Though they finally scored five goals for the first time this season Thursday night, the Komets are going to try something else to boost their offense. Starting Monday morning, retired forward Konstantin Shafranov will start working with the forwards.
Shafranov, 42, retired following last season after a 17-year professional career that included five National Hockey League games and two appearances in the Olympics and seven in World Championshps. In 350 games over seven seasons with the Komets, the right wing scored 158 goals and 362 points.
``Shaffy has played at every level professionally in the world,'' Komets general manager David Franke said. ``He's a very smart, offensive-oriented player and is very well respected by all the players, so why not try to tap into his expertise and see if he can help us? I think one area he can help us out is our passing. I think that still needs a lot of work. He's got a wealth of knowlege so we might as well tap into it.''
Basically, Shafranov will be a consultant to Komets coach Al Sims and assistant Gary Graham and will concentrate on helping the forwards with their positioning, passing and shooting. Franke said Shafranov will not be in uniform during practices, and currently there are no plans for him to try to return as a player.
``I think he's going to work with us for a couple of weeks, and we'll see where we're at and see where he's at,'' Franke said. ``This could be a short-term deal, it could be the rest of the season, he could come back and play. That's not in the plan right now, but you never know. You get injuries or if we continue to struggle, then maybe you look at it.''
Comments
Not Surprised.
Not Mad.
He is 42 though.
Not a bad idea to just start with working with the team....then wait and see.
Never know.
Super glad that our forwards will have the opportunity to learn from Shaf in practice! He is remarkable. Used to love to watch him on the ice. Miss his expertise and finese. Hope our forward are excellent students.
Shaf is a Master, hopefully this works, it sure can't hurt.
OTOH, they could just watch a bunch of Howie Meeker videos.... :-)
Is that showing my age??
This is another thing I like about the Frankes, they are willing to bring in outside help. How many times over the years have they brought in people? At least a few that I can think of including sports psychologists, attitude motivation, power skating, etc.
oh oh i love shafy :) even if he isn't skating! btw has anyone watched the games on chl tv?? how is it?
It depends on where the game is at. Generally it's better then B2 was but it depends on the lighting, equipment, connection, and skill of the cameraman.
CHL TV is MUCH better than the b2 not-works. We purchased a season away game pass for the Komets and I will say as a service there have been rarely any streaming problems. Of course some locations video is better than others, but that just depends on the equipment in that venue. I think the CHL tv is a good value this year.
Glad to hear Shaf is going to be working with the players, I think this is a great move if you ask me. Our guys are starting to click, and have gained their confidence back, now if we can hone in on some of the passing and tighten the shooting a bit, we could be a pretty powerful force this season. Just depends on how some of these other opponents look when we face them this season. Teams like Allen, Bossier and Colorado are looking really really good... *Gulp*