2023-24 Utica Comets and ECHL thread

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

How is Vilen going in his first season?

 

[tailfins]

Hoping our Utica posters can weigh in on what’s happening.

Rare you see goalie with first star in a 6-0 game, but Poulter seems to have managed it tonight. Nemec with two goals. Comets put up 20 shots in the second too.

Seems like a good rebound from Friday’s performance.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Friday night at Rochester Americans (11/10/23)

Rochester 4 Utica Comets 3

Forwards:
(67)Parent/ (10)Dowling/ (19)Fitzgerald
(15)Gambardella/ (26)Schmelzer/ (92)Clarke
(14)Bowers/ (51)Criscuolo/ (61)Stillman
(48)Middendorf/ (16)Engaras/ (12)Thompson

D-Pairs:
(23)Wotherspoon/ (52)Foote
(93)Misyul/ (5)Russo
(8)Hatakka/ (7)Nemec

Goal - (1) Poulter

Scratches:
Kallgren (BU)
Laberge (Inj)
Ibragimov (?*)
Villen (?*)

*Both Vilen and Ibragimov played in the last game on 11/4 in Hartford. Haven't heard anything regarding an injury so would assume they were healthy scratches.

This game saw the Amerks minus 13 roster game-day regulars due to call-ups and injury gifted 3 goals by the Comets before Utica got on the board in the 3rd period.

Their first goal was a SHG with the Comets on the PP. They gave up a solo breakaway that Poulter made a great save on. That wasn't enough. A short time later on that PP they surrendered a 2 on 0 breakaway when Nemec got cute at the attacking blueline and couldn't keep the puck in vs an Amerk who came right at him blocked Simon's effort and burst out after the loose puck along with the 2nd Amerk who was the top defender on the other side. When the goal was scored, Nemec was just short of the Comets Blueline.

Another goal resulted from a badly botched coverage on the back door. An Amerk puck carrier was charging the net from Poulter's right circle. Poulter came out a bit to challenge and the Amerk fired a pass to a mate standing still to Poulter's left outside the post. He took the pass and then deposited it in the short side before Poulter could recover.

The 3rd was a bad turnover resulting in a great opportunity that the Amerks cashed in on.

The other goal could have been credited to Poulter or a missing Comet defender.
Poulter made a stick save in front of his crease. The puck bounced off his stick and he reached to cover it, but an unmolested Amerk got there first and slid it past Isaac. No opponent should be allowed to be that free in front of the Comets net. You choose who was at fault. The Comets matched the Amerks with 34 SOG each. The Comets goals were not the result of dumbass plays.

This game was a gift from the Comets to the poor undermmaned Amerks.

Scoring:
Criscuolo (1) from Engaras (1) and Misyul (3)
Misyul (1) from Clarke (3) and Schmelzer (2)
Gambardella (1) from Russo (2) and Parent (5)

Poulter 30/34

3***
#1 - Damien Giroux (Rochester Americans) GWG
#2 - Daniil Misyul (Utica Comets) 1G/1A
#3 - Zach Metsa (Rochester Americans) 1 G

 

[Bad Goalie]

Rochester Americans @ Utica Comets (11/11/23)

Final Score -
Utica Comets 6 Rochester Americans 0

Forwards:
(15)Gambardella/ (26)Schmelzer/ (92)Clarke
(67)Parent/ (10)Dowling/ (19)Fitzgerald
(14)Bowers/ (51)Criscuolo/ (61)Stillman
(0)No one/ (16)Engaras/ (12)Thompson

D-Pairs:
(93) Misyul/ (5)Russo
(8)Hattaka/ (7)Nemec
(23)Wotherspoon/ (52)Foote
(2)Vukojevic

Goal - (1)Poulter

For the 3rd time in 10 games, the Comets went with 11-F and 7-D. There was a constant rotation of the lines after the 1st series of line changes. The opening 3 played 13 seconds before the 1st line change. The short changed forwards were Engaras, Fitzgerald, and maybe Stillman. Clarke seemed to be out there every other shift as did Parent and Thompson. Criscuolo was the RW on Dowling's line a lot. Clarke and Thompson were up and down the RW with all of the centers. Parent was also seen on the LW with more than one center.

The Comets appeared to have been smarting from their terrible performance on Friday. They were all over the Amerks offensively. They tried to play a better defensive game and thus, came out of the dumb ass 5 men between the circles while the opposition controls the puck for entire shifts at a time with both points wide open all game long. Instead they pressured the puck for 200 feet almost evry shift.

