RAILERS

Worcester Railers notes: Western trip visits Colorado, Utah

Bill Ballou
Telegram & Gazette

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Unlike most teams, the Railers are happy to be leaving home ice, at least for now.

Worcester’s game here Saturday night was the first of a four-game road swing, the next three games all coming in Mountain Time. The Railers play the Colorado Eagles on Wednesday night, then play the Utah Grizzlies Friday and Saturday.

“We asked the league,” GM-coach Jamie Russell said, “that we wanted to open at home on October 14, then send us on a road trip west. We’re a new team, and the players haven’t been together that long. It’s a chance to get to know each other better, have some team bonding, and we’re looking forward to it.”

The Railers will fly out Tuesday for Denver and fly up to Salt Lake City from there, plane fare being cheaper than a bus trip. The team plans to return home next Sunday. Everybody on the roster, reserve players and all, will make the trip, and Worcester likely will bring along three goaltenders.

The Eagles, who play in Loveland, Colorado — about 50 miles from Denver — are moving up to the AHL next season and will be the next-door-neighbor affiliate of the NHL Avalanche. The Grizzlies have been around the ECHL since 1988-89, after they were the Virginia Lancers. Former Sharks coach Roy Sommer coached them as the Roanoke Valley Rebels in 1991-92. The franchise had what perhaps is the best nickname in hockey history as the Lexington Men O’War in 2002-03.

The Grizzlies’ current coach, Tim Branham, played for the Sharks in 2010, and his predecessor, Kevin Colley, had a brief stint with the IceCats.

Another deal

The Railers made their second trade of the season, dealing rookie defenseman Willie Raskob to the Quad City Mallards for cash, which is the regular compensation in ECHL deals. Raskob was the lineup at the DCU Center on opening night and had an assist.

“We had nine defensemen, and Willie wanted to be an offensive defenseman,” Russell said. “He’s a little on the small side for a defenseman and wasn’t going to get power-play time with us, so in fairness to him, we traded him to an organization that would put him the right role. There was no issue with the player. He was a good teammate, and everybody liked him.”

Just like it starts

The Railers’ season will book-end with the Monarchs. Their first two games were against Manchester, and their last two will be against Manchester. The teams will play 15 times, seven games at the DCU Center and eight in New Hampshire.

That is not necessarily favorable for the Railers since the Monarchs, in their first two ECHL seasons, finished a combined 28 games above .500.

Might not that be too much familiarity between the teams, Russell was asked.

“I think so,” he said “I think our fan base would like to see more different teams, but I think if you look at the ECHL as a whole, there are teams who want to keep their travel budget as low as possible. So, you’ll see about 70 percent of the games within your division.”

Worcester also plays Adirondack 12 times this season. Some of the games in Glens Falls will be back-and-forth bus trips, some stay-overs. Worcester’s schedule next season should get a little more balanced when Portland joins the league.

Gillam gets start

Goalie Eamon McAdam did not dress as he recovers from a lower body injury. Rookie Mitch Gillam got the start in net, his first for the Railers. Gillam played a couple of ECHL games in Orlando late last season, so this was not his pro debut.

Joe Spagnoli was added to the roster as Gillam’s backup.

Woody Hudson made his Railers debut and was on the ice for the opening faceoff, as did veteran Ryan Lannon and Justin Hamonic. Matt Lane, Connor Doherty, Ben Masella and Nick Saracino did not dress.

—Contact Bill Ballou at william.ballou@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillBallouTG.