2023-24 Utica Comets and ECHL thread

[Triumph]

Wotherspoon - Nemec
Hatakka - Vilen
Misyul - Russo

This is pretty unfair to have these 6 in the AHL, Foote will be joining them eventually.

I think Vilen would sit to begin the year and Foote would play in his place. Maybe rotate Vilen and Misyul until the inevitable injury.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

I think Vilen would sit to begin the year and Foote would play in his place. Maybe rotate Vilen and Misyul until the inevitable injury.

Yea, I was thinking Foote was injured, it's the other Foote. Vilen sitting is comical.

 

[Triumph]

Yea, I was thinking Foote was injured, it's the other Foote. Vilen sitting is comical.

It's something that happens at the beginning of the AHL season if there's too many bodies. Usually goes away within 2 weeks. It would not surprise me at all if Vilen sat out a game as a healthy scratch not on a 3 games in 3 night stretch.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Yeah, recent transplant. My wife and I moved here from Colorado last month, and I’m real excited to be walking distance to minor league hockey.

At the risk of going off the rails I'll begin.

Walking distance you say?

In the days of my youth I walked to the War Memorial for Rochester American Hockey games on many a Friday or Saturday night (sometimes both) during the hockey season. The rink is located just across the Genesee River from South Avenue between Court Street and Broad Street. You would walk down Court or Broad, cross the river on a wind blown, freezing cold bridge, and arrive at the Rink.

South Avenue heading from Main Street away from downtown you would walk right into my neighborhood. It was known as the South Wedge. You cross the Mt. Hope Ave fork, then staying on South you'd cross Comfort, Alexander, Hamilton, Averill (I lived on that street from age 4-9), Hickory, Gregory (my future wife lived on that one), Caroline. You turn left on Caroline and go down 4 blocks and you hit a driveway width street called Diem and that's where I lived until I left the city after college for the Utica area for my life's work.

If you go back and count 'em that's 8 city neighborhood blocks from the War Memorial. My romance with my wife began at age 14 when we walked that path during a horrific snowstorm on a date to watch the Amerks defeat the Bufflao Bisons before a sold out crowd. We could only get standing room tickets. That meant I stood against a wall on the mezzanine between the Lower level (best seats) and the Upper level (the rest of the seats). I got to hold onto her in front of me for the entire game. What an inconvenience. Then it was the walk back through the storm. I had no idea it was cold out. So much for young love.

Man a s**t load of memories flood my conscious awareness just thinking about that neighborhood and all the fun I had growing up there in inner city Rochester.

Don't want to even appear to be prying, but can you give me some kind of idea where your short walk is coming from?

The city has undergone immense changes since I left there in 1972, but the old neighborhood has made a huge comeback and is much like a neighborhood once again with stores, bars, eateries, and small businesses much like it was back in the day. You could get anything you wanted within a 10-block radius without leaving the 'hood: elementary schools, high School, churches, super markets, movie theaters, drug stores, shoe stores, clothing stores, restaurants, ice cream/soda parlors, 2 hospitals, the famous Highland Park, etc. It's a lot like that once again.

Hope I didn't bore you, but this was great letting someone from a long ways away in on a little piece of your new digs.

 

[MasterofGrond]

At the risk of going off the rails I'll begin.

Walking distance you say?

In the days of my youth I walked to the War Memorial for Rochester American Hockey games on many a Friday or Saturday night (sometimes both) during the hockey season. The rink is located just across the Genesee River from South Avenue between Court Street and Broad Street. You would walk down Court or Broad, cross the river on a wind blown, freezing cold bridge, and arrive at the Rink.

South Avenue heading from Main Street away from downtown you would walk right into my neighborhood. It was known as the South Wedge. You cross the Mt. Hope Ave fork, then staying on South you'd cross Comfort, Alexander, Hamilton, Averill (I lived on that street from age 4-9), Hickory, Gregory (my future wife lived on that one), Caroline. You turn left on Caroline and go down 4 blocks and you hit a driveway width street called Diem and that's where I lived until I left the city after college for the Utica area for my life's work.

