The Fort Wayne Komets activated defensemen Keith Rodger and David Cianfrini off injured reserve for tonight's game at Quad City. Both have been sitting on the sidelines for the first three games of the season because of a sore back for Rodger and a sore knee for Cianfrini.
The Komets have placed forward Olivier Legault on 10-day injured reserve with a sore wrist and jammed finger, and general manager David Franke said one more player will need to go on injured reserve before today's game.
The Komets also left Thursday for the six-hour trip instead of their scheduled Friday departure. The team had contracted with the company Two Ladies and Bus for a sleeper bus for this season, but those plans have fallen apart, leaving Franke upset with the whole process. The company had previously told the Komets a sleeper bus conversiou.
``We are looking around the area at other bus companies to see if we can find somebody with a sleeper bus,'' Franke said. ``Unfortunately Two Ladies and a Bus can't swing converting the bus that we use over to a sleeper bus. We didn't find out about that until yesterday, so right now we're just on our regular coach.''
Franke said the team will have to pay for an extra night of hotel rooms to make sure the players have enough rest before the game. The Komets have used a regular coach bus for years with players sleeping across seats and on the floor but desire a sleeper bus for their longer road trips in the Central Hockey League. From Nov. 11-13 they plays games at Dayton, Evansville and Independence, Mo.
Comments
All is right with the universe now...the mohawk is taking its rightfull place amongst the K's faithful.....
How nice of Two Ladies and a Bus to not tell the Komets that they're be able to convert their bus into a sleeper...That sponsership will be ending very soon I'm sure
I have never thought too much of Two Ladies and a Bus ever since I saw one broken down on the side of the road with a whole load of people standing next to it and the bus driver talking on his cell phone and smoking.
Atleast the K's bus is better than E-Ville's
puts me in mind of Major League with that old broken down plane they had to fly in.
So why does another player have to go on injured reserve if we've been playing with one guy under the limit? Add one (Rodger) to get to 19, send Legault to IR to get back to 18, add Cianfrini to be back at the limit of 19... Why the extra dumping?
Maybe Mightbite's Goon is being signed :O
I have a runny nose and an autographed Icy Card.
What? Legault on the IR? Say it ain't so... If I went into a coma two years ago and woke up today, the IR wouldn't have changed.
Why don't the Komets just buy their own rig?
For a couple hundred grand and a driver they could control their own travel and not have to monkey with any goofball bus companies.
I think the reason they don't purchase a vehicle is the cost of fuel, insurance, maintenance, etc. is very expensive. I'm sure that the cost of the bus itself is small compared to the other costs in the long run. One could buy a really nice 2-3 year old rig for a fair price, compared to a new one, but like anything else, there are advantages and disadvantages to such a proposition.
I'm sure that's also why not every team owns their player housing units....talking big bucks.
You should have said:
"For a couple hundred grand and a MONKEY they could control their own travel and not have to GOOF with any bus companies....."
I just wrote your application letter and resume header....
JM for Bus Driver.
2 Frankes and a Monkey???
I assume the bus company was making a profit.. So even with insurance, fuel, etc.. you'd think in the long run they could save some dough... Unless the "sponsorship" discount is great enough that the bus company is losing money, in which case I guess I'd have a hard time justifying a full bus conversion too... but to leave them hanging with the impression that you're going to convert it and not even starting is unacceptable.
I'll tell you Hit, the last thing I want to do for a living is drive a minor league hockey team around the midwest all winter. I don't think I'm cut out for such work..
It's not just a couple of hundred grand. I've heard you have to purchase liability insurance enough to cover $3-$5 million. That ain't cheap.
Yes, RK because of salary cap considerations.
Go back to the old, old, oooooold days when the players car pooled to games.... :)
You have to wonder how a bus company could ever make any money then. The insurance industry ruins everything. Insurance is that way because we live in a ridiculously litigous society...
I guess that doesn't solve the problem does it?
I'm with JR, let em carpool.. I bet that would make for a lot more fun on the road.
Thanks, Blake, that makes sense now.
The reason the bus company can make money is because they have more then one customer renting their buses. I don't know for sure but they may have their own maintenance facility or maybe a decent contract on that because it involves more then one bus. Same for insurance, probably a blanket policy. So one bus gets used year round instead of just half of it.
If the Komets owned their own bus it would see use only during the hockey season, they would have to cover insurance, maintenance, etc. on their own greatly increasing the cost. If they considered renting it out then that opens a whole new can of worms, especially in this highly regulated (and yes, litigious) society we live in and as far as additional insurance, maintenance, liability, taxes, corporate issues, etc.
I'd guess one of the reasons Two Ladies and a Bus can't do the conversion is the Komets would be the only customer and because of that the expense is more then they want to deal with.
Guess Fort Wayne needs a team in a summer sport with long travel distances so they can afford to make the conversion, or the Frankes have to buy out Two Ladies and a Bus.
Tincaps to Triple-A!
...I can dream, right?
A half-hour and the deal's dead? There's more to it than just that. Someone at the bus company drop the ball, or were they trying to pull a rabbit out of their hat? Buying a bus isn't cheap, however it's possible. You can buy time sensitive insurance policies (don't need it in the summer), so that's not an issue. I'm not a mechanic, but how often does a bus need maintenence, especially if it sits quite a bit? You don't need to hire a full time personnel for that.
The bigger problem might be is where to park the thing here in Fort Wayne. Liability is insurance and the only taxes that would be paid would be for the plates and registration. A bus driver could be hired quid pro quo. Box seats anyone? I'm just thinking logistics.
Can the Zamboni guy drive a bus?
And off the subject... how weird is it not to see the potato chips on the Zamboni paint?
We're talking real world here not blog world. No way would anyone trade their professional livelihood, benefits, etc for box seats. Get real! It's not like this is a part-time job you can just create out of thin air and anybody would take it. These drivers are responsible for 25-plus lives every time they pull away from the coliseum. Thanks! Oh, here's some hockey tickets, too! When I've been on the road with the team, the bus driver is most often sleeping in the bus while the team is getting ready and playing the game. This is not an 8-5 type job. These are very skilled people, and tickets could not make up 1-10th what they are worth being paid.
You're right, this is the real world. Since when does anyone get paid what he/she is worth??
Let alone the driver's medical and training. Have to have aCDL with Public Passengers attachment. D.O.T. permits fuel tax price of the bus. It isnot cheap.
we got out-hooked tonight, somebody issue a warrant for Quad City, 9 hooking infractions, is this Vegas?
Schebigs feet stink.
The Komets have issues.....I know it is early.......but the Komets have early issues.
No playmakers right now.
5 minute powerplay in the 3rd and you can't get a decent look, and can't win any face-offs for the most part.
We need a couple of Centers who can distribute the puck around, win faceoffs, and play both ends of the ice.
I bet Shaf is a Komet by Turkey Day.
Does Hukalo get a phone call?
I heard Chase say that the K's might get a 6-5 250 Defenseman from the BJs....and a 5' 10 center at some point as well.
Keith Rodger is not a forward. He is a defenseman.
PC and Warner should never be on the blue-line together.....never. That was scary.
We got out played tonight! Also we have been out played in 3 of 4 games that we have played. I think we have a few players that need to retire or start playing hockey like they should be doing. I also noticed that we have players that don't know how to pass the puck to the wide open player or they think that they can do everything themselves instead of playing team hockey.
First of all there are players that really need to retire or start playing the way they were playing and got brought back for. Second there are players that need to start passing the puck and stop acting like a one man show. Third they are taking stupid penalties and are in the box for most of it. Those things do not win hockey games.
komets11 says it all!! Thats what i saw last night.