WORCESTER—It has taken a long, long time but the Railers have gone from the back seat to the driver’s seat in the race for the last playoff spot in the ECHL’s North Division.
Norfolk’s 4-3 victory over the Reading Royals Wednesday night created the ultimate clarification on Worcester’s chances of qualifying for the post-season for the first time since 2017-18.
The Railers have to win one of the two games they play in Reading this weekend, either Friday or Saturday night. It does not matter how Worcester wins — regulation, overtime, shootout — a victory means a first-round playoff meeting with the Trois-Rivieres Lions.
This will be — you could not get odds on something like this happening — the fourth straight season Worcester’s playoff hopes have come down to the last weekend of the season. The previous three seasons ended in disappointment.
The Railers have tried to put those memories aside.
“We sat down and talked about where our minds are at,” coach Nick Tuzzolino said, “to debunk the myth that this year has the same feel as the last couple of seasons. Outside our walls, people can make those comparisons but inside our walls it’s a night and day difference.”
The Railers and Royals matchup is a bookend to the regular season. They opened the year with a two-game series in Worcester. Reading won both games, 2-1. As the year progressed both teams regressed. As the calendar year 2025 arrived, both were near the bottom of the North Division standings with a lot of ladder climbing ahead of them.
The exact date when the Railers began their climb is a matter of debate. A good case can be made for New Year’s Eve in Glens Falls. Worcester trailed the Thunder, 4-1, about two minutes into the second period, then scored five straight goals to win it, 6-5.
Starting there the Railers are 23-12-4. That is a winning percentage of .641.
The teams have met seven times so far this season. Worcester is 2-4-1 in those games and three of the defeats have been by 2-1. Reading has been hot, as well, and for a while. The Royals are 20-9-7 starting with Jan. 10.
That the games will be played in Reading should not be a major factor. Whatever home ice advantage there might be is minimized in make-or-break games.
“Yes, there is a home ice advantage to maybe sleeping in your own bed or a bounce here or there,” Tuzzolino said, “but honestly, I think it’s a pretty level playing field now and I almost think the emotion can go the other way.
“If you’re gonna be a good team, you have to win on the road,, and especially in the playoffs.”
Since these are essentially playoff games, goaltending is a focus.
Reading’s goalies have better numbers in terms of goals-against and saves percentage. They are Vinnie Purpura and Keith Petruzzelli. Purpura has been excellent versus the Railers, both with Adirondack and Reading.
He is 9-1-0 versus Worcester in 11 appearances and has won seven straight starts against the Railers.
Worcester’s goalies have been winning down the stretch, often taking things down to the wire. Michael Bullion started the season slowly but turned things around with that 6-5 game in Adirondack. Starting at that point Bullion is 13-5-1, a winning percentage of .675.
The Railers used this week’s Tuesday team round-table to talk about the upcoming critical weekend.
“There’s no fear in that room,” Tuzzolino said. “We’ve been winning games all year and if we have to go there and win one, we’ll win one. If we have to go there and win two, we’ll win two. There are no hotter teams in the north during this stretch. I think it will be a great show down there.”
It turns out the Railers have to win one, not two. Reading’s loss on Wednesday night made things easier for Worcester, not easy. The Railers are used to that, since nothing has been easy for them since opening night.
Making tracks
The Railers Booster Club announced its award winners for the season. Anthony Repaci was the Best Offensive Player, Fan Favorite, Most Valuable Player and ECHL Community Service Award winner; Griffin Luce was named Best Defensive Player; Kolby Johnson was Tough Guy; Anthony Callin was 7 Hills Seventh Player; Griffin Loughran was Rookie of the Year; Hugo Ollas had the best single game performance with his 31-save victory over Reading, 3-1, on Jan. 24.
The Railers reported a mistake in their original attendance total from their final home game. The revised total of 5,592 brought season attendance to 144,000 and the average to 4,000.
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
