2021-22 Utica Comets and ECHL thread - part V

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Then it’s fair to roll him out there. I’d still have a guy on my bench who is willing to hit other guys in thr head and neck with their stick and skates if need be so at least the best players on the other team suffer the same fate in retribution if necessary after a cheap shot leading to injury.

I think Halonen can do that and play hockey.

 

[My3Sons]

I think Halonen can do that and play hockey.

That would be helpful. Just enough to keep the other team honest. If a guy gets hit hard and clean that’s hockey. I’m sick of thr cheap shots after watching so many years. I don’t want to candy coat it. The leagues make little effort to protect players so why not just be honest about it?

 

[UticaHockey]

I think Halonen can do that and play hockey.

I really haven't seen that side of Halonen's game since he arrived in Utica. The scouting report said he played with an edge and was hard to play against but he hasn't shown that so far. He just looks like someone trying to get used to playing at the pro level right now.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

That would be helpful. Just enough to keep the other team honest. If a guy gets hit hard and clean that’s hockey. I’m sick of thr cheap shots after watching so many years. I don’t want to candy coat it. The leagues make little effort to protect players so why not just be honest about it?

In the first Rochester/Belleville game the refs swallowed their whistles and Belleville was taking liberties with impunity. Gourley is another player who is not shy about delivering hits. I'd like to see him get signed for next season. Bring back Wotherspoon too.

Wotherspoon-Walsh
Mukhamadullin-Russo
Vukojevic/Groleau-Gourley

I really haven't seen that side of Halonen's game since he arrived in Utica. The scouting report said he played with an edge and was hard to play against but he hasn't shown that so far. He just looks like someone trying to get used to playing at the pro level right now.

I've seen Halonen bowl guys over. He's a bulldozer.

 

[My3Sons]

In the first Rochester/Belleville game the refs swallowed their whistles and Belleville was taking liberties with impunity. Gourley is another player who is not shy about delivering hits. I'd like to see him get signed for next season. Bring back Wotherspoon too.

Wotherspoon-Walsh
Mukhamadullin-Russo
Vukojevic/Groleau-Gourley

I’m happy to watch good hitting I’m just tired of the constant cheap shots to the head and gutless hits to the back that are what usually end up hurting someone. I’d like to have a guy hold an equivalent player on the other team and then a second player deliver an execution style retribution. Woukd there be fines and some suspension? Sure but they’d be limited. Maybe decpaitating someone will finally get the leagues to pay attention. Hiding it as part of the gane is weak on the part of the leagues.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

I’m happy to watch good hitting I’m just tired of the constant cheap shots to the head and gutless hits to the back that are what usually end up hurting someone. I’d like to have a guy hold an equivalent player on the other team and then a second player deliver an execution style retribution. Woukd there be fines and some suspension? Sure but they’d be limited. Maybe decpaitating someone will finally get the leagues to pay attention. Hiding it as part of the gane is weak on the part of the leagues.

Maybe you should take a break from watching hockey games.

 

[UticaHockey]

Speaking of Scott Sabourin, I would have to go back and watch the video of the game again but I think he was the Belleville player that injured Garrett Van Wyhe in his first professional game with the Comets. I remember the hit which was nasty right in front of the Comets bench.

 

[My3Sons]

Maybe you should take a break from watching hockey games.

Maybe I shouldn’t be an old man yelling at clouds

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Speaking of Scott Sabourin, I would have to go back and watch the video of the game again but I think he was the Belleville player that injured Garrett Van Wyhe in his first professional game with the Comets. I remember the hit which was nasty right in front of the Comets bench.

It was #23 Cole Reinhardt at ~1:59:25.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Daws vs. Rochester:

3-2-1 .892 2.99 300:36 124/139

Schmid vs. Rochester:

2-2 .869 3.63 297:25 119/137

Dell vs. Utica:

1-0 .949 1.67 108:04 56/59

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Crunch and Rocket split their b2b at Syracuse. Brandon Gignac got the game winner cleaning up a rebound with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. Cayden Primeau stopped 37 in his Calder Cup playoffs debut. Games 3 and 4 are Thursday and Saturday in Laval.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Crunch and Rocket split their b2b at Syracuse. Brandon Gignac got the game winner cleaning up a rebound with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. Cayden Primeau stopped 37 in his Calder Cup playoffs debut. Games 3 and 4 are Thursday and Saturday in Laval.

Why is the league so eager to get these series going the second 2 teams became available. There is bound to end up being some lag time for some of these teams when/if they finish their series when their next opponent has hardly gotten started in their previous one. Can the building's available dates be that booked up? Didn't those buildings take the playoffs seriously for their more permanent tenant?

