2024-25 Utica Comets and ECHL thread

[Bad Goalie]

4/2/25
Utica Comets at Toronto Marlies
With the AM recall of Casey and the Comets already in Toronto, The Comets played the game with 5 D and 13 Forwards.

White was the 6th D-man and all 5 interchanged all game long to stay as fresh as possible.

Wendt was the extra forward.

Where the Hell are Hatakka and Edwards??????????????????????????? Did they actually leave these 2 back in Utica? Are they both injured though not seen as happening in their game on Sunday.

Haven't heard any announcement by idiot Shaya!

The Forwards set up their regular 4 lines, but 1 guy was left over, Wendt.
Forwards:
(5) Gambardella (14) Gruden (11) Legare
(39) Hardman (26) Schmelzer (20) Willman
(67) Poulter (28) McLaughlin (24) Halonen
(79) (13) Malone (5)

D-Pairs:
(83) Vilen (7) Strand
(3) Dello (44) Osipov
(6) White

Period 1
Comets started this one in trouble almost immediately going to the PK.
Osipov
Hooking
1:50

Surprise! Suprise!
Passs by the Marlies out to the left point is flubbed in an attempt to send it across to the right point and Willman scoops it up in the middle just outside the blueline and goes the length of the ice and in all alone on Hildeby and........................................
S_________________C_______________O_____________R____________E___________S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Willman
2:42
SHG
1-0 UItica


Wiman got a 2nd breakaway at 3:40 and hit the post after putting the keeper flat on the ice.

He still hasn't even mentioned that Casey was called up or that the Comets are playing with 5 D. Hatakka and Edwards would easily have provided the Comets with 6 D, but neither is dressed. Why NOT Shaya??????????????? He doesn't even seem to have noticed that they are playing with only 5 D.

He has managed to tell us how fantastic an actor that Val Kilmer was. What movies that Shaya saw and how he was disappointed that he didn't even get an Oscar nomination for his role in Tombstone. All this while the game is going on.

Period 1 over.
1-0 Comets
SOG:
8-6 Utica

Period 2

Comets called for Cross-checking
Willman
Cross-checking
1:14

A minute later Gruden shoots the puck over the glass.
Gruden
Delay of game
2:34

Comets down 2 men. 5 on 3 for the Marlies

Fantastic stop by Daws on Nylander.
Off the Post
5 on 4
Nylander stopped again by Daws going post to post.
Comets kill the rest off with no chances against.
PK is over.

TO goes to the box.
Nick Abruzze serves it
Too many men
5:39

Comets on their 3rd PP.

Schmelzer and Gruden put their 1st 2 SOG of the period shots and that's it for the PP.

Marlies controlling play it in the Comets zone. This is not looking good.
Steeves stopped by Daws
Daws stops him again on the rebound
Toronto finally dents Daws.
That alomost seemed inevitable. You can't allow that kind of intense pressure without giving one up.

Logan Shaw
9:49
1-1

Daws a huge save on Mastrosimone off a 3 on 2 rush to keep this one even.

Comets came alive for a short spurt for 2 minutes form the 15 minute mark thru the 17 minute mark.

The Marlies responded with 4 chances of their own in the last 2 minutes.

Willman stopped on the doorstep.

Then the Marlies blundered again.

William Villeneuve
Tripping
19:54

Period 2 ends
1-1
SOG:
14-9
Daws was the answer for the Comets in the period.
Hildeby was no slouch either.


Period 3
Comets open the period on the PP.

Hardman stopped.

These guys have enough troulbe scoring on the PP and giving it away with a penalty of their own dosen't help.

Strand
Holding
0:23

Daws a huge save on Quillan going post to post again.

Now before the Starnd penalty is up Toronot is dumb again.

Cedric Pare
Hooking
2:15

I said earlier that these teams were not reafy to play at their best at 10 in the norning and theyare shaowing it. Poor D in both ends. Both goalies doing head stands on the great chances the D-zone coverages are allowing.

The rest of the period was more of the same. Both teams trading offensive chances watching their respective goalies keeping them in the game.

Halonen and Niemela both crash full speed into the end baords sisd by side as Niema was ridden off the play near the post to the left of Daws. Itwsas not lokking good for either of them. Eventually both found their feet and left the ice under their own control.

Blandisi on a breakaway and Daws made the stop and the puck was under his butt.

Apparently Shaya had no idea the Comets were playing with 5 D with 3 good ones absent, Casey, Hatakka, and Edwards. He doesn't know this team well enough to reecognize that Osipov, Strand, Dello, Vilen, and White is not the team's normal D-core for any game?


Period 3 ends
1-1
SOG: 7-7
3-period total
27- 24 Toronto

This one is going to O----ver---time!

OT
Comets send out:

Schmelzer, Strand, and Willman

Marlies win the draw bring it Into the Utica zone they flub a pass tot he blueline,

Schmelzer gains possesion and taks it into the TO zone and can't get a shot off.

Pnetnt onb then White and Hardman comes out all the while the Comets have maintained possession in the Toronto zone.

Willman took it form the bluelinr e to the net front. is stopped and slides into the end boards.

Toronto brings it back into the Comets zone. A shot and Daws makes the stop and pushes the reebpound at his knees to White coming back.

White brings it back in. Goes deep and sends it to Hardman inthe hight slot. He shoots it WIDE!

Tornto back 2 on 1 and the shot is blocked.

Picked up by Hardman in the right circle. He gives it to parent at the Toronto blueline. X drives to the left post, but slides it back to Hardmanm coming hard. Mike shoots from the left hashmark and he rips a wicked wrister into the past Hildeby................................................................................................................................................
G__________________________O________________________A_________________________L!!!!!!!!
COMETS W-------I--------N !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

COMETS 2-1 in OT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OT SOG:
2-1 Utica

Recap

Utica Comets 2 Toronto Marlies 1

SOG:
UTC - 8 6 7 1 = 25
TOR - 6 14 7 1 = 28

PP:
UTC - 0/5
TOR - 0/4

Scoring:
Willman (7) Unassisted SHG
Hardman (18) from Parent (18) and Vilen (19)

Daws 27/28

3 *s:
#3 - Dennis Hildeby (Toronto Marlies) 23/25
#2 - Mike Hardman (Utica Comets) 1G- GWG
#1 - Nico Daws (Utica Comets) 27/28

Comets record:
27-29-5-4

Next up -
Friday, 4/4
Springfield Thunderbirds at Utica Comets, 7pm Adirondack Bank Center (Utica Aud)

 

[Bad Goalie]

Does anyone have the reason why the Comets only dressed 5 D-men for today's game with the Toronto Marlies?

I know Casey was called up to the Devils.

Edwards and Hatakka were not dressed leaving the Comets to ice:
Strand
Osipov
Dello
Vilen
White

Someone must be able to explain this fiasco.

[email protected]

 

[Bad Goalie]

4/4/25
Springfield Thunderbirds at Utica Comets

Final Score
Utica 5 Springfield 2

I'll expand upon this tomorrow. It's 1:33 am and I'm hitting the sack.

I'm b--a-a-a-ck.

Forwards:
(39) Hardman (26) Schmelzer (20) Willman
(67) Parent (28) McLaughlin (24) Halonen
(15) Bowers (14) Gruden (11) Legare
(79) Laberge (13)Malone (5) Gambardella

D-men
(6) White (3) Dello
(83) Vilen (7) Strand
(73) Edwards (44) Osipov

Goal - (1) Daws

Period 1
In the first 14 minutes the shots were 10-3 and the 3rd Springfield shot made the score 1-0 them.

Very soon after Schmelzer evened it up 1 minute and 4 seconds later. He put a shot past Ellis on a pass from Edwards.

1-1 is how the period ended but the SOG were ridiculous, 16-4. Springfield's goal came at 14:05 and they only produced 1 SOG after that.

Period 2
The Comets came out in a rage and Strand put them up 2-1 potting a rebound of a McLaughlin shot at :54. It was the 3rd shot of the 1st minute for the Comets. What Strand was doing 10 feet from the goal on the left side is another story, LOL.

The period ended with the score still 2-1 and Springfield had a total of 8 shots on goal, but I said to the guy behind me, "This is really scary. We have outshot them 26 to 8 and they are only 1 shot from a tie game!"

Period 3
My crazy comment I made at the end of the 2nd period came back to haunt me as Tanner Dickinson at 1:54 of the 3rd banked a shot off Poulter from below the goal line to make it 2-2. It was the 1st shot of the period for either team. Why Poulter wasn't holding the post is something only he could tell us. Both Springfield goals would have to get an explanation from Isaac.
This one and the on the 1st 1 he was down on his knees leaning forward over a puck right in front of him . He had his glove in the air over the puck, but he didn't cover it. A T-Bird simply smacked it and it went off Isaac and into the net.

Springfield scored on 2 Poulter brain farts. Any other time in the game he was lights out making huge stops one after another.
Like the first period the Comets answered back almost immediately. Legare skated into the Springfield end with a defender right with him. He kept the puck to his right side and rifled a shot from the outside of the circle that beat Ellis for what would end up being the game winning goal. His goal came 12 seconds after Springfield had tied the game.

The game went back and forth from that point until Osipov, as the Comets have done in the past few games took a penalty at 11:05 and 10 seconds after his penalty ran out Edwards, in trying to clear the puck out of the zone, tossed it into the seats for a delay of game penalty and the Comets were right back to the PK. The Comets not only killed it, but they didn't give up a SOG! The Comets have the #28 ranked PK% in the AHL.

