'Building a champion': Railers possess renewed sense of optimism heading into season opener

WORCESTER — When it comes to the playoffs, Bob Deraney isn’t dancing around the subject.

Nope, the new coach of the Worcester Railers is making sure his expectations are clear when it comes to that topic.

“We’re not about making the playoffs — we’re about winning the Kelly Cup,” Deraney told the T&G Thursday. “If our goal is to make the playoffs, then I think we’re selling ourselves short.

“You have to have those types of expectations from Day 1.”

With the Worcester Railers set to host their season opener with the Reading Royals on Saturday (6:05 p.m.) at the DCU Center, there is a renewed sense of optimism and excitement surrounding the ECHL affiliate of the New York Islanders.

The Railers are ready for the first puck drop of the 2024-25 campaign.

“There’s nothing more exciting than heading into a new season,” Railers chief operating officer Mike Myers said. “Just the promise of new players and staff and just the excitement for the fans to get hockey going again. It’s that one time of the year where we’re able to put all our hard work that we did in the offseason into opening night and let the chips fall where they may.”

New faces in the room for Railers

Since securing a berth in the Kelly Cup playoffs during their first official season (2017-18) as a franchise, the Railers have come up short in their quest to return to postseason play.

So after the Railers missed the playoffs for a third straight try on the last day of the regular season in April, the club made changes across their coaching staff this offseason. Deraney takes over as coach, while Nick Tuzzolino joins the club as the team’s new associate head coach and general manager.

Deraney is the organization’s fourth coach since the Railers filled the DCU hockey void left by the Worcester Sharks — who relocated to San Jose, California, in 2015. The Shrewsbury resident is looking forward to getting the season underway.

“I’m excited to watch our guys play because it’s going to tell me where we are at,” Deraney said. “I don’t see it as the first game, I see it as the first step in the process of building a champion.

“It’s the beginning of the season. It’s a huge moment, not for me but for us and the journey we’re about to go on.”

'Dangerous combination'

To get over the proverbial playoff hump this year, the Railers will rely on a mix of new and old players.

Returners like goaltender John Muse, defenseman Connor Welsh and forward Anthony Repaci got to know Deraney last year when he served as the team’s assistant coach. Now those three will hope to build on some positives from last season while bridging the gap to this upcoming campaign that features a few new faces.

“As we learned in the past couple years, it’s come down to the last game where we needed a point or needed a win,” said Repaci, who scored 15 goals and added 16 assists in 42 games last season. “So you just can’t take a day off in this league, and you go into practice with a purpose every single day.

“I think (Tuzzolino) is going to do a great job, and Bob as well, just implementing that with our group.”

That group happens to feature 21-year-old Justin Gill, a fifth-round pick of the Islanders in the 2023 NHL Draft, who put up 98 points (40 goals, 58 assists) in 65 games with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar last season — a Canadian junior ice hockey team based out of Quebec.

“He’s really slick with the puck. He makes guys miss,” Deraney said of Gill. “When the puck is on his stick, there’s just an electricity about it. He’s that kind of guy.”

Other newcomers who could make an immediate impact include forwards Cole Donhauser, Colin Jacobs and Jack Randl, defensemen Christian Krygier, Griffin Luce, and Cam McDonald, and goaltender Michael Bullion.

“We’re going to be a quick, heavy team with skill,” Deraney said, “and that’s a really dangerous combination.”

Railers set to pay tribute to Gaudreau brothers, host plethora of promotional nights

Following the tragic deaths of brothers Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau on Aug. 29, Worcester plans to honor both hockey stars during a pregame ceremony Saturday.

Matthew played for the Railers for two seasons, and Johnny, who starred for the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets, skated at the DCU Center while playing for Boston College in NCAA Tournament play.

The team also will hang Matthew Gaudreau’s old No. 21 jersey behind their bench during each game this season, and auction off nine jerseys from the season, with proceeds going to Matthew's wife, who is pregnant with a baby boy.

“We really want to support his family and make sure they know they’re still part of the Railers family,” Myers said, “and that we’re here if they need us.”

Like each season, the Railers will host a plethora of theme nights — Hockey Fights Cancer (Nov. 9), IceCats Weekend (Jan. 3-4) and Alternate ID Weekend (Feb 28-March 1), to name a few — with jersey giveaways and prizes.

But for the moment, all the Railers are thinking about is opening night.

Anticipation is growing as professional hockey returns to Worcester.

“Vibes are always high,” Deraney said. “The puck hasn’t dropped yet, but everyone is undefeated. I know it’s a cliché but the amount of energy, pride in work, attention to detail and energy is extremely high. With good reason, you can see it on the ice every day.”

“My expectation is a push to play in the postseason,” Tuzzolino said. “That’s the goal, my mentality, and written all over my stuff right now, is win now. We really want to be the team this year that gets over the hump.”

—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 'Building a champion': Railers possess renewed sense of optimism heading into season opener