Worcester Sharks

American Hockey League (2006-2015)

Tombstone

Born: January 9, 2006 – The Cleveland Barons announce they will relocate to Worcester, MA.
Move Announced: January 29, 2015 – The Sharks announce they will relocate to San Jose, CA.

First Game: October 6, 2006 (W 4-3 @ Portland Pirates)
Last Game: May 1, 2015 (L 10-4 @ Hershey Bears)

Calder Cup Championships: None

Arena

DCU Center
Opened: 1982

Marketing

Team Colors:

Ownership

Owners: San Jose Sports & Entertainment Enterprises

Background

The Worcester Sharks were the top farm club of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks from 2006 to 2015. The Sharks arrived in the small central Massachusetts city in 2006 from Cleveland, replacing Worcester’s previous American Hockey League franchise, the IceCats (1994-2005).

The Sharks’ best season came in 2009-10 with an Atlantic Division title and a run into the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs. Aside from that campaign the Sharks never placed higher than 4th in their division.

AHL Re-Alignment & Demise

In early 2015, a long-simmering re-alignment of the American Hockey League saw five western NHL franchises shift their farm clubs from the Eastern seaboard and the South to a newly-formed West Coast Division of the AHL. On January 29, 2015, San Jose Sports & Entertainment announced they would move the former Worcester Sharks to San Jose at the conclusion of the 2014-15 AHL season. San Jose’s top prospects will now share the SAP Center with their NHL parent club beginning in the fall of 2015.

After a year without hockey, the Worcester Railers of the ECHL began play at the DCU Center in the fall of 2017.