Ice Chips 06'-07'

Injury update

Komets general manager David Franke said defenseman Andrew Bozoian, out with a leg injury, won't be available to play until Saturday. He said forward David Hukalo, who has a leg injury, would be good to go Friday but probably won't be in the lineup because the Komets will have to play Matt Syroczynski to have the required four rookies in the game.

• Since it's been a hot topic of debate, check out my story on the UHL officiating.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Prizes and penalties

Let's start with the congratulations.

Komets right wing Jonathan Goodwin, who had three goals and six points in two games, was selected as the UHL's Player of the Week. Fort Wayne's Kevin St. Pierre, who went 2-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average, was picked as Goaltender of the Week.

Now, how about speculations.

There's a brewing war between some people in the league and the UHL office on the number of penalties being called. (I will have a story on this Tuesday.) As you may have heard in his radio interview during the game Saturday, Komets president Michael Franke believes the slew of penalties being called is making the game unwatchable and will eventually drive the fans away.

What do you think about that? I do think it's bad when you're celebrating because 10 minutes go by without a penalty.

UHL commissioner Richard Brosal said the league has no plans on wavering, that in a couple of weeks the players will have adjusted to the way games are being called -- which is following suit with the NHL -- and we'll all wonder what this griping is about. He likened it to when the UHL mandated visors: People moaned and groaned for a while and now no one cares.

Brosal also contended that if you watch the players these days, 8 times out of 10, when a penalty is called, they don't even frown because they knew they did something wrong.

That's probably true for the most part, but there have been some poor calls. On Saturday, Mario Larocque was whistled for holding, when all his did was push the puck carrier out from the slot. That's a clean play, if I ever saw one.

I can tell you, the Komets players have done a good job of staying away from moaning about the officiating. Of course, their power play unit is going so well these days, they should keep their mouths shut.

• We're still working out the bugs, but hopefully you saw we have our first video interview, with center Bruce Richardson, up at Komets Korner.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Yay, for the other J.C.

J.C. Ruid came into tonight sixth on the Komets in points. He left with two goals and an assist. In other words, he showed the Memorial Coliseum fans what all the fuss was about when Fort Wayne signed him.

He's big (6-foot-4, 215 pounds), crafty and has a wicked shot. It wasn't until he sparked the Komets that they really got going toward their 4-1 victory.

Fort Wayne ended up outshooting the Prairie Thunder 44-16.

I thought the Komets played very sloppy early in the game but improved as things went along. You could sense tonight how important it will be for the Komets to have so many leaders. When they were down, Ruid got them going.

I also thought defenseman Guy Dupuis was a real spark in this one.

• There is a lot of discontent around the rink regarding all the penalties. There's just no flow to the play and the players have no idea now what will or will not be called.
• I need some help from you all. I sense the line of Daniel Goneau, Bruce Richardson and Jonathan Goodwin is going to be a force all season long. We need a nickname for it and I'm not very good at such things. Post some ideas or e-mail them to me [email protected] if you have any.
• It looks as if the Komets made a little blunder tonight. They said defenseman A.J. Bozoian was placed on team suspension because of a family emergency. Then Bozoian was outside of the locker room signing autographs. It didn't take long for fans to start asking me what the heck was going on. Bozoian hurt his leg in Friday's 7-3 victory over Rockford, so clearly the Komets were trying to come up with some creative usage of roster space. Next time, they should tell the player not to show up if he's -- nod, nod, wink, wink -- away for personal reasons.
• Wish me a Happy Birthday. For once, there won't be a game on it Monday.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Officiating stinks

You know, I have no clue what the heck the officials are calling these days. The Komets' Mario Larocque just got a holding call for pushing an opposing player, who had the puck, out of the slot area. If they don't do something about this officiating -- inconsistent, impossible to gauge, way too ticky tack -- then the quality of play in the UHL is going to go down the drain. This is getting out of hand.

Rant over.

The Komets lead it 2-1 after two periods, thanks to two goals from J.C. Ruid.

By the way, Bloomington is playing a goalie, Steffan Braunlich, who is in his first game and doesn't exactly have impressive collegiate numbers from Wisconsin Eau-Claire, where he was 19-42-6 with a 3.65 goals-against average. The Komets need to pepper this guy with shots.

Slow starters

The kids with the Halloween costumes are at Memorial Coliseum -- there's about to be the annual parade of costumes during the first intermission -- and it seems the Komets dressed as ghosts in the first period.

They were invisible.

This was the worst period of the season for the Komets, as they played without energy and seemingly without any idea what to do with the puck in their own zone. So, the Bloomington Prairie Thunder opened the scoring.

Late in the period, though, thanks to some power-play work, Fort Wayne recovered with a goal from J.C. Ruid. It's now 1-1.

I watched Komets coach Pat Bingham during this period and he seemed to remain quiet. I think that's smart. He needs to see how this team will respond when they're down.

• The Komets played without forward David Hukalo, who has a leg injury, and defenseman Jonas Gabrielsen, who has a hamstring injury. They were put on injured reserve. General manager David Franke said defenseman A.J. Bozoian was put on team suspension for person reasons. Bozoian did suffer a leg injury Friday and the Komets needed to make some room on their roster.
• The Komets signed defenseman Jani Honkanen and he's in the lineup.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Lofty expectations

It's not often that a coach admits he's human. But Komets coach Pat Bingham did exactly that Friday night. After his Komets creamed the Rockford IceHogs 7-3, Bingham apologized for being too tough on his players during the game.

"I feel a little bit guilty, after the fact," Bingham said.

Apparently, he was yelling, teaching and critiquing incessantly. Then once the game was over and he realized he just bombed one of the UHL's best teams, with five power-play goals along the way, Bingham said maybe his expectations are a little too high. At least for Game 4 of the season. So maybe he'll cool down for Saturday night's game against Bloomington.

That he's being so tough on these guys is because he sees something great in them. He's just really excited about this team, believes they can play almost perfect hockey, and he wants to see them do it. Hey, he was hired for his enthusiasm, so here it is.

The players don't seem to mind too much since Bingham's yelling is at least constructive.

• There was no news on A.J. Bozoian, the Komets' defenseman who left the game in the second period with what appeared to be a leg injury.  Bingham said he believes Bozoian will be fine but he won't know more until Saturday's game.
• The Komets' power play unit has scored on 12 of 34 opportunities, including 11 of 22 at home. This unit is going to be nasty.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Swami says

Mike Peck, the Rockford IceHogs' always entertaining radio broadcaster, keeps giving me dirty looks. Just because I predicted a 5-1 Komets victory and am faring pretty well, doesn't mean I deserve this glare. OK, I do deserve it.

The Komets are ahead 4-2, thanks to two goals from Jonathan Goodwin and one apiece from Guy Dupuis and Daniel Goneau. The Komets have two power-play goals and one short-handed goal.

