Congratulations, Flint, you won a meaningless game

The Flint Generals can gloat all they want -- and they did plenty as they skated off the ice Sunday -- but I fail to see why this was so significant.

It was a 3-2 victory for the Flint Generals, thanks to a Jason Cirone goal in overtime, but there's one reason the Generals won: goaltender Eric Marvin. He was stupendous in this game.

It ended the Komets' winning streak at 11 games. Snapped their home winning streak at 25. But the Komets went 22-0-2 in their last 24 regular-season games, including 2-0-1 in three straight games to finish the season against Flint, and this was reason to talk trash to fans while coming off the ice?

Cirone got his goal on a power play, after Fort Wayne's Kevin Bertram coughed up the puck at the offensive blue line and then had to haul down Michel Beausoliel to prevent a goal.

After the game, the Fort Wayne locker room was nonchalant, to say the least. Most said they couldn't have cared less about the loss. Others said if anything, it was a positive because it reminded them they aren't infallible.

I'm sure the spin out of Flint will be this: "You see, the Komets are beatable." Well, if anyone had doubted that, they weren't paying attention. Most of the Komets' games have been decided by one or two goals.

But the Komets still put together one of the best regular seasons in hockey history with 56 wins and 120 points. Six teams in the league or not, that was impressive. I wouldn't bet against them.

In other news, center Colin Chaulk was selected as the Komets' MVP after voting by the players. He took the same honor in 2004 and 2006. Interestingly, teammate Guy Dupuis was the runner-up for the league-wide MVP award behind Kalamazoo's Kory Karlander.

I'm not particularly surprised, though I think Dupuis is the MVP. I know some have pushed P.C. Drouin for this award, but from the players' perspectives, they probably wanted to reward someone who's been here the entire season and has impacted both ends of the ice a lot. Still, to me, that's Dupuis, but Chaulk's deserving, too.

The rest of the awards were voted on by reporters and front-office personnel.

Luciano Aquino won Rookie of the Year. Guy Dupuis took Defenseman of the Year. David Hukalo won the Stonewall Defensive Forward honor. Jake Pence won Most Improved Player. Kevin Bertram took the Unsung Hero Award. Mitch Woods won the Mr. Hustle trophy. Chaulk got the "True Komet" award for team spirit and positive attitude.

The News-Sentinel's community service award went to Pence and Olivier Legault.

• Looking for someone to blame for today's loss? How about the tandem of Evgeny Saidachev, who didn't play, and assistant equipment manager Andy Desmonds. Last week, I wrote about how the Komets hadn't lost with Desmonds wearing a lucky hat he kept nabbing from Saidachev's locker. Well, Saidachev didn't bring the cap. Desmonds didn't wear the cap. And the Komets lost.
• The first-round schedule between the Komets and the Fury has yet to be finalized, Komets president Michael Franke said, but we do know this much: Game 1 will be Friday at the Coliseum at 8 p.m., Game 2 will be at Muskegon, Mich., Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Game 3 will be Sunday at the Coliseum at 6 p.m. (Note, that's later than the usual Sunday game.) You can count on a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 format, mostly because of conflicts at both arenas. That'll be brutal for anyone, including myself, who will be attending all the games. (Some other outlets are releasing "tentative" schedules. Don't trust them because it could change beyond Game 3.)
• I'd like to thank the academy ... I've been awarded a Dickie by The Flint Journal. Sweet. Although, I would point out comments are great, but readership is even more important. Luckily, Ice Chips gets plenty of both. And, by the way, Savage Thoughts is a pretty entertaining blog, too, especially when he rags on everything Fort Wayne. Although, Brendan, best addition? Uh, I think P.C. Drouin might have been slightly more significant than Justin Depretis, but that's just my opinion.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Comments

[Henley67250]

Who is going to Muskegon Saturday? This will be my first road game. Where are good places to sit at L.C.?

[Brendan Savage]

Forgot about Drouin. Although as badly as Flint was struggling at the time, DePretis was huge coming in and scoring all those goals when they were hurting.

[Harley]

What are the thoughts of everyone as to which goalie to go with? Is it logical to go with a tandem? I personally think they should start with Reiter. Boucher has got a temper on him and he thinks that nothing is his fault. He ripped into someone after each goal tonight and i think that that might hurt team chemistry after awhile!!

[St.Chris]

Ditch the "Three Stars of the Game" thing...it's an embarassment to the game of hockey. Pick one star from each team, makes it a little more ligitimate.

[ToeBlake]

Al has said he will continue to rotate goalies. Now the attention has to turn to who the K's will turn loose. We have 22 man roster and have to get down to 19 Monday. I believe they will put one man on the Non-Roster spot and my bet will be Henley. The two that will be let go will be Shirokov and Saidechev. Henley's stay in the AHL was uneventful with no fights and a +1 and when you look at his year here it to was uneventful and we all know he is not 100%. I like Saidechev and he shows a lot of promise, but we have his type of player already in others. I have to think they keep Legault because he can serve a purpose.

