WORCESTER—Considering how the Railers’ season ended, a third straight last-game elimination from the playoffs, it seemed inevitable that some things—or some people—were going to change.
The first someone changed Tuesday night when general manager and coach Jordan Lavallee-Smotherman and the team announced they would mutually part ways and the team will search for a new coach.
“I want to be a coach,” Smotherman said of the move, “and 85 percent of the job when it comes to the ECHL is being a GM, and my passion lies on the coaching side.”
Smotherman, who has spent much of his life in Westborough and will maintain his home there, has signed to coach Innsbruck, Austria. That team featured two former Railers on its roster this past season: defenseman Nick Albano and goalie Evan Buitenhuis.
If the season had ended differently with Worcester qualifying for the playoffs, would Smotherman still be headed to Europe?
“That’s a really good question,” he said. “It probably would have had some impact, but I thought this was the right direction for me to head in.”
“The Railers thank Jordan for his hard work and dedication to the organization these past three seasons,” Railers Chief Operating Officer Michael G. Myers said in a statement. “He represented the City of Worcester well as our head coach, general manager, and captain. We wish him the best of luck in his next chapter.”
Smotherman’s stint as head coach lasted for two almost identical seasons. The Railers played .500 hockey both this year and in 2022-23, earning 72 points in 72 games. Both times that was one point shy of a post-season berth. He was the third coach in franchise history, the eighth in Worcester pro hockey history.
Smotherman’s .500 record of 66-66-12 is right in the middle of the Railers’ two other coaches, Jamie Russell and David Cunniff. Russell was 73-66-20 for a .522 winning percentage. Cunniff was 49-58-10 (.462).
Smotherman is fifth on the all-time city pro list with 66 wins. That is ahead of Jim Roberts, Cunniff and Steve Pleau. Roy Sommer leads with 339 wins. Don Granato is the all-time leading in winning percentage at .581.
The fate of Bob Deraney, in his second stint as a Railers assistant, is uncertain. A lot will depend on what the new coach wants. Deraney is well-regarded in the organization and may be retained even with the coaching change.
Before being hired as coach Smotherman spent a year as a Railers player. All told, his three seasons in Worcester were eventful. On the ice, he became the franchise’s first 30-goal scorer in 2021-22. When Smotherman made his coaching debut a season later the Railers began the season with an ECHL record nine-game winning streak.
The 2023-24 season was a tumultuous one in terms of a changing roster. The team set a dubious franchise record by using nine different goaltenders. Along the way the Railers employed two emergency backups (EBUG); previous to the season they had never used even one.
The two EBUGs included one with the same last name as our 34th President, Joel Eisenhower, and 40-year-old Joe Spagnoli.
Worcester had to play two sections of the season without its top goal scorer in Anthony Repaci. He missed 30 games including 18 down the stretch drive with a broken jaw.
Smotherman is very familiar with European hockey. During a pro career that began in 2006-07 he played in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Finland, and Northern Ireland.
He leaves the Railers with no regrets about how his tenure turned out.
“Absolutely not,” Smotherman said. “There are so many guys trying to get into coaching, and looking at a job like this in hindsight, maybe it would have been a good move being an assistant, and then leading to the GM side of things.
“But I wouldn’t trade the experience I had over the last two years for anything.”
One thing about his two seasons behind the Railers bench was that there was always something happening.
“I was never bored. In fact, I hardly ever slept,” he said.
Bill Ballou covered the Red Sox for the Worcester Telegram from 1997 through 2018. He has covered pro hockey in Worcester since 1994 and currently does a weekly column for the Worcester Red Sox. Ballou can be reached at vetgoalie@aol.com
