KOMETS ADD 6 SKATERS TO ROSTER
Rugged winger Pascal Morency
agrees to terms
A.J. Bozoian returns for second season
Fort Wayne, IN --- The Komets
announced Thursday that 6 players have been added to the pre-season roster. Winger Pascal Morency and defenseman A.J.
Bozoian along with rookies Dan McWhinney (G), Jean-Simon Richard (C), Martin
Gascon (C) and Adam Blanchette (D) have agreed to terms for 2006-07.
Morency, 24, will be entering his 4th year as a pro. The
right winger played his first pro season in 2003-04 with Flint in the UHL
scoring 8 goals, 14 points and a UHL second best 248 penalty minutes in 51
games. Morency skated the past two seasons in Wheeling of the ECHL posting 9
goals, 20 points and 326 penalty minutes in 70 total games. The Montreal, Quebec
native led Wheeling in 2004-05 with 252 penalty minutes.
Bozoian will be returning for his 2nd season with the
Komets. Bozoian, 24, started his career last season skating 7 games with Motor
City in the UHL before being acquired by the Komets. The blueliner appeared in
48 Komet games scoring 3 goals, 8 points and 28 penalty minutes. Bozoian is a
native of Brownstown, Michigan and played 2 seasons in the NCAA in stints with
Niagara University and Wayne State University.
Goaltender McWhinney, 21, is
coming off 3 seasons of Junior competition. Last season McWhinney appeared in 38
games with Stouffville of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League (OPJAHL)
registering 20 wins and a 2.65 goals-against average. McWhinney also was named
the 2005-06 OPJAHL North Division MVP and backstopped Stouffville to the 2006
OPJAHL finals with 18 wins and a 2.60 goals-against average in post-season
play.
Richard skated 3 seasons in the
Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) with Oswego State from 2002 to 2005.
During 2004-05 Richard posted 13 goals and 31 points in his last season with
Oswego State. Richard, 23, skated last season with Louiseville of the Canadian
senior circuit LHSPAA (11g, 35pts).
Gascon, 25, skated 3 seasons with
Dalhousie University (CIS) from 2002 to 2005 and will be entering his first year
as a pro. During 2004-05, his last season at Dalhousie, the rookie forward
scored 5 goals and 24 points in 28 games.
Blanchette, 20, completed 3
seasons of QMJHL play last year finishing with Gatineau scoring 2 assists and 42
penalty minutes in 26 games.
With today's addition of 6
players the Komet's pre-season roster increases to 17 players including 10
forwards, 5 defensemen and 2 goaltenders.
Comments
Weclome Back to AJ. I Hope he gets more playing time this season. I thought he was really under utilized at the end of the season.
And welcome to Pascal, Dan, Jean-Simon, Martin and Adam.
i am starting to get worried there i only one person over 6 fett tall and that is the goalie, i know there is still time but we are a small team right now minus the goalies.
Glad to see AJ back as well. Hansen is over 6' and Blanchette is listed at 6'1". All the same I'd like to see some size as well. Let's see what these rookies can bring to the table. McWhinney looks like an interesting guy.
Richard is smaller, but is also Morency's cousin and supposed to have quite a bit of grit.
Larocque is listed at 6-3, but he only weighs 165 according to hockeydb. That has to be a misprint, though. Sometimes it's how big you play, not how big you are.
Tale of the tape....
I looked at the rosters of each UHL team to see the amount of players 6'0" or taller...
Bloomington: 9 of 9
Chicago: 11 of 16
Elmira: 8 of 13
Flint: 2 of 4
K's: 7 of 17
K-zoo: 8 of 9
Muskegon: 7 of 11
Port Huron: 12 of 17
Quad City: 6 of 11
Rockford: 10 of 12
I dont think this league is having any trouble finding players with some size. I do like the mix of players the K's are signing so far. I would like to see a defenseman with some size and maybe a banger or two; but in years past it seems to be the "little" guys who throw their bodies around more often and cause havoc... Who knows...
