Woo Rewind – Sharks eliminated from AHL playoff race, suspenions, new faces and Petrecki honored

Despite earning 5-of-8 points in their last four games, the Worcester Sharks were officially eliminated from the AHL Eastern Conference playoff race on Wednesday night {April 11} as the Portland Pirates defeated the Connecticut Whale 2-1.

Even though the Sharks will be heading home early for the second consecutive season, the Sharks will look to finish above .500 for the season in their final three games of the season this weekend. To date, the Sharks are 30-31-4-8 with 72 points.

On April 4, the Sharks wrapped up a four-game home stand at the DCU Center by hosting the visiting Albany Devils in their final meeting of the season and skated away with a 2-1 victory to snap their six game losing streak.. Tony Lucia and John McCarthy scored for the Sharks while Harri Sateri {14-19-0-1, 2.91 goals against average, .907 save percentage} stopped 31-of-32 shots.

After 30 minutes of scoreless hockey, Lucia gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead with his eighth goal of the season at 5:55 of the second period. Entering the Devils zone at the top of the left point, Sharks forward James Livingston skated into the left face-off circle and fired a quick snap shot on net that Devils goalie Jeff Frazee stopped with his mask. However, Frazee wasn’t able to control the rebound and Lucia, who was crashing the net, was able to get his stick on the puck and slammed the puck into the open net for the goal. Livingston and Sharks forward Curt Gogol were credited with the assists.

Devils captain Stephen Gionta tied the game at 1-1 with his sixth goal of the season at 18:18. With the puck inside the Sharks zone, Devils defenseman {and former Sharks captain} Jay Leach fired a shot on net from the left point that went wide. Gionta corralled the puck on the left end board, skated behind Sateri’s net and stuffed the puck home through the pads of Sateri on a backhanded wrap around shot on the right side for the goal.

McCarthy scored his 20th goal of the season at 12:21 of the third period to regain the Sharks’ one goal lead. Holding the puck behind Frazee’s net, Sharks forward Tim Kennedy centered the puck in front Sebastian Stalberg, who fired a quick shot on net from inside the right slot that Frazee stopped. McCarthy corralled the rebound on top of the crease but was denied by the pad of Frazee. McCarthy got his own rebound and roofed the puck over a sprawled out Frazee for the goal.

Sateri stood tall in net the rest of the period as the Sharks held the Devils at bay and protected their lead, even when the Devils had a 6-on-4 power play advantage the final 23 seconds of the third period.

For the game, the Sharks outshot the Devils 45-32, were 0-for-2 with the man advantage and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill… Tyson Sexsmith {inj}, Cam MacIntyre {inj}, Ryan Del Monte {inj}, Marek Viedensky {inj}, Matt Pelech {susp}, Brodie Reid {inj} did not dress for the Sharks… Matt Tennyson made his professional debut with the Sharks and wore #5… The Sharks finished their four game home stand 1-3-0… The Sharks finished the season series against the Devils 3-1-0.

The Fisher Price people rejoice at the Sharks ending their losing streak.

On April 6, the Sharks traveled to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, RI, to play the hosting Providence Bruins in their final meeting of the season and were shut out 3-0. Sateri stopped 24-of-26 shots.

Bruins forward Josh Hennessy gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with a power play goal, his 18th goal of the season, at 19:52 of the first period. With Sharks forward Jimmy Bonneau in the penalty box for hooking, Bruins forward Max Sauve corralled an outlet pass in the neutral zone and skated into the Sharks zone on the left side. From the left face-off circle dot, Sauve centered the puck in front for a streaking Hennessy, who roofed the puck over Sateri from in the slot for the goal.

At 7:25 of the second period, Bonneau dropped the gloves with Bruins forward Bobby Robins in a spirited 10 second fight. The fight was Bonneau’s 21st of the season and first since he fought Pirates defenseman Mark Louis back on March 9. In addition, the fight tied Bonneau with Frazer McLaren for the most fighting majors in a season in franchise history.

Bruins defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk extended the Bruins lead to 2-0 with his fifth goal of the season at 11:13 off a wicked snap shot from inside the left face-off circle that beat Sateri on the glove side.

Despite out-shooting the Bruins 14-4 in the third period, the Sharks couldn’t get the puck past Bruins goalie Michael Hutchinson even with a brief 6-on-4 power play advantage in the final 31 seconds of the game. Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller added an empty net goal, his third goal of the season, at 19:58 to seal the Bruins 3-0 win.

For the game, the Sharks outshot the Bruins 34-26, were 0-for-3 with the man advantage and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill… Sexsmith {inj}, MacIntyre {inj}, Del Monte {inj}, Viedensky {inj}, Reid {inj}, Sena Acolatse {scr}, Brian O’Hanley {scr} did not dress for the Sharks… With the one fight, the Sharks now have an AHL leading 118 fighting majors… The Sharks finished the season series against the Bruins 5-6-0-1.

