The Utica Comets | 2020-2021 Thread

[lawrence]

Buffalo taking Quinn over the far superior player on his team in Marco Rossi was mind boggling.

Add to the fact they just drafted somewhat of a similar player a year ago in cozens. Bracket was probably loling when that happened.

Recovering from my 2nd COVID vaccine. Feel like I ran a marathon without training for it. Not going to see many more posts than this one today, but I have to say I find nothing to disagree on in this post. I think much of it agrees with things I have said in past posts or in other threads.

Job well done, orca! It is rewarding to see I'm not the only one seeing what I see.

This is especially true of the recent play of Eliot and Teves. Vs the level of competition they are facing this season, they are starting to look like they could become AHL worthy. However, that current "level of competition" is the big question. Would they look this improved vs the normal AHL competition vs this watered down version. We have no way of knowing until next season gets underway if it returns to a more normal season with no quarantine, no NHL Taxi Squads, no lending out AHL guys to other farms instead of Utica where they belong, and no combination AHL rosters where 2 teams have to have their prospects taken care of.

Glad you are doing well ! My sister In law took the vaccine Chinese vaccine btw felt dizzy for like 5 min she’s ok now. Father in law however felt dizzy, then ear was ringing then tiered as hell, but now is ok. Glad you’re ok.

 

[UticaHockey]

Thnx. What about you? Where do you stand with the vax?

Get the second dose next week. I had zero side effects with the first dose but hear that the second tends to be worse.

 

[UticaHockey]

No Comets games this weekend. Rochester had a player test positive after they played the Comets Wednesday.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Get the second dose next week. I had zero side effects with the first dose but hear that the second tends to be worse.

Ditto for me with the first one. Not so lucky with the second. I won't give you any details.
My wife and I both got negative side effects, but not the same ones. 48 hours occurs at 4 pm today. Not actually the real me yet, but I'm doing okay now.
My worst reactions were from midnight last night until around 8 this morning which was the opposite of what they told me. The worst they say happens within the first 24 hours and the next 24 you recover.

Best of luck to you. My 91-yr old Aunt got hers March 4th, and didn't have a single problem except fatigue on the first day cured by a 3-hr nap. Hope you are as lucky as her.

Either way it's nothing you can't handle and it's certainly preferable to the alternative. No LOL.

 

[Bad Goalie]

No Comets games this weekend. Rochester had a player test positive after they played the Comets Wednesday.

Damn! I was looking forward to a local hockey weekend.

There should be a silver lining in this cloud. The Comets aren't scheduled to play again until next Friday.

Hofer can get on the ice and get game ready.

Lind has been skating and maybe he'll be ready to go.

Might get Arseneau back to Arseneau. He should never have played the last game he played (3/3). He was still banged up from the 2/27 game with the Crunch. He played because without him the Comets would only have dressed 10 forwards.

Camreon can clear quarantine and get game ready.

Cull FINALLY smartened up and put Wesley up on the wing to form 4 lines instead of rotating centers and 7 D. That rotation BS was totally unnecessary and screwed up the chemistry that every line had been trying to develop as well as all 3 D-pairs.

 

[UticaHockey]

Not Vancouver property but helps the Comets very depleted roster.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Not Vancouver property but helps the Comets very depleted roster.

Couldn't come at a better time. He'll be ready for Friday/Saturday.

 

[Beauterham]

Couldn't come at a better time. He'll be ready for Friday/Saturday.

This has everything to do with Bozak returning from Injury. Schwartz and De la Rose are apparantly also on the verge of returning, so with a bit of luck the Blues will soon send 1 or 2 more players down. I've also read somewhere that the Blues are also trying to get Alex Toropchenko back to the US, so he might end up in Utica sooner or later.

 

[Bad Goalie]

This has everything to do with Bozak returning from Injury. Schwartz and De la Rose are apparantly also on the verge of returning, so with a bit of luck the Blues will soon send 1 or 2 more players down. I've also read somewhere that the Blues are also trying to get Alex Toropchenko back to the US, so he might end up in Utica sooner or later.

Bring 'em on down. The club has been playing games with 11 forwards dressed and Vancouver has done nothing to shore up the roster. They never even signed a single experienced proven forward beyond their prospects to start the season. Supposedly because ownership didn't want to spend money during the COVID crunch or something like that.

Joshua and/or Walker would also be welcome to return. LOL

I see Joshua and Santini were returned to the Taxi, but MacEachern was placed on IR.

They are also pissing away a year of development for their #3 goalie who has only played 38 pro games in his career and not a single one since 3/11/20 because they won't spend pennies to sign a backup goalie to sit in the Taxi while the kid plays in Utica.

