The Komets might announce a couple signings by the end of the week, but these are likely to be more rookies and role players than stars. It's starting to get toward crunch time when players who are hoping for spots in AHL training camps will have to make some decisions.
With seven players signed and only three veterans, the Komets have roster spots and money available. General Manager David Franke and coach Al Sims hope to have the team's goaltending positions figured out next. They continue to talk with Shawn Degagne who hopes to receive a doctor's clearance later this week after having shoulder surgery early last season. Degagne is already playing and working out, Sims said. “If everything looks good and he is cleared, we'll look to make the next step,” Sims said. “He's a real competitor.”
Franke said the Komets also have a few other goaltending options, and it's unlikely the team will fill one of its seven veteran spots in net.
Sims said he'd like to bring around 30 players to training camp, creating competition for the final five or six spots on the roster.
“The middle of August is usually when guys are looking for American League deals, and then they have to decide what they want to do next,” Sims said. “That's usually when you get the better players because these are borderline AHL players. You have to make sure you have some money for that time of year so you can get a guy like that.”
The Komets have made offers to dispersal draft picks Justin Chwedoruk, Chaz Johnson, Frank Littlejohn, Mike Sgroi and Mike Kautz, but Brett Pilkington and Sergei Durdin have said they will sign with the ECHL.
“The important thing for me is go get in touch with all the agents and let them know we're interested if their guys don't get an AHL deal, an we have money to spend,” Sims said. “If we get some AHL camps to offer as well, we'll be that much further ahead.”
Sims and Franke said the Komets currently have spots in two AHL camps, with Worcester and Syracuse. Sims said he's continuing to look for more options.
Franke said recently signed assistant coach Colin Chaulk and captain Guy Dupuis are also pitching in to help recruit players and sell them on Fort Wayne.
Comments
I would say right now the Flint Generals are signing a team the whole league should be worried about ecspecailly the K's. They are in talks with Big Mac to add to an already tough Blue-Line and they have signed some scoring punch. Again I ask where is all the toughness the K's have always talked about signing but never do? We supposely have money to spend?
We need Marchant, Johnson, Henley, Manson, Mcwhinney, Reiter, and Degagne. Those what the Komets are in talks with, and they need to sign them all. Three good goalies, two tough enforcers, Johnson for a pest, and Marchant for scoring. Plus Johnson can score too.
At this level and with a salary cap you really can't carry three goalies.
David, Flint will only lead the league in PM. They will have a revolving door to the penelty box. I am going to make the trip up to Flint sometime this year, because Flint is the new Elmira of the league. Excitement in every game. I know alot of you people aren't going to like me saying this, but we have to sign and ENFORCER SOON!!!!! Henley isn't going to be back til after Xmas, and that is the earliest. We need to get a guy in the lockerroom, that can mix it up. @ this point, I don't care if he can't tie his skates, as long as he can protect Chaulk and others, thats all that matters. Flint has a bunch of head hunters (goons). We need someone to match that or their physical play will take us right out of every game we play with them. IE = Rockford
I disagree with great respect. Euro hockey is the answer. The Komets will always be on the power play against them! At least the 5 guys that are still healthy by the end of the game will be on it alot.
Well I appreciate the respect. Thing is you said it yourself. The 5 guys that are healthy. Teams will see we don't have a physical presence. They will take advantage of that.
Part of it will depend on how refs call a game as well.
Rockford did that to us in the playoffs.
Yes Flint may lead the league in Majors but they will also have a team who can score. The ownership there will put a team that can play it both ways and provide entertainment. We on the other have yet to sign anything that resemebles what Flint has put together thus far. Yes I am sure the Frankes will make announcement this week about signings but they have been saying that for like a month now
The more talent and entertainment the other teams put into themselves, the more tolerable this six team league experience will be. It is good for everyone on many levels.
Besides, I don't think the Komet management had their hands this venture with the idea of finishing last.
....
he was saying that because he thought thats what it would be. I thought that too. And its not. Thats not Franke talking out the side of his mouth.
