip, and that’s how we’ve been successful here this year. Everybody needs to be their best every game so we’ve got a chance to win the game and that’s how it’s got to be here, so we’ve got to get back to that.[on the Blues’ goals] There are going to be mistakes in the game but I think we just don’t do a real good job backing people up, kind of like if there’s a mistake we need to be there for the guy who makes the mistake and help them out. Maybe we are just concerned with taking our guy when there’s a mistake… you’ve got to go and help and a lot of those mistakes end up in our net. Right now it’s just little things that we’ve got to be better at. It’s just little mistakes and our whole mindset on how we play the game.”
The Coyotes’ head out on their first road trip to go head-to-head with the Nashville Predators (Tuesday) and the Minnesota Wild (Thursday). The ‘Yotes went 2-2 (one of the wins in overtime) with a -5 rating. The road trip needs to be different than the home games in every way. No fingers need to be pointed, no emotions need to get the best of people. They Coyotes’ need to play good hockey, and they need to change their game if they want to win.
Official NHL Game Stats:
(photo: predators.nhl.com)
The Nashville Predators announced Friday October 17th that in 2016 the team and city will be hosting the 2016 All-Star Game when Commissioner Gary Bettman held a conference in Bridgestone Arena. In that conference he also said that the economic impact of the All-Star Game is around $20 million. The game is scheduled for January 31, 2016. Due to lockouts and the Olympics, the All-Star Game hasn’t been played since 2012 with the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa.
This years All-Star Game will be held in Columbus, Ohio with the Blue Jackets as hosts scheduled for January 25, 2015.
Prior to that, it hadn’t been held in America since 2011 when it was played in Raleigh, North Carolina with the Carolina Hurricanes. This means the last 3 American All-Star Games have been or will be held in thriving “non-traditional” hockey markets. According to the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Hurricanes All-Star Game weekend generated about $11 million in direct visitor spending for Raleigh and Wake County.
“Hosting the 2016 NHL All-Star Game is a huge win for Nashville. We have hosted big sporting events like this, and we know it benefits our city in many ways, particularly our downtown and hospitality businesses. I look forward to showcasing the enthusiastic base of hockey supporters in our region and all that Music City has to offer,” said Nashville Mayor Karl Dean in a prepared statement as seen on SBNation.
Lonely Planet has 97 things you can do in Nashville in case you aren’t already excited for this prospect of having a reason to head to the city to see an All-Star Game in person (my favorite will always be to go see the Parthenon because how slim is the chance that you’d ever get to Greece to see the real one?).
This weekend, the Penn State Men’s Ice Hockey team will travel to Fairbanks, Alaska for the Brice Goal Rush tournament.
The PSU Nittany Lions will play University of Alaska Anchorage on Friday, Oct 17 at 9:07 p.m ET. The next day, they will take on the Alaska Nanooks, on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 11:07 p.m. ET.
The Penn State team has a few connections to Alaska that make this tournament more exciting for the team. Casey Bailey, the Junior forward grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. Head coach Guy Gadowsky coached the Alaska Nanooks for five seasons (1999-2004) and the redshirt-senior forward Eric Scheid also played for Alaska Anchorage for the 2010-11 season.
Bailey knew about this tournament since his freshman year and expressed his excitement in an interview with Julie Bacanskas, a GOPSUSports.com writer.
“I was pushing for the Anchorage one because I’d much rather play in my hometown rather than a neighboring city, but I think I was honestly excited. I told my parents about it when it was further down the road, but now that it’s here it’s definitely really exciting,” Bailey said.
Penn State starts there season at 1-0-1 after facing University of Connecticut in their opening weekend.
In their game on Friday Oct. 10, the season and home opener at Pegula Ice Arena, Penn State tied UConn 2-2. While the Nittany Lions trailed by a goal late in the third, they pulled goalie Matt Skoff and forward David Goodwin scored the equalizer to send it to overtime.
