A more familiar feeling as Komets win big, draw closer in Turner Cup Finals

Uh-oh, perhaps the Port Huron Icehawks have awoken the slumbering giants. Or, perhaps, it was just one of those nights.

Just when it looked like the Komets were toast, they came out with a more typical Fort Wayne effort, winning 5-1 in Game 3 of the Turner Cup Finals. The Icehawks' lead is down to 2-1, with the next game coming Wednesday at McMorran Arena in Port Huron, Mich.

Credit the Komets' mettle in this one. They didn't get rattled by the 3-2 overtime loss on the road Saturday. So often, teams talk about not giving up, only to lay an egg. The Komets actually delivered, even though the fans at Memorial Coliseum were in a somber silence for too much of the night.

Lot of credit should also go to Fort Wayne coach Al Sims. He made some brilliant decisions, including putting Justin Hodgman, Colin Chaulk and Luciano Aquino back together, inserting Terry Marchant into the lineup and going with Nick Boucher in net.

Hodgman had two goals and an assist. Aquino had three assists. Chaulk had one goal and one assists. Marchant had a key third-period goal. Boucher stopped 25 of 26 shots.

And the Komets finally got some traffic in front of the net, which caused problems for Port Huron goalie Larry Sterling. The Komets felt Sterling was gassed, having played three games in three nights, and was having trouble with his agility and rebounds because of it. Hard to argue with them on those points.

The key now: The Komets can't rest on their laurels just because they didn't turn in a dud performance tonight. The Icehawks will be tricky on their ice in Game 4.

And by the way, I don't think the Icehawks should be too down on themselves. Would they have thought they'd be up a game at this point, having played only once at home?

• Ben Smith was on site tonight.
• Click here to read the Port Huron Times-Herald's blog. Paul Costanzo started the night picking the Icehawks in five games and quickly made the strike-through.
• The Icehawks didn't make players available for interviews with their own media, I heard. The IHL shouldn't allow that, as far as I'm concerned. If players want to give the "no comment," on instructions from their coach, that's another story.
• On the Konstantin Shafranov shot from Game 3, the one that wasn't ruled a goal, I've heard nothing from league insiders that suggests it was, in fact, a goal. The people I trust most on the issue say it wasn't. The Komets, as you would expect, are still believing it was. Doesn't matter much now, though.
• Not to grandstand here, but I'm hearing from a lot of people in other towns about how awful some of the Fort Wayne fans have been. By other people, I'm talking about men, women and children, who are being harassed, threatened, showered with beer, just because they might clap because someone from another team scored a nice goal. Not all Fort Wayne fans are like this, of course, but for those who are: I think you should bear in mind you're representing not only a team's fan base but also the community with your actions. Just my opinion. It's a wonder other cities are ragging on Fort Wayne so much these days.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Comments

[Hoss]

JC, did Costanzo pay you to put a link to his blog? Pretty bad that there has been no comments from the past two games. Then he trys to call out Wade Weaver for using the lame (which it was) PU joke about the Hawk smelling like pee? Isn't that like the PH fans calling us "Vomets" or saying things like "I played Pro Hockey higher than anyone else on this blog!"

[Jungle Monkey]

Hey Cohn, come sit with the Port Huron fans in 221 next game. Then you can call us "classless" just like them.

I know you try to be objective, but fans that come here and are sore losers get treated as such. I'm not sure how many fans are showering others with beer. What your are hearing is crap.

[Real Hockey Guy]

Ok....I need to go on a rant. I will start with the good things about the game.
Fans should be very proud! I was very glad to see Komet fans finally starting to get into the game! The chants were perfect and the PA guy finally got up to speed with the fans and turned off the music for a bit! Fans...on Thursday you need to come ready to yell all night again. It was still not that loud. Alot of times in the game the fans were very quiet. I feel we need to get more chants going. Such as when a visiting player gets a penalty or other times as well. This is playoffs....hold nothing back!!!
I was very glad to see the pre game intro! Very nice touch with the animal house! But it needs to get louder!!! I know in the upper deck its really loud but in some spots around the arena it is NOT!!!
Now Fans PLEASE dont take this the wrong way but I am gonna loose my cool on some fort wayne fans soon for yelling at the komet players when the dont shoot the puck or make a bad play. I understand not hitting a guy, but you should NOT BOO YOUR OWN TEAM. From a player stand point why would you want to try any harder when your fans are BOOING you. Calm down a little bit and let them take their time to get a good shot off! Just because you have a clear shot from the point does not mean you should shoot it. They need to wait for a screen or a good rebound chance to open up. They are YOUR team so cheer them on and do not rush them any more than they have to! Good vocal and supportive fans can go a LONG way!!!