With 2:20 to go (17:40) Ellis went to the bench. They had 2 very good chances, 1 blocked and 1 deflected wide. The puck was cleared out and fought for in the neutral zone and Parent finally came away with it and with a T-Bird hanging on, he shot it into the empty net from the top of the circle.

4-2 Comets.

Ellis came on for the faceoff and went to the bench as the T-Birds carried the puck into the Comets end, 18:14. They controlled play and put 4 shots on Poulter and standing tall he stopped them all.

The Comets got the puck out and Hardman hit Willman with a pass. He was angled off with a T-Bird riding him wide, but he maneuvered his stick into position and backhanded a weak shot from faceoff dot depth that went into the net. Game over! 5-2 Comets.

The final score was not indicative of where this game was with 2:20 to go and the T-Birds skating 6 on 5. The Comets fought to limit the shots and take away space in doing such they were able to push the puck out of their zone and with some strong struggling high in their zone managed to get 2 guys into the open up ice for 2 ENGs.

Final Score -
Utica Comets 5 Springfield Thunderbirds 2

SOG:
SPR - 4 4 13 = 21
UTC - 16 10 6 = 32

PP:
SPR 0/3
UTC 0/2

Scoring:
Schmelzer (19) from Edwards (2) and Willman (16)
Strand (3) from McLaughlin (14) and Willman (17)
(McLaughlin had 5G/9A with Providence before the trade. He has 0G/5A in 11GP with Utica.)
Legare (16) from Gruden (8) and Bowers (14)
(Gruden had 7G/6A with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before the trade. He has 1G/2A in 11 GP with Utica)
Parent (14) Unassisted
Willman (8) from Hardman (15)

Poulter (19/21)

3 *s
#3 - Nathan Legare (Utica Comets) 1G - GWG
#2 - Austin Strand (Utica Comets) 1G
#1 - Max Willman (Utica Comets) 1G / 2A

Comets record improved to 28-29-5-4.

Next up:
Providence Bruins at Utica Comets
7pm at the Adirondack Bank Center (Utica Aud)

 

[Mgd31]

I’m drunk at a wedding. This team is on a heater. They don’t quit

 

[My3Sons]

I’m drunk at a wedding. This team is on a heater. They don’t quit

My oldest is getting married in February. I won’t be drunk.

 

[Bad Goalie]

4/5/25
Providence Bruins at Utica Comets

Forwards:
(67) Parent (28) McLaughlin (24) Halonen
(39) Hardman (26) Schmelzer (20) Willman
(15) Bowers (14) Gruden (11) Legare
(79) Laberge (13) Malone (5) Gambardella

D-Pairs:
(73) Edwards (44) Osipov
(6) White (3) Dello
(83) Vilen (7) Strand

Goal - (50) Daws

Period 1

This one was a lot harder for the Comets than last night. The Bruins hit the ice with one thing in mind, HIT!
Secondly skate, skate, skate.
Their intention was to stop the Comets in their tracks, attack the O-zone with numbers, and shoot. They accomplished the first 2, but the shooting thing was not so much. The Comets spent a lot of time in their own end, way too much time, but it was bend, but not break until they got the message. That came at 6:10 when the Bruins scored on their 4th shot. Remember that Springfield scored on their 3rd shot last night.

The Comets caught the game's 1st break at 13:08 when Ty Gallagher shot the puck over the glass and got 2 for Delay of game.

43 seconds later Colton White swiped a loose puck into the open side of the net when the puck came to him all alone after a scramble in front of the net. It was trhe Comets 1st PPG in what seems like ages. They have the 30th worst PP in the 32 team AHL.
Nevertheless that goal tied the game at 1.

White
14:56
1-1

Providence out shot the Comets 3-2 over the last 5 minutes of the period.

Period 1 ends
1-1
SOG:
8-5 Providence

Period 2
The Comets came out like Coach Parent had lit a torch to all of their asses. The Comets were matching the Bruins hit for hit, forechecking hard, backchecking in their own zone and taking away the chances for the Bruins to score.

At 5:18 the reborn Max Willman scored to give the Comets the lead. Schmelzer fed him the puck and and Willman deposited it into the net.

Willman
5:18
2-1 Utica

The Comets would carry the play for the next4 minutes and then ex-Comet Daniil Misyul was called for boarding Edwards at 10:17. The Comets only managed 2 SOG .

Shortly after the teams returned to 5 on 5 and a whistle halted play. Osipov and Joey Abate dropped 'em and engaged in the most fists thrown fight I have seen in years. Osipov landed blow after blow, all to the head. Abate wouldn't quit and Osipov obliged him. Another punch and Abate's helmet went flying and Osipov landed 4 or 5 more to the face and head before the Linesmen finally jumped in. The fight saw the crowd one by one rise to their feet and then a combined crescendo of clapping, whistling, and screaming and yelling turned the building into a standing, ear shattering din.

Both got 5 for fighting. Osipov got a huge amount of ice which he held on his right hand for the 5 minutes. He played the rest of the game. He better keep ice on and off that hand for most of the rest of the night.

The game was played up and down for around the next 3 minutes when Matthew Poitras took a 2-hander to Parent's stick in the Comets end.

Poitras
Slashing
16:11

No matter Legare went behind the net and trying to get past a Bruin, threw his elbow back to get free and that elbow landed smack between the guy's eyes.

Legare
Elbowing
16:18

4 on 4
The Comets were applying pressure and the puck came out. As they were bringing it back in a Comet (I think it was Laberge) was exiting the ice and his position sub went on the ice from the other end of the bench. Laberge was well behind the play and coming onto the bench. The ref deep in the Comets zone blew his whistle and made a big deal of flashing 4 fingers on 1 hand and 1 on the other as he skated out of the Comets end and to the Comets bench. He called the Comets for Too many men.

Labrege
Too many men - bench penalty
17:25

Providence a 4 on 3 PP.
At 18:11 the Poitras penalty ended giving them a 5 on 3 for 7 seconds. Then Legare came back and it was a 5 on 4, but the Comets kept the puck in the Providnce end for a large part of the Too many men penalty. Mostly from the incredible forecheck of Legare and other Comets tossing the puck back in when Legare finally lost his man, but then because it got dumped back in he was able to pick up where he left off. Brilliant individual effort.

2nd Period ends
2-1 Comets
SOG:
12-4 Comets

2-period total
17-12 Utica

Period 3
The Comets came out in the 3rd like a team possessed to get a 2-goal lead. They were banging and crashing and dumping and chasing and bottling the Bruins up in their own zone. They didn't get any shots on net, but the Bruins were a mess.

At 3:22 Legare potted another of what in the last few games has become his signature goal. He flies down the right wing and gains position on a defender and rifles a high hard shot all in one motion past what has begun to look like a helpless goalie.

Legare
3:22
3-1 Comets

The onslaught continued as the Comets went right back to work banging and crashing and forecheking the Bruins into submission. Halonen was stopped on a shot in front and then spun around in the net front and sent a blind backhander the past a helpless Nolan Maier.

Halonen
4:27
4-1 Comets

The Bruins finally got out of their zone and into the Comets end for a brief moment, but Utica went right back at it. Willman and Schmelzer combined to give Schmelzer an open shot and he buried it.

Schmelzer
6:18
5-1 Comets

That shuts this one down right?
W_R_O_N_G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Comets now have an insurmountable lead. All they have to do is keep playing hockey. Get it out of their own end and get it deep into the other end and jusrt keep forechecking and backchecking for the next 13 minutes or so.

Right around the 10 minute mark, maybe a little sooner the Comets became turtles. They just opened up the ice and let the Bruins do what they had been unabke to do all game long, control the puck in the Comets zone and propel pucks towards the net.

The result didn't take long to occur.

Joey Abate
11:54
5-2 Utica
It's Abate's 2nd of the night, both Bruins goals at that point.

Wake up call for the turtles? Nah, why fear an uprising. We own them.

Comets in their turtle shells are penned in once again and cannot even get the puck out of their own end.

Jake Schmaltz
14:00
5-3 Utica

After the Schmelzer goal the Buins unleashed 8 of the next 9 shots and scored 2 goals.

6 minutes to go and victory is still in question. Daws has become the Daws we have come to know here over the years. When things start going south he has a tendency to implode. NJ has seen the same Daws on several occasions. Tonight was no different. Attacking team finds Daws on his knees in the center of his net helpless to move.

The Comets finally begin to at least wake up and take the puck to the Bruin's end and keep it there for a bit.

With just under 2 minutes to go the Bruins bring it in and Maier goes to the bench. The Bruins get 2 more shots on Daws and then disaster nearly strikes again. The puck goes around the boards and Daws gathers it behnd his net just outside his left post. There is no doubt what his plan is and everyone in the building knows it. Sure enough he attempts to launch the puck from that spot the length of the ice to score a goal. Problem is it is partially blocked and if Willman hadn't collected it. it would likely have been back in the Comets' net. But Willman did and put it into the Bruin's empty cage.

Willman
18:56
6-3 Utica

Wow! Now everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.

Apparently Daws was done for the night 17 seconds later Dan Bancroft introduced himself to Daws as he walked right down the middle past defenders and rifled another past a bewildered Daws. Fortunately 47 seconds are not enough to mount a comeback, but just to be sure the rest of the Comets put on the ice for that time span kept the puck out of their own end.

Period 3 ends and the Comets win!

