Roy Sommer became the third head coach in American Hockey League history to win 600 regular-season games, leading his Worcester Sharks to a 4-3 victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in Allentown, Pa., on Wednesday night.
Sommer joins Hockey Hall of Famers Fred "Bun" Cook (636) and Frank Mathers (610) as the only coaches to reach 600 AHL wins.
Ryan Carpenter, Eriah Hayes, Bryan Lerg and Micheal Haley all scored goals for Worcester while Aaron Dell made 30 saves between the pipes. All-Star Matt Taormina and John McCarthy each added two assists as the Sharks improved to 13-3-0-1 in their last 17 games.
Rob Zepp made 40 saves in net for the Phantoms while All-Star defenseman Brandon Manning added a goal and two assists.
Sommer, 57, has spent his entire 17-year AHL coaching career at the helm of the San Jose Sharks’ top development affiliates in Kentucky (1998-2001), Cleveland (2001-06) and Worcester (2006- ). Sommer, who co-coached the Eastern Conference team at last month’s AHL All-Star Classic, is the AHL’s all-time leader in games coached with 1,313.
