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2018-19 Utica Comets Thread


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3 hours ago, UticaHockey said:

Gaunce has been the Comets best player since coming back down.  He plays a complete 200 foot game and looks every bit of a NHL player in the AHL. He looks very much like a player that has been playing the game at a higher pace and the speed of the AHL is very slow for him.  I can't say enough good things about him.

If you're saying his speed is better than the AHL, do you think he's now an NHL skater? He seemed to know where he wanted to be, but couldn't quite get there when he got ice time with the Canucks. I like him as a player too, pretty smart when he doesn't have the puck, and decent on the wall. That's one spot the Canuck forwards are more than a little less than average, playing on the wall. How does McEwan fare on the boards?

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13 hours ago, alfstonker said:

Time for another look at Gaunce. The guy is much more than an AHL player imo.

No it isn't. Gaunce IS NOT MUCH MORE THAN AN AHL player at this point. Both his stats and the eye test say so.

 

Motte has half the games played as gaunce yet has as many points. Additionally, Motte is much faster and much more physical. Gaunce is just mediocre and is barely an NHL 4th liner. Everything agrees with that assessment...points, stats, eye test, lack of physical game, not overly fast. Nothing stands out in gaunce's play.

 

And Motte is only 23. gaunce is a year older but has not taken advantage of his 100+ NHL games. Motte took his spot.  Simple.

 

Edit: if the Canuck 4th line is Beagle and Motte, then I am not opposed to Gaunce on the wing as schaller has shown nothing. But gaunce still would need to be better than some canucks to even get that spot imo.

Edited by Kanukfanatic
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13 hours ago, johngould21 said:

If you're saying his speed is better than the AHL, do you think he's now an NHL skater? He seemed to know where he wanted to be, but couldn't quite get there when he got ice time with the Canucks. I like him as a player too, pretty smart when he doesn't have the puck, and decent on the wall. That's one spot the Canuck forwards are more than a little less than average, playing on the wall. How does McEwan fare on the boards?

What I meant is that the speed of the AHL is such that he processes the game faster than most players in this league and can read and respond to plays quicker.  The biggest adjustment that young players out of juniors have adjusting to the AHL besides playing against bigger more mature players is adjusting to the speed of the game.  They are always chasing the play and have less time to react to it with and without the puck on their stick.  The game looks very slow for Gaunce right now and he is making good decisions on each end of the ice.

 

His skating is what it is.  His straight line speed is more than adequate but his quickness and edge work hold him back.  His skating will never be an asset in the NHL but I think it is good enough to be an effective big body fourth liner in the NHL.  

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2 hours ago, UticaHockey said:

What I meant is that the speed of the AHL is such that he processes the game faster than most players in this league and can read and respond to plays quicker.  The biggest adjustment that young players out of juniors have adjusting to the AHL besides playing against bigger more mature players is adjusting to the speed of the game.  They are always chasing the play and have less time to react to it with and without the puck on their stick.  The game looks very slow for Gaunce right now and he is making good decisions on each end of the ice.

 

His skating is what it is.  His straight line speed is more than adequate but his quickness and edge work hold him back.  His skating will never be an asset in the NHL but I think it is good enough to be an effective big body fourth liner in the NHL.  

@UticaHockey, thanks. The reason I was asking, is because well, as Kanukfanatic said above, Motte has taken his spot. Injuries though, might get him back up, but it's not going to be a simple roster move that does. Having said that, he might be a better option than Schaller. I really haven't seen anything in his game, that speaks, "I'm playing my way onto this team starting now".

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13 hours ago, Kanukfanatic said:

No it isn't. Gaunce IS NOT MUCH MORE THAN AN AHL player at this point. Both his stats and the eye test say so.

 

Motte has half the games played as gaunce yet has as many points. Additionally, Motte is much faster and much more physical. Gaunce is just mediocre and is barely an NHL 4th liner. Everything agrees with that assessment...points, stats, eye test, lack of physical game, not overly fast. Nothing stands out in gaunce's play.

 

And Motte is only 23. gaunce is a year older but has not taken advantage of his 100+ NHL games. Motte took his spot.  Simple.

 

Edit: if the Canuck 4th line is Beagle and Motte, then I am not opposed to Gaunce on the wing as schaller has shown nothing. But gaunce still would need to be better than some canucks to even get that spot imo.

Everyone loves Gaunce.  He’s clearly a nice guy.  However, he’s a muffin to play against.  If he doesn’t accept he’s got to change his game, and become harder to play against, he will not be an NHL player.  

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2 hours ago, JamesBlondage said:

The Comets have signed Michael Leighton to a PTO and released Alex the Greek who's name I cannot spell...

He is likely just a stop gap and backup to Kulbakov as Leighton is 37 now and while he was a very good goalie in the AHL in his heyday the last two years have trended downward badly for him. IMO he will hang around till McKenna is waived from Philly or if that does not occur he will play on PTO's till the end of the season.

 

I expect that Bachman will be back next year and will mentor Dipietro between the pipes and both Leighton and McKenna will have moved on

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4 hours ago, Kootenay Gold said:

He is likely just a stop gap and backup to Kulbakov as Leighton is 37 now and while he was a very good goalie in the AHL in his heyday the last two years have trended downward badly for him. IMO he will hang around till McKenna is waived from Philly or if that does not occur he will play on PTO's till the end of the season.

 

I expect that Bachman will be back next year and will mentor Dipietro between the pipes and both Leighton and McKenna will have moved on

Bachman suffered an Achilles injury...can't remember whether it was tsn 1040 or sportsnet 650 but they were talking to Utica source that they think that Bachman may not even be ready for next season.  Considering our situation with Marky and Demko as the only signed goalies left in our system, Jim Benning will be working the phones to find another goalie on contract for this remaining season

Edited by CRAZY_4_NAZZY
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28 minutes ago, canuckledraggin said:

So Utica fans Leighton for McKenna. Would you do it?

Nope! If McKenna goes back on waivers once Philly's goalie injury woes clear up, Leighton is gone.

 

IMO, if Bachman looks like he is not able to go by the start of next season; they sign a goalie at that time, possibly they even re-sign Kulbakov and have him play as the starter and Dipietro as the backup till Bachman is ready to resume play

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3 - 0 now with a great deflection by Gaudette

 

Grrr - 3 - 1 on a goal mouth scramble

 

Wow. - and now 3 - 2 with some sloppy defensive play

 

Lol - scoring faster than I can keep up.  4 - 2 on a gem by Dahlen

 

 

 

 

Edited by Googlie
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