As we come out of the holiday break most pro hockey leagues take around the Christmas holidays, it’s time to take another look at how some former Worcester AHL players are doing among their respective leagues.
For the North American pro leagues any player in their league’s top-20 or leading their NHL or AHL team that gets listed, and for the European leagues it’s just those in the top-five for the league. Goaltenders only get a mention if they meet their league’s qualifying minimums. All of the stats and rankings are as of Christmas Eve.
Like our previous update it’s all former WorSharks making the NHL listing, with San Jose’s Joe Pavelski leading the way with 32 points, good enough for a tie for 11th in the league. His 12 power play points tie him for 20th overall, and his three game winning goals tie him for ninth. He also leads the Sharks in all three of those categories. Pavelski’s 16 assists ties him for 16th in the NHL.
Logan Couture makes the list with his six power play goals, which leads San Jose and ranks him tied for tenth in the NHL. Two other former WorSharks crack the list with both the Sharks Chris Tierney and Florida’s Jason Demers tied for eighth with two shorthanded points.
There’s only one former Worcester AHLer at the top of any NHL goaltender stats, with the Islanders Thomas Greiss‘ .922 save percentage coming in tied for 16th place. Greiss just misses the top-20 in goals against average with his 2.48 short of 20th place by .01. As you’ll see in the ECHL section, he isn’t the only goalie missing out by such a small margin.
For team leaders we’ve got Arizona’s Jamie McGinn leading the Coyotes with two game winners, Matt Irwin leading the Nashville Predators at +11, and Micheal Haley leading the Sharks with 37 penalty minutes.
In the AHL it’s Syracuse’s Yanni Gourde in the top-20 in four different categories. His three game winners tie him for fifth in the AHL, his +12 rating ties him for 15th, and his 24 points is good enough for a tie for 17th. Gourde’s 16 assists ties him for 13th place with several other players, including Crunch teammate and former WorSharks defenseman Matt Taormina.
Former WorSharks captain John McCarthy is the only former Worcester AHLer to lead a category in the AHL as his two shorthanded goals for the Barracuda tie him for best in the league. The only other former WorSharks skater with a current AHL top-20 to his credit is Springfield’s Sena Acolatse, whose 50 penalty minutes earns him a 20th place spot.
Two goaltenders make this listing as Iowa’s Alex Stalock ranks tied for 14th with eight wins, and Barracuda netminder Troy Grosenick has two top-tens with his 1.98 goals against average (7th) and a .930 save percentage (tied for 6th).
AHL team leaders are Bracken Kearns with 22 points to lead Bridgeport, and teammate Steve Bernier has nine goals to lead the Sound Tigers. Matt Tennyson‘s +7 rating leads the Charlotte Checkers, and Barclay Goodrow has nine goals to tie for the lead in San Jose.
For the ECHL there are several former Worcester AHLers with multiple appearances in that league’s top-20 list, with Alaska’s Peter Sivak leading the ECHL with 22 goals and six game winners. His 19 assists tie him for 19th, and his 41 points rank him second overall. He hits a fifth category with a +15 rating, good enough to tie for ninth.
Chad Costello, one of four former WorSharks with the Allen Americans to make the posting, also ranks in five categories. His 30 assists, 47 points, and 12 power play points all lead the ECHL. He then tacks on two more top-fives with his 17 goals tying him for fourth and his four game winning goals tying him for third.
Fellow Amerk Greger Hanson hits the charts four times, with his 15 goals tying him for eighth and 20 assists tying him for 14th. His 35 points ties him for fifth in the ECHL, and his five power play goals ties him for fourth. Spencer Asuchak also has five power play goals, and his 13 goals ties him for 14th best in the ECHL.
Goaltender Riley Gill rounds out the Allen players with his 14 wins and .934 save percentage both being second best in the league. Gill’s 2.23 goals against average places him in third, and he’s just .01 out of first place.
Two Manchester Monarchs make the listing, with Daniel Ciampini‘s 12 goals tying him for 18th in the ECHL, his three game winners tying him for fifth, and a +15 rating tying him for ninth. Daniel Doremus makes two categories, with his 19 assists tying him for 19th and his eight power play assists good enough for a tie for sixth.
Other former WorSharks in the ECHL top-20 are Vincent Arseneau of the Wichita Thunder with 2 shorthanded goals (tied for third), Atlanta’s Brock Higgs cracking the top-ten twice with 26 assists (second) and 33 points (tied for eighth). Alaska’s Garet Hunt rounds out the former Worcester AHLers in the ECHL with his 5th ranked 91 penalty minutes.
Over in Europe Dan DaSilva and Brodie Reid are lighting up Austria’s EBEL, with DaSilva leading the league with 24 goals. His 42 points ranks him second overall. Reid’s 19 goals ties him for third in the EBEL. In France, Scott Flemming continues to play well for Lyon with his 21 assists and 33 points ranking him third in the Ligue Magnus.
In Germany, Mike Connolly‘s 21 assists ties him for second in the DEL, while his 28 points ties him for fourth. Trevor Parkes‘ 13 DEL goals ties him for fifth in the league. In the Czech Republic, Nick Schaus has 17 assists to tie him for fifth in the Czech Extraliga
Netminder Jeff Jakaitis continues to show the GET-ligaen that he’s a force to be reckoned with as he leads the Norwegian league with a 1.93 goals against average and .927 save percentage. Jason Bacashihua is the first former IceCats player to make the listing, and his 1.94 goals against average and .931 save percentage also leads his league, the Slovak Extraliga.
Two other former IceCats rank in the top-two of their leagues, with Ladislav Nagy leading the Slovak Extraliga in goals with 20 and is second in points with 39. Daniel Corso‘s 27 assists and 39 points are both good enough for second in the Belarusian Extraleague. Konstantin Zakharov rounds out the posting with 14 goals in the same league to tie for fifth.
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