Bleach Clean
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- Aug 9, 2006
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2018-19 Utica Comets, Pt. IV: Six more years as your Vancouver Canucks affiliate
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Lindgren
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- Jun 30, 2005
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It was an excellent night for the Comets on the out-of-town scoreboard: Toronto, Cleveland, and Binghamton all lost in regulation. (Carcone had the lone goal for Toronto in their 4-1 defeat.)
Perhaps the Comets will get a bit of a boost with one or two players coming back and a very slightly less intense schedule as other teams make up games in hand.
Perhaps the Comets will get a bit of a boost with one or two players coming back and a very slightly less intense schedule as other teams make up games in hand.
This might really turn the goaltending situation on its ear.....I'm sure the Canucks plan was to get Demko into a number of games late in the season. And since Nilsson is on an expiring contract, they might have been exploring the trade market.
Now with only Kulbakov under contract in Utica, the Canucks are going to have to scour the landscape for goaltending help.
Now with only Kulbakov under contract in Utica, the Canucks are going to have to scour the landscape for goaltending help.
Lindgren
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It's scoreless in the first in Utica. Demko has the net, with Kulbakov backing up. Dahlen and Lind are in the line-up; Gadjovich is not.
And for the name fans: Saucerman is playing again.
And for the name fans: Saucerman is playing again.
Last edited:
Megaterio Llamas
el rey del mambo
Kole Lind just rubbed the Rainman's bald head for good luck in the intermission interview. Let's hope he scores tonight; seems like a nice kid.
Lindgren
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Comets lose 1-0. They had 33 shots. Total shots for Dahlen, Lind, MacEwan, and Jasek: zero. For Saucerman: four.
Megaterio Llamas
el rey del mambo
@timbermen I was wrong about not being able to watch games that were played prior to subscribing to the AHLtv service. I tried to do this shortly after I signed up and couldn't for some reason but I certainly can (and have) now.
Sorry for passing along the factually inaccurate information friend.
Sorry for passing along the factually inaccurate information friend.
Megaterio Llamas
el rey del mambo
Lindgren
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Including tonight's game, in which the Comets trail Syracuse 3-0 after one (Kulbakov is in net for Utica; he faced 18 shots in the first!).
Still lots of hockey to be played in the AHL, but so far the progression of prospects like Lind, Dahlen and Gadjovich has been a significant downer. I get the fact that the AHL is a tough league for young players, but none of them looks to have developed any consistency in their play.
Pretty apparent they're going to need more time in the minors and like won't be even considered for an NHL roster spot at training camp.
Pretty apparent they're going to need more time in the minors and like won't be even considered for an NHL roster spot at training camp.
Megaterio Llamas
el rey del mambo
Conversely, unheralded young Lukas Jasek has been pretty decent though not gettin' much love. He's a pretty good skater and whip smart; always stealin' pucks all over the ice. Has okay numbers despite not really clicking with any given set of linemates yet but if that ever comes he's going to produce pretty big down there I think.
Megaterio Llamas
el rey del mambo
Megaterio Llamas
el rey del mambo
Just tuned in for the third period. It's 8-1 Syracuse with around 11:00 minutes left. Both goalies were well ventilated for the Comets tonight.
Tampa's got a SC and a Calder Cup contender chalk full of drafted players having excellent first/second pro seasons. Very depressing how good a franchise they are.
Megaterio Llamas
el rey del mambo
And speaking of prospects, Cal Foote just made it 9-1 with a wrister from the point. Does Syracuse hit double figures? Four minutes to go in this one...
*9 goals allowed is good for a new Comets record...
*9 goals allowed is good for a new Comets record...
Megaterio Llamas
el rey del mambo
Megaterio Llamas
el rey del mambo
10-1 final score. Jeezus Syracuse really opened up a can of whup ass tonight. It was not pretty.
Good teams do that in the AHL. That's why you can't ice a half a lineup of ECHL players..... This could get real ugly real fast over the next few weeks as I do not see any help on defense coming anytime soon......
UticaHockey
Registered User
The difference between how Tampa Bay and Vancouver builds an AHL team is night and day. Better prospects. Better Veterans and better role players.
Megaterio Llamas
el rey del mambo
Geez, those Syracuse fans are lucky. That team is chock full of great prospects. Tonight it was Taylor Raddysh with five assists and Cal Foote with two goals. Best system in hockey...
UticaHockey
Registered User
And it's painful being our biggest rivals that we have to play 12 times this season.
Megaterio Llamas
el rey del mambo
I can only imagine. Still, let's hope the pain continues; I think we're do for an announcement on the status of the affiliation in the next couple of days.
