2023-24 Utica Comets and ECHL thread

My3Sons

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No Adirondack doesn't exist for Utica lol no way. We are definitely in the chain so to speak, but in no was does Adirondack "serve" Utica. Adirondack like most ECHL clubs are locally owned and can control their own destiny. Adirondack and ECHL clubs appreciate the role they play in the development of players but the AHL is systems development while the ECHL is more individual player development. Adirondack is not owned by NJ like the Comets are, Utica has absolutely no say or no control. Adirondack is killing Utica in attendance and fan suppprt as well. If someone said Adirondack could keep the Thunder as an ECHL team or become the Devils owned AHL club I would say Adirondack Thunder ECHL team any day of the week and twice on Sunday. The Devils don't care about Utica, or it's fans. Adirondack home grown local ownership, they care about success and the fan support shows.
I don't think it's fair to say that the Devils don't care about Utica. I think NJ could do a better job helping Utica succeed, but Tom Fitzgerald's kid and Dan MacKinnon's kid both play with Utica. Hard to say Tom and Dan have no interest in what their kids are doing. I'm also not sure that it's fair to say Adirondack has no role in the system. Players do move back and forth between Utica and Adirondack and the move to Utica from Adirondack is considered a step up. Beyond that, Utica fans existed before NJ became the parent organization and they will exist if NJ spun off into another AHL affiliation. I doubt there are too many Utica fans who only exist secondary to the affiliation with NJ.
 

Guttersniped

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I posted after Adirondack’s Game Two win.
They went 1-2 L (Poulter) & 2-0 W (Poulter) at home.

They played the next three games this past weekend in Maine.

Friday the Thunder went down 1-4 L in Game 3, Poulter gave up 2 GA. *SOB*

Then Saturday the back-ups played in Game 4 and the floodgates opened for the good guys.

Game 4 line-up


Goal 1 makes it 1-1 in the 1st period
Hirano (Smith, van de Leest)


Brodeur flashes some leather


Goal 2 makes it 2-3 in the 3rd period
Ashbrook (MacKinnon, Walker)


Goal 3 makes it 3-3
Wheeler (Engarås, MacKinnon)


Goal 4 makes it 4-3
Harper (Ghantous, Hirano) Power Play


Goal 5 makes it 5-3
Broughman Empty Net


All the scoring in alternate footage. Fun!


 
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Guttersniped

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Can the Thunder take the lead for the first time in this series? (Hint: I don’t post losses.)



Should the coaches have kept Brodeur in as the random Twitter guy suggested?



Goal 1 makes it 1-0 in the 2nd Period
Wheeler (MacKinnon)


Goal 2 makes it 2-0 in the 3rd period
Engarås (Middendorf)


Poulter clip


Goal 3 makes it 3-0 in the 3rd period
Ashbrook (Harper, Ghantous) Empty Net


Some fisticuffs


Our Boy King receives acclaim


The Thunder can win the series on Tuesday at home in Game 6.


Edit: Post Game video added
 
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My3Sons

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Can the Thunder take the lead for the first time in this series? (Hint: I don’t post losses.)



Should the coaches have kept Brodeur in as the random Twitter guy suggested?



Goal 1 makes it 1-0 in the 2nd Period
Wheeler (MacKinnon)


Goal 2 makes it 2-0 in the 3rd period
Engarås (Middendorf)


Poulter clip


Goal 3 makes it 3-0 in the 3rd period
Ashbrook (Harper, Ghantous) Empty Net


Some fisticuffs


Our Boy King receives acclaim


The Thunder can win the series on Tuesday at home in Game 6.

Poulter is playing well. He deserves that ELC.
 

Guttersniped

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Top goalies with at least 2 GP in the ECHL playoffs:
IMG_6444.jpeg

#GoalsForPoults lol
 

Guttersniped

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Matt Vernon is 4th on the goalie list in the post above.

The Jacksonville Icemen, the Sabres affiliate, are 3-2 in their series.

If both Jacksonville and Adirondack advance to the next round ECF (whoops, close lol) then teams with Martin Brodeur’s son and Mike Vernon’s son will meet in the ECHL playoffs. (Jeremy isn’t the starter, and Matt is, but still fun.)
 
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tailfins

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Schmelzer and Bowers re-signed. I assume primarily for Utica, though both are two way contracts.


$250k for Bowers and $275k for Schmelzer
 

Bad Goalie

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Schmelzer and Bowers re-signed. I assume primarily for Utica, though both are two way contracts.


