Worcester IceCats

Worcester IceCats
City	Worcester, Massachusetts
League	American Hockey League
Operated	1994–2005
Home arena	Worcester Centrum
Colors	Teal, blue, silver
Affiliates	St. Louis Blues (NHL), Ottawa Senators (NHL), New York Islanders (NHL)
Franchise history
1932–1935	Quebec Beavers
1935–1951	Springfield Indians
1951–1954	Syracuse Warriors
1954–1967	Springfield Indians
1967–1974	Springfield Kings
1974–1994	Springfield Indians
1994–2005	Worcester IceCats
2005–2013	Peoria Rivermen
2013–2021	Utica Comets
2021–present	Abbotsford Canucks
Championships
Regular season titles	1: (2000–01)
Division titles	2: (1996–97, 2000–01)

The Worcester IceCats were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the Worcester Centrum. In 2005 the team was renamed the Peoria Rivermen and moved to Peoria, Illinois.

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.^[1] 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.^[1] 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.^[2]

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)

^† Lost in preliminary round.

• 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 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

These are the top ten point-scorers in IceCat's franchise history.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points;

• 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

• The Internet Hockey Database - Worcester IceCats