|
Post by IceCat on Jan 23, 2015 9:18:21 GMT
If it seems like we've been through this saga before, well - we have. 10 years after the IceCats left Worcester their replacement may now also be heading west, leaving Central Massachusetts hockey fans like me in limbo once again.
www.telegram.com/article/20150121/NEWS/301219509/1009/newsrewind
End looks near for Worcester Sharks
by Bill Ballou, Telegram and Gazette staff
WORCESTER — The long and painful wait for Worcester Sharks fans is nearing its inevitable end, and signs increasingly point to an official announcement about the fate of the team by the end of this month.
The latest piece of evidence is a story by Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury-News saying that his paper has learned Worcester will be moved to San Jose's SAP Center for the 2015-16 season, a likelihood that was first reported by the Telegram & Gazette five weeks ago.
To date, no one involved in the proposed West Coast move has confirmed it on the record, but AHL president Dave Andrews came closest last month when he said that Worcester's future in the league was "a good question," and that he would not rule out the possibility that any city that loses a team finds a replacement within the AHL.
Sharks executives Joe Will, who runs the hockey end of the Worcester franchise, and Jon Gustafson, in charge of business dealings, are expected to be in the city this weekend and attend the All-Star Classic early next week in Utica, New York.
The AHL Board of Governors will meet there on Monday, which could be when all the loose ends are tied up and an official announcement is made. San Jose executives have said that their first priority in releasing any information about a possible move would be to tell their employees here.
A move to San Jose would give the AHL three franchises that share a city with a National Hockey League team. Chicago has the Blackhawks and Wolves, who are not affiliated. Toronto has the Maple Leafs and Marlies, who are. None of those teams share a building with anybody else, though.
Only two previous AHL franchises have played in the same building as their NHL partners and neither setup worked out very well, although many years have passed since it was tried. The Canadiens put the Montreal Voyageurs into the old Forum in 1969-70. While the Voyageurs were a tremendous team, by 1970-71 they were playing some home games in Halifax, Nova Scotia and moved there for good in 1971-72.
Also in 1971-72, at the height of the Bobby Orr hysteria, the Bruins put their AHL team in the original Boston Garden and the Braves drew sellout crowds throughout the winter. However, the WHA Whalers moved into town the next year and by 1973-74 the Braves were at the Rindge Arena in Braintree.
Toronto also had the Roadrunners playing at Ricoh Coliseum in 2003-04, then that franchise moved to Edmonton for the lockout year of 2004-05. The most successful two-team city has been Philadelphia, where the Phantoms were extremely popular playing in the old Spectrum before that building was razed after the 2009 season. Less successful were the Philadelphia Firebirds, who played in downtown Philly from 1977-79, then moved to Syracuse.
When the Worcester IceCats were purchased by a group in Peoria, Illinois, and relocated there for the 2005-06 season — a move that did not work — the DCU Center had no hockey for that winter, but convinced San Jose to move its affiliate from Cleveland to here for 2006-07.
With that experience in mind, DCU Center and city officials have been working quietly at finding a possible replacement for the Sharks, perhaps from the ECHL. That league stands to lose three California cities to the AHL move — Ontario, Bakersfield and Stockton. It has never had a team in New England before and the closest ECHL franchise to Worcester right now is Elmira, New York.
www.mercurynews.com/sharks/ci_27366495/sharks-minor-league-team-moving-sap-center
Sharks minor league team moving to SAP Center
by Mark Purdy
Next winter, ice hockey at the SAP Center will have company: More ice hockey.
The Sharks will move their minor league Worcester franchise in Massachusetts to SAP Center for the 2015-16 season, this newspaper has learned. The team will play between 30 and 40 games in downtown San Jose, filling vacant dates at the arena.
The move is an unconventional one. No other NHL team shares a building with its minor league affiliate, although the Toronto Maple Leafs' minor league team, the Marlies, plays in the same city at a different arena.
The Marlies and the Worcester Sharks are members of the American Hockey League, comprised of the NHL's top developmental teams. It has long been speculated that the AHL would soon shift five or six teams to the West Coast, where they would be more conveniently located to NHL parent franchises in San Jose, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Calgary and perhaps one or two others.
"There have been talks for a number of years about a Pacific division for the AHL," acknowledged John Tortora, chief operating officer of the San Jose Sharks. "The AHL and NHL are working cooperatively to find a solution. But there are still many steps to take and many issues remain unresolved."