[LC]

I agree with Harley-I thought it was just me, but yet again tonight every goal that Flint scored, Boucher went off on one of our players, and he also did the same the last home game he played here.

[ToeBlake]

THe K's lost tonight because they did not score on the 5-3 PP's...and we were 1-11 that is terriable right there...

[Mark]

I doubt Henley goes on Non roster spot..my guess would be Legault going on the non-roster spot

and Shirokov being cut. That takes us down to 19 players.

[ToeBlake]

Mark no it does not we currently have 22 listed on the roster so one more body has to go...

[Brandon]

Toe Blake, We only have to move two players from the roster as Hodgeman is an Amateur and we can have 19 plus 2 amateurs on the playoff roster. That being said i am not sure but i believe that Shirikov will be one of them. The other one will be a toss up that i wouldnt want to have to make.

[ToeBlake]

I stand corrected..

[St.Chris]

We got burnt on a couple because we left the weakside uncovered, Flint exploited it very well. Most goalie's would be hot about that, but it happens.

[Justin Cohn]

Hey, Brendan, believe me, you make a strong pick. Was pushing the K's to sign Depretis for a while, as he was coached by Brian Gratz, but it was a major score of Flint. Drouin was pretty early season, so it could be overlooked or maybe not count under your criteria.

[Hit Somebody!!!]

I think Saidachev is a keeper on the roster. I am a big Brent Henley fan, but when he is not even 85% healthy, he is more of a liability out on the ice due to his lack of skating because of his injury. I say keep Legault as he does "serve a purpose" and keep Saidachev as he can score, play the body, and can be the energy guy that will be needed from time to time. I say bye-bye to Shirokov and Henley, not because I don't like them, I do alot, it is strictly a numbers game at this point. They just happen to be the odd men out right now.

[Andy]

Hit, i do not see them letting go of 2 d-men. I am with you though they are the two i would drop. Id rather see legs go then saidechev if it does come down to one d and one forward.

[Wendy]

I wouldn't go so far as to say this game was meaningless. Let's be honest. It did hurt to lose. But you know what I loved? When Flint scored the winning goal. Everyone let out a collective gasp followed by a few seconds of stunned silence. Then -- almost imperceptible at first -- applause. Respectful and proud. Applause for the team we love to congratulate them for all they have done and all they have achieved thus far. I was seated high enough that I couldn't hear the Flint players momentary boasting, but they could not have missed that magnificent, unbowed applause.

[Hit Somebody!!!]

Can they put Henley on a non-player spot? Is this even allowed. If so, then they only need to cut one guy loose, right?

2 Dupuis, Guy
8 Durdin, Sergei
9 Warner, Brandon
10 Reynolds, Matt
14 Pence, Jake
17 Woods, Mitch
20 Hansen, Kevin
21 Hukalo, David
22 Bertram, Kevin
24 Shafranov, Konstantin
25 Marchant, Terry
29 Aquino, Luciano
31 Reiter, Kevin
33 Boucher, Nick
71 Drouin, P.C.
82 Legault, Olivier
88 Hodgman, Justin
91 Chaulk, Colin
94 Curadeau, Mathieu

Keep Saidachev. Cut Shirokov? Henley IR? Can you IR someone?

[Ashley]

Cohn, I noticed the same thing about Desmond tonight when I saw him on the bench. I didn't say anything until after the game but man, tell him to go back to wearing the hat!

[Andy]

According to Blake

"The 19 players include everyone who is on injured reserve or has been called up to the American Hockey League. Each team can protect one player by putting him on a non-roster spot. That's how the Komets protected their rights to Colin Chaulk last season while he played in Italy."

So no we cannot put Brent on IR

[Hit Somebody!!!]

So 20 total plus the 2 possible amateur players, in which we have only 1.

So Henley could be protected as non-roster, we have Hodgeman as one of the 2 amateurs, and we have 19 regular roster players not including, lets just say Shirokov. So Saidachev is on the 19 man roster, Hodgeman is our amateur player, and Henley is our non-roster saved player.

So we really only have to cut 1 guy.

[jonndfi]

My vote would be to cut Durdin. He turns the puck over way to much and his passing is terrible as well. How can no one vote for him? You have got to keep Legault. Henley can go on the non-roster spot.

[Justin Cohn]

Who's Blake? Never heard of him.

[Tera]

I completely agree with you jonndfi!

[Shawn]

Putting Henley on the non-roster and cutting Shirokov drops us to only 6 d-men for the playoffs. I would keep Henley on the active and non-roster a forward (legault or saidachev). Skate 7 d-men and 10 forwards in the playoffs, Pence and Warner can play forward if you want. If Henley is not 100% then you can limit his shifts or he can be the healthy scratch.

[Harley]

whoever we cut there is a good chance that Muskegon will go and sign him!

[scoops]

Eric Marvin was the first star last night hands down.

Was Shawn Degagne put on the NR spot this year? I thought I heard rumblings about that awhile back. If so, I don't think we could put another guy there.

