WORCESTER—Depending on how one classifies the Eastern Hockey League Warriors, the city is about to have its fifth professional hockey team.
Or at least its fifth hockey nickname.
The ECHL Railers are doing a rebrand for their DCU Center games at the end of this month. They will become the Worcester Monkey Wrenches, joining the Warriors, IceCats, Sharks and Railers in the list of nicknames.
The Monkey Wrenches’ opponents will be the Bloomington Bison, a new member of the ECHL. It will be their first visit here. It will be Worcester’s first game at the DCU Center after a seven-game road trip through the ECHL’s southern tier.
The teams will play Friday and Saturday nights, Feb. 28 and March 1.
Wocester’s roster will remain the same, or at least as same as can happen in the ECHL. There will be new logos and jerseys, however.
The team chose the new label because the monkey wrench was invented here by Loring Coes & Coes Wrench Co. in 1840. The company and its partners and successors patented various kinds of wrenches during the 19th Century and in 1909 sold a six-foot long wrench for use on railroads.
That connects to the team’s traditional nickname.
“We embraced the Monkey Wrenches moniker after discovering the inventor’s origins in Worcester and started to build out the branding from there,” Railers Creative Services Specialist Ben Schenck said. “We’re looking forward to recognizing the city’s history as an innovation hub through a number of activations across the weekend.”
The new logo includes several references to the city of including the Harvey Ball Smile, the Seven Hills of Worcester, Lake Quinsigamond, a hidden “W” for Worcester, and two of the original Coes Monkey Wrenches.
As part of the weekend, the Railers will be giving away Monkey Wrench pennants on March 1 while supplies last. They will be presented by Jed’s Hardware.
“We’re excited to take on a Worcester-centric identity for the weekend,” Railers Chief Operating Officer Michael G. Myers said, who designed the new logo in conjunction with Schenck. “We have our roots deeply embedded in the Worcester community and look forward to honoring the city’s rich industrial and inventive history on the ice at the DCU Center.”
The Railers are hoping they can use the temporary nickname to help leverage a playoff spot in the North Division.
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
