Ice Chips 06'-07'

The word of the night is "flat"

Before you start griping about that penalty on Luciano Aquino in overtime, I'm not so sure it was a bad call. To grab and swivel a player so out in open ice is asking for trouble. But maybe it was a dive by Jeff Zehr. Even so, there's no way it was any worse that the dive by David Hukalo late in the third period.

If you didn't see the game, you can figure out where this is going. The Komets did nothing with their power play late in regulation -- what do you expect from the league's worst power-play unit? -- and when the Port Huron Icehawks got a chance on the power play in overtime, they capitalized and won 2-1.

Too bad for Komets goaltender Kevin Reiter, who was stupendous is stopping 30 shots in this game. He won't get credit for the best save of the night, though, which came in the first period when defenseman Jake Pence turned away a Jamie Carroll shot at wide-open net.

The Komets talked a lot in the locker room about how they came out flat, for unknown reasons, and that's what they want to avoid Saturday against the Bloomington Prairie Thunder. Truth be told, the Komets are lucky they salvaged a point against Port Huron to stay atop the International Hockey League's standings.

• Evgeny Saidachev left the game in the third period after a collision with a Port Huron player. The belief is that it's a sprained ligament, but that's pending testing and there's no telling how serious it is, but I didn't get the impression this would be a long-term injury.
• They're going to have an interesting day at Memorial Coliseum. IPFW is playing basketball in the afternoon, then they have to get the arena ready for hockey at night.
• Joe Franke, the Komets' former equipment manager, who gained international attention for playing a game in goal and winning in 2002, has been brought in on an interim basis as equipment manager with Bridgeport of the American Hockey League.
• IHL commissioner Paul Pickard attended the game Friday; it was his first time at the Coliseum this season.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

The Saidachev story

To read the aforementioned story on Evgeny Saidachev, click here.

Jackals bus crash

The ECHL's Elmira Jackals were involved in a bus crash early Thursday, as they were returning to New York after a loss at Cincinnati the night before. Click here for coverage from The Elmira Star-Gazette. The Jackals were rivals of the Komets in the now-defunct United Hockey League last season. It sounds as if the players are OK but the bus driver is in rough shape.

In lighter news, make sure you check out The Journal Gazette tomorrow, when I'll have a feature on Evgeny Saidachev. Did you know he played in high school for Culver Military Academy in Indiana? And did you know Culver has produced seven NHL players, including Gary Suter?

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Bring back the spaceman logo

I've seen a lot of promotions in my years, many of them not so hot, but the Komets have a really cool one going on. They are giving fans a chance to design a jersey for the team, with assistance from Arts United and Technology Specialists.

The deadline to enter a jersey is January 11. I'm pulling for something incorporating the old Spaceman logo to win. Maybe I'll get my newborn and some crayons on this project.

Click here to see information on this promotion and to get the jersey templates. The Komets will take entries in many forms; you can do it on the computer or draw it, and you can be specific or loosely indicate your ideas.

• Check out this story from the Windsor Star, in which the Detroit Red Wings' Kris Draper talks briefly about his "very silent" ownership role with the International Hockey League's Flint Generals.
• The Flint Journal has a story in which is investigates why attendance is still down, despite a good-looking Generals team. The fans certainly can't be expected to forget years of bad teams and a horrible unheated arena overnight.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Wow, it's cold up here

Sorry for the delay, folks, but it took awhile to get the Florida sand and sunscreen out of my keyboard. (Sorry, I had to rub it in.) Sheesh, though, it's cold up here in Fort Wayne.

First off, thanks to columnist Ben Smith for filling in on the blog and in the newspaper while I was gone. Ben's got his own blog, titled And Another thing ..., if you liked what you read from him.

Of course, it figures, Ben gets to cover all the fun stuff while I'm gone -- the return of Pierre-Claude Drouin, a Komets team that went from mediocre to top of the league, Colin Chaulk giving the beatdown to Mike Bickley. Did we forget to mention Chaulk isn't just skilled, he's also one tough cookie?

