Tailing The Komets

Komets are now 19-1-3 when playing before 10,000 or more fans at home. I sense a trend.

Jay Holladay had all of two fights as a pro before the last three games when he’s had four. He told me he’s not been able to contribute as much offensively because of an injury that’s been bothering him so he’s trying to contribute in other ways. You’ve got to give him credit for that.

Konstantin Shafranov and Dominic Osman will both make the road trip this weekend, but it’s unsure at this time if they will play. Shaf had a charley horse.

What’s it say when the home fans are doing the wave during your power play?

Adam Lewis and Brad MacMillan shoot and score! Bertie’s already got his marker for the year, so that leaves Danko Mironovic and Jake Pence as the only Ks without goals so far.

I said last year I felt P.C. was the team MVP when he had 23 goals and 74 points. He’s already got 19 goals and 42 points this year and we’re not even halfway.

Hope everyone has fun tonight but gets home safely.

After finally getting a day of rest, Komets looked pretty good for most of the period on Wednesday night. There’s a full house, but that crowd again includes Dominic Osman with an ankle and Konstantin Shafranov with a leg injury.  So far the lines are Chaulk, O’Connor and Varone; Drouin, Thomas and Hukalo and MacMillan, Gravelle and Lewis with Legault as the 10th forward.

And more importantly why?

My two cents: They are playing tighter and tighter as the game goes along. They get a lead and start playing not to lose, which of course swings the momentum the other way. They are playing… scared might be too much, but definitely tentative.

What do you think?

First guy who says they should just go out and beat somebody up gets the boot. Be realistic. Better yet, I’ll suggest you be the punching bag.

You can see them on his blog here http://www.chadryan.blogspot.com

He’s got a bad ankle and had trouble this morning when he tried to skate on it.

For the second time this season, Tim Haun has been named the IHL’s Goaltender of the Week following Sunday’s 5-1 win at Muskegon. Haun is 3-1 overall with a 2.01 goals against average.

Curadeau’s return is here; and the game story is here.

“We had some guys come down, and he kind of got bumped out of the spot here,” Butters said. “He played very well. He got off to a good start and showed some flashes of being an AHL player. He has to work on some things in his everyday details of the game and that will bring him back. Half the reason we called him up was because he got off to a good start there and he deserved it, and the other half was to see if he could play at this level. He showed he could skate at this level, he’s a good kid and he works hard.”

“He was very positive about this when I met with him,” Butters said. “He wanted to know what he needed to do better and he wants to get stronger and better. We could be an injury or two from bringing him back.”

Curadeau said he’s upbeat about coming back to the Komets and is ready to show what he learned in the AHL.

“It was really good to have that talk with Mike and see that he has plans long-term for me,” Curadeau said. “Sometimes in the AHL, I think you have to be in the right place at the right moment, and I don’t think that was the right place at the right moment because they have a really, really good team right now. Their record doesn’t show the kind of team they have right now.

“I’m very encouraged. Those guys have a lot of NHL experience, and I worked out and talked with them every day. I learned so much stuff. It was better to come back at this point and I’m happy to be back. I hope I can make a difference with the team right away. I’m not disappointed to be back in Fort Wayne because I need to play.”

Komets coach Al Sims feels your frustration because he may be twice as frustrated as you are, and he cut loose a little after the game.

When asked about changing up the lines, Sims said. “We have to. We’re scoring one goal at home every night. Obviously things have to change. Either personnel have to change or line combinations, whatever it may be, but we can’t keep going along like this.”

When asked about his team’s defense, Sim said. “I don’t know what to say. We just lost to the worst team in the league. To say anything positive about it isn’t going to happen.”

Then he finished with, “I can’t score for the guys. We have empty nets, we have 2-on-1s where we can’t make the pass. Shafranov, our best passer can’t make a pass across the ice to someone. Or we can’t hit the empty net. I don’t know what it is. Or they get a goal that shouldn’t go in. It’s just one thing after another. We just find ways to lose at home. Guy Dupuis takes a penalty, and we talked about it before the third period again about penalties. Eventually it’s going to come back to bite us, and tonight we couldn’t kill off that one more power play. Why you’d even get involved with a guy, a 1:30 left in the game, why even go near a guy on a play where we’re getting the puck, absolutely innocent, and give the ref an opportunity to make that call is beyond me. It’s just inexcusable, especially for a veteran player.”

It could be a really long bus ride to Port Huron tomorrow. 

This story ran on Christmas Day, but it’s not up on-line yet. The story is below in the comments.