WORCESTER—Roy Sommer has coached seven different professional hockey teams over 30 different seasons and holds almost every conceivable American Hockey League coaching record.
Among all those cities and seasons, more of them were spent in Worcester than anywhere else. On Monday here, Sommer was inducted into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame, the third person with a Worcester connection to be so honored. He joined IceCats’ goaltender Frederic Cassivi and defenseman Bryan Helmer in the Hall.
Sommer is the first Sharks alumnus.
For all nine of those seasons, he and his family lived in Shrewsbury. They were not seasonal residents. The Sommers became part of that town’s fabric and enjoyed their time there, something that was not a guarantee since Sommer was born and raised in Oakland and had little familiarity with New England.
“Shrewsbury was a big part of our family,” Sommer said. “You get into coaching and you’re lucky if you have one kid who graduates from the same high school, let alone all three. We met a lot of good friends out there. We enjoyed being there.”
Sommer’s wife, Melissa, taught there. The three graduates were sons Marley and Castan and daughter Kira. When the Sharks moved to San Jose, the Sommers went with them but they still have a presence in area.
Castan Sommer, who helped Shrewsbury win a state hockey championship and played at Holy Cross, is an assistant coach with the Crusaders. He lives in Northbridge with wife Mariah and son Vailan, six weeks old.
Roy Sommer was one of four inductees on Monday. He joined Dennis Bonvie, Gordie Clark and the late Tex Ehman. Longtime Sharks general manager Wayne Thomas was also honored as an honorary captain for the All-Star teams.
It is the same in hockey and baseball, the two sports with extended player development. The big league teams want their affiliates to both win and develop players, but the bottom line is always development. Development is what has kept Sommer in the coaching business for decades.
Unofficially, he has sent more than 150 players to the NHL. In Worcester alone, Sommer developed at least 22 players who played more than 100 NHL games. Some are still playing including the best of them all: Joe Pavelski.
From Worcester, Sommer sent Thomas Greiss, Jamie McGinn, Jason Demers, Logan Couture, Matt Irwin, Justin Braun, Tommy Wingels, Dylan DeMelo, Yanni Gourde, Andrew Desjardins, Ryan Carpenter, Matt Nieto and Barclay Goodrow to the majors for long careers, among others.
Sommer also came up with the only named line in Worcester hockey history — the Crazed Rats. They were Dan DaSilva, Desjardins and John McCarthy. DaSilva is a coach in Saskatoon, Sask. McCarthy coaches the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL, the former Worcester Sharks.
“Andrew Desjardins is probably the least talked about players, one of the guys I found most satisfying,” Sommer said. “When he raised that Stanley Cup (with the Blackhawks), I said ‘Man, that guy was undrafted; before that, he was playing almost on the border of Mexico in El Paso and no one wanted him.
“Those are the kinds of guys who have something to prove. People look at my wins record and there are a lot of losses in there, too. If you look at the San Jose Sharks — they were always going for it. They were trading first, second-rounders, prospects, to try to win a Stanley Cup. At one point in Worcester, I think we had one draft pick on our team and it was Freddie Hamilton.”
Sommer is 66 and still coaching. He is behind the bench for the Wenatchee Wild of the junior Western Hockey League. Sommer has always been known for doing things his way, not always the coventional way. He wears bolos behind the bench. He looks at the floor during shootouts. He has had at least a couple of post-game altercations with other coaches, one of which landed him in jail.
During his acceptance speech Monday Sommer choked up several times, including when he referred to longtime Worcester hockey presence Eric Lindquist, who died unexpectedly in 2022.
“Eric, our family misses you,” Sommer said.
Monday, Sommer was the last inductee and closed the ceremony by inviting son Marley up to the stage. Marley, best known as “Mo,” has Down syndrome and has traveled the hockey world with his dad.
Mo Sommer is known for his popular renditions of the Star Spangled Banner, and he concluded Monday’s Hall of Fame ceremonies with the national anthem.
The Star Spangled Banner at the end of an event, not the beginning. Highly unorthodox, but what else would you expect from something involving Roy Sommer?
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
