Komets shatter Gems with eight goals

Sounds like the team that played last Friday. I would say those two losses left a bad taste and resulted in a great showing tonight. The new systems seem to be sinking in, let's hope this builds momentum into the coming weekend. Go K's great effort!

Everyone was on the + side except the goalies. How often does that happen? Chaumont is really starting to play well.

So where are all the hockey geniuses now with their infinite hockey wisdom calling for al's head now?

Outstanding job, boys! Wow!

Don't forget Colin Chaulk. He played his best game of the season and there was no Komets fans there to disparage him.

One win against a horrible team fixes everyting, doesn't it Snuff, I mean off the post?

As good as the Komets looked last night, Dayton looked just as bad (except for about 5 minutes after Gratz called a timeout and chewed their butts out!)...

For as small as that ice surfaced looked last night, the Komets sure had alot of space to deal with... The Komets were racing thru the neutral zone and Dayton was standing flat footed alot and got caught reacting instead of anticipating which put them a stride behind all night long...

The Komets looked alot like they did on Friday night. They were moving at full speed with out the puck looking for passes and crashing the net hard. Passes were crisp for the most part and the defense looked alot better with Starenky in and Llewylln out... Guys were crashing the net and the shooters moved closer to the net when they were camped at the top of the faceoff circles, they were closer to the dot which closed the defense in closer to the net creating alot of traffic in front of Hogan...

It was a good night of hockey; but even thought they almost doubled their goal output from the first 5 games in one night, I am not ready to proclaim them on track and anyone safe at this point. If they keep this style up for the next 10 games, then maybe...lol

Snuff is not Offthepost. Snuff is no longer posting here.

It was an amazing game last night. It was amazing how loud we few Komet fans were, as opposed to the number of Gem's fans, and I'm not indicating just the times we scored, but throughout the entire game. Everything just came together. It was amazing to see Bouch protected by some really great defense!! The domination of the Gem's zone by the offense was second to none. My only negative comment is that it would have been really nice if the guy's could have given some small gesture of recognition to the few of us fans that did make the trip, and to cheer them on as we did.

Blake (or anyone else): I was unable to get the feed last night but I'm sure you'll know this: Other than the switch between Starenky and LLewelyn (I butchered his name), were the lines consistent with how they've been or were they changed up last night? In other words, what worked so well last night that hasn't for the majority of this young season? Or was it just who we were playing?

Chaulk/ Chaumont/ Smith.... Thomas/Auger/Apod.... Rizk/Schrock/Mele.... Thorne=extra..... Starenky paired with Frankie

LOVE the idea of Frankie and Starenky being paired. Seems a lot of times this season, Frankie and whomever his partner have been have had troubles with which is supposed to pinch and which is supposed to get back. That won't happen with Starenky. I think this frees up Frankie to be a huge offensive force again.

More impressed with Thorne (reminds me of young Schrocky) and Rizk every time I see them, and I can't remember who said it first, but I've been impressed with Mele every game so far. He just flat out hustles. I think the pairing of Milam and Henley is still working it out, and the Molle bros are getting used to their forwards. They are great defensively.

According to the Dayton article, it was 2 for 1 night. Attendance was about 1,200. I know it was a Tuesday night, but only 1,200 with 2 for 1? The 6:30 start time was established to allow school age children to attend with their parents. Still don't understand how some teams make it with travel (Rapid City and Arizona) and/or with low attendance.

Great game! I think it is safe to say that this year's Komets are in quite a bit better place than last year's were. The only question now is whether they can bring it all together consistantly. A good team can have bad games, and a bad team can have good games. The best teams just keep chugging along. But I don't think anyone has to worry about the K's being cellar dwellers this season.

Your absolutely correct running komet..one win doesn't change anything..but neither does coaching a team to 3 championships in 4 yrs..and a 2-3 start to a season certainly does not qualify for justification of dismantling a team starting with a head coach..ill still take al's hockey wisdom over your's any day of the week

That's pushing it a little. Let's keep it fun and no personal attacks on other posters or I'll send you to the box and you'll feel shame.

No worries, Blake. I've been called worse by better. At least try to use proper grammar when taking shots if you can manage it. :-)

young Schrocky? what is he now an old man? he is still young IMHO!

Inconsistancy (check my spelling RK) is about the only consistent thing in minor league hockey. (I'm not sure if the . should be a ? or ! ?!.

I aint very good at spellin, ghrammer or these things " ' `

Between the Colts and the Komets my head of hair will look like Blakes here shortly, I need 2 wins by the K's this weekend, cause aint no way the Colts are gonna do it.

The championships in the original IHL and IHL2 are in the past...

We are talking about a new league that is geared towards being a developmental AA league in which Sims record is not too stellar... Look up and combine his past stats from both the CHL and ECHL and you will find he is still about 25 games under .500 while coaching in one of these two leagues...

If you try to move forward while looking behind you your never gonna make it to where your going and in this case, thats a championship at THIS level/style of hockey...

The Komets are 3-3....theres no ground for "see, I told you so posts" There are still way too many unknowns at this point, IMO.....

Kind of harsh that two years ago is already considered in the past.

It's not? What would you consider two years ago to be???

Sports is a 'what have you done for me lately' business these days....it is what it is...

Scotty Bowman never would have won a third cup in Detroit. No where is it guaranteed that you get to win every year. It's called perspective. Hope one of your kids, if you have any, never gets a B or he's on the streets. LOL.

