The Worcester IceCats were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the Worcester Centrum (Renamed to the DCU Center in 2004). In 2005 the team was renamed the Peoria Rivermen and moved to Peoria, Illinois.
History The IceCats got their start when original New York Islanders owner Roy Boe purchased the Springfield Indians 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 team affiliation. Immediately following the end of the 1994–95 season, Boe and head coach/General Manager Jim Roberts closed an affiliation deal with the St. Louis Blues. From that point on the IceCats would be the Blues' premier minor league team. The Peoria Rivermen of the East Coast Hockey League, 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 St. Louis Blues. The team celebrated its tenth season in the AHL in fall 2003.
On November 9, 2004, the St. Louis Blues announced the sale of the IceCats to the owners of their ECHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen. The new owners moved the franchise to Peoria, Illinois, for the 2005–06 season.
This franchise was previously known as: Springfield Indians (1926–1994) The franchise became known as: Peoria Rivermen (2005–2013) This franchise was replaced by: Worcester Sharks (2006–2015)
Affiliates: St. Louis Blues (1995–2005) New York Islanders (1995–1996) Ottawa Senators (1996–1998)
Season-by-season results
Regular season Season Games WonLostTiedOTLSOLPoints Goalsfor Goalsagainst Standing1994–9580244511 0— 592343006th, North1995–9680362812 4— 882422442nd, North1996–97804323 9 5—1002562341st, New England1997–98803431 9 6— 832672684th, New England1998–99803436 8 2— 782372604th, New England1999–200080343111 4— 832492503rd, New England2000–01804820 9 3—1082642051st, New England2001–02803933 7 1— 862452183rd, North2002–0380352715 3— 882352203rd, North2003–0480372713 3— 902071863rd, Atlantic 2004–05803934 3 4— 852122235th, Atlantic
Playoffs Season1st round2nd round3rd roundFinals1994–95 Did not qualify1995–96 L, 1–3, Portland ———1996–97 L, 2–3, Providence ———1997–98 W, 3–1, Springfield L, 3–4, Hartford ——1998–99 L, 1–3, Providence ———1999–2000 W, 3–1, Portland L, 1–4, Hartford ——2000–01 W, 3–1, Lowell L, 3–4, Providence ——2001–02†L, 1–2, Manitoba†———2002–03 L, 0–3, Binghamton ———2003–04 W, 4–2, Manchester L, 0–4, Hartford ——2004–05 Did not qualify
† Lost in preliminary round.
Team records
Single season Goals: 38 Eric Boguniecki and Justin Papineau (2001–2002) Assists: 46 Eric Boguniecki (2001–2002) Points: 84 Eric Boguniecki (2001–2002) Penalty minutes: 337 Sylvain Blouin (1999–2000) GAA: 2.13 Curtis Sanford (2003–2004) SV%: 0.929 Dwayne Roloson (2000–2001)
Career Career goals: 79 Marc Brown Career assists: 154 Terry Virtue 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;
Player Pos GP G A Pts Terry Virtue D 455 56 154 210 Jame Pollock D 270 63 104 167 Marc Brown LW 303 79 81 160 Eric Boguniecki C 141 69 86 155 Jeff Panzer C 210 62 84 146 Justin Papineau C 162 66 77 143 Stephane Roy C 208 61 78 139 Daniel Corso C 187 54 85 139 Marty Reasoner C 122 57 68 125 Blake Evans C 253 52 73 125
Team captains Jim Nesich, 1994–1995 Roy Mitchell, 1995–1996 David Williams, 1996–1997 Terry Virtue, 1997–1998 Ricard Persson, 1997–1998 Geoff Smith, 1998–1999 Jason Widmer, 1998–2000 Bryan Helmer, 1999–2000 Ed Campbell, 2000–2002 Eric Nickulas, 2002–2003 Jeff Panzer, 2003–2004 Mike Mottau, 2004–2005
Notable IceCats
References
External links The Internet Hockey Database - Worcester IceCats