The Komets learned Monday that center Chris Francis has been recalled by their American Hockey League affiliate, the Springfield Falcons.
Francis, 21, was signed as a free agent by the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets during the summer of 2010 and began the season skating four games (1 goal, 1 assist) with Springfield before his assignment to Fort Wayne in November. Francis scored four goals and 17 points while accumulating 12 penalty minutes during his 28-game stint with Fort Wayne.
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Timing is interesting. On one hand, we finally started to get it together. On the other hand, someone will be saved from being cut.
Good for him :)
opens up a spot for MacMillan :)
Not going to happen, Mightbite. Sorry.
I like that one less person has to be cut now, and it's good for francis too. I kind of wish macmillan would come back too. There have been a terrible number of boring games...maybe he might not be quite so boring. On the other hand, he would do nothing to help the team win games.
Blake, this doesn't really help the roster out that much at all....does it?
Didn't Francis only count $500 against the weekly cap because he was an affiliated player??? Isn't that what we discussed in the offseason about players being sent here and how they affected the cap and how affiliated players playing here would help us out alot in that regard???
We still have a cap problem bigtime.
OC, Curdy, LEO.....those guys are making money in the top 2/3's of this team I would guess.
Warner is somewhere up the ladder too.
Francis' cap room doesn't fit any of those players into the roster.
2-3 guys still need to go.
We haven't even been playing the extra skater for 1-2 weeks.
Hate to be the guy makeing this decision.
There are going to be some hurt feelings when all is said and done....
And Dayton and Evansville are going to get some good players.
I'm with Blake, Mac would not help us we need to get our scoreing in line. Loseing Francis could help our other forwards to step it up. We might be going the right way at this point. Go KOMETS !!
Blake, Do you think we will get very much help player wise from Columbus the rest of the season?
No offense, we lose Francis, we replace him with OC.....
I call that a gain overall.
The lines will look something like this:
Chaulk, Lardner, Patrosso
Leo, OC, PC
LaPointe, Schrock, Apod
Musselwhite
Frankie, Molle
Cescon, Guy
Warner, Phillips
Danko IR
I don't think so Mopar.
I'm not certain how it's all going to work out, Hit. It would not shock me to see someone else go on IR. After Sunday's game, there were a lot of guys asking for icebags in the training room. This team is not 100 percent healthy, and there's a lot of games coming up on a short time. I think the final 26 games are played over 50 days.
A lot of guys asking for icebags because they were taking cheapshots all night with no real team enforcer to do anything about it.
Francis > OC... Sorry Hit, I usually agree with you, but OC hasn't shown me much this season.
I know Mac isn't coming back.... but neither was Chaulk.
Actually, JM, Mac told me today he's not coming back. He's moving on to another team.
Good.
Perhaps the Komets will look towards signing a couple of college kids in a couple of months as they did before.
Won't help in the goonery department but may with the skill and energy.
Good Luck to MacMillan then. I don't blame him for not wanting to return here irregardless of how the fans and his former teammates feel.
OC has been one of the guys this season who has actually played decent. I like his work ethic and I like his skills.
Don't hate on him JM.
LOL
I'm just being a Moran.
Not hating, just don't think he's an upgrade over Francis.
He's been playing hurt, too.
When has OC been healthy?
He plays hard though.
I don't buy the flu...lol.
He was eating ice cream and dipping chaw last night the whole game.
That would make me puke.....but not OC. LOL
Who hasn't been playing hurt? It seems like everyone has had these injuries show up in the last two weeks. I don't doubt that they are playing hurt, but its nothing new. I'd hate to walk around with Guy's body mid-season. I can't even imagine feeling like Bertram had to have the last couple of seasons.
I'd wager a vast majority of the guys are playing hurt.
Snuff - you seem to have this obsession with the young players. You sure high school or college hockey isn't for you? these leagues require a mix of players.. everywhere from Dupuis and Chaulk to Musslewhite and apod.
this is pro hockey. Having just rookies does you no good. Just as having all old timers does you no good. About every other post you put on here is a plead for young players.. Rethink your format. Don't believe me? Look at every other roster in pro hockey. Expand you opinion a bit. Some of the old guys that played for us are pretty good. Chaulk seems pretty fair to me so far. So does Lardner. As does apod... young and old.
