All-Stars announced; Jorde coming

When the UHL All-Star Game takes place at Memorial Coliseum on Jan. 17, the local fans will have plenty of familiar faces to applaud.

The league announced its all-star rosters and selected to play for the Western Conference team were Fort Wayne goaltender Kevin St. Pierre, defensemen Guy Dupuis and Mario Larocque, plus forwards Jonathan Goodwin, Bruce Richardson, J.C. Ruid, Bruce Richardson and Martin Gascon.

Richardson won’t be able to play because of a torn labrum in his hip – he is expected to have surgery on that Thursday – and Gascon made the team as a replacement. Because of that, every Fort Wayne player who was on the ballot for coaches, general managers and reporters to choose from, wound up an all-star.

Komets coach Pat Bingham will coach the Western Conference because of his team’s winning percentage as of Jan. 1.

Each conference team is comprised of 18 skaters and two goaltenders, and each franchise must be represented by at least two players.

The starting lineups for the game will be determined by fan voting between Thursday and Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Fort Wayne fans are probably about to see a change in the makeup of the Komets’ defensive unit.

The team is close to signing defenseman Ryan Jorde, who skated with the Komets last season, tallying three goals, nine points and 107 penalty minutes in 60 games. Jorde is 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, a ninth-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2001.

“I’m on my way to town right now,” Jorde said Wednesday afternoon. “I’m coming there to play and I know we’ll figure something out. I’m not looking to break the bank or anything. I’m looking forward to working something out with them.”

Jorde, 24, came close to signing with the Komets last summer but opted to play for Victoria of the ECHL instead. After tallying five assists and 34 penalty minutes in 23 games, and learning the Salmon Kings might trade him, he asked to be released so he could pursue options in other leagues.

“The team was losing and we weren’t doing good,” he said. “There were a lot of great players but it wasn’t jelling well. … I just wanted to try playing in Canada for a year. It didn’t work out. It was trial and error.”

Said Komets general manager David Franke: "We're hopeful we can work something out with Ryan, but we haven't met yet face-to-face. Something could get done by this weekend."

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Comments

[Brad Lyons]

OH this I have to see....Ryan Jorde will NOT last under Bingham! Jorde is about himself, NOT his team. Jorde is LAZY, he doesn't skate hard to the play... he's not about to get himself hurt playing in the UHL because he feels he belongs in a higher league.

MISTER FRANKE, are you mad??? Jorde better be the hardest skating player out there if he joins this team, or this goes against everything the Komets team stands for!

[Turner]

I'll betcha he doesn't have a "Need the holidays off, thanks!" clause in his contract, though.

[Nic]

Ya got that right Turner...THe kid does too play hard...I personally think so..Him and Nuemy were our best D Pairing last year..and I think under this system it's gonna help his stats alot..the guy has a CANNON for a slap shot..and Bingham system seems too use the D-Men alot more then Pulhaski's (spelling) did..

[Shawn]

WHY? I have no idea what we are going bringing in ANOTHER d-man for! We need GOALS not another stay at home player on the blueline. He will most likely demand a 2-way agreement with Grand Rapids again which will mean he is going to miss games due to being called up. This is not the way to go, I hope this deal falls through.

[Shawn]

I guess if there is a nice trade in the works that I can live with Jorde on the blueline. He is a good stay at home d-man.

[Brian]

Komets and Jackyls tied at 0 end of first. Henley rocked Littlejohn, The littleman didn't even get a punch in!

[Jerad Shaw]

Was it a good scrap Brain??

[Brian]

Henley is so big that he kinda looks awkward throwin punches but littlejohn didn't have a chance. Henley landed probally 10 or 12 licks before hittin the linesman a couple times when he tried to break it up. K's lead 1-0 PP goal by Redenko assisted by Larocque and Dupuis. One timer from between the circle and the goalline, gloveside. K's look ok great defensively, alot of deflected and blocked shots, Not a lot of body being thrown though! Frenchy standing extremely Tall. A few amazing saves post to post on his back typical Superman

[Brian]

sorry the goal was stickside.

[Hit Somebody!!!]

Is this a bad dream..uh...nightmare...someone pinch me. Do we really need this guys act back again to infect this team this year? He was lazy, acted like he could care less about being here, quit in the playoffs, ran his mouth about being the most feared guy in the league, explaining his poor play as this league being too slow for his fast paced style....is this the kind of crap this team needs now? Why not sign a good forward that knows how to grind, score, snipe, and crash the net and put the puck in it? What is the love affair over on Super Fans site anyway? I swear that blog has turned into a slobber and brown nose fest over there. They love everybody over there, as long as they play Euro Hockey and as long as he tells them it is ok to love them. What a joke.

Just say no to Jorde!!!! Please!

[chuckitt]

jorde is a great hockey player! if you dont believe me, just ask him!!! to fit in with these guys, jorde had better grow up a litttle and start playing team hockey, which means sacrificing himself for a teammate. we need another goal scorer, not a d man or a miller grinder. we need a goal scorer! maybe a trade in the offing to get rid of our overstocked d men?

[Hit Somebody!!!]

We need goals....hmmmm....lets bring in Ryan Jorde. How can you argue with that logic? Can't we get Venedam, Bobby Stewart, or the likes of these guys? We need a sniper in front of the net. Who is that guy currently?

We don't have him is the correct answer here.

[hobo]

im NOT a jorde "lover" but we have 6 guys on the roster that have been here pretty much from the beginning of the season that has missed more games than jorde missed on callups last year....

[Jason]

If he signs, I have to assume Honkanen is gone since he is a tweener. I'd be surprised if they dumped Dombkiewicz. Bozoian might be another candidate to hit the road.

[Greg]

Hit almost everyone last year quit in the playoffs so you can't lay that alone on Jorde. He's a good stay at home defenseman and if I remeber Bingham when he was hired he said defense first. If he thinks Jorde can improve the team then that's why he's here or will be here.

[Junior]

I would be happy to see Jorde back around to prove himself as a solid hockey player. If he can't, then he should go away and never come back. But I have no problems with Jorde.

[watching]

Why do we keep Kiyaga? In my opinion he has regressed and cannot check anybody off the puck.Isn,t he more a liability than a good defenseman.If they don,t want to get rid of hin then try him up front to utilise his speed and see if he has enough skill to make a position there.If not then let him go.

[Greg]

Too many people have asked that question and the simple answer is that Bingham and the team likes him, his attitude, and the way he works in practice and in games. He's willing and wants to learn.

[Junior]

He makes an awful lot of mistakes.

[Greg]

Bingham doesn't seem to see it that way and his numbers prove that he's not making too many.

[chuckitt]

everyone does overlook one thing, jorde can also play forward. hopefully he comes here with the right attitude and has something to prove. hes got the tools but his head and his better than thou attitude tanked him last season. asecond chances iam all for, then bye bye....

[Jerad Shaw]

Kiyaga has improved 10 fold since the beginning of the year. There is always a spot on a team if you have speed. You can teach other things, but if you have the speed he has, you can't teach that. He has the willingness to be taught. He will be a very big part of a tourney run if he continues to get ice time

[Tom]

I enjoy Kiyaga on the ice but when he is paired up with forwards more than twice his size (as it seems) he is bounced around and looks like a child. When he plays against normal sized forwards he is effective. I think part of it is the matchups on a given night. During the Holiday break I remember saying "Kiyaga is awesome tonight" then another "he is too small and these guys are knocking him all over the ice." Maybe a coaching decision on finding good matchups for him on the ice. I do like him on the powerplay because most of his shots end up on net and allow for nice rebounds if we can just get someone coming from the otherside to tip them in. It happened at least twice again Kalamazoo or Chicago last weekend.

[Hit Somebody!!!]

You guys are right, I have been kidding myself. Arthur and Jorde are the best D-men in the league. Heck, pair them up together and let them be our #1 line of defense and then put them on the #1 PK unit and on the #1 Powerplay unit too. Then we will see how good we are.

[Brad Lyons]

LOL Kiyaga can't check anyone and Jorde won't do it in fear he might break a nail. Seriously though, when Jorde decided to play--he could play! But 75% of the time he would give up, not take a guy out and boom--a goal goes in on us.

I disagree we need offensive players, we need defensive players. You don't hold leads with offense, you hold it with defense.

[tiffj]

hey brad just one small problem w/ that idea, we need to get the lead before we can hold the lead.
that also goes along of playing 60 min. insted of 25-30 min.

[Hit Somebody!!!]

Who do we have outside of Ruid that is a major threat to fill up the net at any given moment? Anyone...Anyone? I thought Goodwin was that guy, but man does he goes games without being heard from. I like Goodwin alot. But we need that guy that is sitting on the doorstep ready to pound one home. We don't have that guy at all. That guy is a Jim Duhart....yikes....I don't mean bring him in...just someone who can score like him....wow!

[Tom]

By no means was I saying the Kiyaga is our best defenseman. When he clears the pucks he often just sends it out of the zone instead of passing to a teammate. His size hinders him, but also helps him when it comes to stealing a pass now and then. I would rate him 4th or 5th out of our currents defenseman.