As part of working on Bob's book, I asked him ``Why hockey?'' This was his response:
As part of working on Bob's book, I asked him ``Why hockey?'' This was his response:
The Chaulk story is now going to run in the paper on Tuesday or Wednesday. Terribly sorry for the mix-up, but I promise it's worth it. It's the kind of story that might remind you of the Pascal Morency-Taylor Mills story from last year.
I don't know if you've had a chance to check out our Sunday on-line sports section yet, but there will be a story here tomorrow about Colin Chaulk. I think every Komet fan will be amazed at Colin's courage in telling the story about some of the things he's been through. I certainly am.
Who's the Komets' and the IHL's rookie of the year this season? Do you go with Luciano Aquino who is the league's second-leading scorer, or do you go with Mathieu Curadeau who is fourth on the team in scoring and leads the league in plus-minus? They both bring some different things to the table. You could take the wimpy way out and split it between the two of them, but it's extremely rare that happens.
So which would you pick?
We were trying to get back to our roots and our strengths. Every time we do that we end up doing well. We out-shot them 30-10 after two periods. They scored on the power play in the third to make it close, but we could have put them away. We missed some wide-open nets.
We scored the game's first goal and led 1-0 after the first. We out-shot them 16-4 and we should have had a little more to show for it. The guys came ready to play and we needed to turn it around and they knew doing it on the road wasn't going to be easy.
The players have some concerns about the style of play as of late. As usual, all they are asking for is consistency. You can read it here.
The players have some concerns about the style of play as of late. As usual, all they are asking for is consistency. You can read it here.
These are the camoflage uniforms the Komets will wear March 8 as part of Army Night. After the game they will be auctioned to help charities that support the families of fallen soldiers. The little guy down there is Guy and if you double click it you should be able to see a larger size.
The Komets placed defenseman Brandon Warner on injured reserve today with a sore knee, and forward Olivier Legault with a hand and nose issues. Defenseman Maksim Shirokov somes off injured reserve and will play Friday in Muskegon, while Evgency Saidachev will come off IR on Saturday to play in Bloomington. He's been dealing with a hip pointer. Warner is on seven-day IR dating to Feb. 18, but Komets coach Al Sims said he won't play this weekend.
A lot of you have asked about the status of the second Komets book. First off, thanks for your support and encouragement on the first one. All of the responses have been a blessing and I thank you for them. If you haven't noticed, we've reduced the price at the souvenir stands and at Komet Kuarters.
Because the Komets had an optional practice today, they goofed around quite a bit, including goaltender Kevin Reiter playing wing and defenseman Kevin Bertram playing goal. Both did pretty well.
``He did well for being a big, over-muscled goalie,'' Komets coach Al Sims said of Bertram. ``He made some great saves on me.''
Bertram said he puts the equipment on about once a year, usually over Christmas break when they need a goaltender. He got dinged on the inside of his right knee, but for the most part held his own.
Can be read here: link
There will be more posted on the blog later today.
With much screaming from Randi and Tim. Terrible how those boys have such a rough time getting excited. You can see it here: http://fwnextweb1.fortwayne.com/ns/video/komets/
With much screaming from Randi and Tim. Terrible how those boys have such a rough time getting excited. You can see it here: http://fwnextweb1.fortwayne.com/ns/video/komets/
After the Komets lost to Bloomington 4-1 on Sunday, Komets coach Al Sims had this to say:
Looking at their record, it's hard to say the Komets made any missteps when putting the team together last summer, but the harder question might be which was the one move that has meant the most?
(in the order they happend)
1. Bringing Al Sims back
2. Bringing Colin Chaulk back
3. Going with two goaltenders
4. Bringing Konstantin Shafranov back
5. Deciding to go young and play a lot of rookies
6. Signing Brent Henley
7. The mid-season signing of P.C. Drouin
Since I started covering the Komets in 1990 (no, not all consecutively, thank you), I haven't seen seen a Fort Wayne team that plays team defense like this one. The Komets beat Kalamazoo 2-0 on Friday night, giving up only 19 shots overall and 10 in the final two periods. The Wings had no, zero, nada, shots on goal over the last six minutes of the game. And that includes a power play and stopping Kory Karlander and Nick Bootland, two of the top five or so offensive players in the league.
Matt Reynolds scored 6:32 in off a two-on-one to give the Komets the league. The shots are 9-9 but the quality of the shots is vastly different. The Komets are controlling the front of the Kalamazoo net and Jeff Reynaert has been bouncing around like crazy so far.
Only lineup change is Olivier Legault for Evgeny Saidachev, whom Komets General Manager David Franke said has a hip pointer. He's been placed on the 7-day injured reserve.
I heard this on ESPN on the way into the office so I'm stealing it.
Why do you love hockey?
Tell me why, maybe how you got started, whatever it is about the sport. As my brother used to say about me, what is your major malfunction about this? And is it hockey or is it just the Komets?