12/27/18
Binghamton Devils 1 - Utica Comets 0
Forwards:
Archibald/Gaunce/MacEwen
Boucher/Kero/Jasek
MacMaster/Cameranesi/Lind
Dahlen/Darcy/Bancks
D-Pairs:
Brisebois/McEneny
Graham/Sifers/
Blujus/Saucerman
Goal - Demko
Scratches:
Injured -
Chatfield
Sautner
Juolevi
Hamilton
Woods
Bachman
Gadjovich
Laplante
Healthy -
Arseneau
Dirk
Kulbakov
Last night the Binghamton Devils played a stereotypical old time NJ Devils game, even though it's not the style of the current NJ Devils. Bingo attacked the puck even on the PK and then took away all the passing lanes and looked to make hay out of the turnovers. They filled up the neutral zone and trapped the puck carrier. In their own end they kept everything to the outside and forced the Comets into board battles and won the majority of them.
The only way to defeat their system was with speed, quick passing, and good individual puck skills.
The only real speed evident was that of D-man Graham. He used it to carry the puck from his own end to the Devils' end shift after shift, but once he got to there he had no idea what to do next and it usually ended up with a turnover or a board battle and the offensive push ended at that point. He has little offensive IQ. Every other Comet trying to skate the puck was usually unsuccessful.
As to passing, it has been the bane of this team since day one. You will get a good passing play or 2 every game, but for the most part any more than 2 completed passes is a rarity. They pass too far, behind, too high, too soft or too hard (based on proximity to one another), bouncing, suicide leads. or passes that just take the receiver into traffic. They look like a few practices should be designed to do nothing but pass the puck over and over and over and over until they are so sick of it they puke. Then it should start all over again! They even screw it up passing back and forth across the rink away from the main group in warmups. There is no excuse for a team in the second highest North American professional league that is this poor at passing the puck.
Archibald and Gaunce had good games, but speed is not their calling card. Gaunce laid several saucer type passes that landed and stopped dead in the high slot. No Comet was ever there to do anything with them. He was the best Comet.
MacEwen did nothing.
Boucher is so frustrated due to the inability of anyone to get him the puck in a spot to shoot. He is all over the offensive zone finding soft spots in the defense and can't get a pass. Last year he was always dangerous when Goldobin always found a way to find him. Not one single Comet center or wing has enough puck skill to carry the puck into a space where they can in turn find time to pass the puck to him. Thus, he has decided he must to carry it himself to get his chances. We all know the 2 things keeping him from the show are skating and individual puck skills. He is a sniper cut and dried. Feed him the puck and can put goals on the board. Leave him to do it alone and his stick handling and skating will not get the job done.
They were all decent in their own end, but the Devils were not exactly exerting any heavy offensive thrusts. They were content to keep the Comets off the board and wait out their chances. The lone goal was a blue line shot that found the net through a maze. Game over. They locked the rink down into a sand box and the Comets actually looked to be skating in sand.
Their power play was outright pathetic. They spent most of all 3 of their PPs skating back and forth up and down the ice retrieving the dump outs by the Devils. Someone needs to inform Cull and his PP players that if they are going to dump the puck on the PP it has to go into the opposite side corner to at least one if not 2 Comets who are on a dead out sprint to that corner to gain possession. If they are standing still or milling about the blue line, they will not beat the opponents who already have 2 guys half way back in their own zone. The best they can hope for is a board battle and they lose most of them to any team. Dumping it in is the not the best offense for a power play anyways.
When they do try to skate the puck in to establish puck possession they should be looking to slow it down and pass it off to an open Comet usually behind them or off to their side who can get it back to the point man and then across the ice and get things set up. The Comet skater tries top carry the puck deep and and is then either stripped, tied up and taken to the boards, or they pick off his feeble desperation pass to the net front or back to the point.
That's another issue their PP passing. It's like peewee passing in comparison to AHL pros. The passes are so slow that they never allow themselves to get an advantage on one side of the ice. In fact the opponent is able to arrive with the pass leaving the receiver no option other than to dump it deep or weakly at the net.
When in sole possession and time the point man looks confused and either softly passes it back from whence it came or takes weak ass wrist shots that are usually blocked or picked and shot down the ice. Rarely does he wind up and actually shoot the puck. The only thing I can actually see them trying to accomplish as a preset plan plan is to set Boucher up with a one timer, but they are so poor at that lately it's either way to slow and there is no shot or it's a bouncing puck, high puck, behind him, or too far ahead of him. They also insist they can pass the puck through the slot with their own guys and usually a couple of the opponents in the way. Needless to say that doesn't work. If the high men do try a shot, it is more often either wide or directly into the shin pads of a defender. Either way it going the other way.
Cull is a big culprit in the downfall of what was a decent PP. He has split up the #1 and #2 units and combined them to try and get scoring in both units. Instead it has produced 2 impotent units. They have scored 1 pp goal in the last 8 games.
The PP is basically stationary with the poor passing I have already established. Every opponent, no matter their record, comes into the Comets end with little difficulty, sets up, and moves the puck with speed and accuracy to players who are always moving. They get shots from high percentage areas and seem to always have an open man. Their point men shoot rockets. It is amazing to watch the difference.
Don't know what these guys did over the vacation, but they didn't look good.