$250k for Bowers and $275k for Schmelzer
Schmelzer's 1st NHL contract (2-way) was well earned after the 3 seasons he has put together for the Comets. He came to the Comets in '21-22 as a 3-yr AHL veteran with NJ affiliate Binghamton. He was named the Comets Captain for the Comets inaugural season. He would keep that role for for the next 2 seasons and will undoubtedly keep it for the next the upcoming 2 as well. He was labeled as their #3/4 center. Early injuries made him #3. By the end of the season injuries had pushed him to #2 where he would remain through the playoffs. He once again handled the role admirably compiling 18 G/14 A/32 Pts.

In '22/23 the Comets center problems continued. This season it was mainly due to the incompetence of the other said centers. He would eventually end up the #2 and often times slid into the #1 slot. Once again he managed to handle the role. He put up numbers that showed he was doing what a center is supposed to do, set up his wingers. His own goal totals suffered (6), but he kept feeding his wingers accounting for 29 assists. That number would have been higher if those said wings could have finished the job.

This past '23-24 season he was once again slated to be the #3 on paper as Dowling, Criscuolo, and Bowers were acquired to fill the middle roles. As the season progressed and injuries and call-ups occurred, once again Ryan rose in the center hierarchy. He became the team's #2 center and sometimes back at #1. Due to his jockeying around in the lineup, he would find himself between a variety of wingers. It didn't seem to matter. He fit right into the role this time and accounted himself better than most would have expected. He became the heart and soul of the Comets. He was the team leader. He was a role model for every team member (not that they followed his lead) working every shift to his physical limits.

His work effort elevated him to the the top of the scoring charts. He continued to supply his wings with the puck putting up 34 assists, #1. His own goal came back up to 18, #3. His 52 Pts made him the team scoring leader. Ryan became the best all around player on the Comets. What more could you ask for from your Captain? This contract is most deserved even if he never sees a minute in N.J. The AHL $$$ are well deserved.

Congrats Cappie!

Now I'll still lodge a factual need.
They have Dowling who is a very good #2 if he can stay healthy and stay in Utica.

Bowers is not a consistent point producer and maybe is better suited on the wing. 10G/4A/14 Pts in 43 GP is not the numbers you want for even a #3. Like I said I'd put him out on the wing.

That places Ryan back at #2/3. The Comets still, for the 4th year running, really need a #1 center.

They also need an experinced AHL scoring winger with some size and a 2nd wing with some size who is an average AHL scorer.

Why the 2 sizeable wings?
Filmon, Wendt, Ghantous are rookies with no evidence of physicality.
Bowers and Dowling are not big and were hurt by guys that are.
Schmelzer, Halonen, Gambardella, and Stillman are average sized, but could use a little size on their lines. Halonen and Stillman think they're tough, but it hasn't gone well for them so far.
Clarke avoids contact like it's the plague.

Halonen and Clarke are RFAs I expect to be re-signed.

Parent was #3 in points and Criscuolo was #4. They are both small.

I've listed 11 forwards. The # after their name is where they finished in the points totals.

These 8 are signed:
Filmon
Ghantous
Wendt
Schmelzer (#1 in Pts)
Dowling (#5)
Gambardella (#8)
Stillman (#10)
Bowers (#16 14Pts/43 GP)

These 3 are unsigned, but I think they will be:
Clarke (#2)
Halonen (#7 in 35 GP/#2 20 G)
Parent (#5) is small, but I think they bring him back.

That's 11 forwards and 8 made up the nucleus of this year's team that was not successful.

These 4 are UFAs
Criscuolo (#4)
Willman (#11 22Pts/33GP)
Laberge (#14)
Legare (3Pts/15 GP)

Laberge and Legare have size and are physical, but they don't score.
Criscuolo puts up points but is small.
Willman is productive, but was in NJ half of the season. When he finally returned ,he broke his sternum and a "couple ribs". That was it for his season.
Criscuolo is the only one of these guys that could serve a purpose on the wing or at center n the right lineup. He did put up the 4th highest point total, but on a team that didn't produce a lot of points to begin with. Schmelzer's 52 points placed him at #43 in the AHL, 25 points behind the league leader.

If they were to return all of these guys, they would basically ice the same forwards as this season and add 3 rookies. That's bringing back the North Division's last place team. I don't see those rookies turning this team into a playoff contender.

Doesn't sound like a good idea to me! They need to shake this team up with some size and scoring ability. One of them needs top be a #1 center..
 

Guttersniped

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Whelp, the Thunder lost Game 6, 1-2, so not enough #GoalsForPoults yet again. Egads, will my bandwagon derail in the first round?





Scoring is like pulling teeth in this series but they finally bang one in here in the 2nd period to make it 1-0.
Wheeler (Walker, Felix)

Another look at the same goal.


