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Everything posted by UticaHockey
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Gaunce played for the Comets last night so this is probably an error. I know a lot of Vancouver posters are anxious to see Gaunce called up but he needs to start playing with more consistency here before he is ready for the next step. The effort level is just not there every night. Needs to step it up and play hard every night and not be outplayed by AHL plugs and PTOs. The fire just is not there.
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He signed a standard AHL contract with the Comets today so he will be here the rest of the season.
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Why not? A couple of reasons. First why have him hit 40 games and speed up free agency by a year when he is seeing limited ice time and needs further development. Second this is a perfect opportunity to reset his development. Send him back to the WHL now and let him start the year next season in the AHL if he doesn't look NHL ready next September. It would be a natural development progression. If he stays in the NHL the full season it makes it that much more difficult to send him down to the AHL next year even if that is the best thing for him. That demotion would be much more difficult to accept than a development reset now.
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Agree 100%. Jake was rushed to the NHL before he was ready. Physically he may be ready but mentality probably not. Rushing a kid that is not mentality ready is risking his development and can do more damage than good. Jake played 10 games for the Comets in the playoffs last year and 2 more this year in a conditioning assignment. In 12 AHL games Jake has a grand total of one assist. I can't believe they plan on bringing him back up to Vancouver after WJC. He should go back to the WHL and then to the AHL next year and work on his offensive game while learning under Travis Green. Jake hopefully will still turn out to be a special player but they need to reset his development schedule and not risk it by throwing him into situations that he isn't ready for too soon.
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Jake will be AHL eligible next season and the Canucks would be wise to have him start the year in Utica. He was rushed to the NHL before he was ready and that can backfire if a kid isn't ready yet. Jake wasn't ready.
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Mike holds his own but doesn't dominate from the dot. Just plays a hard complete game and brings it every shift. Wins the majority of the wall battles with quick feet, hands and physical play. A tireless worker with plenty of offensive upside.
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I agree completely which is why patience is needed with the younger prospects. They need to spend enough time in the AHL working on all parts of their game before they are ready to play at the next level and most importantly play well enough to stay. I think Zalewski could easily replace Cracknell in the roster but as long as Adam stays healthy and playing well I don't see it happening. When the Canucks signed Cracknell last summer I figured for sure that this was a depth signing and he would be playing most of the year in Utica but he has played well enough to stay in the NHL. At this point I don't expect to see him in Utica at all. With the Canucks basically a cap team the $575K salary that Cracknell gets will keep him there. I'm sure Mike would be more than willing to sign a NHL deal for the same $575K but as long as Cracknell stays healthy or doesn't get traded it will remain the status quo. Next year maybe things will change. I do think Mike would bring a better skill set to the table than Prust but Mike is not a fighter and as long as the Canucks value that ability from Prust I don't see Mike replacing him. Z is a better skater and great on the forecheck and a better overall player but lacks the toughness that Prust brings. Mike would make the 4th line more productive though.
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The biggest issue with Gaunce is consistency. Not consistency in results but consistency in effort and creating opportunities. Once he improves on the later the results will come. Gaunce had a great game last night and stepped up to take charge when the Comets had a depleted roster which was a very good sign. He needs to do this every night to be ready to move up to the next level and stay there. This is why I am so big on Zalewski. Mike has NHL skills and never takes a shift off on either end of the ice.
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It's called the owners of the individual CHL teams do not want to give up their high end guys that sell tickets for them. If an 19 year old that was drafted from anyplace other than the CHL can be assigned to the AHL a player drafted out of the CHL should be as well.
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The Comets were physically dominated by a bigger Bridgeport team on Saturday. Green was vocal with his displeasure about the lack of push back from several Comet players and made some changes in the lineup for the game today. When the best effort comes from Wacey Hamilton, Carter Bancks, Mike Zalewski and Alex Friesen the "high end prospects" should be embarrassed. Those four guys will always be the first to the puck along the wall or in the corners knowing they will take a hit and more often than not they end up maintaining possession of the puck. The rest of the forward group conveniently holds back to be second to the puck and avoid the hit. This type of soft play will not be taken lightly by Travis Green and will not get you to the NHL and more importantly keep you there.
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Scratched. Three games in three days and he didn't put out a great effort on Saturday.
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You might want to take it a little slower. College goalies need some time before they are ready to jump into the NHL. Remember how many teams were drooling over Matt O'Connor from Boston University last year including Vancouver. He signed with Ottawa because they offered him early NHL playing time. How is he doing in his first pro season? So far with the Binghamton Senators in the AHL he has lost his first 5 games with a 4.24 GAA and 0.865 Save %. Now Demko is a better prospect than O'Connor but it is an adjustment going from college to pro hockey.