Recap
Utica Comets 6 Providence Bruins 4

SOG:
PRO - 8 4 12 = 24
UTC - 5 12 8 = 25

PP
PRO - 0/2
UTC - 1/3

Scoring:
White (3) from Willman (18) and Vilen (20) PPG
Willman (9) from Schmelzer (17)
Legare (17) from Vilen (21) and Gruden (9)
(Gruden 7G/6A/13Pts with W-B/Scranton cefore the trade. 1G/3A with Utica in 12GP)
Halonen (24) from Parent (19) and Dello (5)
(Dello 1G/3A/4Pts with Grand Rapids before the trade. 2A with Utica in 8GP)
Schmelzer (20) from Willman (19)
Willman (10) from Daws (1) ENG

Daws 20/24

3*
#3 Joey Abate (Providence Bruins) 2G
#2 Ryan Schmelzer (Utica Comets) 1G/1A GWG
#1 Max Willman (Utica Comets) 2G/2A

Willman was the #1 star for the last 2 nights.

Current record:
29-30-5-4

I have said for months that if the Comets could reach .500 it would be an amazing comeback after beginning the season 0-13. Well tonight they are now 1 game below the .500 mark.

They still, have 6 games to go, and they could still end up below the .500 mark, but they have come so far and that has to be enough to will them to keep this success going for just a little bit longer. The playoffs are out of the question, but .500 is a goal that all of them can feel good about reaching.

It's also time to congratuate interim Coach Parent. Coming into tonight the Comets were 8 games over .500 since he took the helm. It's 9 now.

Next up
Wednesday, 4/9
Syracuse Crunch at Utica Comets. 7pm at the Adirondack Bank Center (the Utica Aud)

 

[Bad Goalie]

4/9/25
Syracuse Crunch at Utica Comets

Forwards:
(67) Parent (28) McLaughlin (24) Halonen
(39) Hardman (26) Schmelzer (20) Halonen
(15) Bowers (14) Gruden (11) Legare
(79) Laberge (13) Malone (5) Gambardella

D-Pairs:
(73) Edwards (44) Odipov
(83) Vilen (7) Strand
(6) White (3) Dello

Goal - (50) Daws

Final Score -
Syracuse Crunch 2 Utica Comets 1 (OT)

SOG:
SYR 7 3 9 1 = 20
UTC 9 7 7 0 = 23

PP
SYR - 0/2
UTC - 0/3

Scoring:
Parent (15) from Schmelzer (18) and Willman (20)

3 *s
#3 - Xavier Parent (Utica Comets) 1 G
#2 - Brandon Halverson (Syracuse Crunch) 22/23
#1 - Max Crozier (Syracuse Crunch) 1 G GWG

 

[Bad Goalie]

4/12/25
Utica Comets at Charlotte Checkers

Forwards:

(39) Hardman (26) Schmelzer (20) Willman
(67) Parent (28) McLaughlin (24) Halonen
(79) Laberge (13) Malone (5) Gambardella
(15) Bowers (14) Gruden (11) Legare

D-Pairs:
(73) Edwards (3) Dello
(83) Vilen (7) Strand
(6) White (16) Reid

Goal - (1) Poulter

5 games to go. 2 are in Charlotte today and tomorrow.

Comets record in regulation games is still 29-30. They have to go 3-2 to finish the season with a .500 record. The exception would be due to games that go to OT. You have to know they are very much aware of this and doing it is their version of come from behind victory in the playoffs.

A team with their shortage of talent in the middle, weak scoring prowess on the wings, both proven by their season start of 0-13, and then receiving no help from the NJ management in securing a few guys after they saw what was the case down on the farm, has to have something that speaks of success and .500 is all they have left to provide a positive feeling as they head home for the summer.

Period 1

Comets started out in a trance and Poulter was sharp.

Icing call on the Comets. The bench is arguing with the Ref. Big delay in setting up for the faceoff. Apparently the argument is over a change the bench says was before the icing call and they didn't send the original guy back out. They were assessed a bench penalty.

Laberge serves the penalty.
2:44
Bench minor.

The Comets are very sharp in killing the penalty.

Checkers break the ice.

Tobias Bjornfot
9:44
1-0 Charlotte

Comets to thje PP
Wilmer Skoog
10:15
Hooking


So much for the PP
Edwards
11:42 Interference

Short 4 on 4 and then the Comets are back on the PK.
Comets kill this one.

Comets a 2 on 1 with Gambardella and Laberge.
Gamby moving in was tied up from behind by a Checker and the 2 on 1 gets nothing. Gamby thought he was scummed, but no call.

Comets are allowing the Checkers to operate in their zone and relying on Poulter. This is the old way they played defense and it was why they were unable to muster any kind of offense, gave up too many goals, and lost game after game. If this is going to be their plan this afternoon, it will result in loss # 31.

Comets are back on the PK.
Parent
16:06
Hooking

3rd penalty of the game already against the AHL's #2 PP.
They kill this one as well. Playing with fire!

3 on 1 for the Comets as the penalty ends and a Legare wrister is stopped and smothered.
[@Bleedred[/USER] might have something to say as the Checkers have Kahkonen between the pipes today.

Schmelzer from the left dot hits the right post and it goes out of play with :43 to go.

After the faceoff Schmelzer hits the left post getting in close on the left side.

DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Period ends.
1-0 Checkers
The Comets are lucky the Checkers have only dented the twine 1 time.

SOG:
9-7 Charlotte

Period 2

Comets to the sin bin again.

Strand
Delay of game
0:53
Strand CANNOT pass or shoot the puck on the ice. Everything is waist high or higher. His outlet passes are very often icing since they are not able to be taken by the Comet he passed it to. This one is just another example.

PK number 4 is successful. This has got to stop

Gruden a breakaway and it's over the net.
Picked up by Parent in behind the net.
He centers it to Legare at the net front.
He's stopped.
2 more great chances wasted.

Gruden 2 straight passes directly to Checkers.

Comets failing to take passes directly to them. Gruden's line gained possession in their own zone 6 times and failed to get it out. 7th time cleared the zone.

Willman handed the puck crossing right throught the crease and he failed to gain control of the puck. A very frequent event for Max.

Gruden another clean turnover at the Charlotte blueline and the guy went by him and ended up with a shot on Poulterr that he holds onto.

Last 5 miutes the Comets have failed to complete more than 1 pass before the Cneckers are back in possession.

This is amazing! Another 5 minutes of the above repeated!

Our idiot announcer sitting in for Shaya says the Comets will be returning a strong contingent for next season and he rolls off the list of guys who are responsible for why the Comets are where they are and are further demonstrating their various weaknesses this afternoon.

Big scrap at the end between Laberge and Leonard. Sam took him to the ice and thus, no fight occurred.

John Leonard amd Sam Laberge
20:00
2 each Roughing

Period 2 ends
Still 1-0 Checkers

SOG:
13-9 Charlotte
In the last 9 minutes the Checkers outshot the Comets 10-3 including 7 in a row btween the 13:11 mark and 15:48.

2-period total
22-16 Charlotte

The Comets have fallen back into their scoring funk. They have now scored a total of 1 goal in their last 5 periods, 1 in their loss to Syracuse on Friday and 0 today through 2 periods

Period 3

Both teams down a man 4 on 4.

Brian Halonen picks up a loose puck at center ice and carries it into the Charlotte zone on the right side. He releases a wicked wrister from the outside rim of the right circle and it's .........................................................................................IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All tied up.

Halonen
1:54
1-1

TV TO
13:49 to go

Comets icing 2 possessions in a row.

Comets can't get it out.

Charlotte after the faceoff win. Comets are reeling.

Gruden in and puts it off the outside of the net.

10:00 minute mark.

7 minute mark.

Laberge shoots wide from the bottom of the right circle on the rush.

Malone with a 2 handed swing puts the the puck into the upper deck.

TVTO
6:29 to go.

Malone is in the box.

Malone
Delay of game.
13:31
PP #5 for the checkers.

1st 1:30 of the kill and they have not crossed the Comets blueline

Now they get in.
Penal;ty is killed.

3 H-U-G-E saves after the penalty ended!
Halonen goes to the ice and blocks a shot.
Poulter AGAIN and he holds on.

TV TO
4:08 to go

Strand flattens a Checker coming on the net. WOW! That's the way to stop a scoring chance.

2:32 to go.

Halonen crosses the blueline on the left side and wires a wrister from the top of the left ciecle and it's....................................................IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AGGAIN. That's 2 goals from the top of opposite circles.

Halonen
18:01
2-1 Comets.

Empty net and a Comets back hander from the boards in their own zone doesn't have enough steam to get to the net but it was on target.

Schmlezer in a race for the puck down the right side and he wins the race and skates it to the net fornt and..................................................................................................
easily S-----C------O------R-----E------S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Schmelzer
19:00
ENG
3-1 Comets.

Halonen all alone at the top of the right circle and he HITS THE POST!

Oh well, who needs a hat trikck?

Game over.
3 goals in the 3rd and the Comets win it 3-1.

Recap -
Utica Comets 3 Charlotte Checkers 1

SOG:
UTC 7 9 5 = 21
CLT 9 13 12 = 34

PP
UTC - 0/1
CLT - 0/5

Scoring:
Halonen (25) Unassisted (1:54)
Halonen (26) from Ethan Edwards (18:01)
Schmelzer (21) from Legare (8) and Hardman (16) (19:00) ENG

3 *s
#3 Tobias Bjornfot (Charlotte Checkers) 1 G
#2 Brian Halonen (Utica Comets) 2 G /including GWG
#1 Isaac Poulter (Utica Comets) 33/34
No one ever deserved a 1st star more than Isaac Poulter today. He wasa more than lights out. He was simply unbelievable.

This was the 1st time all season that the Comets have won a game that were trailing going into the 3rd period.

