Komets, St. Pierre parting ways

It is my guess that Kevin is likely to retire, after all he is working for a real estate company here in town. I had mentioned the details under the "what do you want to talk about?" section b4 this story broke out. I wish Kevin and his family well in whatever he decides to do. He won a lot of games for us and has done a lot to make the Fort Wayne area a better place to live in.....but most importantly, Kevin is a class act! Best Wishes, Kevin

Since the end of the season I have been wondering what going in a new direction means. How could you not want back one of the premier goalies in AA hockey? I think he has 3-5 good years left, but I think it is better to let someone go a year early then keep them a year too long. How could you not want back a forward who has arguably been the best all-around forward in the UHL the last four seasons and is a top-notch leader and captain? Since that last one is still an open question, time will tell. The only thing that makes sense to me is that maybe the Komets are paying two or three players way too much so that there is not enough left to build a solid, competitive team around them. All we can do is wait and hope. I have to believe the Komets already have a line on the next #1 goalie. Otherwise it might be back to the revolving door. Remember when Teskey was asked not to return, we were lucky that Lawson became available after not making it elsewhere because the ones brought in to replace Teskey weren't up to the task. Best of luck to Kevin. He is a class act and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching him in the orange and black.

Guys...remember....Lawson was pure luck. No skill was involved in finding him. He was a back-up to the Super Star Pokey Reddick if you remember right. He was an after thought that turned up to be gold.

And Blake....I think Chaulker said "Super Fan"!!!!! Nice try though.

Word out of McMillan Park says that Drouin is next to go...and Chaulker will more than likely stay. That is the talk I have heard. Granted it may be 4th and 5th hand. But most of it has been right on this season and previous times as well. If people only knew the whole of the Komet story that comes out of the Ice Rink out there. You guys and gals would die.

Share with us Hit....

No comment at this time....wow...that is a first! lol

Thank you Greg. I give the poster credit this time. At least he had the guts to come out from skirt he was hiding under and put his email address this time.
To the topic. I too believe that the Komets have a good idea as to who they want. I would see no point in making it public at this time. It could cause the price to go up on whoever it is they are looking at.

My scenario for next year: Komets pick up an excellent goalie that everyone loves. They keep three or four players from last season, and the rest of the team is comprised of good pickups from other teams and other leagues. The team plays as a team and wins a lot of games. At the end of the regular season, they win the Tarry cup. They go into the finals, and end up champions of the Colonial Cup. Everyone that complained on this blog about bad decisions sticks their foot in their mouth. The "fans" that didn't buy tickets to any of the games are sad thay missed such a great season.

Hey, it could happen...

One could say that seeking out new players and negotiating the contract(s) is a lot like a high stakes poker game.....you don't want to show your hand too early. This is especially true if you are trying to get a player that everyone else has on their wish list. As I said a long time ago....this will be a very interesting off-season. Let the Games begin!

what happens next year has got nothing to do with what happeend this year. this year i saw a team that was put together by the chief and i think they brought back too many players. then when the bad start happened, they didnt do a good job of retooling. the team excelled and finished good, but most of those games were against weak teams so it was kinda skewered. now its time to rebuild again. i hope for once they live up to komet hockey and get us a team full of bangers and snipers and guys willing to give it up for one another. as i posted before, the season ticket holders are tired of getting stuff shoveled at them. and while im on it, if the league is going to change so drasticly, then why are ticket prices already set and why are we season ticket holders already paying for something we have no idea what we are paying for??

Great point Chuckitt...why are the season ticket prices higher this year and we have no clue what the salary cap will look like and what type of players we will see whether they are all rookies and a couple of veterans or what. Makes you wonder, what is up with that?

There are a lot of expenses that have increased in cost regardless of what the salary cap is or how many teams are in the league.....fuel, insurance, league dues, cost of equipment, utilities, etc. I'm sure that everyone on this blog has suffered some kind of cost increase in at least 1 or 2 of these areas.....I know that the wife and I have made some changes since I have'nt won the lottery but, the bills still come in the mail every month.

Just a hunch but I think Scott Hay might be a goalie that the K's are looking at. I thought he was one of the top goalies in the league last season but he just had a horrible defense in front of him that gave up 50 shots a game. I wouldn't mind them trying to sign D'Alessandro from Richmond either if he is available. Good luck to Frenchy where ever he goes! He has been great for the last 3 years. He never did win a cup but either did Puhalski for the 3 years that Frenchy was here. I just have a feeling that no matter what players you have, you will have the same type of team. The Komets play like robots because of the "systems" Chief puts in place. I can't argue with his record. He has the most wins in league history. But we have to remember that most of those wins come in the regular season. Who does everyone remember at the end of the year? The Tarry Cup champions or the Colonial Cup Champions?

Hate to get political on here....but thank the politicians for allowing our gas prices to go out of control and they don't even address the problem...If any of you vote and for those of you who don't, it is time to go to the voting booth and vote all of them out of office so we can get our country back. Our jobs keep going away, and our prices keep sky-rocketing. We need to take this country back before we are called Mexico or worse. Lets start worrying about the people who belong in this country and fix our own problems instead of being all over the world stirring up others problems. We need to be a bit more selfish on this soil and strive to make this country the best it can be.

It is just like the plight of Enema Man...he sticks to his crappy own business...he would never stick his head into where it doesn't belong....would he?