Photo courtesy of www.sharksahl.com

On April 7, the Sharks traveled to Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, ME, to play the hosting Pirates in their final meeting of the season and were defeated 5-4 in the shootout.

Nathan Moon, Acolatse, Gogol and Tennyson scored for the Sharks while Sateri stopped 28-of-32 shots. In addition, 11 different Sharks skaters registered a point while Ben Guite {0-2-2} had a multi-point game for the Sharks.

Moon gave the Sharks an early 1-0 lead with his 12th goal of the season just 46 seconds into the game. With the puck behind the net of Pirates goalie Peter Mannino, Guite centered the puck in front for linemate Brandon Mashinter, who just got his stick on the puck. The puck slid over to Moon, who was on the left side of the goal crease, and Moon stuffed the puck home for the goal before Mannino could get across the crease for a save.

Pirates forward Ethan Werek tied the game at 1-1 with his ninth goal of the season at 4:43. With the puck inside the left face-off circle of the Sharks zone, Pirates defenseman Nick Ross sent a pass across the crease to Werek, who put the puck into the net from the right side of the goal crease for the goal.

Acolatse put the Sharks up 2-1 with a power play goal, his sixth goal of the season, at 7:12. With Pirates forward Andy Miele in the penalty box for slashing, Sharks captain Mike Moore held the puck at the center point and passed the puck over to the right side to Guite, who quickly sent a cross zone pass down to Acolatse, who fired a one-timer on net from deep inside the left face-off circle that beat Mannino on the blocker side for the goal.

Pirates defenseman Nick Ross tied the game at 2-2 with a power play goal, his fourth goal of the season, at 10:35. With a 1:58 5-on-3 power play advantage, Moore failed to clear the zone at the Sharks blue line, which sprung the Pirates free for a 2-on-1. From inside the right face-off circle, Pirates forward Brett Sterling centered the puck in front for Ross, who buried the puck past Sateri for the goal. Acolatse and Pelech were in the penalty box for hooking and delay of game respectively.

Gogol put the Sharks up 3-2 with his sixth goal of the season at 12:54. Breaking into the Pirates zone, Lucia fired a backhanded shot on net from in the slot that Mannino stopped. However, Mannino left a rebound on top of the crease that a crashing Gogol was able to poke past Mannino through the pads for the go ahead goal. Sharks defenseman Taylor Doherty was credited with the secondary assist.

After the teams combined for five goals in the first period, only one goal was scored in the second period and that was by Pirates defenseman Tyler Eckford, who tied the game at 3-3 with a power play goal, his 10th goal of the season, at 4:37. After some perimeter passing by the Pirates, Eckford snuck down to the left face-off circle, corralled a cross zone pass from Miele and roofed a shot over Sateri’s shoulders for the goal with five seconds remaining in the hooking penalty to Lucia.

Werek put the Pirates up 4-3 with his second goal of the game just 53 seconds into the third period. With the puck inside the Sharks zone, Pirates defenseman Nathan Oystrick fired a shot on net from on top of the right face-off circle that Sateri stopped. However, Miele was able to corral the rebound on top of the crease after getting position on Acolatse and fired the puck into the open net for the Pirates’ first lead of the game.

Tennyson tied the game at 4-4 with his first professional goal, a power play strike, at 10:26. With Ross in the penalty box for tripping, the Sharks won a face-off in the Pirates zone and Tennyson fired a wrist shot on net from the top of the right point that got through traffic and beat Mannino through the pads for the goal. Sharks defenseman Matt Irwin and Kennedy were credited with the assists.

In overtime, Stalberg was called for goaltender interference at 3:07, giving the Pirates a 4-on-3 power play advantage. With 15 seconds remaining in overtime, Pirates defenseman David Rundblad thought he had won the game for the Pirates with his power play goal. However, referee Mark Lemelin quickly waved off the goal due to Sterling being in the crease and Lemelin saying Sterling nudged Sateri. Sterling didn’t agree with the call and made sure Lemelin knew how he felt. As a result, Sterling was assessed a game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct.

In the shootout, the Pirates elected to go first and Ryan Duncan was stopped by Sateri; Mashinter was stopped by Mannino; Mile was stopped by Sateri; McCarthy was stopped by Mannino; Marc-Antoine Pouliot scored top shelf; Stalberg was stopped by Mannino; Sterling, who was allowed to come back on the ice for the shootout, scored through the pads of Sateri and then talked trash as he skated by the Sharks bench; Acolatse was stopped by Mannino to seal the Pirates win.

