I've heard this BS (
@Smitty426) for decades from NHL franchise fans who really DON'T GIVE a SH+T about their farm team. They don't give the farm town fans one iota of credit at being very intelligent hockey fans period. Sure, the Utica fans would like the best possible players from the parent club, but the bulk of them know the facts and the parent should have the best possible talent from their entire pool. If that's Schmid so be it. However, if Blackwood comes back ready to play, Schmid should be returned. He's available to return any time at a moment's notice. Carrying 3 active goalies on an NHL roster when the farm is just up the NYS Thruway is ridiculous.
When the Utica fans evaluate players it's based upon performance and the nuances of a player's performance. It's based on each individual fan's hockey IQ and many of us here have very high scores. Many have played the game at various levels from kid to high school, NCAA/Jrs., professional minor leagues right up to the AHL, and finally the NHL.
Then there is the number who never really played the game at any advanced level, but have been students of the game for a long time. It's not like those people don't know how to evaluate a player's performance both short and long term. (e.g Scotty Bowman never played the game beyond Juniors). Finally, you have the blowhards who really don't know the game, but think they do and pontificate as if their opinion is the only one that everyone needs to listen too. It's exactly like your fan base of whom also the majority never really played at an advanced level.
So, when you read my thoughts on the prospects I am coming to you with the best thoughts, evaluations, opinions, and reasoning that I can amass from watching these guys with an open mind and serious thoughts on their NHL potentials.
So when I say Foote ,Thompson, and Clarke, who must be were supposed to be the big gun prospects and leaders of this team, especially with the lack of support provided by NJ to support their efforts after losing Deleo, Greer, Zetterlund, and Holtz and to this point they have been far from it. It is not because I want to keep them here away from the Devils. That is the farthest thought from my mind.
In the simplest terms right now, they have failed that mission completely. Each game goes by and you see the same inabilities on display. They cannot maneuver around anyone one on one. It is always a takeaway or they get rubbed off the puck.
Foote continually tries to force himself down the boards with the puck and almost to the exact number of times he ends up either on the ice and the puck is turned over or he is stripped and the puck is sent back up the boards behind him by the opponent. His shots are usually high and wide, over the net, or directly into the keeper. There has been no snipe talent revealed.
Thompson skates like a demon and accomplishes nothing. He tries to cut in front of the D-man into the middle and towards the net for a shot. He never makes it. That ends up causing him to start trying to go wide and get a shot cutting to the bottom of the circle or lower, but ends up on the end boards or behind the net where he ends up in a puck battle of which neither he nor Foote have had much success winning.
Tyce is the left half boards player with a right shot setting up and begging for the onetimer that Holtz and Zetterlund were so successful at last season. Most of the time when he gets it off, it misses the net. When he gets it on net, it always seems to be into the keepers midsection or cherry picked with his glove. He wants that puck for the shot so bad you can see him begging for the chance and then sags with dissatisfaction when he fails time after time. 4 goals in 18 GP and the 4th was an empty netter vs the Amerks last Friday. His last goal vs competition was on 11/18 in game 11. Last night was game #22 for the Comets.
Just as an example of how low this output is Samuel Laberge also has 4 goals in 14 GP (2 last night as the game's #2 Star) while skating on the 4th line.
Sam is 25. He played 2017-18 in the AHL after signing with the Texas Stars. He put up 15pts/66GP. In 2018-19 he only got 31 games and recorded 7Pts. He wasn't re-signed.
2019-20 he played 33 games in the LNAH.
2020-21 50 GP with the ECHL Allen Americans.
In 2021-22 he signed a PTO with the Comets and was assigned to ECHL Adirondack. He was soon in Utica and proved to be a dogged forechecker and a force in his own end with his physical defensive play. The Comets were so impressed they told him to find a place to live in Utica and signed him to an AHL contract. He easily got another this season and is, aside from Gambardella, the hardest working forward every shift he's on the ice. Neither ever takes a shift off. The difference in the skill levels of Sam vs Foote or Tyce is obvious, but his work gets him as many shots and earns him a regular shift. He is a regular on the PK (1 of those 2 goals last night was a shortie). Thompson and Foote have been on the PK a lot as well. Thompson is mostly a puck chaser while Foote has become willing to block shots and has taken a few that left him limping around. I shouldn't be able to compare these 2 with Laberge, but they are leaving me little choice.
Clarke has turned up his game with 3 of his 5 goals coming in the last 6 games. His all around effort was also noticeable. Apparently I wasn't the only one to see it as last night he replaced Thompson at RW on the 1st line. That's Clarkes's (5G) and kicked up effort added to Pinho's (8G) and Foote's (6G). Tyce, meanwhile, was the RW for Nolan Stevens (5G) with Jack Dugan (3G) on his opposite wing. Not what I believe he was expecting when he was sent down here in October.
22 games into the season and the top forward prospects in Utica have combined for 15 goals and all 3 play on the PP. That PP is #29 in the AHL for goals scored with 14 and #15 in PP% at 20.4 since their efforts don't draw many penalties. They have had the lowest number of PP opportunities in the AHL at 68. You have to be running on all cylinders to cause your opponent to have to commit fouls to stop you.
