Monday's column

I don't hate it, sometimes we take it for granted. I know I do. Hockey is a grueling game, and these guys are only humans. I thought these 3 games were the most complete games from start to finish that I have seen them play all season. Keep working hard!!! Go Komets

"Fans and everyone else has to understand that playing a 76-game season over 25 weeks is hard,

I seldom agree with Salvucci... but he's hit the nail on the head with his comment.

I remember Ruid, Mario, Richardson,Hansen and Bingham had the same attitude back in 06-07.

If I were Muskegon or Port Huron, I'd use this as bulletin board material.

Well, hopefully the Komets brass will understand when fans start to wait until the last month or so of the season to start showing up when the "real" hockey starts to get played... If ya listen at games you start to hear more and more of this... The way the guys have played, I think the K's are lucky that there's nothing else to do in Ft Wayne during the winter...

After you hear these "pro" players saying things like this, maybe Muskegon is on to something here... The big positive I hear about the USHL is that the kids show up to play each and every night and go 100% every night...

Are low level hockey players putting themselves on the "endangered list" by taking this attitude into each season? We always talk about advertising/marketing/greedy arena's when teams go under; but maybe its this attitude that Blake talks about in his article that is truly killing these hockey markets... With peoples entertainment budgets in the toilet right now how much damage can be done for your attendance each night the players have "mailed" it in??? Something to think about....

Can your insurance guy do this for you every once in a while when he feels like giving it effort?

I wonder, would Schrock say the same thing in an interview? His play and on-ice efforts speak louder than any of P.C.'s words.

Maybe I've read over this, but are there any new updates on Mac?

Talk about bulletin board material JM is right:

"The Komets are confident they can get in Port Huron goaltender Larry Sterling's head whenever they want, and they can shut down Muskegon's dynamic duo of Todd Robinson and Robin Bouchard."

I can already see a rival team article: "We can knock off Fort Wayne, just run their goalie and jump their number one line at the start of the game. That seems to shake them up a bit."

Also I think shutdown is the wrong word used above. Bouchard and Robinson have 4 goals and 9 points in the last 5 games against the Komets. Granted we have done pretty well against these teams lately let's not get big head and say we can shut down the top two scorers in the league with a combined 180 points. That's the only reason I don't like the article. Otherwise I think it is right on. The guys are turning it on down the stretch and I know they'll be rewarded for that...luckily so will all of us in the stands.

Throwing raw meat to the nellies.

Oh My!! 1st let me say that I am a Drouin fan .. however .. how many of us can have this kind of attitude at our jobs ?? I don't shell out the money I do for season tickets, and all of the other stuff that goes with it, to watch a group of guys who can't be motivated to play hard every few days at their jobs!! .. No wonder there isn't alot of cheering going on in the jungle "You can

Out of curiosity Blake, what do you call yourself when you say darn near the same things we do? Objective? Is that the word journalists would use after blasting fans for saying something and then saying or writing virtually the same thing???

I am shocked that PC would come out with that, truth or not he is confirming what some fans think about him anyway. As an (old) player I remember the nights the legs and hands weren't working the way they should but the engine was still pumping as hard as it could. Only effort will get you over the humps and bumps that occur during a long season. Everyone on the blog today may wonder how this will fuel the opposition. I wonder what is happening in the Komet's dressing room. You can bet there are a lot of proud, hard working players not very happy. Bad timing and then some.

Never believed in Bulletin Board material. If you need Bulletin Board stuff to get fired up, that's a you problem.

It's not about getting fired up, it is about shutting up the other team...or the other team's newspaper. It's proving them wrong and just smiling as you leave the ice. It's for pride in your talents and team's abilities. Ask any high school hockey player why he wants to win...pride. (or a hockey scholarship:)

Sometimes things are best left unsaid. The comments by P.C. are just going to draw attention to himself and whenever, and I mean whenever, it is perceived that maybe he is not going 100% he is sure to hear about it. He doesn't need that. The comments regarding Port Huron and Muskegon are just as irresponsible. Never give an opponent a psychological advantage. What good can come from it? Everything they said may be "true", but instead of pointing it out to the opposition in print, why not make them experience it on the ice? Just as the Komets are starting to match effort, offense, and defense together, this type of distraction is absolutely not needed......"throwing raw meat to the nellies". Blake, why do you consistantly try to irritate the "nellies", and who are the "nellies" anyway? Some of these bloggers have the courage to print their opinions when they know that it isn't going to be popular. A clique has developed on this blog of people who ridicule others if they don't think everything is just fine and dandy. I'm beginning to think of them as the "smoochers" because they always seem to be smooching each other on the backside. Gee, I wish we could get past all that and just have honest dialogues and different opinions on the status of the Komets, the IHL, and the season.......the Komets find themselves within striking distance of the league lead. They have not gotten there yet but with the "games in hand" and a favorable schedule I want those players to concentrate on playing hockey, not anything else. Effort should come all year long. The games you win in November and December are just as important as the ones in March or April......am I wrong fellow bloggers?