If you go back and count 'em that's 8 city neighborhood blocks from the War Memorial. My romance with my wife began at age 14 when we walked that path during a horrific snowstorm on a date to watch the Amerks defeat the Bufflao Bisons before a sold out crowd. We could only get standing room tickets. That meant I stood against a wall on the mezzanine between the Lower level (best seats) and the Upper level (the rest of the seats). I got to hold onto her in front of me for the entire game. What an inconvenience. Then it was the walk back through the storm. I had no idea it was cold out. So much for young love.

Man a s**t load of memories flood my conscious awareness just thinking about that neighborhood and all the fun I had growing up there in inner city Rochester.

Don't want to even appear to be prying, but can you give me some kind of idea where your short walk is coming from?

The city has undergone immense changes since I left there in 1972, but the old neighborhood has made a huge comeback and is much like a neighborhood once again with stores, bars, eateries, and small businesses much like it was back in the day. You could get anything you wanted within a 10-block radius without leaving the 'hood: elementary schools, high School, churches, super markets, movie theaters, drug stores, shoe stores, clothing stores, restaurants, ice cream/soda parlors, 2 hospitals, the famous Highland Park, etc. It's a lot like that once again.

Hope I didn't bore you, but this was great letting someone from a long ways away in on a little piece of your new digs.

No, not boring at all, and actually super relevant as it turns out.

I actually live in the South Wedge myself, up on Comfort, so I have just about the shortest South Wedge to arena walk possible. And the neighborhood really is quite nice these days. So far we've really enjoyed our time in it, and in the city overall. I've been to Rochester occasionally, since I was a child, but haven't been familiar with it as an adult. A lot going on in the arts, the food scene is more diverse than Boulder was, and rent goes a LOT farther around here.

 

[Bad Goalie]

No, not boring at all, and actually super relevant as it turns out.

I actually live in the South Wedge myself, up on Comfort, so I have just about the shortest South Wedge to arena walk possible. And the neighborhood really is quite nice these days. So far we've really enjoyed our time in it, and in the city overall. I've been to Rochester occasionally, since I was a child, but haven't been familiar with it as an adult. A lot going on in the arts, the food scene is more diverse than Boulder was, and rent goes a LOT farther around here.

Fanatastic! What an amazing coincidence. You actually live in a part of my old neighborhood!
Talk about small worlds.

Highland Park in the Spring holds the "Lilac Festival". That whole part of the city smells of their fragrant bouquet. Straight up South Avenue. It's a zoo on Lilac Sunday< but the locals go during the week and it's all yours. Hundreds of lilac bushes of every color and variety you can imagine. It's worth a visit. We used to sit on our Diem St. front porch on a breezy day during that period and the aroma was amazing. Benton, Linden, Crawford, Mulberry, and Rockingham Streets and then the park and the lilacs.

Great reminiscing. Enjoy your new surroundings.

Incidentally, you said you used to visit Rochester occasionally as a child. Where exactly are you from.

 

[MasterofGrond]

Fanatastic! What an amazing coincidence. You actually live in a part of my old neighborhood!
Talk about small worlds.

Highland Park in the Spring holds the "Lilac Festival". That whole part of the city smells of their fragrant bouquet. Straight up South Avenue. It's a zoo on Lilac Sunday< but the locals go during the week and it's all yours. Hundreds of lilac bushes of every color and variety you can imagine. It's worth a visit. We used to sit on our Diem St. front porch on a breezy day during that period and the aroma was amazing. Benton, Linden, Crawford, Mulberry, and Rockingham Streets and then the park and the lilacs.

Great reminiscing. Enjoy your new surroundings.

Incidentally, you said you used to visit Rochester occasionally as a child. Where exactly are you from.

I grew up in North Jersey, hence the Devils fandom, because the family business was headquartered there. The primary operation has always been in Wayne County, NY though, so there were many trips tagging along with my father to the general area.

