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UticaHockey

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Everything posted by UticaHockey

  1. Yes it was. The Comets effort in Rochester Wednesday night was terrible and probably had something to do with Boucher being scratched last night. I thought Boucher and Archie mailed it in and both are supposed to be showing leadership to the younger players on the team. Springfield with their cheap shots woke the Comets up and they played with a spark of energy that has been lacking recently. They showed some push back but kept enough restraint to stay out of the box. What ever Springfield was trying to accomplish wasn't working as two of the Comets goals came on 5 on 3 power plays and another during a delayed penalty with an extra skater on the ice. It was fun to see a fired up Thatcher Demko as he was close to jumping Farnham at the end of the game.
  2. The one time that the Comets are featured as the AHL free game of the week on Facebook and it turns into a throwback to the 90's. I was going to say the 80's but in the 80's that standoff after the game would have been a full out brawl. The game last night was not indicative at all to what a typical AHL game looks like. The AHL has been on the same trend as the NHL with fewer fights every season and a lot less hits in general. This was the first meeting this year with Springfield so I can't comment on what their typical games look like but Bobby Farnham is a rat just like the many rats that still skate in the NHL and Paul Thompson has always been a fighter and dirty player.
  3. You must be real fun at parties.... First you say that the AHL isn't a business than you go on to write an essay about all of the financial assumptions of said non business. Yes there is a financial cost for every NHL team to maintain a farm system. That is why my tongue in cheek comments about getting rid of the AHL and replacing it with developmental scrimmages might actually appeal to NHL CFOs and GMs alike. But as long as AHL teams have ticket account managers, corporate marketing managers and paying customers it is a business. As a season ticket holder I am a customer of one of these businesses.
  4. What has been reported in a radio interview with Aquilini and then immediately confirmed by Benning after is that the current contract with the Comets has a renewal clause that has to be exercised by December 31st. That renewal would be for another 6 years with the first three years guaranteed. What happens come January 1st and the renewal option is not exercised? Either Vancouver will actively seek out a different location for the AHL farm team or there will be further negotiations with the Comets to keep the team in Utica but under different terms than the 6/3 year agreement that is built into the existing contract renewal clause. It is a high probability that December 31st will come and go and we won't know any more than we know today. https://www.uticaod.com/news/20181011/canucks-owner-discusses-affiliation-with-utica-comets
  5. That all sounds fine and I get that the AHL is a development league but it is also a business that charges money for people to watch the product and other businesses to advertise during it's games. If the 31 and soon to be 32 NHL teams only care about developing a hand full of prospects on ELCs perhaps they should do away with the AHL completely and create a new deveolpment league. To save on cost each NHL team would carry a "development roster" that would consist of prospects on ELC contracts and depth signings available for injury call ups to the NHL roster. The Development team would always travel with the NHL team and play a scrimmage with the other team's Development squad at that practice rink while the NHL game is going on. Example...If Vancouver has a game in Calgary all of the players would fly out to Calgary together and while the Flames and Canucks go at it the development squads would scrimmage either at the practice rink or in the late afternoon in the NHL rink before the big game starts. All players would be together so call ups would never be delayed while training staffs would be shared. Novel idea eh? But not so much for the 31 AHL cities that would lose their team and not for the growth of hockey in communities that do not have NHL hockey. So if the AHL is going to be run as a business then developing a couple prospects each season as you defined it cannot be the only objective even if it is the primary objective. There is also a need to put an entertaining and successful product on the ice.
  6. When Henning was the AGM and responsible for the Comets he was able to sign quality players. And he spent a ton of time in Utica watching the team play. Johnson is a ghost and Benning doesn't care what happens on the farm.
  7. It's easy to blame injuries and yes they have taken a toll. But there is more to it than that. The Canucks have been slowly getting healthy but yet they have lost 12 of 13. The Comets have gotten a few players back as well with the most notable being Demko and yet they are playing their worse hockey of the season. Something is broken in this organization from top to bottom.
  8. I think my point was rather obvious. How much development is happening when prospects are scratched game after game. Many posters on this board have used the logic that the Canucks should not add quality depth/mentor players because it would take ice time away from the prospects. I've seen the same logic that trading Carcone will at least open a spot for the kids. Well no Carcone last night and still no Gadjovich or Palmu. They are not winning and I question how much they are developing. Yes there are exceptions such as MacEwen who was the only Comet to play a full 60 minutes last night but those success stories are few and far between.
  9. Ok time for me to add my "salty" commentary. While McEneny is skating better than he was in October there is no way that he could handle the pace of the NHL right now. He is still a long way from where he was before he lost most of last season from knee injury and surgery. The Comets are a league worse -22 goal differential and the defense is a mess. Take the +- stat for what it's worth but Evan is a team worse -17 and has not played well at all in the defensive zone of late. Sadly the only dmen that are playing well right now are AHL contracted Blujus and Sifers neither of which have any NHL upside. I know this isn't what anyone wants to hear but it is the state of the Comets defense right now.
  10. But look at what we have right now. Not much winning or development going on. I couldn't even tell you the last time Gadjovich and Palmu played in a game without going back and looking it up. Is that something anyone in either Vancouver or Utica wants? We want to watch competitive hockey and you guys want development but neither is happening. The Comets have the league worse -22 goal differential and the defense is a complete mess. The defensemen playing the best right now are Blujus and Sifers both of whom are on AHL contracts with no NHL upside. Is this a great situation for Vancouver who desperately needs help on D? The current state of the farm is not good for anyone.
