2023-24 Utica Comets and ECHL thread

[Bad Goalie]

This weekend the Comets entered the game on a 5-game winning streak.
The weekend comprised one of, if not the worst, exhibitions by a professional hockey team I have ever witnessed up close and personal.

Friday night (12/15/23) vs the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Utica.
The 2 teams came in with similar records:
Utica 10-8-3/ 23Pts 21 GP
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 12-9-3/ 27 P 24 GP

Scoreless 1st period
SOG:
13 Pens
4 Comets

2-0 Pens after the 2nd period/2 ES goals
SOG:
10 Pens
2 Comets

Are you s**tting me??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 shots after 2 periods!

4-1 Pens Final score. 1PPG and 1ENG
3rd Period SOG
9 Pens
16 Comets - The Pens were sitting on the lead and locking it down. The only Comets score was a short handed breakaway by Schmelzer.
Comets league worst PP 0/4

So sorry PizzaandPucks decided to make this game a road trip to Utica.

Saturday (12/16/23) vs Syracuse Crunch in Utica.
The Comets had defeated the Crunch the previous weekend in a home and home back to back Saturday and Sunday.

No score after the 1st
SOG
Crunch 10
Comets 3

1-0 Crunch after the 2nd. Crunch with a goal at 18:54.
SOG:
Crunch 6
Comets 6

Final score Syracuse 4-1
3rd period SOG;
Crunch 4
Comets 9

Game total:
Crunch 22
Comets 18

Comets league leading PP 0/3 making it 0/7 for the 2 nights.

Another horrendous display of offensive ability. It was almost a contest of who was worse at it.

Poulter blew the first 1 by over committing to a guy coming to him on his left post. The guy went around the net and Isaac couldn't get all the way back across to the other side.
On the 2nd he faced a shooter from the bottom of the circle and dropped to his knees with the five hole wide open.
With his team's ineptitude, game over.

The 1st 4 periods of the 2 games the comets managed a total of 15 shots. They got that many in the 3rd on Friday night.
Most of their shots were nothing saves by both opponent keepers. They had a vacation. I'm surprised Blomqvist of the Pens didn't fall asleep on Friday night before having to turn away a few perimeter shots, make a few more easy glove grabs, and finally turn away a couple actual challenges.

The Crunch keeper had an even easier night turning away 2 more shots in the entire game than the Pen's keeper saw in the 3rd period alone.

In both games the Comets failed to convert breakaways and several 2 on 1s in which they never even manged a shot on goal. The PP was so poor that their major accomplishment was actually getting across the attacking blue line in possession. The couple shots they did get on goal were 1 and done. Most of the time it was get the puck to the blueline and then having to chase it down back in their own end. They tried dumping it in but were not able to get to it before the opponent shot it back down the ice.

They had the same problems maintaining any serious possession 5 on 5. Their passing in all 3 zones was mostly off target, mishandled, intercepted, or deflected away. Shot attempts were blocked, knocked away, missed wide, high, or both. or were cherry picked by the keepers. The post appeared on a couple of occasions. They also whiffed on shot attempts, flubbed them, or turned them into breakout passes. It was just a continual comedy of self inflicted failures.

In Friday's game Daws was tripped up at the edge of his net, fell awkwardly, couldn't csramble back up and was scored upon while laying prostrate across the crease. Discussion with the officials was futile as is most often the case.

Brodeur was called up for last nighjt's game and sat in the well as the backup. One can only hope that was to keep Daws from having to play in an emergency. The worst reason would be that Nico was hurt on that play and may be missing from action in the near future. The Comets don't play again until next Saturday and that would be Nico's start.

The way we hear anything around here it may take until then to even have a guess what's going on.
We haven't heard a word on Kallgren's injury.
Fitzgerald hasn't been around since 11/29, 9 games ago.
Halonen is sadi to have been in town for a couple weeks or more and was supposedly seen on the ice in a yellow jersey, but hasn't even been officially added to the roster yet. He is still listed on CapFriendly as season opening injured reserve along with Foote. Lindy's response to a reporter as to Foote's near future availability was "Nope". Maybe they can get Nolan to the mechaics who have built the bionic parts for Hischier, LOL.

Hopefully, the Comets can have their demons enacted exorcised before next Saturday for their 12/23 game with Cleveland so their Christmas isn't depressing. They'll be right back at it on the 27th at Lehigh Valley in Allentown, Pennsylvania. So, their break is Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after. Won't lilely be any going home for Christmas by any of the Comets. Would guess some guys will have family visiting here.