Komets123 we seem to be going around and around on this. I will explain this to you for the last time. It isn't just about their birth date age. I don't want a team full of guys feel so comfortable here entrenched in the community that 2-3 cups later there may not be the same hunger as a 25,28,30, ok 40 year old that may still be chasing a ring or that hasn't won one for awhile.
Let's face it, how may 4 peats have their been in pro sports? Not many. The Islanders were a rare breed. Then they hung onto their guys too long and literally have NEVER recovered. I have never made my argument strictly on age. Yes age is a part of it. But I believe in order to remain competitive at the minor league level you need to refresh the roster after a championship or two. I also feel that this organization right now is too comfortable reaching back to the past everytime it needs help. Whether it be Bertram, Chaulk or the ever present Paris Duffus.
You like Chaulk. I get it. So do I. I admire your passion to point out how good of a player he is. There has never been a comment from me questioning what he has done in the past for this team. But when he left this summer I thought it was a good thing and a step in moving forward into the future for this team.
That's the great thing about the blogosphere. You can put your GM hat on and build a team around Chaulk. I can do the same and think about building a team around other players. Fun for all :)
If he is going to be here, I'd like to see Chaulk be given the official title of player assistant. Then move on to full time assistant for a couple of years then once Sims is ready to retire perhaps he can be groomed to take over as head coach if he is qualified at that time.
What time do I need to get there to get a bobblehead on Wednesday?
2:04 pm
Waive Drouin, he won't report. Keeps him in the Fort, and available if we need him....No?
Snuff - i understand your claim for change. However, rarely in sports does a "dynasty" type of situation come along. When it does you need to recognize who got you to that point. Take the Patriots in football for example. Now I absolutely hate them and am the biggest Jets lover of the week for beating them, however... They are a living example of a dynasty team. They know who got them there and keep bringing them back. Colts know who got them there and hang onto key players. Young and old..
Just b/c the komets won 3 cups doesn't mean it is time for a changing of the guard. Rather it is time to ponder who brought you to the dance. When you recognize who brought you, then allow them the first call for following seasons. Thinking that recruiting out of college is somehow going to continue your cup streak is absurd. You need a core. IMO we lost much of our core from those cup years. They were not appropriately replaced and we have suffered the consequences.
Now you claim new players.. not necessarily young players is what you want. .. ok, cool. You want fresh faces. Got it. Stop calling for college players then! that insinuates young players. Rookies. An all rookie team is not what this town or team needs. We have picked up some established players and low and behold we are turning it around. We need a mix of players IMO. And some of that mix needs to be the core we lost.
GM,
If you arrive at 2:04PM, about 100+ people will likely already be waiting in line.....:(
Well Cincy had those 5 championships in a row way back when. Not sure what their rosters looked like for them, though. And of course there was the Montreal Canadiens of old. They were just scary good. 5 in row between '56 and '60 (of course that was before expansion), 4 in row between '76 and '79, and plenty of single and repeat titles in between.
As for the bobblehead, if it is like last year, there was hardly anyone there until around 5 PM. In the past, one could get there as late as an hour before the game and still manage to get one, but they were the very last to do so.
Komets123 you may be right. I may be right. Sadly neither of us has the power to build our teams our way and compete with each other. It would be fun :)
Now...if we were to put our money together and buy a couple of teams like some people like to tell others to do...
Don't knock the college kids/juniors coming in late. Remember the likes of Wiggins and Hodgeman provided late season spark. That is what I was referring to when I was talking about late season pickups.
To me the holdover core of this team going forward should have included guys like Schrock, Thomas, Boucher, O'Connor, Phillips, Frankie and maybe I could see Chaulk coming back with that group. No PC, no Guy, No Reiter and certainly no Curdy. I liked bringing in older guys with experience like Tab and Patrosso who are older but may be looking to win a ring before they retire.
What is the true purpose of AA hockey. Is it a place for vets who never made it to play out their career or is it a place for younger guys to get noticed.
Here are a couple questions I don't have answers to nor the time to find out but would love to know.
#1 Average age of ECHL rosters compared to CHL rosters
#2 Number of 30+ players in each league
#3 number of 35+ players in each league
They both may be about the same, the CHL may be younger...I have no idea.
One thing for sure...basically at this point the Komets traded Chaulk for Legault. That may be the trade of the year in this league.