With the new signings we now have 7 players listed at 6' or taller. While I agree you do need some size, just because a player is under 6' tall does not mean he can't be physical and will get pushed around all the time. And the last time I checked the goals were on the ice not 10' above like basketball. Not to say we should have all midgets, but size can be overrated if you don't have very good skills.
You can be 8' tall and bulletproof, but you have to have heart. Look at Bertram's last year on the ice, big guy that didn't want to be there. Now look at guys like D. Stew, Kelly Miller, and even Goodwin last year, they would hit and hit often.
Personally, I'd like to see some Michel Massie type players.
Btw, QC just announced the signing of a guy named Charpentier... 6'5" Dman that like to fight. The Mallards are going to be tough.... Not sure why since nobody fights in hockey anymore...lol.
What's that old wives tale...The bigger they are the harder they fall?
Anyone ever heard of David Koci? Has some Pascal/Bingham connections.
Size doesn't always matter; If they can skate and put the puck in the net, that is all that matters. Welcome Back A.J.
Hope to see him play more this season. Welcome to the new guys as well. They all sound like they will be good assets to our team.
I guess I'd be more concerned if the defensemen were all very small, but they are not. They are not huge, but they have decent size. Right now Bozoian is the smallest at 5-11, 190. That's not too shabby.
I know of Koci but that is a prime example of what I don't want to see. 1 goal and 250 penalty minutes a year.
The signings today are good. The youth movement is continuing.
JM-
A Michel Massie type player would be awesome. That guy could pound the best and score some goals too. I remember when that Van Horlick would get pounded time in and time out by Massie!
Tony,
Thats one more goal than Marc Lindsey had last year. And Koci has seen more of the AHL than anyone from the Komets roster last year.
I almost pounded Quinten Van Horlick one night. Seeing that guy get beat-up bright joy to my heart.
Koci played in the Pens organizatin with Wheeling if I'm not mistaken.
JM, had Lindsay been here the whole year I think his stats would have been better. He seemed to have gotten comfortable later in the season, playing with more confidence and getting into scraps.
Well...I don't think you win with Lindsey playing that many minutes.
Here is what I think is going to happen to the 1 goal 250 minute guys...
They are going to drop out of the NHL (pretty much have already)...then drop out of the AHL...(happening now)...then scatter around the leagues like the UHL for a few years until that breed of player becomes extinct.
Look, if the Komets could carry extra players so you could scratch someone and insert a Koci into a game where you expect there might be trouble I would have no problem with that. But since you can't carry extra guys I think that type of player is a waste of a roster spot if you are trying to have a skilled team. I could be wrong, just my opinion of course.
I'm with you on that one Tony. If the rosters were expnaded and the game rosters expanded then I would carrying a "enforcer" is okay. But you can only skate 18 with 2 being the goalies, that 16 skaters. To use a spots for someone who won't contribute to scoring and is nothing more than a policeman doesn;t make sense, especially when there isn't a lot to police.
I don't intend to argue with anyone. I will wait until the season starts to see how we stack-up against the rest of the league.
Anybody heard what the scoop is with Danny Stewart??
I think that's a good thing to do JM, I should try and calm don a little bit about this enforce/goon business.
Chad-Danny Stewart is going to lay in england this year.
Is that one of them "don't touch me" leagues??
I don't think so because I couldn't see Danny going to such a league.
Jungle Monkey,
Stop bad mouthing Mark Lindsay; he was a good player and if he did play for us the whole year last season I also think that his stats would have been better. He played very well for us the time that we had him. I can think of a few other players that played a heck of a lot worse than Mark. Enough is enough! GET OVER IT ALREADY!!! He signed somewhere else in a different league, so that should tell you something. If you are smart enough to figure it out!!!
No, Komets29fan, you back off. JM hasn't said anything out of line at all about Mark. He's allowed to have an honest opinion, and he has yet to call Mark names or any derogatory terms. As far as I can tell, he has never made his comments personal, but it sounds like you are taking them personally.
My gosh, what is the world coming to -- I'm defending Jungle Monkey. (Grabs chest, gasps, keels over.)
Wow....speechless....come on folks. this has been a GOOD day!!!
Thanks Blake. Not sure what that was all about.