Those fairly close would be:
Gambardella - Staten Island, NY
Criscuolo - Southhampton, NJ
Schmelzer - Buffalo, NY
Willman - Barnstable,MA
Clarke - Ottawa, Ont
Vukojevic - Oakville, Ont. Not sure how far into Ontario this is. Ottawa is not that far away.

My guess is Esche hosts a big Christmas day celebration for the boys at his restaurant or catered by his restauarant at a downtown location, maybe one of the several major hotels near the Adirondack Bank Center (Utica Aud).

 

[Bad Goalie]

You're talking about Adirondack? I didn't realize you watched many of their games. I appreciate your insight.

Mostly, I was talking about the Comets, but Adirondack is the #3 team in the NJ chain. Players moving back and forth between the systems have to know what is expected when they make a move. My assumption is the players i n Utica and Adirondack have to play similar systems. The Comets play that mind boggling system of Lindy's. Would guess the Thunder has to learn it as well. Utica uses their players the same way NJ uses the Comets.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Went to see the Comets on Friday play the Baby Penguins in Utica. Finally made it up there to see them at home after seeing them 5 times on the road the last 2 seasons. Their arena is awesome , not 1 bad seat in the house. It sucks they basically played like an ECHL team on offense Friday & Saturday night but it was still fun to catch a game up there. For me it's about a little under a 3 hour drive to get up there . You guys down in northern NJ it's 3 and half to 4 hours. It's bit of a hike but worth the drive up there. I would suggest making a weekend trip out of it when they play on a Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday at home so you can catch 2 games. You can tell the building has a fun atmosphere and a good fanbase. The Devils have a good city to support their farm system.

 

[UticaHockey]

View attachment 785570

Went to see the Comets on Friday play the Baby Penguins in Utica. Finally made it up there to see them at home after seeing them 5 times on the road the last 2 seasons. Their arena is awesome , not 1 bad seat in the house. It sucks they basically played like an ECHL team on offense Friday & Saturday night but it was still fun to catch a game up there. For me it's about a little under a 3 hour drive to get up there . You guys down in northern NJ it's 3 and half to 4 hours. It's bit of a hike but worth the drive up there. I would suggest making a weekend trip out of it when they play on a Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday at home so you can catch 2 games. You can tell the building has a fun atmosphere and a good fanbase. The Devils have a good city to support their farm system.

Glad you enjoyed it. I wish that you had a more competitive game to watch. The Aud is a very unique old barn for sure.

 

[Guttersniped]

JUGGERNAUT!

Division!

Eastern Conference!

 

[Guttersniped]

Juggernaut gonna Juggernaut!

Division!

Conference!

 

[Guttersniped]

TLDR: Brennan is hurt.

The Adirondack Thunder have gotten off to a strong start as they hold a 14-6-2-1 record through 23 games and sit in first place in the North Division. In years past, they have had guys who are going to score 25-30 goals, but this season, it’s everyone that’s been chipping in offensively. Adirondack leads the league on the PK, and as they say, your best penalty killer is your goalie. Coming into the season, there was a lot of hype around the goaltending for the Thunder, and they had three very good goaltenders that has lived up to the hype so far this season. “Three great goaltenders, that’s a good problem to have,” said Head Coach Pete MacArthur. Through a 1/3 of the season, Adirondack sits in the top five for goals allowed as they have given up 60 goals, and opponents are averaging 2.83 goals per game against the Thunder while also giving up over 30 shots a game, which currently ranks 15th in the league. “It’s awesome to have two guys like them; we all play different styles. Vinnie’s one of those bigger guys who moves super fast, and Brenny is one of those young bucks who has it all right now, and then there’s me in my seventh-year pro, but it’s fun, it’s fun watching these guys in their first year succeeding, and I love succeeding with them, with all three of us it’s all around support, and we hope to keep this train rolling at a high pace for us,” said Brodeur.

Jeremy Brodeur

Jeremy Brodeur signed with Utica in the off-season, and it was expected that Brodeur and Tyler Brennan would split the playing time in Adirondack; in 11 games with the Thunder, Brodeur has gone 8-3 with a 2.11 GAA,934 SV% and one shutout and has not lost back-to-back starts all season. His numbers don’t only lead the Thunder netminders, but he also leads the league in SV%. In his 11 starts this season, Brodeur has only given up four goals or more once, and that came back in early November in his first start of the season. It’s been a memorable year for Brodeur as he is on pace to finish the year with career numbers, and on December 2nd vs Florida Everblades, he picked up his first career shutout in his 106th ECHL game, where he made 31 saves in an OT win.

The Adirondack Thunder don’t have a true number goaltender, but if they did, there’s no doubt that it would be the “Veteran” of the group, and both Brennan and Purpura talked about having him here in Adirondack, “He’s got a lot of experience in this league and many different leagues, he’s a good asset for myself to learn from him and take some advice he has learned throughout the year, he’s just a really good guy to have on the team” said Brennan who is in his first year as a pro, Purpura mentioned that the way he acts is really important for a long season, “He’s a good mentor, leads by example, doesn’t take it over seriously, and kinda keeps it light which is a good thing for a long season.”

Tyler Brennan

The New Jersey Devils fourth-round pick in 2020 is getting his first taste of professional hockey after spending parts of four years in the Western Hockey League for the Prince George Cougars, where he went 38-42-8 with a 3.19 GAA, .898 SV%, and seven shutouts. The 20-year-old goaltender is the youngest of the three goalies and the only one who didn’t have any ECHL experience coming into this season, “They give me their advice, they show me the ropes a little bit it’s nice to have those guys behind me and in the room for games, and I learn what I can from the them” said the young goaltender. Brennan has only played in four games this season, with the Thunder posting a 1-2 record with a 3.64 GAA and .898 SV% but don’t let those numbers fool you, as Brennan had a shaky start to the year as he was pulled in his second start of the season but bounced back with a 27-save performance on November 22nd in a win vs Reading Royals and stopped 43 of 47 in a loss against the Florida Everblades on November 29th.

“He’s getting something checked out injury-wise, and we won’t see him until after the holidays,” said head Coach Pete MacArthur when asked about Brennan’s status.

Vinnie Purpura

Heading into this season, the Adirondack Thunder knew that they were going to be getting two goalies from Utica in Jeremy Brodeur and Tyler Brennan, who are both on AHL deals, but Adirondack elected to bring in a familiar face on an ECHL deal in Vinnie Purpura. The 25-year-old goaltender joined the Thunder late last season after finishing his collegiate career at Long Island University. He went 2-0 with a 3.46 GAA and .906 SV% in four games before he suffered a season-ending injury on March 31st. Still, Pete MacArthur said that it was his compete level was one of the reasons he brought him back, “I thought he competed hard, he made the saves he was supposed to make it, and he didn’t lose a game in regulation, and all those games were really important for us, he has that mentality, it’s also hard to look away from a 6’6 goofy goalie, a lot of attributes that we liked” said, MacArthur.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Why did Cleveland keep going after Daws tonight. Dirty team.

 

[barriers]

 

[Call Me Al]

that’s fine by me. vitek has righted the ship lately and schmid needs to get his head straight/confidence back.

honestly seems like the utica goalie coach is better anyway lol

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Dang i just picked him up for my fantasy team. But if i pick up Daws before he plays, he’ll be terrible! And if someone else picks him up he’ll be great!

 

[forceten]

Halonen is back and assigned to Utica!

 

[Bad Goalie]

Haven't talked to you in a while (December 17). Prepping for the Holidays combined with some home remodeling ate up the time.

The Comets had lost games on the 15th and 16th of December and since that point have managed to lose 3 more and are currently riding a 5-game losing streak that has seen them finally fall as far as possible. They now own the AHL North Division basement all by themselves.

They are #28 in the league in goals scored, 76 in 26 GP.

The top goal scorer in the league has 17. Clarke has 11.
The league's leader in points has 38. 2nd year AHL contract 5'8" (that's stretching him on a rack) Xavier Parent leads the Comets with 21.

After having scored 4 PP goals in the last 3 games they still hold down the the league's 32nd spot in PPGF.

The only positive thing they can boast is having the league's #1 PK.

Last night they lost to the Providence Bruins 5-2. They were 1/7 on the PP.

Ex-Comets, an ex-Devil, and a 20-yr-old 1st round selection at #21 dominated the game.
Jesper Boqvist - NJ Devil the past 3 seasons - 2G
Vinnie Arsenau - 4 years with the Utica Comets while under Vancouver - 1G
Fabian Lysell - Boston's 2021 1st round selection at #21- 2G, 1A for a 3-point night, and the 1st Star
Mikey Di Pietro - Utica Comets Goaltender under Vancouver) - 37/39 and the 3rd Star

Xavier Parent scored 1 of Utica's 2 goals with journeyman AHL #3/4 center, once again forced to be Utica's #2, scored the other.

NJ's 20-yr-old 2021 1st round selection at #29 continues to flounder with little to show shift after shift. His 4G/3A/7Pts in 24GP is pitiful.

 

[Bad Goalie]

12/30/23
Rochester Americans 3 Utica Comets 2 in a shootout.

Utica scored first at 5:48 of the 1st on Kyle Criscuolo's 6th with Clarke picking up 1 of the assists.

They held that lead until Rochester scored coming out of the gate at 1:38 of the 3rd.

