Worcester Sharks‘ Micheal Haley(18) has 8 fighting majors but also is second on the team in goal scoring with 12. He looks to reach a career high mark in the category this season.
This was only the 2nd fight for the 6’7″ 224 lbs. Providence Bruins‘ defenseman Chris Breen(8).
Despite giving up almost half a foot and 20 pounds the smaller, still tough as nails Haley held it to a draw.
San Jose Sharks‘ undrafted rookie right wing Barclay Goodrow(89) put up almost a point-per-game in 5 seasons of development with North Bay Battalion and scored the most goals in last year’s OHL playoffs.
He managed to make the opening night roster on the big club but has yet to produce the kind of results he put up in junior hockey.
In 32 NHL games he has 3 goals and 6 assists with a -6 rating and has been a healthy scratch on numerous nights.
There’s little doubt the biggish 6’2″ 215 lbs. power forward is capable of connecting with the score sheet on a regular basis but might just need a season under his belt to start producing most frequently.
He was reassigned for a couple games to the farm team Worcester Sharks over the All-Star break to give him a wake up call and attempt to kick-start the wheels.
Although he fail to produce any points in 2 AHL games the message got through as he struck for a goal and an assist on his return.
The 21-year old is signed to a three-year entry level deal through 2017 but could be trade bait if the parent club needs some more immediate results.
At 3:30pm ET AHL president Dave Andrews announced the creation on a Pacific Division that will play in the Western Conference of the league starting 2015/2016.
The cities effectively losing teams are Oklahoma City Barons, which happened earlier this season, Norfolk Admirals, Glens Falls/Adirondack Flames after only one run, Worcester Sharks and rivals Manchester Monarchs.
Picking up teams will be soon to be former ECHL franchises Ontario (Los Angeles), Bakersfield (Edmonton) and Stockton (Calgary). San Diego (Anaheim) will be a new city for triple A hockey although did at one time have a Gulls, and San Jose‘s farm club will play out of the same building as the Sharks; and will likely be renamed.
It’s fairly well-thought that Manchester, Adirondack and Norfolk make announcement to join the double A league and there’s rumors racing around Worcester is exploring the options and would have the best chance at success by resurrecting the Ice Cats, while Oklahoma City may get back into the fold under their old successful Blazers‘ banner after a year on the sidelines.
This move was 100% inevitable and can easily make fiscal sense. Those west coast teams draw fairly well with their fan base of hockey lovers.
On the plus side for Eastern Conference folks, chances are Utica, Rochester, Charlotte, Hamilton and even possible Toronto enter in their rivalry picture.
The big news is the top level of minor league hockey in California has arrived.
Undrafted 3rd year left wing Yanni Gourde(37) is poised to set new career highs in all scoring categories this season.
He’s already eclipsed his goals total from last year with 15 in 41 AHL games with Syracuse Crunch, while holding a +14 rating.
It’s very likely that the small 5’9″ 168 lbs. forward will also reach new bests for points and assists in his first full year as a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect.
He was signed to a two-year two-way entry level contract after putting up point-per-game numbers on a pto with Worcester Sharks after being loaned from Kalamazoo Wings.
He had 15 goals and 19 assists in 30 ECHL at the time of his recall.
Looking for an NHL deal, it didn’t materialize with their parent club San Jose Sharks, so he smartly went elsewhere and found it.
San Jose Sharks‘ 1st round pick in the 2012 draft (#17 overall) Czech Republic-born 2nd year center Tomas Hertl(48) may have been shaking his head some when he was reassigned to skate games over the NHL All-Star break with minor league affiliate Worcester Sharks and it’s possible that if the parent club isn’t happy they could keep him down longer.
He’s definitely off to a less than impressive start in his sophomore campaign as his numbers are down dramatically from his rookie season, where he put in 15 goals and 10 assists in 37 games with a -11 rating.
The absolutely towering 6’2″ 210 power forward has only managed 8 goals and 9 assists in 48 games so the spotlight is on him to improve.
There’s little doubt he looks out of place on the farm team this could be the wake up call he needs to become a fixture in the highest level of hockey. In two AHL games he has a pair of assists with a +1 plus/minus.
He already had two years of pro experience as a teenager in his home country’s top league Czech Extraliga with HC Slavia Praha putting up 28 and 30 point seasons
The 21-year old is signed to a three-year entry level deal so it’s important for him to step it up but it’s very doubtful that if he fails to settle in California, another club will definitely give him a huge chance in a different system.
6th year veteran center John McCarthy(17) got a bit of a surprised when he was reassigned back to Worcester Sharks‘ organization in a minor league transaction after less than half a season on a one-year, two-way deal with St. Louis Blues.
He has spent his entire pro career in the San Jose Sharks‘ system, playing 267 AHL games with their farm team (59-82-141, +31 rating) and one campaign as team captain.