My grandfather lived in Rochester for many years, until a messy divorce eventually pushed him and and his 2nd wife, my grandmother, to relocate to NJ. My father was born in Rochester, before moving to NJ with my grandparents, but later returned and attended the University of Rochester so we would come to visit while my dad was working at the NY factory when I was a kid.

I lived all over though. Grew up in NJ, went to school in Ithaca, moved to Richmond, moved to SF, hopped over to Oakland for a couple years, grad school in Chicago, Colorado, and now back to New York. Might finally try and settle down here, closer to family. I think my wife is tired of moving, but we both get antsy after about 3 years in a city, so who knows?

 

[UticaHockey]

No, not boring at all, and actually super relevant as it turns out.

I actually live in the South Wedge myself, up on Comfort, so I have just about the shortest South Wedge to arena walk possible. And the neighborhood really is quite nice these days. So far we've really enjoyed our time in it, and in the city overall. I've been to Rochester occasionally, since I was a child, but haven't been familiar with it as an adult. A lot going on in the arts, the food scene is more diverse than Boulder was, and rent goes a LOT farther around here.

And a short walk to the Dinosaur BBQ. My favorite pregame meal spot when driving out to Rochester for a Comets game.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Was introduced to Dinosaur BBQ many years ago in Syracuse when driving up to a Princeton/St. Lawrence-Clarkson series.

Thought we were taking our lives in our hands given the looks of the neighborhood and exterior of the building but turned out to be a great meal.

 

[Bad Goalie]

I grew up in North Jersey, hence the Devils fandom, because the family business was headquartered there. The primary operation has always been in Wayne County, NY though, so there were many trips tagging along with my father to the general area.

My grandfather lived in Rochester for many years, until a messy divorce eventually pushed him and and his 2nd wife, my grandmother, to relocate to NJ. My father was born in Rochester, before moving to NJ with my grandparents, but later returned and attended the University of Rochester so we would come to visit while my dad was working at the NY factory when I was a kid.

I lived all over though. Grew up in NJ, went to school in Ithaca, moved to Richmond, moved to SF, hopped over to Oakland for a couple years, grad school in Chicago, Colorado, and now back to New York. Might finally try and settle down here, closer to family. I think my wife is tired of moving, but we both get antsy after about 3 years in a city, so who knows?

I was born in Penn Yan in Yates County and moved to Rochester in Monroe County when I was 4. Parents bought land in the sticks of Livingston County where we hunted deer for years. They later built a retirement home there on that land. They're gone now and so is the land. If you look at the map we basically have Ontario County surrounded LOL.

I envy your travel log. I hit Daytona 3 times and Myrtle Beach once all at Spring break during college. Went back yo Myrtle the first couple of years after college. Spent 2 weeks with my wife and son in Tampa and Orlando on NY State's tab. Was sent there to do a training in drug education for elementary teachers from the deep southern states. That was an experience in culture shock, but we got on fine and I had a great time. Disney world for 4 days was the bonus.

My wife and I spent a couple weeks on Long Beach Island for 2 consecutive summers about 12 years ago. My golf partner and his family had spent parts of every summer for over 30 years there. Then he got cancer and that was a sad 3 tears and then he passed. We are home bodies now. The wife's arthritis won't allow her to ride in a car for more than an hour or so without serious pain setting in. Makes it hard even to get to Rochester to see my brother and her sister.

I'm coming into Brockport in December for the 50 year reunion of the Hockey program there. That'll be 2 days of reliving the same stories we go crazy with every time we get together. Miss those guys a lot. Best 5 years of my life were spent in college playing hockey and living in an apartment right next to my future bride's Apt. (That girl I told you about from the old neighborhood that walked to that hockey game in the snow storm. She followed me to college a year later after she graduated high school. Monroe High School. It's just up Alexander St a couple of blocks from your new residence. Have often said if I could find a time warp I'd take her and we could rinse and repeat those years over and and over ad infinitum. Would take our son and his lady with us. He could make the team. There was always room for one more if he could make the grade.