(that made little or no sense)

Oh, By the way....Go Komets....LOL

i seen frenchy's first game as a K and his last. i enjoyed rooting for him while he was here, i wish him the best of luck and hope he doesn't show up in the UHL as a foe! As a fan i was really proud of his UHL shutout records and was glad i was able to witness some of those, BTW i thought the team lost a few shutout possibilities for him this year.

getting excited to see who we are going to sign etc..

Well the Frankes do have a good track record for finding good goalies. Granted a few have fallen into thier laps from time to time; but they still get them, so we'll see.

What I'll find interesting now is the expansion draft for Blommington and Chicago to see who the K's leave off the roster and the dispersal draft for the three to four teams not in next year. See if the K's are interested in picking somebody up that way.

Alright, time for a grammar lesson. I've seen it written from a few people on here and message boards.

"I seen..." is what 3 year olds say. It's "I saw" or "I've seen" or "I have seen"

Yeah I sound like a jerk, but after seeing that more than a few times, I wanted to write about it.

Spelling errors are tolerable but "I seen" is not

Go ahead, pick out something in my post like punctuation errors or dangling participles or something.

So Joseph, what do you think about who the Komets should leave off of their roster?
I actually wonder, can they leave St. Pierre off and see if someone claims him? Or is his contact simply terminated. What do you think Joseph?

Getting rid of Frenchy to move the Komets in a new direction indicates the Franke Family is taking lessons from the Chicago Cubs on how to win a championship.

Not really, if the Cubs would get rid of their injury plagued players they would be better off too!

Really comparing an organization which has one of the best winning percentages in all of minor league sports since 1990 with a team that can't keep from tripping over itself every year is a stretch.

since 1990-91 not including ties, 677 wins 461 losses. throw in ot/so losses thar gives you another 123 which means the komets have netted at least a point in 800 of a possible 1261 games. Roughy 63% of the time since 1990 that the Komets took the ice they got at least 1 point.
(stats used from the Internet hockey database)
I don't know about the rest of you but that track record speaks for itself. Throw in 2 cups and 3 other finals appearances and I think you have a team that has proven they know how to win games.

This arguement can work for Puhlaski as well. In the end it's Playoff Championships that matter. We've had one since being in the UHL and unfortuately Frenchy was not a part of that.

So, if the record is so great, why the urgent need for big changes Tony? Are we forgetting that championships are just difficult to come by and that it isn't fair to judge a player solely on the basis of winning one? Aren't there many teams with great records who have gone years and years without a championship? Aren't there extraordinary athletes who have played entire careers without winning a championship? And don't those teams usually start by dumping the coach? Sorry, I know I took a dive off the sanity pier by bringing that subject up again but I'm still in a surley mood. I couldn't even bring myself to tell Joseph that all right is spelled with two words and he missed a couple of periods.

Anybody else find it "curious" that the Frankes waited until June 1, 2006 to announce that Frenchy wouldn't be returning? The reason behind this is because season ticket holders had until May 31, 2006 to renew at the same price. ANOTHER scam pulled over the Komet fans eyes and most don't realize it!!!

Blake, what player is going to commit career suicide by bashing the coach in the paper about Chief? I know of MANY fans who have had conversations with players, myself included, that were far from complimentary about Chief and the Frankes. I have always said, and will continue to say, if you want to know what is really going on, talk with the players and people involved with the team, don't read about the "politically correct" stuff that is said in the fishwrap. I am not bashing you Blake as you and Justin do a great job of covering the team, but when it comes to what is happening behind the scenes, player movement, problems with the coach, etc.... the true picture is not going to be found in the newspaper.

Sparky, I have never judged/blamed St Pierre for anything. I would not have had a problem bringing him back. I also do not have a problem not bringing him back. You will note I have never cast blame on any specific player for what happened to the team last year. I think the team did not gel the way they were expected to. I also don't think these changes are "urgent". In minor league hockey bringing back half the team from one year to the next is a rare occurance. I think what is going to happen this off season is what just about every other team in every other city goes through each year.
As far as dumping the coach, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre don't get bounced every year a championship isn't won. You have to look at the entire body of work from the record on the ice to the way the coach conducts himself. Coach has won one cup, and been to the finals another season in just the few years he has been here. Some teams go 10 years without seeing either happen.

I get it Tony. Get back to the topic at hand, right? But first - All right is correct traditionally but there are more than a few thousand times that is has been spelled alright. Joseph - you d*** know it all.

Komets - I think they said that he is protected for the dispersal draft. So, he just gets released and is a free agent. Who to bring back? Chaulk (captain? maybe not), Goodwin, Dombkiewicz, even Carpentier would be OK.

But, hey look at who won. Kalamazoo with a bunch of ex AHLers and 3 or 4 good rookies who panned out. Who knew Deitsch would be a superstar. Three balanced lines, 2 top 5 defensemen and a goalie who was on his game all year. Match that and you have a Champion next year.

Okay, now I'm laughing Joseph...I'll give you alright even though I still think you're wrong.

Tony, I wasn't trying to accuse you of anything, I think your comments are always good (and really colorful!). I'm just bent out of shape and need to get over it. All I'm saying is even what looks great on paper doesn't guarantee winning trophies.

Sorry folks a little late getting into this one. Everyone talks about how the Komets are going to bring in new blood that is going to replace guys like Kevin and for argument's sake Colin and PC. But if you are a decent hockey player why would think about coming to a team that just dumped their best (3) players. This is just a money thing. The hard cap will allow ownership to save money when the competition for good players is at its lowest after the folding of three teams.
Have a good summer Komets fans.

Just so It's known. The Frankes are now saying that they wish Chaulk to return next year. Drouin is still up in the air. Got that from Justin's Blog.