Tom, I understand what you are saying but things have changed in the last few months. Teams overseas have stepped up efforts to lure players to their leagues. So now the Komets (and every other independent team) not only have to compete with teams in North America but also with teams in Europe that can in many cases pay their players more money and in many cases they play a shorter season. David Franke had no way of knowing that was going to happen a few months ago. Things are changing and with that change may come a reversal in thought and philosophy. I don't think there was any attempt to deceive fans with his earlier comments. I want what most of you want, a skilled , tough yet disciplined team made up of a bunch of good character guys. More often than not that is what I have seen on the ice from the Komets. I think Komets management has earned the right to be given the benefit of the doubt based on the last 15+ years of track record.
Tony E.,
I just can't believe that David Franke had "no way of knowing" what what was going to happen a few months ago. He knew that if we went this route (IHL) this fallout might happen. (not being able to get better players) The better ones indeed are going overseas and to the ECHL.
You claim to know what the future holds for minor league hockey (by the end of the decade), but you couldn't accurately get it right two months down the road. How are you going to predict 3 years down the road then?
There are things that are unexpected and I don't think a person is any less credible for not seeing those things. If someone could see the unexpected then those things would not be unexpected.
Tom again you complain before seeing the product. If 2-3 mo into the season it is level "A" hockey then I will be right here with you. I for one beleive in the K's management and what they are doing.
What most likely is happening is the players that have a future in regards to moving up in terms of the NHL ladder are simply waiting to see where they can go. They are all looking at the NHL, then the AHL, then the ECHL. I would have to think that the CHL would appeal to them being that there are alot of questions about this new league. Once all of these other options are exhausted and fall through, then what's left, or who got left out will come to the IHL. I would also think Europe is more enticing right now as well.
Tom I never made any claims two months ago about how hard/easy it will be to get players. In fact two to three months ago I said the same thing as I am now regarding why the AHL would have been a bad move for the Komets. I have never once said anything about how easy it will be for the Komets or any team to sign players, just that once opening night rolls around, the Komets will have the required number of players to put a team on the ice so I am going to sit back and relax this summer (just as I do every summer) and wait for it to happen and trust that the Komets will have a competitive team because 9 years out of 10 that is exactly what happens. I do not get caught up in getting upset if a player is not brought back or another player I might like to see is not signed. Whoever is here when the season starts is here. If they play well enough they stay and if not they are gone and replaced with someone else. I do not get attached to players.
The overseas recruitment has hit all the U.S. leagues this summer right up to the NHL with a few end of the bench guys getting lured to Europe and other areas. While David Franke might have noticed it happening he had no way of knowing how it would change things until the process of recruiting players got going. Is it possible he misjudged the situation? Maybe. I will listen to that argument. But I will not believe that he intentionally tried to deceive the public two months ago. There would be no purpose in doing so. Things change, especially this summer. I think David Franke has earned the right to change his mind or even to acknowledge that he misjudged the situation without fans thinking he suddenly does not know how to do his job. Gheesh I would take him in Toronto any day over John Ferguson Jr and most of the GM's the Leafs have had the last 40 years who sat by and watched mediocrity fester without trying to change. Komets management knows what they are doing and I would say that even after a last place season because their track record says so.
My predictions for the future of hockey are based on both what folks are suggesting will happen with the Canadian dollar by the end of this decade as well as what I see already starting to happen. Hockey will go the way of baseball by the end of the decade in that there will be several AAA , AA , A leagues geographically centralized. There will be no more flights from Wheeling to Boise because it makes no economic sense and because fans in those two cities have no "feel" for each other where a long term rivalry can develop. What makes the Komets/Kwings rivalry so good? Not only the talent on the ice but that fans can easily travel to away games and the fans have a feel for the other cities. I think in hockey more than any other sport there is a need for that type of sustainable rivalry to be in place. The strong CDN dollar (some say will be worth more than the US $ by the end of the decade) will allow for AAA hockey to return to many of the cities in eastern Canada that lost their teams in the 1990's when the CDN dollar became weak. That will allow for the AHL to return to what it used to be and for the IHL (or some league) to become the midwest AAA league. The western most CHL and ECHL teams could very well form a AAA western league.
