I ran into Colin Chaulk and P.C. Drouin at the Mad Anthonys Charity Classic for Children on Monday. They looked like twins, with their matching black-and-orange golf shirts -- not the best choice for the 90-degree weather, I'd say.
Anyway, I told Drouin fans were abuzz with talk about if and when he would be re-signing with the Turner Cup champion Komets. (For the record, Chaulk is the only player already under contract.)
Drouin said the answers were: "If is probably. When is soon."
I wouldn't buy your jerseys until it's official, but as I've said all along, I'd expect him back.
Meanwhile, I've knocked the International Hockey League and, more critically, it's predecessor, the United Hockey League, countless times in the past. But a couple weeks of covering the Fort Wayne Freedom of the Continental Indoor Football League has taught me the IHL is a more well-oiled machine than I thought.
The Freedom, in case you didn't know, has had ownership changes, coaching changes, payroll issues, and has missed the playoffs. But check this out: The league's best team quit just before the playoffs began, all because Flint, which has an IHL team, didn't show up for a game.
So, knock the Franke family and this league all you want, they do things pretty well and we sometimes forget that.
-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette
As an outsider, I'd have to agree that you guys have it pretty good hockey-wise. I've always been impressed with the Komets and their success. The Franke's too - I just wish they could have replicated that success closer to home...
Glad to see Chaulk's back for another year.
Posted by: KCBladesMan | June 10, 2008 at 12:28 AM
Wanna have some fun? Go to the Freedom's JG Blog and try introducing their fans to common sense. The fights get pretty damn comical. Makes me apreciate the bloggers here.
Posted by: JungleMonkey | June 10, 2008 at 07:34 AM
yay! come back, pc! how many vets do we get to keep? anyone know of a good place i can educate myself on how all this stuff works? you all had to have learned somewhere...help a new girl out, will ya? please? thanks!!
Posted by: Cat Eyes | June 10, 2008 at 08:34 AM
Cat Eyes, this is probably the best place for info... someone will know the answers. I think the veteran limit is 7, or is it 6? Or are they doing away with the vet rule as has been rumored the past however many years?
Oh yeah, and I second the big "yay" for PC! :)
Posted by: FiveMinuteMajor | June 10, 2008 at 11:11 AM
just an FYI..But i recommended those shirts to both Chaulk and Drouin, because they are dri-fit material, which really makes them cooler.
Posted by: Mark | June 10, 2008 at 11:27 AM
hey mark ive got a gift cert from komet kuarters which is about 10 yrs old is it still good???
Posted by: chuckitt | June 10, 2008 at 12:31 PM
FiveMinuteMajor...thanks!! you have been pretty patient on here with me...i may have made someone named AJ mad by ranting when i was uneducated (i since apologized to him/her, sorry AJ!) but then my buddy deuce helped me out too. hopefully others will get me up to speed without getting too mad at me. i'm getting the hockey rules down ok at the games and all (thanks deuce!!) for the most part, it's all this behind the scenes stuff i'm bewildered by that everyone else just seems to know...i'll catch up eventually, i guess!! thanks in advance for the help!
i had to laugh...i went back and read some older posts this morning (boss is out of town and i needed some down time). i was reading about when mitch woods first started with the team. i came on this blog right after we won the turner cup, so i sorta have been here thru mainly post-komet stuff, so i thought it would be fun to read what a game day blog would be like, and it was just as fractured and contentious as when we were rooting for the pens vs the red wings!! ha ha! i can't wait for the regular season to start, so very much more now that i have read what this blog is like during the regular season...this will be so much fun!! and i WILL learn more...in so many ways!!
Posted by: Cat Eyes | June 10, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Cat Eyes... you're gonna have a blast on here, especially when the season kicks off. The real fun is during the playoffs... bloggers from other teams get on here, and jaw and defend their teams to the death. It's all good fun, and even shows that true hockey fans don't have to play it (TD) to enjoy it. Tough to go between June and October w/o hockey, but this blog is where it's at! Cohny's the best, keeps it clean, and rules with an iron fist! Hah!
GO KOMETS!!!
Posted by: Geronimo | June 10, 2008 at 02:57 PM
Chuckitt,
Yes it is. Like most other places, ours don't have expiration dates.
I've taken GC that were dated 1995.
Posted by: Mark | June 10, 2008 at 03:02 PM
Jungle Monkey,
Get over yourself. You have introduced NOTHING to those fans over there. Freedom fans are just as passionate as Komet fans (there just aren't as many..)
I'm not sure what "common sense" you are referring to, but I'm guessing even you don't know. But I've sure read my share of clueless Komet fans as well and they all came by it naturally. No one introduced it to them!
Posted by: 1776 | June 10, 2008 at 03:34 PM
Hi Cat Eyes. I don't really know what the rules are there either. I just don't say anything, so everyone assumes I understand. :D I've just heard it mentioned as being a good thing when a player is still eligible for "rookie" status. So that led me to conclude that there was some kind of rule about how many rookies a team needed. But I don't know how many, or why there is such a rule. Sure, it gives younger players a chance, but I just don't recall ever hearing the NHL had quotas like that. Maybe they do. It just seems strange to have any rules (other than salary caps) that might prevent you from fielding the best team possible.
Posted by: Wendy | June 10, 2008 at 04:00 PM
Wendy...that was my thought...and my earlier, uneducated rant to AJ (before I knew what he was talking about). I thought he was just dissing the older vets b/c he wanted all newer, younger players like Hodgman, when of course, he was saying something else entirely. But I know what you mean...I don't get the rule either...I mean if a team really wanted to have all 40 year olds who played really well, why not? or conversely, all 19 year olds who played with lots of energy but maybe were not as seasoned like a Chaulk or a Drouin, wouldn't that just hurt the team? Admittedly, it would be a bad idea for a team to do, but why police it with a league wide rule is my question? Strictly out of ignorance here, people, nothing else...
Posted by: Cat Eyes | June 10, 2008 at 04:12 PM
Thanks, Geronimo and Wendy...so far, even with limited knowledge, I am having fun! And I do so look forward to regular season blogging!! It will be fun. Deuce has taken me under his wing and is helping me learn some basics (since the IHL rule book is like a thousand pages long!!) so I feel less clueless now. Thanks, Deuce!! I learned more about vets spots and salary caps and how we need to let rookies develop last night than I ever thought I would know! Yay!! Now I just need to figure out how to change the space-time continuum to speed up the summer and I'll be all set...oh yeah, and how to work Jedi mind tricks to stack the team the way we want it, that too...maybe I'll leave that to the people who know their stuff this year and try my hand at that next year! lol
Posted by: Cat Eyes | June 11, 2008 at 09:05 AM
Um... Not sure why you are thanking me again there, Cat Eyes. It sounds like you know much more than I do now! :D Good for you, though. I'm still too depressed over it to want to know all the gory details.
Posted by: Wendy | June 11, 2008 at 03:36 PM
hmmm...me either, Wendy! lol! guess i am just a ditz today (or last night when i posted that, really)! but that's ok. friday is my birthday, so i am in a really good mood this week (except for my one little mean post about the refs having nothing in their brains earlier, hee hee). and it is a friday the 13th bday, so i am especially psyched for it!! i'm turning 21 (shut it, deuce!!) ...ok, so maybe it's 21 again, but it's my lie, i can tell it any way i want to, right?? i'll probably be in trouble by sunday, but what the heck, ya only live once, yes?
Posted by: Cat Eyes | June 11, 2008 at 04:21 PM
Hey, I remembered. How could I forget the girl whose birthday falls on my favorite day? :D I hope you have a great one and a wonderful year ahead as well!
You think that's mean? :D I was trying to come up with a good Halloween costume idea -- yeah already. I love Halloween. I was thinking of wearing a referee uniform and then taping a piece of paper to my back with the words "I'm an Idiot" scrawled on it. What do you think? :D
Posted by: Wendy | June 11, 2008 at 05:42 PM
Friday the 13th.= return of JASON VORHEES.
Posted by: mightbite | June 11, 2008 at 05:58 PM
mightbite...you are the one who always has the jerseys for sale with the blood on them, right? you scare me! lol!! jason can return as long as he leaves me alone...i'll not be the dumb white girl who staggers out into the woods alone to check out where her boyfriend went, so i think i'll be ok.
wendy...love the costume idea...although instead of the paper on your back with the "i'm an idiot", maybe a fake hatchet and some blood? (how 'bout that, mightbite? now who's the scary one?) or maybe a cane, seeing eye dog and some really thick glasses? or three of us could go together as "three blind mice"? (i think someone blogs on here under that name, no offense intended to that person!) lol...i love halloween too! sooo glad there is a game that night...just hope i can get the trick or treating issue with "the goalie" (my son) resolved so i can be there...i really don't wanna miss that nite in the jungle!
Posted by: Cat Eyes | June 12, 2008 at 09:26 AM
uh-oh...just had another giggle fit here...i had another costume idea that was a REALLY bad one, Wendy...wonder what a "puckbunny" costume would look like?? lmao...nearly fell off the chair picturing that one!! oh, i really need to stop doing non-work-related things when the boss is gone...really good thing he is not on this blog or i would be SO fired by now!! whew...can't wait until tomorrow so i can celebrate the bday!! :D
Posted by: Cat Eyes | June 12, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Oh, I'm not much for the gore, personally. Most years, I dress as movie characters. But movies lately haven't been all that inspiring. Last year I felt like being silly, so I bought an astronuat jumpsuit and a package of "Depends". :D
Hmmmm... a puckbunny would be kind of difficult. Too many people would be asking "What are you supposed to be?" or just assuming that you WERE a puckbunny!