Tortora would not confirm that the Worcester team would be playing at SAP Center next season. But other sources have called it a done deal. Initial reports of the Sharks' decision surfaced on a Southern California hockey blog, Mayors Manor. Further information has leaked in recent days. Details probably will be firmed up this weekend at the AHL All-Star game during a meeting of league executives.
If all goes as planned, the AHL's entire western strategy will then be officially announced at a Jan. 29 news conference inside SAP Center.
Worcester has been a challenging situation for the Sharks in terms of drawing fan support because it is located in the heart of Boston Bruins country. And like other western NHL teams, there have been logistical issues when minor league players from eastern locations must fly across the country when they are called up from the AHL roster. Moving the Worcester team westward makes sense.
The surprising twist, however, is the decision to have the minor league team play in the same building as the NHL Sharks. Most observers speculated that the Sharks would place the Worcester franchise in Stockton or Fresno or elsewhere in California.
However, the Sharks' front office apparently decided that it would be a benefit to have their top prospects playing not just next door but literally inside the same doors.
|
|
|
Post by IceCat on Jan 23, 2015 9:29:10 GMT
According to this article in the Union Leader, New Hampshire's paper of record, there could be wholesale changes to the makeup of minor league hockey for next season as the NHL's western teams look to have their prospects closer to the big leagues while the ECHL teams currently in the smaller California markets would be moved east to fill the void in markets like Manchester, Norfolk or Worcester. Ironically the decisions could be made this coming week by the AHL Board of Governors at the league's All Star Game in Utica, current home of the team once known as the Worcester IceCats.www.unionleader.com/article/20150121/SPORTS0702/150129842Kevin
|
|
|
Post by IceCat on Jan 30, 2015 10:28:50 GMT
The news was made official at a press conference in San Jose attended by representatives of the five NHL teams involved. The Worcester Sharks will presumably be renamed as they will now share the SAP Center with the parent club. No word yet on whether we will get another team for next season and if so in what league.
The Los Angeles Kings own both their AHL (Manchester Monarchs) and ECHL (Ontario Reign) affiliates so they will merely trade places, putting the top prospects within a freeway ride of Staples Center.
The Anaheim Ducks will acquire their AHL farm team, the Norfolk Admirals, and move them from one Navy town to another - San Diego, a city that's been without minor league hockey since 2006. Norfolk will be given a team in the ECHL for next season.
The Edmonton Oilers will swap their AHL team, the Oklahoma City Barons, with their ECHL team the Bakersfield Condors.
The Calgary Flames will move their AHL team, the Glens Falls, NY based Adirondack Flames, to Stockton, CA. Glens Falls will likely get an ECHL team in return.
The AHL will vote on further realignment at a later date.theahl.com/ahl-approves-formation-of-pacific-division-p196033Kevin
|
|
|
Post by IceCat on Mar 16, 2015 9:50:41 GMT
Worcester's hopes of having a team in the AHL next season are fading by the day. One would have thought that the logistical nightmare of having a team in St John's, Newfoundland, would have been our chance. Weather delays meant that the Worcester Sharks were a day late in getting to St John's before a two game set with the IceCaps last month and also stranded them there for three days afterwards, because it's not just the people that have to travel but their equipment as well and for that you need to be on a jet rather than the small commuter planes that account for most of the arrivals there. I would have thought that would have prompted the Winnipeg Jets, the parent club of the St John's IceCaps, to move them out of Newfoundland. Well move them they will...back to Winnipeg, from where (as the Manitoba Moose) they were forced to move in 2011 when the NHL returned there. It will just be temporary as the Jets eventually hope to park their AHL farm team in nearby Thunder Bay, Ontario. The St John's IceCaps name will live on as the Montreal Canadiens have acquired their farm team, the Hamilton (ON) Bulldogs, and will move them to Newfoundland next season.
As for the play on the ice at present both the Sharks, who missed the playoffs the last four seasons, and the reigning Eastern Conference champion IceCaps are just outside the top eight as of this writing. Hamilton are currently 7th in the Western Conference, just inside the playoff bubble and a point ahead of the team they lost the conference final to last year, the reigning Calder Cup champion (Cedar Park) Texas Stars.
Kevin
|
|
|
Post by IceCat on Apr 20, 2015 8:40:45 GMT
The Worcester Sharks' final season in Central Massachusetts will last just a little bit longer as they are the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference and will open the Calder Cup playoffs with a best of five series against the Hershey Bears.
- Game 1 Friday 24 April in Worcester
- Game 2 Saturday 25 April in Worcester
- Game 3 Wednesday 29 April in Hershey
- *Game 4 Friday 1 May in Hershey
- *Game 5 Sunday 3 May in Hershey
* - if necessary
The Manchester Monarchs, one of the other teams leaving for California next season, are the top seed in the East and opens their first round series Thursday night at home against the Portland Pirates The 3v6 matchup in the East involves the other two New England teams to advance to the postseason, the Hartford Wolf Pack and the Providence Bruins.
Kevin
|
|
|
Post by IceCat on May 5, 2015 8:02:40 GMT
The Worcester Sharks are now history: their everything must go equipment sale is this coming Saturday. After dropping the first two games of the best of five opening round series at home they were able to win game three in Hershey but last Friday the series and the season came to an abrupt end with a humiliating 10-4 loss. That's not quite the end for hockey in Central Massachusetts this spring, however: because the circus is in Hartford this week and the arena in Springfield is probably also unavailable the Wolf Pack are forced to host games three and four of their second round series against the Hershey Bears in Worcester this coming Sunday and Monday. The Worcester Sharks will officially become the San Jose Barracuda this coming October, sharing the SAP Center with their parent club. No word on a new team for us yet so it looks likely that we'll go at least one season without one.
Kevin
|
|
|
Post by IceCat on Jul 29, 2015 9:58:13 GMT
The AHL board of governors earlier this month approved a new division alignment and playoff structure almost mirroring the NHL, except that the first round series will remain best-of-five. More controversially is the decision to have every team play a 76 game regular season schedule EXCEPT for the five California teams, who will each play just 68 games. They don't cite a reason for this although it's probably a logistics issue, but on the face of it this move looks stupid. It's definitely too late for another hockey team at any level to come to Worcester for next season and as yet there's been no word on whether it will happen at any point in the future.theahl.com/board-of-governors-approves-changes-for-15-16-p198633www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Worcester-Hockey/1379287455716117?twitter.com/SaveWooHockeyKevin
|
|
|
Post by IceCat on Aug 9, 2015 20:25:36 GMT
|
|
|
Post by IceCat on Sept 27, 2015 10:54:42 GMT
Still getting radio silence regarding whether Worcester will have a new minor league hockey team, but now comes the possibility that within a few years we might be the new home of the team currently known as the Pawtucket Red Sox. (?!?)
McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, completed in 1942 and extensively renovated in 1998, is the current home of Boston's AAA farm team. Late last year it came under new owners led by Larry Lucchino, who until recently was the Boston Red Sox' president and CEO. With the PawSox coming more fully into the fold of its parent club also came word that the team was hoping to leave McCoy for a new ballpark in nearby Providence by 2017. The site in question along the Providence River was opened up by the relocation of I-195 in recent years, but opponents came out against the idea because A) many fans were aghast at the prospect of the team leaving Pawtucket and B) many Providence residents wanted the riverfront parcel to become parkland rather than a ballpark. A wrench was thrown into the proceedings by the sudden passing in May due to a heart attack of Jim Skeffington, a Rhode Island attorney and junior partner in the PawSox' ownership group. Within the past week state officials told the team that the site was not suitable for a ballpark and so that proposal is off the table, just as interest is being shown by civic leaders at the northern end of Route 146, the highway linking Providence with Worcester. The PawSox are noncommittal on the Worcester proposal or on whether they'll try to find a different site in Rhode Island for the team. Stay tuned...
Kevin
|
|
|
Post by IceCat on Oct 24, 2015 9:54:02 GMT
There has been some movement of late regarding the possibility of pro hockey returning to Worcester in 2016. It will likely come in the form of an ECHL team with a local owner and a possible AA affiliation with the Bruins.
www.telegram.com/article/20151021/SPORTS/151029785
There is also some sad news to report: Jimmy Roberts, the St Louis Blues' first pick in the 1967 expansion draft whose playing career spanned 1006 NHL regular season games with St Louis and Montreal and five Stanley Cup rings (all with the Canadiens), passed away on Friday from cancer at age 75. His coaching career included two Calder Cups in 1990 and 1991 with the Springfieild Indians, followed by a full season as head coach of the Hartford Whalers: he also had brief stints as interim head coach with both Buffalo and St Louis while serving both as an assistant coach. For Worcester fans he is best remembered as the first head coach and general manager of the IceCats from 1994-96.
Kevin
|
|