Tomorrow 1pm same opponent. That's 1 of the 3 wins in the last 5 the Comets needed to go .500 for the season.
Currently - 30-30-6-5. Record is .500 for the 1st time this season!

 

[Dreamer]

I expect Ryan Parent to be signed as PERMANENT head coach for next year.

 

[My3Sons]

4/12/25
Utica Comets at Charlotte Checkers

Forwards:

(39) Hardman (26) Schmelzer (20) Willman
(67) Parent (28) McLaughlin (24) Halonen
(79) Laberge (13) Malone (5) Gambardella
(15) Bowers (14) Gruden (11) Legare

D-Pairs:
(73) Edwards (3) Dello
(83) Vilen (7) Strand
(6) White (16) Reid

Goal - (1) Poulter

5 games to go. 2 are in Charlotte today and tomorrow.

Comets record in regulation games is still 29-30. They have to go 3-2 to finish the season with a .500 record. The exception would be due to games that go to OT. You have to know they are very much aware of this and doing it is their version of come from behind victory in the playoffs.

A team with their shortage of talent in the middle, weak scoring prowess on the wings, both proven by their season start of 0-13, and then receiving no help from the NJ management in securing a few guys after they saw what was the case down on the farm, has to have something that speaks of success and .500 is all they have left to provide a positive feeling as they head home for the summer.

Period 1

Comets started out in a trance and Poulter was sharp.

Icing call on the Comets. The bench is arguing with the Ref. Big delay in setting up for the faceoff. Apparently the argument is over a change the bench says was before the icing call and they didn't send the original guy back out. They were assessed a bench penalty.

Laberge serves the penalty.
2:44
Bench minor.

The Comets are very sharp in killing the penalty.

Checkers break the ice.

Tobias Bjornfot
9:44
1-0 Charlotte

Comets to thje PP
Wilmer Skoog
10:15
Hooking


So much for the PP
Edwards
11:42 Interference

Short 4 on 4 and then the Comets are back on the PK.
Comets kill this one.

Comets a 2 on 1 with Gambardella and Laberge.
Gamby moving in was tied up from behind by a Checker and the 2 on 1 gets nothing. Gamby thought he was scummed, but no call.

Comets are allowing the Checkers to operate in their zone and relying on Poulter. This is the old way they played defense and it was why they were unable to muster any kind of offense, gave up too many goals, and lost game after game. If this is going to be their plan this afternoon, it will result in loss # 31.

Comets are back on the PK.
Parent
16:06
Hooking

3rd penalty of the game already against the AHL's #2 PP.
They kill this one as well. Playing with fire!

3 on 1 for the Comets as the penalty ends and a Legare wrister is stopped and smothered.
[@Bleedred[/USER] might have something to say as the Checkers have Kahkonen between the pipes today.

Schmelzer from the left dot hits the right post and it goes out of play with :43 to go.

After the faceoff Schmelzer hits the left post getting in close on the left side.

DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Period ends.
1-0 Checkers
The Comets are lucky the Checkers have only dented the twine 1 time.

SOG:
9-7 Charlotte

Period 2

Comets to the sin bin again.

Strand
Delay of game
0:53
Strand CANNOT pass or shoot the puck on the ice. Everything is waist high or higher. His outlet passes are very often icing since they are not able to be taken by the Comet he passed it to. This one is just another example.

PK number 4 is successful. This has got to stop

Gruden a breakaway and it's over the net.
Picked up by Parent in behind the net.
He centers it to Legare at the net front.
He's stopped.
2 more great chances wasted.

Gruden 2 straight passes directly to Checkers.

Comets failing to take passes directly to them. Gruden's line gained possession in their own zone 6 times and failed to get it out. 7th time cleared the zone.

Willman handed the puck crossing right throught the crease and he failed to gain control of the puck. A very frequent event for Max.

Gruden another clean turnover at the Charlotte blueline and the guy went by him and ended up with a shot on Poulterr that he holds onto.

Last 5 miutes the Comets have failed to complete more than 1 pass before the Cneckers are back in possession.

This is amazing! Another 5 minutes of the above repeated!

Our idiot announcer sitting in for Shaya says the Comets will be returning a strong contingent for next season and he rolls off the list of guys who are responsible for why the Comets are where they are and are further demonstrating their various weaknesses this afternoon.

Big scrap at the end between Laberge and Leonard. Sam took him to the ice and thus, no fight occurred.

John Leonard amd Sam Laberge
20:00
2 each Roughing

Period 2 ends
Still 1-0 Checkers

SOG:
13-9 Charlotte
In the last 9 minutes the Checkers outshot the Comets 10-3 including 7 in a row btween the 13:11 mark and 15:48.

2-period total
22-16 Charlotte

The Comets have fallen back into their scoring funk. They have now scored a total of 1 goal in their last 5 periods, 1 in their loss to Syracuse on Friday and 0 today through 2 periods

Period 3

Both teams down a man 4 on 4.

Brian Halonen picks up a loose puck at center ice and carries it into the Charlotte zone on the right side. He releases a wicked wrister from the outside rim of the right circle and it's .........................................................................................IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All tied up.

Halonen
1:54
1-1

TV TO
13:49 to go

Comets icing 2 possessions in a row.

Comets can't get it out.

Charlotte after the faceoff win. Comets are reeling.

Gruden in and puts it off the outside of the net.

10:00 minute mark.

7 minute mark.

Laberge shoots wide from the bottom of the right circle on the rush.

Malone with a 2 handed swing puts the the puck into the upper deck.

TVTO
6:29 to go.

Malone is in the box.

Malone
Delay of game.
13:31
PP #5 for the checkers.

1st 1:30 of the kill and they have not crossed the Comets blueline

Now they get in.
Penal;ty is killed.

3 H-U-G-E saves after the penalty ended!
Halonen goes to the ice and blocks a shot.
Poulter AGAIN and he holds on.

TV TO
4:08 to go

Strand flattens a Checker coming on the net. WOW! That's the way to stop a scoring chance.

2:32 to go.

Halonen crosses the blueline on the left side and wires a wrister from the top of the left ciecle and it's....................................................IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AGGAIN. That's 2 goals from the top of opposite circles.

Halonen
18:01
2-1 Comets.

Empty net and a Comets back hander from the boards in their own zone doesn't have enough steam to get to the net but it was on target.

Schmlezer in a race for the puck down the right side and he wins the race and skates it to the net fornt and..................................................................................................
easily S-----C------O------R-----E------S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Schmelzer
19:00
ENG
3-1 Comets.

Halonen all alone at the top of the right circle and he HITS THE POST!

Oh well, who needs a hat trikck?

Game over.
3 goals in the 3rd and the Comets win it 3-1.

Recap -
Utica Comets 3 Charlotte Checkers 1

SOG:
UTC 7 9 5 = 21
CLT 9 13 12 = 34

PP
UTC - 0/1
CLT - 0/5

Scoring:
Halonen (25) Unassisted (1:54)
Halonen (26) from Ethan Edwards (18:01)
Schmelzer (21) from Legare (8) and Hardman (16) (19:00) ENG

3 *s
#3 Tobias Bjornfot (Charlotte Checkers) 1 G
#2 Brian Halonen (Utica Comets) 2 G /including GWG
#1 Isaac Poulter (Utica Comets) 33/34
No one ever deserved a 1st star more than Isaac Poulter today. He wasa more than lights out. He was simply unbelievable.

This was the 1st time all season that the Comets have won a game that were trailing going into the 3rd period.

Tomorrow 1pm same opponent. That's 1 of the 3 wins in the last 5 the Comets needed to go .500 for the season.
Currently - 30-30-6-5. Record is .500 for the 1st time this season!

It’s late and I’m tired and I read Checkers as Chickens.

 

[Bad Goalie]

It’s late and I’m tired and I read Checkers as Chickens.

Okay.

Get some rest

 

[Bad Goalie]

I expect Ryan Parent to be signed as PERMANENT head coach for next year.

We are all advocating that here.

Do it, Fitz!

 

[Bad Goalie]

4/13/25
Utica Comets @ Charlotte Checkers

Forwards:
(39) Hardman (26) Schmelzer (20) Willman
(67) Parent (28) Bowers (24) Halonen
(5) Gambardella (13) Malone (37) Wendt
(79) Laberge (14) Gruden (11) Legare

D-Pairs:
(6) White (16) Reid
83) Vilen (7) Strand
(73) Edwards (3) Dello

Goal - (50) Daws

Period 1

Comets hemmed in to begin the game.

Parent is cross-checked and the Comets to the PP.

Riley Bezeau
Cross-checking
1:11

Halonen fans on a shot from the high slot.
Strand to Schmelzer and he shots from the high slot. Stopped, but the rebound goes out to the keeper's left and Halonen scoops it up and shoots from the bottom of the circle hash marks and.................................................................................................................

S__________C__________O__________R__________E__________S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Halonen PPG
1:35
1-0 Utica

Malone gets a loose puck at the Checkers blueline and moves into the middle and fires from the high slot and...............................................................................................???????
It goes in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wendt was tied up in front with a Charlotte defender and they may have hindered Cooper Black's vision.

In any case it's a G_______O________A_________L!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Malone
3:10
2-0 Comets

Willman gets a shot from the top of the left circle easily sticked aside.

Daws a good stop off a shot from in close.

Daws gloves a shot from the high slot by ex-Comet Kyle Criscuolo.

Daws a stop in his crease. The Checker was all alone at the right post. Bad net front coverage by Comets D!

TV TO
13:54 to go.

Daws smothers along shot.

Daws sticks another into the corner.

Icing Comets.