Utica would go up 2-1 on Xavier Parent's 9th of the season at 11:38.

With a faceoff in the Comets end and 2 minutes and change left on the clock, Rochester pulled their goalie. Mere seconds after the face off the game was tied.

Most of the of the OT was played in the Comets end, but both teams only managed 2 shots each.

Shootout:
Amerks 1st shooter scored.
Dowling, shooting #3 scored to keep it going. Clarke and Willman had failed ahead of him.
After their 1st shooter scored Schmid stopped 6 Amerks.
Thus, after Dowling tied it:
Parent
Criscuolo
Bowers
Stillman
missed with the game on each of their sticks.

Rochester scored on it's 8th shot.

Laberge after putting the keeper down and out and the net wide open lost control of the puck and failed to get off a shot.

Rochester entered the game at 13-12-2-1.
Utica was 10-1-3-0 6 points behind the Amerks who trailed 4th place Toronto by a 1 point for the 4th playoff spot. The Comets had 2 games in hand on Rochester and 3 on Toronto.

Toronto lost in OT tonight. If Utica had held onto that lead they'd now be behind the Amerks by 4 and Toronto by 5 with a ton of the season remaining. All that after a 5-game losing streak.

Instead the Comets lost #6 in a row and now languish in the cellar 3 points behind Laval who beat Syracuse 4-1. They still have those games in hand and also have 3 in hand on Laval. Problem with games in hand is you have to win them for it to matter.

The Comets don't play again until next Friday at home vs that same Laval team. A loss would puit them deeper in the basement 5 points behind Laval and extend their winless streak to 7!

Halonen played for the first time since last season and looked it.

With Clarke and Parent both getting a point, Parent still holds his 1-point lead over Clarke in the team scoring race, 22-21.

The Comets went 1/7 on the PP and dropped deeper into the #32 league basement in that category.

Holding Rochester scoreless on their 4 PPs kept the Comets in 1st place. 1 full % point over both Hershey and Abbotsford for the league lead on the PK. It's 87.8% to 86.8%.

 

[UticaHockey]

12/30/23
Rochester Americans 3 Utica Comets 2 in a shootout.

Utica scored first at 5:48 of the 1st on Kyle Criscuolo's 6th with Clarke picking up 1 of the assists.

They held that lead until Rochester scored coming out of the gate at 1:38 of the 3rd.

Utica would go up 2-1 on Xavier Parent's 9th of the season at 11:38.

With a faceoff in the Comets end and 2 minutes and change left on the clock, Rochester pulled their goalie. Mere seconds after the face off the game was tied.

Most of the of the OT was played in the Comets end, but both teams only managed 2 shots each.

Shootout:
Amerks 1st shooter scored.
Dowling, shooting #3 scored to keep it going. Clarke and Willman had failed ahead of him.
After their 1st shooter scored Schmid stopped 6 Amerks.
Thus, after Dowling tied it:
Parent
Criscuolo
Bowers
Stillman
missed with the game on each of their sticks.

Rochester scored on it's 8th shot.

Laberge after putting the keeper down and out and the net wide open lost control of the puck and failed to get off a shot.

Rochester entered the game at 13-12-2-1.
Utica was 10-1-3-0 6 points behind the Amerks who trailed 4th place Toronto by a 1 point for the 4th playoff spot. The Comets had 2 games in hand on Rochester and 3 on Toronto.

Toronto lost in OT tonight. If Utica had held onto that lead they'd now be behind the Amerks by 4 and Toronto by 5 with a ton of the season remaining. All that after a 5-game losing streak.

Instead the Comets lost #6 in a row and now languish in the cellar 3 points behind Laval who beat Syracuse 4-1. They still have those games in hand and also have 3 in hand on Laval. Problem with games in hand is you have to win them for it to matter.

The Comets don't play again until next Friday at home vs that same Laval team. A loss would puit them deeper in the basement 5 points behind Laval and extend their winless streak to 7!

Halonen played for the first time since last season and looked it.

With Clarke and Parent both getting a point, Parent still holds his 1-point lead over Clarke in the team scoring race, 22-21.

The Comets went 1/7 on the PP and dropped deeper into the #32 league basement in that category.

Holding Rochester scoreless on their 4 PPs kept the Comets in 1st place. 1 full % point over both Hershey and Abbotsford for the league lead on the PK. It's 87.8% to 86.8%.

BG welcome back. An observation here. The Comets won all three games in a weekend a few weeks back with a handful of call ups from Adirondack in the lineup due to injuries here. Since then most everyone is back and the Comets have what would be close to their full roster as assembled by the brain trusts in NJ. They have now lost 6 straight since sending the ECHL call ups back to Adirondack.

What do you think is going on here? The simple observation to me is the ragtag lineup that was winning was willing to put in the hard work to grind out a few wins where the regular lineup thinks they can win on skill and not hard work.

This team does not have the skill to think they can get by without hard work and grinding for a full 60 minutes.

I really question why Dineen seems to accept this kind of effort game after game without making a statement by sitting some underperforming players and getting some hungry players back up from Adirondack.

 

[Guttersniped]

The team no one cares about it is still killing it tho.

Comeback 5-4 OT win Saturday.

Division

Conference

Adirondack = Juggernaut that cannot be stopped.

 

[My3Sons]

The team no one cares about it is still killing it tho.

Comeback 5-4 OT win Saturday.

Division
View attachment 793460

Conference
View attachment 793458View attachment 793459

Adirondack = Juggernaut that cannot be stopped.

View attachment 793463

Didn’t Deadpool stop him with an electric cable in thr movie?

 

[Guttersniped]

Another win on New Years Eve.

Conference:

Division:

 

[Bad Goalie]

BG welcome back. An observation here. The Comets won all three games in a weekend a few weeks back with a handful of call ups from Adirondack in the lineup due to injuries here. Since then most everyone is back and the Comets have what would be close to their full roster as assembled by the brain trusts in NJ. They have now lost 6 straight since sending the ECHL call ups back to Adirondack.

What do you think is going on here? The simple observation to me is the ragtag lineup that was winning was willing to put in the hard work to grind out a few wins where the regular lineup thinks they can win on skill and not hard work.

This team does not have the skill to think they can get by without hard work and grinding for a full 60 minutes.

I really question why Dineen seems to accept this kind of effort game after game without making a statement by sitting some underperforming players and getting some hungry players back up from Adirondack.

You left out the fact that the goaltending was lights out. Now that the keepers have come back down from the stratosphere winning is a much greater task. This team will never be a skilled scoring team and NJ seems to have made sure of that. They are paying the vets they have similar salaries to the vets on most other AHL teams. The problem is the ones they signed were brought on board after most of the better ones were scooped up very early in the free agency frenzy that goes on every season as the NHL teams work to support their farms.

The result is that the guys they did get, especially in the middle, aren't a whole lot better than Schmelzer. Many folks I talk to feel this should be his last season here. He doesn't have the speed or skillset that wings need to be successful. That's why he is best suited for a #3/4 center. He has been forced to play a much bigger role all 3 seasons the Comets have been affiliated with thye NJ Devils and he has has done a bangup job playing above his calling.

Let's make a comparison this season. Schmelzer has reached Vet Exempt status, but is on an AHL contract.

Schmelzer : 6G/10A/16Pts

Gambardella is a Vet, but also on an AHL contract like Schmelzer. His numbers are not the kind you sign a vet for to play every day.
Gambardella - 2G/9A/11Pts

Who were the vets NJ signed ?
Dowling: 3G/9A/12Pts

Criscuolo: 6G/12A/18 Pts

The other NHL signed vet is Wotherspoon, a D-man. Irrelevant to this discussion. However, if there is a vet who appears to have lost any reason to waste an NHL contract on, it's him.
With Wotherspoon on the back end is the 5th Vet in Russo.

So that's:
Dowling V
Criscuolo V
Wotherspoon V
3 Vets signed to NHL contracts.

Gambardella V
Russo V
Schmelzer VE
on AHL contracts

5 vets and 1 VE. That's what the AHL rules allow in the lineup on game day.

Schmelzer's 16 points rank him 5th in scoring for the Comets.
For the centers he's:
4 points ahead of Dowling's 12
2 points behind Criscuolo's 18.

Criscuolo is our top center in points. There are 121 AHL players ahead of him in points.
The other centers are non vets Engaras (AHL)* with 6 points and Bowers (NHL) with 7 points. Bowers and Criscuolo have both played on the wing.
In a real crunch Willman (NHL) and Gambardella (AHL) can play center. Gamby has played a few shifts.
* The AHL and NHL refer to the contracts they have.

In 2021-22 the Comets had better, but not great AHL centers in Schnarr, Gauthier, Flynn, and Schmelzer allowing them to play C/LW Chase DeLeo on the wing. They also had Talvitie who was trusted to play the #4 center which allowed Flynn to play on the RW.
They were loaded up front with Holtz, DeLeo, Zetterland, Greer, Foote, Gambardella, and Clarke with Thompson coming in late and Laberge also up front.

Studenic was claimed off waivers when the Devils intended to send him to Utica and Schnarr was traded to Montreal for goalie Andrew Hammond. The Comets never got a replacement for either.
Injuries to Flynn and Gauthier sent DeLeo to center.
Eventually:
DeLeo became #1
Gauthier #2
Schmelzer #3
Talvitie #4.

