The Utica Comets | 2020-2021 Thread

[Bad Goalie]

I'm not optimistic about this PK. the second the triangle set up this one will be over.

Big block but fail to clear.

Big stop by Kielly.

A post. Same 3 out for the whole time.

Big save by Kielly and it's cleared.

PK over, but it's all Rochester.

 

[Bad Goalie]

3 on 3 and the Amerks have the puck again. Big defensive play in their own end.

 

[Bad Goalie]

2 good chances for the Comets.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Shootout upcoming.

Rochester has so many skilled puck handlers.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Advantage Amerks.

Have to play it out.

 

[Bad Goalie]

first Amerk, Arttu Ruotsalainen loses control. No shot.

McGing scores on a beautiful move and roofed backhander.

Jack Quinn dekes in close and Kielly slides into him and takes him out of the shot.

Reinke stopped.

Dea scores to tie it up with a nice wrister.

N.Stevens shoots it right into the keeper.

Fogarty stopped by Kielly on the post after the deke.

J Stevens for the win
_____++_____+_+_+__+ ______+___GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

COMETS WIN IT 3-2 in the shootout.

Like I said, a real nail biter.

 

[VibinCanuck]

Nice win for the Comets. Grinded it out

 

[Fatass]

first Amerk, Arttu Ruotsalainen loses control. No shot.

McGing scores on a beautiful move and roofed backhander.

Jack Quinn dekes in close and Kielly slides into him and takes him out of the shot.

Reinke stopped.

Dea scores to tie it up with a nice wrister.

N.Stevens shoots it right into the keeper.

Fogarty stopped by Kielly on the post after the deke.

J Stevens for the win
_____++_____+_+_+__+ ______+___GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

COMETS WIN IT 3-2 in the shootout.

Like I said, a real nail biter.

That was exciting! Lockwood is so quick. He’s on the big club next year. Reminds me a little of Janik Hansen.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Final score
Utica 3 - Rochester 2 SO

McGing (1) from Teves (1)
Gadjovich (8) from Eliot (2) and Jasek (7)

Goals in the Shootout -
McGing 1st shhoter
John Stevens 4th shooter = GWG

SOG:
Amerks - 10 6 14 4 - 34
Comets - 14 12 10 1 - 38

PP:
Amerks - 1/4
Comets - 0/4

Kielly - 32/34

3 Stars:
1 - John Stevens (Utica Comets) 0G/0A but scored the GWG in the SO
2 - Hugh McGing (Utica Comets) 1G/0A 1st goal of the SO
3 - Jake Kielly 32/of 34 Huge in the 3rd, the OT, and the SO.

 

[Bad Goalie]

That was exciting! Lockwood is so quick. He’s on the big club next year. Reminds me a little of Janik Hansen.

He needs to develop some finish. Any finish.

 

[Hansen]

He needs to develop some finish. Any finish.

Thats the Jannik Hansen I know!

 

[Fatass]

He needs to develop some finish. Any finish.

Fast as hell though. If his hands do catch up to his feet, watch out.

 

[iceburg]

Fast as hell though. If his hands do catch up to his feet, watch out.

So what you're saying is Lockwood and Gadjovich need to have a baby...

 

[racerjoe]

I know I am super late, I have just been busy with a new job, finally saw that wilson hit. Super dirty. The head was not the primary point of contact, but it was 100% targeted. If Carlo's arm wasn't in an awkward position the head is the only thing being hit.

Any time the head is Targeted, I think there should be a suspension.

 

[The Vasili Jerry]

How did JackBone go?

 

[vanuck]

Thanks for the updates BG. Nice to see Gadjovich continue his run.

 

[orcatown]

Comets dominate for two periods but had to hang on in the third to get the game to OT and the shoot out.

Liked

Gadjovich - thing that may have improved the most is his overall stick work. Taking hard passes deftly rather than, as in the past, having them bounce off his stick. In OT set up two great chances to score. Can still look heavy footed at times but little doubt his skating has improved. The one area he still needs to really work on is transition - especially getting back on defense. Its hard to get a read on all the prospects but Gadjovich would appear the most improved.

