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2023-24 Utica Comets and ECHL thread

Bad Goalie

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Jan 2, 2014
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forceten said:
I think it's probably a bad idea to ink things on stone. First, the ink doesn't take well to stone. Second, stone is heavy and no longer really used for contracts or other forms of agreement conveyance. Third, stone is heavy, and fourth, it would probably have to be stored outside and the little ink you got on it would be washed away.

I think one would be asked to go to the ECHL, yes, unless there's some different roster arrangement possible in the AHL. While all five are on NHL contracts , two have their ELC expire (Daws, Schmid) and cannot be forced without their permission, the alternative is to sit there and rot. Playing is the best remedy. Poulter, Brennan, and Malek will remain on ELCs next season (Poulter in his final season).
Click to expand...
I fully understand someone one would be asked to go to the ECHL, but they are not required to say yes. Kallgren (though not necessarily a good comparison) was on an NHL 2-way this season and regardless of the revolving door of keepers that came through Utica, he never left. He rarely played, only 16 games and sat in the well on a few backup rolls. I see Schmid having a real serious problem
after having played 43 games in NJ, an additional 9 Stanley Cup playoff games including winning a playoff series vs the NY Rangers, and then being asked to go play for Adirondack in the ECHL. I think regardless of any kind of comparison between the play of Poulter and Schmid, Poulter is once again the odd man out.

For those who don't know it, he was the best Utica keeper this season.

Poulter - 28 GP - 17W/8L - 2.55 GAA - .911 SAV%
Daws - 10 GP - 2W/6L - 2.89 GAA - .890 SAV%
Schmid - 23 GP - 9W/8L - 3.06 GAA - .894 SAV%
Kallgren - 16 GP - 4W/6L -3.62 GAA - .872 SAV%

Last stats I have seen for this season's ECHL playoffs:
1.02 GAA/.958 SAV%
To quote a line I have seen frequently on these boards about various players playing in given leagues, "He's too good for the ECHL."
 
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Bad Goalie said:
I fully understand someone one would be asked to go to the ECHL, but they are not required to say yes. Kallgren (though not necessarily a good comparison) was on an NHL 2-way this season and regardless of the revolving door of keepers that came through Utica, he never left. He rarely played, only 16 games and sat in the well on a few backup rolls. I see Schmid having a real serious problem
after having played 43 games in NJ, an additional 9 Stanley Cup playoff games including winning a playoff series vs the NY Rangers, and then being asked to go play for Adirondack in the ECHL. I think regardless of any kind of comparison between the play of Poulter and Schmid, Poulter is once again the odd man out.

For those who don't know it, he was the best Utica keeper this season.

Poulter - 28 GP - 17W/8L - 2.55 GAA - .911 SAV%
Daws - 10 GP - 2W/6L - 2.89 GAA - 2.89 SAV%
Schmid - 23 GP - 9W/8L - 3.06 GAA - .894 SAV%
Kallgren - 16 GP - 4W/6L -3.62 GAA - .872 SAV%

Last stats I have seen for this season's ECHL playoffs:
1.02 GAA/.958 SAV%
To quote a line I have seen frequently on these boards about various players playing in given leagues, "He's too good for the ECHL."
Click to expand...

I wouldn’t worry about it now/yet because we don’t how the goalie situation will shake out.

And if you don’t want Poulter traded, you’re in luck, because I don’t see how he will be. Poulter doesn’t have enough trade value to make it worthwhile.
 
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Time for Game 4 and it’s a battle of the back-ups as Brodeur is in as well as Norfolk’s Oskari Salminen (ELC w/ Winnipeg).
Giant Finn vs wee Brodeur offspring, who stands taller?



Good guys struck first in the 1st.

Ghantous (Middendorf) 1-0



And another in the 1st

Smith (Middendorf) 2-0



After giving up two earlier in the 2nd, the Thunder take back the lead in late in the period.

Smith (Hirano, Skeoch) 3-2



Norfolk turns it on in the 3rd but Brodeur ain’t having it.


After 11 Norfolk shots, which included a long 5v3 PP for them, the Thunder does this with their second shot of the 3rd period.

Harper (Hirano) 4-2



And this one makes the Norfolk goalie smash his own stick in disgust.

Wheeler (Smith, Walker) 5-2



It’s been a Screw You Home Fans series for all 4 games, let’s keep that trend going a bit longer for Game 5 on Saturday (vs a better Norfolk goalie unfortunately)


Shots were better this game.
IMG_6665.jpeg
 
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Right back at it with Game 5 with the starters back in net.

Buckle up for some low event hockey folks!

The line-up


1st Period
Adirondack take two penalties, lose the shot battle 5-9.