Then Gauthier went down and come the playoffs the Comets were hurting in the middle.
DeLeo #1
Schmelzer #2
Flynn #3
Talvitie #4
Even with strong forwards the team lost out in 5 to Rochester.

Last season the Comets had 2 actual centers in Schmelzer and Talvitie.
Nolan Foote, Brian Pinho, Tyce Thompson, Nolan Stevens, Nick Hutchison, Zach Senyshyn, Xavier Parent, Filip Engaras, Patrick Grasso, and Nick Rivera played games at center.
Schmelzer, Stevens, and Talvitie were there most every night. Pinho, Thompson, and Foote rotated in and out of the middle with Pinho playing the most games.

However, the rest of the roster could score some goals, not a lot, but some. The Defense was good and the goalies won a lot of games for them.
It wasn't enough.

They beat a less talented Laval team 2-0 in a 3-game play-in and then after a strong effort in games 1 and 2 went down to with little fight to Toronto 3 games to 1 in the Division semis.

The center position was, to put it mildly, a complete cluster f***! It was instrumental in their weak season and low scoring.

This season the center slot is not the only issue. The Devils didn't have much in the way of prospects so Clarke, Stillman, and Thompson were it. Foote is a prospect, but has been injured and we don't know if the Devils would have kept him if healthy. Probably a good bet over Tierney, who I think was ticketed for here from the start, but the injuries left him on the NJ roster. Halonen was meant to be here, but was also injured. He's here now, and played his first game Saturday, but he has quite a bit to go before we maybe get to see the player he was last season. That guy would be a help to the weak offense.

Thompson was traded for Durandeau. Thompson has played 11 games with Bridgeport and still hasn't scored a goal making it a total of 26 games thus far without denting the twines. So, Clarke and Stillman are it for NJ prospect forwards!
Clarke trails AHL contracted midget Parent by a point for the team's top in points, 22 to 21. Clarke has 11 goals to Parent's 9.
At the moment, Stillman is a very weak 1st round selection and shows 0 NHL likelihood. He has 7 points.
Sam Laberge was recently given a 1-yr NHL contract, but you can't consider him an NHL prospect.

Jersey acquired Willman (16 pts), Bowers (7 points), and Durandeau for Thompson, who played 3 games (11/29, 12/2, and 12/3) and has been out with an injury since. He has 1 assist in those 3 games.

The remaining Comets forwards are Ibragimov (AHL) and Fitzgerald (AHL) unless I missed someone.

This is a very weak assortment of AHL talent and their position at the bottom of the North Division and their overall ranking of #27 in the entire league supports my assessment.

There are some decdent kids on the back end in Misyul and at times Hatakka, Vilen, and Vukojevic, but only Misyul has impressed. Either something is amiss with Vilen or Dineen is unimpressed as he keeps getting scratched. He's only played in 12 of the Comets' 27 games. The vets on the D-corps, Wotherspoon, Russo, and Foote are holding up their end, but not one is what you would call a standout.

The goaltending situation has been a revolving door with the exception of Poulter. He has played 15 of the 27 games and has a 2.54 GAA/.913 SV%.
Kallgren has played the second most games with 10 and has a 4.21 GAA/.853 SV%. He was also pulled twice and has been injured for the past 6 games.
Daws played 3 games recording a 2.39 GAA/.929 SV% before being called up to NJ.
Schmid was sent down when Daws went up and has 2 GP with a 3.36 GAA/.896 SV%.
Brodeur has played in 1 game. He relieved Poulter early in the 1st period of Isaac's one real stinker where he gave up 3 goals in the first 4:57 of the 1st period. Brodeur finished the contest giving up 2 more. His GAA is 2.26 with a .909 SV%.

Goaltending is a big reason for the victories they do have and gave them a chance to win several more if they could only put the puck in the net.

As to the guys up from Adirondack participating in the 3 wins in 3-game weekend stint you refer to it really wasn't that much on them.
12/8 - Isley was the only one to play. No points.
12/9 - This was the one where we saw 3 Adirondack replacements:
- Middendorf
- Hirano
- Isley
No points for any of the 3.
12/10 - Isley again the only one and again pointless.

Any team on any given night can beat any other team. In the 3 they played that weekend:
- Bridgeport is the cellar dweller in the Atlantic and are even worse than Utica. Their 20 Ptsplace them at #32 in the league and they have played 2 more games Than Utica.
- Syracuse that weekend was playing with a depleted lineup in a home and home back to back.