  11. Step back from being a Canucks fan for a moment and think what is like to be a Comets fan this year....a team with the worst goal differential in the league so we really are worse than our record indicates. The timeline for Comets fans this week.... Sunday - the Canucks put Leipsic on waivers. Encouraging news because he is a proven offensive player in the AHL and former All Star. Monday - follow Twitter to see if he clears only to find out that LA claimed him. Disappointment in Utica. But on top of that Carcone is traded a few minutes later and will go to our division rival the Toronto Marlies. Turning into a sucky day. Tuesday - the Canucks still need to make a roster move to make room for Beagle so unless it's Gagner the Comets will at least be getting a quality player to make the week a little better. But nope it's Gagner to the Marlies and now the sucky week just got even worse.
  12. I'm waiting for the announcement on December 31st to go something like this..... Jim Benning is proud to announce that starting next season the Vancouver Canucks will be sharing the Toronto Marlies as their AHL farm team. With direct flights to Vancouver and all major NHL cities it will greatly improve the time it takes to call up players when we are at home and on the road. The Toronto Marlies are not only the defending Calder Cup champions but they have a history of winning which we think will be a perfect environment for our exciting young prospects to develop in. We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship with the entire Toronto organization.
  13. I'm not sure why so few NHL contracted players with previous experience at center have been given the opportunity to play there. Instead they rely on AHL plugs and ECHL guys on PTOs. I can only assume that they want them playing in the position that they project them playing in the NHL rather than filling a position of need in the AHL. I would prefer to see Gaunce in the middle but someone in the organization sees things differently.
  14. And Hamilton was concussed in his annual NHL preseason game and hasn't played since. But he certainly wouldn't have been the answer anyway.
  15. I'll give that poor dead horse another kick in the ribs for good measure. Outside of Gaudette all of the young prospects play on the wing. The centers in Utica with the exception of Kero are all grinding plumbers. It is obvious that Dahlen and Lind cannot carry a line at this level and need a quality center to play with. Gadjovich and Palmu are a different story because they should both be in the ECHL adjusting to the North American pro game....I'm not sure how much they would even benefit by having a playmaker center next to them. The lack of centers to aid in the development of Dahlen and Lind is on Benning and Johnson but ultimately it is Johnson who is accountable here. Not only is he the Comets GM but he is the Director of Player Development for Vancouver. He should have identified the need as part of the development plan for these young wingers and worked with Benning to fill that need. I don't want to hear how Gaudette was supposed to fill that role because it was obvious that the super hyped Hobey Baker winner was not going to spend the season in the AHL. The Canucks PR department spent way too much time pumping his tires when he signed his contract last year.
  16. Only NHL contracted players on an ELC can be sent to the ECHL without having the player agree to the assignment. I don't see that happening.
  17. That is why it didn't make sense to sign Bachman to a two year extension this year. Because if the plan is to not resign Nilsson then next year Markstrom and Demko are in the NHL with Bachman being #3 on the depth chart and DiPietro #4. There are always better depth goalies available in free agency than Bachman so why lock him up for two years? Chances are DiPietro will struggle early with his initial jump to the AHL...most rookie goalies do. The AHL is a wake up call for young goalies just look at the struggles Carter Hart is having this year and even more surprising Ilya Samsonov.
  18. That is also why players like Hamilton, Bancks etc participate in the Canucks training camp. Hamilton suffered a concussion in a NHL preseason game and has been out ever since.
  19. Utica is not an independently owned team like the Chicago Wolves who do sign some of their own players to supplement the players sent to them by the NHL affiliated team. Utica is owned by Vancouver who supplies all of the players, coaches and trainers. This includes AHL contracted players such as Bancks, Sifers, Hamilton etc. Sure the AHL contract is officially with the Utica Comets but the Comets are owned by the Canucks so they are really being signed by Vancouver to an Utica Comets AHL contract. Officially Ryan Johnson signs players to AHL contracts as the GM of the Comets but he is also the Canucks Director of Player Development. He is not an employee of Robert Esche who runs the Comets from the business side and pays Vancouver an affiliation fee to supply the players, coaches trainers.....
  20. Don't forget Utica doesn't sign any players. Vancouver signs players to NHL contracts and they also sign players to AHL contracts as extra depth on the farm. The NHL contracted goalies next year look to be Markstrom, Demko, Bachman and DiPietro so they will still need a 5th goalie on the depth chart to bounce between the ECHL and AHL. If it's not Kulbakov it will need to be someone else and you rarely see 5 goalies on NHL contracts so they will need to sign another goalie to an AHL deal.
  21. I like Cory and he does a nice job of covering the Comets. He does however wear rose colored glasses at times and almost never has a critical word about individual players in his write ups....even constructive criticism. When questioned whether it be on Twitter of the comments at the bottom of his articles he will be a little more critical but not usually in the direct articles.
  22. Bachman was signed to a two year extension this past summer so the AHL team whether its in Utica or somewhere closer to Vancouver is stuck with him for another season. Bacher is a good guy in the community and is a good teammate but his skills have been in decline for a couple of years now and the odds of them improving next season when he is a year older are not great.
  23. I wasn't crazy about Jasek's game last night either. In fact the only Comets that were noticeable during 5 on 5 were MacEwen and Gaunce. Even Gaunce faded as the game progressed but MacEwen seemed to do something every shift whether it be a hit, puck pressure on the forecheck or a scoring chance.
  24. Arch was noticeable but not in a good way. A few turnovers and a failed clear attempt on the PK that the Devils scored on shortly after. Dahlen on the other hand was hardly noticeable all night long and especially during 5 on 5 when he was completely invisible. Did Canucks fans on this board who watched the game even notice him out there?
  25. Dahlen the invisible man again tonight. A -2 with 0 shots on goal.
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