As the Pirates were celebrating their win, emotions spilled over as the Sharks {specifically Pelech and Bonneau} went after the Pirates as they skated towards their exit. Pelech speared a Pirates player while Bonneau drilled Eckford from behind to set off a full scale 40 player brawl. Coaches from both teams went out on the ice to break the players up. Bonneau received five minutes for fighting and a game misconduct for fighting other than during periods of the game while Pelech got five and a game misconduct for spearing.

Not to excuse what Bonneau and Pelech did but it has to be point outed that Sterling should have never been allowed back on the ice for the shootout. Under AHL rule 84.4, “All players are eligible to participate in the shootout unless they are serving a 10 minute misconduct or have been assessed a game misconduct or match penalty.” Had Sterling been kept in the locker room where he should’ve been, I guarantee you this brawl would have never happened. Sadly, the AHL league offices disagreed with me {more later in the post}.

For the game, the Sharks were outshot 33-25, were 2-for-2 with the man advantage and 2-for-4 on the penalty kill… Sexsmith {inj}, MacIntyre {inj}, Viedensky {inj}, Del Monte {inj}, Murray {inj}, Reid {inj}, Nick Petrecki {scr}, and Jack Combs {scr} did not dress for the Sharks… With the fight assessed to Bonneau at the end of the game, Bonneau now has a team record 22 fighting majors while the Sharks have an AHL leading 119 fighting majors… The Sharks finished the season series against the Pirates 4-5-1-2.

Photo courtesy of Rosina Vacchiano of www.mainehockeyjournal.com

On April 10, the Sharks hosted the visiting Manchester Monarchs in their final meeting of the season and skated away with a 4-1 victory. Stalberg, Acolatse and Guite scored for the Sharks while Sateri stopped 49-of-50 shots. In addition, Moore {0-2-2}, Moon {0-2-2}, Acolatse {2-0-2} and Guite {1-2-3} all had multi-point games for the Sharks.

Prior to the start of the game, all 40 players came together at center ice during warm-ups, which resulted in a couple of scrums breaking out. Involved were McLaren and Gogol for the Sharks and Justin Johnson and Richard Clune for the Monarchs.

Stalberg gave the Sharks an early 1-0 lead with his third goal of the season at 5:26 of the first period. With the puck inside the Monarchs zone, Lucia skated out towards the right corner and sent the puck down to Stalberg, who was positioned inside the right face-off circle. Stalberg settled the puck down and fired a wicked snap shot on net that beat Monarchs goalie Jeff Zatkoff for the goal. Moore was credited with secondary assist.

Acolatse extended the Sharks lead to 2-0 with a power play goal, his seventh goal of the season, at 14:51 of the third period off a laser beam of a shot from the left point that left a vapor trail on the ice. Guite and Moon were credited with the assists.

Monarchs forward David Meckler stuffed home a loose puck from on top of Sateri’s crease with the Monarchs on the power play to cut the Sharks lead in half. The goal was Meckler’s 10th of the season and came at 17:05 on the Monarchs’ 48th shot on goal.

Acolatse answered back for the Sharks with another power play goal at 18:35 off another laser beam of a shot, this time from the right point. Moon and Moore were credited with the assists.

Guite sealed the Sharks win with an empty net goal, his third goal of the season, at 19:49.

For the game, the Sharks were outshot 50-32, were 2-for-5 with the man advantage and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill… Sexsmith {inj}, Reid {inj}, MacIntyre {inj}, Del Monte {inj}, Livingston {inj}, Viedensky {inj}, Bonneau {susp}, and Pelech {susp} did not dress for the Sharks… Dylan DeMelo {#44} and Yanni Gourde {#18} made their professional debuts for the Sharks… The Sharks finished the season series against the Monarchs 3-6-2-1… The Sharks are 11th in the AHL on the power play at 17.9%, 21st on the penalty kill at 81.7% and first in penalty minutes at 21.8 per game.

AHL SUSPENDS FOUR SHARKS!

Photos courtesy of www.sharksahl.com

On April 10, the AHL website announced that Bonneau was suspended eight games while Pelech was suspended four games and assistant coach David Cunniff was suspended one game due to their actions in the Pirates game on April 7. In addition, the Sharks organization was fined an undisclosed amount.

Bonneau would have served the remainder of his suspension during the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs had the Sharks qualified. Instead, Bonneau will miss the first four games of the 2012-13 season.

On April 11, the AHL website announced that McLaren was suspended three games while Gogol was suspended one game for their actions during the pregame brawl against the Monarchs on April 10. In addition, Johnson of the Monarchs was suspended three games while Clune was suspended one game. Both clubs were fined an undisclosed amount.

