Regarding the rumors on Kevin St. Pierre and Colin Chaulk: Nothing official has been done and can't be announced until after the league meetings in Las Vegas the third week of June, accoridng to General Manager David Franke, who also cautions fans that, ``We're evaluating everything and there are going to be changes that will be made. How many I don't know. There will be a new look to the club next year for sure. Whether it invovles these other guys, we're not at that point yet.''
If you could have one player come back to the Komets who did not play here over the past two years, whom would it be? I'm not suggesting in any way this player should be at the expense of a current player, either. Could be anyone who is still active from the UHL or the IHL days, though there are a lot few of those. My choice would be Andre Roy. He'd be a star at this level and would have impact every time he skated onto the ice. How about Marc Magliarditi? Anybody see the numbers he put up in the ECHL this year? It's also too easy to just say Sean Venedam, so try to stretch a little.
I just haven't been able to get into it. I can't tell who half the players are, and I can't believe half of the goaltenders who are playing. The hockey season is just too darn long. I feel like the last thing I want to do is watch another hockey game, especially one where I don't know who's playing.
What do you guys think?
Anybody got anything interesting planned for the summer. I'm looking for ideas. LOL.
So you guys better respond on here to let me know whose jersey cost the most tonight.
Also "me" suggested we start a topic (again) on what you guys think about what would happen if the Komets joined the USHL, a junior league? We could renew the rivalry with Indianapolis for one thing and see younger players. Now, there's no way the Frankes would do this, but it's fun to talk about.
Take it away "me'' and make your case.
He's dressing for Milwaukee tonight in Game 7 against Iowa and former Komets coach Dave Allison. I don't know the details on whether he's an emergency goaltender or what. Milwaukee is coached by former Komets assistant Claude Noel.
I'll bet this has been an amazing series. Allison felt that Noel stabbed him in the back when he was coaching Milwaukee and Noel was his assistant.
Thanks for all the kind words from everyone. I hope you have learned as much this year as I learned from you. When I started this in November, I really didn't want to do it because I looked at it as just more work to squeeze into the already 14-hour days. Instead, it turned out to be quite enjoyable, thanks to you. It was a lot more fun than I expected, so thanks for that.
Thought you might find this interesting. I was dead tired today, but I stopped by Loyola-Chicago on the way home to catch IPFW's match against Loyola. What a contrast with the Komets!
And good riddance. This was one of the strangest years I've seen with the Komets. No matter how hard they tried, the pieces just didn't seem to fit. They played hard tonight, but Rockford played just a little bit harder. Rockford got all the bounces in this series because the IceHogs earned them.
More to come later.
He was named the UHL's best defensive forward today for the third time in his career. It's the fourth season in a row that a Komet has won the honor after Sean Venedam won it last year. I think that's very impressive because this was not an especially good defensive team during the regular season, and you can really see during the playoffs how much he and Troy Neumeier have been missed at the defensive end of the ice.
Are they done or do you think they are just getting started? My feeling is that they haven't even come close to playing good hockey yet, and it's still there if they can play smart on the road. I think the pressure is all on Rockford.
What do you think? I'm headed west.
But I don't assign any blame from this game to Neil Christopher. The Komets did this to themselves. Did he miss the first calls and then call the retaliation calls? Yes, welcome to hockey. The Komets have had this problem the ENTIRE season, and they talk and talk and talk about needing to stay away from penalties and they can't do it, no matter who they are.
Komets don't look very good so far. Sloppy with the puck, turning it over several times in their own end to lead to Rockford chances. The IceHogs goal was a total fluke, but it really wasn't surprising because of the way the Komets were scrambling around. Rockford's power play has looked better and is starting to get stronger chances.
How do you feel about this one?
I don't really have a good feeling because I think Rockford's power play is about to bust out.
Komets are starting Jorde, Galbraith and Campbell along with Goodwin and Luciuk. Could be interesting. Rockford is going with Mizzi, Carrigan, Yetman, Watson and Letizia.
This could be very interesting right away.
The Komets believe Rockford goaltender Scott Dickie should be ineligible because the UHL rules say a third goaltender should be an amateur without any pro experience. The IceHogs say the rule says it just has to be an amateur, and there are no other stipulations.
Dickie played 44 games two years ago with Adirondack, but regained his amateur status by sitting out a year so he could then play college hockey in Canada this season.
The UHL has officially decided not to suspend Komets center Andrew Luciuk for his altercation with Rockford goaltender Michel Robinson in Game 2 on Sunday.
League officials are also saying they don't expect Robin Big Snake to face a suspension for his actions in Game 3.
I always wanted to ask this of someone because I have a ton of respect for these folks. Why do you officiate games? Why put up with all the crap from fans, parents and such? It can't be because the money is that good, and I'm not sure I'll buy giving back to the game from 95 percent of the officials who say that. So why do it? There have to be less stressful and more enjoyable alternatives, right? It has to weigh on you at least a little that no matter what you do, there are always going to be people out there who hate you when they don't even know you.
The Komets won, and they looked a little better, but I'm not sure they'll be able to win the series unless they continue to improve. What do you think?
That looked more like the Komets. A couple of things are different from the first two games. They are going to the net a lot harder, and seem to have found a hole top shelf gloveside on Scott Dickie. They are also skating much, much harder, trying to force the action by keeping the IceHogs penned in their own zone. The Komets are trying to cycle more on the Rockford zone, something they did very rarely in the second game.
Kevin St. Pierre and Guy Dupuis were named second-team all-United Hockey League today.
Also, now it turns out Scott Dickie will be starting in goal for the IceHogs. According to the IceHogs, the rule says a third goaltender must be an amateur, and it doesn't say anywhere in the rule that they are an emergency back-up. They have to be activated in order to play. It's a mess.
Former Komet Tracy Egeland was also fired today as coach of the Central Hockey League's Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. He had a three-year record of 84-87-17.