But the IceHogs are responding pretty well, with a couple of goals in the second period from close range. The Komets have to maintain their intensity in the third period.

• Komets defenseman A.J. Bozoian, who I think has played excellent this season, left the game with an injury. Were I to guess, from the limp, I'd say a strained Achilles. I'll see what I can find out after the game.
• Rockford sure does dive a lot. And it sure does get away with a ton of penalties in front of its own net. But what else is new with these guys?

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Do my eyes deceive me?

My eyes must be deceiving me because we played the first eight minutes, 27 seconds of this game and didn't have a single penalty at Memorial Coliseum.

It was like watching an actual hockey match, not a circus, since every game coming into tonight seemed to have a penalty for every faceoff.

And once a penalty was called tonight -- on the Komets' Mario Larocque -- it paid off for Fort Wayne in the form of a short-handed goal for Fort Wayne's Jonathan Goodwin. He got a 2-on-1 rush, had his first shot stopped by goalie Brendan Cuthbert, and then Goodwin switched to his backhand and slipped the rebound past the netminder for a 1-0 lead over the Rockford IceHogs.

Speaking of surprises, do you remember last season when the fans were just merciless in their criticism of defenseman Mike Dombkiewicz because he wasn't fighting? (No one seemed to care he was drawing penalty after penalty for the Komets.) Well, it was Dombkiewicz who dropped the gloves to go with tough guy Robin Big Snake, after there was a scrum in front of the Fort Wayne net.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

A goalie carousel

Hopefully you got to check out my story on the Komets' backup goalie, Dan McWhinney. He has had a wild path to professional hockey.

I know people have been talking a lot about how often Kevin St. Pierre will play this season, since he usually plays in almost every game. I'm not entirely convinced that will be the same this season. The Komets are cognizant that their backup goalies have been under-worked and therefore under-prepared in recent seasons, so I think they want to get McWhinney some work. Plus, the youngster looked great during training camp.

It's too early to read into the fact that McWhinney hasn't played in the regular season. They've only played three games in two weeks, so it's not as if St. Pierre hasn't been fresh. I would have thought they'd play McWhinney on Saturday, but after blowing their first game against the expansion Prairie Thunder, I think the Komets will want to field the best lineup they can.

Look for McWhinney to play Nov. 4 against Port Huron or Nov. 5 at Flint, Mich.

But rest assured,  I agree with you that the Komets have to get McWhinney some work. If St. Pierre gets hurt or struggles down the road, they don't want to have an unprepared goalie.

• Former Flint coach Bobby Reynolds may be coming out of retirement to play for the Generals, who have struggled so far this season. Check out this Flint Journal story on it. Reynolds played in the NHL.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

A look at the lines

With forward Bogdan Rudenko sitting out Friday's game against the Rockford IceHogs because of a one-game suspension he got for a check from behind, here's a look at the forward lines the Komets were using in practice today: Daniel Goneau-Bruce Richardson-Jonathan Goodwin; David Hukalo-J.C. Ruid-K.J. Voorhees; J.F. Labarre-Martin Gascon-Pascal Morency.

I thought the Gascon line, which is entirely French speaking, looked the sharpest today.

• Jonas Gabrielsen, a defenseman who has yet to play this season, was dressed as a forward.
• Jani Honkanen is still practicing with the Komets, but the defenseman can't be signed until his immigration paperwork is approved by the government.
• General manager David Franke said there shouldn't be any more transactions before Friday night.
• There was an interesting moment at the end of practice. With coach Pat Bingham already headed toward to the locker room, the players all huddled at center ice, sticks raised in the air, showing quite a bit of camaraderie. In recent seasons, the players simply split off and did their own thing after practice; this group seems to really be jelling.
• Bingham never seems to stop teaching and I rarely hear him yelling on the ice.

Oh, the irony

Forward Bogdan Rudenko has been suspended one game by the UHL for checking from behind in Saturday's 8-3 victory over the Quad City Mallards.

So, the Komets will go from having one too many veterans to being one under the maximum Friday, when they take on the Rockford IceHogs.

Earlier today, forward Kelly Miller left the Komets to play for Huntsville in the Southern Professional Hockey League. Miller hadn't played a game and was a bit disgruntled because Fort Wayne was carrying eight veterans, one more than they can play. He had been the man out.

Somehow, I don't think the prospect of playing one game this weekend would have changed Miller's mind on leaving.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Miller needed a change

Center Kelly Miller wasn’t entirely happy. That much wasn’t hard to figure out.

As the Fort Wayne Komets’ players were introduced at the home opener Saturday night, Miller, donning a suit, briefly waved to the crowd and then sprinted off the bench and to the stands.

As one of eight players of veteran status – the Komets can only play seven in games – Miller had found himself the man out in the first three games of the season. With no guarantee that he would see much more playing time in the future, Miller went in search of other opportunities and he found one: Miller has left the Komets to play for Huntsville of the Southern Professional Hockey League.

“I’m going to be in the lineup every night, probably be a first- or second-line player,” Miller said. “There will be more pressure on me and more responsibility.”

Despite the departure, Miller said he holds no ill will toward the Komets. In fact, he didn’t rule out a return should the Komets need his services again.

Last season, when the Komets were struggling, Miller came out of retirement to help the Komets to an unlikely playoff berth, tallying 12 goals and 30 points in 56 games along the way.

“I was sticking it out this season and I loved it in Fort Wayne,” Miller said. “That’s why I didn’t ask for a trade. They treated me so well.”

Miller, 27, played 55 games with the Komets from 2001 to 2002, scoring nine goals and 19 points in 55 games. After he was released, he played for six different teams and was an all-star with Rockford before going to briefly coach juniors in the North American Hockey League with his brother.

The Komets (2-1-0) wanted Miller to stick with the Komets a little longer before making any decisions, but Miller found an opportunity with the Havoc, which has yet to open its season. With bonuses, Miller could end up making more money than he was in Fort Wayne.

“I feel like they treated me so well in Fort Wayne,” Miller said. “The things they’ve done for me are unbelievable. … But I’ve heard nothing but good things about Huntsville. Someday, they want to win a championship there. I know everybody says (the SPHL) is a lower level, but I think it’s going to be just as good. It may be a lot of fun.”