Went out to practice today and Luciano Aquino rocketed a slapshot at me -- I'll try not to take it personally -- and it was so hard, the boards fell into the stands. Later on, he had his teammates fire slapshots from 180 feet away, and he tipped them out of the air and into the net. Yeah, he's pretty skilled, which explains the team-leading 10 goals and 16 points in 14 games.

Here's the injury update: Konstantin Shafranov is on injured reserve with an upper-respiratory infection and may play Friday when the Komets play host to Port Huron; Bobby Kukulka (shoulder contusion), Guy Dupuis (dislocated rib) and Brent Henley (knee) are all at least 10 days away from playing.

Soon, when the health returns, the Komets will have some tough decisions to make. They have 23 players, two more than they'd normally carry, and eight veterans, one more than they're allowed to use in games.

They're loving Bruce Boudreau, the former Komets coach, so far in Washington, D.C. He has the Capitals off to a 2-0-0 start since taking over for Glen Hanlon. Check this out.

Spotted this in Greg Rajan's blog from at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times:

"(A.J.) Bozoian's turnover that led to New Mexico's last goal did one thing: It had everyone in the rink thinking, WTF? If anyone could figure out what he was trying to do with the puck facing his own goalie, let us know. He rode pine the rest of the night and got multiple chewings-out from McRae on the bench."

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Fight night

Well, that was fun.

One period gone here between the Komets-Wings, and Kevin Hansen's prediction after last Saturday night's fracas ("To be continued") has proved prophetic.  Eight fighting majors were dished out in the first period, including four in the last four seconds plus a heavyweight bout between Kevin Bertram and Jordan Little after time had expired.

Unfortunately, the Komets are getting hit in the mouth in more ways than one. They're down 3-1, have only four shots on goal and look like a team that's playing its third game in 72 hours.  In other words, they've got Skating In Mud disease.

-- Ben Smith, The Journal Gazette

Rare sight

Wow, here's something you don't see from this team every day:  Success on the special teams.

Intermission here between periods one and two, and the Komets have jumped on the IceHawks again.  It's 2-0, and the second goal, off the stick of Luciano Aquino, came on the power play.  It was only the eighth power play goal of the season for the Komets, who rank last in the IHL in that category.

The penalty kill wasn't bad, either.  The Komets snuffed 57 seconds of a two-man Port Huron advantage late in the first, but Jason Sessa got nailed for hooking as soon as he stepped back onto the ice, so Fort Wayne will be looking at 52 additional seconds of two-man once the second period begins.

-- Ben Smith

Boudreau gets the call

Congrats are in order for a longtime Komets fave.  Bruce Boudreau has made the Show.

Boudreau, who coached the Komets for a season and change back in the mid-1990s and played on the Turner Cup finals team in 1990-91, was called up from Hershey of the American League to take over as head coach of the Washington Capitals today.  Read about it here.

And attaboy, Gabby.

-- Ben Smith, The Journal Gazette

For a good cause, reminder

As a reminder, the Komets and FortWayne.com are asking for fans to bring donations to four games, Nov. 30, Dec. 1, Dec. 15 and Dec. 16, which will be shipped to American troops around the world, as part of Project Komet Kare Package 2.

The items can include things like beef jerky, white socks, soap, powdered drinks, deodorant, body lotion and wash, snacks, plastic utensils and phone cards.  For a full list of items, click here.

There are restrictions on pressurized items and products in glass containers. Liquids must be secured and chocolate doesn't ship well. Hand sanitizer is prohibited.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

P.C. returns

It's official, as of this afternoon:  P.C. Drouin is returning to the Komets.

A forward who scored 48 goals and 144 points in two previous seasons with the club, Drouin agrred to terms after playing last year in England.  He had offers on the board in Europe again, but owns a home in Fort Wayne, and his wife is expecting a baby before the end of the year.

So, he's back.  And the club gets one more stick to add to a lineup that right now seems crowded with firepower.   Not sure how he'll factor into Al Sims' defense-oriented system, but he's another potential body for Sims to tinker with to shake loose the team's dozing power play.  So he's got that going for him.