They surrendered a 2 on 1 on an early PP, but Poulter was a wall. He stood tall on a few other occasions when his mates made mistakes. Mostly, they were everywhere the puck was and when it was in front, they were all over the nearby Amerks. Rochester was held to 23 shots and Isaac stopped them all.

Interesting that this kid is taking over the Comets #1 spot between the pipes. He has been in 7 of the Comets while staring 5 of them. He came into the 7th one after only 11:47 of the 1st period and surrendered 1 goal the rest of the way, a 5-2 loss to Toronto. This weekend he started back to backs against the Amerks.

I don't believe he was supoosed to as Kallgren led the team onto the ice for warmups and took the majority of the shots. When the staring lineup was announced he was the keeper. Something isn't right with Kallgren. On 10/27 Brodeur was Poulter's backup and Kallgren was said to be a scrach before the next game on 10/28 for personal reasons. Howevwer, he came out for warmups and started that game. Then tonight's weird warmup. I tried to find him in the well where the backup usualyy watches the game in gear. Rules are you have to dress 2 keepers for every game. Everyoine knows that. I didn't see him there an=d others I asked concurred. The game ended and there he was out to congratulate his mates and especially Poulter.

Daws i s skating in NJ. Sometime or other he will be back in Utica. The original info said after Christmas. Who knows, but he WILL be back sometime. I don't care what they are paying Kallgren and he can't go to the ECHL on a 2-way NHL contract. If this kid is playing the way he has, shipping him out to Adirondack and giving the net to a rehabbing daws and a stunmbling Kallgren would be a travesty. If he is still the best in the net by that time, the Comets may have found a diamond in the rough on an AHL contract. Incidentally, he just turned 22 in September. He will, have earned some serious consideration at the end of the season. It's only been 10 games, but he looked a lot like this last year while playing in an abandoned Comet's defensive zone for much of every game he played. He still went 7-3-3 meaning earning 17 points of a possible 26 in the 13 games he played. Not bad for a 21-yr old nobody called up from the ECHL because the Comets had nobiody else.

Scoring tonight:
Clarke (4) from Nemec (3) and Schmelzer (3)
Dowling (1) from Criscuolo (4) and Parent (6) PP
Criscuolo (2) from Dowling (2) and Nemec (4)
Nemec (1) from Wotherspoon (2) and Criscuolo (5)
Misyul (2) from Criscuolo (6) and Dowling (5)
Nemec (2) from Thompson (4)

This how a team is supposed to play against a rival whose roster is depleted. You thump them and give guys a chance to pad their stats. 3 Comets did just that.

Criscuolo 1 G/ 3 A.
Nemec 2 G/ 2 A
Dowling 1 G/ 2 A

5 other Comets picked up a single point figuring in one of the 6s goals scored with Misyupl and Clarke making their points goals.

Let's see how they move forward vs teams with near complete rosters.

 

[forceten]

Poulter was a .910 in the ECHL last year as well. His AHL stats were not great - .883. But this year, my gosh, 7 games at .938 is outstanding.

He was the best goalie on a very bad Swift Current WHL team in his draft year, just under 900. The year before at 16 he played slightly worse than Joel Hofer who is playing okay for St. Louis now.

Maybe we need to get him signed to an NHL 2 way? Not sure. Kallgren is trash.

 

[My3Sons]

Poulter was a .910 in the ECHL last year as well. His AHL stats were not great - .883. But this year, my gosh, 7 games at .938 is outstanding.

He was the best goalie on a very bad Swift Current WHL team in his draft year, just under 900. The year before at 16 he played slightly worse than Joel Hofer who is playing okay for St. Louis now.

Maybe we need to get him signed to an NHL 2 way? Not sure. Kallgren is trash.

I’m sure the team is hoping Daws returns and takes over the net but I’d much rather continue to develop Poulter than rely on Kallgren.

 

[devilsblood]

I’m sure the team is hoping Daws returns and takes over the net but I’d much rather continue to develop Poulter than rely on Kallgren.

Need 2 goalies, even moreso at the AHL level with all the weekend back to back's.

And if their respective play continues as it has thus far, I'm sure Kallgren is the guy who get's squeezed.

 

[forceten]

How does it work if they do decide to move on from Kallgren when Daws comes back? He's on a 2-way, right? There's no cap issue is there?

 

[Bad Goalie]

Poulter was a .910 in the ECHL last year as well. His AHL stats were not great - .883. But this year, my gosh, 7 games at .938 is outstanding.

He was the best goalie on a very bad Swift Current WHL team in his draft year, just under 900. The year before at 16 he played slightly worse than Joel Hofer who is playing okay for St. Louis now.