2nd Period
Adirondack gets three PPs and does jackshit with them.
The Good News is they win the shot count 13-6.
The Bad News is the bad guys score. *sob*

From the bad guys feed
McDougall (Golder, Kuzmin) 0-1


3rd Period
Down 0-1, time to dig deep and get #GoalsForPoult ! And they answer the with this deflection.

Hirano (Harper, Stief) 1-1


Then, boom, first lead of the game and they silence the home crowd yet again.

Smith (Harper, MacKinnon) 2-1



Poulter shuts the door.



And the home crowd get nothing but pain yet again.
A good time for the first home win of the series is Game Six on Tuesday.


Shots
IMG_6682.jpeg
 
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Game 6 baby! Can the Adirondack Thunder punch their ticket to the ECF?

The hype!
IMG_6866.jpeg


The line-up!
IMG_6867.jpeg


1st Period
Well that was fast! Good guys score on their second shot.

Engras (Ghantous, Broughman) 1-0



Poults locks it down


2nd Period
Oh Noes! Bad guys tie it up on the power play.

Fleurent (Katic, Smirnov) 1-1


2:41 minutes later the Thunder take the lead back!

Ashbrook (Harper, Hirano) 2-1



Late in the 2nd the Thunder increase their lead on the power play.

Engras (Ghantous, Smith) 3-1
 
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ECHL Playoff goalie stats (3 game min)

IMG_6870.jpegIMG_6871.jpeg

And yes, that’s our Cam Johnson (2018 undrafted FA signing by Shero).

IMG_6873.jpegIMG_6874.jpeg

Johnson’s important stats are these post-season ones:
IMG_6875.jpeg

Florida won the Kelly Cup in 2022 & 2023 and Johnson was the MVP both times.
IMG_6876.jpeg
 
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Bad Goalie

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Monsieur Verdoux said:


Click to expand...


5/15/2024
Dan MacKinnon: “I do believe the Utica Comets in 24-25 are going to be a more balanced team. And, stronger in all areas. And, a little more experienced.”

I'm curious as to what gives him these expectations. The Comets so far have added nothing that gives any evidence of this. As of now there are 19 players signed who will or could be Comets.

5 are rookies:
4 are on 1st yr NJ ELCs
1 - Josh Filmon (LW)
2 - Seamus Casey (RD)
3 - Dylan Wendt (RW)
4 - Mikael Diotte (LD)

The 5th is on the 1st of a 2-yr AHL contract
5 - Jack Malone (RW/C)

- Andre Ghantous would be a rookie if signed. He played 3 games for the Comets at the end of his NCAA season with Northern Michigan. He has been a big part of the Adirondack Thunder's march to the ECHL Eastern Conference Finals. I have been pushing for the Devils to sign this kid up or at least get him inked to an AHL deal before someone else does.

3 are still on their NJ ELCs:
6 - Chase Stillman (RW) - 54 GP > 14G/10A/54Pts - .44PPG
7 - Daniil Misyul (LD) - 44 GP > 4G/10A/14Pts - .32 PPG
8 - Topias Vilen (LD/RD) - 54 GP > 2G/27A/29Pts - .54 PPG

7 more on NJ 2-ways:
9 - Ryan Schmelzer (C) - 72GP > 18G/34A/52Pts - .72 PPG
10 - Dustin Dowling (C) - 57GP > 14G/26A/40Pts - .70 PPG
11 - Brian Halonen (LW) - 35GP > 20G/9A/29Pts - .83 PPG
12 - Max Willman (LW) - 33GP > 12G/10A/22Pts - .67 PPG
13 - Shane Bowers (C) - 43GP > 10G/4A/14Pts - .33 PPG
14 - Sam Laberge (LW) - 59GP > 6G/13A/19Pts - .32 PPG
15 - Nathan Legare (RW) - 15GP > 2G/1A/3Pts - .20 PPG

1 more is on an AHL contract:
16 - Joe Gambardella (LW) - 61GP > 9G/20A/29Pts - .48 PPG

The last 3 are goalies 1 is on an ELC and the other 2 are currently RFAs, but Fitz said when he sent them down that they would be the goalies in Utica next season preparing their games for the NHL. Most interesting is that the 3rd kid was the best in Utica of the 3 this past season.
17 - Isaac Poulter (G) - 28GP > 2.59 GAA/.911 SAV%
18 - Nico Daws (G) - 10GP > 2.89 GAA/.890 SAV%
19 - Akira Schmid (G) -23GP > 3.06 GAA/.894 SAV%

Still lurking on the outside is
Graeme Clarke (RW) - 67GP > 25G/24A/49Pts - .73 PPG
He is an RFA. If/when he signs, I believe NJ will reassign him to Utica in their big purge at the end of camp and he will be a Comet. The only way he gets claimed is if someone stat. watched, but didn't watch him play.
With Clarke that's 20 players. I would hope Ghantous gets added to that total making it 21.