On Saturday Oct. 11, the two teams faced off again. The game started with Penn State killing off a 5-3 UConn power play, which set the tone for the remainder of the game. The Nittany Lions had goals from David Glen, Eric Scheid, Taylor Holstrom (2), David Goodwin, Jonathan Milley and Casey Bailey to give them the 7-1 win over UConn.
After the weekend against UConn, Penn State junior goalie Matt Skoff was named the Big Ten third star of the week for his performance. Skoff stopped 94.7 percent of shots and posted 1.44 goals against average. He also managed to kill off 1:20 of 5-3 UConn power play.
In addition to Skoff’s individual success, Penn State also received its first ever ranking votes in team history.
Photo Courtesy of GoPSUSports.com
Majorly embarrassing crisis averted.
If there are any rules that you really need to know, it’s that you need to dress professionally, and you should never wear the colors of the opposing team. Silly ‘ole me was so excited getting out of my car that my all blue outfit was perfection. It was, and I totally thought it was, until I hit the stairs and realized that the Coyotes were playing the St. Louis BLUES. Major anxiety attack, commence.
The fact that I had thrown a long sleeve shirt under the shirt that I had on before, is a miracle. Like, there was literally no need at all to add a black long sleeved shirt under my white short sleeved shirt, until I realized that the blue and silver jewels on my shirt would not match the black and gold heels and black pants that I luckily had in my car. The backup clothes were actually almost taken out of the car right before the game, too. There was no reason for them to even be with me.
When I say that I was wearing blue I mean that I was decked out. Blue shoes, blue and black tweed skirt, blue on my shirt. How embarrassing would it have been if I had walked in all confident, and then after remembered who the opponents where?! I will probably never get over it.
It does give me another inevitable mistake to write about, though. When I talked about mistakes on opening night, I didn’t realize that I would have the “wonderful” opportunity to share a new fault with you every game. It almost feels like an honor, but not really.
Now that I think about it, though, it makes me laugh. There couldn’t have been a mistake as big as the blues with any other team!
Funny story over; now on to the outfit that I actually ended up wearing.
Leather jackets are always nice. They keep you warm, they make you look put together; it’s a perfect addition to any outfit. It looked awesome with the outfit that I had on earlier, but it still looks pretty good with my new outfit. Black on black on black on black is always a go-to of mine. I’ve been trying to branch out, but when the only thing that you have in your car is black pants, black heels and only a black layering shirt, the color combo sounds like a great idea.
When in doubt, add some bright lipstick. My hot pink Chanel lipstick/lipgloss combo made for a great way to brighten up a dark outfit.
I would say the main focus of my outfit tonight would be the black and gold zipper peep-toe heels. The only downside to the peep-toe tonight, is the fact that my toe nail polish is looking pretty chipped up. But it was either this or the blue shoes that would’ve looked so much better with the other outfit…. I decided that I’m saving those for later! If the next team permits, then y’all better expect a rocking outfit.
Press Level Tip: Sometimes, throwing a pair of flats into your press bag can be beneficial when you need to run around the rink. You never know how the game will go, so having them as a back-up might make you not want to cut your feet off by the end of the night. I learned this after last week’s game that went into overtime, and running down to the locker room became necessary (you can read about that here). It’s even nice to have when you are walking to your car after the game, you will thank yourself later.
Shoes: Target, $29.99
Pants: J.Crew, $40.00
Jacket: Old Navy, $40.00
Lipstick: Chanel in #37 topped off with matching lipgloss
(Photo: Providence Bruins)
To say that the Providence Bruins came out on the attack on Friday night would be a slight exaggeration. At the beginning of the first period of their game against the Worcester Sharks it was pretty much all Sharks, punctuated by a goal on their third shot on net scored by Kinuna, Sweden native Petter Emanuelsson, with assists from James Sheppard and Rylan Schwartz. However, the Bruins did start to find a rhythm of sorts and at 9:41 of the first they tied the score with a goal by Justin Florek assisted by Brian Ferlin. This was Ferlin’s first professional point, having elected in the spring to forego his senior year at Cornell University and signing an entry level contract with the Boston Bruins organization.