  With his addition, though, the Komets will likely have to cut someone loose once Brent Henley and Terry Marchant return from injury.  Stay tuned.

-- Ben Smith, The Journal Gazette 

Henley update

For those of you wondering about the status of Brent Henley, I chatted with him briefly up in the press box Sunday.

He said the docs have given him clearance to start practicing again on Dec. 1, and he hopes to be back soon after that.  He sounded ready to go but realistic about it; you don't want to rush this kind of deal, and he's smart enough to know that.

Anyway, tune in later this week. I'll have more on Henley in the print version.

-- Ben Smith, The Journal Gazette

Komets on a roll

Just about everything worked for the Komets last night in a 7-3 win over Port Huron, EXCEPT for the power play.

All seven goals were even strength, but that's a quibble, considering.

Otherwise, the Ks got lights-out goaltending from Kevin Reiter, snuffed all but one of nine penalties, and even won the rough stuff once the game got out of hand and Port Huron decided it was time to say screw hockey.  Doesn't get much better than that.

I'm guessing the power play will come around, eventually, considering how many guys this team has that can put the puck in the net. I don't think I'd want to be the rest of the league when it does.

-- Ben Smith, The Journal Gazette   

The kid scores

Intermission here between periods one and two, and the Komets are up 3-0 on the IceHawks.

Highlight of the period was Fort Wayne native Brandon Warner's first professional goal. For posterity's sake, it came at 17:44 of the first period, with both teams at even strength, on a bullet of a wrister from just outside the faceoff circle to the left of Port Huron goalie Ron Vogel.

Evgeny Saidachev set it up with a neat cross-ice pass that hit the breaking Warner dead on the tape.

Other than that, the most notable development was the fact that the Komets' penalty kill continues to get better.  The IceHawks were 0 for 3 on the power play in the first and didn't really muster a serious scoring chance.

-- Ben Smith, The Journal Gazette

A P.C. moment

Hey, it's Ben Smith, Justin's stunt double, standing in for a few days while Justin's takes a well-deserved breather.  And I've got some news, maybe.

General manager David Franke told me before tonight's game that the team has been talking with P.C. Drouin, who scored 48 goals for the K's in 2004-05 and 2005-06.  Drouin owns a home in Fort Wayne and he's back in town because his wife is expecting a baby sometime in the next month or so.

It is, however, very much just two guys talking at this point, according to Franke.  Drouin apparently has a lucrative offer on the hook over in Europe, where he played last year.  And so Franke characterized the whole thing as being "very much up in the air."

If the Komets do make a move, though, it's likely to be this week or not at all.  So stay tuned.

-- Ben Smith, The Journal Gazette

'To be continued'

"To be continued." Those were the words spoken by Komets defenseman Kevin Hansen, when asked about the obvious dislike the Komets and Kalamazoo Wings seem to have for one another. After the Komets completed a 3-1 victory over the Wings on Saturday, and swept a home-and-home series, there was a 10-player fracas on the ice. It'll be fun to see what develops.

Meanwhile, this was one of the better games the Komets have played all season. And they were good on special teams, for once. They got a power-play goal from Bobby Kukulka. And after Sergei Durdin got tossed for kneeing -- more than a few thought it was a bogus call -- the Komets faced a five-minute Wings power play and allowed two shots and no goals. That's solid.

When it comes to five-on-five play, there may not be a better team than Fort Wayne in the league. If they can get their special teams consistently playing at a high level, they'll continue to soar up the standings.

Check out the penalties from Flint's 6-0 victory over Bloomington. Those teams also don't like one another.

I'm going to be out of town for the next week, but I've asked Ben Smith to do some blogging while I'm gone, so hopefully he'll do so. In the meantime, feel free to discuss but, as always, please do it in good taste.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Dupuis out awhile -- ouch!