The 6′ 195 lbs. plays a power forward style despite being a little shy of the usual size but only in his rookie season was he able to attain 20/20 scoring status.
He’s also thought of as a good checking, somewhat agitating to play against opponent, which completely goes against his real good-guy off ice persona.
In 25 games on reassignment with Chicago Wolves he only has a 5 goals and 3 assists so far this season but was injured for a spell, which might have thrown his game off.
At 28-years old it’s tough to say where this train will stop next but it would be little surprise to see him succeed quite nicely taking his game overseas in 2015/2016.
11th year veteran defenseman Ian White(28) last played a game in the AHL in 2006 with the newly introduced Toronto Marlies, while still under his entry level contract with Toronto Maple Leafs.
He was a 6th round pick in the 2002 draft (#191 overall) and up until the 2013/2014 season he strung together 503 NHL appearances, 6 years with the Leafs, stops with Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, San Jose Sharks and most fruitfully late career two campaigns with Detroit Red Wings, where he put up a career high 25 assists and 32 points with a phenomenal +23 rating.
The not huge 5’10” 185 lbs. d-man had season ending injury in 2013/2014 limiting him to only 25 games for 2 goals and 2 assists but a tidy +5.
He was a beast on the score board in four years of juniors in the WHL with Swift Current Broncos. His totals of 77 goals and 145 assists in 246 games with a +31 is impressive for such a late selection.
Regardless, he was an unrestricted free agent was in Winnipeg Jets‘ training camp but released and found himself over in Russia with Traktor Chelyabinsk for a minimal 10 games.
At only 30 years old, he’s definitely still got a lot of game left in the tank.
He signed a pto with Providence Bruins and has appeared in 7 games scoring 1 goal and 3 assists but is a kind of bad -7 plus/minus on a team that’s been struggling.
His veteran presence works on this roster and it would be no surprise to see him score a deal.
San Jose Sharks‘ 9th year veteran center Adam Burish(37) has never been a prolific goal scorer through 378 NHL games he’s skated, 27 goals and 33 assists.
Returning healthy after suffering an injury that tossed all but 15 games to the sidelines last season, he’s off to a less than stellar start with only a goal, a pair of assists and a -6 rating in 20 contests.
His team is also suffering from sub par performances on more nights than not. As they say, there’s plenty of blame to go around.
Originally a Chicago Blackhawks‘ very deep 9th round pick in 2002 (#282 overall), the 6’1″ 191 lbs. forward has played most of his big league games with them, winning a Stanley Cup in 2010.
He does seem to gravitate towards winning as he was team captain for University Of Wisconsin when they won the 2006 NCAA Championship.
In between he had a two season stop posting career highs with Dallas Stars before signing a very decent 4-year agreement with the Sharks.
He’s in the third campaign of his one-way deal but not producing and with the team slumping he finds himself on the outs, reassigned to minor league affiliate Worcester Sharks.
It’s his first appearance in the AHL in 7 years.
In two games he has one assist.
The 31-year old could be a huge asset with the farm club or could easily find himself on the payoff end of a buyout after this season.
San Jose Sharks‘ 2nd round pick in the 2012 draft (#55 overall) rookie center Chris Tierney(50) started his first campaign with the parent club appearing in 11 NHL games scoring a pair of assists with a -2 rating.
He was reassigned to affiliate Worcester Sharks to re-find that scoring touch that made him a point per game guy in his last two seasons of OHL with London Knights, where he also won two league championships in 2011, 2012 and was named team captain in his final term.
In his first 2 AHL games he already notched a first goal in the minors and has 4 assists to help the team come from behind twice to win.
The 6′ 190 lbs. forward is signed to a three-year entry level deal through 2017, so if he gets hot and there’s a roster spot for him, he may be making the trek between the two coasts on a number of occasions in the 2014/2015 calendar.
The only 20-year old is definitely making a huge difference where he is.
9th year veteran right wing Tyler Kennedy(8) was reassigned by San Jose Sharks to their farm team Worcester Sharks on a long-term conditioning loan after suffering a nagging upper body injury early in training camp.
He last played in the AHL in 2007 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Originally a Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 4th round pick in the 2004 draft (#99 overall) he spent 7 years with the team posting career highs with 21 goals and 24 assists through 80 appearances in 2010-2011. He was a pretty nice playoff contributor, helping them to a Stanley Cup Championship in 2009.
The 5’11” 185 lbs. forward has skated 439 NHL games scoring 80 goals and 105 assists with a +22 rating.
His totals in the past pair of campaigns have faltered though and he was given a fairly lucrative two-year deal wooing him away quickly from his first turn as an unrestricted free agent.
He managed only 4 tallies and 13 helpers with a -10 plus/minus in 67 contests last season.
The 28-year old may be finding himself a bit on the cusp as to where he will fit in best unless he starts stepping it up quickly.