Woo - very efficient. Is good at making the quick play out of his zone to reduce defensive zone time. Keeps the play in front of him and does not let players slip in behind for open chances. Maybe the best compliment is to say he plays like a vet. Shot needs work. There have been a couple of times where he has moved up on the rush and then blasted a shot high over the net and had it ricochet out the far side for a break going the other way leaving him out of position.

Rathbone - showed a feisty side in this game and you can see his aggressiveness. Player that likes to dominate. Made some good plays in this game especially when he broke up a 2 on 1 in OT and when he made excellent passes that others should have used better.. Might have tried to do too much at times and turned over the puck a couple of times trying to stick handle out of his zone. These are the types of plays he will get burned on at the next level. I think he is playing at the level he should be right now.

Keilly - little to do early but had to save the game late and, among other things, stop a couple of breakaways. Having a very decent season but it pains that Depietro isn't getting some game action.

Lockwood - has NHL speed. He is a very good skater. However, he seems limited as a scorer. Had two open breakaways and didn't really force the goalie into overly great saves. Chances are coming however and you got to think some will start get converted.

Teves - had a good game. He's a good skater and can be effective as long as he doesn't end getting tied up in his own end too much.

Eliot - Not bad - actually made some critical late shot blocks. Him and Teves when paired formed a very mobile pairing. Ended up a +2 in this game.

Others

Jasek - because of injuries is forced onto the the top line with Gadjovich and Baertschi. Think he is in over his head here. Doesn't have the speed to beat people one on one or to get much space to make a play. Also very limited physically. Lot of the play died on his stick.

Baertschi - very ordinary. You wish he had gone to Russia and Boucher had stuck around. Boucher would just be ripping this League up and player like Bailey probably even more so.

Focht - made a couple of good take-aways and got a couple of chances. However, another player not physically strong enough or fast enough to have much effect on the play.

Comets get busy now and you have be concerned about their chances given the way the lineup is being constantly depleted.

 

[M2Beezy]

So what you're saying is Lockwood and Gadjovich need to have a baby...

Still have to wait like 20 years to draft the child and thered still be NO guarantee that wed draft him as other teams could, so theres that

 

[Bad Goalie]

Comets dominate for two periods but had to hang on in the third to get the game to OT and the shoot out.

Liked

Gadjovich - thing that may have improved the most is his overall stick work. Taking hard passes deftly rather than, as in the past, having them bounce off his stick. In OT set up two great chances to score. Can still look heavy footed at times but little doubt his skating has improved. The one area he still needs to really work on is transition - especially getting back on defense. Its hard to get a read on all the prospects but Gadjovich would appear the most improved.

Woo - very efficient. Is good at making the quick play out of his zone to reduce defensive zone time. Keeps the play in front of him and does not let players slip in behind for open chances. Maybe the best compliment is to say he plays like a vet. Shot needs work. There have been a couple of times where he has moved up on the rush and then blasted a shot high over the net and had it ricochet out the far side for a break going the other way leaving him out of position.

Rathbone - showed a feisty side in this game and you can see his aggressiveness. Player that likes to dominate. Made some good plays in this game especially when he broke up a 2 on 1 in OT and when he made excellent passes that others should have used better.. Might have tried to do too much at times and turned over the puck a couple of times trying to stick handle out of his zone. These are the types of plays he will get burned on at the next level. I think he is playing at the level he should be right now.

Keilly - little to do early but had to save the game late and, among other things, stop a couple of breakaways. Having a very decent season but it pains that Depietro isn't getting some game action.

Lockwood - has NHL speed. He is a very good skater. However, he seems limited as a scorer. Had two open breakaways and didn't really force the goalie into overly great saves. Chances are coming however and you got to think some will start get converted.

Teves - had a good game. He's a good skater and can be effective as long as he doesn't end getting tied up in his own end too much.

Eliot - Not bad - actually made some critical late shot blocks. Him and Teves when paired formed a very mobile pairing. Ended up a +2 in this game.