Komets captain Guy Dupuis, a defenseman, dislocated a rib in Friday's 3-2 victory at Kalamazoo, Mich. He's not in the lineup tonight and will miss a minimum of two weeks, general manager David Franke said, but it could be much longer depending on how he heals and feels. Tests revealed no fractures to the ribs of Dupuis, who has one goal and five points in nine games.

Pregame ceremonies for the inductions of Colin Chin, Steve Fletcher, Terry McDougall and Win Rood into the Komets' Hall of Fame were 20 minutes. Would have been better if those in the upper levels could have heard what they were saying.

Defenseman Brent Henley is in the press box tonight. He won't be playing until December, as he recovers from a knee injury suffered last season.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Some help needed

The Komets and FortWayne.com are asking for fans to bring donations to four games, Nov. 30, Dec. 1, Dec. 15 and Dec. 16, which will be shipped to American troops around the world, as part of Project Komet Kare Package 2.

The items can include things like beef jerky, white socks, soap, powdered drinks, deodorant, body lotion and wash, snacks, plastic utensils and phone cards.  For a full list of items, click here.

There are restrictions on pressurized items and products in glass containers. Liquids must be secured and chocolate doesn't ship well. Hand sanitizer is prohibited.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

The Warner stories

In case you missed today's stories on Fort Wayne native and Komets defenseman Brandon Warner, click here and also here.

Sessa back, Marchant not

Right wing Jason Sessa, who missed the last five games because of an illness in the family, will be back in the lineup when the Komets play at Kalamazoo, Mich., on Friday. Sessa has one goal in three games.

Center Terry Marchant will not be available this weekend, general manager David Franke said, because of a lower back strain.

"He definitely will not play this weekend," Franke said. "It's muscular in substance, though, and has nothing to do with his spine or a disc or anything."

Marchant has one goal in six games.

Meanwhile, in regards to my last blog entry about team nicknames, which sparked lots of debate, I have been given further history you might be interested in: Part of the origin of the Flint Generals' name coincides with the history of General Motors in the area, a reader informed me; and the Kalamazoo Wings were a second-tier farm team of the Detroit Red Wings at one point, according to Pam Shebest of The Kalamazoo Gazette, explaining their name. 

This from reader Shaun Bill, who admitted his mistake in claiming my history of the Prairie Thunder was wrong. Click here. I would like some train in their logo, but the buffalo is cool, especially when he's trampling away on their scoreboard.

I will check back with you soon.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

What's in a name? Not much.

As I was recently explaining, for the gazillionth time why Komets is spelled with a K -- it was because one of the original owners, Ernie Berg, wanted to honor his wife, Kathryn -- I got to thinking about all six of the team nicknames in the International Hockey League.

I don't mean particular offense to anyone, but on the whole, they're pretty lame.

We've got the Kalamazoo Wings, which is pretty bland and, in a state with the Detroit Red Wings, not very original. There's the Flint Generals, which isn't a disagreeable name but is kind of bland.

The Port Huron Icehawks is copycat -- remember the Adirondack IceHawks? -- and frankly anytime you have to put "ice" in the name, I get kind of nauseas. It's hockey. Ice is implied. That's why names like the Rockford IceHogs and Austin Ice Bats always turned me off. Why couldn't it have just been the Austin Bats?

Moving on, the Muskegon Fury's name is bad in a number of respects . It's been done before -- Fort Wayne Fury basketball team, Ottawa Fury soccer -- and I don't care who started it because it's a singular name and that's almost always bad. It gets your fans speaking incorrectly, saying things like, "They played great tonight," when it should really be, "It played great tonight." And how Fury begets a cyclone logo is a stretch.

The Komets' name has a lot of history behind it, with the team going back to 1952, so it kind of gets a pass on being common in origin. But it's so darn confusing to people who don't know; they either think it's misspelled or just plain strange.

Which leaves me with the Bloomington Prairie Thunder. On a number of levels, it's bad. Many don't know if the nickname is Thunder and the origin is Bloomington Prairie or if, correctly, the team hails from Bloomington, Ill., and is named the Prairie Thunder. And it's singular. But it does have a decent origin, referring to the long railroad history in the area.

