2018-19 Utica Comets, Pt. III

Comets have been on a nice run lately despite all the injuries.

 

Marlies destroyed by the Crunch at home tonight 8-1.... Crunch are looking like the elite team in the division along with Rochester.

 

Some real positives in this game.

Liked

McEneny - very strong game every where. If he could skate a little better would be a very decent prospect. Very deft with the puck and his passing is excellent. Makes very good decisions with the puck. In this game had to bail out his team in their end numerous times. This was especially true when the hapless Camaneresi - Lind - McMaster - line was out. Asserted control over game from back end.

Graham - this player is an excellent skater who can use his wheels to control the play. Was a high end prospect going into Junior because of speed and agility. Was ok in Junior and was late NHL draft a few years ago. Since then has bounced around the minor leagues with mixed success. Issue has been his inability to handle people around his net b/c of lack of size. (as showed up in the second Providence goal in this game) Started the year in Utica poorly and was mostly benched but has come on in the last while and maybe the most improved player on the team. In this game was very good at pushing the play up ice.

Demko - looking solid. Did a much better job of sucking up rebounds and not fumbling with shots as he was when he first returned. Was the main factor in preventing Providence from converting all the chances they had on the PP.

Boucher - getting back to the form he showed before the injury. Besides the goals he moved the puck well and played ok on PK.

Did Not Like

McMaster - can't play at this level. Looked ok last year but he has done nothing this year. Not skating any where near as well as in the past. Supposedly an offensive player but can do very little with puck . Play just dies with him and he is brutal in his end. Needs to be gone

Lind - not ready at all for this level of play. Is not fast enough or not strong enough to compete. Seems like a player that was totally over-rated by Linden and the Canuck scouts. At this point has zero confidence with the puck.

Camaneresi - hasn't got a clue how to get the puck out of his end. Eliminated from the play with ease

Others

Brisebois - was given an increased role on the PK and was at least adequate. Seems to be throwing his weight around more and competing harder around his net. Loss of players like Sautner and Blujus might end up being helpful if a player like Brisebois can use the increase in time and responsibility to raise his game. Think he did so in this game

Gaunce - thought he was very strong in the early part of the game and used his reach well to break up plays. Skating tailed off in the second half of the game and he was less effective

MacEwen - thought he looked clumsy in the early going and was causing plays that led to some bad turnovers at his blue line (and these are the plays that lead to his minus totals and are the critical ones he must improve upon). Came on late and scored an a nice goal on an excellent shot. Question you ask is can he score like this at the next level?

Dahlen - was much better in passing the puck out of traffic. Did some good work leading to the first goal and forced the goalie into some outstanding saves. Showed again he is smart with the puck and has the skill to think out the best options. Play hurt by the number of Utica penalties leaving him on the bench for long stretches. I say put him on the PK.

Jasek - made a nice play on the second Boucher goal but otherwise pretty much AWOL.

Saucer man - guy isn't going to win skating contests or dazzle anyone with his wheels but overall he was fairly effective in this game. Like how he kept the play in front of him and moved puck quickly. Scored on an early seeing eye shot to get the team off on the right foot.

Kero - another good effort. Dependable player.

 

I'm just here for Saucer-Man.

 

Oh snap! Lol

 

Good gritty win with the team missing their top 2 defenders. PK came up huge in the 2nd period when the Comets took 6 straight penalties.

- Demko is just rock solid. I don’t think there’s been a legitimately weak goal on him since he came back from injury. Should be in the NHL and it should be an organizational priority to get rid of Nilsson for anything they can between now and the deadline.

- Archibald was the best Comet and was justly rewarded with an EN goal. Horse in both ends of the rink, several quality chances, yeoman work on the PK.

- Boucher does one thing but does it really well. Vulture in open space who can pounce on pucks and finish. 3 points tonight but still such a brutal skater. Is oddly effective on the PK, which I can’t really explain because his ES defense isn’t good.

- Dahlen continues to look really good on the PP and really invisible at ES. Rinse and repeat. Didn’t like a really selfish play late where he fired at the EN from his own blueline rather than pass it to an open teammate on his wing or take a hit to skate it to the blueline. Providence nearly scored off the ensuing icing.

- MacEwen scored but fought the puck tonight. Did think he skated well on the backcheck.

- Gaunce also skated really well and played an effective game.

- Lind is just awful right now. Probably even worse than Gadjovich who was somewhat surprisingly scratched after his best game. Simply can’t skate. Had one opportunity with 2 minutes left in the first to have a semi-break down the wing and was just skating in sand and reeled in so easily. Gets the puck on his stick in his own zone and is constantly caught and stripped before he can make a play. Out of his depth at this level.

