2023-24 Utica Comets and ECHL thread

[Satans Hockey]

Make the trip to Utica one weekend , it's worth the long drive. Arena is small but nice. Great place to watch hockey. The Comets play I'm Scranton too before the season ends. I'm probably gonna try to catch that one. 2 hour drive from Hudson Valley/Northern NJ isn't bad , plus you could gamble a bit whole you are out there. The arena is at the Mogan Sun over there.

I had seen that one too cause I have some friends who live in the Scranton area I could stay the weekend with but the Red Bulls have a home game that day at 2pm so it's too much rushing around. I'll try to catch them in Allentown or Scranton next year.

I ain't gonna lie, unless I'm passing Utica for something else I'm never making the trip just for a game there.

 

[Bad Goalie]

I had seen that one too cause I have some friends who live in the Scranton area I could stay the weekend with but the Red Bulls have a home game that day at 2pm so it's too much rushing around. I'll try to catch them in Allentown or Scranton next year.

I ain't gonna lie, unless I'm passing Utica for something else I'm never making the trip just for a game there.

Whoa!
C'mon man is that a slam on the Mohawk Valley?

It's small but growing back. New big state of the art downtown hospital across from the Aud. Some Tech companies. Making chips. Big deal. Several new name hotels. Lots of good eateries.

There's a huge project underway between the Mohawk River and Erie Canal to create a downtown living community around the city's historic harbor - Harbor Point. Real unique name, eh? Only a zillion of places around the country with the same name, LOL. Waterfront housing, 2 hotels, an entertainment center, restaurants, shopping, pavilions and shade structures, modern well lit evening gathering spots, waterfont walkways and boating docks, and many other additions to enhance the green spaces. Estimate is around $100 mil. That's now. These projects always exceed their budget estimations.

You're welcome to join us any time, but if you don't like the idea so be it. We love the area at the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains and centerpiece of the historic Mohawk Valley. The area had a major impact on the victory of the Revolutionary War securing it's independence from Great Britain.

Or was your decision not to make the trip simply because it's too far to watch a minor league hockey game? In which case my attempt to pump up the area was completely unnecessary, which it probably was anyways. Hah!

 

[My3Sons]

Whoa!
C'mon man is that a slam on the Mohawk Valley?

It's small but growing back. New big state of the art downtown hospital across from the Aud. Some Tech companies. Making chips. Big deal. Several new name hotels. Lots of good eateries.

There's a huge project underway between the Mohawk River and Erie Canal to create a downtown living community around the city's historic harbor - Harbor Point. Real unique name, eh? Only a zillion of places around the country with the same name, LOL. Waterfront housing, 2 hotels, an entertainment center, restaurants, shopping, pavilions and shade structures, modern well lit evening gathering spots, waterfont walkways and boating docks, and many other additions to enhance the green spaces. Estimate is around $100 mil. That's now. These projects always exceed their budget estimations.

You're welcome to join us any time, but if you don't like the idea so be it. We love the area at the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains and centerpiece of the historic Mohawk Valley. The area had a major impact on the victory of the Revolutionary War securing it's independence from Great Britain.

Or was your decision not to make the trip simply because it's too far to watch a minor league hockey game? In which case my attempt to pump up the area was completely unnecessary, which it probably was anyways. Hah!

Do they still have Utica Club beer? One of my freshman year roommates was from Utica and loved that.

 

[Satans Hockey]

Whoa!
C'mon man is that a slam on the Mohawk Valley?

It's small but growing back. New big state of the art downtown hospital across from the Aud. Some Tech companies. Making chips. Big deal. Several new name hotels. Lots of good eateries.

There's a huge project underway between the Mohawk River and Erie Canal to create a downtown living community around the city's historic harbor - Harbor Point. Real unique name, eh? Only a zillion of places around the country with the same name, LOL. Waterfront housing, 2 hotels, an entertainment center, restaurants, shopping, pavilions and shade structures, modern well lit evening gathering spots, waterfont walkways and boating docks, and many other additions to enhance the green spaces. Estimate is around $100 mil. That's now. These projects always exceed their budget estimations.

You're welcome to join us any time, but if you don't like the idea so be it. We love the area at the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains and centerpiece of the historic Mohawk Valley. The area had a major impact on the victory of the Revolutionary War securing it's independence from Great Britain.