The Comets keepers were lights out:
12/8 - Daws made his return to action for the first time this season and stopped 31/32. 4-1 Utica. An ENG for utica at the end.
12/9 - Poulter stopped 28/29. 3-1 Utica. An ENG at the end.
12/10 - Kallgren went down with an injury, from which he has not returned, at 6:50 of the 1st. Poulter replaced him after playing the night before and stopped 15/16. 4-1 Utica. An ENG at the end.
3 games and the keepers had allowed 1 goal in each game. Hard to lose in those situations. The Comets did noit score many

No, my assessment now is what, I am sad to say, I saw very early on. This is simply not a good hockey team for the AHL level. They lack any kind of consistent scoring. They are not fast. They are poor passers and weak with the puck. After 27 games only 7 players have reached double figures in points. The fact that their 78 goals ranks them #29, their PP is #32, and they rank #27 in the AHL league standings speaks to that end.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Right on the heels of my last post above, the Comets have made personnel moves.
2 players I made reference to, Timur Ibragimov and Topias Vilen, have been reassigned to the ECHL Adirondack Thunder.

In the same moves D-man, Will MacKinnon, has been signed to an AHL 2-way contract and then added to the Comets roster.
MacKinnon will replace Vilen giving the Comets 7 D-men. This will be the 23-yr-old's 1st venture into the AHL. His numbers in Adirondack are 1G/3A/4Pts, 26 PIM, 29GP, and +10. His offensive numbers don't trigger any enthusiasm and the +10 could have little to do with his own play and more to do with who he is on the ice with, but it is a positive. Will have to see in games to make an assessment.*

Ibragimov's departure leaves the Comets with 13 healthy forwards. That means the activation of Halonen meant Timur was Dineen's choice as the odd man out. Not sure I agree with that as it means Fitzgerald is the 13th forward. Fitz has played 13 games, has 0 Pts, and has not caused any level of positives to be tossed around about his level of play. While Ibragimov does have 4G/5A/9Pts in 21 GP.

Dineen has a nasty habit of only carrying 1 extra player at forward and 1 at D. It's a situation that has seen the Comets go into games short on manpower.

*So weird to read the press release:
Utica Comets General Manager, Dan MacKinnon, announced today that the team has signed defenseman Will MacKinnon to a two-way AHL contract for the 2023-24 season. Comets now have Dan and Tom's boys on the roster while Marty's boy has been up and down here as well. Interesting how Dan has made no movements to try and find some actual talent for his last place Comets.

Under the Vancouver Canucks, General manager Lorne Henning searched the world for players that could help his floundering team.

In November of the 2013-14 season he signed retired Stanley Cup winning defender Kent Huskins to a PTO and later signed him to an AHL deal. He solidified a rocky defense and became both a mentor and on-ice coach for the youngsters. The following season he helped guide the Comets to the Calder Cup finals.
Also in Novemeber, 2013 he signed Cal O'Reilly out of the KHL. He would become the offensive catalyst in the middle that the Comets were missing. He became the captain the folowing season and led the team in scoring in both the regualr season and the playoffs.

In late November, 2014, along with the assistance of Vancouver management, he enacted a trade with Edmonton that sent Kellan Lain, who had done nothing for Utica, to the Oilers and brought Will Acton to Utica. He was immediately inserted into the middle giving the Comets 4 strong centers.

In March, the Canucks traded Comet Dustin Jeffrey to the Islanders for Cory Conacher. It was a minor league trade and Conacher was immediately in the Comets lineup.

They also traded a 2nd round pick to Calgary for LW Sven Baertschi, who would start out with Utica, go up to Vancouver, and return for the Comets long playoff run.

In January, the Canucks acquired Adam Clendening from Chicago for Gustav Forsling. Clendining played 49 games for the Comets and had a brief stingt with the canucks before returning to the Comets where he was a regualr during their playoff run.

In 2015-16 Pat Conacher became Director of Hockey Operations and for 6 years he scoured the ECHL for the best possible available players to extend PTOs in order to help the Comets.

MacKinnon has done nothing of the sort thus far in his 3 seasons here.

 

[tailfins]

Right on the heels of my last post above, the Comets have made personnel moves.
2 players I made reference to, Timur Ibragimov and Topias Vilen, have been reassigned to the ECHL Adirondack Thunder.

