HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Let me tell you, I've seen Greg Puhalski irate before. But never like this. After the Komets defeated his Chicago Hounds 2-1 in overtime Sunday, Puhalski was stationed outside the officials' room chastising referee Brett Klosowski for not calling a penalty shot late in regulation. Security had to be called, but Puhalski retired from the area before they got there.
Apparently, Puhalski felt a Komets player, not the goalie, covered the puck in the crease, which would have demanded a penalty shot. Fort Wayne was given a delay-of-game penalty instead. There was such a crowd in front, I couldn't see any of it. The Komets' players said there was no way it was in the crease.
I don't blame Puhalski for being upset he only got a power play; his team was 0 for 7 with the man-advantage. The Hounds squandered that last one, too, and the Komets scored a power-play goal of their own in overtime.
Officially, I'm told by Hounds officials, the goal goes to Matt Syroczynski. This after they credited it to Guy Dupuis and then J.C. Ruid. Syroczynski didn't think he touched it. Ruid swore he didn't. They all agreed, it doesn't matter because they won.
The Komets felt they played well in this one, which surprised me. I thought they were pretty sloppy. But as the players were quick to tell me, no one said this would be a pretty series. I guess that's true. Look for this series to get even tougher because the Hounds must feel they let one slip away.
As for Puhalski, he may face some punishment for this. If the officials really felt threatened, he might deserve it. I saw the whole thing. He was yelling and screaming -- they could hear it in Rockford -- but he never went into the officials' room and the call for security was merely precautionary.
-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette
After hearing about this....I really doubt that anyone can refer to Greg as "the cardboard cutout" anymore.....
With the good reputation that Greg has....the call for security is just a precaution so that another ugly situation like what happened in Elmira is avoided.
I wish that I could have been there to watch this one....
Posted by: Bob | April 15, 2007 at 10:01 PM
I can't believe it... The chief on the war path! What I want to know is this ...Were the Hounds players all worked up for there to be a penalty shot? If so ok, if not, Chief take a chill pill.Go K's
Posted by: ds214 | April 15, 2007 at 10:18 PM
At the last minute, I decided to head to the game after-all....sorry Tom, it really was last minute :-(
THE KOMETS THOUGHT THEY PLAYED WELL? They need to look at the tape because I agree Justin, it was SLOPPY. Okay, the defense was very good but the HUGE problem is what will give them a quick exit in the second round, assuming they make it out of the first round. There are actually TWO HUGE PROBLEMS right now...
1) BLIND PASSING IS COUGHING UP THE PUCK. It's one thing to clear the puck out of the zone and just slap it to get rid of it, but when you HAVE the puck and you just dump it in front of your own net or you throw it to the top of your own blue line assuming someone is there. The Hounds had SEVERAL break-aways because of this, one being their short-handed goal. There were two others that Frenchie stopped point blank and two more where our guys got back and made the poke-check.
2) HIT THE DANG PUCK!!! A couple guys did this tonight, although not as many as Saturday. However, as usual, AJ BOZOIAN is the ring leader. WHAT is his problem? AJ keeps coughing up the puck, I mean, HOW do you go to hit it and completely miss it when the puck is DEAD ON THE ICE? For those that weren't there, one of his "wiffs" happened VERY late in the 3rd period in the circle right of the our own goal, they picked it up and drove in...had it not been for Frenchie's kick-save, we would have lost in regulation instead of won in overtime.
IF ANYONE HAS ANYWAY TO TALK TO ANY OF THE KOMETS DIRECTLY, please urge them to practice their passing--because for the past two games, it's sucked. If we make it into the next round and they pass like this, we'll get eaten alive.
With this said, we are SO fortunate to walk away with a win tonight--it easily could have been a 2-1 loss. If it weren't for Frenchie, it could have been 4-1.
On another note, what a disappointment it was in Chicago--I mean, their stadium is wonderful! I sure wish we had something like that, it's soooo nice :-( But what is disappointing is that with this nice facility and their very first playoff game--there was NO ONE there.
