Tailing The Komets

Wow, was that different from last night. The Komets hustled and hit and crashed the net all night. That was impressive. It was also their first win at home this year against the IceHawks.

What did you think?

I still don’t think the defense is as much a problem as the forwards. There’s plenty of talent up front, but I don’t see anyone paying the price. They all think they are Russian stick-handlers, even the guys who should be heading to the front of the net. How many rebounds did the Komets get to tonight? How many times did the forecheck actually get to the PH defenseman when they had the puck? How many times did they throw a big check two seconds after the puck was gone? There are too many of the same player there.

Man, does this team miss Matt Reynolds and Terry Marchant. They weren’t the most graceful, but they would stick their nose in and get to rebounds. The knock on Terry Marchant was always that he wasn’t physical enough, but he was always scoring his goals within five feet of the net just as he was getting his block knocked off. Who on this team consistently goes for rebounds? No one. That’s why the lines are so interchangeable, because they are all the same player.

I’d really like to see this team go all-out defensively at home and try to limit the opposition to five shots a period. Just keep a man high all night and don’t pinch and for goodness sakes don’t get caught up ice. It seems like every time they get in trouble it’s because one of the defenseman is getting caught up ice, leaving a rookie back facing a two-on-one, and that leads to a goal or a power play or a short-handed chance.

Remember early in the season when the  Komets all seemed to be a stride faster than everyone else in the league? No one could keep up when they cycled down low. They aren’t using their speed much at all, and they can’t fight through Port Huron’s trap at all right now. Give the IceHawks credit because they are a better team than last year. The crazy thing is they can’t win at home, either.

Despite all that, I still think this will be a very good team when you bring back Osman, Legault, Chaulk and Bertram. And I wish they had a Rob Guinn, Kevin Schmidt or Kevin Hansen back on the blue line. That’s the exact player the Komets are missing back there right now, but every other team is looking for the same thing. They’re going to have to develop that player from among the rookies.

Is up here. It’s an interview with Sebastien Laplante.

According to General Manager David Franke, Dominic Osman has a strained medial collateral ligament and he’s out at least a couple more weeks. Kevin Bertram might be ready to go next weekend after a shoulder separation, Olivier Legault is ready to start skating again and can come off IR Feb. 18 with a shoulder problem. Colin Chaulk can also start putting weight on his foot, and it will be at least two weeks before he can resume skating. It’s the shortest injury discussion I’ve had with David in probably two months.

Has returned to Huntsville of the SPHL. He’ll be back someday.

You can read it here.

For this weekend? Two games with the league’s top two teams in the standings… The Komets finally seem to be getting healthy… Larry, Larry, Larry… It seems like it’s been a lot longer than two week since there’s been a home game, doesn’t it? How will Guy react to only having to play half the game?

Anybody care about the Super Bowl? I’m hoping Harding grad Trai Essex gets to  play and does well, but other than that I’m not that fired up about it. I also hope Rod Woodson makes the HOF on Saturday.

I think this is a HUGE weekend for the Komets to start playing well at home. They’ve got to come out firing against the league’s best road team and take control from the start. If they come out sloppy, I could see their coach tearing a piece out of their backsides during the first intermission, if not before that. They simply have to come out firing right away. No more excuses.

What do you think?

Part of Eddie Long’s story from Legends can be read here.

Today’s story about last night’s game is here.

If you’d like to purchase the book, you can do that here.

They came back from a 3-1 third-period deficit but couldn’t crack Bloomington goaltender Jason Wolfe in the shootout, getting one goal in 11 tries. David Hukalo, Sean O’Connor and Konstantin Shafranov scored for the Komets, and Sebastien Laplante made 34 saves. The Komets out-shot the PrairieThunder 44-37. It’s their seventh game in a row to earn at least a point.

Tom Nemeth was recently inducted into the ECHL and Dayton halls of fame story here.

Bruce Boudreau inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame here.