In the same moves D-man, Will MacKinnon, has been signed to an AHL 2-way contract and then added to the Comets roster.
MacKinnon will replace Vilen giving the Comets 7 D-men. This will be the 23-yr-old's 1st venture into the AHL. His numbers in Adirondack are 1G/3A/4Pts, 26 PIM, 29GP, and +10. His offensive numbers don't trigger any enthusiasm and the +10 could have little to do with his own play and more to do with who he is on the ice with, but it is a positive. Will have to see in games to make an assessment.*

Ibragimov's departure leaves the Comets with 13 healthy forwards. That means the activation of Halonen meant Timur was Dineen's choice as the odd man out. Not sure I agree with that as it means Fitzgerald is the 13th forward. Fitz has played 13 games, has 0 Pts, and has not caused any level of positives to be tossed around about his level of play. While Ibragimov does have 4G/5A/9Pts in 21 GP.

Dineen has a nasty habit of only carrying 1 extra player at forward and 1 at D. It's a situation that has seen the Comets go into games short on manpower.

*So weird to read the press release:
Utica Comets General Manager, Dan MacKinnon, announced today that the team has signed defenseman Will MacKinnon to a two-way AHL contract for the 2023-24 season. Comets now have Dan and Tom's boys on the roster while Marty's boy has been up and down here as well. Interesting how Dan has made no movements to try and find some actual talent for his last place Comets.

Under the Vancouver Canucks, General manager Lorne Henning searched the world for players that could help his floundering team.

In November of the 2013-14 season he signed retired Stanley Cup winning defender Kent Huskins to a PTO and later signed him to an AHL deal. He solidified a rocky defense and became both a mentor and on-ice coach for the youngsters. The following season he helped guide the Comets to the Calder Cup finals.
Also in Novemeber, 2013 he signed Cal O'Reilly out of the KHL. He would become the offensive catalyst in the middle that the Comets were missing. He became the captain the folowing season and led the team in scoring in both the regualr season and the playoffs.

In late November, 2014, along with the assistance of Vancouver management, he enacted a trade with Edmonton that sent Kellan Lain, who had done nothing for Utica, to the Oilers and brought Will Acton to Utica. He was immediately inserted into the middle giving the Comets 4 strong centers.

In March, the Canucks traded Comet Dustin Jeffrey to the Islanders for Cory Conacher. It was a minor league trade and Conacher was immediately in the Comets lineup.

They also traded a 2nd round pick to Calgary for LW Sven Baertschi, who would start out with Utica, go up to Vancouver, and return for the Comets long playoff run.

In January, the Canucks acquired Adam Clendening from Chicago for Gustav Forsling. Clendining played 49 games for the Comets and had a brief stingt with the canucks before returning to the Comets where he was a regualr during their playoff run.

In 2015-16 Pat Conacher became Director of Hockey Operations and for 6 years he scoured the ECHL for the best possible available players to extend PTOs in order to help the Comets.

MacKinnon has done nothing of the sort thus far in his 3 seasons here.

My guess is that MacKinnon is focused on the areas that will make his boss happy and/or get him noticed around the league. It sounds like Henning and Conacher put tremendous effort into helping Utica stay competitive, but neither progressed up the GM ladder. I don't know the ins and outs of GMing, so I'm not sure why they weren't given a shot at bigger jobs. However, MacKinnon seems well regarded enough by the Pens that he apparently got a second round interview for their GM spot back in May, so he seems to be doing something right.

I, like you, think having a competitive minor league team is useful. You're requests are reasonable, too: that the Devils to look for talent and make earlier / better decisions, not necessarily spend more money or take away ice time from prospects.

 

[My3Sons]

My guess is that MacKinnon is focused on the areas that will make his boss happy and/or get him noticed around the league. It sounds like Henning and Conacher put tremendous effort into helping Utica stay competitive, but neither progressed up the GM ladder. I don't know the ins and outs of GMing, so I'm not sure why they weren't given a shot at bigger jobs. However, MacKinnon seems well regarded enough by the Pens that he apparently got a second round interview for their GM spot back in May, so he seems to be doing something right.

I, like you, think having a competitive minor league team is useful. You're requests are reasonable, too: that the Devils to look for talent and make earlier / better decisions, not necessarily spend more money or take away ice time from prospects.

The nepotism in the organization is not a great look. Can't they find spots for their kids with other organizations and vice versa? If some other GMs kid was playing for Utica it would look less fishy. If you are parking your kid with the AAA team is it really a meritocracy beyond the prospects?

 

[UticaHockey]

The nepotism in the organization is not a great look. Can't they find spots for their kids with other organizations and vice versa? If some other GMs kid was playing for Utica it would look less fishy. If you are parking your kid with the AAA team is it really a meritocracy beyond the prospects?

If Fitz wanted to sign his son couldn't he at least signed Casey instead. Casey plays with grit and determination something that is missing from this team.

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

How’s Misyul looking? Is he call up material up yet?

 

[Zippy316]

Could be an interesting option for the Comets. Know nothing about him, but decent numbers in the WHL suggests like he could develop into a good AHL forward.