Or was your decision not to make the trip simply because it's too far to watch a minor league hockey game? In which case my attempt to pump up the area was completely unnecessary, which it probably was anyways. Hah!

Not a knock on the city at all, I've never been so I have no opinion either way. Just don't feel like doing an 8 hour round trip is all for a game.

If I'm passing through already I'd try to add a day there to catch a game and check out some of the area.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Do they still have Utica Club beer? One of my freshman year roommates was from Utica and loved that.

Absolutely.
The FX Matt Brewery is a major piece of the Utica economy. It's a very popular place to visit, hosts evening gatherings with live bands during the summer, is the finishing line for the Utica Boilermaker 15K Road Race, and is still making Utica Club along with Saranac and several other brews. You get 2 freebees in their historic throwback bar for taking the tour.

Not a knock on the city at all, I've never been so I have no opinion either way. Just don't feel like doing an 8 hour round trip is all for a game.

If I'm passing through already I'd try to add a day there to catch a game and check out some of the area.

Meant no offense and figured your explanation was the reason. If you do decide to stop by we can say hello before the game. Just let me know.

 

[My3Sons]

Absolutely.
The FX Matt Brewery is a major piece of the Utica economy. It's a very popular place to visit, hosts evening gatherings with live bands during the summer, is the finishing line for the Utica Boilermaker 15K Road Race, and is still making Utica Club along with Saranac and several other brews. You get 2 freebees in their historic throwback bar for taking the tour.

Small town living is something some folks thrive on and some just cannot wrap their heads around it. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with where you were raised. I'm sure a revitalized downtown in Utica is great. You just have to understand how to make the most of the area. I'd love to have the AHL team for the Devils in my orbit (Comet pun I know I know) and would probably hold season tickets or at least buy a bunch of games.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Small town living is something some folks thrive on and some just cannot wrap their heads around it. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with where you were raised. I'm sure a revitalized downtown in Utica is great. You just have to understand how to make the most of the area. I'd love to have the AHL team for the Devils in my orbit (Comet pun I know I know) and would probably hold season tickets or at least buy a bunch of games.

I'm not a small town boy. I was born in Penn Yan, NY, a small town on Keuka Lake, one of NY's Finger
Lakes. I came to know it as where one set of my grandparents lived and where my father was raised. My mom was raised in an even smaller berg, Dundee, NY, 12 miles down the road where my other grandparent lived.

We moved from Penn Yan when I was 4 to Rochester, NY where I was raised and call my home town. I'm an inner city boy from Rochester's South Wedge. I was a 15-minute walk from the center of the Downtown business district or by taking a turn at the main library and crossing the bridge over the Genesee River, 15 minutes from the Rochester War Memorial home of the Rochester Americans. I lived in that building on many a winter night watching the team full of the hockey players I idolized in the old 8-team AHL. There were 7 teams in 1959-60 when I started going to the games at age 10. Rochester, Providence, Hershey, Cleveland, Springfield still have franchises. Buffalo is now an NHL city with it's farm in Rochester. The Quebec Aces are long gone.

I moved to the Utica area right out of college and never left. We love it here. Raised our son here and he came back after college and lives in the area as well. Doing quite well I might add. Utica is between big city life and the small town's dotting the American landscape. Love it.

 

[tailfins]

I'm not a small town boy. I was born in Penn Yan, NY, a small town on Keuka Lake, one of NY's Finger
Lakes. I came to know it as where one set of my grandparents lived and where my father was raised. My mom was raised in an even smaller berg, Dundee, NY, 12 miles down the road where my other grandparent lived.

We moved from Penn Yan when I was 4 to Rochester, NY where I was raised and call my home town. I'm an inner city boy from Rochester's South Wedge. I was a 15-minute walk from the center of the Downtown business district or by taking a turn at the main library and crossing the bridge over the Genesee River, 15 minutes from the Rochester War Memorial home of the Rochester Americans. I lived in that building on many a winter night watching the team full of the hockey players I idolized in the old 8-team AHL. There were 7 teams in 1959-60 when I started going to the games at age 10. Rochester, Providence, Hershey, Cleveland, Springfield still have franchises. Buffalo is now an NHL city with it's farm in Rochester. The Quebec Aces are long gone.

I moved to the Utica area right out of college and never left. We love it here. Raised our son here and he came back after college and lives in the area as well. Doing quite well I might add. Utica is between big city life and the small town's dotting the American landscape. Love it.

