A View From The Cheap Seats
                                                       Written by 210

12/31/06

Someone should have told the Sharks that while Boxing Day is a holiday in some parts of the world there was a game scheduled for December 26th here in Worcester. Although in all fairness I’m not sure anyone told the Hartford Wolf Pack either. In one of the most boring games in recent memory the Pack defeated the Sharks 2-0. If it weren’t for the individual efforts of Josh Prudden and Mike Iggulden there would be nothing positive to say about the game.

Friday’s game in Manchester found the Sharks in a familiar position—down early by multiple goals. After 23 minutes of play the Sharks found themselves down 3-0. Two quick goals by Ashton Rome and Graham Mink 2:19 apart in the second stanza got the Sharks within one, but an early third period tally regained the two-goal lead for the Monarchs. Mink added a second score to breathe a little life into Worcester, but an empty net goal sealed the Sharks’ fate, losing 5-3.

Saturday night saw the Portland Pirates come to town. No one could have envisioned the classic they were going to see. The two teams combined for 84 shots, with more than two dozen of those being high quality scoring chances. Sharks goaltender Thomas Greiss and Pirates netminder Dov Grummet-Morris were both up to the challenge, with each making huge save after huge save. Grummet-Morris made one of the best saves seen in the DCU Center robbing Dan Spang with an incredible glove save while falling in the opposite direction.

Long time Worcester hockey fans were calling Greiss’ performance the best played in the building by a player not named Dwayne Roloson. Being second to Roloson in any comparison in Worcester hockey is high praise indeed.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
One of the most common questions I see is “Where is ‘former IceCat’ playing?” So here’s a list of former IceCats that have played in the AHL (listed by the last team they played with) and/or in the NHL this season (as of 12/30/06)…

Binghamton
Jeff Heerema

Bridgeport
Eric Boguniecki

Chicago
Steve Martins
Brian Fahey

Grand Rapids
Brendan Brooks
Nick Naumenko

Hershey
Trevor Byrne
Frederic Cassivi

Lowell
Justin Papineau

Manchester
Brendan Buckley
Mike Hoffman

Norfolk
Reed Low

Peoria
Jason Bacashihua
Chris Beckford-Tseu
Jon DiSalvatore
Mike Glumac
Barret Jackman
DJ King
Aaron MacKenzie
Ryan Ramsay
Peter Sejna
Mike Stuart
Patrick Wellar
Konstantin Zakharov

Philadelphia
Troy Riddle

Providence
Jeff Hoggan

Portland
Trevor Gilles

San Antonio
Bryan Helmer
Pascal Rheaume

Springfield
Dan Corso
Mitch Fritz

Toronto
Tyson Nash

Worcester
Patrick Traverse

NHL
Derek Armstrong (LA Kings)
Jason Bacashihua (St Louis)
Christian Backman (St Louis)
Eric Boguniecki (NY Islanders)
Craig Conroy (LA Kings)
Rory Fitzpatrick (Vancouver)
Mike Glumac (St Louis)
Michal Handzus (Chicago)
Jochen Hecht (Buffalo)
Jeff Hoggan (Boston)
Barret Jackman (St Louis)
Brent Johnson (Washington)
DJ King (St Louis)
Ian Laperriere (Colorado)
Reed Low (Chicago)
Jamal Mayers (St Louis)
Jay McClement (St Louis)
Jamie McLennan (Calgary)
Johnny Pohl (Toronto)
Marty Reasoner (Edmonton)
Jamie Rivers (St Louis)
Dwayne Roloson (Edmonton)
Mark Rycroft (Colorado)
Bryce Salvador (St Louis)
Curtis Sanford (St Louis)
Steve Staios (Edmonton)
Mike Van Ryn (Florida)
Matt Walker (St Louis)
Dennis Wideman (St Louis)

UPCOMING GAMES
The Sharks play in Worcester Saturday night vs Springfield, and then hit the road--as much as any team in New England really “hits the road”--when they play 6 in a row away from the DCU Center. Worcester plays just seven of their next 24 at home, which includes a four game home stand surrounding the All-Star break.

INJURIES
Add Craig Valette to the long term injury list with a severed tendon in his right pinky finger. There’s no time table for Valette’s return, although he was fairly open about his thoughts of being ready for the playoffs. Michal Macho is out for the season with a left ACL tear.
Nolan Schaefer played Tuesday with his right arm was obviously not 100%. He looked better in warm-ups Saturday, and was the back-up to Greiss. Newcomer Sean Collins, signed to a PTO on Friday morning, sat out Saturday’s game. While listed as a health scratch he was seen limping his way around the concourse.

Brad Staubitz dropped off the injury list with his return Friday.

ROSTER MOVES
On December 26th the Sharks signed Josh Prudden to a second PTO, and released John Laliberte from his PTO. Laliberte had an assist in nine games, much of it playing on the top two lines. On December 29th the Sharks signed Collins. While Collins arrived at TF Green airport, his gear did not. It arrived just before the bus left for Manchester.

AHL NOTES
Darren Haydar extended his AHL record point scoring streak to 36 games on a short handed assist with just nine seconds remaining in Chicago’s 5-3 loss to Rochester...the professional record is 51 games, held by Wayne Gretzky. Think the Sharks/Pirates combined 85 shot game Saturday was a lot? It doesn’t even make the AHL’s top 5 for the season. There have been three 90 shot games, with Lowell/Norfolk’s 93 shot game on Veteran’s Day leading the pack. Speaking of shots, AHL teams are 1-5 when they take 50 or more shots in a game...the lone win was Chicago’s 60 shot 5-4 win over San Antonio.