Tomorrow's column:
Komets coach Al Sims has tried being positive and then yelling, being consistent with his lines and then changing them up. Now it's probably time to make roster changes, possibly even drastic ones.
After losing all three games over the weekend, the Komets are 2-6-1 and off to their worst start since 1994 when they were 0-8-1. The problems are at the end of the ice they never thought would be a problem when they put the team together this summer as they are scoring a Central Hockey League-low 1.44 goals per game.
``I don't have the answer right now how we're going to get more goals,'' Komets general manager David Franke said. ``It's something we're going to have a lot of intense discussions about this week amongst ourselves.''
Leo Thomas, P.C. Drouin, Derek Patrosso, Brandon Naurato, Kaleigh Schrock, Sean O'Connor and Mathieu Curadeau all scored more than 20 goals last season, and Guy Dupuis scored 14. They combined for 183 last season, but so far have combined for 11 and are on pace for 81.
Over the last two losses, they basically got beat by their opponents' third line scoring key goals. That's what happens when your own first and second units aren't scoring, giving the third liners the chance to make the difference. They've also given up a lot of freak goals, such as the one Friday night against Evansville when the puck hit a skate and deflected up off defenseman Frankie DeAngelis's facemask and into the goal. Those are also magnified when you're not scoring as you should at the other end.
The Komets rank fourth in the CHL with 34.5 shots on goal per game, but opposing goaltenders have a .958 save percentage against them. That usually means no one is getting in front to distract the goaltender or battle for rebounds. No one is consistently payng the price to score.
``Adversity usually brings out the best in people,'' Sims said. ``We have a lot of players who haven't been through this, and everybody has to has to find a way out of this. There's no magic potion. We need to score goals, and until we start scoring goals, things aren't going to change. We're going to make changes. We can't continue with the same group if they are not going to get it done."
There's no way to pinpoint one problem that needs fixed. Are they too old? This lineup is significantly younger than last year, and the two oldest players -- Dupuis and Drouin -- were the leading scorers heading into this weekend. Are they too slow? The fastest forwards on the team -- O'Connor, Schrock, Chris Francis and Curadeau -- have two goals.
Are the systems wrong? They've already changed them up once.
They don't even have a slew of injuries to blame because they've been almost perfectly healthy.
One of the problems now is the Komets may need to get rid of proven scorers who are struggling to bring in rookies who have potential but are unproven. Big defenseman Steven Delisle starts practice today after getting sent down from Springfield of the American Hockey League, and rookie forward Neil Musselwhite is expected to play Friday against Arizona.
To make roster room, it's likely two players will have to leave.
Besides getting someone in front of the net, there seem to be two major problems.
Everyone seems to be working as individuals instead of as teammates. Most skaters want to carry the puck up the ice but they rarely give it up on the rush so everyone else has to slow down and watch them. About a dozen times Saturday night against Missouri, the Komets put themselves offsides by trying to make a move to get around a defender instead of passing to a teammate. When they did get into the offensive zone, they'd fire almost as soon as they crossed the blue line with no one in front and no chance at a rebound.
There's also an obvious opportunity for individual leadership. There are plenty of leaders in the locker room, but somebody has to step up and lead on the ice, filling the role Colin Chaulk had last year. Chaulk could be bull-headed, but he made sure everyone did what he wanted them to, what they were supposed to do. Plenty of players talked during the preseason about wanting the chance for leadership this year. Somebody has to be aggressive and take that role.
Mostly, they simply have to score.
``We've got to quit wasting great goaltending efforts and put the pucks in the net,'' Franke said. ``We'll just have to figure it out. We've got a lot of hard work to do this week."
Comments
That makes sense. I had just read through things about 3 times and couldn't figure out what I was missing. No big deal, just wanted to make sure I wasn't going nuts or forgetting how to read :)
Blake, I have a quick question. Where is Kory Karlander? He was a player that I was always impressed with.
As much as I hate to think about this, the Komets may be ready to unload. Before they commit to doing this I would prefer they make a decision on Legault or Rechlicz. It doesn't make sense to me to have both of them on the active roster when goal scoring is such a concern.
Before Opening Night I thought the K's had seven 20 goal scorers on the roster. Curadeau, Druin, Thomas, Schrock, O'Connor, Petrosso, and Naurato. That equated to two full lines and another. I was hoping someone new would step up to be the eighth and then the K's would be in position to have firepower on the ice no matter who, or what line, was defending them. Obviously my hope has not worked out and yet I'm not sure I'm ready to give up on them.
David Franke and Al Sims are going to have to scour the hockey world and find the guy who can center a line. One that has experience and can pass the puck and yet score when need be.
I just can't help feeling that this puzzle is very solvable and all it will take is the right "piece" to bring things together. It HAS to be a forward, and maybe this person comes from Europe. It may take deleting a veteran and his salary to do it.
I'm just not sure I would make wholesale changes because I know these fellas I have mentioned have goal scoring history on their side. I, too, believe that Curadeau may be better for the time being as a wing.
These are just my thoughts. I haven't posted since the three game road trip which resulted in three more losses. I've read everyones posts and sure understand the frustration ( me too ).
The critical part as I see it is to bring in the right player. With the way things are now there isn't much room for error which makes that decision even harder.
The Franke's have a lot of contacts in the world of hockey. We are now at a place in time where we need them.
Kalamazoo, Alan.
Alan---
Karlander is in Kalamazoo
Alan....First it is nice to see that you are alive and well. I always enjoy your insightful and well thought out post. Secondly, I believe that Kory is with Kalamazoo.
Karlander is in Kalamazoo, Alan. :-)
Alan -
I've heard rumors he is Kalamazoo. I hope this helps!
In 2009 when Chaulker was hurt, we still had a lot of other vets hanging around. Huks, Bert, Guy, Shaf, PC (already mentioned), Laplante, Leo.......Of those, only PC, Guy and Leo are left, but I think the more vocal guys of that group were Huks and Bert, both of which are now gone......JMO
The current situation reminds me a lot of the 1996-1997 team under Dave Farrish. The Komets went 6-13-5 during Farrish's starting tenure that year. The team was so bad that fans wanted to wear paper bags over their head so that they wouldn't be recognized.
We aren't quite to that point yet, but I still vividly remember Shawn Evans, one of our defensemen, who just couldn't bring himself to shoot the puck (even though he had a wickedly hard shot). He'd pass the puck off while skating in on a wide-open net. All of the players were similarly affected though and everyone took ineffective shots. The end result that year was the same as now. We took a lot of shots but we didn't score. Unfortunately it took a coaching change that season to shake things up and get our tentative, "snake-bitten" team functioning again. Let's hope that management has learned a few more tricks in the intervening years.
Karlander is still with his friends in the village of Kalamazoo
I dothink that this (losing) will hurt the Franke pocketbook.
Karlander is in Kalamazoo??? What?
Was just looking up some interesting stats. In the Komets 9 games so far, their opponents have scored first in 5 of them and those games were all K's losses. The Komets scored first 4 times. Of those 4, the K's went on to win twice. In the other two, that first goal was their only goal of the night.
Does anyone know how many seats are "pre-sold" to each game, meaning how many season ticket seats? I have not heard that number for 2 years.
I think there are about 3,300 - 3,500 season tickets sold.
That was the number a few years ago atleast
Where is Kalamazoo?
"defense is not the problem. ...the problem lies with the forwards who are not scoring goals, not the defense.
"Bringing in different D-men and cutting D-men is not going to solve the problem. Might as well ditch a goalie or two and bring in someone different. The goalies aren
I do think that defense is one part of the problem... Offense feeds off of a good defense and if the D-men cant get the puck out of thier own zone with regularity that makes the forwards commit deeper into thier own zone to help out. I know I have seen on numerous occasions 4 players down deep with one forward protecting the crease. Right now the D is having a hard tiome dealing with the constant pressure from the other teams forwards. In the IHL teams usually only committed one player deep in the forecheck; but the CHL seems to send 2 sometimes 3 guys after the puck putting alot more pressure on the D-man. This kills that homerun pass the K's defense has used the last 3 years because there less avenues to get the passes thru...The D-men need to adapt quickly to help the offense get rolling, IMO...
I don't have a problem with that so much as I have with forwards who miss shots at the other end and then put their heads down instead of getting back. That kind of thing is an absolute no-no. What I saw over the weekend was D-men trying to carry the puck to the red line or blue line and then dumping it in so the forwards were all caught standing still at the blue line. They weren't moving, rightfully so, so the other team could control it and move it out before the forecheck could get established. Nobody is perfect in when you're in a slump like this. Everybody has to work together to get out of it.