Have you been back to the Keuka area? It's still small (and Dundee is still tiny), but things seem to be changing. We love the Spotted Duck.

 

[Guttersniped]

I'm not a small town boy. I was born in Penn Yan, NY, a small town on Keuka Lake, one of NY's Finger
Lakes. I came to know it as where one set of my grandparents lived and where my father was raised. My mom was raised in an even smaller berg, Dundee, NY, 12 miles down the road where my other grandparent lived.

We moved from Penn Yan when I was 4 to Rochester, NY where I was raised and call my home town. I'm an inner city boy from Rochester's South Wedge. I was a 15-minute walk from the center of the Downtown business district or by taking a turn at the main library and crossing the bridge over the Genesee River, 15 minutes from the Rochester War Memorial home of the Rochester Americans. I lived in that building on many a winter night watching the team full of the hockey players I idolized in the old 8-team AHL. There were 7 teams in 1959-60 when I started going to the games at age 10. Rochester, Providence, Hershey, Cleveland, Springfield still have franchises. Buffalo is now an NHL city with it's farm in Rochester. The Quebec Aces are long gone.

I moved to the Utica area right out of college and never left. We love it here. Raised our son here and he came back after college and lives in the area as well. Doing quite well I might add. Utica is between big city life and the small town's dotting the American landscape. Love it.

I got to do @njdevils1982-style needle drop of my own here!

 

[njdevils1982]

I got to do @njdevils1982-style needle drop of my own here!

View attachment 826772

an 80s classic

 

[My3Sons]

I'm not a small town boy. I was born in Penn Yan, NY, a small town on Keuka Lake, one of NY's Finger
Lakes. I came to know it as where one set of my grandparents lived and where my father was raised. My mom was raised in an even smaller berg, Dundee, NY, 12 miles down the road where my other grandparent lived.

We moved from Penn Yan when I was 4 to Rochester, NY where I was raised and call my home town. I'm an inner city boy from Rochester's South Wedge. I was a 15-minute walk from the center of the Downtown business district or by taking a turn at the main library and crossing the bridge over the Genesee River, 15 minutes from the Rochester War Memorial home of the Rochester Americans. I lived in that building on many a winter night watching the team full of the hockey players I idolized in the old 8-team AHL. There were 7 teams in 1959-60 when I started going to the games at age 10. Rochester, Providence, Hershey, Cleveland, Springfield still have franchises. Buffalo is now an NHL city with it's farm in Rochester. The Quebec Aces are long gone.

I moved to the Utica area right out of college and never left. We love it here. Raised our son here and he came back after college and lives in the area as well. Doing quite well I might add. Utica is between big city life and the small town's dotting the American landscape. Love it.

I can only hope our kids end up where we are but I doubt that happens sadly. I think city versus town is a matter of perspective. Growing up in Westchester warped my perception of what constitutes a big city versus a small town. I’m sure places I think of as quaint are much more metropolis than I give them credit for.

 

[Bad Goalie]

I can only hope our kids end up where we are but I doubt that happens sadly. I think city versus town is a matter of perspective. Growing up in Westchester warped my perception of what constitutes a big city versus a small town. I’m sure places I think of as quaint are much more metropolis than I give them credit for.

Uh, yeah. Westchester is not small town America. It's a bedroom community.

Nothing wrong with having a positive connection with where you grew up. It's only natural.

I got the biggest kick out of college kids we met on the beaches of Myrtle and Daytona during our Spring break escapades. They were amazed that we could live in NY.

"How can you live in nothing but concrete?" They envisioned the whole state being like NY City. I lived in Rochester, but farmland was a short car ride away. There were thousands of square miles of deer hunting country. You could get lost in the woods or on hiking trails and need to be found by park rangers or rescue parties made up of the locals. I visited my grandparents in the small towns surrounded by huge expanses of the outdoors interspersed with farmland with cows, hogs, horses, mules, sheep, chickens, and goats fed by a lot of what those farms produced.

We connect with where and what we were raised with and it becomes ingrained in our lives as it's the way it should be and we can't see why we would want to live otherwise.

