UTICANUCK

Greetings from Utica. Again many thanks to Canucks for bringing hockey back to Utica.. we wouldn't be in the league right now had it not been for Vancouver. I still follow both Canuck teams, and former Utica players, and wish all well. Have learned that things change in a hurry and while happy with the performance of the current Utica squad and current parent, it is a very long season. Disappointed with the Vancouver squad, not just performance wise, but who are all these newbies? Had hoped the homegrown Gadjovichs, Dahlens, McEwens, Gaudettes would serve Vancouver well. At least there is Demko. Best of luck the rest of the way.

Many thanks to the Canucks organization for bringing AHL hockey back to both Utica and Syracuse, two former EHL rivals when Slap Shot was real, not just a movie. When the Devils left Utica many years ago it wasn't long after that NJ captured it's first Stanley Cup with former Utica Devil Martin Brodeur anchoring the net. May Thatcher Demko be your Brodeur and lead you to your first cup.

Cull and coaches get the vote of confidence from Benning. Hmmm, Canucks beat writers said it was toxic down in Utica and wanted Culls head because a couple European crybabies said we wasn't coddling them enough. Players play their butts off for Cull. Good news to have him back for another year.

Benning in Utica this weekend and speculating that he is here to evaluate the coaches and not the prospects and my guess is if he doesn't want Cull he could be gone before the last game with King ( a Travis Green guy) as interim and possible replacement. If Cull gets a vote of condidence the Canucks beat writers offered fake news and Dahlen and Palmu were whiners.

Look at the roster of the best team in the NHL and more than half the roster earned its way via Syracuse of the AHL. Tampa also makes smart non-draft signings like Barre-Boulet. Our non-draft signings are sucking in the ECHL.

Gilman in attendance representing the opponent. Jarvis and Johnson in town as well. Can see Gilman turning to Jarvis and Johnson with a puzzled look "What the hell did you do to poor Utica?". We used to be the team you didn't want to play in the last month of the season and now we are the "bet the house you'll get a point or two. We used to fill the house on a Friday night. The tickets are sold (so I guess the sellout streak lives) but almost half of the seats are empty. The fans in attendance are faithful and loud, but there's not a lot to cheer for. The guys on the ice are busting their butts off, but they just don't have the ability to score. The goalie situation was mishandled and should have been settled when Bachman was first injured. The McEwen we sent up to Vancouver is not the same McEwen that returned. Possibly our best players, Kero and Boucher are playing hurt, and the defence is a patchwork quilt at best. In a correct environment the prospects should be better than the veterans and the veterans should be there to help them along. Utica has the veteran leadership - always has - but what we lack are the good and healthy prospects. You can't develop what you do not have.

Utica can't correct Utica, only the Canucks can by sending quality prospects and leaving them here to develop and shine, but that won't be happening soon. Nice signing of Jett Woo, but he's a Canuck or junior for the next 2 years and not AHL eligible. The Canucks are so weak on D they have to fix their own problem before even thinking about building D depth in Utica. Ridding Utica of Dahlen was not a bad thing (no goals in 7 games in San Jose says something) but he was not replaced, and in essence they traded Archie and Nilly for Pyatt and Pyatt is no Archie and now he is hurt as well. Archie will help Belleville to the playoffs while the Comets will be golfing. Something has to change in the organization. In past years the Comets had managed to find a way to the playoffs despite the odds while the Canucks were golfing, but this year the odds are so bad (3 top D callups and 2 D inuries since the trade deadline) plus the loss of veterans Hamilton, Boucher and Pyatt and no replacement for Dahlen and you have an ECHL team on the ice. They really play hard and give it their all - and I they still could make a little run at a playoff spot - but the odds are not in their favor and the blame lies with the parent organization. Fore!

There is a flashback Andre Mallet, one of the original Utica Comets. Now a member of BRNO Kometa in the Czech League with over 100 penalty minutes this season. And who says they play soft over in Europe.