Binghamton Devils 1 - Utica Comets 0
Forwards:
Archibald/Gaunce/MacEwen
Boucher/Kero/Jasek
MacMaster/Cameranesi/Lind
Dahlen/Darcy/Bancks
D-Pairs:
Brisebois/McEneny
Graham/Sifers/
Blujus/Saucerman
Goal - Demko
Scratches:
Injured -
Chatfield
Sautner
Juolevi
Hamilton
Woods
Bachman
Gadjovich
Laplante
Healthy -
Arseneau
Dirk
Kulbakov
Last night the Binghamton Devils played a stereotypical old time NJ Devils game, even though it's not the style of the current NJ Devils. Bingo attacked the puck even on the PK and then took away all the passing lanes and looked to make hay out of the turnovers. They filled up the neutral zone and trapped the puck carrier. In their own end they kept everything to the outside and forced the Comets into board battles and won the majority of them.
The only way to defeat their system was with speed, quick passing, and good individual puck skills.
The only real speed evident was that of D-man Graham. He used it to carry the puck from his own end to the Devils' end shift after shift, but once he got to there he had no idea what to do next and it usually ended up with a turnover or a board battle and the offensive push ended at that point. He has little offensive IQ. Every other Comet trying to skate the puck was usually unsuccessful.
As to passing, it has been the bane of this team since day one. You will get a good passing play or 2 every game, but for the most part any more than 2 completed passes is a rarity. They pass too far, behind, too high, too soft or too hard (based on proximity to one another), bouncing, suicide leads. or passes that just take the receiver into traffic. They look like a few practices should be designed to do nothing but pass the puck over and over and over and over until they are so sick of it they puke. Then it should start all over again! They even screw it up passing back and forth across the rink away from the main group in warmups. There is no excuse for a team in the second highest North American professional league that is this poor at passing the puck.
Archibald and Gaunce had good games, but speed is not their calling card. Gaunce laid several saucer type passes that landed and stopped dead in the high slot. No Comet was ever there to do anything with them. He was the best Comet.
MacEwen did nothing.
Boucher is so frustrated due to the inability of anyone to get him the puck in a spot to shoot. He is all over the offensive zone finding soft spots in the defense and can't get a pass. Last year he was always dangerous when Goldobin always found a way to find him. Not one single Comet center or wing has enough puck skill to carry the puck into a space where they can in turn find time to pass the puck to him. Thus, he has decided he must to carry it himself to get his chances. We all know the 2 things keeping him from the show are skating and individual puck skills. He is a sniper cut and dried. Feed him the puck and can put goals on the board. Leave him to do it alone and his stick handling and skating will not get the job done.
They were all decent in their own end, but the Devils were not exactly exerting any heavy offensive thrusts. They were content to keep the Comets off the board and wait out their chances. The lone goal was a blue line shot that found the net through a maze. Game over. They locked the rink down into a sand box and the Comets actually looked to be skating in sand.
Their power play was outright pathetic. They spent most of all 3 of their PPs skating back and forth up and down the ice retrieving the dump outs by the Devils. Someone needs to inform Cull and his PP players that if they are going to dump the puck on the PP it has to go into the opposite side corner to at least one if not 2 Comets who are on a dead out sprint to that corner to gain possession. If they are standing still or milling about the blue line, they will not beat the opponents who already have 2 guys half way back in their own zone. The best they can hope for is a board battle and they lose most of them to any team. Dumping it in is the not the best offense for a power play anyways.
When they do try to skate the puck in to establish puck possession they should be looking to slow it down and pass it off to an open Comet usually behind them or off to their side who can get it back to the point man and then across the ice and get things set up. The Comet skater tries top carry the puck deep and and is then either stripped, tied up and taken to the boards, or they pick off his feeble desperation pass to the net front or back to the point.
That's another issue their PP passing. It's like peewee passing in comparison to AHL pros. The passes are so slow that they never allow themselves to get an advantage on one side of the ice. In fact the opponent is able to arrive with the pass leaving the receiver no option other than to dump it deep or weakly at the net.
When in sole possession and time the point man looks confused and either softly passes it back from whence it came or takes weak ass wrist shots that are usually blocked or picked and shot down the ice. Rarely does he wind up and actually shoot the puck. The only thing I can actually see them trying to accomplish as a preset plan plan is to set Boucher up with a one timer, but they are so poor at that lately it's either way to slow and there is no shot or it's a bouncing puck, high puck, behind him, or too far ahead of him. They also insist they can pass the puck through the slot with their own guys and usually a couple of the opponents in the way. Needless to say that doesn't work. If the high men do try a shot, it is more often either wide or directly into the shin pads of a defender. Either way it going the other way.
Cull is a big culprit in the downfall of what was a decent PP. He has split up the #1 and #2 units and combined them to try and get scoring in both units. Instead it has produced 2 impotent units. They have scored 1 pp goal in the last 8 games.
The PP is basically stationary with the poor passing I have already established. Every opponent, no matter their record, comes into the Comets end with little difficulty, sets up, and moves the puck with speed and accuracy to players who are always moving. They get shots from high percentage areas and seem to always have an open man. Their point men shoot rockets. It is amazing to watch the difference.
Don't know what these guys did over the vacation, but they didn't look good.
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