This still leaves:
#3 scorer Xavier Parent unaccounted for 71GP >15G/30A/45Pts - .63 PPG
#4 scorer Kyle Criscuolo 63GP > 16G/26A/42Pts - .67 PPG

AHL UFAs
Filip Engaras (C) 53 GP > 6G/6A/12 Pts - .23 PPG
Timur Ibragimov (LW) 35GP > 6G/7A/13Pts - .37 PPG
Erik Middendorf (LW) 24 GP > 4G/5A/9Pts - .38 PPG

2 RFA D-men:
Hatakka (LD/RD) 48GP > 5G/15A/20Pts - .42 PPG
Vukojevic (LD) 49 GP >3G/7A/10Pts - .20PPG
and
3 UFA D-men
Wotherspoon (NJ 2-way, LD/RD) 65GP > 4G/18A/22Pts - .34 PPG
Russo (AHL UFA) 69GP > 4G/26A/30Pts - .43 PPG
Will MacKinnon (AHL UFA) 40GP > 3G/3A/6Pts - .15 PPG

This group of players Finished 1 point out of the North Division cellar.
They scored 221 goals and gave up 226.
Their PP ranked #31 out of 32 AHL teams.
Their record in OT contesets was 2-5 and 2-6 in Shootouts.
Their top scorer was not one of the outsiders NJ brought in to bolster the lineup nor a top scoring prospect. Nope, he was a NJ discard of the past who has moved himself up higher and higher in the center echelon in 3 seasons here and become the hardest working and most productive player on the roster, RYAN SCHMELZER. NJ took notice and recently signed him to a 2-yr NJ 2-way contract that will pay him better money as a reward for his work and leadership. His 52 points ranked #43 among the AHL scorers. That shouldn't be the best your team can produce. Ryan is on paper a #3 center who in all 3 seasons has been used as the #2 and often the #1 center on the team and he has performed admirably under the pressure and may have earned a spot in the top 2 unless NJ signs the #1 they have not done as of yet in their 3 years here.

Their top goal scorer netted 25 while the league's best was ex-Comet Adam Gaudette with 44 and the tops in points was Mavrik Bourque with 77. The Comets were far off the pace.
If this is the bulk of the team MacKinnonn is talking about, the experience will be the year they just played. I'm not putting a lot of weight on that.

The balance will be below the divsion and league leaders.

I don't see a reason for much stronger production from the same bunch and they will still be weak on the puck, poor stick handlers, and lacking in board strength and physicality. These were major problems this past season and a I don't see how that magically changes.

They currently only have 3 veterans signed so they can pick up 2 more and a veteran exempt. Maybe there will be some scoring punch in there and maybe a top level AHL center. I'm sure GM MacKinnon will sign his usual bunch of players to AHL 2-ways and send most of them to the ECHL. That's where the likes of Engaras, Ibragimov, and Middedndorf, and MacKinnon will end up. There will be several othersa who Utica will see little of unless the team faces extreme disasters in call-ups and injuries.

I'm not going to hold my breath, but I will be back in my seat hoping for the best and urging the boys on.
 
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Bad Goalie

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Jan 2, 2014
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forceten said:
Can we make the name of this thread in the future naming both teams? Like 2024-25 Utica Comets and Adirondack Thunder Thread? Or do we have other ECHL stashes
Click to expand...
No, you make 2 threads.

1 for the AHL Utica Devils.
1 for the ECHL Adirondack Thunder.

That's not a hard thing to do.
They deserve their own commentary.

NHL is NHL.
AHL is AHL.
ECHL is ECHL.

There's no reason to slight anyone. I have wondered why it wasn't such anyways. It doesn't do a thing to the overall page to simply add another thread.
 
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forceten

forceten

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I'd be down with that.

BTW - thanks for the roster analysis. I think you actually proved the point Dan McK was trying to make - the new guys coming in will be a breath of fresh air. I think they're going to be active in the FA market too.
 
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Bad Goalie said:
No, you make 2 threads.

1 for the AHL Utica Devils.
1 for the ECHL Adirondack Thunder.

That's not a hard thing to do.
They deserve their own commentary.

NHL is NHL.
AHL is AHL.
ECHL is ECHL.

There's no reason to slight anyone. I have wondered why it wasn't such anyways. It doesn't do a thing to the overall page to simply add another thread.
Click to expand...

Eh, I’ve only spamming about the Thunder because they had the best record in the Eastern Conference and are making a deep playoff run while their parent clubs missed the postseason. I don’t see that happening all the time (hopefully not the latter at least lol).

I think a minor league thread makes the most sense, there’s not enough interest for an ECHL only thread.

I never discuss the ECHL-only guys, because who cares, I mentioned things like Vilén blowing up his 6 games there or when a guy with upside like Ghantous was scoring a ton.

The ECHL playoffs will be well over by the time free agency starts.
 
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