Poult’s content because they can’t f***ing score more lol
IMG_6566.jpeg


Finally the Thunder’s playoff point leader gives them a cushion late in the 3rd, it’s 0-2.
Ashbrook (Middendorf) Empty Net






 
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My3Sons

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Whelp, the Thunder lost Game 6, 1-2, so not enough #GoalsForPoults yet again. Egads, will my bandwagon derail in the first round?





Scoring is like pulling teeth in this series but they finally bang one in the 2nd period to make it 1-0.
Wheeler (Walker, Felix)

Another look at the same goal.


Poult’s content because they can’t f***ing score more lol
View attachment 863244

Finally the Thunder’s playoff point leader gives them a cushion late in the 3rd, it’s 0-2.
Ashbrook (Middendorf) Empty Net


And I’ll post better content when the Thunder Twitter team stops celebrating & gets back to their job lol.


Poulter is much better than any of thr other prospect goalies this season. Hopefully he can build off this and maybe get some NHL games next season he’s earned them.
 

Guttersniped

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Matt Vernon is 4th on the goalie list in the post above.

The Jacksonville Icemen, the Sabres affiliate, are 3-2 in their series.

If both Jacksonville and Adirondack advance to the next round ECF (whoops, close lol) then teams with Martin Brodeur’s son and Mike Vernon’s son will meet in the ECHL playoffs. (Jeremy isn’t the starter, and Matt is, but still fun.)
I have to quote myself like a psycho because, as you can see, I needed to correct an error.

1) I made the mistake of going by an off-brand site which had the ECHL bracket wrong, Jacksonville is in the other Eastern Conference division.

2) I also cursed Jacksonville with the original post because they were up 3-2 in their series when I made the original comment and they just lost Game 7.
Sorry Mike Vernon’s son! (Glad at least the Thunder got it done.)
 

Bad Goalie

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Poulter is much better than any of thr other prospect goalies this season. Hopefully he can build off this and maybe get some NHL games next season he’s earned them.
I have this sneaky feeling that Akira will be traded in the Devils acquisition of a goalie and Poulter will be part of the Utica tandem next season.
The kid deserves the permanent jump to the AHL and from there the sky is up to him and if his past performance here is any indication he will advance from Utica as well.

Please don't let NJ end up trading Poulter in the off season because they are banking on Schmid/Daws for their future.
 

Guttersniped

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Ok, the Thunder’s first two games vs Norfolk Admirals ended in tears.

Game One (5/3)
In Game One, the Thunder were leading 4-3 after two periods, despite being outshot 28-14.

Unfortunately everything went to shit in the 3rd, Poulter gave up 3 goals in the first 7 minutes and they lost 4-7.

Game Two (5/4)
In Game Two, the Thunder tied it up 2-2 early in the 3rd… and Poulter gave up two more. A 2-5 loss and they weren’t even outshot.

Game Three (5/8)
The coaches go with Poultier again, can he keep his shit together in the 3rd?

The line-up!


Not a Goal!


A power play goal in the 1st makes it 1-0
Middendorf (Harper, Blake)


Also not a goal!


From the enemy’s Twitter, they get a power play goal in the 2nd and it’s 1-1.


The puck disappears in Poult’s equipment here.


Overtime lasts 18:19 minutes until the good guys score.
Smith (Broughman)




 

Bad Goalie

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Craziest thing about Poulter is he might not even make the cut for Utica if the NJ plans go as originally mapped out.

Daws and Schmid in Utica means Poulter and Brennan in Adirondack and Poulter on an NHL contract!

What if they trade Schmid?
Daws and Poulter in Utica? Maybe, but we haven't heard the final word on the just signed Malek.
If he plays another season in the Liiga, no problem.
If he opts to come to NA, Poulter and Malek duel it out for the 2nd spot and the loser goes to the ECHL. Don't think that would set well with Malek no matter how we cut it. If he gives up Finn $$$ to be assigned to ECHL Adirondack, I'm not seeing a happy camper. I don't care if it would give him a chance to acclimate to NA ice.

IF Schmid and Daws are still with the Devils in October, Poulter is in the wings, and Malek comes over that's a goalie log jam. Not a bad situation for the goalie starved Devils, but not happy camping time for the guys making up that jam.
 
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My3Sons

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Craziest thing about Poulter is he might not even make the cut for Utica if the NJ plans go as originally mapped out.

Daws and Schmid in Utica means Poulter and Brennan in Adirondack and Poulter on an NHL contract!

What if they trade Schmid?
Daws and Poulter in Utica? Maybe, but we haven't heard the final word on the just signed Malek.
If he plays another season in the Liiga, no problem.
If he opts to come to NA, Poulter and Malek duel it out for the 2nd spot and the loser goes to the ECHL. Don't think that would set well with Malek no matter how we cut it. If he gives up Finn $$$ to be assigned to ECHL Adirondack, I'm not seeing a happy camper. I don't care if it would give him a chance to acclimate to NA ice.

