WORCESTER—For the third straight season, the Railers ended 2023-24 one point shy of making the playoffs.
There are lots of places to find the odd point over the course of 72 games, and lots of reasons that point can’t be found. In the case of the 2023-24 Railers, one of the biggest reasons was goaltending.
Worcester took a major step toward finding that little extra, or more, when they signed veteran John Muse for the 2024-25 campaign.
If the Railers had had Muse for all of last season, and not half of it, they would have made the playoffs. He was their best goaltender after being signed when the team ran out of goalies midway through the year. While Muse did not get Worcester into the playoffs he kept the Railers in contention.
At various points in the year Worcester had to use callup goalies from the Southern League. Those three SPHL replacements combined for an 0-6-1 record, and there is your odd victory right there.
Muse was 15-14-1 last season. That record would have been much better if he had more offensive support. Hockey’s magic number for at least breaking even is three goals. The Railers scored less than three goals in 15 of Muse’s starts and he was 2-12-1 in those games.
With three or more goals his record was 13-2-0.
That record is slightly deceptive since it includes two overtime losses and a shootout loss, both worth one point. Using that math, the Railers’ winning percentage in his 30 games was .550
“John’s signing is great news, and a huge step towards ensuring we are positioned for a great start this season,” Railers coach Bob Deraney said. “Every team’s success starts in net. To have John returning gives us experience and talent in the goal which we have not had during my time with the Railers.”
At the same time, Worcester added to its depth in net by trading with Savannah.
It got goaltender Michael Bullion. He is going into his third pro season and has previously played for Norfolk and Savannah in the ECHL, Macon in the SPHL and Henderson in the AHL.
Bullion is a native of Alaska. His resume includes three games against the Railers, two of which went into overtime. Bullion is 1-1-1 in those games with a 3.58 goals against average and .888 saves percentage. Along with Bullion, Worcester acquired forward Jordan Kaplan. Kaplan, 27, played for Savannah last season and got into two games with the Railers the year before.
The Ghost Pirates get future considerations.
The goaltender moves give the Railers a veteran net presence to start the season. Last year, Worcester opened the year with Henrik Tikkanen and Tristan Lennox, who were a combined 43 years old. Lennox’s season-ending body injury led to Muse’s arrival last season. Lennox is not expected to be ready to play when this season opens.
To go with the Savannah trade, the Railers have also signed rookie forward Griffin Loughran. He spent most of last season with Canisius University and had a late pro tryout with Savannah. Loughran has some familiarty with Worcester hockey, having played against Holy Cross in college.
The Railers have announced 11 players who are under contract for the 2024-25 season. Muse, Bullion, Kaplan and Loughran joins Anthony Repaci, Ryan Verrier, Connor Welsh and Anthony Callin as returnees from last season. The team has added Bullion, Kaplan, Cole Donhauser and Colin Jacobs as newcomers while Kaplan and J.D. Dudek rejoiners. Dudek played for the Railers as a rookie in 2019-20 with one more game the next season.
Muse grew up in Falmouth and still lives there. He will be 36 when the season begins. He joined the team late last year, winning 5-0 in his first appearance on December 29th with a 28 save shutout over the Reading Royals.
Muse was named Warrior Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Week for the third time in his career for Dec. 27-31, and named the Worcester Railers Team MVP at the year-end Booster Club Awards Banquet.
“The organization is top-notch,” Muse said. “It’s by far one of the best organizations I’ve been a part of in my entire professional career. Ownership wants to win, and I think that goes by the wayside with a lot of minor league teams. I looked at that and took that into consideration. Being close to home and to family is a plus as well.”
With the Railers bringing back several familiar faces, that family feel should extend into the Worcester dressing room.
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