Posted by: Brad Lyons | April 15, 2007 at 11:54 PM
Have to agree with about everything Brad said. Komets didn't play with any fire and some of our steady,dependable players have not shown up.
Beautiful building...could have been mistaken for a mausoleum in the arena area!!
Posted by: becky | April 16, 2007 at 08:48 AM
To be fair, this was a third game in 3-days and it is the playoffs... but it IS the playoffs, you HAVE to come to play for the full 60-minutes. I'd like to see them dictate the play instead of waiting for it to happen. If you want to play YOUR gameplan, YOU must dictate the way the game is played. I think they need to take more shots, try to get the rebounds....this moving the puck for 30-seconds on a 2-minute power-play only to make a bad pass or have a shot blocked and cleared down the length of the ice just isn't working. I really feel a 1-2-2 would really open things up against this Hounds team while at the same time, provides protection against the boards. This way you get a shot from the top of the point that if it gets deflected, there are two guys near the net to poke it in. If it gets kicked up the boards, there are guys there ready to play it, likewise they have angles to shoot from. If the penalty kill is playing a diamond pattern, it gives you the ability to play outside of their defensive scheme with rotation. If they play a box, then it opens up angles and makes it easier to pass across the ice. The problem is, I don't think I've seen them play that kind of power play all year--but when it comes to Chicago, our powerplay just isn't working. But what do I know, I'm only a season-ticket holder with a very keen eye for little details :-)
Posted by: Brad Lyons | April 16, 2007 at 09:09 AM
Well, its official, Toledo was bought out and will be suspending operations from the ECHL for two season and will either play in the ECHL or the AHL in 2009 per the Toledo Blade. So I wouldn't count on Toledo joining the UHL.
Posted by: jkmess11 | April 16, 2007 at 12:21 PM
here's the story:
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070416/SPORTS07/70416001
Hmmmm notice where they say "fans don't care what level" and then "ECHL is lower cost than AHL". Well, the UHL would be even less, there would be local markets to play up in FLINT, KALAMAZOO, Port Huron AND Fort Wayne. IT would be PERFECT, the UHL needs to approach them about this--it would be perfect! :-)
Posted by: Brad Lyons | April 16, 2007 at 12:57 PM
Yes Brad it would. The problem is we been having this discussion since these blogs were created and nothing is happening. Toledo wants to stay ECHL. Nothing we can do about it.
Posted by: Greg | April 16, 2007 at 01:11 PM
Well with Rockford going to the AHL, Elmira going to the ECHL and from what I've been hearing (and saw!) about Chicago that they are struggling, Motor City not able to come back, etc.... IS this league in serious trouble? I mean, we're talking, as of right now, a MAX of 8-teams.... I don't think the UHL should wait or delay any "big news" they might have unless they really think it would disrupt plans in motion.
Posted by: Brad Lyons | April 16, 2007 at 01:21 PM
The IHL suriveved a couple of years with six teams as did the NHL for about 30 years. It can be done. As long as the core teams are stable, the UHL will be okay.
Posted by: Greg | April 16, 2007 at 01:23 PM
Yeah good point, there was that NHL thing huh? ;-)
Posted by: Brad Lyons | April 16, 2007 at 01:53 PM
Brad,
I will forgive you this time, but being in Warsaw I could have been ready last minute. Shame on you...my phone better ring next time. If we win Tuesday I will likely go on Thursday.
Posted by: Tom | April 16, 2007 at 03:12 PM
Who ever said it was the Toledo STORM who was thinking about entering the UHL?
Posted by: Skate | April 16, 2007 at 03:14 PM
The Blade didn't talk with the GM that wants to run a team next year. My guess is it won't happen.
Posted by: Greg | April 16, 2007 at 03:36 PM
Tom,
I didn't know you lived in Warsaw, yeah that would have been on the way :-( I can only go on a weekend, too busy during the week. Even weekends can be tough, glad we have home games! :-)
Posted by: Brad Lyons | April 16, 2007 at 06:15 PM