No, you are right on Alan. It should be much harder to beat the teams ahead of you in late season. So early wins are very important. Wow, I am still shaking my head here. What a time to come out with this stuff. I am telling you all heck is going to break loose from the top down on this. And rightfully so.
As far as the blog is concerned we should all have courage enough to say what is on our mind.
There are obviously some relationships amongst the group and it can be difficult to express your point of view within that context. However, it is not fair to jump on someone who has an opinion that differs, whether if be with a certain group or the majority. IMHO.

Salvucci, that is the first thing i thought when i read that comment by drouin.

What kills me is that each of them thinks I'm specifically talking about them. The problem with a lot of the negativity is it tends to take over the blog and drive the numbers down. I realize blogs are mostly negative, too.

If the komets blog is full of negative"s. I wonder what the cubs blog looks like?

And not responding for fear their comment will get blasted because its not 100% pro Komets doesnt drive down numbers as well?

Blake: I think you are confusing negativity with disagreement. The whole point of a blog is for users to post their opinion, to have a voice that maybe someone will read. It could be the coach, a player, you, or another fan. It is the easiest way to indirectly talk to someone that can make a difference because if it is true enough you print a story about it. I've been reading these blogs for years, but never posted because I didn't want to step on toes or say the wrong thing. Now you come out with your nellies comment and how am I supposed to react? How can I not think it was about me when it was right after my post?

Nah, I didn't mean anybody specifically BD. I'm just trying to egg everyone on to drive the numbers back up.

When things get disagreeable on here, the numbers tend to drop off about 25-30 percent. Honest.

Guys, despite with Burgee says, I'm not getting paid a dime for this so I really don't care. The only time I get in trouble is when bloggers complain to the bosses about it becoming too negative, which happens every once in a while. There's really not much I can do about it. I do kick people off if they use profanity, but that's about it.

In other words, Blake was giving a PC Drouin "Face-Wash" to the bloggers...Kidding just Kidding...

Yep, hoping to sucker them into writing, not necessarily taking a penalty, though.

You are the master agitator Blake..lol

Cha Ching, 100 more posts or 1,000 page hits and superfan gets to take Savage to Servia Indiana for Spring Break.

Sorry, but I just think it's hilarious that people think players at every level don't mail it in sometimes. I've seen too many lazy, unispired games from top NHLers. P.C. is right. We're talking about human beings here. NO ONE plays up their potential every single night. Kudos for his candor, as a lot of people can't handle the truth.

#1 Kudos to PC for speaking the truth. None of us are 100% balls to the wall about our jobs day in and day out, not even those of us who are lucky enough to really love our jobs.
#2 Kudos again though to PC for confirming my theory that the entire roster top to bottom needs to be replaced next year. It has gotten old for this older roster.
#3 I am a big fan of junior hockey and I do believe that overall the effort is there on a more consistent basis. It is too bad the OHL board of governors will not allow another USA based franchise because being able to see the likes of Taylor Hall, Zach Torquato, Peter Di Salvo on a nightly basis would be great but I am not sure Fort Wayne hockey fans would want to step down to what is percieved to be a lower level of hockey even if it would mean an overall rise in the star power coming to town each game. Just about every OHL team has at least one current or future first round draft pick on the roster.
Blake can you maybe get a comment from Peter Sidorkiewicz regarding his views of junior hockey?

Lol Wendy your post beat mine ;) Great minds....tick off fans alike

This is both a sad day and a great day all at the sametime. For a very long time the majority of the fans have said that PC Buddy puts it in cruise control on the ice far too much and it drives fans crazy because of his laziness. He has admitted, privately and publicly that he doesn't effort to come into training camp in shape and attempts to play into shape every year. Now he publicly admits that he doesn't put out an effort on the ice much of the time.

What else needs to be said really. This what we have all been b-h-ing about forever about this team and some of the players. Even you Superfan, have written and said out-loud that the effort is just not there. But people that have said it outloud outside of Blake and Al Sims are labeled as negative nellies or bad fans because they point out the fact they can recognize poor effort or not. Most fans would be fine with losing games if they could honestly say that the team, not 2 or 3 players, put out the effort to actually try to win.

So PC just validated what we have all been saying all along. Are the Frankes proud of PC for admitting he tanks games? Do the Schrocks, Chewy's, Phillips, Dankos, Macs, like the fact that one of their leaders just came out and said that he doesn't always give an effort? Sounds like a great teammate to have. One that comes into training camp out of shape, one that plays half arsed, and one that admits it right in the middle of the playoff push.

Nice timing PC Buddy.

Wonder if people who buy tickets would like to only pay half as much for that no effort. I don't seem to remember paying half price for any of my jerseys. Or half price for my season tickets.

Nice going PC.

It takes about one reading down through topics like this one for the athletes on here to pick out those who either never played sports at any level or were the ones who "participated" in sports as opposed to playing them (and there is a massive difference). I don't care if you are currently involved in athletics, played in high school, college, or some level of the pros, you know exactly what I'm referring to.