• In my opinion, this parting of the ways is the best thing for both Miller and the Komets. He's going to get more money, more playing time and, if he really tears it up down there, perhaps an invite from another UHL or ECHL team. As for the Komets, as I've said from the start, while I like the idea of having eight veterans, it causes too many problems. I don't know of any teams who have done it with much success and we saw why here. There's always a player who's really unhappy and you could sense the Komets were feeling pressure to play Miller whether or not they wanted to do it.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Miller leaving team

Komets forward Kelly Miller has left the team to play for Huntsville of the Southern Professional Hockey League. I will have more on this later in the day; I'm down at Indianapolis Colts practice and am about to go do some interviews, so check back in an hour or so for comments from Miller. Before you conspiracy theorists start up, though, Miller contacted Hunstville, so it's not a tampering situation.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Game postponed in Flint

The Rockford IceHogs' game Wednesday at Flint, Mich., has been rescheduled because of the World Series.  It will be played Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. This is an interesting situation. I think it's great that the Generals' fans won't be torn between using their tickets or staying home to watch the Tigers on TV. And the Generals are going to make out fine because they just added a coveted weekend date to their schedule. However, I hope this is just a really rare case. There are people who make their plans around hockey games and not all of them are baseball fans. I wonder if they're all ecstatic. On second thought, how often do the Tigers go to the World Series? Yeah, this is cool they did this.

The new goal song

This just came to me from Komets vice-president Scott Sproat. For those of you wondering what the new goal song is, you can listen to it through this link. The Komets obviously want fan participation with it.

Waiting for Miller time

I'm intrigued to see how the situation with Komets forward Kelly Miller plays out. Because the team can only play seven veteran players every night, one of the vets has to sit, and so far that person has been Miller.

The thing is, he's been working his tail off in practice and earned praise from some of his teammates because of his attitude in practice. Miller is usually a very upbeat guy, and so far he's remained so, but the Komets would be wise to remember that he came out of retirement last year to play for them. It's going to be pride-swallowing if they ask him to be the odd-man out indefinitely.

That being said, I don't know what the solution is, because all of the Komets' other veterans -- Kevin St. Pierre, Guy Dupuis, J.C. Ruid, Bogdan Rudenko, Mario Larocque, Bruce Richardson and Daniel Goneau -- have played pretty well. Were I a guessing man, and this is purely a guess, I would think we get a look at Miller this weekend and Rudenko sits a game.

Even if he doesn't, I hope Miller keeps being upbeat. He can be a valuable player to this team, as we saw last year when he was one of the few doing all he could to win. Besides, chances are one of the vets will get injured sometime and the problem will be solved.

• Check out this site, where fans can vote on a Komets' bobblehead.
• I'm a little amused by this story from The Flint Journal, in which General coach Kevin Kerr says he's disappointed in the fan turnout. Attendance is below 1,800 per game. First of all, not to sound like "Field of Dreams," but if you build wins, the fans will come. The Generals are 1-4-0, including 0-3-0 at home. After a couple years of dreadful teams, plus an arena that has historically been antiquated, to say the least, you can't expect mass support overnight. It seems like criticizing them is the last thing you'd want to do.
• Kalamazoo, the defending Colonial Cup champions, are still undefeated at 3-0-0. Check out this story from The Kalamazoo Gazette, where the Wings are antsy to play more games.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Holy power play, Batman

I guess we need to keep it in perspective, this being just one game. But my oh my, did the Komets' power-play unit ever look good. Six goals, more than they Komets had ever scored in a UHL. It tied the all-time franchise mark; the Komets scored six power-play goals six times in the International Hockey League, last doing so in 1997.

All totaled, the Komets scored on 6 of 12 power plays Saturday. That led to an 8-3 defeat of the lowly Quad City Mallards.

The most impressive thing to me about the Komets' power-play proficiency was that they were able to score three goals on the man advantage even after Bogdan Rudenko and Bruce Richardson had been tossed from the game.

Speaking of that, the Komets must stop taking all these dumb penalties. Blame the officials all you want -- I will admit, however, Jim Hawthorne was pretty darn unwilling to let players play the game tonight -- you can't be slashing, whacking and elbowing the way the Komets have been. This will come back to bite them. Two major penalties in two minutes is unacceptable, no matter how you cut it.

• The Komets didn't allow a shot in the third period. That had never happened with Fort Wayne in the UHL.
• Coach Pat Bingham will be spending extensive time with the defensemen in the coming days on their positioning. To keep a long story short, he doesn't want them pinching in as aggressively as they have been because it's causing odd-man rushes. The defensemen need to stop stepping up to make the big hit, too, because even if they take the puck-handler out of the play, an odd-man rush usually still results. I will get into more detail on this next week.
• Quad City is just plain bad. The Mallards are 0-3-0 and been outscored 23-6. Goaltender Jason Tapp had little help, but in the first two periods I thought he looked very average. Then he came up with some whopper saves late. Very early prediction here: Quad City finishes in fourth place in the division, slightly ahead of Bloomington ... maybe.
• I don't know what it is, but I like the new goal song. At least it's got some good fan involvement with the clapping and such. It's not great, but serviceable.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

From Mallards to myriad penalties

Last season, I took a lot of heat, lots coming from the Quad City media, when I suggested Brian Curran didn't deserve the Coach of the Year Award. Not to discount his team's colossal collapse in Game 7 of the playoff semifinals the day he won that award, but the Mallards sure look awful again now.

They came into tonight's game 0-2-0, having been outscored 15-3, and they look just as bad as that billing would suggest. Fort Wayne is beating them 5-3 capitalizing on a porous defense, mediocre goaltending and horrid special teams.

Fort Wayne has three power-play goals and a short-handed goal. Quad City does have three power-play goals, two of them thanks to a pair of major penalties the Komets took late in the game.

This isn't to say the Mallards won't turn this thing around -- they have some talent with Don Parsons, Patrick Nadeau, Chad Woollard and Glenn Detulleo -- but this was a team that lacked a bit of an identity last season and this kind of start doesn't bode well for them.

The Komets, meanwhile, continue to take awful penalties, and their identity is one of an unintelligent team right now. Bogdan Rudenko got a game misconduct for checking from behind, which set off a 10-player melee after the Komets went up 5-1. Then Bruce Richardson got a major and a game misconduct for elbowing. Sure enough, the Mallards scored twice in the next three minutes to climb back into the game.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Stay out of the dang box

Before we get to the good stuff, this needs to be written: The Komets continue to take dumb penalties. When I can hear A.J. Bozoian slashing all the way up in the penalty box, there's something wrong. So, it's no surprise the Komets were short-handed four times in the first period of their home opener.

The good news, though, for the roughly 10,000 people who are here, is that the Komets lead the Quad City Mallards 3-0 after one period.

J.C. Ruid scored a short-handed goal. Jonathan Goodwin and Bogdan Rudenko added power-play goals as Mallards netminder Jason Tapp looks, well, so-so at best tonight.

Quad City entered the night being outscored 15-3. Yeah, that looks like it's going to continue in this one.