- Saucerman is hilarious. Looks like a tubby beer league player or fat Christmas elf with a giant beard and stubby Hodgson legs. So distinctive on the ice. But actually played a really solid game and looks like an excellent PTO (unlike Dirk, who is awful). Moved the puck well, put shots toward the net, and defended aggressively and tried to push the play. Cull seemed to have confidence in him and played him a bunch including straight into the PK rotation. Suspect he might be around for awhile.

- if you slammed a drink every time Brisebois sent a bouncing puck to nobody when he had no ideas under a bit of forechecking pressure, you’d be tanked by the first intermission. Defensively is rarely out of position, but also rarely makes a great play to win possession or break up a play and push it forward. Always on the back foot.

- Graham looks like a completely different player from his first few games. Is really skating well and generating offence in transition for the team. Not a prospect but actually useful. 6 points in his last 9 games.

 

So yes, you have nothing to contribute as usual.

I’m sure they’re nice people. They’re really bad NHL hockey players.

 

Why is Granlund an NHL player?

Again, literally every metric you can imagine tells us that this player is not NHL caliber at any aspect of the game. His offensive production is abysmal. He bleeds goals defensively. He’a wretched on the PK. He stinks on the PP. He can’t win faceoffs.

The only reason he’s an ‘NHL player’ is because this team has shot itself in the foot by keeping gun on an NHL roster for 3 years.

And I’m not advertising Kero as a world-bearer or anything like that. But he can do better than the trash we’re getting from Granlund and has done better in the past.

Who has argued that?

The downfall of the organization is the completely incompetent GM who can’t evaluate talent or manage a salary cap. Who shits the bed in free agency every year. Who hasn’t found a capable NHL defender in 5 years.

However, this is a pretty in-depth discussion board where topical smaller issues are discussed and the role and progression of everyone in the organization is analyzed. And the idiocy of some of these smaller moves or decisions on lesser players is a Rosetta Stone into understanding how badly this team is run.

 

Oh snap! Lol

 

Really gotta give props to orcatown and MS for giving these game summaries at the AHL level. How you can stomach watching it I will never know but I'm glad you do.

 

Same goes for Bad Goalie and all the Utica posters - without their insights, we would have nothing to base our nitpicking on.

 

a legend was born...



and the roar was deafening

 

That's awesome. I am so happy there is.a professional hockey player who is basically my height and weight haha.

 

Did your spreadsheet tell you that? =P

So you like to call nice people turds or question their mental capacity. Got it. Nothing new from you here.

 

Yeah don’t think taking the moral high ground on a hockey forum works for you FAN

Good to hear Yukon Cornelius had a strong debut

 

Another win? what is happening? Demko must be more important than the lack of centers.
Sad about Lind thus far not sure nhl players start this bad in the Ahl. Hopefully OJ can come back strong and progress.

 

Speaking of Saucer-Man and Gritty, get a load of his Halloween costume:

 

I understand once you get past the first dozen picks in a draft you are often drafting based on some aspects a player does really really well at their current level. Lind was an offensive force so I understand that aspect and not knowing much about the player it seemed a good pick. It's clear that in addition to those things a player does really well they should also have acceptable skating ability. It doesn't appear Lind does. If he wants to progress in hockey beyond his first contract he's going to seriously concentrate on his skating.

And really he can look at his teammate Reid Boucher to see how skating ability is the difference between spot duty in the NHL and a $5+ million dollar guy in the NHL (honestly, despite his defensive issues if he could skate he'd be a 30 goal scorer in the NHL every year).

 

From the reports it sounds like saucyman plays pretty much just like biega does in the nhl

 

I'm still hoping Artyom Manukyan makes it, so I can say the same thing.

 

But without Bulldog's wheels. I forgot how well Biega skated until he came back down to Utica fr a couple games in October. Saucerman has been a fun story and scoring his first goal added to the growing legend but watching him skate told me why he is on a PTO with his sixth AHL team and has never played more than a few games before being released.

 

Blujus couldn't buy a spot on the roster at the beginning of the year. So to compare his +- to the other D isnt really a fair assessment.

 

It seems to me that the addition of Demko happened within a game or two of the switch of Gaunce to center.

With Gaunce finally moved to center, the Comets have a solid top six center in Kero, a middle-six (possibly better?) center in Gaunce and a depth or 4th line center in Darcy. It's still below what it should be, but if the team could add Gaudette or Hensick and keep everyone healthy and on the Comets (dreaming the impossible dream) the centre position would be ok.

Adding Gaunce at the center position means Darcy doesn't have to play so far over his head on the second line and the Comets don't have to play someone who really doesn't belong in the league on the 3rd line as well as the 4th.

This ship has sailed, but add Gagner to Kero and Gaunce and imo the position would be a team strength.