A final word on Dahlen. In 2017 Dahlen left the Utica Comets during preseason and from an insider it was more from being homesick than n illness recovery issue. This is from the Utica Newspaper from September 2018 camp (a year later) About this time last year, Dahlen was trying to overcome a bout of mononucleosis. He spent time with the Comets in preseason before a decision was made to return to Sweden. He said he wants to play in North America this season to work toward an NHL call-up. “I want to develop there,” Dahlen said. “Everyone wants to get to the top level. I think this is a good place for me right now to play. I don’t see myself going back to Sweden.” If the insider information is correct (he left Comets camp because he was homesick in 2017) - maybe its' more of a maturity issue than a "Blame the Comets Coach" Issue and maybe he'll feel much better in San Jose for whatever reason. Maybe he needs to be spoon fed and stroked.

Well said Attila. Cull doing a very good job. Tonight with D callups and Chatfield ill we will dress one longshot propect McEnaney on D with vets and ECHL callups. Joining McEanany on D will be Sifers, Leblanc, Graham, Saucerman and just up from Kzoo Anselmini. Compare to our Calder run with Corrado, Biega, Sanguinetti, Clendenning, Huskins and Sautner. Forwards and tender (assuming Leighton) will have to be sharp to stay in the game against Rochester. Weak D and solid but not spectacular tending requires forwards to hustle all 200 feet - hense Dahlen and Palmu's struggles in Utica.

Stick taps to Trent Cull and Pat Conacher who have done a great job of piecing.together a competitive squad so that the few prospects we have aren't victims of a losing environment. Cull has not had the benefit of Vancouver stacking the Comets like they did for Green by adding Markstrom, Baertschi, Clenndenning, Conacher, Pedan to go along with O'Reilly, Biega, Corrado and Sanguinettii to name a few Sure Green made a Calder run but look at the horses he had., And don't say Green saw eye to eye with every prospect - he wasn't a big Shinkaruk fan and was tough on Cassels, who were both considered at the top of the prospect heap at the time. Toxic environments breed losing teams and Utica, under Cull, keeps on wining even with the constant adversity and lack of help from Vancouver. . .

And Rick Dhaliwal knows this because? How about some sources because this is a contradiction to what players like Zac Mac and Brisebois have said and they have both developed under Cull and company. Sounds like fake news.

No Utica isn't Xanadu but it's an okay place that's relatively safe, affordable, and the people are very generous and supportive. And you'll find quality ethnic food of all kinds (avoid the chain restaurants). Most true fans support all of the players that make this place their temporary home and the players know it and appreciate it. A few melon heads expect every prospect to be the next Gretzky (and some do rival Keith) but most know better. Nothing would be better than to see every prospect make it to the next level with the Canucks or another team, but in the end we will settle for a handful and appreciate the others for the effort they provide alongside the usual AHL vets and roster fillers.

Lots of folks trying to pin prospect development fully on Cull's shoulders. He's the game day guy for sure, but there is a lot more that goes on behind the scenes with player development and if fans are unhappy blame the organization not the Comets coach. Palmu was given every opportunity to succeed and he didn't progress, he wasn't good enough to be in the AHL. Dahlen was given more opportunity than any other prospect here, and while he showed signs of being a top prospect with an NHL future, he had work to do. If you haven't mastered the AHL why should you be promoted to the NHL? Jasek, Lind and Gadjovich are progressing nicely. You don't just walk into the AHL and succeed and the improvement each has shown demonstrates the patience and hard work that goes into player development. Really irritating to read the Vancouver beat writer tweets tossing Cull under the bus. If they are unhappy with prospect development go after the player development folks, or the scouts who recommend player X, Y Z be drafted (quite a few swings and misses),

GOALIE AUDITION With Cloutier in town you have to wonder if last night was a NHL contract goalie audition with Leighton vs McKenna (should McKenna go back on waivers). Advantage Leighton... has won two in a row and looked solid last night. McKenna was so-so. Sucks McKenna was traded for and lost on waivers, but I don't think I'd reclaim him. Leighton should serve the organization well for the remainder of the season backing up Marky for a brief spell with Demko back to Utica for conditioning. Nice to see Dale Weise in town for Lehigh Valley where is stay is short having been traded back to Montreal during or just after the game. Sautner looked really good for his first game back. Comets look pretty solid barring trades or injuries.