So, pressed to rank the nicknames:

1) Komets: Weird but historic. No. 1 here by default.

2) Generals: Says toughness and excitement. Simple but good.

3) Prairie Thunder: Confusing but unique.

4) Wings: Bland but OK.

5) Icehawks: Is this an actual species? Google said no.

6) Fury: Muskegon should have stuck with Mohawks.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

A look at the Komets, others

Here are some statistics I would never have predicted, some good, some bad, for the Komets:

Colin Chaulk is minus-1 through eight games, one of only three players with a negative number. Jake Pence and David Hukalo are tied for the team lead at plus-8. Kevin Bertram has a team-leading 62 penalty minutes and is scoreless. Guy Dupuis, Sergei Durdin, Matt Reynolds, Bobby Kukulka, Kevin Hansen, Jason Sessa and Terry Marchant are all without a power-play goal, while Olivier Legault has one. Mathieu Curadeau and Evgeny Saidachev are tied for the team lead with eight points.

• By the way, why on earth is the International Hockey League going with the four-column standings, when an overtime loss and shootout loss count for the same single point? Did they learn nothing from the mass confusion the NHL's fans suffered from with that? Anyway, for the time being anyway, we're sticking with the three column here: Win-Loss-Overtime/Shootout loss. The Komets are, therefore, 4-2-2.
• They're making a big deal in Wichita out of a fight between Bruce Richardson, the former Komets forward, and Milan Maslonka, the hulking 240-pound goon. Little do they know there's some history. Remember, Maslonka was the guy suspended 10 games for his part in the brawling between Fort Wayne and Elmira last season, which prompted Richardson and others to claim at the time they didn't know if they wanted to remain a part of the United Hockey League. Ah, the good old days.
• For those still holding out hope Youngstown will leave the Central Hockey League for the IHL, don't hold your breath. According to The Vindicator, the SteelHounds look like they want in the ECHL.
• I was scanning the CHL's stats and how about this: Former Komets goalie Kevin St. Pierre is 2-5-0 with a 3.47 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage; goalie Dan McWhinney is 1-5-2 with a 4.50 GAA and .870 save percentage; Rob Guinn has a league-worst minus-12 rating; and A.J. Bozoian has been limited to five out of 10 games because of injury.
• Komets trainer Shawn Dundon has more jerseys up for auction for the family of deceased fan Stacy Musice. I'll post them in the comments section. They're on eBay.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Woeful special teams

No doubt about it: The Komets' special teams have got to get better if this team wants to have any success.

Fort Wayne came into Friday with the worst power-play unit in the league, scoring at 12.5 percent efficiency, then went 0 for 8 against Muskegon.

The penalty killers came in ranked fifth in the six-team league, with 80 percent efficiency, then allowed two goals on eight opposing power plays.

No surprise, they lost to the Fury 3-2 in an overtime shootout. The Komets certainly have shown surges of brilliance, but you cannot win by playing with peaks and valleys.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Updates on Gratz, Fic and Justin Timberlake

I just had a chance to speak with Brian Gratz, the Fort Wayne native and former Komets goaltender, who is in his first season as a head coach with the Indiana (Penn.) Ice Miners of the new Mid-Atlantic Hockey League, a five-team Single-A circuit.

I don't want to get into too much about what I spoke with Gratz about -- I'll have a story soon -- but he told me he's having a lot of fun, though the job has been hard.

He's basically the coach, general manager and equipment manager -- he was washing the team's towels while we spoke. He turned down an assistant coaching job in England to go to Indiana, and his team is off to a 2-0-0 start, having outscored the opposition 18-5.

Gratz said he has six or eight players who could play at the AA-level, which is what the Komets are in, and he's even made some recommendations to Fort Wayne general manager David Franke.

"I've put together a group of guys focused on making it to the next level," Gratz said. "I'm hoping all the things I'm trying to do for my players will pay off. As for me, if there's ever the opportunity to move up to Fort Wayne as a coach, I'd love the chance."