IF Schmid and Daws are still with the Devils in October, Poulter is in the wings, and Malek comes over that's a goalie log jam. Not a bad situation for the goalie starved Devils, but not happy camping time for the guys making up that jam.
I think it was reported that Malek will be loaned back to his European team for the upcoming season?
 

Nubmer6

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Craziest thing about Poulter is he might not even make the cut for Utica if the NJ plans go as originally mapped out.

Daws and Schmid in Utica means Poulter and Brennan in Adirondack and Poulter on an NHL contract!

What if they trade Schmid?
Daws and Poulter in Utica? Maybe, but we haven't heard the final word on the just signed Malek.
If he plays another season in the Liiga, no problem.
If he opts to come to NA, Poulter and Malek duel it out for the 2nd spot and the loser goes to the ECHL. Don't think that would set well with Malek no matter how we cut it. If he gives up Finn $$$ to be assigned to ECHL Adirondack, I'm not seeing a happy camper. I don't care if it would give him a chance to acclimate to NA ice.

IF Schmid and Daws are still with the Devils in October, Poulter is in the wings, and Malek comes over that's a goalie log jam. Not a bad situation for the goalie starved Devils, but not happy camping time for the guys making up that jam.
I thought it was confirmed that the plan was to send Malek back for another year.
 

forceten

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Yep. Malek will play one more year in Europe.

Utica: Daws, plus one of Poulter and Schmid.
Adirondack: the other of Poulter and Schmid, Brennan. Possibly Brodeur as an extra.
Europe: Malek, on a Devils contract.

NJ: Allen, and ?

The ? is a big x-factor, since Kahkonen's contract expired. This is where the Schmid trade whispers are - to help acquire a 1A.
 

Bad Goalie

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Yep. Malek will play one more year in Europe.

Utica: Daws, plus one of Poulter and Schmid.
Adirondack: the other of Poulter and Schmid, Brennan. Possibly Brodeur as an extra.
Europe: Malek, on a Devils contract.

NJ: Allen, and ?

The ? is a big x-factor, since Kahkonen's contract expired. This is where the Schmid trade whispers are - to help acquire a 1A.

I also saw that Malek would play another year in the Liiga, but did not see that it had been inked in stone, so I simply posed the situation if he did come over. That still doesn't solve the problem if Schmid and Daws are still here.

You don't actually believe that NJ will put Schmid in the ECHL? I would bet he would refuse to go as NHL 2-ways cannot be assigned to the ECHL unless they agree to the move.

The interesting dilemma would be if Poulter says he has proven this season that he does not belong in the ECHL and he also has an NHL 2-way and he's not going back to Adirondack.

Extra question. Why is the assumption that Daws has a spot in Utica locked up? What if preseason shows him to be #3 after the 3 duel it out?
 
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Guttersniped

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You don't actually believe that NJ will put Schmid in the ECHL? I would bet he would refuse to go as NHL 2-ways cannot be assigned to the ECHL unless they agree to the move.

The interesting dilemma would be if Poulter says he has proven this season that he does not belong in the ECHL and he also has an NHL 2-way and he's not going back to Adirondack.

Poulter will still be on a ELC, he can be sent to the ECHL next season.

But yes, Daws and Schmid will be on standard NHL deals and can’t be sent to the ECHL without their permission.
 

forceten

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I also saw that Malek would play another year in the Liiga, but did not see that it had been inked in stone, so I simply posed the situation if he did come over. That still doesn't solve the problem if Schmid and Daws are still here.

You don't actually believe that NJ will put Schmid in the ECHL? I would bet he would refuse to go as NHL 2-ways cannot be assigned to the ECHL unless they agree to the move.

The interesting dilemma would be if Poulter says he has proven this season that he does not belong in the ECHL and he also has an NHL 2-way and he's not going back to Adirondack.

Extra question. Why is the assumption that Daws has a spot in Utica locked up? What if preseason shows him to be #3 after the 3 duel it out?

I think it's probably a bad idea to ink things on stone. First, the ink doesn't take well to stone. Second, stone is heavy and no longer really used for contracts or other forms of agreement conveyance. Third, stone is heavy, and fourth, it would probably have to be stored outside and the little ink you got on it would be washed away.

I think one would be asked to go to the ECHL, yes, unless there's some different roster arrangement possible in the AHL. While all five are on NHL contracts , two have their ELC expire (Daws, Schmid) and cannot be forced without their permission, the alternative is to sit there and rot. Playing is the best remedy. Poulter, Brennan, and Malek will remain on ELCs next season (Poulter in his final season).
 

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