Scoops galore

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- OK, the word on Pascal Morency is that he's not being punished by coach Pat Bingham. After playing only one shift Friday and being a healthy scratch Saturday, both said it was because of equipment problems. Morency's skates, apparently, began falling apart and he didn't have good replacements.

And here's the news on Goneau: He will miss 11 days and four games because he's leaving Sunday to be with his family over the holidays. It was written into his contract last summer that he could do so. He's the first Komets player to have such a stipulation since Brent Gretzky is 2001-02.

As for the game, the Komets lost 4-2 to the Kalamazoo Wings. In their last 10 games, the Komets have lost every other game, leading center Bruce Richardson to say: "We need to hate losing more than we like winning."

He said the Komets' don't have that mentality yet and that's why, when they tied the game at 2, the Wings were able to come right back with a couple of third period goals. I agree that the Komets let down in the third period, after they came out hitting everything in sight for 10 minutes.

• Bingham believes his team played well this weekend but he pointed out the Wings did a good job of using the "home-ice advantage" that lets them make the last line change. It enabled them to have Lucas Drake's line against more tired Fort Wayne players.
• The Komets were incensed with the work put in by referee Neil Christopher. I don't blame them. Not only did he make some phantom calls early, he missed some blatant stuff late. That included Chris McAllister spearing Jonathan Goodwin in front of the Wings net and about 10 feet from Christopher, who must have seen it. Shocking non-call.
• With Goneau gone, who's the player that'll have to step up the most? I would say Morency. He needs to show he can be more than just an agitator. It's also time for Syroczynski to prove he can be a second-line player.

By the way, Happy Hanukkah.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Comments

[Tony E]

Happy Hanukkah Justin.
Of all things to happen. I would love to know the brand of those skates!

[Hit Somebody!!!]

Sounds like a load of crap. Couldn't they get him another pair for craps sake? So he sat on the bench PO'd looking last night with broken skates? He looked fine in the skates the one shift he had, and then when they went back onto the ice after intermission. What is the real story I wonder?

[Nic]

Hey..finding a good pair of skates is ALOT harder then it looks hit...Look at Foresberg for the Flyers...It took him up intill TODAY too find a pair of skates he really feels comfortable wearing,with his bad feet....An if the skates were falling apart...ooor close too it would ya want him to go out there with the way he plays and have it really break ...causeing an Injury..?

[Tony E]

Hit unfortunatly it isn't that simple. If he uses the type of skates that are baked or molded to the shape of his feet then using other skates would be extremely uncomfortable. A game situation is not a good time to break in a pair of skates that are foreign to a player. Depending on the size of his feet you might not even be able to run into a Dicks and buy a pair of rack skates even if you wanted to.
Now I suppose it is possible they are trying to hide an injury and if so, this would be one of the more creative ways I have heard in a long time. I have my doubts though because Coach Bingham seems to either tell you the truth or truthfully tell you he isn't going to tell you. No matter what it sure is an interesting situation and will be the blog fodder for the week probably.

[Tony E]

LOL nic beat me to it.

[Justin Cohn]

Trust me, he's not hurt. And as you can hear on the audio in the morning, Bingham swore it was because of equipment. Do with this info what you will.

[Justin Cohn]

Any of the fans at the game catch similar flak about the Askey goalie pads thing?

[Brandon]

I didn't personally catch any flak but I have pictures which prove otherwise and i'll post later today and you can judge for yourself.

[dnl]

Happy Hanukkah Justin.
With Goneau gone, it doesn't bother me too much. It's in the middle of the season not the end. Plus I think someone will step up. I like the quotes from Richardson about needing to hate to lose. He's certainly bent on getting the cup this year which is exactly the player we need.
Getting some fresh skates are aweful. Even if the Komets found some skates that fit him during the game, if he continued to played his feet would be all tore up. Mine certainly would anyhow.

[Tera]

I heard someone ask Morency last night why he wasn't playing,if it was his shoulder...and he answered with a kind of sad look "I'm just not playing".

[Tera]

And just wanted to note that my son and I finally got some scoops! We had to go to Kzoo to get them, but thanks to the scoop guy, my son was very excited!!

[Justin Cohn]

Brandon, I'd like to see the photos. Personally, I have no idea. I didn't pay much attention to the situation -- Askey gave up two goals Friday, so the pads were a pretty weird thing to even bring up since he was fairly great -- but I can tell you they were all up in arms. And I tend to believe them, given the reaction. Besides, if he was caught with illegal pads, it's a fine or something.

