2021-22 Utica Comets and ECHL thread - part V

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Well that period sucked for the most part.

Are you at this game too?

 

[Guttersniped]

Are you at this game too?

Yes and it’s surprisingly warm inside lol.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Comets are merely playing to keep it out of their own and the Amerks keep coming in waves.

The Comets lose possession every time they get into the Amerks end and never threaten.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

Without Daws in the 3rd this game is easily 5 or even 6-3 Rochester. Did these guys go out partying with all the graduates last night?

Holtz still completely absent.

Every single line looks completely lost in the neutral zone and in the Amerks one.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Yes and it’s surprisingly warm inside lol.

Heading to Rochester tomorrow?

 

[UticaHockey]

Yes and it’s surprisingly warm inside lol.

I have never seen the Aud this hot. And the heat is certainly hitting the Comets more that the Amerks. They look gassed and the last 5 minutes that had nothing left just trying to get to OT.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Peterka in OT.

 

[Guttersniped]

JJ Peterka pretty much single-handedly won this one.

Well +3 hours of driving is less fun after a loss but oh well. Fun to see Muk. (Who I want to send a box of steaks and protein shakes to, he’s a lanky fella.)

 

[Bad Goalie]

This one goes to OT.

If the play continues the way the game has gone since the Comets tied it, it will be a miracle if Rocheter doesn't score.

I love this team, but they are not playing close to good tonight. 19 shots for a full game is unaccpetable.

Rochester's game is ideal for OT. They rush to the O-zone with speed, dump and pursuit it without losing any of the speed. They go right at the D-men and force turnovers if they don't acquire it on the dump. They use the points as part of gaining possession and then it's shoot, shoot, shoot and pass whenever there is a guy coming open. They crowd the crease and like to shoot from wide angles creating rebounds that come off the keeper to the other side of the net. They are often wide open for those rebounds. You can see after watching them game after game that it's an actual plan. The Comets let guys shoot form there and they also allow the point shots. So, in essence the Amerks are given free shots from which they manufacture much more dangerous offense.

Thus, the Comets are not getting a lot of chances to run any offense of their own. Combine this with their own flubs killing their offensive efforts and it's a very frustrating game to watch. I blame Dineen for not coming up with a better game plan against this style of play.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Final SOG 29-19 Rochester.

1-0 Americans in OT.

Three Stars: 1. ROC - J. Peterka 2. UTI - A. Greer 3. ROC - P. Krebs​

 

[MauDevils]

Daws was horrific.

 

[Bad Goalie]

1:29 in and Peterka scores wide open from the bottom of the circle right through Daws.

Comets completed 1 tape to tape pass in that time period.

A real blown opportunity today. The Comets didn't seem to have a whole lot of intensity in this one. Not that it's unusual. Intensity has never been part of their package. A chance to go up 2-0 in a 5-game series and their shot totals were 6-6-7 through 3 periods against a team known to score goals but give them up readily. They surrendered 3 goals on the Comets 19 shots, but controlled most of the game and just kept pouring it on in the Utica end and the Comets seemed to have no answer for it.

Hope the Comets have a short memory. The last time they played in Rochester was the season finale that Rochester had to win to make the playoffs. Meaningless game to the Comets. Final score was Rochester 8 - Utica 1.

Series tied 1-1. Tomorrow the game is at 5:05 in Rochester. Probably see Akira. Maybe he can stop the bleeding before it becomes a hemorrhage.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Rochester has played 4 Games in this postseason and 3 have gone to OT. Their record? 3-0.

They have played one that ended in regulation and lost 6-3.

My bet is that tomorrow's winner takes the series. We know for a fact that the Comets HAVE to at least split the 2 Rochester dates or they will be doing whatever it is they do during their off seasons.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

Daws was horrific.

The game doesn't make it to OT without his play in the 3rd.

19 sog for Utica and they seemed pinned in their own end for minutes at a time, can't blame Nico for this one.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[Bad Goalie]

I have never seen the Aud this hot. And the heat is certainly hitting the Comets more that the Amerks. They look gassed and the last 5 minutes that had nothing left just trying to get to OT.

85 outside today has to have had something to do with it. Remeber back in 2015? Didn't Ecshe do something to bring air conditioning into the building for the June playoffs?

I played in the old Rochester War Memorial (same location) back in the late 60's early 70's and it was like a furnace on the ice.

The old Buffalo Aud in the same time period was a sauna as well.

The old Utica Aud when the Devils were here was also freaking hot on the ice.

They kept the buildings warm for the fans, but the players roasted. They practiced there as well and I assume got conditioned to the heat.

 

[NJ07102]

Daws was horrific.

So was Holtz once again. Totally invisible. What a waste of a draft pick.

 

[Guadana]

I know, that could be to much, but I'm not buying by Dineen for now. I saw a lot of Utica games, I understand that team is quite young, but there were a lot of games, where they did nothing, lose posesson and control, lose center zone, couldn't find a groove and didn't forechek hard. And sometimes a couple of breakaways saved them. There were some games, where they did blow the lead. I like a lot of game of specific players, I think individually they play pretty good full season, but as a hard working collective, I can't say that was working very good sometimes. I can't say that was bad, but I saw games where Utica could find themselves. And the second game I missed is look like the same from comments. I'm not saying they will not win the series or more, I'm not saying team is bad, because they are good, I'm just saying that new coaching regime should offer new strong structure of game, they should have a clear picture of that. And I hope to see more structure from Dineens team before devils will give him big job. Structure and consistent pressure, I'm ok with losing, I'm not ok with messy games.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

Daws was horrific.

No, just no on Daws. Perfect example of where gaa or sv% doesn't tell anywhere near the whole story.