Posted by: Wendy | June 15, 2008 at 02:36 PM
true...i would have to dress in a trampy way (so not like me now, maybe in my way younger years), or just like a bunny with a puck stuck to her somewhere, and still i would get the questions. people from this blog might get it, but not many others...and you know me, i would not be able to explain it without giggling like a 5 year old when anyone asked!! or i'd mispronounce the word and get in trouble! hee hee! i like your last year costume...very timely and newsworthy! with all the posting about cages and durdin and me, lord only knows what i'll have to go as now!! good god, i hope he does not read this blog!! how embarrassing that would be, not that i'll ever meet him, but still!!
Posted by: Cat Eyes | June 15, 2008 at 06:57 PM
Hey, I could have met him. I did take his picture from a few feet away while he was talking to Mitch. :) And interestingly enough, I'm not embarrassed, even if he were to read it.
But that's me. *wink*
Posted by: Wendy | June 15, 2008 at 10:46 PM
sure...but you're not the one who allegedly has him in a cage...even if it was not my idea to put him there!
Posted by: Cat Eyes | June 16, 2008 at 08:32 AM
Okay, so it wouldn't have occurred to me. But I like the idea, whoever insinuated it!
Here Sergei... get in the nice cage... I'll make it worth your while. he-he.
Posted by: Wendy | June 17, 2008 at 05:32 PM
Wendy!! you are shocking me!! what a bad girl you are being tonight!! lol!! he is awfully cute...i'm sure lots of girls would not mind sharing a cage with him, eh? wonder where he goes during the summers? not that i could do anything about it anyway myself even if i knew...just wondering...just feeding the imagination, ya know.
btw, it was fiveminutemajor who came up with the idea...blame goes right there!! lol!! all i said was i wanted him...back on the team, of course!!
Posted by: Cat Eyes | June 17, 2008 at 07:29 PM
If there is one thing I've learned, its that life is too short to be ladylike. Aw, who am I kidding? I've always been a bad girl. :D
As for Durdin, in the words of Austin Powers, "Oh, behave!" He's certainly not the only subject for imagination, but you've got to love those blond, eastern Europeans. They are really great... um... HOCKEY PLAYERS! I was going to say hockey players!
Posted by: Wendy | June 18, 2008 at 01:08 AM
well, that's true enough...no one could call ME a lady who knows me...and hmmm...we have another blond eastern European on this team, do we not? a certain Evgeny Saidachev? do we need adjoining cages? or is my geography bad and russia is not considered an eastern European place...that's certainly possible...oh well, either way, he is blond and a Komet and a hockey player, and you see where this is going, Wendy?? lol i do have the goal of learning russian in the very near future...mainly for non-evil purposes like becoming a translator for Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins (NOT a blond by any stretch of the imagination...) but it could come in handy for your evil purposes, my dear...*wink*
Posted by: Cat Eyes | June 18, 2008 at 08:40 AM
Oh, don't think I've forgotten about Evgeny. :D Right you are. He is certainly Eastern European as well.
Learning Russian would be great. Learning any new language is great, for that matter. And what do you mean "evil"? One can be "bad" and still be good. ;)
Posted by: Wendy | June 19, 2008 at 01:39 AM
wow, girl...you post late...
so it's settled...adjoining cages...my garage will get awfully crowded if we get any more good looking eastern europeans on the team this year...oh well, it does have a bump out, so i'll just have to park outside!! :)
i'm having a hard time finding anywhere to take classes in russian...ipfw does not have them, altho their schedule says they sometimes offer them. i need to get ahold of them to see when the next ones will be...maybe spring? just in time for the k's end of season party! lol
i agree w/the foreign language comment...i speak spanish (have a bachelor's degree in it, actually), so i really agree with that. love to hear the many languages going on in this town, unlike so many other people. my boy understand so much more than he can speak, since he has heard it since a baby. it's fun!
Posted by: Cat Eyes | June 19, 2008 at 08:33 AM
Yes, yes. Park outside. Hopefully the neighbors won't ask too many questions. :D
I took Spanish for three years in high school. That's actually a bit misleading because we didn't get to listen to people conversing in Spanish very often. So I'm not fluent. I'm better at reading it than conversing in it. I did make a point to memorize a few phrases I deemed to be of high importance, such as "Donde esta la playa?" :D
I also had German for a few weeks. I have some friends online who speak Dutch and French, and they throw out a few words from time to time. And I once borrowed an English-Norwegian dictionary from the library. I learned just enough from that to mangle the language beyond all recognition, I'm sure.
Posted by: Wendy | June 19, 2008 at 03:51 PM
i'm not superfluent like a native, but i get along pretty well...i can not only get us to la playa, i can order us las cervezas when we are there...and chat up the cabana chico as well!!
and i know that cage = jaula en espanol... hearin' me durdin and saidachev?? and wendy and i tenemos las llaves (keys)...lol!!
i like to know smattering of as many languages as i can. it's fun!
Posted by: Cat Eyes | June 19, 2008 at 08:46 PM