 

[Bad Goalie]

2/28/24

Utica Comets at Belleville Senators

Forwards:
46 Middendorf/ 26 Schmelzer/ 15 Gambardella
25 Foote/ 10 Dowling/ 20 Willman
67 Parent/ 51 Criscuolo/ 92 Clarke
79 Laberge/


D-Pairs:
3 MacKinnon/ 23 Wotherspoon
2 Vukojevic / 5 Russo
23 Vilen/ 8 Hatakka

Goal - 1 Poulter

Scratches:
Kallgren (BU)
Durandeau (H?)
Misyul (?)
Fitzgerald (H)
Engaras (Inj)
Bowers LTIR)

Scoreless after 1

Comets had the better chances.

SOG:
11-7 Utica

Comets pitiful PP was 0-3
Belleville 0/1 (40 seconds)

Belleville will start the 2nd with 1:20 of PP time left.

Sorry I couldn't give you a better feel for the first, but the site sucked and wouldn't allow the mouse to move without the screen moving forward or back in time. if I moved the mouse to type on this site the game reverted all the way to pregame. It operated properly at the start of the intermission.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Okay teams are back for Period 2

Let's see if I can follow the game and cover the highlites because "That's what I do!"

Here we go Comets have to kill the first 1:20.

Russo sends it down the ice.
Stop by Poulter from the goal line.
Shot from the left dot gloved. Killed but Bellville continues to press.
Great stop by Poulter from the right dot.

Foote makes a bad pass and the Sens come back.
Now, Vuk turns it over for a real good shot. Poulter stands tall.

Now the Sens shoot again and Poulter stops it, but the rebound is backhanded home past a blind Poulter.

Comets owned the 1st and were impotent. Belleville owns the first 4 minutes and scores. Comets appeared helpless.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Comets having trouble completing any pass in trying to exit their zone.
Ice it twice.

TV TO
12:59 to go

Unguarded Foote moving around in the net front. But the puck doesn't get to him.

Here come the Sens. Comets fumble the puck.
Poulter makes a big stop on a shot form the bottom of the right circle. It rebounds back to the the shooter. Dowling watches him look, shoot, and score.

8 minutes gone and it's 2-0.

Another great chance for Belleville stopped and Laberge breaks up the rebound chance coming back or it's 3-0.

Comets paying with no intensity and just la-lee-la ing in their own end.

Parent gets a good shot stopped with the pad.

Another good shot by Belleville from the dot with no challenge. Poulter stands tall. Poulter has been totally abandoned in the 2nd.

The Comets are playing as if they were going to continue to control play when the 2nd started. When Belleville turned up their effort the Comets went into shock and awe.

It's a shooting gallery every time the Sens enter the Comets zone. Another big stop by Poulter.

TV TO
5:00 left

 

[Bad Goalie]

Comets can't get this period over fast enough. Sens just keep coming and the Comets just keep watching them.

Clarke with his same problem . on the rush into the circle with a guy kinda on him and he can't get the shot away. He only gets shots when nobody impairs him in any way.

Comets get into the Sens end and they are immediately stopped and the Sens come back. Their is no offens from the Comets.

IMAMA and Laberge square off. They are holding each other to prevent being hit. Imama gets an arm free and the punch sends Labrge's helmet flying. Laberge sticks his head into the foe's chest and drives him to the ice and that ends that.

TV TO
2:39 to go

 

[Bad Goalie]

A Sen gets it all alone on the endboards, but it's called icing.

Comets offsides.

Sens get the draw and right back into the zone.

Clarke shoots from thegoalline 6 feet from the keeper. Right into him. Puck out to the blueline and Wotherspoon fires it . Guess wher? High and wide.

Comets press and Russo ends up with the puck all alone in the high slot and slaps it. Keeper doesn't see it , but on his knees it goes directly into his equipment and he shuts it down. Comets best chance of the period with 9 seconds left.

2nd is over.

 

[Bad Goalie]

SOG:
14-10 Belleville. 14 real good chances and 2 goals.
Comets 10 shots of which maybe 2 were tough saves and 1 of them was with 9 seconds to go.

No penalties were called in the period.

2-0 Senators.

Win a big game vs 1st place challenger Syracuse on Sunday. Now 3 days later vs a team chasing Syracuse and trasiling by 4 points and the Comets are being schooled.

Comets are thus far 0/3 on the PP and Belleville has scored on their only PP of the game.

 

[Bad Goalie]

The 3rd is under way

20 minutes to right the ship or fall deeper into the cellar as Laval, who are ahead of them by 3 points in 6th, are winning 4-0 after 2 in Bridgeport.

