Leo Thomas scored a hat trick, Sean O'Connor scored two goals and P.C. Drouin had three assists as the Komets blasted Dayton 5-2 to improve to 98 points on the season. They also climbed within five points of first-place Muskegon. The Komets have four games remaining and the Lumberjacks three.
I'm pretty sure this also clinches second place for the Komets.
Asked about the possibJustin Hodgman, David Franke said, ``Justin Hodgman is not coming in tomorrow.'' Komets can pretty much sign anyone they want.
Bobby Phillips has an upper body injury and may rest until the playoffs.
Veteran forward Konstantin Shafranov is leaving the Komets on Friday to play for Kazakhstan in the upcoming World Championships in Germany. Because he'll play a minimum of six games, Shafranov will not be back the rest of this season, after which he's planning to retire anyway.
Because the games do not start until May 7, there's no chance Shafranov will be back in time to make the playoffs. Besides that, the Komets would not want to use up a roster spot by holding a position open for him.
Just a reminder that the Komets Game of the Week begins Saturday night (at 8pm) and Sunday morning (8am) broadcasts this weekend. I've been told (knock on particle board) that the game airing tonight will be the one filmed April 1st (vs. Dayton). Assuming that is correct, my interview was with Mike Reidt. Here's the blurb: