The Worcester IceCats were a US

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

. They played in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, at the

Worcester Centrum The DCU Center (originally Centrum in Worcester, formerly Worcester's Centrum Centre and commonly Worcester Centrum) is an indoor arena and convention center complex in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. The facility hosts a variety of events, ...

. In 2005 the team was renamed the

Peoria Rivermen Peoria Rivermen is the name of four minor league hockey clubs: *Peoria Rivermen (IHL), named as such 1984–1996, formerly the Peoria Prancers 1982–1984 *Peoria Rivermen (ECHL), 1996–2005 *Peoria Rivermen (AHL), 2005–2013 *Peoria Rivermen (SP ...

and moved to

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

History

The IceCats got their start when original

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

owner

Roy Boe Roy Lars Magnus Boe (September 14, 1929 – June 7, 2009)Bruce Weber.. ''New York Times''. June 8, 2009. Retrieved on June 12, 2009. was an owner of the New Jersey Nets, New York Islanders, and several other professional sports teams. Boe was a g ...

purchased the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in existen ...

AHL franchise and moved it to Worcester in the summer of 1994. The team began play in the Fall of 1994 with a collection of free-agent players but as yet with no

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

team affiliation. Late in the 1994–95 season, Boe and head coach/General Manager Jim Roberts negotiated a deal with the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the s ...

. From that point on the IceCats would be the Blues' premier minor league team. The

of the

East Coast Hockey League The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

, in turn, became the IceCats' minor league affiliate in 1998, having been with St. Louis before the 1994 Worcester deal. During the 2000–01 season, Boe sold the IceCats to the

. The team celebrated its tenth season in the AHL in fall 2003. On November 9, 2004, the

announced the sale of the IceCats to the owners of their ECHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen. The new owners moved the franchise to

, for the 2005–06 season. :This franchise was previously known as:

(1926–1994) :The franchise became known as:

(2005–2013) :This franchise was replaced by:

Worcester Sharks The Worcester Sharks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2006 to 2015. Affiliated with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and located in Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachu ...

(2006–2015) Affiliates *

(1995-1996) *

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

(1996–1998) *

(1995–2005)

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Playoffs

^† Lost in preliminary round.

Team records

Single season

*Goals: 38

Eric Boguniecki Eric Boguniecki (born May 6, 1975) is an American former National Hockey League player. Playing career As a youth, Boguniecki played in the 1989 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the New York Islanders minor ice hockey team. ...

and

Justin Papineau Justin Papineau (born January 15, 1980), is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who last played for Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany until 2011. In the NHL, he played for the St. Louis Blues and the New York ...

(2001–2002) *Assists: 46 Eric Boguniecki (2001–2002) *Points: 84 Eric Boguniecki (2001–2002) *Penalty minutes: 337

Sylvain Blouin Sylvain Lucien Blouin (born May 21, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 115 games in the National Hockey League between 1996 and 2003. He played with the New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, and Minnesota Wild ...

(1999–2000) *GAA: 2.13

Curtis Sanford Curtis Sanford (born October 5, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who last played for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He is currently a goalie coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He previously ...

(2003–2004) *SV%: 0.929

Dwayne Roloson Albert Dwayne Roloson (born October 12, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and former goaltending coach of the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently the Goaltending Coach and Director of Pla ...

(2000–2001)

Career

*Career goals: 79 Marc Brown *Career assists: 154

Terry Virtue Terry William Virtue (born August 12, 1970 in Scarborough, Ontario) is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman. He played 5 games in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers during the 1998–99 and 1999–00 season ...

*Career points: 210 Terry Virtue *Career penalty minutes: 1083 Terry Virtue *Career goaltending wins: 65 Curtis Sanford *Career shutouts: 10 Curtis Sanford *Career games: 455 Terry Virtue

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top ten point-scorers in IceCat's franchise history. ''Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points;

Team captains

* Jim Nesich, 1994–1995 * Roy Mitchell, 1995–1996 * David Williams, 1996–1997 *

, 1997–1998 *

Ricard Persson Lars Ricard Persson (born August 24, 1969) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player. Persson played in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, and Ottawa Senators. Playing career Persson was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in th ...

, 1997–1998 * Geoff Smith, 1998–1999 *

Jason Widmer Jason Widmer (born August 1, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League with both the New York Islanders and San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team b ...

, 1998–2000 *

Bryan Helmer Bryan Berry Helmer (born July 15, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is currently the VP of Hockey Operations with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL). He previously served as an assistant coach with t ...

, 1999–2000 * Ed Campbell, 2000–2002 * Eric Nickulas, 2002–2003 * Jeff Panzer, 2003–2004 *

Mike Mottau Michael Joseph Mottau (born March 19, 1978) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the seventh round, 182nd overall, by the New York Rangers in the 1997 NHL Entry ...

, 2004–2005

Notable IceCats

References

External links

The Internet Hockey Database - Worcester IceCats
{{Worcester, Massachusetts 1994 establishments in Massachusetts 2005 disestablishments in Massachusetts Defunct sports teams in Massachusetts Ice hockey clubs established in 1994 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2005 Ice hockey teams in Worcester, Massachusetts Ottawa Senators minor league affiliates