Others

Jasek - because of injuries is forced onto the the top line with Gadjovich and Baertschi. Think he is in over his head here. Doesn't have the speed to beat people one on one or to get much space to make a play. Also very limited physically. Lot of the play died on his stick.

Baertschi - very ordinary. You wish he had gone to Russia and Boucher had stuck around. Boucher would just be ripping this League up and player like Bailey probably even more so.

Focht - made a couple of good take-aways and got a couple of chances. However, another player not physically strong enough or fast enough to have much effect on the play.

Comets get busy now and you have be concerned about their chances given the way the lineup is being constantly depleted.

Recovering from my 2nd COVID vaccine. Feel like I ran a marathon without training for it. Not going to see many more posts than this one today, but I have to say I find nothing to disagree on in this post. I think much of it agrees with things I have said in past posts or in other threads.

Job well done, orca! It is rewarding to see I'm not the only one seeing what I see.

This is especially true of the recent play of Eliot and Teves. Vs the level of competition they are facing this season, they are starting to look like they could become AHL worthy. However, that current "level of competition" is the big question. Would they look this improved vs the normal AHL competition vs this watered down version. We have no way of knowing until next season gets underway if it returns to a more normal season with no quarantine, no NHL Taxi Squads, no lending out AHL guys to other farms instead of Utica where they belong, and no combination AHL rosters where 2 teams have to have their prospects taken care of.

 

[MS]

Thought the team played really well and completely dominated play for the first 35 minutes, then allowed Rochester back in the game. Probably deserved the win overall.

I know Utica wins the shootout, but I *hated* the selections there. 3 St. Louis prospects and a guy on an AHL contract. This as a Canucks-owned organization that exists to develop Canuck prospects, not to serve as a charity for the St. Louis Blues. Our guys should get priority. Should have been looking at the likes of Gadjovich, Jasek, Rathbone in that shootout.

- best player on the ice for either team was Josh Teves. Best performance I've ever seen from him by a mile. Just an extremely intelligent, positive game - pushing the play at all times, great decisions with the puck, broke up multiple plays in the neutral zone, forced multiple turnovers. Created the first goal and his pairing with Eliot (who created the 2nd) was just terrific and if Corsi results were tracked in the AHL this pairing would have probably been 80%+.

- Rathbone wasn't poor but had his least noticeable game. Did have one good sequence in the 2nd where he drew a penalty and then had a dynamic PP shift. But didn't find as much room to skate as in previous games and had a couple (non-consequential) miscues with the puck. Also allowed a Rochester player in behind him for a late SH breakaway.

- Woo did some things offensively that popped a bit in the last game but in this game was back to safe low-event Woo. No mistakes, quietly anonymous and reliable. Did have a nice shift in OT and was nice to see him getting some 2nd unit PP minutes with Lind out and the PP units shifted around.

- Lockwood has hands of stone. Worked hard and got himself into good positions but it's a looooooooong upward journey to the AHL when you're almost 23 and have finishing skills this poor at the AHL level.

- Gadjovich is a very smart player and knows where the puck is going to go and can play to his strengths to get garbage goals. Worked hard, won battles. But is still an absolute slug and his skating is still miles off being able to keep up at the next level.

- Focht ... struggling to make anything happen.

- Baertschi is just coasting around collecting his paycheck until he goes back to Europe. Good enough at 60% effort to be an asset for the Comets, but he's a guy who looks checked out.

- Jasek was the #1 center in this one and didn't embarrass himself. No pro projection there, though.

- Mattias Samuelsson for Rochester looks like a future NHL player, and Buffalo sorely needs the big defensive defender he projects as. Conversely, Jack Quinn scored but I find him really unimpressive for a #8 overall pick and kind of a carbon copy of Niklas Jensen.

 

[clay]

Thought the team played really well and completely dominated play for the first 35 minutes, then allowed Rochester back in the game. Probably deserved the win overall.