Unfortunately, Emanuelsson, again assisted by Schwartz, would notch his second of the period, the game and the season, with just 2:46 remaning in the first. And there the score would remain knotted, though both teams would later have goals disallowed. In the end though, the Providence Bruins lack of identity allowed a faster, and different, Worcester Sharks to prevail. Even Providence Bruins Head Coach Bruce Cassidy commented on the new look and feel of the Sharks.
Bruce Cassidy
“They’re a different look this year, Worcester, than what we’re used to,” Cassidy said after the game. “They’re not as heavy and [they’re a] quicker group than what we’re used to seeing.”
And while this may have explained the early tilt of the ice in the Sharks’ favor, it was not used as an excuse by Cassidy or the players after the loss. Cassidy did consider a lack of chemistry among his players as a contributing factor given how early it is in the season and some recent changes to his roster.
“There’s four new lines, so that might have something to do with it,” he chuckled. “[Alexander] Fallstrom moving from right wing to center now. [Craig Cunningham] in the middle; Jordan Caron back; now [David] Pastrnak with [Alexander Khokhlachev].”
As with any change to the roster of this magnitude, there has to be an amount of time where management leaves the guys on those lines to see if some magic can happen. However, even with the team having only played three games, in this fast-paced sport they can’t lose too many before something has to give.
David Pastrnak
Providence will see Worcester again Saturday night, this time in the Sharks’ barn, and at their home opener—which is always a little more emotionally charged, usually in favor of the home team. The Pink Puck asked 2014 NHL Entry Draft first round Boston Bruins’ pick Pastrnak, who coming into Friday’s game already had three points in Providence’s first two games, what the team needed when seeing the Sharks again on Saturday.
“I think we are a better team,” he said. “We just have to be stronger on the puck and get more to the net.”
Coach Cassidy is hoping that his team understands that they will have to play tough.
“I hope they understand they’re gonna be under duress and we’ve got to get back on pucks and be fast,” he told The Pink Puck. “We should win the battles on the walls, all things being equal, because if they’re quick and not that big, then we should have an advantage.”
At the very least, the Bruins have some idea of what the Sharks’ style of play will be on Saturday, along with the formations of a plan to combat it. And with all young teams—Providence is one of the youngest teams once again this season—there will be some growing pains.
“We’re gonna go through the process of ‘Guys, it’s a man’s game. You gotta be heavy on the pucks and these little dinky plays, they don’t work,’” explained Cassidy. “And that’s a work in progress.”
In the end, Providence hasn’t yet determined just what their identity is. Once they do, it will show on the ice. The big question though is when they do that will it be an identity for winning this season.
(photo: Scot Tucker/SFBay)
Starting off the season strong with three consecutive wins is something the San Jose Sharks are accustomed to. But with those successes, it’s also important to note the things they need to work on – one glaring thing in particular, the power play.
Over the first three games, the Sharks have had the man advantage 15 times for about 28 minutes, but resulting in only 2 goals. Shockingly, that’s almost one-half game with power play time. That’s only 13%, putting them in 19th place in the league, as of October 16. And the downward trend over the years is staggering (data via NHL.com).
This year’s 19th ranking thus far is not as bad as the Montreal Canadiens, with 17 power play opportunities and only 2 goals, or reigning champs Los Angeles Kings, with 18 opportunities and only 1 goal (stats as of October 17); however, with three straight wins from the Sharks, imagine what a few more extra goals from the man advantage could bring: confidence, unstoppable power, a Stanley Cup? At the end of a game though, a win is a win. A team may still get the win whether or not they score on power plays, but sometimes those man-advantage opportunities are the difference-makers.