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You can actually dress three goalies in the NCAA. Most teams have a #1 that get most of the starts and others go with a 1a and 1b. If you have someone as hot as Demko you are going to ride him as much as possible.
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Most ECHL rosters are made up of players signed by the ECHL team and are not property of any NHL or AHL team. A hand full of players are assigned to them by a NHL or AHL team. ECHL affiliations are mush looser than AHL affiliations. Archie signed an ECHL contract with Kalamazoo so Vancouver and Utica no longer have his rights and he is free to sign a deal with any AHL team than may be interested in signing him mid season.
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I agree. Archie was a fan favorite and will be missed.
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Solid confidant and in control is the way I would describe it. During the first couple of minutes at the start of the game he looked like he was fighting the puck a bit but he quickly settled down an was in control the rest of the way. Markstrom's numbers after a loss are outstanding and tonight he proved again that you want him right back out there for a bounce back performance.
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All in all not a bad game for Virtanen last night. The biggest positive that I saw was his willingness to take the body and finish his checks. He wasn't timid about hitting anyone out there. The biggest negative was he looked unsure of himself on the half wall in the defensive zone. Wasn't effective at clearing the zone when a Barons defenseman pinched in and trapped him there. He didn't get a ton of ice time during stretches of the 2nd period because of penalties and special teams play or in the 3rd period with the game on the line. His overall play if you take out the positive and negative I mentioned was just okay but that is what you would expect from an 18 year old kid playing in his first professional game against older players. He will be in the line up again on Wednesday and Green was quoted that he will try and get him on the ice more often....one step at a time. If the Comets win and advance Virtanen could find a regular spot in the line up. My seats are not very close to the tunnel where the Comets enter the ice and where the scratched players stand but it looked from my viewpoint that Carter Bancks was standing there with crutches watching the game.
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I agree with you that Markstrom does play too deep in the net but from everything I read that is where Rollie wants him to play. He is a monster but doesn't always use his size to his advantage. I guess playing deep keeps you in a better position for rebounds and makes you less susceptible to backdoor plays but I would like to see him play more aggressive to the shooter. Markstrom has bounced back from bad games all year so I expect him to play well on Wednesday.
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Signed for two years by the Canucks. http://www.generalfanager.com/players/1874
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Markstrom, Clendening, Corrado and Biega who were all in Vancouver on trade deadline day were transactioned to Utica. Baertschi and Conacher were traded for and assigned to Utica. Edit. Kenins was papered to Utica too. Don't think McMillan was ever assigned to Utica.
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Only players on an AHL roster at 3pm on trade deadline day are eligible for the AHL playoffs. This can be done with a paper transaction and the player never leaves the NHL team or by actually sending the player down. Bo Horvat was not on the Comets roster on trade deadline day. I don't believe it was even possible to paper transaction Bo to the Comets on March 2 because he wasn't AHL age eligible this season.
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No, Bo is not eligible to play for the Comets even if Vancouver is eliminated from the playoffs. Only players that were on the Comets roster on the NHL trade deadline date (either physically in Utica or sent down on a paper transaction) are eligible. Bo couldn't be sent down with a paper transaction because he wasn't AHL age eligible this season. If he had been in London all season he could have joined the Comets as soon as London's season ended but because he was in Vancouver all season I'm pretty sure that he would need to be on the AHL roster on trade deadline day like everyone else to be eligible.
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The Comets arrived in Chicago yesterday to prepare for the first playoff game tomorrow against the Wolves. The flight from Chicago to Calgary is not that bad.
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Archie is a fast skater....once he gets going. He is not quick. His first stride is slow and just cannot turn on a dime when needed. The other issue is he has hands of stone when it comes to receiving passes. He actually has a deceptively good shot but his issues receiving passes would be a problem.
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This is a post from Bad Goalie on HF Boards that is worth sharing. It speaks volumes about the attitude and motivation that Sven Baertschi brings to the rink. "Guess who was the first guy to take the ice at practice today? Sven Baertschi. Second guy? Cory Conacher. Is it a coincidence that the two guys brought in to upgrade the Utica roster would be the first two guys on the ice? They know what it takes to get it done. Soon to come aboard behind them were Shinkaruk, Gaunce, LaBate, and Hutton. Youth following the leaders?"