Maybe we need to get him signed to an NHL 2 way? Not sure. Kallgren is trash.

You needn't convince me. I thought he was very good last season even though his numbers don't say so. He was not playing for a very good defensive team and he still produced points for the Comets. As I said, 17 of 26 possible points and he was the reason they made it to OT 3 times with a chance to win, but their OT play was abysmal.

Dineen always seemed to find a way to put 2 slow guys out while the opponent did what most teams do in OT, sent out the fastest guys they have and turn OT into a track meet. Also helps if the guys you have out there are serious threats to score given a chance. Again not Dineen's strong point.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

How does it work if they do decide to move on from Kallgren when Daws comes back? He's on a 2-way, right? There's no cap issue is there?

I'd imagine one of Poulter or Daws (probably the former) would be sent to Adirondack to play while Kallgren backed up the other and got an occasional start.

But that is pure speculation having not seen any of the three play this season.

 

[forceten]

That makes me sad if Kallgren isn't any good and if we might have something in Poulter.

 

[UticaHockey]

I'd imagine one of Poulter or Daws (probably the former) would be sent to Adirondack to play while Kallgren backed up the other and got an occasional start.

But that is pure speculation having not seen any of the three play this season.

I can't imagine Daws would be sent to Adirondack. He is clearly #3 on the Devils goaltending depth chart once he is healthy and playing well. The question becomes what to do with Poulter and Kallgren if Poulter continues to perform better than Kallgren.

Contractually sending Poulter down is the easy choice because he is on an AHL contract. Kallgren cannot be sent to the ECHL unless he approves the move first because only NHL contracted players on an entry level contract can be sent to the ECHL without the player's approval. Keeping three goalies on the roster is never a good option but may be the way to manage the situation if Poulter continues to show that he is the better goalie.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Tyler Brennan to the Utica Comets!!!!!!!!!!

Have to believe that whatever issue Kallgren has is putting him on the shelf. Physical, mental, personal, or whatever. Hope he gets that solved. If it's not physical, his personal issues are more paramount than hockey.

Kallgren was not having a good start to the season, but Brennan is not even playing. At this point in the ECHL season he has only played in 2 games and 1 of them was not a complete game as his record is 0-1-0. He has a 5.81 GAA and an .818 SV%. Kallgren has played 4 games and was pulled after giving up 4 in the 1st 11:47 of 1 of them. His numbers are 4.98 GAA, .810 SV%., and a record 0-3-1.

Poulter is most definitely the Comets keeper. Hope the kid can handle the pressure of #1. He's done just fine so far. The Comets #2s have simply been bad. Daws is not yet even in the picture. Skating in NJ means nothing as to his readiness to play games and expect some rust when he does and a game by game rotation would seem to be mandatory and maybe more managed with the 3 in 3 or 4 that the Comets have in their future.

This team is struggling as it is and poor goaltending would see this become a season to forget. Poulter is the only thing between the struggle they are in and total disaster. A healthy Laberge coupled with Halonen and whomever else the Devils demote when Foote is healthy would be very helpful to the Comets.
The Middendorf, Friedman, and Engaras experiments have offered little in the way of steady AHL performance shift to shift. Stillman and Fitzgerald are 4th liners on a decent AHL team, but have been playing up the lineup due to the lack of anyone better.

The Comets have played 10 games and Xavier Parent has put up a .PPG avg and leads the team in scoring with 11 Pts, 5G/6A.
Criscuolo has 8 Pts in 7 GP, but that was pumped up with 4 points in Saturday's game.
Willman is back and hopefully can keep his 1 PPG (4G/3A) going.

Clarke with 4G/3A in 10GP has to keep these numbers going even if he isn't playing the type of hockey that will see him in the NHL.
Thompson has 4A. Not the kind of numbers that correspond to a $762K salary. He should be tearing this league up. NOT.
As mentioned above there is no similarity between Stillman on the ice and a #1 selection. NJ people have torpedoed this selection since the day it happened. He's scored 2 goals but is invisible on most of his shifts.

 

[tailfins]

As mentioned above there is no similarity between Stillman on the ice and a #1 selection. NJ people have torpedoed this selection since the day it happened. He's scored 2 goals but is invisible on most of his shifts.

Ugh. Stillman supposedly has a high motor. Not good to hear he's invisible.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Adirondack has played 8 games. Goaltending as follows:

- Vinnie Purpura
4GP 2.61 GAA/.908 SV%/ 2-1-1

- Jeremy Brodeur
3GP 2.37 GAA/.924 SV%/ 2-1-0

- Tyler Brennan
2GP 5.81 GAA/.818 SV%/ 0-1-0

Looks to me like Adirondack was asked to give up it's worst goalie.