 

[Catamarca Livin]

Bring 'em on down. The club has been playing games with 11 forwards dressed and Vancouver has done nothing to shore up the roster. They never even signed a single experienced proven forward beyond their prospects to start the season. Supposedly because ownership didn't want to spend money during the COVID crunch or something like that.

Joshua and/or Walker would also be welcome to return. LOL

I see Joshua and Santini were returned to the Taxi, but MacEachern was placed on IR.

They are also pissing away a year of development for their #3 goalie who has only played 38 pro games in his career and not a single one since 3/11/20 because they won't spend pennies to sign a backup goalie to sit in the Taxi while the kid plays in Utica.

What is Utica's record again 6-2-1? Is they are so poorly run what does that say about the rest of the teams? I amount of complaining for a winning team is impressive. Last years team was good as well. There are depth pieces in Manitoba and Laval as well as paying for players on call up squad. How many players should the Canuckd sign with no fans and few Ahl tv fans? They have a team to help develop prospects Utica team this year is doing that.

 

[bandwagonesque]

What is Utica's record again 6-2-1? Is they are so poorly run what does that say about the rest of the teams? I amount of complaining for a winning team is impressive. Last years team was good as well. There are depth pieces in Manitoba and Laval as well as paying for players on call up squad. How many players should the Canuckd sign with no fans and few Ahl tv fans? They have a team to help develop prospects Utica team this year is doing that.

Absolutely everything that happens in Utica is bad in itself, indicative of more bad things happening, and part of a conspiracy on the part of the parent club to undermine the team. Every game is an endless series of bad, low-effort plays inexplicably interrupted by goals.

 

[Bad Goalie]

What is Utica's record again 6-2-1? Is they are so poorly run what does that say about the rest of the teams? I amount of complaining for a winning team is impressive. Last years team was good as well. There are depth pieces in Manitoba and Laval as well as paying for players on call up squad. How many players should the Canuckd sign with no fans and few Ahl tv fans? They have a team to help develop prospects Utica team this year is doing that.

Enough to field a team every night. It's not the fault of the prospects in Utica that Benning has spent like a drunken sailor and Aqua has wrongly tightened the purse string on the farm.

I say wrongly because the guys on the taxi squad are making their AHL money. The only player in Manitoba is Silovs who should be in Jrs, but can't. The only guy in Laval is Brisebois. Those 2 salaries are not breaking the Vancouver bank. The fact is every one of those guys would have been paid that money to play in Utica anyways. Without St. Louis they would have had to cough up more bucks anyways. I have only been talking about an AHL/NHL tweener experienced D-man and a couple forwards. That would have been pennies to a billionaire. If he doesn't develop the kids effectively, he wastes every cent he spent on them to begin with.

In reality Benning has never used the Comets to develop anybody. The Comets have been a spot for him to stash his call-ups until they were needed. In the last 6 years since Henning, who has he sent to Utica that he considered serious material for the future Canucks? MacEwen, getting little game time, is the only Comets forward to land on the roster and stay there for a complete season. Toss out the others I may have overlooked in my haste to post this comment. He always signed vets to fill his vacancies. The good players down here were his reserve stash

St.Louis has been the saving grace for this team. All the Canucks sent to help the prospects was Baertschi. Care to inform me of whom else? The Comets are so lucky that they are only playing Syracuse and Rochester. The Amerks belong to Buffalo. The parent club is the league's worst. The Tampa team took the best the 'cuse had to the Taxi. So the Crunch are down as well. You have 3 down franchises playing each other exclusively.

I am only concerned with the prospects getting as much development as possible. Having the team down to 10 healthy forwards at one point and 11 for three games is piss poor management. It occurred because St. Louis had to call up the vet talent they brought in to help their prospects. Since Vancouver didn't acquire the same few for their side, the team ended up without enough players. There isn't an excuse for that. Lind has become impotent with the recall of Anas. Gadjovich is having a great season because there aren't any solid D-men to handle his physicality going to the net aside from the Syracuse goon, Witkowski.

You can easily see the reasons for so much of their success is the level of competition and in several games the work of their keepers Gillies from the Blues and surprisingly Kielly, especially in the OTs, were still the reason for their victories.

If you have followed my coverage of the games and my post game analyses you will note I have had high praise where it was due as always. I have also noted the flaws I have seen as always. orcatown and MS have been right in the same ball park. If you want to support Vancouver management, go right ahead. They have not taken care of the kids down here since Henning was fired.