I would also like to say I don't think there is much of a difference between "A" and "AA" hockey as it relates to the product I have watched the last few years in the UHL. I think fans will notice very little change. If this league becomes younger as I think it will then you may see more mistakes but they will be mistakes of youth not mistakes due to lack of hustle.
people need to quit downing the Komets and the organization. And its sad if you are a Komet fan and you are saying things like that. Komets have had the best Organization for a long time and thats why they have been around for such a long time. We have good owners that know what they are doing and it has showed over the years.
People need to get a look at this. It's about Mike Sgori one of our dispersal draft picks.
http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070812/SPORTS/708120330
yea i saw that article. I don't think we will get him. He is a more higher level player and it doesnt sound komets want him too bad.
Unless he knocks the guy out in the first round then I'd say skies the limit.
It still gets me that people were preaching that "you just wait" for teams to fold and and better players will be available for the Komets just two months ago. This obviously did not happen. Blake and many others were throwing out there that there would be some mass exodus of minor league hockey teams. I think the numbers people were throwing out there were any where from 9-11 to even more teams folding. I wonder how many teams really folded? I know for sure that the UHL had teams that moved up a level-- Elmira, QC and Rockford, while the Komets essentially moved down a level.
Minor league hockey will always be a year to year thing. Some teams will fold while some new teams will come in to replace them. As far as the future, we really don't know what is going to happen with minor league hockey. I just know what is happening NOW. The AHL is at the top of minor league hockey with the ECHL as it's feeder system. The IHL is not getting the good players NOW that the ECHL is getting this summer. It's just dissapointing to be told year after year to wait for the BIG reorganization that is going to take place, which never happens. The current minor league organization is in place that will be here for quite some time. I'm tired now and will stop typing.
Tom, the change has already begun. Did you not notice what already happened this summer?
Would you like to place a friendly bet as to whether Rockford or Quad Cities actually turn a profit this year?
As far as minor league hockey being a year to year thing with teams folding, very true.
I wonder how many teams have folded since the Frankes bought the Komets? How many summers since the Frankes bought the Komets have their been any realistic worries as to whether the Komets would be playing the next season?
I do see what Tom is saying in many ways. So many of the Optimists on the blog were saying over and over that the IHL would be so much better off and the product would be better because of the leagues financial stability and also what Tom said: " Players would have to find places to play due to the number of teams dwindling.....and thus the league would have no problem putting good talent on the ice." Some teams are doing that.
Now the way it looks to the FW audience is that we are having a rough time finding players. I mean come on guys and gals, how adventurous have our signings been? We have tons of former Komet retreads and 2 non-former Komets that we drafted. The Recruiting or Lack there of to this point seems poor. I agree that I haven't a clue what they have coming in the next several weeks as they might have guys signed that they just haven't announced yet, but it does make you wonder a little.
The question really is....What is the problem so far with the recruiting process of new talent and players that will compete, entertain, and win games for the FW Komets?
Saying all that...I am happy to see Chaulk, Guy, Kukulka, and Hukalo back in Orange and Black.
Tony the fact is that it happens every year teams fold while others start up. Look at the CHL they have I believe 2 new teams schedule to take the ice in 08-09. How many minor league teams actually turn a profit? Do the K's turn a profit? Who knows, but everyone thought that there was going to be this big turn over in minor league hockey this year and that would yield better players for the K's to sign and the rest of the IHL. Well, most have signed with the ECHL or CHL and the ones who didn't went overseas for the $$$$. If Rockford and QC do not do well at the AHL so what at least they gave it a try, but I am sure the IHL will be here with open arms to invite them back. Just like the IHL would have been here or another minor league establishment to welcome back the K's had they choose to go to the ECHL or AHL ranks.
yes but they might have contacted alot of people we don't know about and we might be suprised who we will get. its not over yet. we got alot of time till the season starts. You think the Frankes wouldn't get us some good players? With Sims and Chaulks help we will get GOOD players. They havent turned us down yet.
I wouldn't want to ever be "turned down" by Sims or Chaulks.
Do I smell Komet Warrior somewhere close to the blog? MAN
kidding.