Kevo882 Posted April 28, 2014 Author Share Posted April 28, 2014 Team should be exciting, but I'd say "stacked" is a little premature. Lots of young rookies (i.e., Shinkaruk, Gaunce, Fox, Zalewski, and McEneny), so it's going to be an inexperienced team. As has been mentioned, it'd be good to bring back some of the AHL vets, whether as Canucks signings or Comets signings. I petition for Bomber to come out of retirement to be player-assistant coach to help the young guys on defence. RFAs: Kassian, Tanev, Schroeder, Weber, Dalpe, Andersson, Archibald, Cannata, Sauve, deFazio - who gets re-signed? Personally, I can see all being re-signed, or qualified (one or the other). UFAs: Santorelli, Alberts, Biega, Ferreiro, Pelletier, Stuart, Welsh - who gets re-signed? I can see Santorelli, Biega, Ferreiro being re-signed. Pelletier would be great for AHL veteran presence, so maybe he gets re-signed by the Canucks, or he signs with Utica on an AHL contract. If these re-signings occur, then yah, the depth on the Comets will be very good for AHL standards. Sauve is done. Hasn't shown enough promise. If we re-sign Dalpe, it'll be two-way. Agree with the UFAs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevo882 Posted April 28, 2014 Author Share Posted April 28, 2014 Shinkaruk - Pelletier - Jensen Fox - Gaunce - O'Reilly Archibald - Friesen - Grenier DeFazio - Lain - Kenins Welsh, Mallet Cederholm - Tommernes Sauve - Biega Andersson - McEneny Eriksson Cannata Jensen will be in Vancouver for the full year next season unless he severely underperforms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c00kies Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 He was a rookie this year in the WHL. He'll be back in Portland next year. Most likely, but the question was whether or not he was eligible, which he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehd Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 I'm looking forward to this years farm team. I never was before, but now that we can control the team, it's going to be great to see these kids develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merci Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 After hearing about how Tampa Bay and Detroit are calder champions with their youth teams its excting to imagine the comets have gaunce fox and shinkaruk next year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horvat Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Other more proven skilled guys who deserve the top 6 spots. Oh really? Like who? Did you even watch zewleski play in the canucks last 2 games? He setup for 3 goals in the last one, he should be on the 2nd line in utica next year along with kenins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkyard Dog Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Don't have high expectations for their first year since it will be a transitional year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lui's Knob Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Utica has been a great fan base so they will get a good team in 1-2 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonecoldstevebernier Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Oh really? Like who? Did you even watch zewleski play in the canucks last 2 games? He setup for 3 goals in the last one, he should be on the 2nd line in utica next year along with kenins. So your reasoning for Zalewski being in Utica's top 6 is that he played well in two games? He won't be handed a spot because of that. The team will likely have 3 veteran forwards (could involve Pelletier, O'Reilly, Ferriero, or Stuart, could be new players) plus Grenier and Archibald (maybe Jensen), and then Shinkaruk, Gaunce, and Fox who I'm sure the Canucks all want to see getting good minutes. I think Utica will see a lot of shuffling with their lines to find chemistry, so maybe Zalewski clicks with somebody and winds up in the top 6, but he's got a few players ahead of him on the depth chart. I hope he does well though, as a local kid there. Should be a fan favourite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamJamIam Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 I just love reading how excited all of you are about your prospects playing IN UTICA! Thank YOU! Keeping with the thoughts of resigning veterans, this Comets team would not have had the season they had WITHOUT: DeFazio, O'Reilly, Pelletier, Biega and Huskins. Of these, ALL were the spark this team needed. Their leadership combined with these incoming prospects, should make for a very exciting 2014-15 campaign. We are now 2 weeks removed from hockey here in Utica, yet, the fans here are already talking about next season. I will try to keep you posted on the events going on in Utica that are Comets related. Utica after all ended up in the race for the playoffs after a truly abysmal start. These guys definitely played a big role in turning things around and mentoring the prospects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utica Fan Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Having Zalewski play in Utica will send this city into Comet's Mania or "Comet's Craze". There is nothing better than having a hometown kid playing in front of the hometown crowd. This city will be electric if he plays here. The downside to this: We need a bigger building. There won't be enough seats. I sure do hope they put in the additional seating they talked about last season. Having Zalewski play here will put a exclamation