The Worcester Railers (also called Worcester Railers HC) are 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 based 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 ...

. 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 minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

. The team plays their home games at the DCU Center and are the ECHL affiliate of the

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 ...

. 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, Worcester, Massachu ...

, who relocated to

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, 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 with their parent club, the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

. These reports were confirmed with the Sharks' official announcement on January 29. Worcester did not initially receive an

team to replace the relocated AHL team, unlike the other markets with relocated AHL teams in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, such as

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

;

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

; and

Glens Falls, New York Glens Falls is a City (New York), city in Warren County, New York, Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls, New York metropolitan area, Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,83 ...

. 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

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 from 2014 to 2016. The team announced their first affiliation with the

(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, who had been serving as an assistant with the

Hartford Wolf Pack The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the PeoplesBank Arena. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. ...

in the AHL. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, 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, de ...

. June 18, 2024 sees assistant coach Bob Deraney promoted to head coach for the 2024-2025 season and Savannah Ghost Pirates assistant coach and director of player development Nick Tuzzolino hired to be the organization's first ever general manager and associate head coach. December 14, 2024 sees Bob Deraney resign as head coach and assume the duties as head of scouting, while Nick Tuzzolino is named the new head coach.

Mascot

In 2016, the Railers debuted their mascot, Trax, a "friendly and loyal" railyard dog. The costumed mascot appears during all home games. The name "Trax" was chosen after a social media contest.

Season-by-season records

†

References

External links

* {{Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester Railers players 2016 establishments in Massachusetts ECHL teams Ice hockey clubs established in 2016 Professional ice hockey teams in Massachusetts Ice hockey teams in Worcester, Massachusetts New York Islanders minor league affiliates