[Jerad Shaw]

I sat front row, right besides the Komets penalty box in Kzoo last night. I was pretty even with the blue line and I thought the Wings were offsides on their 3rd goal I believe. It was the one right before Bruce got his roughing call. He was arguing the same point I was making with the linesman. When he got into the box I told him I thought it was offsides as well. He aggreed to say the least. Overall, I thought they played well. Askey is a good keeper. The fans from kzoo that I was around were awesome. Very knowledgeable about hockey and "respectfully" gave me what I deserved sitting in their section. Even after coming out and hitting early, with our hitting goes our defense in my opinion. Im still learning the game, but it seems like when we arent hitting, we are kinda playing a tick slower then when we are playing agressive and gettin after people!

[Justin Cohn]

The K's were upset, thinking it was offsides. To be honest, I didn't see when they brought the puck across the line; I only saw the goal. So ... I don't know.

[Brad Lyons]

I like K-zoo fans, they are true hockey fans like we Komet fans. They have respect for the game and understand there is a difference between good trash-talking and bad trash-talking. Someone should teach that to Elmira. Why do we even have that team in this league? Everyone else is out in the midwest, they are out yonder. Here's a solution, get rid of Elmira and teach Nichols a lesson :-)

[Jerad Shaw]

Last night was my first away Komets game and I had a blast. It was a very easy stadium to get to. What other places are good to go to an away komet game. I would like to make a couple trips to away games this year and expecailly during our LONG playoff run hopefully!

[Brandon]

Jerad,

I've been to pretty much every rink in the UHL (with the exception of Chicago which I might be taking care of on the 27th, Port Huron, and Elmira) and to be honest, there's really not a bad trip. The only place that I refuse to go back to is Muskegon because their fans are out right dangerous...I've been in numoreus fights there and i've only been there once! I was even approached at a gas station by a guy wanting to throw punches at me because of the jersey I was wearing, luckily the Komets bus pulled in for their stop and Danny Stewart saw it and came running over and then a few of the other guys did

[Brandon]

Jerad,

I've been to pretty much every rink in the UHL (with the exception of Chicago which I might be taking care of on the 27th, Port Huron, and Elmira) and to be honest, there's really not a bad trip. The only place that I refuse to go back to is Muskegon because their fans are out right dangerous...I've been in numoreus fights there and i've only been there once! I was even approached at a gas station by a guy wanting to throw punches at me because of the jersey I was wearing, luckily the Komets bus pulled in for their stop and Danny Stewart saw it and came running over and then a few of the other guys did

[Skate]

Is it just me or does anyone else think it's not OK for a guy to take 11 days off for vacation? And for the club to condone it?

[Skate]

Or is this something that is only allowed for "special players?"

[edward]

its definately odd for a player to get time off for the holidays but i dont think it will hurt the ks and might be good for goneau to get home and spend time with family and come back refreshed.

i also know someone that saw morency in the hallway in kzoo, they asked him why he wasnt dressed and he said he wasnt happy about it, skates or doghouse???

[Hoss]

I went to one of the playoff games at Muskie and had no problems with fans. Sure some had to yell at me, but nothing came of it. Another great place we went to on that playoof run was up to PH. Great place with great fans! Their barn is small, like a high school gym, but you can yell and everyone hears what you say. I was yelling the whole game, so much my wife moved away from me. One guy was yelling back all game long and at the end of the game he came over and shook my hand and told all the Komet fans Congrats! Even their mascot came over and shook our hands! It was a long trip, but a great one!!!

[Tony E]

I see no problem with it if it is agreed to at the time of signing. This is an older player who obviously places his family as a top priority in his life. That doesn't mean he doesn't care about the Komets or his teamates. It simply means he cares enough about his family to have that factor in his decision when decided whether or not to resume his career. Maybe he is religious? Maybe the holidays have a very special meaning to him for personal reasons. If his reasons are good enough for the Komets organization then I don't think it is any sort of problem. These guys are not making enough money where you can say "for what he is getting paid he just has to deal with being away from home".

[Skate]

I'd suggest that Morency go to Komet Kuarters for skates but based on what I am sure he makes, he probably couldn't afford it.

[Skate]

I'm just saying, Tony E, that it sets a precident. What do his teammates think?

Except for Syzy and Morency, who may get more ice time, do the others care?

[Tony E]

I am sure his teamates have known all along this was happening. It may set a precident but I don't see that alot of players will ask for it. I am sure he is not getting paid during the time he is gone and many players could not afford two weeks off.
I think his teamates respect who is is and how hard he plays and if his family is this important to him, his teamates will respect that. I think they would rather have him on the team minus the 11 days than retired or playing somewhere else.

[Tony E]

final thought. I think it would be different if this was a young player wanting to jet off the the Bahamas for Christmas. Dan is an older player who is at the point in his life that for the special time of year that is the holidays he has chosen to put his family first. I really think his teamates will have no problem understanding that.

[Hit Somebody!!!]

As long as he put in for his vacation time in correct order...who cares. Do they get 2 weeks or wait a minute, he should be in his probationary period and shouldn't get any weeks off yet.

What am I saying, it is sports, not the real world like you and me....duh....LOL

[Brad Lyons]

Well, I wonder if Maslonka (Elmira) is off to visit family right now? Seems to me, he has plenty of time ;-)

[Hit Somebody!!!]

I am thinking more and more that Morency not playing Saturday and one shift on Friday and looking ticked off about it Friday night on the bench is a BS story with the skate-gate story. I know that you are reporting what they told you Justin, I know you can only report what they tell you...but doesn't is sound like a line of crap? Do Elite Professional Hockey players only have one pair of skates? I doubt it. I played college baseball and had 5 catcher's mitts, 2 sets of pads, 4-5 pairs of cleats, 6 bats, just in case something happened. I don't buy it for a minute. Why can't they just be straight with us and stop all the BS stories? Then you have Pascal telling fans that he was "ticked" it didn't play. Sounds like there might be a little trouble in paradise?

[Bob]

I don't have a problem with Gonaeu taking some time off. If he requested it during the off-season and the Frankes agreed it....I'm sure that it will work out fine.

Besides, I think that sometimes having only two days for a break during the holidays is NOT long enough considering the distance that some of these guys have to travel to be home.

I don't like going to Chicago to visit the in-laws unless I have at least two days otherwise I don't have enough time to visit with everyone.

[Ryan]

All I know is that we need Pascal on the ice more often he has heart something the Komets need right now

[Justin Cohn]

Actually, I happen to believe the skate story. You don't sit the guy two nights in a row, once on the bench, to send a message. That doesn't make any sense. As for the skates, no it's not hard to believe these guys only have one good pair. This ain't the NHL. And as anyone who's seen "Ice Princess" can attest to, you don't start playing with new, not-broken-in skates.

[Jerad Shaw]

Justin. please tell me you didnt just go Ice Princess on us!!!

[Stephani L.]

We love Morency! Hated to see him out on Friday after one shift - thanks for the info on that.

[Justin Cohn]

I did. Two words: Michelle Trachtenberg. ... I make no apologies for my love of bad teeny bopper movies. ... Besides, the account of what happens when you wear new skates is accurate.

[Tom]

I have been to QC, Rockford, Flint, Muskegon, and Kalamazoo. I am planning on going to Bloomington and hopefully Chicago this year. Muskegon is dangerous and never go there alone. I remind some fans of what happened up there a couple of seasons ago to the little boys dad from Fort Wayne. The little boys dad was beaten up by some of their fans. When I was there they only had two security guard in the arena. Both times I have been up there I have had stuff thrown on me and was harassed constantly. Note: There are some good fans too: some shook my hand after the game and appologized. Jerad and others if you ever want to go to a road trip let me know sometime.

[Jerad Shaw]

Will we see any bus trips or anything going to games. Im game sometime going Tom. Just give me some time to get my finacees straight and get this lease to end....Muskegon could be a fun trip for me!! :)

[Justin Cohn]

I know there were some bad incidents, but Muskegon can be fine for going to the game. I recommend staying at the Holiday Inn, right across from the arena, and be forewarned there's no place to eat after the games in that town. The fans can also get rowdy toward opponents in Elmira, I've heard.

[Jerad Shaw]

Im thinking Elmira might be a trip next year to get a 2 game set in. Could be my vacation:) Sure the GF would love that one

[Tom]

Maybe you go to Elmira and have two girlfriends that weekend. jk...Great joke about Elmira JC. Have a good holidays in case I don't make it back before then. See everyone Friday for the jackals game. Note: I talked to one of the Frankes and he said "Littlejohn is really upset so we could have a little giving in the form of a war on the ice on Friday." I thought that was a good insight.

[Jerad Shaw]

Ill pass that on to my friend Walker who shall then pass a ticket onto me!!! Should be a good one in Fort Wayne on Friday....I encourage all Komet fans to be respectful. Doesnt mean dont yell, but understand your responsibility as a seat holder in the Coliseum.!!!

[Jerad Shaw]

JC....What is the Hotel close to Muskegon you were speaking of???