Poulter, please stay hot! They won't be able to s**t on you if your numbers remain consistent.

 

[forceten]

Brodeur has been surprisingly good in a very small number of games. .924 is not bad in any league.

 

[UticaHockey]

It sounds like the Brennan recall was just to give him an opportunity to work with the Comets goalie coach. Tyler is really struggling so far this season.

 

[Bad Goalie]

"Tyler is really struggling so far this season."

You Think? His history is not exactly shiny either.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

I can't imagine Daws would be sent to Adirondack. He is clearly #3 on the Devils goaltending depth chart once he is healthy and playing well. The question becomes what to do with Poulter and Kallgren if Poulter continues to perform better than Kallgren.

Contractually sending Poulter down is the easy choice because he is on an AHL contract. Kallgren cannot be sent to the ECHL unless he approves the move first because only NHL contracted players on an entry level contract can be sent to the ECHL without the player's approval. Keeping three goalies on the roster is never a good option but may be the way to manage the situation if Poulter continues to show that he is the better goalie.

Agreed. Based on the body of work Daws is ahead of Poulter at this point. Having two young goalies in the ECHL (Brennan and Poulter) makes sense.

 

[Guttersniped]

I can't imagine Daws would be sent to Adirondack. He is clearly #3 on the Devils goaltending depth chart once he is healthy and playing well. The question becomes what to do with Poulter and Kallgren if Poulter continues to perform better than Kallgren.

Contractually sending Poulter down is the easy choice because he is on an AHL contract. Kallgren cannot be sent to the ECHL unless he approves the move first because only NHL contracted players on an entry level contract can be sent to the ECHL without the player's approval. Keeping three goalies on the roster is never a good option but may be the way to manage the situation if Poulter continues to show that he is the better goalie.

I assume they go with 3 goalies in Utica. They have three goalies in Adirondack, two are pretty solid, and they’re going to want Brennen to play.

There’s no reason to send Poulter down if he continues to wildly outplay Kallgren by the time Daws is playing. They’ll want to take it slow with Daws anyway.

Worst case scenario is Kallgren leaves in a huff if he sit too much later in the year.

 

[MasterofGrond]

Yeah despite the loss on Friday, Poulter looked good. Got absolutely hung out to dry for 40 minutes.

If you want to win games in Utica, he should be the #1 option until Daws is both back and proven to be good. And broadly I think having a goalie who stops what he should helps the skaters develop anyway. It's tough when you're punished with a GA when you make the right play and the goalie shits the bed.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Yeah despite the loss on Friday, Poulter looked good. Got absolutely hung out to dry for 40 minutes.

If you want to win games in Utica, he should be the #1 option until Daws is both back and proven to be good. And broadly I think having a goalie who stops what he should helps the skaters develop anyway. It's tough when you're punished with a GA when you make the right play and the goalie shits the bed.

He pitched a shutout against the same Americans the next night in Utica.
The Utica fans heartily agree with you!

 

[Bad Goalie]

11/17/23
Utica Comets @ Springfield Thunder

Forwards:
(67)Parent/ (10)Dowling/ (51)Criscuolo
(15)Gambardella/ (26)Schmelzer/ (92)Clarke
(19)Fitzgerald/ (14)Bowers/ (90)Ibragimov
(79)Laberge/ (16)Engaras/ (12)Thompson

D-pairs:
(93)Misyul / (5)Russo
(8)Hatakka / (7)Nemec
(23)Wotherspoon / (52)Foote

Goal - (31) Kallgren

Scratches:
(BU) Brennan
Stillman (H)
Vukojevic (H)
Vilen (I?)
Poulter (Wouldn't be surprised if he is back In Utica resting up for tomorrow night's game vs Laval.)

 

[Bad Goalie]

2 on 1 for the Comets
Criscuolo and Parent
Crisculo shoots, save by Subban, rebound to Parent, but it's off the D-man before getting to Xavier.

G-------O---------A---------L !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1-0 Comets.

2 on 1 for Springfield shot from the low slot and Kallgren makes a big stop!

 

[Bad Goalie]

Springfield has played 15 games to the Comets 10.
Their 1st line is led by their top 2 scorers, former Utica Comets, Adam Gaudette (11-17-18) and Nathan Walker (9-8-17), centered by Matthew Pecca (2-11-13). 3 real good AHL vets. Too bad Utica doesn't have vets like these.