Tailing The Komets

The Komets came back from a 2-0 deficit to score three goals in the third period and disappoint a big Kalamazoo crowd with a 3-2 win over the Wings. The win moves the Komets ahead of Kalamazoo and into sole possession of third place in the International Hockey League.

With 21 games left on the schedule, Port Huron has 74 points, Muskegon, 72, the Komets 67 and Kalamazoo 65. The Komets, who are 16-7-4 ont he road, are off Sunday while Kalamazoo travels to Muskegon. The Wings have the best home record in the IHL at 18-8-1, but the Komets have won their two times in Kalamazoo.

The Komets have won three in a row on the road and are 6-0-3 over their last nine. They have not lost in regulation on the road since a morning game in Muskegon on Jan. 13. They are 7-2-4 on the road since 2009 started.

Despite out-shooting the Wings 23-5 during the second period, the Komets could not crack Kalamazoo netminder Jason Tapp. That quickly changed in the third period as P.C. Drouin scored his team-high 27the goal of the season off assists from Mathieu Curadeau and Konstantin Shafranov 4:44 into the period. David Hukalo scored his third goal in two games at 7:58 from Curadeau and Dominic Osman to tie the score. That set up a the game-winning goal by Curadeau, his 23rd of the season, off assits from Drouin and Guy Dupuis.

Nick Boucher made 25 saves for the win in the Fort Wayne net, keeping the Komets in the game early as they were out-shot 16-3 in the first period. Boucher is now 9-4-2 on the road this season.

Curadeau’s three points extended his point-scoring streak to 11 games. He has six goals and 11 assists durng the span. He now has 104 points in 101 games as a Komet.

 Dupuis also matched Terry Pembroke for second all-time on the Komets games played list with 784th appearance. With a first-period minor, he also joined Steve Fletcher, Dale Baldwin, Cal Purinton, Robbie Laird, Dave Norris, Robin Bawa and Pembroke as the only Komets players to receive 1,000 penalty minutes in a career.

The Komets finish February with a 5-1-4 mark heading into a 15-game schedule in March that starts Wednesday at Flint.

Last night’s Komets game story can be read here, and here’s a high school hockey story you might enjoy. Good luck to the Bruins and Redskins tomorrow.

Komets are leading 6-1 after two peroids. Flint is flat-out awful. They had a 5-on-3 power play and gave up a 2-on-1 short-handed goal off of it. How ridiculous is that? They might be the slowest team I’ve ever seen in hockey.

Komets played a little better so far, and I can’t say it’s all because of how bad the Generals are. They’ve been pretty solid defensively, and they’ve really attacked the net better tonight than they have in a while. Guy Dupuis has had a big night so far, and yes, he leads the team in shots so far.

Forward signs a tryout contract. He had 29 goals and 63 points in 28 games this season with Battle Creek of the AAHA. Last year he had 28 goals and 52 points in 39 games with Western Michigan. 6-0, 190. Komets also moved Olivier Legault to the 45-day IR and Colin Chaulk from 45 to 60-days.

After the first period. Take your books.

Thanks for reminding me, Teresa.

Can be read here.

I think it’s all mental. They looked so good playing as a team in the first 12 minutes and then they tried to do everything 1-on-1 after that. Some very lazy efforts out there on defense, mostly by the forwards. Why is it the healthier they get, the worse they play at home?

Legault is ready to go and was a healthy scratch.

How many times did the FORWARDS turn the puck over in the FW zone because they are trying to stickhandle? Curadeau for the fourth goal was horrendous. Truthfully, I give the fans credit for not booing them off the ice when it was 4-3 because the way they were playing it felt like a three-goal deficit. That was terrible. Hukalo misses a tip on a potential tying goal and then quits rather than go after the puck that is just sitting there. Varone waves at Bouchard with his stick as he goes by for the second goal instead of moving his legs. How many shots tonight came from a guy breaking into the clear in the zone, he winds up from 45 feet and just blasts instead of taking it to the net and trying to make something happen? Who paid the price tonight to make a play? How many 2-on-1s have we seen where the guy not carrying the puck just veers off to the corner instead of going to the net for a rebound? How many times did we see a forward figure skating back as Muskegon went up ice for a 3-on-2? They attacked the power play like one guy was supposed to beat a defender one-on-one and magically make things open up for everyone else.

I’m just happy for Randy and Tim that they didn’t tape this game.

Komets President Michael Franke said during the game that the team has to make some moves. “This team just doesn’t perform well at home. It has not performed well at home all season, and we’re running out of time.”

Coach Al Sims said afterward he doesn’t think anyone will trade with Fort Wayne, anyway.

This is the healthiest they’ve been all season, and there was no difference. It might be easy to just blame the goaltender on this one, but that was a very poor effort by almost everyone.

I was talking with Brad MacMillan before the game and called him Big Bad Brad, which he didn’t appreciate because he said he’s not that big and he’s not bad. Point taken. So Brad needs a nickname and we’ll accept applications here and then I’ll pass them on to him. What do you think?

Komets came out flying tonight, and looked as good as they have at home in who knows how long to go up 3-0. Then Robin Bouchard got loose twice for a split second and it’s 3-2.

The Lumberjacks are 4-0 since they traded Frank Littlejohn. Yep, no surprise.

Guy Dupuis took a minor in the first to give him 998 penalty minutes as a Komet.

The International Hockey League will be extremely interested observers looking at a potential team in Madison, Wis. Representatives of Twin Lakes Hockey Partners have announced they hope to field a professional team starting in the 2009-2010 season.

“We’re beyond our infancy stage, and the only Class AA league we have talked to is the IHL,” said Matt Tjapkes, the vice president of communications for the team and a former Muskegon Fury broadcaster and public relations manager. “There are two Class A leagues we’ve been talking to here and there.”
Tjapkes declined to name the primary owner, but said the man is meeting with arenas in the Madison area. The goal is to announce the team name, league and venue by mid-March.

IHL President and CEO Paul Pickard said he has not received a formal application to the league and has not met with the prospective owner. Pro hockey failed twice previously in Madison with the United Hockey League, the last time in 2000 when the Madison Kodiaks left to become the new Kalamazoo Wings.

“There’s not a lot of news on our end until they make a decision on what they want to do,” Pickard said. “They have to understand that it’s no longer the UHL. For them, there’s no comparison to the way the UHL was in Madison versus what we would bring to the table now. Madison is a great city, and it obviously fits in our geographic footprint.”

The biggest challenge may be coexisting with the very popular and successful University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team. Tjapkes said the new team will try to schedule away from the Badgers as much as possible.

“Obviously the league will have to help us with that,” Tjapkes said. “I think it can be done. With a town that big, it doesn’t make any sense that something hasn’t taken off there yet.”

Adding Madison could help stabilize the IHL which has six teams. Pickard said Chicago Owner Craig Drektrah continues as a regular dues-paying member of the league after taking his team dormant following the 2006-07 season. Drekrah has attended recent league meetings and there have been rumors he would like the team to return next season. Pickard said he has been in Chicago recently to meet with representatives of the Sears Centre at Hoffman Estates, Ill., but could not comment further.

Can be read here.