The Worcester Railers (also called Worcester Railers HC) are a professional
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 h ...
team based 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 ...
. The team began play in the
2017–18 ECHL season, and is a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference of the
ECHL
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 ...
. The team plays their home games at the
DCU Center
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, ...
and are the ECHL affiliate of the
New York Islanders. The team filled the void left by the
AHL's 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, the Sharks played t ...
, who relocated to
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...
, in 2015 to become the
San Jose Barracuda.
History
On January 26, 2015, it was reported that the Worcester Sharks would move to San Jose and share
SAP Center at San Jose
The SAP Center at San Jose (originally known as San Jose Arena and the HP Pavilion at San Jose) is an indoor arena located in San Jose, California. Its primary tenant is the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, for which the arena has ...
with their parent club, the
San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...
. These reports were confirmed with the Sharks' official announcement on January 29.
Worcester did not initially receive an
ECHL
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 ...
team to replace the relocated AHL team, unlike the other markets with relocated AHL teams in
2015, such as
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644.
Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Ha ...
;
Norfolk, Virginia; and
Glens Falls, New York
Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,700 at the 2010 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls ref ...
.
On February 8, 2016, the ECHL announced that Worcester would be home to an expansion team, set to begin play for the 2017–18 season. The team is owned by Cliff Rucker, with Toby O'Brien initially serving as president and general manager (although O'Brien would leave in May 2016 for an NHL job and replaced by former
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, the Sharks played t ...
executive, Mike Myers, as president). The team is the ECHL's first franchise in Massachusetts and second in New England after the
Manchester Monarchs. Early reports indicated that ownership group was considering Whitehawks, Railers, and Blast as the name of the team. The team unveiled their name and logo on April 3.
On September 12, 2016, Jamie Russell was announced as the team's first head coach and general manager. He had served as head coach of the
Elmira Jackals
The Elmira Jackals were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Elmira, New York. They were members of the United Hockey League from 2000 to 2007 and the ECHL from 2007 to 2017. The Jackals played their home games at First Arena.
On ...
from 2014 to 2016. The team announced their first affiliation with the
New York Islanders (NHL) and
Bridgeport Islanders (AHL) at the end of the 2016–17 season.
The Railers played their first game on October 14, 2017, defeating the Monarchs 4–3 at the DCU Center in front of a crowd of 12,135. The first goal scored in franchise history was by forward Wade Murphy. The Railers qualified for the playoffs in their first season, losing to the
Adirondack Thunder in the first round. They finished last in the competitive North Division in the
2018–19 season. The Railers then started the
2019–20 season with four wins in their first 15 games and fired head coach Jamie Russell. He was replaced by
David Cunniff
David Cunniff (born October 9, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He was hired as the head coach of the Worcester Railers of the ECHL during the 2019–20 season.
Playing career
Cunniff played his college hockey at Sal ...
, who had been serving as an assistant with the
Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL.
Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, the Railers voluntarily suspended operations for the
2020–21 ECHL season
The 2020–21 ECHL season was the 33rd season of the ECHL. Due to the ongoing restrictions in the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season was pushed back to December 11, 2020.
The Fort Wayne Komets were the Kelly Cup champions, defea ...
.
Season-by-season records
Players
Current roster
As of November 29, 2022.
References
External links
Worcester Railers HC(Official website)
{{Worcester, Massachusetts
2016 establishments in Massachusetts
ECHL teams
Ice hockey clubs established in 2016
Ice hockey teams in Worcester, Massachusetts
New York Islanders minor league affiliates