2 on 1 for Charlotte broken up.

Willman cannot handle passes that are directly to his stick. It's like his stick is rubber.

Daws makes a stop on his doorstep and Wilmer Skoog, the puck carrier crashes into him and the net comes off. Laberge takes offense, but the Refs end up calling nothing on anybody.

Laberge shoots on Black and is stopped. He continues to bang away at the left side of the net. Trevor Carrick goes after Laberge and gets a penalty.

Trevor Carrick
Roughing
12:17

Comets PP.
Apparently a PP is not a plus for the Comets. 16 seconds after the call The Comets give up a shortie. The Comets often go through a PP in which the best chance comes from their opponent. So far this is true of this one unless the Comets can score.
It was a 2on1 short handed effort and Lockwood took a beautiful pass from Chorske and blew it past Daws from the

Will Lockwood
12:33 SHG
2-1 Comets

Willman a shot stopped by Black.

The Checkers score again to even things up.

Eamon Powell
15:08
2-2

Chekers with 2 goals in less than 3 minutes

Willman had a shot at 3:20.
He had a second shot at 10:27.
The Checkers took 7 shots on Daws in between those 2 shots.
The only other Comets shot was the Laberge shot that led to the Comets PP and the Checkers SHG
He got another shot at 13:15. They were the only Comets SOG after the Malone scored.
The Checkers got the last 4 shots of the period including the tying goal.

Period 1 ends
2-2
SOG:
13-7 Checkers

I got waylayed by family plans. Thus the 2nd and 3rd are merely stat readings by me and then postings for the game recap.

Period 2

The Comets gave up the go ahead goal to the Checkers 3:46 into the period and that would be the end for Utica.

Brett Chorske
3:46
3-2 Charlotte

At 10:34 Colton White was called for roughing.

White
Roughing
10:34

At this point the AHL's #2 PP kicked into gear. After being shutout with 5 PPs yesterday, they responded the way they have all season.

On the White peanlty they scored a minute later.

Oliver Okuliar PPG
11:36
4-2 Charlotte

Not satisfied only trailing by 2 Laberge ends up with another Comets penalty. Back to the PK.

Laberge
Slashing
13:17

The Checkers pot another PPG
ex-Comet ('23-24) Kyle Criscuolo PPG
14:39

At 19:14 Parent scores to cut the lead to 2.
Schmelzer carried the puck up ica and pased it Parmet breaking in off the LW and he unleashed a wicked wrister from the left hash marks and beat Black cleanly.

Parent
19:17
5-3

Skoog takes a penalty at 19:33.

Wilmer Skoog
Interference
19:33

Comets score with time left on the clock.
Willman releaesd a spinning, no-look backhander to make the score 5-4.
The refs to the Scoring table and they come out with the wave of the arms. NO GOAL!

Period 2 ends
5-3 Charlotte

SOG:
10-9 Charlotte
2-period total
23-16 Charlotte

Period 3
The Checkers lived up to their name. They shut the Comets down cold limiting their scoring efforts to 4 Shots.

They added a 6th goal at 8:18 to put the Comets down.

Riley Bezeau
8:18 His 2nd of the season.
6-3 Charlotte.

Game over.

Recap -
Charlotte Checkers 6 Utica Comets 3

SOG:
UTC - 7 9 4 = 20
CLT - 13 10 10 = 33

Scoring:
Halonen (27) from Schmelzer (19) and Strand (16) PPG
Malone (10) Unassisted
Parent (16) from Schmelzer (20)

Daws 27/33

The Comets didn't get the same kind of game from Daws that Poulter gave them yesterday. It's not that I'm saying Daws was bad. It was just that Poulter was simply outstanding and the folks naming the 3 Stars concurred naming him #1 Star of the game.

Comets evened their W/L record at 30/30. Today's loss makes their record :
30-31-6-4.
Comets have 3 games to go and will have to win 2 of the 3 to get their final season record to .500.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Ha, Ha, HA! I knew yesterday when the Comets inserted Shane Bowers into the center slot and Marc McLaughlin was a healthy scratch, that something fishy was going on. Bowers is the worst center on their roster.

Today it was announced that McLaughlin was called up to NJ and will travel with the team to Boston for their game on Tuesday night.

McLaughlin, who will be 26 in July, was traded to NJ for Utica D-man Daniil Misyul on 3/7. This is his 3rd full pro season. In those 3 seasons he has played 15 games with Boston. In those 15 games he has scored 3 goals.

He has played 169 games with AHL Providence recording 26G/32A/58Pts. Combining his Providence points with his 5A in 14GP with Utica and you have 63pts in 183 AHL GP over 3 seasons for a .34 PPG. That isn't even middling numbers for an AHL center who will make any kind of an impact in the NHL. Those aren't even good numbers for an AHL top 6 center.

He isn't filling any Comets fan with hopes to see him back in October. He will become a UFA at the end of this season. Utica needs a real good center for the first time since they became affiliated with NJ. IF Dowling is brought back and that's if, he can slip into the #2 role where he belonged and Schmelzer will be one of the AHL's top #3 centers.

As Jr. seasons have come to an end for many players, some are signing contracts with NHL teams. Cam Squires has been signed to a 3-yr ELC by the Devils. He has been assigned to Utica. The 20-yr-old 2023 4th round selection of the New Jersey Devils finished this past season with the Cape Breton Eagles of the QMJHL recording 75Pts in 58GP.

Josh Filmon has been reassigned from Adirondack. The 21-yr old LW/RW has found his game late this season in the ECHL and put up 20G/16A/36Pts in 65GP. He signed his Contract in 2023, but the year slid due to an injury. He is currently finishing the 1st of his extended 3-yr ELC and has 2 more to go.
He showed himself not to be ready for the AHL this season after going pointless in 9GP.

Squires and Filmon will undoubtedly end up in Utica's camp in October/2025 and whether they remain there or end up in ECHL Adirondack will depend upon their showing and just what players they will have to compete with for a spot on the Comets roster.

 

[Bad Goalie]

More movement in Utica.

Daws and Hardman have been recalled to NJ.
Brodeur has been recalled from Adirondack to back up Poulter.

Cam Squires was reassigned to Utica from Cape Breton.in Utica.

Shane Lachance was signed to an AHL SPC.

Would expect to see both of them in the lineup as soon as they get to Utica.

Comets also signed Ryan Wheeler to a PTO on loan from ECHL Adirondack. Hopefully he is just a depth player and won't dress. Although Dmitry Osipov did not play in the last 2 games. Luke Reid played in his stead. Luke treated the puck like it was poison and tried to get it to his partner Colton White as quickly as possible. If a dish to White was not possible, he looked for the next closet Comet and gave it up. No one else? Get it the Hell out of the zone! I think that was the plan.

The right side was not exactly stellar:
Austin Strand
Troy Dello
Luke Reid

The Comets gave up 6 goals.
Dello was on for 4 of them
1 with Strand (PK) 2 RD on together. Not a good situation.
1 with White
2 with his actual partner, rookie Ethan Edwards.

Strand was on for 3.
1 as the only D on the P and they gave up a shorty.
1 with Reid
1 with White (PK)

The D has been a scrambled mess for some time since Misyul was traded (3/7).
Then Hatakka died. That's sarcasm but he hasn't played since 3/30 and nobody has said why. Neither Shaya on the broadcasts nor any print material I have access to.
Finally the recall of Casey on 4/2.

That's 3 regular game night D out of the lineup.

 

[Bad Goalie]

4/16/25
Toronto Marlies at Utica Comets

Final score -
Toronto 6 Utica 2

I'm not going to give you another of my full game breakdowns on tonight's game.

Comets led 1-0 after the first on the 1st goal scored by newcomer Cam Squires in his 1st period of AHL play.

Comets led 2-1 after 2 on a goal by Colton White almost to the goal line near the right post.

To tied the game at the 12:35 mark of the 3rd and went up 3-2 1:56 later at 14:29.

The Comets would then do something that may actually approach an AHL record. Starting at 17:53 and ending at 18:13 they gave up 3 more goals. That's 3 goals in 20 seconds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
17:53
18:08
18:13

Toronto NEEDED this game and the Comets were doing everything they could to deny them of that.
This game started out with 4 teams battling for playoff positions all with 3 games left to play:
- Syracuse (82) /now 84
- Cleveland (81) /now 81
- Toronto (80) /now 82
- Belleville (76) now 78


Syracuse, Cleveland, and Toronto all want to finish in 3rd because 4th and 5th play a short 3-game play in series to claim the 4th spot while teams 1-3 sit and wait. All 3 of these teams could finish in 3rd. It's a war to the finish.

Tonight:
- Syracuse 3 Hershey 2 (84)
- Toronto 6 Utica 2 (82)
- Rochester 4 Cleveland 1 (81)
- Belleville 2 Laval 1 (78)



Left to go:
- Syracuse has a home and home with last place Utica on Friday/Saturday.

- Toronto has a home and home with 2nd place Rochester Friday/Satruday

- Cleveland has Lehigh Valley Friday and W-B/Scranton Saturday, both away. Both opponents are Atlantic Division teams

- Bellville has a home and home with 1st place Laval.

Belleville needs a miracle. They would have to win both of their games and hope for a complete collapse by Cleveland.
If Toronto were to lose both games they would be tied with them and Bellville would have more wins, 36-35.

I'm not going to go through all the OT outcomes and their effects on the final standings. However, this is a whole lot more interesting to follow than worry about what happens with Utica in their last 2 games.
All Utica had to work towards was a final season .500 record. They will have to defeat Syracuse twice while the Crunch want to hold onto 3rd place. I have a feeling that Syracuse will be a lot more pumped up than Utica can possibly be.