It's been fun getting acquainted with you, but this is a hockey sight, LOL.

 

[UticaHockey]

It looks like Nolan Foote and Brian Halonen will be out a while.

 

[glenwo2]

What an absolutely DIRTY PLAY by that Syracuse defender!!!

He purposely shoved Nemec's head in the direction where the Divider (or whatever that pillar is called) was.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Better late than ever for whomever might be interested.

10/13/2023
Syracuse Crunch @ Utica Comets

Final Score:
Syracuse 4 Utica 3 OT

SOG:
SYR 12 6 5 1 = 24
UTI 12 10 9 3 = 34

PP:
SYR 2/4
UTI 0/4

Forwards:
(20) Willman (10) Dowling (92) Clarke
(15) Gambardella (26) Schmelzer (61) Stillman
(79) Laberge (16) Engaras (90) Ibragimov
(14) Bowers (67) Parent (12) Thompson

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

Goal - (31) Kallgren

Scoring:
Willman (1) from Foote (1) and Clarke (93)
Schmelzer (1) from Stillman (1) and Gambardella (1)
Foote (1) from Russo (5) and Willman (1)

Scratches:
Poulter (BU)
Vukojevic (H)
Vilen (H)
Criscuolo (Inj)
Fitzgerald (Inj)

The Comets played the only 12 forwards they had available. Fitzgerald and Criscuolo managed to get injured in practice. Dineen says they should be back next weekend.

Bowers, who was said to be a center, played the LW while Parent played Center. That line had a lot of difficulty in their own end as did the Engaras line.

Dowling appears to be a good pickup, but Clarke fed pass after pass did little with them even though he tried to shoot the puck from anywhere. Clarke is still playing on the perimeter and his shots were a combination of the 6-hole, routine glove saves, and shots easily padded aside when served up on the ice. He did pass more often and they were accurate.
His other winger, Willman scored and crashed the net all night long. Crashing the net is not in Clarke's toolbox. His history has been as a shooter, but he wasn't in a dangerous spot for the shots he took last night. He also tried to be more effective in the D-zone than last season. That would be helpful.

Schmelzer may have been the hardest working player on the ice for the Comets. Stillman who has the reputation as a worker was pretty much invisible from the hard work aspect.

Laberge is a very hard working forward but Engaras, first off, is not an AHL capable center and Ibragimov has to play entire shifts. Too much floating. He comes in and out of the picture every shift. The latter 2 mentioned here really looked like ECHL players. Laberge is not going to carry a line. He is a great asset to 2 other hard workers or one other who together can produce the puck for 3rd member who is a threat to score.

In summation, although the Comets got 34 shots their scoring touch was missing. Crunch keeper, Pyotr Kochetkov, was simply not tested with enough challenging opportunities.

Foote is a huge addition on the back end. He handles the puck well and gets the puck to the open man on the breakout. His passing is crisp and accurate. He is also a threat to score from the point.

Hatakka looked good as Nemec's partner. Stays cool and keeps it simple. Also has a burst and can get up the ice with the puck when the opportunity presents itself.

Misyul is steady and has quite the mean streak. The Crunch seemed to leave him alone at the whistles. They are a very chippy team and do a lot of yapping, pushing, deliver short jabs to the shoulder, half assed cross checks, and a little slashing along with headlocks/choke holds from behind to create scrums and try to draw the retaliation that gets called. They didn't challenge him. Once Nemec left the game, Daniil seemed to always be on the ice.

Vilen will surely get a shot, but he will be hard pressed to push any of these 6 out of the top 6.

The severity of Nemec's injury will determine the game time 6. The 2 who didn't play last night are both LD. Wotherspoon has played the right side and that would create an opening on the left side.

One game in the bag and the Comets bought a point with 2 late 3rd period goals including Foote's bomb with 51 ticks left on the clock and Kallgren on the bench.