I did not see enough orange shirts out there tonight! Go to wal-mart and buy a cheap one and really get this place going. While you are there make sure to get a cough drop or something so that way your voice is nice and ready for thursday night.
This is getting long so I will stop this rant!
Have a great night and see you thursday!

[Heather]

To the orange shirt comment I prefer to wear my husbands jersey that way a piece of him is at the game while he's overseas defending our country.

[Wendy]

Somber silence? Where were you sitting? I'll admit that it got much quieter than it should have between the first period and the third, but I was screaming my head off and proud of it. So were most of the people around me. I was VERY happy to hear that because I knew our players a few rows down were hearing it too. There was a lot of borderline anger being felt in the crowd, I think. I loved the taunts of "La-rry!" OMG, that felt good. :D I take what I said before back. I do hate Port Huron. These guys so need to go down!!!!

KEEP IT UP, KOMETS!!!! Remember the goal that wasn't! Put these jerks away! YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!

But you are right. Komets fans shouldn't be doing things like that to the fans of other teams. A glare out of the corner of your eye should be sufficient. :D

By the way, I now have a link to a few shots I was able to take from the final home again vs. Muskegon. These aren't spectacular, but I knew my camera was broken, so I was just taking a few random shots. I didn't know what, if anything, would turn out. So in that sense, these are all a bit of a miracle. Hopefully my new camera is doing better. You can see them here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23197874@N03/sets/72157604883265929/

[Real Hockey Guy]

very nice!!! Anything Orange!!!! Hope is tour is over soon so he can get home and make that place louder!

[Mark]

Great game tonight from the boys in white, black and orange. Hodgman played out of his mind great game Justin. The sleeping giant is now awake.

GO KOMETS GO

[Gnasher]

Sorry KrazyKometFan I meant to get down there and say hi tonight but I was kinda stuck in the middle of my row lol. I will see you Thursday though!

As for the game, officiating stunk once again. But were all used to by now.

To me, Hodgman has been the MVP of the postseason thus far. His hustle, grit, and intensity seems to fire up the team and he's got to keep it up.

We blocked shots and played great defense, something we've been accustomed to do throughout the regular season. And we dominated in the shot department, which is always a plus.

We have finally gotten to Larry Sterling's head I think and solved him. It seemed impossible in game 1, but now he's frustrated and feels pressured for game 4. Let's bring it to him boys once again!

Did Margettie color his hair again? From where I was sitting it looked white. As if he wasn't already enough of a fruitcake.

All in all great game! Let's win 3 in a row so I can see you win the Kup up there!

Let's Go Komets!!!

[Justin Cohn]

I'm sorry, when it was 2-1, it was silent. About 20 people made comments about it up here. ... And Jungle Monkey, when did I say classless. You've heard of doing unto others as they'd do unto you? I'm sorry, when a girl who's 95 pounds and probably never opened her mouth tells me she's in fear for her life because she had the temerity to clap for a nice goal, that riles me up. I have a daughter, 1 year old, and I wonder about things like taking her to a game. She wouldn't know any better if it was Port Huron or Fort Wayne and if she said, "Yay," would you pour beer on her? Give me a break. Have some sense. I'm not saying you can't get passionate,or even trash talk with a willing party, but to be obnoxious just to be obnoxious, to start a fight just to start a fight, that's preposterous.

[Mark]

Just read the Icehawks board, how the tides have turned...

[kometfan737]

I didn’t really think that the fans were all that quiet tonight. I know that I worked hard on getting some chanting going in our section (behind Sterling-1st & 3rd period) the entire game. Maybe it was a little bit quite in the rest of the Coliseum until things started rolling but we were LOUD throughout the whole game! It was really great to hear Larry (Komet's PA guy) bring out R&Rp2 to get the crowd even more fired up.

Great job from the guys tonight! They finally played physically, with a lot of energy, and with heart! JUSTIN HODGMAN!! I love this kid!! I was really hoping for him to get a hat trick. I just hope that we get to see a lot more of him in the next few years.

Also, we are interested in taking the bus trip Saturday. Please email me [email protected] when details are available.

[Jessica Simpsonov]

It was soo cool when Larry (Komets PA Guy) played Rock and Roll Part 2!!!

Then for the fans to chant his name over and over was just so awesome! *giggles*

[Hit Somebody!!!]

Interesting reverse psychology Cohny...turn the talk on the fans and keep it off of the players? Whose idea was this anyway? LOL

Next time we play Kalamazoo, I want to personally invite you Justin to sit next to me and listen to the K-Zoo morons that choose to sit behind me and bad-mouth the Komets, the fans, and our town. Every ocasion this year we played at home against them, the same group of a-holes sat behind me and mouthed all game long. We won obviously most all of those games which was good, because if we hadn't, things might have got ugly. I can't attest totally for what happens on the road when our fans go out, but what I am saying is, it is bad for everyone no matter what. I think it goes with the territory. This really isn't a Ballet and Preforming Arts type of crowd. I think you know what I mean.