 

[Bad Goalie]

4/18/25
Syracuse Crunch at Utica Comets

Recap:
Syracuse Crunch 3 Utica 2

Forwards:
(67) Parent (26) Schmelzer (12) Squires
(18) Lachance (28) McLaughton (20) Willman
(19) Filmon (15) Bowers (11) Legare
(79) Laberge (14) Gruden (5) Gambardella

D-Pairs:
(6) White (3) Dello
(83) Vilen (7) Strand
(73) Edwards (16) Reid

Goal - Poulter

SOG:
SYR: 7 9 10 = 26
UTC: 11 8 9 = 28

PP:
SYR 2/5
UTC 0/2

Scoring:

Schmelzer (22) from Squires (1) and Dello (6)
Schmelzer (23) from Squires (2) and Reid (1)

Poulter - 23/26

The Comets had recently raised their PK status in the league to 25th, but the PK once again cost them a game.
Aside from the to PP goals against the Comets were the better team. However, their own PP ranked #30 in the AHL, lived up to its position as they came up empty on their 2 chances and actually never threatened to score on either one.

Thoughts:
Filmon is still not an AHL ready player. His summer schedule should be eat, eat, and eat and when he finishes eat some more. He is a human stick at 6'3"/170 lbs. He is no match for any kind of physicality. He doesn't even have to be hit or rubbed out to keep him from carrying the puck or becoming any kind of a threat. Defenders can use one hand and literally push him out of the play. He doesn't make up for his weakness with skating or moves. He isn't fast and doesn't have the kind of special moves he'd need to make up for size and strength. He missed a year but next season will still be the 3rd since he turned pro. He's had time to put on weight and muscle. His clock is running and I'm not even thinking about the NHL.

Squires may be a player at least at this level. He seems to have a good head and is always involved. He doesn't hang around outside of the mix looking for something easy to come his way.

Lachance is a big boy at 6'5"/218 lbs. He could use another 10 lbs of muscle mass. He is a smart player, but you could see him thinking through the game when on the ice and it cost him a step or 2. He will need to learn the pro game as it's different than the NCAA. This was his 1st game and he was played on the left wing while he was a center at BU so that may account for the thinking instead of just doing.

The one thing he didn't have to think about wasa going to the net. That appears to be ingrained into his game process and happens automatically. He is not afraid to take what defenders may dish out and he was handful in the netfront.

He will have to work on his wheels to get a quicker 1st step and smoothing out his stride would help.

He is a project in the making and if all goes well he could be a good player. They may already see hnim as a wing rather than a center, but he should probably get a chance to work as a center to start. His size alone makes a difference from waht Utica has previously seen. He was very hard working, agreesive, and phyical in college. He needs to be exactly that in the pros as well. He is not going to make it on finesse. I think he more of a bullish type who will succeed with passing, which he was spot on with tonight, digging the corners and end boards, and crashing the net to cause havoc in the crease to enable his wings to put pucks on the net through traffic.

I hope the Devils don't give Willman another contract. He has put up some points in the last month that would suggest he has found his game again when in fact he never had a game. He is terrible at taking and making passes. He can't carry the puck. He is easily separated from the puck. His success comes from being able to score when he is in the open and is not deterred from getting to where he wants to be in order to shoot. To say he is a plsayer that takes advantage of easy setups and unchallenged shot attempts would be no exaggeration, but he dosen't play hockey otherwise. He makes the least effort at physical contact and avoids it whenever possible. He is the weak link on any line. Why he is used on the PK is beyond any thought I can muster.

Schmelzer is the hardest working player the Comets. He never shys away from contact either on offense or defense. He never slows down on any shift. You never see him take a shift off or ease up at any point. His style has earned him high marks. In spite of how hard he works and the physical battles he engages in he never misses a shift and never seems to get hurt. He has missed a total of 12 games in 4 seasons. He played alll 72 last season and tomorrow he will play his 72nd this season. That's 2 consecutive seasons without missing a game.

He will finish this season with his highest goal total in his 7 AHL seasons between Binghamton (3) and the Comets (4) with 23 at the moment with 1 game left to go. He currently leads the team in points (43) and is 2nd in goals only to Brian Halonen who has 27. His 20 assists are 2 off of the team leader Vilen's 22.
Last season he was also #1 in points and assists.

Ryan has made himself into the perfect Captain, who obviously leads by example. There isn't an ounce of arrogance in him. If every player worked as hard as he does and played for the team first instead of for themselves, this team would be in the playoffs.

If the Devils can finda way to move Bowers with 1 year left on his contract it wouldbe a big boost. The guy skates his balls of and accomplishes little to nothing. 3G/14A/17 Pts is not worth his money and worse it mean he will move into Veteran Exempt status next season. There are much better players out there than him who fall into that category.

They can only play 5 vets and Schmelzer and White are Vets.
If Gambardella and Dowling are re-signed, they also are Vets.
Jonathan Gruden has a year remaining on his contract and will be a Veteran Exempt.
If Hardman plays tomorrow, he will hit 261 and be a Veteran Exempt.
If they re-sign Willman, he will be a Veteran Exempt.
If they re-sign Laberge, he will be a Veteran Exempt.

So, before they even start to put together a 2025-26 roster, there are:
2 Veterans under contract
2 more who would need new contracts.
1 Veteran Exempt
a 2nd Veteran Exempt if they play Hardman tomorrow. He was a healthy scratch tonight.
2 more possible Veteran Exempts who would need new contracts.

All this without signing a couple of proven good AHL centers and an AHL scoring winger. These types are usually Veterans. The Comets proven AHL center position is Schmelzer and at this moment he has worked his way into a #2 center.

Schmelzer (C) leads the team in points with 43 and that lists him at #82 in AHL scoring.

The highest Comets wing in points is Halonen who is listed at #102 in AHL scoring with 40 Pts.
Foote is listed at #119 and he has only played 53 games to Halonen's 62.
Hardman comes in at #163 and Parent at #165 both with 35Pts.
Willman is #225 with 30 Pts.
Legare is #293 with 25.
That's 7 players and we are at #293 in league scoring.

Nemec and Vilen are 1st among Comets D-men at #333 and #334 with 23 points each in league scoring. The craziness here is that Nemec has only played 34 games to Vilen's 57.
22 of Vilen's 23 points are assists.
Colton White is next at #367 with 21 Pts.

The Comets need some new blood with proven talent to wrest this team out of the doldrums they have sunk to. Fitz also has to see that if he wants to be able to call up players who can fill in as adequate replcaements he needs to put some on the farm. Especially CENTERS!!!!!

 

[My3Sons]

4/18/25
Syracuse Crunch at Utica Comets

Recap:
Syracuse Crunch 3 Utica 2

Forwards:
(67) Parent (26) Schmelzer (12) Squires
(18) Lachance (28) McLaughton (20) Willman
(19) Filmon (15) Bowers (11) Legare
(79) Laberge (14) Gruden (5) Gambardella

D-Pairs:
(6) White (3) Dello
(83) Vilen (7) Strand
(73) Edwards (16) Reid

Goal - Poulter

SOG:
SYR: 7 9 10 = 26
UTC: 11 8 9 = 28

PP:
SYR 2/5
UTC 0/2

Scoring:

Schmelzer (22) from Squires (1) and Dello (6)
Schmelzer (23) from Squires (2) and Reid (1)

Poulter - 23/26

The Comets had recently raised their PK status in the league to 25th, but the PK once again cost them a game.
Aside from the to PP goals against the Comets were the better team. However, their own PP ranked #30 in the AHL, lived up to its position as they came up empty on their 2 chances and actually never threatened to score on either one.

Thoughts:
Filmon is still not an AHL ready player. His summer schedule should be eat, eat, and eat and when he finishes eat some more. He is a human stick at 6'3"/170 lbs. He is no match for any kind of physicality. He doesn't even have to be hit or rubbed out to keep him from carrying the puck or becoming any kind of a threat. Defenders can use one hand and literally push him out of the play. He doesn't make up for his weakness with skating or moves. He isn't fast and doesn't have the kind of special moves he'd need to make up for size and strength. He missed a year but next season will still be the 3rd since he turned pro. He's had time to put on weight and muscle. His clock is running and I'm not even thinking about the NHL.

Squires may be a player at least at this level. He seems to have a good head and is always involved. He doesn't hang around outside of the mix looking for something easy to come his way.

Lachance is a big boy at 6'5"/218 lbs. He could use another 10 lbs of muscle mass. He is a smart player, but you could see him thinking through the game when on the ice and it cost him a step or 2. He will need to learn the pro game as it's different than the NCAA. This was his 1st game and he was played on the left wing while he was a center at BU so that may account for the thinking instead of just doing.

The one thing he didn't have to think about wasa going to the net. That appears to be ingrained into his game process and happens automatically. He is not afraid to take what defenders may dish out and he was handful in the netfront.

He will have to work on his wheels to get a quicker 1st step and smoothing out his stride would help.

He is a project in the making and if all goes well he could be a good player. They may already see hnim as a wing rather than a center, but he should probably get a chance to work as a center to start. His size alone makes a difference from waht Utica has previously seen. He was very hard working, agreesive, and phyical in college. He needs to be exactly that in the pros as well. He is not going to make it on finesse. I think he more of a bullish type who will succeed with passing, which he was spot on with tonight, digging the corners and end boards, and crashing the net to cause havoc in the crease to enable his wings to put pucks on the net through traffic.