• The Komets are playing without Kelly Miller, Matt Syroczynski and Jonas Gabrielsen.
• They are still giving a tryout to Jani Honkanen. The Komets will likely sign him but need to get his immigration work papers approved by the government first.
• I hope you caught my story on Arthur Kiyaga, the Komets' rookie defenseman from Uganda. He is a very interesting guy. If you want to hear full audio of my interview with Kiyaga: Download arthur_kiyaga_interview.WMA

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Looking at the basics

I've been asked by a few people this week if the Komets will have anything in particular in store for the Quad City Mallards for Saturday's game. It's a legitimate question, considering the Komets won't have played in nearly a week. But really, it's too early to start scheming to take on particular teams. At this point, you have to worry about yourself.

Fort Wayne coach Pat Bingham has been working on the most basic of things in practice, like where to sweep the puck to, when it's in front of the Komets' net.

"The little things are the big things," Bingham said. "I'm just trying to put practices and drills in place that stress the little things. We want guys to understand that when they do those things, the puck will bounce our way.

"There were a lot of good individual efforts last week, but not a lot of synergy."

• Thanks to JungleMonkey for posting this in the comments section. It's from a brawl between Quad City and Muskegon last weekend. I guess the Komets will have to beware of Steve MacIntrye, a Mallards defenseman.
• In case you missed my profile of Komets defenseman Guy Dupuis, click here.
• You may have some interest in taking part in this forum on banning fighting from hockey.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Oh, happy day

Komets coach Pat Bingham was in a great mood this afternoon. That wasn't exactly the case earlier in the week.

He said a terrific morning of practice has given him a greater level of faith in his Komets, who are 1-1-0 heading into Saturday's home opener against the Quad City Mallards.

"I'm a lot more optimistic than I would have been if you had caught me yesterday," Bingham said.

After a short training camp -- it was less than two weeks in duration -- the Komets looked messy in their first two games. They took a lot of penalties and suffered from too many defensive breakdowns. After looking at the film and watching them in practice early this week, Bingham realized his players hadn't grasped everything he had tried to teach.

"We weren't on the same page yet," he said. "We had some guys who understood more than others.  ... We are building and getting better. That's all you can ask, for guys to make practice the two most important hours of the day."

• For those of you looking for further clarification on the release of forward David Besner, Bingham said it was just about numbers. "We can't carry everybody," he said, "and at the same time he wasn't fitting into what we're trying to do."
• Bloomington forward Jason Payne was suspended one game for his sucker punch of Komets defenseman A.J. Bozoian in the Prairie Thunder's 4-2 victory Saturday.
• The Mallards have signed Don Parsons, who led the Central Hockey League in goals for three seasons.
• Check out this web site, Fort Wayne fans: http://www.kometskrowd.com/

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Better in HD

OK, I wanted to write about this sooner. But I only have so much time on my hands for such trivial matters, like relaxation in front of the TV.

I've had several of you ask me in the past if I'm a video-game player. The answer is: yes. With that, I finally got my hands on this year's version of NHL 2k7 for the xbox 360. So I thought I'd give you a little review, since I've been asked to do that, too.

It's cool. Really cool. Especially in high-definition. (For the loyal reader who works at a local electronics store, the Samsung TV is working out great.)

For those of you who would like to know what it feels like to be Dominik Hasek (without the groin injuries) or even Kevin St. Pierre, that's where NHL 2k7 really shines. With a click of the right stick, you can take over a first-person view of the goalie, make diving saves left and right, and have only a split second to decipher if the puck is screaming at you from 50 feet away, through a crowd of players, even ricocheting off skates.

I never played goalie, so this blew me away.

Unlike most hockey games, I've found that it's not sickeningly easy to score, even if you're getting in position for wraparound after wraparound, which is a pleasant surprise. And the ability to change just about every setting, from the puck friction to the forechecking strategies, makes this game very pleasing to hard-core hockey fans but easy enough to control for everyone.

I also really like the portions of the game when you're battling the corners, having to elbow some guy who's cross-checking you from behind.  And I found the fighting to be more realistic than most games, with you able to grab the jerseys on either side and really have a fast-paced scrum with someone.

There are a few downsides to the game, however. They didn't make much of an effort to get the players looking correct. Chris Chelios looks like a 19-year-old yodeler, not an old-as-dirt grizzled veteran. And I wish they would come up with a better system for changing lines, since you pretty much have to dump the puck in to get the time to pick, on the fly, who you want on the ice.

And I wish that modern video-game companies would come up with a good way to design your own plays. I remember playing Wayne Gretzky Hockey in 1987 and being able to get the wackiest sequences imaginable, infuriating a bewildered Grant Fuhr.

OK, this was all probably too much information for many of you. For Komets fans, former Fort Wayne players Eric Boguniecki and Kevin Weekes are, of course, in the game. So are some former UHL players like Raitis Ivanans and Curtis Sanford.

So pick it up. And if anyone wants to chime in with a review of NHL '07, feel free to do so.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Week of work

We all called for toughness after last season's debacle. So far, the Komets' infusion of toughness into their lineup has manifested itself in an interesting way: not a ton of hits, three fights and 20 sh0rt-handed situations, second only to Elmira's 33.

Believe me, coach Pat Bingham isn't too pleased with that. He didn't call out anyone in particular, saying only that he was tired with the same people making the same mistakes. The scoresheets don't like: Daniel Goneau has a team-high five minors to go with his team-best two goals, and Matt Syrocznski has three minors.

The Komets, who are 1-1-0, have until Saturday's home opener against Quad City at Memorial Coliseum to work on things. And there are plenty of things on which they need to brush up.

The Komets will continue to try and master Bingham's systems, particularly on special teams. He doesn't want to have to keep relying on the same people over and over again there.

Bingham will also work on things like defensive coverage and what to do with the puck when under pressure. Mistakes in the defensive zone is what has led to so many shots against, goals and, most importantly, all the penalties.

The latter area is something that Bingham can work on all he wants in practice, but it's more mental than anything. Players need to be smart enough to know, no matter how bad the officiating is, they can't be hauling people down when you're trailing late in the third period. In that respect, the Komets of 2006-07 have yet to show they're any wiser than last season's Komets.

But before we get too carried away here, it's only two games into the season. It's way too early to panic. But the earlier these things get talked about by Bingham, the better chance players will get the drift. If not, there will be plenty of players cut by teams in the ECHL in the coming week, I'm sure.

• I got berated by some people over the weekend for picking Kalamazoo to win the Colonial Cup. With UHL teams such unknowns early in the season, it's tough to make predictions -- the Komets look great on paper but that doesn't mean anything, as we learned here in 2001-02 -- so it's my experience to just go with the best coach until something comes along to prove otherwise. I might point out, Kalamazoo is 2-0-0 having outscored the opposition, which was Elmira both times, 9-1. I seem to recall lots of people telling me how good Elmira would be, by the way.
• Two games into the season, Muskegon's Philippe Plante is plus-8. That's plus-5 better than anyone else in the league.
• Elmira's No. 1 goalie, Shawn Degagne, suffered a groin injury. He could be back this weekend, but I wonder if the Jackals might look to their corporate sales representative to fill in. That's Doug Teskey, the longtime Komets goalie, who last played for the team in 2002.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Difference a day makes

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Wow, I don't think I've ever seen the mood change with a team so quickly. The Komets lost 4-2 to the expansion Prairie Thunder on Saturday and, boy, the locker room was somber afterward.

The officiating was bad in this one -- how many times can a goalie kick the net off the moorings with no call? -- but to their credit, the Komets weren't making excuses for their inability to stay out of the penalty box. After a sluggish start, the Komets could ill afford to play that type of hockey.

The Komets got better as the game went on, but every time they got some momentum, they'd take a bad call. Coach Pat Bingham is really losing his patience with that, saying that he's tired of seeing the same players make the same mistakes over and over again. A lot of the penalties have been from laziness, too; instead of being in the right position, the Komets will haul somebody down, Bingham said.

He didn't name names, but I got the impression some of the guys he's upset with are not necessarily the younger players.

I'm sure this will blow over soon, but after winning 4-2 at Rockford, Ill., on Friday, it's only natural for the Komets to take this one kind of hard. It's a good sign anyway that the Komets hate losing this much. And it's a good sign that for the second straight night, the Komets played better as the games went along.

Some other things of note:

• The lights were off in the locker room after the game, apparently because of a timer, and it took them about 15 minutes to get them back on. The Komets weren't too pleased they had to wait on that to shower.
• Bingham admitted that playing the same people over and over again on the penalty kill is making some of his key guys tired. But, he said, he's yet to develop trust with too many guys, since so many mistakes are being made.
• The Komets' majority owner, Stephen Franke, was at the game.
• Komets center Bruce Richardson is fortunate he only got a minor penalty for mauling a Bloomington play after the final buzzer.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

The flashing lights

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- OK, I took a stroll around the concourse. U.S. Cellular Coliseum is pretty darned cool. Tough to find your way around the upper levels, but who cares about suite-holders anyway?

I do have one more significant gripe: There is one of those video screens that goes the length of the ice, which are so hip at stadiums these days, and it really affects the light in here. It'll give you a headache as the whole arena goes dark, then bright, then dark.

The pregame ceremonies included a video of a buffalo trotting through goalies, culminating with it exploding a Komets goalie. The mascot here is a buffalo named Chip.

Interestingly, the Komets' bench is larger than the Prairie Thunder's. I've never seen the visitors given roomier digs than the home deep. How hospitable.

Now for the game: The Komets have controlled the play through the first period but the one big mistake they had resulted in a goal. Bloomington went up 1-0 at 4:30, on its first opportunity of the game, when Andre Niec put the rebound of a B.J. Gaustad shot into the net.

The Komets' power play didn't look good. They have been making things way too complicated, instead of just moving the puck around the zone and taking the quick, smart shot.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Bloomington ... Illinois

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Greetings from Bloomington ... Illinois that it. It's strange after writing so much about this franchise coming into existence -- early on in the process, several years ago, I did think they were talking about putting a team into Bloomington, Indiana -- but now I'm finally here.

The arena is awesome. It reminds me of the Teco Arena in Estero, Fla., where the Everblades play. State-of-the-art, low ceiling, but really luxurious.

The Komets have yet to arrive because their bus got a flat tire outside of Rockford, Ill., which is about two hours away. The game is still expected to start on time, though. The Komets are only a few minutes away.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

What a wild night

ROCKFORD, Ill. -- Needless to say, the big story of the night was goaltender Kevin St. Pierre. He stopped 51 of 53 shots Friday night, as the Komets defeated the Rockford IceHogs 4-2 to open the season.

St. Pierre was great the entire game, but particularly during the third period, when he stopped all 21 shots he faced.

The irony was obvious: Against Rockford last season, the Komets lost in the first round of the playoffs and many thought that would spell the end of St. Pierre's tenure with the team. But new coach Pat Bingham and general manager David Franke opted to retain St. Pierre and, at least on this night, they couldn't stop raving about him.

The Komets' offense looked sound. Very aggressive, but sound. However, the Komets' aggressiveness resulted into some defensive breakdowns. That's understandable, given the players' unfamiliarity with the systems and each other.

Though some of the Komets were upset with the officiating -- Rockford had 12 power plays and Fort Wayne had five -- they must learn that they can't get thrown in the penalty box that often.

It was a very upbeat locker room after the game. Bingham praised his club up and down. On a night like this, I don't think his predecessor would have been so positive. That's a big change around here. And the players really seem to be enjoying everything that's going on. None moreso than Bruce Richardson. Clutching a broken kneepad -- it happened when be blocked a shot -- he chatted up a storm, praising his team's resiliency.

Bingham really shortened his bench late in the game -- Richardson joked about playing 46 minutes -- and that will change as Bingham learns who he can rely on the most. Tonight, he stuck with the guys he's familiar with and it paid off.

By the way, I don't like the Komets' new jerseys. Cincinnati Bengals anyone?

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Resilient

ROCKFORD, Ill. -- The Komets lead it 4-2 after two periods. The theme of the night is resiliency. Twice the Komets have allowed game-tying goals. Twice they have come right back and scored.

The goaltending is the difference right now. Kevin St. Pierre looks much better than Frederic Cloutier.

There was almost some fisticuffs as Fort Wayne J.C. Ruid got into it with Robin Big Snake. Frankly, I've yet to see Big Snake stop yapping and just drop them already. I know that sounds homerish, but I keep seeing the same stuff from him all the time.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Looking good

ROCKFORD, Ill. -- The Komets lead it 1-0 after one period. Daniel Goneau, showing some of the skill that got him to the NHL, netted a 45-foot wrist shot while the teams were playing 4-on-4, to put the Komets ahead. It was a nasty shot and really caught goalie Frederic Cloutier off guard.

The best player on the ice right now: Komets goaltender Kevin St. Pierre, who has 17 saves.

The Komets killed off four power plays and I thought they looked pretty sharp in that department.

Something that really stands out about Fort Wayne right now is they're fun to watch. They use a lot of long, adventuresome passes, and they really like to go after things with their transition game.

The Komets had one really bad moment, a late-period penalty for having too many men on the ice. I'm not sure, they still may have six out there. This is something that drives coach Pat Bingham crazy, so he must be yelling about that right now.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

From Rock Vegas

ROCKFORD, Ill. -- Greetings from Rock Vegas. Not sure why they call Rockford that -- it certainly is less-than-Vegas-like -- but it seems to have caught on. Komets defenseman Kevin Hansen called it Rock Vegas in an interview with me this week.

Always strange to come back to the place the last season ended -- especially for the next season's opener. The natural inclination, I think, is to assume things will pick up where they left off. With the Komets' roster so very different, I doubt that will be the case.

Rockford is doing its usual, promising all kinds of toughness. The Komets would do well to set the tone early with some hard checks, sending a message to one of the Colonial Cup favorites.

• The Komets have chosen their captain for the upcoming season -- it's defenseman Guy Dupuis.  No surprise there, as he's a savvy veteran who's been in the organization for years.
• I was a little amused by the Rockford Register-Star today instructing fans on what to chant during games. "Tick, tick, tick, boom," after goals, by the way. Seems a little forced if you have to explain it, to me.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

No more cuts

Komets general manager David Franke said there will be no more cuts before Friday's season opener at Rockford, Ill. Some players are sick and have minor injuries, he said, so the Komets will likely place three or four players on injured reserve to get down to the required 19 players on the active roster.

Here are some stories from around the league you might be interested in reading:

• Stories from The Flint Journal and The Quad City Times about UHL commissioner Richard Brosal's conference call Tuesday.
• An introduction to hockey from The Bloomington Pantagraph.
• The Battle Creek Enquirer's look at the defending-champion Kalamazoo Wings.
• From HockeyRefs.com, a list of those officiating in the UHL this season.

I know several of you are web-only readers, but I encourage you to pick up the print edition Thursday. We will have a 12-page special section on the Komets. It'll be a little more comprehensive in print, but certainly plenty of it will be available at http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/sports/hockey/.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

State of the UHL

I just got off a conference call with UHL commissioner Richard Brosal. The following are some of the highlights.

As I reported last weekend, Brosal has been trying to get a team in a northwest Indiana city. He said today the city he wants is Mishawaka. He also wants another city in Indiana, believed to be Indianapolis.

As for policing the salary cap, he said one of the ways the league will do it will be random interviews with everyone from players’ wives to team employees.

On feelings going into this season: “It’s a new era, so to speak. Many of you have been around a long time and watched a lot of changes through the years. … With time comes change. I’m very proud to still lead this league. I have the passion for it just as strong as I did 10 years ago. We’ve had ups and downs, but what I’m most proud of this year is our Board of Governors took inventory this summer and made some tough decisions (about what teams to keep and get rid of).”

Going from 14 to 10 teams: “It’s something to look at and say, ‘It is addition by subtraction.’ I’ve used that phrase because I truly believe the league is in much better position than it has been. We’ve gotten rid of some dead weight.”

On having a hard salary cap: “A hard salary cap is something I’ve pushed for since coming to this league. It’s better late than never. The luxury tax was nothing more than the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. … There is a three strike rule (with the new cap rules). The embarrassment and the cost to the teams who get caught will be extravagant.”

Asked to elaborate, he talked about suspensions, $25,000 fines for second violations, $50,000 fines and season-ending suspensions for coaches on third violations and teams not being eligible for the playoffs. Players will also be punished for knowingly breaking the cap.

Will Elmira, N.Y., have company? “Elmira is as far east as we want to go. We have a new building we’re working on in Williamsport, Pa., and we have some things we’re working on in the area of the Ohio Valley. … We’ve agreed as a board we’re not going to entertain anything else in the south and we’re not going to look far into the northeast.”

On skating before periods start: “Players that during the intermission have been sitting and standing around, in the last couple of years we’ve only allowed the starting lineups to skate before the start of the second and third periods. We’ve noticed we had a lot of groin injuries and stiffness. … Now we’ve instituted a rule allowing all skaters to warm up on the ice before all the periods.”

On the web: “We plan to unveil our brand new web site in the next couple of days (at www.theuhl.com). … We feel it will be among tops in the industry.”

On grooming talent: “We have a commitment we’ve made to our players that we’re a training ground. We want to help them get to the next level.”

With players who break a contract to go to Europe, they cannot come back until after the following season. Robin Bouchard, of Muskegon, did this last week. He cannot come back to the UHL until after the 2007-08 season, even if the Fury wants him. The same holds true if a player breaks a contract to go to the LNAH.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

One more cut

The Komets made another roster move today, cutting defenseman Adam Blanchette.

Also, even though he was cut Monday, there's a chance defenseman Carl Michaelson may resurface with the Komets. Apparently he's been out with an injury -- the team didn't say what it was -- but they are going to continue to look at him.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

First cuts come

The decisions were hard. But they had to be made.

The Fort Wayne Komets dropped seven players from their roster Monday: forwards Jean-Simon Richard, Drew O’Connell and Martin Aubin, defensemen Chris Cote, Carl Michaelson and Charlie Levin, plus goaltender Daniel Ljung.

“Although nobody was on obvious choice, we tried to get down to workable numbers,” said coach Pat Bingham, in his first season with the Komets. “We’re at (23) players now, which is a pretty workable number for practices and what we’re trying to do.”

The Komets open the regular season Friday at Rockford, Ill.

There were no major surprises among the cuts, although Richard, who had 13 goals and 31 points in 26 games last season for Oswego State, and is the cousin of Komets winger Pascal Morency, had looked like a particularly promising prospect.

But on the veteran-laden Komets, the competition for roster spots, which began with the opening of training camp Oct. 2 and featured three exhibition games – all victories for Fort Wayne – was as tough as it had been since 2002. The Komets, coincidentally, went on to win the Colonial Cup that season.

“The one thing I feel good about is the character of our hockey club, the veteran leadership,” Bingham said. “I don’t sense any resistance whatsoever in trying to get everybody working hard and buying into the systems. I see veteran guys who are going first in drills and guys who are executing properly.”

Aubin had never gotten onto the ice for the Komets; a back injury prevented him from passing a physical.

The Komets are allowed to carry 19 players on their active roster. They can have up to four more players on injured reserve and one on team suspension, but there are no serious injuries among the players right now.

“I think we’re going to have to make some more moves before Friday night’s game,” general manager David Franke said.

The Komets have been expecting the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears to assign them a defenseman – the teams have an informal working agreement – but Bingham said he’s heard no news on that front as of yet. The Komets currently have eight defensemen.

“I’m focusing on what’s right here,” Bingham said. “I don’t make a habit of calling AHL teams, just the same way they don’t call NHL teams asking when someone will get sent down. You work with what you have.”

For the guys who remain with Fort Wayne, they will prepare for two weekend games – the Komets play at Bloomington, Ill., on Saturday – as management continues to scour the waiver wires and see if anyone else of worth is available. If not, Bingham is happy with the crew he has assembled.

“There are several guys who are pleasant surprises,” Bingham said. “Nobody looked out of place in the (exhibition) games. Everybody at least has an understanding of what we’re doing. … There are a lot of guys who want to be there and giving you everything you’re asking for.

“How we’re going to shape up around the league and how good we can get, that’s still a giant question mark. We have a foundation to build upon, which is exciting, encouraging and a positive thing.”

• For those unclear, Jonas Gabrielsen, who played the last five years in Europe, will not be considered a rookie. He is a simple non-veteran.

Almost famous

Honestly, I didn't realize how famous the Komets' new coach, Pat Bingham, was until I came across this item on ebay.  C'mon, you know you want a Bingham bobblehead.

I wonder how many games he'll have to win until the Komets give him the same honor. Although, I think Mario Larocque would be a better fit for one -- have you seen his fauxhawk? Awesome.

• Former Elmira Jackals coach Perry Florio is suing Dr. Mostafa Afr, the team owner, for breach of contract, according to the Corning Leader.
• Since we've been talking about ticket prices so much around here, here's a link to an interesting story on the hike in NHL ticket prices this year. So much for being grateful to the fans for returning so quickly after the lockout.
• This is just plain funny. Check out the Gary Bettman.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Win for K's, praise for McWhinney

This courtesy of assistant sports editor Tony Krausz:

Komets coach Pat Bingham is reluctant to single out players he feels will make the roster this season, but goalie Dan McWhinney has done enough to get a mention.

In a phone interview after the Komets’ 4-3 exhibition victory Saturday night over the Kalamazoo Wings in Kalamazoo, Mich., Bingham heaped praise on the backup goalie, who stopped 23 of 24 shots after replacing starter Kevin St. Pierre in the second period. St. Pierre, who played about half the game, stopped 17 of 19 shots.

“(McWhinney) closed out big time,” Bingham said. “He made some saves to keep the lead and really fired the guys up. He had a good showing for himself, and it looks like he has earned himself a job.”

As for the rest of the players trying to make the squad, Bingham said he will be sitting down with the rest of the coaching staff and general manager David Franke to figure out how to fill out the roster.

It’s a job the players, who went 3-0 in the exhibition season, are not making easy.

In Saturday’s win, Matt Syroczynski erased a 2-1 deficit with goals in the first and third periods, and Martin Gascon tallied the eventual game-winner in the third. K.J. Voorhees scored the first goal of the night for the Komets.

“We dressed four lines and played all four lines,” Bingham said. “Everybody contributed and played like a team while competing for a job.

“Guys are buying into what we are teaching, and making it a difficult decision on who to keep.”

Hockey night ... in Gary?

I spoke with UHL commissioner Richard Brosal for a story that will run next week. One of the things he mentioned was his desire to get two more teams in Indiana, perhaps in the next year. He wouldn't say what cities, of course.

Obviously, one must be Indianapolis. Brosal has craved a team there for some time -- Fort Wayne and Indianapolis were rivals in the International Hockey League -- and Indy now has a junior team.

What about the other? It would have to be in northwest Indiana. Perhaps Gary, South Bend or Mishawaka?

• Don't forget, if you ever have any questions you want to ask me for the world to see, you can do so at our "Ask the Expert" section. (I know, maybe it should be so-called expert.) I don't answer everything, but I certainly try to do so. Click here to view that feature. And you can always get to it from Komets Korner.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Keep it in perspective

Yes, the Komets belted the Kalamazoo Wings 8-2 in the second exhibition game of the week Friday night. Yes, it was an impressive showing for the Fort Wayne offense. But let's keep it in perspective -- the Komets wanted to give the home fans a show, so they played almost all of their veteran players. And they faced a Kalamazoo squad packed with youngsters.

Nonetheless, it was a good game for the K's.

You could tell the Komets have worked a lot on their power play this week. They scored on 3 of 9 attempts. You could also tell the Komets haven't worked on their penalty killing. It was pretty messy there, though they allowed only one goal on 12 Kalamazoo opportunities, and Fort Wayne scored a short-handed goal along the way.

Some players who are standing out: Defenseman Arthur Kiyaga, who came in as an unknown, has got to make this team with the way he's looked; Martin Gascon looks like the best rookie of the bunch to me; Mario Larocque looked better than expected, scoring twice; K.J. Voorhees is showing the scoring touch that had been advertised; Bruce Richardson is one smart hockey player.

Here's what coach Pat Bingham had to say about Pascal Morency: "Because of how well he forechecks and supports the puck, he's out there, we use the term, hunting that puck as the first guy. The last game, he drew a lot of penalties. Tonight, he drew a lot of penalties. And when he's not doing that, he's creating turnovers. He's the model, right now, of how an aggressive forechecking system can and should work."

Bingham also raved about Bogdan Rudenko, but that's no surprise since he's played for him before.

Asked about cuts, Bingham said he's dreading the decision because he wants to give everybody enough time to shine. But there will probably be a mass exodus of players Sunday. He's not tipping his hand much.

I do know some in the organization have been watching David Hukalo closely. I thought he played better Friday than he did Wednesday. Mike Dombkiewicz also showed improvement. Were he on the hot seat, I don't think he is anymore.

The Komets will go with all of their youngsters Saturday night at Kalamazoo. Don't be surprised if the Wings get some payback by playing all their veterans.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Nothing yet

Komets coach Pat Bingham made no cuts today and the team may wait until after the third and final exhibition game Saturday night to announce anybody.

• Former Roanoke Valley broadcaster Matt Rosen has been hired by the Phoenix Coyotes to be their pre- and post-game radio host.
• The Komets will allow their games to be broadcast over the internet through the B2 Network this season, on a pay-per-view basis. The catch is their games at Memorial Coliseum will be on a 90-minute tape delay. The Komets don't want people to watch the games at home rather than come to the Coliseum. And they really don't want local businesses profiting by airing their product. www.theuhl.com will have links to the B2 broadcasts during the season.

Not bad effort, not good hockey

Before we go any further, I have to say, this exhibition hockey stuff stinks. One game would be more than enough if you ask me.  But we've got three of them this year.

Since we can all agree, teams like getting fans in the stands for the money in it, why not just add a couple of games to the regular season and just get things started? Teams could just do intrasquad scrimmages if they want more preparation and probably be fine. Besides, a good portion of these guys won't be here a few weeks into the season anyway, so plenty of re-training will have to be done. I just don't like watching these snoozers. Tonight's was after two days of practice, so of course it would be.

OK, rant over.

Well, maybe not. Exhibition overtime shootouts? C'mon. Let's call it a tie and all go home.

OK, rant really over. Now for the good stuff.

I'm not saying this just because he scored the winner in the shootout -- the Komets defeated the Port Huron Flags 2-1, by the way -- but I thought David Besner looked good all night. He seems to have a nose for the puck and have some grit. He scored a ton of goals in juniors, 79 his last two seasons, so we'll have to see if he can bring that production to the next level.

I raved about him yesterday and coach Pat Bingham did today: defenseman Arthur Kiyaga looks good. He works his tail off.

"A bright spot for me was defenseman Arthur Kiyaga," Bingham said. "He's not big in stature, but he's a guy that tried to do and basically executed everything that was asked of him the last three or four days. There are other guys who give you very little of it and that part is disappointing."

Still, Bingham was very pleased with the effort all around.

