The Worcester IceCats were a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

. They played in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

, 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 Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

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 (N ...

owner Roy Boe purchased the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were two separate minor professional ice hockey franchises, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The original Indians were founding members of the American Hockey Leagu ...

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; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

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 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 (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

. 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

. 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: Peoria Rivermen (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: *

(1995–2005) *

(1995–1996) *

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

(1996–1998)

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Playoffs

^† 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;

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
{{Worcester, Massachusetts 1994 establishments in Massachusetts 2005 disestablishments in Massachusetts Defunct ice hockey 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