On to the game.

Great effort tonight. I think Port Huron looked tired especially when we started to figure out how to beat their full and half-ice press. If we continue to get around that first wave of pressure, they look lost and we get lots of good scoring chances. It also helps when they have mental-midget in Mr. Sterling. That guy is a nut-job.

Can we all agree on one thing PLEASE??? This is a hockey blog. No one opinion is greater ot lesser than the next or last one. Some fans are loud, some aren't. Some fans are reserve, some yell anything and everything. No one is right or wrong as long it doesn't break any arena rules or laws. Just give it a rest with the "Holier than though" attitudes that keep creeping onto this blog. We get it all ready. Cheer loud and often. Wear Orange. Drink the Orange Kool-aid. Chant every break in action. Play the right songs. Don't criticize the team ever. Don't yell shoot!!! Don't yell "hit'em with your purse Henley", don't yell "nice turnover Durdin, again!!!", don't cuss, don't pour beer, don't fight, don't fart, blah blah blah and so on. We get it.

I am thinking the city needs to call for a day off for everyone so we can all get together and have a pep rally that spells out what chants to yell, and when to yell them, what shirts to wear, and so on.

Cracks me up.

Go Komets!!! Hit Somebody!!! Marcutie...Hit him extra!!!

[Hit Somebody!!!]

I said though meant thou....sorry it is really late, very tired.

[Hit Somebody!!!]

IceHawk fans are at each other's throats on their blog. Funny how losing causes people to fight amongst thmeselves. It is funny for a change to look in on another group of fans and not always seeing just us fighting. I said group of Icehawk fans, I think there were 5 or 6 total...LOL

[FWKRTJ]

Cohn is right...

I was pretty upset at how quiet it was during pregame. The loudest it got (until the first goal) was when Margettie left the ice early in the first period (forget what he did, but the crowd roared when he headed to the bench).

Not until the third goal and after did it actually get "playoff" loud (minus the Mas Tequilla sing-a-long).

I don't know if fans were just hesitant because we were down 0-2 or what, but I've never heard a Komets playoff pregame that quiet before.

I assume game 5 will be a lot louder though seeing as what transpired tonight.

Also, our fans have been pretty bad at times, but I haven't heard or seen anything involving thrown beer (other than at the bench a time or two).

BTW, a BIG thank you to the "powers that be" for lossening the leash on Larry tonight and letting him play RRp2.

The crowd really gets into it.

[JW]

anyone watching the dallas/san jose marathon

[Andy]

Yea JW there have been so many chances, these goalies are brick walls.

[JW]

unbelievable

maybe the best goaltending game i have seen
46 and 57 saves for the goalies and only one given up by each...i could watch one more OT before bed...lol

[Charlie I]

I am a stars fan and its killing me

[kometfan737]

I think that the crowd was cheering about Margettie being a pansie and running away to the bench after Woodsy challenged him.

[Andy]

I can't believe the big hits which are still being made in this game. These guys have to be extremely tired.

[JW]

lol...what a fan you are charlie...2am hockey what more do ya want...hahahahahaha grab a redbull and get ready for OT number 4 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Charlie I]

Something better happen soon. I got to be a work at 8am

[Charlie I]

Something better happen soon. Need to be at work at 8am

[Andy]

Yup, i am cooking up some boneless wings and grabbed another mt. dew. I could go all night watching this. Thank god for finals being last week!

Go Sharks

[kometfan737]

Dallas Wins!!

[JW]

standing ovation to both those teams and goaltenders...detroit vs. dallas is going to be amazing if dallas can keep this up.

enjoy the day tomorrow charlie hahaha

[Andy]

Shucks

[Iceman2415]

I thought that I was the only one watching this. I agree, that was a fantastic game and Andy, I feel your pain, I had the Sharks and Rangers playing for the Cup :(

[gman]

By the way our friend Tiger Dan has a blog. For some reason he didn't write about last night?
http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=PluckPersona&U=9e75888bc047456dac5452a7df980d61&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=9e75888bc047456dac5452a7df980d61&plckPostId=Blog%3a9e75888bc047456dac5452a7df980d61Post%3a318fe9fe-0e5f-44f3-ab00-177bf7b2e28f&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest

[gman]

Our friend Tiger Dan has his own blog now. Pay him a visit. http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=PluckPersona&U=9e75888bc047456dac5452a7df980d61&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=9e75888bc047456dac5452a7df980d61&plckPostId=Blog%3a9e75888bc047456dac5452a7df980d61Post%3a318fe9fe-0e5f-44f3-ab00-177bf7b2e28f&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest

[Icehawk_Butter]

I want to let all of you Comets fans know what the rule is with pushing of the net in your defensive end. Its call 2 minutes for "delay of game". I realize most of you didn't grow up playing the sport so I understand how you don't really know the sport. Teams that have to do that usually can’t play in there own end. And from what I have seen with the Komet’s in the Finals so far they have big slow defensemen that can’t do anything to stop the ICEHAWK forward so they push the net every time the puck is around your goalies. So if you have a problem with TIGERDAN you have problems with me. GO ICEHAWKS!!!! It’s time to take another game at home.