I think the writing is on the wall for Maxsim Shirokov. As for the second guy....I wouldn't be surprised if its Olivier Legault. I would hope somehow we could keep him.

[Amazed Komet Fan]

Justin - stories like this and comments like this by Komets fan only prove to everyone that FW thinks it is better than everybody else. Give Flint credit, they won NS stopped a streak, we all thought it was a big deal. Champions don't cry, let's all grow up. nobody likes a sore winner

[Jungle Monkey]

Sore Winners? You mean like the Flint team acting like they won the cup as they skated off last night?

[jonndfi]

I really didn't have a problem with them on the ice after the game. They stopped a home streak by playing pretty well! They should be happy for themselves. I know it was the mysterious "meaningless" game, but they did win. Marvin was outstanding last night.

[St.Chris]

You bet Scoops....Marvin was superb and deserved the visitors star,the Home star...Dupuis. Flint deserves credit, played well and took advantage of some miscues. Good hockey.

[chuckitt]

you can put down the 3 star all you want but just remember that the 3 star is a pretty old way for teams to honor people at the end of the game. if its done correctly it would include oposing players if they deserved it. problem is that there is no definde rule cause the award doesnt really mean anything other than recognition for that one game only.

[kyle hunt]

"Amazed komet fan" the ultimate voice of reason, thank you.

[scoops]

So they oversold a celebration...big deal. You think Flint or anyone else doesn't hear trash talking all game long from behind the bench? If Flint skates off the winning team I would expect them to dish out some trash talk of their own. Ending a 25 game winning streak, meaningless or not, is cause for some celebrating.
I'm sure the Komet players noticed but right now both Flint and Fort Wayne how bigger things to focus on and hopefully they meet again.

[Hoss]

I don't think people have a big problem with the way Flint acted right after they won, it was when they were skating off the ice.

I think they deserved to be proud and jump all over each other after the win. I think that just shows how impressive the streak was, other teams were paying attention and gunning for us. Flint can be proud they ended the streak, but don't try to show up the fans afterwards. It was very classy for the Ft Fans to give a standing O aftert the lose. It was also just as un-classy for the Flint players (I think it was only two or three) waving to the crowd as they cheered. If we were both fighting for the last playoff spot and they knocked us out, sure show up the crowd all you want, but the game only ment the streak to us, not the playoffs.

I say it was almost good for us to lose, it might lite a bigger fire in our bellys. It will also put the reg season in our past and bring on the real season!!!

BRING ON THE CUP!!!!

[Heather]

Winning 2 of 3 games in a row against the same team is a pretty big feat and the komets should be proud of that. Congrats to Flint on the win. I think they forgot though during their celebration that they lost the 2 games before that. Oh well you win a lot and you lose one bound to happen. Go Komets!!!!!! Lets take down the Fury.

[St.Chris]

Chuckitt, I understand the 3-star awards are an old tradition in hockey...I sort of failed to remember that in my earlier post. Regardless, I still feel that it has been watered down and become illigitimate and laughable. I'll even go one step further... instead of complaining about the problem I can do something about the problem, emailing the IHL commish and get this process back to respectable.

[Andy]

Its almost 1 and no news about who has been cut....I am dying to know. Sims said we would know by 12. Please Justin let us in on who has to go.

[Tom]

Let me do the three stars of the game. I think the one in Flint on Sat. and in FW on Sunday were ok...just not in the correct order. Also remember the stars are voted on during regulation and not in OT otherwise Cerone would have got one. I liked the Flint players that did a mock clap...very funny...not classy but funny. I hope they win too because that is about 72 miles closer of a drive for all of us for the clinching game 4,5, or 6. I know I got a head of myself, but I have to have something to look forward to. If anyone wants to go on Sat. email me at [email protected] no later then Weds because I am going to order tickets on Thursday. I have room for 2-3 people. Or if no one wants to go email me if you have a spot for one so I can go.

[Tom]

Sims has a radio call in on 1480am or 1073fm today between 1-2 so he may say it on there?

[Conley]

Hey Tom. Just got off the horn with wrsw and he is going to be on at 1:20 for 10 minutes or so. I asked them to ask coach to comment on the whole roster thing so we can put this to rest today! I tried to see if I could listen on the phone and ask questions but he said with my reputation around town that might not be a good idea. Ha

[Andy]

is there an internet stream? because i am in bloomington.

[Conley]

Not sure. Wrsw.net is the web site. 1480 am is the channel. If that helps

[Andy]

Ehh thanks but it looks like the site has not been updated since it was created. :(

[conley]

Oh well. Small town. What can I say.

[hobo]

legault NR spot shirokov waived

[Shawn]

Friday in Flint the Komets won 5-4 in OT. All of the 3 stars of the game were from Flint. It happens in every arena and I don't see it changing anytime soon.

[Conley]

Sims stood up wrsw. They tried his phone and he didn't answer.

[Andy]

Hobo, is that what has happend or is that what you want to happen?

[hobo]

thats what happened...from blake...

[Brad]

legault put on non roster spot and shirokov waived. also added a amateur defenseman to the roster.