I have 3 kids...I have plenty of perspective...lol

If one of my kids has a problem in a certain area like math, I get them a math tutor... I just dont sit back and say 'well they are great in history and science so I will just wait for them to excell at math'.... Just because they are great in 2 subjects, doesnt mean they will be great in the rest and if I wait too long to get them help they will fall too far behind and destroy their confidence...

What perspective has lead you to write and comment on Sims (and the veteran players for that matter) being on a short leash this season? Just curious....

No where has it been posted that we expect them to win every year. What we HAVE talked about is records, consistancy, systems, preparation, etc...

I like Al Sims as a coach; but I'm not sold on him coaching in this league...

Aw, I'm just trying to egg you on. LOL. I do believe Al is feeling the pressure and he's trying to push the guys early this year. He is certainly putting a lot more into these early games this year than he did last year. I also think Al will have a retired banner some day and deserves it. He deserves it for 12-0 if nothing else, but then for the three straight titles, too.

I dont disagree with anything you say about Sims taking his place in the rafters some day...

I just wish that during discussions about the coach RIGHT NOW that we didnt hear about everything he has done in the PAST... Past championships wont help the K's this season...

I know one thing a lot of fans questioned was how much fire was left in his belly after last season, but I can tell you I'm seeing it every day so far this year. Let's face it, with as many changes as they made, 3-3 is probably where we should have expected them to be right now. If they come back from this weekend 4-4, that's OK, too, because they are playing eight or nine rookies right now. The interesting thing to me is I think they will get better regularly throughout the year. I think Thorne is going to develop into the power forward everyone thinks they need, and Rizk could too. I'm very excited to see how the young guys develop, and Al will have to have a big part of that if they are to progress to where the team needs them to be. He used to be a very good teaching coach, now we'll get to see if he still is.

Wouldn't it be cool if they had the power forward in Thorne and the rough defenseman in Starenky already here? And we get to watch them grow up. Could be a lot of fun. I'm pretty interested to see how these kids develop.

Great arguments by JR1, with good examples to back them up. I still think Al is probably a pretty good teacher. You never lose that unless you've lost the desire to succeed/win. I hope he's also still a good learner though. To learn means to adapt, and sometimes people have troubles doing that after they've had success in a certain system. I really wish he would LEARN to ADAPT in the area of the powerplay. His "system" of the powerplay appears to be way off in the CHL. It has been terrible and the fans who are there consistently are starting to not even get all that excited when the Ks go on the powerplay anymore because it doesn't seem to lead to many goals due to the "pass, hold the puck until the goalie gets in position (or your defender gets over to you), pass again, then either lose the puck because the defense catches on to the blatantly predictable next pass, or shoot because you've played 'Around the World' for 2 minutes and the powerplay is over" system.

Burgee: i-n-c-o-n-s-i-s-t-E-n-c-y

Standing ovation for JR1 and Running Komets! Made good points without insulting anyone. Points I agree with 100%, I might add.

Pretty neat discussion going on here.

I will agree with Blake when he makes the point of it being a successful weekend by at least splitting the two games in Rapid City. One win is acceptable, two wins is fabulous, but two losses stalls whatever momentum the K's gained in their 8-2 win at Dayton.

Blake continues his point by adding, "Wouldn't it be cool if they had the power forward in Thorne and the rough defenseman in Starenky already here?" I'd say sure, and in one of my previous posts, when talking about the komets needs, remarked that maybe those types were here with the young kids The IR and immigration issues have delayed komets fans from seeing the whole team. I will say this, and this is just my opinion, I think Thorne has the ability to be stronger on offense than he has shown, and not have to be the "power" forward the Komets still need. I think the Franke's should look to bringing in a player to fill that role.

I think Al Sims has been a great coach and someday his name should be added to the "legends". You can't ignore the four Turner Cups he guided here. Still, no one is above learning and/or changing their ways when the opportunity and/or results dictate it. I, too, would like to see the power play changed. It seems to me that the present style of moving the puck around the perimeter takes too long to complete because the passing is not sharp enough. I can see this style working if the pass is on the tape and the shooter can one-time the shot. Way too many times the pass has to be stopped. and then the shot taken. It just gives the defense an extra second to get into position. Mike in Toronto had a neat idea of just taking the shot from anywhere, blasting the puck toward the net, trying to get some rebounds. It certainly would keep the penalty killers off balance. I don't condone it to be a permanent change, though. I think it is worth a try, at least for a while.

I want my Komets team to be a slick skating, above average passing, finish your check, burying your chances, goal scoring team. I want them to crash the net. If they give a good effort, than I am satisfied. Those qualities would be my "recipe"' for success. This team seems to have the ingredients to do all that. I am not all that concerned about their defense. Things are shaping up.

Final thought. When thinking about coaches and their successes or failures, whom would you all regard as the worst coach in Komet history??

My vote would go to Ralph Keller. If some of you are too young to remember him, then you are lucky as you have escaped a lot of frustration.

When Al was here in the old IHL his power play was a killer. IIRC he was one of the first, if not first, to use the "umbrella" system in the IHL and then modify and shift it a bit, opening shooting lanes through the defenses' box. It also relied on moving the puck around a lot which is looking like a Sims trademark.

I think the opportunity to watch some of these kids develop can be an exciting thing. If done correctly the team will get better as the season progresses but may not start out as well, depending on how many and how well other teams in the league are doing the same thing. One question is how well the fans in Fort Wayne will accept a season where the team will be slow to mediocre for awhile, then show improvement.

Ralph Keller, an example of what happens when you replace a coach mid season. Not sure why they kept him as long as they did though..