[gman]

Great game last night I guess it was our SLOW defensemen who held you to 20 shots on goal. Your own player knocked the goal down in the last game and the second our player was pushed into our goal. BTW fags er I mean flags err I mean icedogs fan who won last night.

[Icehawk_Butter]

Wow, Komet fans are like your team, when you have some adversity you get pissed. Oh wait I am sorry I am not your goalie. What are you going to do Punch me too, I bet that is what the goalie was pissed about against the Muskegon your defensemen didn’t push the net off. He didn’t stick to the game plan. For a good team that won so many games tell me this, why aren’t you up 3-0 in the series. I am I thought PH would be down at least 2-1 in the series. But we are playing as a team and yes it was too much to ask to win three in a row in the Playoff. Did you ever play hockey or are you one of those fans that watch the sport and now you’re an expert.

[gman]

Keep talking you are getting deeper into it now. Great team play last night. L-A-R-R-Y the great gave up 5 goals. Now shut up and let us enjoy our win. I would also look out on Wednesday because if the Komets played like they did last night you have now answer, just like the regular season. BTW how many games did you win against us? Just checking.

[Hoss]

Don't worry about the PH fans calling for our heads for knocking off the net. Unless they were one of the two Hawks fans that made the trip down, they had to listen to the PH radio guy and he is leagaly blind. Watching the B2 with him calling the game is very puzzling, since they are not the same game. He called the Komets for knocking off the goal when it was one of the PH players. He said we will knock it off over a hundred times in the finals. I wonder how he will change the call of the game if we play like last night and tear their team apart up there?

[Dan]

I went to the game at Port Huron and Justin Cohn is correct. The Komet fans were aweful. It was mainly due to being drunk. I had to apologize to a few people for many of our fans behavior. I told them that all of Fort Wayne is not like this.

[Icehawk_Butter]

LOL, You Komets fans are fun. Most real fans know how hard it is to win back to back games on the road. I thought you team wasn't that bad that you would lose two straight home games. We just need to win at home now. We have nothing to lose. The Icehawks are not favorites in the series. And by the way I did watch the game on the B2 network. SO you still haven't answer the question about did you ever play the sport of hockey?

[gman]

Many Komet fans have played. Justin the writer of this blog still plays, yes I did play but can't skate anymore due to bad knees my son is in the MAC hockey program and you would be suprised how many youngsters play hockey in this town. On my street there are just as many hockey goals as basketball standards, we have both.

[Jungle Monkey]

Cohn, I want more info on the petrified party. Her life was threatened? Taking it to the extent of beer getting dumped on a kid is a little extreme, don't you think... c'mon?

I sat with Icehawk fans that talked trash all night. They were sore losers. People talked trash back. I don't see the big issue here. Sounds like journalistic sensationalism to me.

[Geronimo]

Butter...What about dumping the puck into the penalty box?
"Its call 2 minutes for "delay of game"."
Have played "the game"

[Justin Cohn]

So defensive. You couldn't be a person that acts that way I'm criticizing, now could you?

[Geronimo]

Cohny.. common thread- people who can't handle their beer drinking.

[Icehawk_Butter]

Monkey Man, come out of the jungle. The delay of game doesn’t apply here because if a forward or defensemen shoots the puck over the glass in the crowd or even the penalty box there is a no class. It is only a delay of game call if the goalie shoots the puck over the glass. So I what do have to say about that!

[Icehawk_Butter]

Monkey Man, come out of the jungle. The delay of game doesn’t apply here because if a forward or defensemen shoots the puck over the glass in the crowd or even the penalty box there is a no call. It is only a delay of game call if the goalie shoots the puck over the glass. So I what do have to say about that!

[Jungle Monkey]

It's a matter of tossing around generalized accusations.

[Jungle Monkey]

That would have been Geronimo's comment, Icehawk.

[Hoss]

So now you have to play hockey to understand hockey? I have never stuck an ice pick in my eye, but I am pretty sure I know what it would feel like and how to do it and what the rules would be to poke out my eye!

[Hoss]

So now you have to play hockey to understand hockey? I have never stuck an ice pick in my eye, but I am pretty sure I know what it would feel like and how to do it and what the rules would be to poke out my eye!