point behind that demand. Comet's tickets will be even harder to come by now and we may just have every home game sold out next season. Drop the puck already..going through Comet's withdrawl down here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashian Kassian Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Having Zalewski play in Utica will send this city into Comet's Mania or "Comet's Craze". There is nothing better than having a hometown kid playing in front of the hometown crowd. This city will be electric if he plays here. The downside to this: We need a bigger building. There won't be enough seats. I sure do hope they put in the additional seating they talked about last season. Having Zalewski play here will put a exclamation point behind that demand. Comet's tickets will be even harder to come by now and we may just have every home game sold out next season. Drop the puck already..going through Comet's withdrawl down here. I hear ya. Its exciting having a high draft pick, but the draft, then after that training camp, can't come fast enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BureisBest Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 "Stacked" is a very strong word for a team that just had its inaugural season and missed the playoffs. What they will be getting is an injection of young talent. They certainly need to keep veterans like Huskins, Pelletier, O'Reilly, Ferriero, and Stuart to not only lead the team, but to teach these young kids like Shinkaruk and Gaunce what it means to be a pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keslerific Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 "Stacked" is a very strong word for a team that just had its inaugural season and missed the playoffs. What they will be getting is an injection of young talent. They certainly need to keep veterans like Huskins, Pelletier, O'Reilly, Ferriero, and Stuart to not only lead the team, but to teach these young kids like Shinkaruk and Gaunce what it means to be a pro. I'd rather have the Sedins and Kesler do that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrChill Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Is it better for Big Cedar to play big minutes in Portland, or play average in Utica? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamJamIam Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 "Stacked" is a very strong word for a team that just had its inaugural season and missed the playoffs. What they will be getting is an injection of young talent. They certainly need to keep veterans like Huskins, Pelletier, O'Reilly, Ferriero, and Stuart to not only lead the team, but to teach these young kids like Shinkaruk and Gaunce what it means to be a pro. Stacked is an overstatement but this team only missed the playoffs because it was the first year of the revived Comets and no one was on the same page to start the season. We also had to add some vets like O'Reilly and our prospect pool at the AHL level was MUCH lower quality because most of our best prospects were in the WHL and OHL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UticaHockey Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 "Stacked" is a very strong word for a team that just had its inaugural season and missed the playoffs. What they will be getting is an injection of young talent. They certainly need to keep veterans like Huskins, Pelletier, O'Reilly, Ferriero, and Stuart to not only lead the team, but to teach these young kids like Shinkaruk and Gaunce what it means to be a pro. I'll settle for "much improved", "exciting to watch" and hopefully hockey in Utica that lasts well into May next season. I'm looking forward to seeing how these new guys look and how well they blend with the returning players. Season two should be fun to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derp... Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Is it better for Big Cedar to play big minutes in Portland, or play average in Utica? Pretty sure he's not Eligible is he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asian player Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Pretty sure he's not Eligible is he? He's euro so i think he always has been Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utica Fan Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 "Stacked" is a very strong word for a team that just had its inaugural season and missed the playoffs. What they will be getting is an injection of young talent. They certainly need to keep veterans like Huskins, Pelletier, O'Reilly, Ferriero, and Stuart to not only lead the team, but to teach these young kids like Shinkaruk and Gaunce what it means to be a pro. this post should be rewritten to read: "for a young team that JUST MISSED the playoffs". I think they did pretty damn good for a group of players that never played together. Let's look at next season's team: A balanced group of veterans that have 1 year of Utica hockey experience under their belt. A coaching staff (Green and company) that also have a developed system in place with veterans that KNOW what he wants. Some up and coming prospects that had some stellar performances in "juniors" and ECHL. A goaltending tandem (Eriksson/Cannata) that carried this team to a playoff contender. I think the word "stacked" is a pretty good word to describe the possibility of a pretty strong team down here next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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