Gratz is 26, but it wouldn't surprise me if he ended up coaching at Memorial Coliseum someday. He spent much of his playing time listening to and learning from coaches, knowing he would someday be behind the bench, and he was beloved by his teammates here because of his work ethic.

• This would be like hearing Rush Limbaugh announcing he's no longer a conservative; radio broadcaster Terry Ficorelli is leaving the Muskegon Fury after 13 seasons to call games for Saginaw of the Ontario Hockey League. Undoubtedly, he is the most unique broadcaster I've sat next to at games, and I'm known for my Ficorelli impersonation. But he'll be crankin' and swankin', being about 10 seconds behind the play, in the junior ranks now. And I'll miss the press releases, or prose if you will. Recently, columnist Ben Smith and I got a particular hoot out of this one: Check out the third paragraph. Anyway, good luck, Fic.
• Check out this story from the Bloomington Pantagraph about Leo Thomas, back from filming a movie with Mike Myers and Justin Timberlake. Hey, don't laugh, "Alpha Dog" wasn't that bad.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

The GM's take

I had a chance to speak with Komets general manager David Franke after practice today and he said, despite the team's underwhelming 3-2-1 record, he's very pleased and thinks the Komets will be very good. He did mention wanting to see the veterans step it up more, and it's easy to see why -- for example, Colin Chaulk doesn't have a goal yet and Terry Marchant has only one point.

But Franke said no transactions are imminent.

And how about some of the youngsters? Mathieu Curadeau is plus-6. Evgeny Saidachev has a team-leading  six points and is plus-5. Jake Pence is plus-7.  I wouldn't have even guessed the latter statistic.

Meanwhile, Maxsim Shirokov should be back from his concussion this weekend. Jason Sessa, who is on leave due to an illness in the family, is still at least a week away from returning. And Brent Henley should be arriving in town to join the team Saturday, though he won't play for a couple of weeks.

Aquino the man tonight; another Bertram scrap

Luciano Aquino lived up to the hype Saturday, tallying a hat trick -- he had a short-handed goal, a power-play goal and an even-strength game-winner. That's impressive enough, but when you consider how poor Fort Wayne's special teams had been before tonight, it makes it even more so.

Aquino said he felt his line had been playing well all season -- he's been with Colin Chaulk and either Jason Sessa or Konstantin Shafranov -- and it was only a matter of time until it had a game like this.

The Komets looked solid, although I found the game to be a bit boring for most of it.

New goaltender Nick Boucher looked solid in net; it was good to see him stay mentally tough after giving up an early breakaway goal. He told me he was nervous tonight and maybe played a little out of form, but it seems he's a good find. I expect Kevin Reiter to make the start Sunday at Kalamazoo, Mich., though.

Kevin Bertram had another fight tonight, against David Segal. Wow, Bertram hasn't been shy this season -- he has 43 penalty minutes in five games -- and this from a guy who came out of retirement. To download the video of the fight, courtesy of Komets vice president Scott Sproat, here it is: Download bertram_segal.AVI

Raise your hand if you thought either Mathieu Curadeau or Evgeny Saidachev would be leading the Komets in scoring? (I'm not raising mine.) They both now have six points, and yes, that's the team best.

By the way, Kalamazoo picked up the rights to Travis Granbois, who was waived by the Komets before he could play a game.

I'll be down at the Colts/Patriots game Sunday, so I will be missing a Komets/Kalamazoo game. That feels weird. So give me the postgame analysis when you all get back from Wings Stadium.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Komets receive awards

Fort Wayne Komets defenseman Guy Dupuis was selected as International Hockey League Defenseman of the Month and Kevin Reiter won Goaltender of the Month. Dupuis had one goal and five points in three games. Reiter went 2-1-0 with a 1.34 goals-against average, .947 save percentage and one shutout.

Bloomington's Jason Ralph won Forward of the Month, after scoring two goals and six points in four games. Port Huron right wing Jamie Carroll won Rookie of the Month, after having three goals and four points in five games.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette