Friday's stories

I think the article is okay. The one question I have is if they can't enforce a soft cap, how are they going to enforce a hard cap? What will be the penalties for the hard cap be? By eliminating the vet rule with a hard cap, will more vets start heading oversees to play, i.e. possibly Drouin?

Just some questions I came up with off the top of my head.

Greg,

I read in the JG this morning that the Komets are neogiationg with Drouin..that was a surprise.

excellent acticles blake..

this has been a fun summer so far..and its only june 16

Mark- the key word I saw in the JG article with Chaulk and Drouin is "trying".

The tone says to me that neither one of them might be icnlined to come back, but as you said it's early in the summer yet and the league meetings haven't even taken place yet.

good call about trying..I was still tired when i read it lol...

Hello All,

This is my first time making any comment on here. I've been mostly just a "reader." I enjoyed reading what everyone has to say throughout the year. I just wanted to give my input on a player I think the Komets should look at. His name is Shawn Legault. He last played in the UHL in 2001-2002 for Elmira. He had 365 PIM with 25 points. He's had stints in the AHL, but has been playing in the CHL the last few years. This guy can score and police the ice at the same time. 2004-2005 he had 46 points with 300PIM. Last season he had 20 points and 299 PIM in only 48 games! Why can't the Komets get a guy like that?

blake, i hear that Huckalo signed for next season...is that true?

It's possibly Nanci, but they aren't talking right now and probably won't announce any signings until after naming the coach.

Yay. Huckalo. Start the party now!

Nanci...

I've heard the same thing also...

If he is a 3rd line player then this isn't a bad move. Remember of course he can easily be cut at training camp if the entire roster improves. He is certainly a capable 3rd liner in this league. Anything above that isn't a good thing.

Hukalo is an excellent pker Tony. And he would play on the 3rd line..He also possesses alot of speed..something the new game of hockey really is in need of...

Mark I agree. Having him on the roster in that capacity would be a plus.
Playing as a PK and third liner he isn't going to hurt your team. I don't ever remember watching/listening to a game and thinking "boy Huckalo hurt us tonight"
Right now it is all about finding players to fit specific roles to complete the puzzle that is the roster. D.H. certainly can be one of those pieces.

Hukalo is a really good role player. We had a lot of nights where he was one of the few who showed grit and hustle every game that David played in. I would like to keep him on the team. With the other changes that are in the works, perhaps this could be an opportunity for him to take it up a notch.

I agree BOB...him and Kelly Miller made an incredible pairing at forward on the PK....both posesse alot of speed...

That would make for a really sweet line, but who do you want to center this line? They would make a killer PK line and a solid 3rd line that will score their share of goals.

BTW....any word on Kelly Miller?

BRING HIM BACK!!!! (If I get a vote in it)

Hoss,

I know you love Kelly Miller....and yes, I agree...bring him back..no matter what..

Bob,

Another guy with speed...someone who is the same kind of player as Huks and Miller...a Danny Stewert typle player...

My vote is for Kelly Miller too. Look at the spark that he gave the team last year when he came aboard during that long Eastern roadtrip. He instantly paid off with scoring, hustle, and leadership. He was by far the best player we had at the end of the season and in the playoffs. You can always count on his effort, face-offs, Penalty Killing, Shorthanded goals, hustle, and also the little things like playing in the corners and putting pressure on the opposing team with speed. Bring back Kelly Miller. The only thing that may hold him back is, he had to have some minor surgery in the off-season. Hope he is healing and ready to go...for us!

Good article Blake on the Cap and the Playoff format. I totally agree with you. We don't call you Super Fan for nothing you know.

I wouldn't be surprised if Chaulk and Drouin are waiting to see who the coach is going to be. (And what the $$ situation is, too.)

I think a guy like Kelly depends a lot on what happens with the veteran rule. Remember, he's now played more than 300 pro games. If they lower the limit, that will really hurt his chances. I hope not.

Anything we as fans can do to sway the UHL to do the right thing with the veteran rules and cap?

Guys like Kelly Miller are always crowd favorites and deserve a chance to perform at this level. They are also guys that teams need to have to make a run at the cup. I would love to see Kelly skate the cup around Coliseum Ice next spring as a Komet. It would be awesome, and would be a great story considering his career starting here and then coming back, and rocky times with the old Chief during his time here. He is a great guy and a very good player. Of course, this is my opinion.

Just a thought:

to make any cap work you need the following.

1. some type of compensation clause in the players contract that they know that all of their compensation is disclosed and failure to abide by the league rules could result in their ban from the league.

This ban would surely show up on the transactions list which would make it public knowledge in the hockey world.

2. all compensation for players that involve the league is paid to the league which in turn has a third party payroll service process the payroll and report it back to the league. this sounds like a lot but with technology these days it is not. Its quick and painless and it will also give a heads up to the league if a team has no money for payroll.

3. have all owners agree to 1 and 2 then those who break the rules are fined heavily or kicked out of the league or denied access to the playoffs. You can also have a security deposit so to speak for new teams, if i remember correctly the franchise fee or league buy in is/was $500,000, increase $50,000 and that money is held in an account that is interest bearing, fines for breaking the cap would be pulled from this security deposit.

just some thoughts, maybe we could build on this and develop our own blog cap.

i would really doubt any cap being accepted by the owners that is trackable. the above scenerio would involve messing with the owners cash flow

Almost every team in this league cheats the cap. From teams that have no money like Adirondack to teams that have plenty of money like the Komets. Why do you think nobody's blowing any whistles on anyone else? Everybody signs and comes across players from other teams and you can rest assured they all talk about what is going on with their former teams when negociating their contracts with David.

Bring back Kelly Miller!!!!

GIMMME BACK MY SON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ooops wrong movie here

burgee you can't penalize the players unless you want to have collective bargaining, which the owners do not want. That's not the players' fault. It's not their job to police the owners. If I'm a player, I take whatever is offered over the cap and then I file my taxes. That way a player has done nothing wrong.

Blake, I actually disagree with your comment. While it is NOT the players job to police the owners, if they knowingly take money that they know isn't being reported to the league... they aren't doing the right thing. Even if they do report it on their taxes. Because by NOT saying anything they are going along with it. Sorry just the manager in me coming out.

I guess my two cents worht is this, if th players knowing took money that was not being reprted to the league and money that was gained illegally, then yes they are responisble to "blow the whistle". BUt if Glante said here's how much I'm willing to pay and the player follow the "don't ask, don't tell" mantra, then I don't believe they should be at fault.