I hope the Devils don't give Willman another contract. He has put up some points in the last month that would suggest he has found his game again when in fact he never had a game. He is terrible at taking and making passes. He can't carry the puck. He is easily separated from the puck. His success comes from being able to score when he is in the open and is not deterred from getting to where he wants to be in order to shoot. To say he is a plsayer that takes advantage of easy setups and unchallenged shot attempts would be no exaggeration, but he dosen't play hockey otherwise. He makes the least effort at physical contact and avoids it whenever possible. He is the weak link on any line. Why he is used on the PK is beyond any thought I can muster.

Schmelzer is the hardest working player the Comets. He never shys away from contact either on offense or defense. He never slows down on any shift. You never see him take a shift off or ease up at any point. His style has earned him high marks. In spite of how hard he works and the physical battles he engages in he never misses a shift and never seems to get hurt. He has missed a total of 12 games in 4 seasons. He played alll 72 last season and tomorrow he will play his 72nd this season. That's 2 consecutive seasons without missing a game.

He will finish this season with his highest goal total in his 7 AHL seasons between Binghamton (3) and the Comets (4) with 23 at the moment with 1 game left to go. He currently leads the team in points (43) and is 2nd in goals only to Brian Halonen who has 27. His 20 assists are 2 off of the team leader Vilen's 22.
Last season he was also #1 in points and assists.

Ryan has made himself into the perfect Captain, who obviously leads by example. There isn't an ounce of arrogance in him. If every player worked as hard as he does and played for the team first instead of for themselves, this team would be in the playoffs.

If the Devils can finda way to move Bowers with 1 year left on his contract it wouldbe a big boost. The guy skates his balls of and accomplishes little to nothing. 3G/14A/17 Pts is not worth his money and worse it mean he will move into Veteran Exempt status next season. There are much better players out there than him who fall into that category.

They can only play 5 vets and Schmelzer and White are Vets.
If Gambardella and Dowling are re-signed, they also are Vets.
Jonathan Gruden has a year remaining on his contract and will be a Veteran Exempt.
If Hardman plays tomorrow, he will hit 261 and be a Veteran Exempt.
If they re-sign Willman, he will be a Veteran Exempt.
If they re-sign Laberge, he will be a Veteran Exempt.

So, before they even start to put together a 2025-26 roster, there are:
2 Veterans under contract
2 more who would need new contracts.
1 Veteran Exempt
a 2nd Veteran Exempt if they play Hardman tomorrow. He was a healthy scratch tonight.
2 more possible Veteran Exempts who would need new contracts.

All this without signing a couple of proven good AHL centers and an AHL scoring winger. These types are usually Veterans. The Comets proven AHL center position is Schmelzer and at this moment he has worked his way into a #2 center.

Schmelzer (C) leads the team in points with 43 and that lists him at #82 in AHL scoring.

The highest Comets wing in points is Halonen who is listed at #102 in AHL scoring with 40 Pts.
Foote is listed at #119 and he has only played 53 games to Halonen's 62.
Hardman comes in at #163 and Parent at #165 both with 35Pts.
Willman is #225 with 30 Pts.
Legare is #293 with 25.
That's 7 players and we are at #293 in league scoring.

Nemec and Vilen are 1st among Comets D-men at #333 and #334 with 23 points each in league scoring. The craziness here is that Nemec has only played 34 games to Vilen's 57.
22 of Vilen's 23 points are assists.
Colton White is next at #367 with 21 Pts.

The Comets need some new blood with proven talent to wrest this team out of the doldrums they have sunk to. Fitz also has to see that if he wants to be able to call up players who can fill in as adequate replcaements he needs to put some on the farm. Especially CENTERS!!!!!

I think NJ drafted an overage center prospect in thr last draft who should arrive in Utica next season. Adding Lachance and Squires is something of a step in the right direction. Hopefully Filmon works on his strength and skating this summer. The vet situation doesn’t sound good. This isn’t a difficult issue to address but they seem blind to it. There must be something behind the scenes leading to this. They can’t be that blind. If you can see it they can as well.

 

[Bad Goalie]

I think NJ drafted an overage center prospect in thr last draft who should arrive in Utica next season. Adding Lachance and Squires is something of a step in the right direction. Hopefully Filmon works on his strength and skating this summer. The vet situation doesn’t sound good. This isn’t a difficult issue to address but they seem blind to it. There must be something behind the scenes leading to this. They can’t be that blind. If you can see it they can as well.

Only if they are actually looking beyond making sure there are 25 players for the farm. No matter who they are or where they play. Just put 25 guys there. The more we go through this that is exactly what it looks like. Team building seems to be the least of their worries.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Good for LaChance

 

[Devils731]

I didn’t see the video up.

 

[Bad Goalie]

4/19/25
Utica Comets at Syracuse Crunch

Forwards:
(67) Parent (26) Schmelzer (12) Squires
(18) Lachance (28) McLaughlin (37) Wendt
(19) Filmon (13) Malone (11) Legare
(15) Bowers (14) Gruden (79) Laberge

D-pairs:
(27) Wheeler (3) Dello
(6) White (83) Vilen
(73) Edwards (16) Reid

Goal - (56) Brodeur

Period 1
No Score

Lots of back and forth. No extended offensive pressure by either team.

SOG:
10-8 Utica.

1 thing of significance tonight is that Hardman is scratched as he was last night. If he had played in either game he would have gained Veteran Exempt status for next season making it more difficult for the Comets to add a good veteran (Center?/scoring wing) next season. As it stands we know the Comets have 2 Veterans and 1 Vet Exempt already under contract for next season. What they do with others who would qualify in the Vet and VE classification if re-signed, is very concerning as to how much improvement the roster can get. Not signing some of them would open the door for improvement. Without an increase in talent the Comets can't get much better than they have been. Some of these guys have got to go and some under contract wouldn't be missed if they ccould find some way to tack them onto an NHL trade or 2 for their trade partners AHL squad. That wouldn't be easy, but AHL trades can also be done.

Period 2

Crunch have come out with more push.

Reid puts the puck into the seats and the Comets go to the PK. They lost last night's game 3-2 on 2 PPGA.

Luke Reid
Delay of game
1:05
PK successful.

Syracuse resting a bunch of their best guys.

Comets going to go back on the PK. Reid off again.

Luke Reid
Tripping
4:55

Brodeur makes the save but the puck squirts loose behind him and appears to be sitting on the goal line, but it just inches its way across the goal line.

Maxim Groshev PPG
5:55
1-0 Crunch

Brodeur makes 2 saves and the 3rd of the sequence goes in.

Cooper Flinton
8:55
2-0 Crunch
Flinton's 1st game with the Crunch/1st pro game/1st pro goal.

Brodeur stops a breakaway. He is playing a decent game, but is getting 0 help around his net.

Utica continues to get shots, but little in the way of threats to score.

Utica to the PP after Edwards went end to end and got a real good backhander. His rush drew the penalty.

Ethan Gauthier
Slashing
15:02

Shane Lachance tips a point shot from Tory Dello and he has S........C.........O..........R..........E............D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lachance with his 1st pro goal in his 2nd pro game.

Shane Lachance PPG
16:58
2-1 Crunch

Period 2 ends
2-1 Crunch

SOG:
14-10 Utica
2-Period total
24-18 Utica

Period 3

Comets an early PP

Cooper Flinton
High -sticking
2:21

Empty PP result.

Now Laberge goes to the box.

Sam Laberge
Interference
5:55

SH 3 on 2

Gruden hits the crossbar and it falls on the line and is scooped out of danger. S**T!

Penalty killed.

Comets another 3 on 2 and it's another no go.

If the Comets guys who have been here all season could only score.

Parent hits iron.

Another 3 on 2 and Wendt barely rolls it onto the net and it's held.

Puck out to the point and Wheeler let's fly and......................

S--------C---------O----------R---------E------S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wheeler scores his 1st AHL goal in his 1st AHL game and it's 2-2.

Ryan Wheeler
14:53
2-2

Stupid on the part of Legare.

He was tied up by 2 Cunch in the crease. He was disgruntled at no call and as the Crunch went up ice he pushed the net and it came off the post.

Legare
Delay of game
No it's not! That's interesting.

Squires and Parent are across the blue line
Parent shoots and follows his own shot and puts it H_O_M_E!!!!!!! past the pad of the down and out goalie.

Xavier Parent
17:15
3-2 Comets

Comets have the lead and
Sam Laberge gets a 10 minute misconduct for abuse of officials.
Time of the penalty also 17:15

2:45 to go

Crunch 6 on 5

Comets not allowing them to get set up

Inside the final minute.

Crunch offsides.
12.1 to go

The COMETS have....................WON THEIR FINAL GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Recap:
Utica Comets 3 Syracuse Crunch 2

SOG:
UTC - 10 14 12 = 36
SYR - 8 10 10 = 28

PP:
UTC - 1/2
SYR - 1/3

Scoring:
Shane Lachance (1) from Reid (2) and Dello (1)
Shane scores his 1st pro goal on a net front tip in his 2nd pro game.

Ryan Wheeler (1) from Vilen (23) and Lachance (1)
Wheeler was signed to a PTO on loan from Adirondack on 4/15. Tonight was his first AHL game and this was obviously his 1st AHL goal.

Xavier Parent (17) from Squires (3) and Wheeler (1)

Brodeur 26/28 He played a real good game.

