The Second 2019-20 Utica Comets Thread

[Bad Goalie]

36 stops by Bachie says the Bruins have not been pouring it on this period.

Mega get your Fridge going.

Gaunce allowed to, wallk down the left side and let fly from the circle for a goal.
2-1 Bruins

Comets had no use for a center with his touch. They had Jasek and Malone moving up. Didn't you know? Easily replace the dolt Gaunce.

We also heard it was time to move on from Gaunce as he was using up a valuable contract spot. I might have bough into that excuse except for 2 points of stark reality:
1) They didn't make room to give that contract to an incoming prospect center/forward with high expectations. In fact they didn't bring in a single new forward prospect! It was the same reason we heard for why they didn't sign 4 centers, contract slots! That was the excuse even though I produced a list of a host of centers who would have signed AHL contracts.

2)Most egregious was the fact that they did give a contract to ******* David Pope!!!!!!!!!!!! The contract was wasted on a flop that Johnson is now trying to con the Utica faithful into believing they have something there. BS!

 

[Bad Goalie]

Miller trade looking goood.

WTF?

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

I've been away from the game. TV TO upon my return. Still 1-1 with 13:40 to go.

Any change in the play of either team Megaman?

I'll have to rewatch the entire third period

 

[Bad Goalie]

All the credit people are handing out to Lind shpould be forced to watch him for at least 10 games. He can't complete a pass to save his ass under pressure. He misses on 9 of 10 of his 0-zone passes and usually because he never looks where he's passing it. In his own zone, his play with the puck is to just fling the grenade any direction he sees as open.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Comets ability to skate and find space for a pass seems like a foreign thought. When they pass the,puck it's usually to a guy with a man right on him. No surprise that it usually ends the rush.
When they make a clean pass it's incredible how many times the receiver mishandles it.
Bailey wants to go with it all alone.

Lind carries it until pressed and then gives it away as a turnover to the guy pressing him or a bad forced pass usually into traffic.

The D men can't hit the net.

 

[Bad Goalie]

S------C------O-----R------E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boucher! Who else?

2-2 with just over 2 minutes remaining.

HOCKEY GODS OR WHAT??????????????????

 

[Bad Goalie]

Those draws that don't matter sure eat up the Comets. Jasek and Lind and Perron and Malone and even Camper cannot win a draw!

 

[Bad Goalie]

Bachie a great save and draws a penalty.

Gaunce gets in for a 2 0n 1 and can't get a shot.

Now with 7 seconds to go Bailey gets one.

It will be a short even strength 3 on 3 55second stint to open the OT and then the Comets will be down a man. for close to a minute.

Perron/jasek/Rafferty
Rafferty gives it up trying to pass to himself.

Perron with a chance.

It's now a PP for the Bruins.

PP is over and it's 4 on 4.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Bailey and Lind with a 2 on 1 and that blows up.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Shootout coming.

Bachman with 41 saves on the night.

No whistle for the entire OT so other than the short PP for Providence it was a 4 on 4 OT.

 

[tyhee]

... This is the weakest defense corps the Comets have iced in their 7 seasons here. They are not strong on the puck. They are weak on the boards. They are walked like pylons game after game. They don't play the man nearly enough. They sink and are taken all the way to the net. Their clearing passes are way too weak and easily stopped by the opponents who just crank it up all over again. They are terrible tying up men in front and protecting the back door. They turn the puck over in their own zone with bad pass after bad pass. I think I said a D-corps this young in this league would destined to fail and they are fulfilling that expectation.

The head coach of the Comets is Trent Cull. He played 10 years as a D-man logging 438 AHL games where he amassed a whopping 70 points and 1049 PIM. He coached the D-men in Syracuse for 4 seasons before being named the Comets Head coach in 2017. This is 3rd year with the Comets and this kind of D has had a habit of occurring. It has never been worse than this season. With an ex-pro defenseman and a pro defense coach you would have to connect some of this to his personal failure and part to the management team in Vancouver/Utica for thinking this could actually work without a couple of solid vets.

Unfortunately, of the two parts you named to bear responsibility for the failure, the one more likely to be changed first is not the one that would ultimately solve the problem.

Change management first-the larger part of the problem leaves and allows the team to get a better coach. If Cull was 3rd or worse choice at the time he was hired, the likelihood is that it would be even tougher to get someone to accept the job now.