Last season's ugliness is still there on the PP and the PK. They were right near the bottom of the league on the PK and in and out of the bottom 1/4 of the league's PP units. Surrendering goals on the Crunch's 1st 2 PPs and then going 0/4 on theirs had a huge impact on the outcome of this one.

Next up are the Toronto Marlies at 4 P.M. tomorrow in Toronto.

 

[UticaHockey]

The Comets play in Toronto at 4pm today and AHL TV is free this weekend for those who are interested.

 

[swiiscompos]

Ooof, the Comets have given up two goals on three shots. But they get one back of the first faceoff of a powerplay, it was only the second shot for the Comets.

 

[Bad Goalie]

10/15/23Utica Comets at Toronto Marlies 4 P.M.

Forwards:
20 Willman/10 Dowling/67 Plante
15 Gambardella/26 Schmelzer/92 Clarke
61 Stillman/14 Bowers/12 Thompson
79 Laberge/16 Engaras/90 Ibragimov

D-Pairs:
8 Hatakka/52 Foote
83 Vilen/5 Russo
23 Wotherspoon/2 Vukojevic

Goal - 31 Kallgren

Scratches:
Poulter BU
Fitzgerald (Inj)
Criscuolo (Inj)
Nemec (Inj)
Misyul (H)

Comets skating their only 12 healthy forwards.
Criscuolo will replace Engaras and likely Fitzgerald goes in for Ibragimov. They should be healthy by next game according to Dineen yesterday.

 

[swiiscompos]

Källgren kicked out after allowing 4 goals on 8 shots.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Kallgren has got to go. He has not been close to sharp.

Yup, Poulter is going into the game with the Comets down 4-1 at 11:47

I was not impressed with the team D on Friday and it's been just as bad today.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Comets back to the PK, delay of game called on Russo.

Schmelzer and Bowers each upset the Marlies and force them back twice.

Comets kill it.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Laberge and Clifford get 5 for fighting with 3:59 left in a disappointing 1st period for the Comets.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Comets to the PP.
On the delay Dowling made a real pretty pas to an uncovered Clarke, but his shot did not go.

Marlies clear.

Marlies clear again.
Clarke wide, shoots the puck form the left side goal line off the mask and the result is a Marlies break out and clean chance in on Poulter who stops it.

 

[Bad Goalie]

That's it for the period.
Marlies on top 4-1.

SOG:
13-6 Toronto.
2 penalties each and the Comets only goal came on their 1st PP.

The Marlies scored 1st 32 seconds in. A rolling puck came into Kallgren who thought he put his glove over it, but unbeknownst to him it kept right on rolling and went in for goal #1.

A minute and 37 seconds later it was goal #2.

The Comets looked to be climbing back in with a PP goal at 4:20.

It was not to be. The Marlies scored 2 more in 23 seconds at 11:24 and 11:47 which spelled the end for a shaky Kallgren.

Kallgren played for the Marlies last season and as happens in many cases he collapsed under self imposed pressure.

Last season the Comets had a very bad habit of giving up goals in the first couple of minutes of the first and also surrendered early goals in the final couple of periods.
Adding insult to injury they were just as susceptible to goals late in periods. Syracuse scored at 2:20 on Friday and they lost the game on an OT goal with 15 seconds left.

Let's hope they can fight there way back into this one.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Here we go, the 2nd is under way.

 

[Bad Goalie]

The AHL TV feed is behind the game by about 30 seconds.

Stillman hits the POST on a quick release!

Poulter comes out to stop the puck. It takes a weird bounce off the boards and the Leafs hit the post on the open net!

Clarke's obsession with shooting the puck even when there is nothing there, breaks the other team out as his shots go wide time after time.

Thompson turns it over and the Marlies are on the breakout.

TV TO 13:19

 

[Bad Goalie]

Parent hits from the high slot glove side.

Dowling worked to recover the puck and hit Parent right on his stick.

4-2.