I know Utica wins the shootout, but I *hated* the selections there. 3 St. Louis prospects and a guy on an AHL contract. This as a Canucks-owned organization that exists to develop Canuck prospects, not to serve as a charity for the St. Louis Blues. Our guys should get priority. Should have been looking at the likes of Gadjovich, Jasek, Rathbone in that shootout.

- best player on the ice for either team was Josh Teves. Best performance I've ever seen from him by a mile. Just an extremely intelligent, positive game - pushing the play at all times, great decisions with the puck, broke up multiple plays in the neutral zone, forced multiple turnovers. Created the first goal and his pairing with Eliot (who created the 2nd) was just terrific and if Corsi results were tracked in the AHL this pairing would have probably been 80%+.

- Rathbone wasn't poor but had his least noticeable game. Did have one good sequence in the 2nd where he drew a penalty and then had a dynamic PP shift. But didn't find as much room to skate as in previous games and had a couple (non-consequential) miscues with the puck. Also allowed a Rochester player in behind him for a late SH breakaway.

- Woo did some things offensively that popped a bit in the last game but in this game was back to safe low-event Woo. No mistakes, quietly anonymous and reliable. Did have a nice shift in OT and was nice to see him getting some 2nd unit PP minutes with Lind out and the PP units shifted around.

- Lockwood has hands of stone. Worked hard and got himself into good positions but it's a looooooooong upward journey to the AHL when you're almost 23 and have finishing skills this poor at the AHL level.

- Gadjovich is a very smart player and knows where the puck is going to go and can play to his strengths to get garbage goals. Worked hard, won battles. But is still an absolute slug and his skating is still miles off being able to keep up at the next level.

- Focht ... struggling to make anything happen.

- Baertschi is just coasting around collecting his paycheck until he goes back to Europe. Good enough at 60% effort to be an asset for the Comets, but he's a guy who looks checked out.

- Jasek was the #1 center in this one and didn't embarrass himself. No pro projection there, though.

- Mattias Samuelsson for Rochester looks like a future NHL player, and Buffalo sorely needs the big defensive defender he projects as. Conversely, Jack Quinn scored but I find him really unimpressive for a #8 overall pick and kind of a carbon copy of Niklas Jensen.

Buffalo taking Quinn over the far superior player on his team in Marco Rossi was mind boggling.

 

[Hansen]

I would be tempted to give Gadjovich a cup of coffee after the deadline just to show him where he needs to get to keep up. Might motivate him that extra bit for the off season

 

[MS]

Buffalo taking Quinn over the far superior player on his team in Marco Rossi was mind boggling.

It was baffling. If he was 4 days older he would have been a 2019-eligible and probably wouldn't even have been drafted, then lucked into a situation where he finished off goals next to the most elite playmaker in the CHL.

As a 2001-born top-10 pick you'd expect this guy to be very close to the NHL right now and he isn't at all. Awkward, gangly skater with a very incomplete 3-zone game. Again, watching him on the ice he reminds me a lot of Nicklas Jensen.

Pretty much every pick down to the 20s has badly outperformed him this year. A guy like Seth Jarvis has been absolutely ripping the AHL to shreds.

 

[UticaHockey]

Recovering from my 2nd COVID vaccine. Feel like I ran a marathon without training for it. Not going to see many more posts than this one today, but I have to say I find nothing to disagree on in this post. I think much of it agrees with things I have said in past posts or in other threads.

Job well done, orca! It is rewarding to see I'm not the only one seeing what I see.

This is especially true of the recent play of Eliot and Teves. Vs the level of competition they are facing this season, they are starting to look like they could become AHL worthy. However, that current "level of competition" is the big question. Would they look this improved vs the normal AHL competition vs this watered down version. We have no way of knowing until next season gets underway if it returns to a more normal season with no quarantine, no NHL Taxi Squads, no lending out AHL guys to other farms instead of Utica where they belong, and no combination AHL rosters where 2 teams have to have their prospects taken care of.

Congrats on the COVID vaccine and a step towards returning to normalcy again.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Congrats on the COVID vaccine and a step towards returning to normalcy again.

Thnx. What about you? Where do you stand with the vax?