Change coaching first-the likelihood of getting a good coach isn't as good and the larger problem of poor construction means a new coach, even a good one, can probably only raise the level of the defence from poor to mediocre.

 

[Zombotron]

 

[DonnyNucker]

36 stops by Bachie says the Bruins have not been pouring it on this period.

Mega get your Fridge going.

Gaunce allowed to, wallk down the left side and et fly from the circle for a goal.
2-1 Bruins

Comets had no use for a center with his touch. They had Jasek and Malone moving up. Didn't you know? Easily replace the dolt Gaunce.

I don’t recall you being a Gaunce fan when he was a canuck. But now he is your hero

 

[Bad Goalie]

Providence's Robert Lantosi scores on the first effort.
Bachman stops the next 2, Paul Carey and Brendan Gaunce.
Perron and Baertschi are stopped.
Boucher given the chance to tie it up for the second night in a row. He too was stopped.

Comets lose back to back games in a shootout on successive nights without scoring a single goal.

Tonight the final score is 3-2. Bachman stops 41 of 43 shots.

Sadly the Providence 3 star selection leaves Bachman out and gives the lone Comets star to Juolevi because he had 2 assists. Maybe it's Goalie allegiance, but Bachman was the star of the Comets tonight, hands down. If you actually look at the 2 games the Comets played the last 2 nights, they had no business getting a point out of either of them particularly tonight. They were outplayed without question to night. The effort of Boucher was the only reason for their 2 goals. When the chips were down he scored the tying goal tonight and last night.

The Hockey gods were all over the Comets both nights, but they couldn't make themselves go all the way so, the Comets hero was stopped with their 3rd and final Shootout shot both nights.

2 points is the same as a split on the weekend. They also don't give 2 tinkers about giving the Bruins and Sound Tigers the 2 points, both non-division opponents. Take their 2 points and run.

 

[Bad Goalie]

The Comets get both Goldy and MacEwen back into the lineup for Monday's match with Bridgeport. It will give Cull the option to pencil in the same lineup the Comets ran with to start the season minus Gaudette.

Take Stevenson out of the lineup and replace him with MacEwen.

Move Perron back into the middle for either Malone or Jasek. Cull will sit Malone (just a hunch).

Goldy goes onto the left side and Bailey goes back to his natural RW.

My lineup would be as follows:
Goldobin/Jasek/Boucher
Baertschi/Camper/MacEwen
Gadjovich/Perron/Lind
Arseneau/Bancks/Bailey
(6 vets)

Any combo Cull wants on the back end is okay vets wise because they don't have any on D. Graovac would make 7, but it doesn't look like that could be a problem anytime soon.

The fact is the D will be the problem if they don't somehow get their act together. A strong offense disguised their shortcomings over the first 8 games. The opponents since that time have simply attacked the puck in the Comets zone and it's been a shooting gallery ever since.

 

[THRILLHOIAF]

I almost feel like I'm being oppresive sharing my recaps of this weekends games. No one should have to revisit two games that were just utter domination.

Amazing the Comets came away with any points this weekend.

Bachman's first goal allowed made me go "oh shit this is going to get ugly" but the guy was absolutely lights out for the entire game. Hard to fault him on the second goal considering the team in front of him elected to play pinball and sit completely still in the defensive end for 60 minutes straight.

Embarassing efforts in back-to-back outings, and somehow nothing will change. Sigh

Pretty stoked with my Office reference though, that was one of the few good things to come out of the Bruins loss.

My recaps in case you missed the games, here:
Friday: 12/6/19 – Utica Comets vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Saturday: 12-7-19 – Utica Comets vs. Providence Bruins

 

[Bad Goalie]

Why the Hell is Lind used to take the faceoffs with the first PP unit? He has won maybe 2. It's almost always the same. He loses the draw. The opponent shoots it the length of the ice and the Comets spend most of the rest of the PP trying to get across the blueline without going offsides, turning it over, or dumping it in with everyone stalled at the blueline and the opponent simply shoots it back down the ice.
On the right side someone else may take the draw. Those times the draw is won the Comets PP is pretty damned good. Especially if the draw goes to Boucher and he makes the play, a one timer or a pass to someone open down low. Goals come very quickly off the faceoff win on the right side.

 

[VanJack]

According to Google Maps, the distance between Utica and Providence is about 255 miles, or a bus trip of a little more than four hours. Assuming that the Comets left right after their game Friday against Bridgeport, that probably puts them in their hotel sometime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.