 

[krutovsdonut]

Absolutely everything that happens in Utica is bad in itself, indicative of more bad things happening, and part of a conspiracy on the part of the parent club to undermine the team. Every game is an endless series of bad, low-effort plays inexplicably interrupted by goals.

and there are never any centres.

 

[vanuck]

Absolutely everything that happens in Utica is bad in itself, indicative of more bad things happening, and part of a conspiracy on the part of the parent club to undermine the team. Every game is an endless series of bad, low-effort plays inexplicably interrupted by goals.

"Nobody said this".

 

[THRILLHOIAF]

- best player on the ice for either team was Josh Teves. Best performance I've ever seen from him by a mile. Just an extremely intelligent, positive game - pushing the play at all times, great decisions with the puck, broke up multiple plays in the neutral zone, forced multiple turnovers. Created the first goal and his pairing with Eliot (who created the 2nd) was just terrific and if Corsi results were tracked in the AHL this pairing would have probably been 80%+.

I might know a guy who does that

Jumping to Conclusions: An Early Dive into the Stats of the Canucks AHL Prospects!

About to enter my tracking for the Rochester game. And will be putting out a 10GP recap of the AHL prospects.

Haven't followed up as much on HF as much as I've liked! But I'll try to drop my stuff as much as possible!

Teves/Eliot have come around this season, but total asterisk on the level of competition they're facing.
I'll still take the confidence-boosting effect of them getting consistent minutes at the AHL level. Instead of riding pine or being shuffled to the ECHL.

Utilizing Teves on the PK was a no-brainer. He's got good defensive chops and NHL skating, but his offensive IQ is severely lacking. Putting the reigns on him is the best thing Cull could do for him.

- Lockwood has hands of stone. Worked hard and got himself into good positions but it's a looooooooong upward journey to the AHL when you're almost 23 and have finishing skills this poor at the AHL level.

Lockwood could probably crack the NHL out of compete, skating, and defensive play alone. He's displayed great puck control under pressure and in-tight, but his shot leaves a lot to be desired.

Kind of like the reverse Zack MacEwen -- where Zack was NHL skating and all offence/zero defence, but Will is NHL skating with zero offence and all defence. Have liked him on the PK and his overall 20o ft. game

Conversely, Jack Quinn scored but I find him really unimpressive for a #8 overall pick and kind of a carbon copy of Niklas Jensen.

Quinn absolutely worked Gadjovich on a couple of shifts, but he's definitely not stood out that much. Solid skater, but yeah, for an 8th overall, I really expected a lot more. Mostly unnoticeable when he's not possessing the puck or taking stupid/dangerous penalties

and there are never any centres.

not wrong lol


Also the Rochester game going to OT/Shootout was total BS. ***On the game-tying goal, Jasek had a stick thrown into his skates right in front of the ref and yet...no call. Play should've been blown dead. Even the Amerk, who did it stopped skating because he thought a call was coming.

Reffing in these AHL games this season has been suspect as all hell.

 

[bandwagonesque]

"Nobody said this".

What I said actually differs very little from an average Bad Goalie post. I'm not kidding.

 

[F A N]

Buffalo taking Quinn over the far superior player on his team in Marco Rossi was mind boggling.

It was baffling. If he was 4 days older he would have been a 2019-eligible and probably wouldn't even have been drafted, then lucked into a situation where he finished off goals next to the most elite playmaker in the CHL.

Add to the fact they just drafted somewhat of a similar player a year ago in cozens. Bracket was probably loling when that happened.

I'm not sure why people are shocked. Those two played on the same team and it seems that NHL scouts had the two ranked pretty close together. Not sure why anyone would be shocked that a team preferred Quinn over Rossi. Rossi is also only a few days younger than Quinn. For me, bypassing Perfetti was more of a shocker.

I guess I'm not a big fan of Rossi, don't think he is a C in the NHL, and playmaking wingers are rarely that valuable in the NHL. For a smaller player I prefer guys who play like Hoglander than Rossi.

 

[UticaHockey]

The state issued new guidelines today allowing 10% capacity starting on April 1st. Waiting for details but it sounds like you have to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to attend.

 

[MS]

I'm not sure why people are shocked. Those two played on the same team and it seems that NHL scouts had the two ranked pretty close together. Not sure why anyone would be shocked that a team preferred Quinn over Rossi. Rossi is also only a few days younger than Quinn. For me, bypassing Perfetti was more of a shocker.

I guess I'm not a big fan of Rossi, don't think he is a C in the NHL, and playmaking wingers are rarely that valuable in the NHL. For a smaller player I prefer guys who play like Hoglander than Rossi.

I'm not just referring to Rossi - pretty much everyone in the next 6-8 picks looks massively better.

Quinn looks to me like the sort of project you'd expect at #25 overall.

 

[MS]

I might know a guy who does that

Jumping to Conclusions: An Early Dive into the Stats of the Canucks AHL Prospects!

About to enter my tracking for the Rochester game. And will be putting out a 10GP recap of the AHL prospects.

Haven't followed up as much on HF as much as I've liked! But I'll try to drop my stuff as much as possible!

Cool, look forward to seeing your numbers!

Teves/Eliot have come around this season, but total asterisk on the level of competition they're facing.
I'll still take the confidence-boosting effect of them getting consistent minutes at the AHL level. Instead of riding pine or being shuffled to the ECHL.

Utilizing Teves on the PK was a no-brainer. He's got good defensive chops and NHL skating, but his offensive IQ is severely lacking. Putting the reigns on him is the best thing Cull could do for him.

Teves' offensive IQ looked outstanding in the last game. But again, it was the best game I've ever seen him play by a massive amount.

Lockwood could probably crack the NHL out of compete, skating, and defensive play alone. He's displayed great puck control under pressure and in-tight, but his shot leaves a lot to be desired.

Kind of like the reverse Zack MacEwen -- where Zack was NHL skating and all offence/zero defence, but Will is NHL skating with zero offence and all defence. Have liked him on the PK and his overall 20o ft. game

Disagree here.

Lockwood is a tiny weak little munchkin who has so far shown zero ability to contribute offense at the AHL level. And if you can't score at this level, you aren't an NHL player.

His effort level passes the eye test and he's good on the PK, but he's a pretty marginal prospect to me at this point. He gets compared to Motte, but he's nowhere near as good as Motte at anything and Motte is barely an NHL player.

And he's also old, at almost 23.

 

[vanuck]

What I said actually differs very little from an average Bad Goalie post. I'm not kidding.

He said the parent club's inactivity is a conspiracy to undermine the Comets?

 

[F A N]

I'm not just referring to Rossi - pretty much everyone in the next 6-8 picks looks massively better.

Quinn looks to me like the sort of project you'd expect at #25 overall.

And you're basing all of that on his draft -1 season though. I understand that he missed the 2019 draft by days, but in his draft eligible year he was 2nd in the OHL in goals and NHL scouts clearly saw enough of him and from him.

There are some draft risers who deserve to be drafted early. Bo Horvat looked nothing like a top 10 pick until the 2nd half of his draft eligible year.

 

[THRILLHOIAF]

Disagree here.

Lockwood is a tiny weak little munchkin who has so far shown zero ability to contribute offense at the AHL level. And if you can't score at this level, you aren't an NHL player.

His effort level passes the eye test and he's good on the PK, but he's a pretty marginal prospect to me at this point. He gets compared to Motte, but he's nowhere near as good as Motte at anything and Motte is barely an NHL player.

And he's also old, at almost 23.

He's definitely a marginal prospect, but he's head and shoulders above the lot because of his skating, physicality, and defensive game.

All qualities that this management group LOVES in their bottom-six forwards.

He's small but he's as physical, if not more, physical than 90% of the skaters on this present roster.

Given the organizations' looming cap crunch Lockwood will be found money if they can get a bottom-six PK'er out of him.

 

[Hansen]

Utica has a positive case linked to contact with one of the Rochester players.

Ugh just shut it down for a while. Same day team announces they're welcoming fans back to the Aud too

 

[Bad Goalie]

Utica has a positive case linked to contact with one of the Rochester players.

Ugh just shut it down for a while. Same day team announces they're welcoming fans back to the Aud too

That would be the safest/smartest thing to do, not that it will be the thing they do. This was almost inevitable since the Sabres went through this thing already and the Sabres and Amerks are an hour apart and players go back and forth easily.
Add to that the fact that the Comets, Amerks, and Syracuse Crunch are each others most common opponents. Rochester and Syracuse play the Comets 14 times each and most often vs one on Friday and the other on Saturday. They have created a mobile petri dish with one another. They are not playing in a bubble. They go back into their communities between games. Once a player is exposed without knowledge thereof, they get to expose their team as well as their opponents before anyone actually tests positive.

It's possible now for this whole thing to explode especially when you see how Cull is handling it. Player tests positive. Team lays idle a couple of days and then goes right back to practice.

This is exactly why I informed the management that I will roll over my season ticket to next season. They can sell my seat for any games they might have fans this season. I'll wait until next year. If things are still in limbo, I'll roll it over again. Alive and watching on my computer is better than in person for a game and getting mucho sick. I say that after having received both of my vaccination shots.