In only three games, the number one power play team, the Pittsburgh Penguins (2-1-0), have had 13 power plays resulting in 6 goals, or 46.2%. They also have two consecutive wins like the Sharks, less one game, but a better percentage. That’s a strong team, and when the crucial time comes when power play goals matter, they will win. When the Sharks play the Penguins in March, the power play could be the difference between a win and a loss. A lot will change between now and then (hopefully fruitful power plays!) and it will be interesting to see if the Sharks can match up nicely to the Pens.
Last night, the Sharks played the number two power play team, the New York Islanders. Also undefeated to start the season, the Islanders (3-0-0) have had 12 power plays resulting in 5 goals, or 42.9%, before last night’s matchup with the Sharks.
(photo: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sport)
The Islanders notched another power play goal on two power play chances against the Sharks, and kept their percentage and 2nd place ranking intact. The Sharks only had one power play against the Isles, resulting in a goal by none other than Patrick Marleau, and their percentage shot up 5 points to 18%, barely giving their power play life a pulse. Now, as of October 17, the Sharks are 14th, up from 19th. The Islanders won the game in a shootout goal by John Tavares, New York’s leader in points this season.
So, the question is, was the power play the difference in last night’s game? Matched up against a team that is 24% better, one would think so. But there weren’t many penalties – only three the entire game, the least amount in a Sharks game thus far this season. And, it’s important to note that this game went into OT and then a SO, with the shoot out being the deciding factor between gaining one point or two in the standings.
I don’t think the power play had much influence on the outcome of this particular game; however, had there been more penalties, it could have had a much greater weight. Nonetheless, power plays (and killing penalties, for that matter) are important parts of the game. A team wants to stay out of the box and capitalize on any chances when the other team is in the box. It’ll be interesting to see how the power play rankings change game by game this season. One thing is for certain: the Sharks have to get better.
(Photo credit: Heather Stebbins, The Pink Puck)
Worcester Sharks fans would probably like to forget many chunks of the 2013-14 season, especially some of the losing streaks and missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season. But, it’s a new season and there are some pretty noticeable changes for the team. The big question will be whether or not these changes make enough of an impact.
Of course, in the AHL, players often come and go. It is unusual for a team to have as many returning players as the Sharks had over the past couple seasons. This season, Worcester still had a decent number of players return, including some that were expected to make a push for the San Jose roster, such as Eriah Hayes, Freddie Hamilton, and Matt Tennyson. Hamilton is in the final year of his entry level contract and Tennyson is in his first year of a new two year contract. Worcester also has goaltender Troy Grosenick back for his sophomore season as he looks to build on his rookie season.
However, with the familiar faces come some new faces that are sure to make an impact. Some of the new faces are veterans that will bring their own set of experiences with them to this new team. The first is a familiar face, although he’s been someone Sharks fans have cheered against over the years. Micheal Haley joins the Sharks in his 9th professional season. He has primarily played in the Rangers and Islanders organizations. With 163 penalty minutes in 52 NHL games and 940 penalty minutes in 370 AHL games, he promises to provide a level of grit that will benefit the Sharks. Also at forward, the Sharks added Bryan Lerg. Lerg is in his 7th professional season and has been known for his scoring. Although he has not been able to play a full season for the past two seasons, in his last full season, he scored 27 goals. He could be the offensive player the Sharks need.
In addition to the two veteran forwards, Worcester has two new defensemen with that bring their own set of experiences. During the offseason, Taylor Fedun signed with the San Jose Sharks and will be in Worcester, at least for now. Fedun is only in his 3rd year as a pro, but he had 38 points in 65 games with Oklahoma City last year and is looking to build on that. Matt Taormina comes to Worcester with 5 years of pro experience under his belt across a few different organizations. He has already notched his first goal as a Shark, making AHL history as the first player to score a goal in the new 3-on-3 overtime.
The Shark have also added some rookies. Petter Emanuelsson and Melker Karlsson, who is currently injured, join Worcester after having played last season on the same team in the Swedish Hockey League. Ryan Carpenter will be joining the Sharks full time this season from college. He joined the team at the end of last season and recorded his first professional goal in the season opener this year. It will be interesting to see how the returning players and veterans can help the rookies adjust. With one game, a win, under their belts, fans should also watch to see how the new roster gels.