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

vs. Rochester

Player G 1 2 T

Greer 7 5 2 14
Zetterlund 4 2 2 8
DeLeo 3 4 1 8
Walsh 1 2 5 8
Schmelzer 4 2 1 7
Talvitie 4 2 0 6
Russo 1 3 2 6
Holtz 3 0 2 5
Gambardella 0 2 3 5
Studenic 3 0 1 4
Gauthier 0 4 0 4
Vukojevic 1 1 1 3
Foote 1 1 0 2
Flynn 1 1 0 2
Wotherspoon 1 0 1 2
Clarke 1 0 1 2
Laberge 0 2 0 2
Schnarr 0 2 0 2
Thompson 0 2 0 2
Bahl 0 1 1 2
Irvine 1 0 0 1
Okhotiuk 1 0 0 1

vs. Utica

Malone 4 5 1 10
Quinn 4 4 2 10
Peterka 3 3 2 8
Laaksonen 0 5 3 8
Mersch 3 3 1 7
Biro 3 0 2 5
Teves 2 2 1 5
Schuldt 2 0 3 5
Prow 1 0 4 5
Murray 2 2 0 4
Ruotsalainen 2 0 2 4
Samuelsson 1 1 2 4
Weissbach 2 1 0 3
Krebs 1 0 2 3
Jankowski 0 2 1 3
Jobst 1 1 0 2
MacInnis 0 0 2 2
Craggs 1 0 0 1
Polino 1 0 0 1
Pekar 1 0 0 1
Eliot 1 0 0 1
Warren 1 0 0 1
Rousek 0 1 0 1
Holmstrom 0 1 0 1
Franco 0 1 0 1
Doremus 0 0 1 1
Tischke 0 0 1 1
Davidson 0 0 1 1

GP would make this more significant, but I'm too lazy. Maybe I'll do it later. Maybe I won't.

 

[Guttersniped]

Greer can play hard and "gritty" (not sure that word really expresses what I really mean) without dropping the gloves.

McGrath doesn't have much more of value in his game than fighting. If they lose him for a game, so be it. That's of course assuming he ever gets in a game considering the lineup Dineen can ice.

However, if the boss has not informed these guys as to what's ahead and therefore they better grow some hair, they won't be there long. The majority of the Comets have not played the game with much physicality.The hitting will occur almost every time they touch the puck. They have not fared well when teams have taken the body hard on the forecheck and while defending in their own end all game long. Hitting takes a toll quickly on those who don't/can't return it in kind. They will have to do more than poke check, wave sticks at the puck carrier on his way by, or take the circle route behind him after he goes by. Rochester feasts on sloppy play and turnovers in any area on the ice and the Comets are notorious for own end giveaways, bad passing in all 3 zones, and poor zone entries resulting in odd man rushes against.

The Amerks coach, Seth Appert, is well aware of the game the Comets play and he has developed a system that makes them very hard to play against and Buffalo has beefed up their lineup considerably.

Agree that McGrath is so fringy that he’s only useful for a fight and that’s only true if he plays.

Greer is a major player who gets lots of ice time and produces a ton in the AHL while being physical so his grit is real factor.

I just hope the heightened atmosphere doesn’t cause the old “psycho” Greer to pop up and cause him to do stupid shit that gets him suspended multiple games. He’s too good and important to act like an unhinged idiot now.

The Amerks are a skill team that changed their staff to focus on developing their excellent prospects, which is why they score buckets of goals but don’t do whole lot else. I don’t buy the “tough to play against thing”. (I mean everyone says this, including us.)

That should help ease Greer into the playoffs. I agree that playing a team with ex-NHL enforcers and organization that focuses on physical play could bring the worst out of him (and they would beat up/ cheap shot our kids). So the Sens seemed more dangerous because of that.

Rochester is pretty simple, find some way to not get out scored by the most productive team in the East. They don’t prevent goals well at all ever but no lead is ever safe against them either. So we need to score.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Why is the league so eager to get these series going the second 2 teams became available. There is bound to end up being some lag time for some of these teams when/if they finish their series when their next opponent has hardly gotten started in their previous one. Can the building's available dates be that booked up? Didn't those buildings take the playoffs seriously for their more permanent tenant?

Partial schedules for the Semifinals were made before the Playins started. Shaya says Monday nights are box office poison for hockey games. What about Tuesday nights? There are no events scheduled Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday nights this week at the Aud. Every Semifinal contains a b2b, except the Charlotte-Bridgeport series and possibly the Springfield-WBS/Hershey series. Charlotte-Bridgeport is a nice every other night series.

 

[UticaHockey]

Why is the league so eager to get these series going the second 2 teams became available. There is bound to end up being some lag time for some of these teams when/if they finish their series when their next opponent has hardly gotten started in their previous one. Can the building's available dates be that booked up? Didn't those buildings take the playoffs seriously for their more permanent tenant?

Howard Dolgon always has some pull with the league and the Crunch always play a large majority of their home games in Weekends. You just don't see the Crunch play Wednesday home games during the season like the Comets do. Howard extended that influence to get a Friday and Saturday home game to start the playoffs.

 

[UticaHockey]

I also think the Comets should be starting their playoff series with a home game today. I think it is unfair to force a division champion to wait 10 days between the end of the regular season and their first playoff game. They would have been better off finishing in second place.