Every time the Sens enter the Comets zone they create a dangerous opportunity. Whenthe Comets go into the Sens zone they usially lose possession or end a desperation.
Huge save by Poulter again.

Gmabardella gets a good chance from the left circle and Schmelzer bangs home the rebound, but it's waved off. He knocked it in with his hand. No argument from Ryan.

TV TO 16:55 to go.

Imama hit with a point slapper from his teammate and he's feeling it..

 

[Bad Goalie]

Dowling shot blocked.
Dowling passes it back to Wotherspoon who passes cross ice to MacKinnon at the bottom of the circklle and he shoots it right away and it's right into the keeper.

The Sens are playing a defnsive scheme with 14:49 left. Not sure it's the right move.

It's apparently been working for them as they were in the basement with Uitca 2 weeks ago and are now in 3rd place 8 points ahead of the Comets. They have been on a streak. The Comets don't know the defiintion of that term The Comets win 1 lose 1, win two and then lose 2. Hit .500 and then drop below >500.a

Poulter a good stop off a shot on the rush.
Comets come back 3 on 2.
Stevens to Laberge and back to Stevens who shoots from the bottom of the circle...... stopped.

 

[Bad Goalie]

TV TO
12:44 to go

Not much time left for the Comets to even get to extra time.

Shooting directly into the keeper won't usually produce goals. That's been the story thus far tonight. It's also been 1 and done. The Sen's goals have come on second shots.

Since the time out the Comets haven't crossed center ice.

A mistake by the Sens giving the puck to Middendorf directly in the slot and he whiffs on the shot attempt.

TV TO
9:58 to go.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Poulter a big stop again.

Foote throws a puck into the net front and a Sen tips it just over the net.

Comets hemmed into their zone bythe cycling, time killing Sens. They are not attempting offense just killing of the clock.
The Comets are not challenging the in order to get the puck back I'ts pitiful.

Puck goes out of play.

Sens winthe draw and a shot directly of the draw requires another big stop by Isaac.

Belleville called for Hooking. Imama.

Comets moving the puck around and finallya shot from Vilen goes wide past a screened Goalie.

Comets pas the puck past themselves to center ice. Fail to get back inas have to come all the way back. They shoot it in and fail to regain it.
But the Sen carrying it out is in on a shortie chance and his shot goes wide.. He went the length of the ice and beat 3 Comets along the way and got a backnader off from in close. Horrible defensive play.

Now the Comets get ina Stllman has a chance fromi n close and .......... OFF the POST!

TV TO
5:15 left
Comets shot total in a period in which they should be coming in waves is pathetic. They have 4 shots in the period at this point.

Parent a good shot on a giveaway and Willman is stopped on the doorstep.

Their Katy bar the Door has worked thus far.

Clarke stopped on a wrap around.



Comets can't get possession. Stillman gets a giveaway and whiffs. Comets back in but shots don't come. Comets net empty.

Dwling shot blocked. Onetimer blocked. The Sens in clean and miss the net.

Icing with :52 seconds to go. This one is all over except for dreaming. Dineen saving his TOs Lndy style. Dineen knows they have no chance. Sens in clean and they score. It's 3-0 and definitely over.

 

[Bad Goalie]

There are no high-lights to relate beyond a solid effort by Poulter. Another 2 GA night playing before an anemic offense.

SOG: 30/29 Comets 10/period avg. Only 9 in the 3rd when they had to get 2 goals and only 4 of them in the first 15 minutes.

All 3 *s from Belleviile as it should be.

Next up Friday at home vs Lehigh Valley.

Nigthy nite.

 

[Bad Goalie]

3/1/24
Lehigh Valley Phantoms @ Utica Comets

Forwards:
25 Foote/ 10 Dowling/ 21 Durandeau
20 Willman/ 26 Schmelzer/ 61 Stillman
67 Parent/ 51 Criscuolo/ 92 Clarke
15 Gambardella/ 17 Stevens/ Ibragimov

D-Pairs:
83 Vilen/ 5 Russo
3 MacKinnon/ 23 Wotherspoon
22 Felix/ 8 Hatakka

Goal - 31 Kallgren

Scratches:
Poulter(BU)
Fitzgerald (H)
Laberge (H)
Middendorf (H)
Misyul (H-Ill?)
Vukojevic (H-Ill?)
Engaras (Inj)
Bowers (LTIR)

 

[MadDevil]