Not much wonder they were outshot 42-19 on the night......Hockey Gods smiled on them for even getting a point out of this game. Bachman's first start of the season was a doozy....but sometimes it takes an unconscious goalie to bail you out when the legs are gone.

Sounds like Juolevi had a strong game.....good to see.

 

[vanuck]

I don’t recall you being a Gaunce fan when he was a canuck. But now he is your hero

BG has generally praised him for his play over the past couple of seasons...

 

[go comets]

According to Google Maps, the distance between Utica and Providence is about 255 miles, or a bus trip of a little more than four hours. Assuming that the Comets left right after their game Friday against Bridgeport, that probably puts them in their hotel sometime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.

Not much wonder they were outshot 42-19 on the night......Hockey Gods smiled on them for even getting a point out of this game. Bachman's first start of the season was a doozy....but sometimes it takes an unconscious goalie to bail you out when the legs are gone.

Sounds like Juolevi had a strong game.....good to see.

It's the same for every team in the league, and is the norm. Overnight trips and 3 in 3 happen.

The overall problem is a poorly constructed team with little depth at key spots. They have 3 goalies and 2 centers.... A very inexperienced defence. That's all on management...

The marlies run all over the league with 2 busses full of players...



Canucks don't have brains enough to put 3 centers or a veteran Defenseman to mentor the kids......

 

[sting101]

Let me get this straight......Poorly constructed Poorly coached team with no centres and a horrible defense is top 10 in the AHL?

Boucher out 20%
Goldobin out 25%
Baertschi out 50%
Graovac out 75%
Juolevi out 35%
Camper out 35%
MacEwen out 45%
Sautner out 30%
Gadjovich out 60%

But but Marlies?? Like who do the Marlies have down the middle that is so enviable?

 

[go comets]

Let me get this straight......Poorly constructed Poorly coached team with no centres and a horrible defense is top 10 in the AHL?

Boucher out 20%
Goldobin out 25%
Baertschi out 50%
Graovac out 75%
Juolevi out 35%
Camper out 35%
MacEwen out 45%
Sautner out 30%
Gadjovich out 60%

But but Marlies?? Like who do the Marlies have down the middle that is so enviable?

No one said anything about a poorly coached team, can only do so much with what is here.
No one said anything about horrible defense, just no veteran leadership.
No one said anything about no centers, just not enough center depth.
Out of all the players listed, one is a Defenseman and one is a center.... Can't figure out why it's poorly constructed though.....

Goaltending is the only reason this team is where it is... Even during the early win streak it had to be strong....

We deal with reality here.... This is a very hard team to watch most games.... Never know which version of the comets will show up. Some games are absolutely appalling to watch....

 

[sting101]

No one said anything about a poorly coached team, can only do so much with what is here.
No one said anything about horrible defense, just no veteran leadership.
No one said anything about no centers, just not enough center depth.
Out of all the players listed, one is a Defenseman and one is a center.... Can't figure out why it's poorly constructed though.....

Goaltending is the only reason this team is where it is... Even during the early win streak it had to be strong....

We deal with reality here.... This is a very hard team to watch most games.... Never know which version of the comets will show up. Some games are absolutely appalling to watch....

lol...yes ok bud

Would gladly exchange my Giants tickets for Abbotsford Comets in a heart beat. Reality of AHL is the elite playyers go to the NHL and rosters get abused by the NHL teams which is the only reason they exist.

Oh well carry on....i dont mind sifting through the unnecessary complaining for useful reports and reasonable critical analysis....out

 

[VanJack]

Goldy and MacEwen have been sent down and should be in the lineup on Monday.....Assume that DiPietro has already been re-assigned and that Chatfield will join him as soon as Edler is back practicing.

So other than Gaudette, who only played a few games in Utica anyway and Graovac who's hurt, the same roster that got out to an 8-0 start will be back together. Hopefully the goal-scoring woes will be thing of the past.

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

Goldy and MacEwen have been sent down and should be in the lineup on Monday.....Assume that DiPietro has already been re-assigned and that Chatfield will join him as soon as Edler is back practicing.

So other than Gaudette, who only played a few games in Utica anyway and Graovac who's hurt, the same roster that got out to an 8-0 start will be back together. Hopefully the goal-scoring woes will be thing of the past.

Gaudette was never destined to play significant games in Utica anyway. Everyone here accepted this as fact even though he could have benefited greatly from 40 or 50 games of AHL seasoning.