The dude was being bombarded the entire 3rd period and kept them in the game. Bad first, no doubt, but he manned up and overtime would've been out of the question with how pathetic the forwards played in the 3rd without him keeping his cool.

And, umm, Alexander? Sup? Where are you at my dude? I expect a few guys to step up or fall off every game or two in minor league playoff games, but the first two at home? C'mon brother.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

I know, that could be to much, but I'm not buying by Dineen for now. I saw a lot of Utica games, I understand that team is quite young, but there were a lot of games, where they did nothing, lose posesson and control, lose center zone, couldn't find a groove and didn't forechek hard. And sometimes a couple of breakaways saved them. There were some games, where they did blow the lead. I like a lot of game of specific players, I think individually they play pretty good full season, but as a hard working collective, I can't say that was working very good sometimes. I can't say that was bad, but I saw games where Utica could find themselves. And the second game I missed is look like the same from comments. I'm not saying they will not win the series or more, I'm not saying team is bad, because they are good, I'm just saying that new coaching regime should offer new strong structure of game, they should have a clear picture of that. And I hope to see more structure from Dineens team before devils will give him big job. Structure and consistent pressure, I'm ok with losing, I'm not ok with messy games.

I'm ok with consistent pressure as well. It's a shame when people with similar and decent interests don't work as a collective.

Fortunately it seems as if there's an amazing amount of Finnish and Swedish prospects this year who are going to join their brothers and sisters playing ice hockey all over the North Atlantic.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

85 outside today has to have had something to do with it. Remeber back in 2015? Didn't Ecshe do something to bring air conditioning into the building for the June playoffs?

I played in the old Rochester War Memorial (same location) back in the late 60's early 70's and it was like a furnace on the ice.

The old Buffalo Aud in the same time period was a sauna as well.

The old Utica Aud when the Devils were here was also freaking hot on the ice.

They kept the buildings warm for the fans, but the players roasted. They practiced there as well and I assume got conditioned to the heat.

This isn't a valid excuse when we're talking about Utica playing Rochester and practicing/playing in the same venue. They all live in the exact same climate a few hours away from each other.

The Devils flying overnight to Tampa and playing an afternoon game? Sure.

They just came out flat.

I'm blaming it on half the team being 21 and under coupled with all of those graduations the pbp guy was talking about about the other day.

For those of you who missed it, we had to wait until last night for a game because the arena was fully booked for graduations. University and high school alike.

I'm sure 18-22 year old professional hockey players in a small town had a great 3 nights of sleep...

Sucks for us as fans, but occam's razor and all.

 

[UticaHockey]

85 outside today has to have had something to do with it. Remeber back in 2015? Didn't Ecshe do something to bring air conditioning into the building for the June playoffs?

I played in the old Rochester War Memorial (same location) back in the late 60's early 70's and it was like a furnace on the ice.

The old Buffalo Aud in the same time period was a sauna as well.

The old Utica Aud when the Devils were here was also freaking hot on the ice.

They kept the buildings warm for the fans, but the players roasted. They practiced there as well and I assume got conditioned to the heat.

It was much hotter than any of the games the Comets played in June during the Calder Cup finals run. Besides the temperature outside the biggest culprit was the insulation boards they had in the ice for three days needed for the college graduations. When they cover the ice with insulation that building warms up quickly. I've been to Comets games in a Saturday night and then a UCFC soccer game on Sunday afternoon and it has be 15 degrees warmer with the ice covered.

I'm not sure how well the air conditioning works at the Aud but hopefully it wasn't just a case of nobody turning it on. It was the most uncomfortable I've ever felt at a hockey game from the heat. It had to have an impact on the players.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

I know, that could be to much, but I'm not buying by Dineen for now. I saw a lot of Utica games, I understand that team is quite young, but there were a lot of games, where they did nothing, lose posesson and control, lose center zone, couldn't find a groove and didn't forechek hard. And sometimes a couple of breakaways saved them. There were some games, where they did blow the lead. I like a lot of game of specific players, I think individually they play pretty good full season, but as a hard working collective, I can't say that was working very good sometimes. I can't say that was bad, but I saw games where Utica could find themselves. And the second game I missed is look like the same from comments. I'm not saying they will not win the series or more, I'm not saying team is bad, because they are good, I'm just saying that new coaching regime should offer new strong structure of game, they should have a clear picture of that. And I hope to see more structure from Dineens team before devils will give him big job. Structure and consistent pressure, I'm ok with losing, I'm not ok with messy games.

"We'll be fine," said Dineen, but he did say the Comets need "more sound structure" and more pace as they look to retake the series lead.

Comets fall in overtime as Rochester ties the series

romesentinel.com

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Think the Peterka vs Holtz comparisons are going to be around for years. Much like Kaako-Hughes however, Alexander is not the key cog, much like Kaako has veteran guys who do the heavy lifting.

Think he'll be fine in the long run.

 

[Guttersniped]

Think the Peterka vs Holtz comparisons are going to be around for years. Much like Kaako-Hughes however, Alexander is not the key cog, much like Kaako has veteran guys who do the heavy lifting.

Think he'll be fine in the long run.

Huh, Wha? Peterka was taken in the 2nd round at #34, we could have drafted both since we had two more picks. I also have never heard that comparison before in my life.

The comparison people do bring up, and that you might be thinking of, is Jack Quinn, since he was drafted right after Holtz. Quinn, after an incredibly productive regular season, had one assist last night, which was his first point in four playoff games. (Holtz has one assist in his two playoff games.)

In the two games I saw he was getting the same lesson Holtz was, it’s hard to think, slow play down and make more complicated plays in a very sloppy, bumpy and fast playoff game where both teams were only generating offense of the rush and can’t cycle for shit.