The "Play In" round should have been treated as such with no priority to their schedule. That round was scheduled for Wednesday, Friday and Sunday to maximize weekend games. It should have been Tuesday in Rochester then Thursday, Friday games in Belleville with the next round starting on Sunday in Utica. What exactly was the reward for winning the division?

 

[Better Call Sal]

Shak! Muk!

 

[Devils731]

Nice to see him play against competition we can better judge him against.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[Bad Goalie]

Comets roster for tomorrow

Forwards:
7 Deleo
9 Holtz
10 Flynn
12 Thompson
15 Gambardella
17 Greer
20 Zetterlund
25 Foote
26 Schmelzer
77 Talvitie
92 Clarke
39 Laberge
Based upon healthy players, these would be the 12 you would normally see Dineen put on the ice.

33 Frederik Gauthier
Gauthier is injured or else he would be in the top 12 and Dineen would chose between Clarke and Laberge for the 12th and the other would be #13.
51 Garrett Van Whye (injured)

These are the other healthy forwards:
13 Patrick McGrath
14 Tyler Irvine
21 Patrick Grasso
24 Brian Halonen
61 Chase Stillman

Of the 1st 4 I would venture a guess that Irvine is tapped if a center is out with an injury and Halonen is the first wing.
Grasso is the last and McGrath only if they want someone to fight and he would earn a 1-game suspension if he does.
Dineen has said he would evaluate Stillman in practice, but he didn't get out there due to nursing an injury when he arrived, so I would guess we don't see him right away. Today Dineen said that besides Gauthier, the only other injured player is Van Whye. Thus, Stillman must have skated today. I didn't hear anything as to the Comets practicing on the weekend which could mean he has skated more than today. His game status is in Dineen's hands. I don't think he will tinker all that much with his lineup to start out, especially since this is only a 5-game series.

Defemse:
2 Michael Vukojevic
5 Robbie Russo
22 Reilly Walsh
23 Tyler Wotherspoon
82 Nikita Okhotyuk
88 Kevin Bahl
This would be my guess for the 6 we'll see.

38 Jeremy Groleau
60 Jarred Gourley
These are the extra 2.

Shakir Mukhamadullin joined the team for practice this morning. He's the 3rd D-man and I wouldn't think Dineen pulls the trigger on him just yet. I would , however, guess that if there was a need for 2 D-men to step in, he would be 1 along with Groleau.
My other guess is that Groleau is his first substitution on D should someone go down as the series moves ahead.

34 Mareks Mitens
35 Nico Daws
93 Akira Schmid

Daws most likely gets the nod tomorrow with Schmid backing up. Maybe Schmid gets a game as the series moves along, but it will be based upon how strong Nico looks. With game 2 not scheduled until Saturday, Daws would get the start with a strong performance tomorrow. However, game 3 goes back to Rochester on Sunday for the 2nd of a back to back. The best chance for Schmid to see his first action.
Really stupid considering 3 days off between games 1 and 2.

Upon the end of the ECHL Adirondack Thunder, players were acquired by by the Comets to add depth for the playoffs.
1 by 1 they have been released:

Luke Stevens
Tim Theocharidis
Brandon Kaskel
Shane Harper

So on paper the Comets have 5 forwards and 3 D-men in reserve.
IMO the forward they need very much is Gauhtier.
After him, Halonen is okay and Irvine is barely acceptable. Neither is someone you would say can replace a starter and give the team a really good game. You'd more likely pray they didn't make plays or failed to make plays that would result in the negative outcome of the game.
Stillman simply remains a ?

On D Groleau is a competent #7.
Gourley has had good moments and some not so good. Not the guy you want have to make a difference.
Thus, Mukhamadullin would probably get a real serious look if the Comets were down to him and Gourley. Or one of the others is playing so poorly that Dineen feels he has to get that guy out of there for the next game.

We don't know how much input NJ has given Dineen to get this kid on the ice. Thus, Shakir could be closer to being on the ice at game time than any of us knows.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Daws said he and Schmid would both get games this series.

Daws will probably start Game 1.

Schmid will probably get one of the b2b depending on how Daws does.

With three days off between Games 1 and 2, I would have Schimd back up Game 1 and have Mitens back up Game 2 and maybe Game 3 depending on how the series is going.

 

[DevilDog]

I also think the Comets should be starting their playoff series with a home game today. I think it is unfair to force a division champion to wait 10 days between the end of the regular season and their first playoff game. They would have been better off finishing in second place.

The "Play In" round should have been treated as such with no priority to their schedule. That round was scheduled for Wednesday, Friday and Sunday to maximize weekend games. It should have been Tuesday in Rochester then Thursday, Friday games in Belleville with the next round starting on Sunday in Utica. What exactly was the reward for winning the division?

The break is a double-edged sword imo. It can turn a hot team cold, though this team hasn’t been particularly ’hot’ these last 2 months anyway.

The benefits are obviously being able to rest all the nagging injuries that come with a regular season. The team will be as close to 100% healthy as it’s been since tha start of the season.