But the changes to the roster were not the only changes that the team saw. Long time Associate Coach David Cunniff parted ways with the organization. This season, Ryan Mougenel will serve as the new assistant coach. Mougenel played junior hockey in the OHL before making an attempt to jump into the pros. In 2005, he found his way to coaching. From 2005-2009, he served as an assistant coach in the ECHL for the Fresno Falcons. Then, he spent the next four seasons, 2009-2013, as the Head Coach of the Las Vegas Wranglers. Last season he made the move up to the AHL as an assistant coach with the Hershey Bears. It will be interesting to see what he brings to the Sharks and if he will make an noticeable changes.
The big question still remains, though. Is this enough to solve some of the problems the Worcester Sharks have seen over the past few seasons? It is true that the Sharks won both their preseason games and then won their season opener. But the season is still young. Worcester faces off with the Providence Bruins this weekend first in Providence on Friday, then comes back to Worcester for their home opener on Saturday. Over the years, the two teams have seen a lot of each other and this season will be no different. It is a series that is always interesting.
(Photo by Gregg Forwerck)
The Buffalo Sabres have not been off to a good start so far in this new NHL season. They were out shot 131-57 in the first three games and they seem to always collapse in the third period. Sabres captain Brian Gionta had this to say, “We’re three games in so there’s no sense of panic, but at the same time, there should be a sense of urgency.” The Sabres had a good change to their momentum with the game in Carolina. The Hurricanes have yet to win a game this season as well.
Marcus Foligno opened the scoring for Buffalo 12 minutes into the first period after a missed shot by Carolina set up a 2 on 1 break for the Sabres. “It felt like we were in a practice mode like we were at end of practice we had time. It’s the longest 2-on-1 time I ever had,” Foligno said.
Carolina came out in the 2nd ready to play and scored just 30 seconds in to tie the game at 1. Buffalo’s Jhonas Enroth came out of the net to play the puck and just could not get back in time to stop the shot from Riley Nash. It was an ugly play with a bad result for Buffalo.
Buffalo was able to get back in the lead with a goal from Torrey Mitchell a little over a minute after Carolina tied the game. Mitchell was skating up the left hand side when Brian Gionta passed him the puck and Mitchell just took the shot from the face off circle and with luck, the puck crossed the goal line. “It was kind of a knuckle puck, but it felt good to go in,” Mitchell said. “We said before the game, ‘No shot’s a bad shot.’ It was good to finally just get a shot on net and lucky for it to go in.”
Foligno would score his second of the night almost three minutes into the 3rd with a great shot through two Carolina players and into the back of the net. Now it would be about this time that most fans would be excited because the Sabres are up 3-1, but again, the third period is a bad one for the team and they would not disappoint. Carolina was able to score to more goals to tie the game back up at 3. Chris Terry scored 12 minutes in and Zach Boychuk scored with just under 2 minutes left to send the game into overtime.
There were not very many chances for either team in the overtime period so off to the shoot out we went. The summary is as follows:
Carolina Buffalo
Alexander Semin- Miss Matt Moulson- Goal
Chris Terry- Goal Cody Hodgson- Miss
Nathan Gerbe- Miss Tyler Ennis- Miss
Jay McClement- Miss Chris Stewart- Miss
Victor Rask- Miss Marcu Foligno- Miss
Zach Boychuk- Miss Drew Stafford- Miss
Elias Linholdm- Miss Brian Gionta- Miss
Jiri Tlusty- Miss Zemgus Girgensons- Goal
8 rounds of shootout players and Buffalo’s Zemgus Girgensons was able to end the game with Buffalo coming out as the winners, 4-3. “I picked a move right off the bat if we had to go through that many players. I just did what I had to do,” Girgensons stated.
Buffalo’s next game is Friday at home against the Florida Panthers while Carolina plays Thursday on the road against the New York Rangers.
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