NEW FACES MOVE TO TEAL TOWN

Photos courtesy of www.highlytouted.ca, www.londoncommunitynews.com,
www.goholycross.com and www.hockeyjournal.com

Four new faces joined the Worcester Sharks this past week in Gourde, DeMelo, Jay Silvia and Bobby Farnham.

Darryl Hunt {@210Darryl} of Sharkspage.com broke the news on Twitter Monday evening {April 9} West Coast time that Gourde had signed an Amateur Try-out contract with the Sharks. Gourde spent the last several seasons {2009-12} with the Victoriaville Tigers of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League {QMJHL} and led the QMJHL in scoring with 124 points {37-87-124} in 68 games played to go along with 70 penalty minutes. In the Tigers four playoff games, Gourde registered three points {1-2-3} with six penalty minutes.

DeMelo, the San Jose Sharks‘ sixth round pick {#179 overall} in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, sent a tweet out {@DDems2} on April 7 that said “Worcester tomorrow.” DeMelo has spent the last several seasons {2009-12} with the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors of the Ontario Hockey League {OHL} and finished seventh amongst defensemen in league scoring with 47 points {7-40-47} in 67 games played with 70 penalty minutes. In the Majors’ six playoff games, DeMelo registered two points {1-1-2} to go along with 13 penalty minutes.

On April 12, Eric Lindquist tweeted {@worcestersharks} that the Sharks had signed graduating Holy Cross senior forward Silvia to an Amateur Try-out contract. Silvia was the ninth leading scorer on the team with 18 points {7-11-18} to go along with 14 penalty minutes and 102 shots on net {third on team}. For his career, Silvia registered 64 points {34-30-64} in 140 career games, which tied him seventh all-time for most games played in school history. Over the course of his four year career at Holy Cross, Silvia was named Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week {Nov. 14, 2011}, AHA Rookie of the Week, AT&T Crusader of the Week, won the team’s Seventh Player award as a Freshman and was named to the Atlantic Hockey All-Academic team as a junior. Silvia will wear #24 with the Sharks.

Shortly after tweeting the news about Silvia, Lindquist tweeted that the Sharks had also signed Brown University forward Farnham to an Amateur Try-out contract as well. As an assistant captain, Farnham registered a career high 21 points {8-13-21} in 31 games played. For his career at Brown, Farnham registered 54 points {23-31-54} and 128 penalty minutes. Farnham’s 129 career games ranks him second all-time at Brown, where he continued a family legacy. According to the Brown athletics website, Bobby was the first of five members of the Farnham family to play for the hockey team as his father Bob {class of 1977}, uncles Mark and Paul {class of 1980 & 1983} and cousin Buddy {class of 2010} played football. Bobby, who wore #46 just like his family members, was a three-time ECAC All-Academic honoree and was nominated for both the Hockey Humanitarian Award and the Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award. Before joining the Sharks, Farnham played in three games with the Providence Bruins and collected four penalty minutes. Farnham will wear #39 with the Sharks.

PETRECKI NAMED AHL MAN OF THE YEAR

Photo courtesy of www.sharksahl.com

On April 12, it was announced that Petrecki was named the 2011-12 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award Winner as the AHL’s Man of the Year.

From the Worcester Sharks website, “A third-year pro in the Sharks organization, Petrecki has taken the initiative to go above and beyond with regards to community outreach, establishing himself as a leader throughout central Massachusetts. Recipient of Worcester’s team Man of the Year each of the last two seasons, Petrecki has become the lead spokesman for the Sharks’ two flagship community programs, FINZ Fit Kidz and Reading is Cool. He has taken the lead in performing assemblies at schools and Boys and Girls Clubs in the Worcester area, and has read books and spoken about the importance of reading to thousands of students in the region, endearing himself and the organization to local educators.

Petrecki rallied his teammates to participate in the fourth annual Give Moore for the Holidays toy drive, inviting underprivileged children and their families to the DCU Center to receive a donation of more than $3,000 worth of toys following a Sharks game in December. He also worked with Hockey Ministries International to organize a Sharks Faith and Family Night; participated in street hockey clinics; led youth group discussions at Y.O.U., Inc., a leading child welfare and behavioral health organization; and painted a street mural to promote Athletes for a Greener Planet.”

Created by the AHL Board of Governors to honor the memory of former Hershey Bears player Yanick Dupre, who lost a hard fought 16-month battle with leukemia in 1997, the winner of the award is selected from 30 individual team Man of the Year honorees and best represents the spirit of Dupre with his involvement in the community.

Drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, Dupre played four seasons in the AHL, played in the 1995 AHL All-Star Game and appeared in 35 games with the Flyers before losing his courageous battle with leukemia at the age of 24.