3 *s tonight
#3 - Maxim Groshev (Syracuse Crunch) 1 G
#2 - Robert Cooper Flinton (Syracuse Crunch) 1 G - Recent NCAA Dartmouth signing and this was his 1st pro goal in his 4th game played with the Crunch.
#1 - Xavier Parent (Utica Comets) GWG

So the newcomers sparkled tonight.
Shane Lachance - His first pro goal and his 1st pro assist. A 2-point night in his 2nd Utica Comets game.

Ryan Wheeler - His first AHL goal in his first AHL game. Like Lachance he also collected his first AHL assist. A 2 point-night in his 1st Utica Comets game.

Cam Sqiures picked up his 3rd assist. He has put up 1G/3A/4Pts in 3GP.

Luke Reid recently completed his 5th season with NCAA Univ. of New Hampshire and was signed to an ECHL contract. He was loaned to Utica by Adirondack and signed to a PTO by Utica on 4/4. He picked up his 2nd AHL assist tonight in his 5th game played. He finished at +1 for the 5 GP.

Jeremy Brodeur is no newcomer, but he was called upon to back up on several occasions without playing, but he did get 4 starts and played in a 5th game. He went 4-0-0 and put up a very good 2.16 GAA/.923 SV%.
Tonight was the 4th win.

The Comets finished the season 31-33-6-4/70 Pts in 7th and last place in the North Division. They were 11 points out of the 5th playoff spot nailed down by the Cleveland Monsters, who fell hard over the last month + and held onto the 5th spot by 2 points over the Belleville Senators.

Cleveland will play Toronto in the play in Round 1 of the AHL playoffs. It's a best of 3 to win the right to play the AHL's top team in Round 2. The Laval Rocket recorded 101 points to capture the overall crown while winning the North Division 9 points ahead of 2nd place Rochester with 92. They will have home ice in every series they play as long as they last. Hershey finished 5 points behind them while winning the Atlantic Division with 96 Points. A Hershey/Laval final would be unreal.

The Comets will pack up and head for wherever they're going. Most will go home for the summer and likely spend a lot of time on the links.
Probably a lot of fishing for some.

There will be a summer workout schdule and most will get ice time. Some of these guys will hopefully spend some time with a power skating coach. They need to improve their skating. Most of these guys can't skate competitively with NHL players.

I'll still be posting throughout the off season. Particularly watching what NJ does in acquiring players for the Devils as well as the Comets through trades and free agent signings.

 

[My3Sons]

4/19/25
Utica Comets at Syracuse Crunch

Forwards:
(67) Parent (26) Schmelzer (12) Squires
(18) Lachance (28) McLaughlin (37) Wendt
(19) Filmon (13) Malone (11) Legare
(15) Bowers (14) Gruden (79) Laberge

D-pairs:
(27) Wheeler (3) Dello
(6) White (83) Vilen
(73) Edwards (16) Reid

Goal - (56) Brodeur

Period 1
No Score

Lots of back and forth. No extended offensive pressure by either team.

SOG:
10-8 Utica.

1 thing of significance tonight is that Hardman is scratched as he was last night. If he had played in either game he would have gained Veteran Exempt status for next season making it more difficult for the Comets to add a good veteran (Center?) next season. As it stands we know the Comets have 2 Veterans and 1 Vet Exempt already under contract for next season.

Period 2

Crunch have come out with more push.

Reid puts the puck into the seats and the Comets go to the PK. They lost last night's game 3-2 on 2 PPGA.

Luke Reid
Delay of game
1:05
PK successful.

Syracuse resting a bunch of their best guys.

Comets going to go back on the PK. Reid off again.

Luke Reid
Tripping
4:55

Brodeur makes the save but the puck squirt loose behind his and appears to be sitting on the goal line, but it just inches its way across the goal line.

Maxim Groshev PPG
5:55
1-0 Crunch

Brodeur makes 2 saves and the 3rd of the sequence goes in.

Cooper Flinton
8:55
2-0 Crunch
Flinton's 1st game with the Crunch/1st pro game/1st pro goal.

Brodeur stops a breakaway. He is playing a decent game, but is getting 0 help around his net.

Utica continues to get shots, but little of a threat to score.

Utica to the PP after Edwards went end to end and got a real good backhander. His rush drew the penalty.

Ethan Gauthier
Slashing
15:02

Shane Lachance tips a point shot from Tory Dello and he has S........C.........O..........R..........E............D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lachance with his 1st pro goal in his 2nd pro game. 2.

Shane Lachance PPG
16:58
2-1 Crunch
Period 2 ends
2-1 Crunch

SOG:
14-10 Utica
2-Period total
24-18 Utica

Period 3

Comets an early PP

Cooper Flinton
High -sticking
2:21

Empty PP result.

Now Laberge goes to the box.

Sam Laberge
Interference
5:55

SH 3 on 2

Gruden hits the crossbar and it falls on the line and scooped out of danger.

Penalty killed.

Comets another 3 on 2 and it's another no go.

If the Comets guys who have been here all season could only score.

Parent hits iron.

Another 3 on 2 and Wendt barely rolls it onto the net and it's held.

Puck out to the point and Wheeler let's fly and......................

S--------C---------O----------R---------E------S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wheeler scores his 1st AHL goal in his 1st AHL game and it's 2-2.

Ryan Wheeler
14:53
2-2

Stupid on the part of Legare.

He was tied up by 2 Cunch in the crease. He was disgruntled at no call and as the Crunch went up ice he pushed then net and it came off the post.

Legare
Delay of game
No it's not.

Squires and Parent are across the blue line
Parent shoots and follows his shot and puts it H_O_M_E!!!!!!!

Xavier Parent
17:15
3-2 Comets

Comets have the lead and
Sam Laberge gets a 10 minute misconduct for abuse of officials.

2:45 to go

Crunch 6 on 5

Comets not allowing them to get set up

Inside the final minute.

Crunch offsides.
12.1 to go

The COMETS have....................WON THEIR FINAL GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Recap:
Utica Comets 3 Syracuse Crunch 2

SOG:
UTC - 10 14 12 = 36
SYR - 8 10 10 = 28

PP:
UTC - 1/2
SYR - 1/3

Scoring:
Shane Lachance (1) from Reid (2) and Dello (1)
Shane scores his 1st pro goal on a net front tip in his 2nd pro game.

Ryan Wheeler (1) from Vilen (23) and Lachance (1)
Wheeler was signed to a PTO on loan from Adirondack on 4/15. Tonight was his first AHL game and this was obviously his 1st AHL goal.

Xavier Parent (17) from Squires (3) and Wheeler (1)
Brodeur 26/28 He played a real good game.

3 *s tonight
#3 - Maxim Groshev (Syracuse Crunch) 1 G
#2 - Robert Cooper Flinton (Syracuse Crunch) 1 G - Recent NCAA Dartmouth signing and this was his 1st pro goal in his 4th game played with the Crunch.
#1 - Xavier Parent (Utica Comets) GWG



So the newcomers sparkled tonight.
Shane Lachance - His first pro goal and his 1st pro assist. A 2-point night in his 2nd Utica Comets game.

Ryan Wheeler - His first AHL goal in his first AHL game. Like Lachance he also collected his first AHL assist. A 2point night in his 1st Utica Comets game.

Cam Sqiures picked up his 3rd assist. he has put up 1G/3A/4Pts in 3GP.

Luke Reid recently completed his 5th season with NCAA Univ. of New Hampshire and was signed to an ECHL contract. He was loaned to Utica by Adirondack and signed to a PTO by Utica on 4/4. He picked up his 2nd AHL assist tonight in his 5th game played. He finished at +1 for the 5 GP.

Jeremy Brodeur is no newcomer, but he was called upon to back up on several occasions without playing, but he did get 4 starts and played in a 5th game. He went 4-0-0 and put up a very good 2.16 GAA/.923 SV%.
Tonight was the 4th win.

The Comets fifnished the season 31-33-6-4/70 Pts in 7th and last place in the North Division. They were 11 points out of the 5th playoff spot nailed down by the Cleveland Monsters, who fell hard over the last month + and held onto the 5th spot by 2 points over the Belleville Senators.

Cleveland will play Toronto in the play in, Round 1 f the AHL playoffs. It's a best of 3 to win the right to play the AHL's top team in Round 2. The Laval Rocket recorded 101 points to capture the overall crown while winning the North Division 9 points ahead of 2nd place Rochester with 92. They will have home ice in every series they play as long as they last. Hershey finished 5 points behind them while winning the Atlantic Division with 96 Points.

The Comets will pack up and head for wherever they're going. Most will go home for the summer and likely spend a lot of tiem on the links.
Probably a lot of fishing for some. There will be a summer workout schdule and most will get ice time. Some of these guys will hopefully spend some time with a power skating coach. They need to improve their skating. Most of these guys can't skate competitively with NHL players.

I'll still be posting throughout the off season. Particularly watching what NJ does in acquiring players for the Devils as well as the Comets through trades and free agent signings.

Squires and Lachance finishing strong is a nice note to take into the offseason . Hopefully the team adds some more young players and a couple of good AHL centers.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Squires and Lachance finishing strong is a nice note to take into the offseason . Hopefully the team adds some more young players and a couple of good AHL centers.

• You sound like me.
• "Hopefully" has left me feeling hopeless when seeing the results on the Aud ice.

 

[My3Sons]

• You sound like me.
• "Hopefully" has left me feeling hopeless when seeing the results on the Aud ice.

I’m thinking last season’s draft was a sign that the organization realized they were neglecting the center position and needed to start restocking Utica. In the abstract I don’t mind the idea of trying to add a bunch of young players to the roster as long as they are talented. The problem has been that NJ just hasn’t added enough talented forwards in recent years. Fingers crossed. Thanks as always for keeping us all up to date on Utica.