Clearly, the Komets were the better team on the ice, with control of the puck almost the entire way. I didn't see much hitting, which was a little disappointing from my perspective, but that was secondary to the team making an effort to do what Bingham has been teaching it -- his systems. The Komets were playing with some purpose.

I thought K.J. Voorhees, brought in for his goal-scoring prowess, showed some fire around the net. He had a goal, on a power play. As one player told me, though, he's going to need some people on his line to really move bodies and get him the puck.

I was pretty impressed with Dan McWhinney, the starting goalie for the Komets. He had some nice saves on point-blank shots. Daniel Ljung was tough to guage because he only faced three shots in relief, but he came up with some tricky stops in the shootout.

Defenseman Jonas Gabrielsen is one to watch, too.

One thing about Besner's shootout goal, by the way, was he watched how Kelly Miller had scored and decided to go after the same area on goalie Noah Ruden. Bingham, I know, liked that.

As for when we'll see our first cuts, it could be Thursday. But Bingham said he did want to make sure he gave everyone a fair chance and that could mean another practice or two.

By the way, for those who were asking, according to Komets vice-president Scott Sproat, season ticket holders who don't use their exhibition game tickets can trade them in on ticket exchange nights during the regular season.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Trap-a-what?

I'm sorry, I was told there would be no math here. Didn't we all think we wouldn't need geometry after high school? I thought so. Yet I get to the rink and there are not one, but two, trapezoids on the ice. They denote the new rule in which goalies cannot play the puck outside of the trapezoidal area that starts at the goal posts and extended diagonally behind the net. With two rookie goalies in net, Dan McWhinney of Fort Wayne and Noah Ruden of Port Huron, who went to my high school by the way, neither goalie was going to head to the corners anyway. Too early to make a judgment on this change.

• I know it's only an exhibition game but it sure is weird seeing someone not named Colin Chaulk don No. 91. Defenseman Adam Blanchette has it on tonight.
• Ruden, who played at Michigan, has the Wolverines' helmet on tonight. Sharp.
• It's scoreless and about the only player who has stood out is McWhinney, who made two good stops on blast from within the slot. Left wing David Besner has been noticeable as well, showing a nose for getting to the puck in the offensive zone.
• The Komets' Pascal Morency had a vicious hit from behind on Ryan Markam late in the period. But he made up for it by declining to fight Ricky Reichenback seconds later, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Flags.

- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Limiting confusion

Just so there's no confusion, the URL for this site should be: http://jgwebblogs.typepad.com/ice_chips_0607/

No "www" in it, in case you're like me and get confused by such things.

There were a couple of other ones floating around, but this should be the one to bookmark. So do it!

As for tonight's exhibition game, as expected the Komets are going with a lineup of mostly youngsters. Not playing: Martin Aubin, Guy Dupuis, Daniel Goneau, Jonathan Goodwin, Kevin Hansen, Mario Larocque, Bruce Richardson, Bogdan Rudenko, J.C. Ruid and Kevin St. Pierre.

I know many of you are hoping for some fights, namely from Pascal Morency. Personally, I think it would be silly for him to do so. What does he have to prove in a game like this? Nothing. All that could happen is he gets injured.

• The Komets have added forward Matt Syroczynski. He is 23 and played last season for the University of Vermont, where he had three goals and nine points in 35 games. He had been in training camp with Worcester of the American Hockey League. He is 6-foot-5, 225 pounds.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Observations

I just got back from Day 2 of training camp and the Komets had a three-hour practice, which is fairly long. It's weird seeing how different Pat Bingham's coaching style is to that of the former coach, Greg Puhalski. There was really no screaming from Bingham. He stopped things very often to teach new things and he was very encouraging when players made mistakes. I'm interested to see whether this demeanor keeps up because the players were responding well to it.

Among some other things that stood out to me:

• Rookie forward Martin Gascon, who is 5-foot-10, 170 pounds, looked good. He has a nose for the net and could be a very promising playmaker.
• Arthur Kiyaga, another small guy at 5-foot-9, 177 pounds, seemed the most energetic person on the ice. I viewed him as a longshot to make the team, even though he had five goals and 10 points in 49 games last season in juniors, but now I'm not so sure. He's raw but promising.
• Daniel Goneau is a smooth skater. You can see he played in the NHL.
• I watched the goalies closely. Kevin St. Pierre looked good. Beyond that, I thought Dan McWhinney looked considerably more polished than Daniel Ljung. We'll have to see what happens in the exhibition games, though.
• Here are some of the lines it looks like Bingham will try: Bogdan Rudenko-J.C. Ruid-K.J. Voorhees; Pascal Morency-Gascon-David Hukalo; and Daniel Goneau-Kelly Miller-Jonathan Goodwin. I expect, however, that when Bruce Richardson arrives he will replace Miller on that line.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

A look at Aubin, prices

Only two players didn't make it onto the ice for the first day of training camp: Bruce Richardson and Martin Aubin.

Richardson, a center/assistant coach, wasn't in town yet because his wife just gave birth to their second child.

Aubin, a 21-year-old left wing, was out due to an injury. During his physical, a lower back problem was discovered, general manager David Franke said, and further testing is required to determine if he can even try out. Aubin, 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, was scoreless last season in 32 games playing in Quebec.

• I don't blame those who are upset at having to pay full price for tickets to exhibition games. It won't be particularly good hockey. Although, with this team, I would expect some rough play. However, just remember, things could be worse. The Chicago Hounds are charging $45 for single-game tickets against the glass to regular-season games. Preposterous, regardless of how nice the new arena is. Check out their prices by clicking here. The least expensive tickets are $14. Now look at the Komets' ticket prices. They range from $9 to $19. Far more reasonable. Just a thought.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Stiff competition

I just got back from the Komets' training-camp opening meet-and-greet session with the media. As expected, there are 29 players in camp. (Well, there will be when player/assistant coach Bruce Richardson arrives Tuesday night, following the birth of his second child.)

There's a much different feel than in previous seasons. Under coach Greg Puhalski, the Komets usually had 25 players in camp, meaning everyone pretty much knew who was making the team. Under coach Pat Bingham this year, there will be about seven players who won't make it through camp, so the competition will be fierce.

One of the big battles will be in net, where Dan McWhinney and Daniel Ljung are competing for the job as No. 2 goaltender, behind incumbent starter Kevin St. Pierre. But before we get too ahead of ourselves, Bingham said he'd like to bring in another goalie, if he can, to compete for the job.

Also, keep an eye on the situation with all the veterans. There are eight of them, one more than the Komets can play in games. The Komets will likely carry all of them but this means Kelly Miller has to work his tail off to keep himself in the lineup. On the other hand, of the vets, Miller has a unique style, so he may be OK. None of the others are third-line, energy-type players.

Finally, fans who like to seek autographs had better bone up on their French. There are a lot of Quebec-bred players.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette