The Utica Comets Thread | Part 36 | A new beginning

[RobertKron]

Thanks for that. I'm very curious about McEneny -- my nominee for the one guy to graduate from last year's ECHL to the Comets.

McEneny is an enigma to me. I admittedly haven't seen him a ton, especially not lately, but every time I see anything from him, he looks like a guy who shouldn't be stuck in the ECHL. What am I missing here?

 

[VanJack]

McEneny is an enigma to me. I admittedly haven't seen him a ton, especially not lately, but every time I see anything from him, he looks like a guy who shouldn't be stuck in the ECHL. What am I missing here?

I'm with you....guy was a Mike Gillis FA signing out of the OHL who's looked serviceable at a couple of prospects tournaments and has had a few cups of coffee with Utica....but for whatever reason the Comets have gone out signed a bunch of journeyman AHL d-men to professional try-out contracts or recalled other of guys from the ECHL as short-term fill-ins, but not McEneny ...hopefully he's a late bloomer, because he's running out of chances.

 

[UticaHockey]

McEneny is an enigma to me. I admittedly haven't seen him a ton, especially not lately, but every time I see anything from him, he looks like a guy who shouldn't be stuck in the ECHL. What am I missing here?

Can't be any worse than John Negrin.

 

[FroshaugFan2]

The following players have been reassigned to the Alaska Aces:

Danny Moynihan – Forward
Mackenze Stewart – Defense

The following players have been released from their professional tryout contracts:

Travis Ewanyk – Forward
Stephen Perfetto – Forward
Kevin Carr – Goaltender

http://www.uticacomets.com/news/detail/comets-reduce-preseason-roster

 

[go comets]

Fight from Sundays comets crunch pre season game. https://streamable.com/0evf

 

[Catamarca Livin]

Fight from Sundays comets crunch pre season game. https://streamable.com/0evf

Jeez the linesman sure take there time to come in Laplant can really through them too bad for him he punch himself out before the other guy got started.

 

[Craz1bo1]

D'Aoust has been released from his PTO contract.

http://www.uticacomets.com/news/detail/comets-reduce-preseason-roster-1

 

[Bad Goalie]

I have moved the post to this page. It reflects the 27 players currently on the roster and what has happened to the rest.

Forwards:

9 - Yan-Pavel LaPlante
11 - Marco Roy
12 - Danny Moynihan - signed to an AHL contract, reassigned to the Alaska Aces
14 - Mike Zalewski
16 - Joe LaBate
17 - Alexis D'Aoust - released
18 - Michael Carcone
19 - Cole Cassels
20 - Cody Kunyk
21 - Travis Ewanyk* - released
23 - Jayson Megna
24 - Derek Hulak
25 - Darren Archibald
26 - Michael Chaput
28 - Alexandre Grenier
34 - Carter Bancks
36 - Wacey Hamilton
38 - Curtis Valk
44 - Stephen Perfetto* - released
71 - Borna Rendulic

Defense:

00 - Troy Stecher - This is how he's listed on the Comets web site. It can't be correct.
4 - Evan McEneny
5 - Davis Shields
6 - Ashton Sautner
7 - Jordan Subban
8 - John Negrin
37 - Andrey Pedan
41 - Chad Billins*
57 - Mackenze Stewart - reassigned to the Alaska Aces


Goal:

30 - Thatcher Demko
31 - Kevin Carr* - released and returned to the Alaska Aces where he is under contract
32 - Richard Bachman
35 - Michael Garteig

*These 3 guys have not had their been bios written up by the Comets.
Ewanyk - 23/6'1"/201/C,LW Played with the Oklahoma City Barons for 2 seasons and played for Binghamton last year. His points totals for those 3 seasons were 12,8, and 9.

Perfetto - 4 seasons at Lake Superior State University. First pro season last year with the Alaska Aces of the ECHL, 15G/33A/48 pts.

Carr - 26/6'1"/185 4 seasons at Buffalo State University. 2 seasons with the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL. Will be headed to Alaska. His mask already has the word ACES meshed into his design.

*Billins - He was supposedly sent down at the same time as Grenier. I looked hard all morning and he was nowhere to be seen by my eyes.

The workout was about 90 minutes. It was hard skating. Lots of positional work for both D-men and forwards on dumps into the corners. Lots of passing and shooting drills. 2 on 1s. 3 on 2s. Basically little rest from drill to drill, kept up the intensity, kept them skating, learn, work, and condition all at the same time.

Did not try to concentrate on any particular players. Just watched the whole thing from the big picture point of view. It was fast paced, spirited, and no one looked out of place on his skates. A closer eye given to specific players might show some with speed, edge, or footwork deficiencies, but that wasn't my reason for being there today. I wasn't there to nitpick and no one jumped off the map as neither poor nor spectacular. It was a bunch of guys happy to be back on the ice as a team and were all trying to be at their best.

Lots to happen in the next few days. The cream will rise and the silt will sink. Quite a few additions still to arrive from Vancouver. The big concern at the moment is on D.
Only 5 D-men participated in this morning's work. I assume Billins should be 6, but he wasn't out there. Vancouver has 10 in camp and it's been stated by Benning that they will keep 8. Thus 2 more will be added to the Comets.

Also mysteriously out of view was Tom Nilsson. He too has been signed, but not here. Is he in Vancouver as well?

Does anyone know the specifics on Billins and Nilsson?

Edit: Just reviewed the Vancouver camp roster and Nilsson is on the list. He hasn't played in any games that I recall, but that would explain where he probably is.

Updated 10/5/16 to reflect Rendulic and LaBate
Updated 10/7/16 to reflect Zalewski, Megna, Chaput, and Pedan
Updated 10/11/16 to reflect the addition of Bachman and Demko and the subtraction of Stewart and Moynihan reassigned to Alsaka, Carr (already under contract to Alaska), and the release of Perfetto, Ewanyk, and Daoust.

 

[Bad Goalie]

The return of Richard Bachman and Troy Stecher hasn't received notice on this thread so here it is. Both have been assigned to the Utica Comets.

Stecher will become an instant fan fav. Get his autograph tomorrow night at the meet and greet and get a good look at his on ice play, because I doubt he'll be here very long.
I certainly hope I'm wrong, but that's how I see it.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Jeez the linesman sure take there time to come in Laplant can really through them too bad for him he punch himself out before the other guy got started.

Their actions, or lack of, was appalling. They had several instances where they could have jumped in, but just stood there and did nothing. They did not act appropriately IMO.

This incident started when AHL goon LeLond tried to goad Archi into something on a previous shift. I've mentioned that Archi is not afraid to go with anyone, but he chooses to do it when it means something unlike Pedan who has a tendency to go the second someone asks him to. Archi also suffered a serious shoulder injury late last season and it may not be wise to just fight for the sake of fighting. His value to the team is greater than taking on a goon role. He can play hockey, at this level anyways, and another shoulder injury could put him out for a lengthy period of time.

Shunned By Archi, LeLond went looking for the next guy he could get at and it turned out to be LaPlante. The kid handled himself very well against a known goon commodity. It endeared him to the Utica fight fans and might have cemented an early roster spot for him. He was noticeable on several occasions while actually playing hockey, which is of far greater value.

 

[VanJack]

D'Aoust has been released from his PTO contract.

http://www.uticacomets.com/news/detail/comets-reduce-preseason-roster-1

Too bad about this....D'Aoust looked decent in prospects camp and at the tournament and actually hung around in VanCity for awhile....thought at least he might be signed to an AHL contract and maybe end up in Alaska.....but looking at the Comets roster, boy that d-corps looking a little on the small side....hopefully Pedan can step up with some physicality.

 

[Bad Goalie]

The assignments for the Comets in their Sunday night 2-1 loss to the Syracuse Crunch were as follows:

Archibald/Cassels/Grenier
Kunyk/Zalewski/Rendulic
Bancks/Valk/Hulak
LaPlante/Roy/D'Aoust

Sautner/McEneny
Billins/Shields
Negrin/Subban

Demko - 1st and 2nd faced 11 shots/1 goal
Garteig - 3rd and faced 12 shots/1 goal

Watching the keepers Demko was pressured much less and did not make any real difficult saves. Gave up the post on the goal he allowed.

Garteig was called upon to make the more difficult saves and was spot on. The goal was a rebound and the guy was allowed to walk right acroos the crease unmolested and roof it.

Both of these keepers were outstanding NCAA keepers last season and Garteig led his team to the NCAA Final 4. There certainly could be a duel between these two guys somewhere down the line. Would have been kind of cool to have the battle begin this season, but Bachman's contract isn't going to allow for that. An injury to the top 4 in Utica and Vancouver could get it going if the injury leads to a lengthy recovery period. I'd like to see that (not the injury but a head to head between these guys). Neither has dominated the other in the camp play thus far.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Defensively:

Negrin cannot play with Subban. Period! That was proven last season and it was more evident Sunday. Negrin is solid paired with a better guy than himself. He can't carry his mate.

Subban did not impress. Neither on the PP nor 5 on 5. His assist was simply a point shot at the net tipped beautifully by Hulak. He was weak in his own end, lost puck battles, lost the puck carrier a few times when trying to ride him out on the boards and the guy just shrugged him off and proceeded onward, and made some very poor passes. He did some good things, but his defensive inconsistency was very noticeable.

 

[rune74]

Defensively:

Negrin cannot play with Subban. Period! That was proven last season and it was more evident Sunday. Negrin is solid paired with a better guy than himself. He can't carry his mate.

Subban did not impress. Neither on the PP nor 5 on 5. His assist was simply a point shot at the net tipped beautifully by Hulak. He was weak in his own end, lost puck battles, lost the puck carrier a few times when trying to ride him out on the boards and the guy just shrugged him off and proceeded onward, and made some very poor passes. He did some good things, but his defensive inconsistency was very noticeable.

And some wonder why he was sent down so quick.

 

[alternate]

Probably time to dump Subban for a pick while he still has "upside."

 

[UticaHockey]

Too bad about this....D'Aoust looked decent in prospects camp and at the tournament and actually hung around in VanCity for awhile....thought at least he might be signed to an AHL contract and maybe end up in Alaska.....but looking at the Comets roster, boy that d-corps looking a little on the small side....hopefully Pedan can step up with some physicality.

I was completely unimpressed with D'Aoust on Sunday. No where near AHL ready. I saw on Twitter that he is going back to his junior team in The Q.

 

[VanJack]

I was completely unimpressed with D'Aoust on Sunday. No where near AHL ready. I saw on Twitter that he is going back to his junior team in The Q.

The other guy from the Q who turned heads at the prospect tournament was Carcone....how has he looked?

 

[UticaHockey]

The other guy from the Q who turned heads at the prospect tournament was Carcone....how has he looked?

Carcone played Saturday in the away game but not at home so I didn't see him in person. The quality of the stream wasn't the greatest but from what I saw I liked. Used his speed to break away from the defense a couple times but wasn't able to finish. Saw on Twitter that he is day to day so must have hurt himself either during the game Saturday or during practice.

 

[UticaHockey]

Defensively:

Negrin cannot play with Subban. Period! That was proven last season and it was more evident Sunday. Negrin is solid paired with a better guy than himself. He can't carry his mate.

Subban did not impress. Neither on the PP nor 5 on 5. His assist was simply a point shot at the net tipped beautifully by Hulak. He was weak in his own end, lost puck battles, lost the puck carrier a few times when trying to ride him out on the boards and the guy just shrugged him off and proceeded onward, and made some very poor passes. He did some good things, but his defensive inconsistency was very noticeable.

Travis Green has his work cut out for him. Right now after watching Subban at the young stars tournament and the Comets preseason games it looks like his play has regressed considerably sine the end of last season. Somehow Green has got to get Jordan moving in the right direction again.

 

[go comets]

I was completely unimpressed with D'Aoust on Sunday. No where near AHL ready. I saw on Twitter that he is going back to his junior team in The Q.

I thought he was the worst player on the ice. That line did nothing, other than the fight.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Probably time to dump Subban for a pick while he still has "upside."

No, Quick-Draw. It's time to let him get on with season #2. At this time last season there was wonder in why he was here at all. Then he flashed some offense and Travis let him do his O thing as long as he worked on his D thing. No D? Take the next night off. His D progressed to the point he wasn't a detriment. His offense became a much needed part of the Comets success.

Last night some of that defensive liability surfaced again. He also got little to no help from the forwards or Negrin. He needs to get back to work. If allowed to do so, Travis will go back to work. Developing a young (2nd year) defensive prospect who can skate like he can and work the offense like he can, but has defensive deficiencies will take 2 or 3 seasons in the A. Wow, developing a D prospect for a few seasons is far from abnormal. In fact it is a normal path for many future NHL D-men and has been for decades. It's also true that most of them don't have a fraction of this kid's offensive skills.

Sit back and relax and let things take their natural course.

 

[Bad Goalie]

I was completely unimpressed with D'Aoust on Sunday. No where near AHL ready. I saw on Twitter that he is going back to his junior team in The Q.

I concur. No problem with going back to Jrs. to work on his game. He now knows clearly what his deficiencies are. He has seen what it takes to play at a much higher level than he's ever been at before. If he can improve upon those issues there is always next year.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Carcone played Saturday in the away game but not at home so I didn't see him in person. The quality of the stream wasn't the greatest but from what I saw I liked. Used his speed to break away from the defense a couple times but wasn't able to finish. Saw on Twitter that he is day to day so must have hurt himself either during the game Saturday or during practice.

An injury would be a big setback because he was progressing at a good pace. Day to day usually means it's nothing serious. He plays a very active involved style and at his size that can be a problem, but it's the only way he is going to make it.

I agree on the feed. I've seen him practice and he has skills, but need to watch him in game action for a bit to ascertain if the Vancouver posters were on the mark with their enthusiasm. Some were disappointed that the Canucks sent him down, so he was tracking well in their camp.

 

[VanJack]

So with no more blueliners coming down from VanCity, what you see in Utica is what you get.....does this mean that McEneny is finally an AHL d-man?

 

[Bad Goalie]

I thought he was the worst player on the ice. That line did nothing, other than the fight.

Come on not so harsh. You had 2 Jr. rookies centered by a 4th line AHL/ECHL buble guy in his second season of pro hockey. Did you expect a first line type performance?

These guys can't perform in an elevated role as their own line. If any of them make it they will be part of the back-up crew. Green gave them a chance to show their stuff and they showed they have lots of work to do and can't be expected to play without the support of 2 good line mates. D'Aoust is already gone. LaPlante got a couple of chances but lack of a working knowledge of the system hamstrung all 3 of them. Roy showed some physicality dishing out a few hits,
fore checked hard, and tried to be defensively responsible. With the team cut down to 16 forwards, Vancouver holds the fate of these guys in their hands. It will be determined by what Vancouver does in their final decisions to pare the roster to required #s. Green will want to have 15-16 forwards to start out. Right now he's got that number. With Rodin down and Carcone injured, this could be it for a while.