It's 2-2 after the second period. Komets have out-shot Gems 25-13, and have had more scoring opportunities, but the Gems have led 1-0 and 2-1. It seems like the Komets are always fighting the momentum in the game and so far in the season. They can't quite turn the corner, partly because it seems like they can't get all five guys working together at the same time. There's little puck support. When they get in trouble in their ow
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This ref smells
Holy Schrock, what an effort
Rodger made that 4th goal happen
Another disappointing loss...They K's have given up 9 goals over the last 2 games to Flint and Dayton. The K's right now are playing themselves out of a play-off spot
Someone explain why Mac got tossed, please... my head is going to explode....
Parker is the worst skater in the league. He should change his name to Jeff Worlton Jr..
The referee didn't decide this game. Michael and David need to do something. It wasn't only Rodger, but Bertram and Druin also. Your goaltender needs to make a big stop sometimes and be smarter with the puck. I don't want to state something purely on emotion, but I have thought this for awhile- IT MAY BE TIME TO BACK UP THE TRUCK.
Mac got tossed for removing his elbow pads.
So taking off an elbow pad during a fight is an automatic game misconduct? Why wouldn't the same penalty apply when fighters remove their helmets?
made it thru two and a half periods. thought pc played a good game sticking up for teamates, boucher let in a couple of soft ones and ks problem is no one is attacking the net or checking. all seem a little disorganized.
I guess so.
I couldn't believe Thomas didn't get a game or a match penalty for the elbow three or four seconds after the last goal. That was definitely intentional and inexcusable. I wouldn't be shocked if that was reviewed by the league. The puck was well into the net and the Dayton player was standing up relaxing when he got hit.
In my opinion removing your helmet SHOULD be a game misconduct. Yeah yeah... the goons don't want to hurt their hands. On the other hand, maybe they would rather see more of this?.............................
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THE CANADIAN PRESS January 2, 2009
TORONTO -- The death of a 21-year-old hockey player who died three weeks after hitting his unprotected head on the ice during a fight has renewed calls for tougher rules governing the use of helmets.
Don Sanderson, a rookie defenceman with the senior AAA Whitby Dunlops of the Ontario Hockey Association, died shortly after 1 a.m. Friday at Hamilton General Hospital.
Sanderson, a native of Port Perry, Ont., was tussling with Brantford Blast forward Corey Fulton during the third period of a Dec. 12 game at the Brantford Civic Centre when his helmet fell off.
Towards the end of the fight, both players tumbled to the ice, causing Sanderson to strike the back of his bare head. He was out cold for about 30 seconds before he briefly regained consciousness. The York University student eventually fell into a coma, underwent brain surgery and was moved to life support until his death.
Dunlops president Steve Cardwell said the fight wasn't particularly vicious.
"It didn't look like it was as bad as obviously this has turned out to be," Cardwell said.
"At the time it looked like so many other fights that anybody connected with hockey would have watched over the last number of years."
Cardwell praised Sanderson as a fierce competitor and a valuable player with a big heart. While he said his main concern is helping the family cope, he believes there needs to be closer look at the broader circumstances of Sanderson's death.
"Any time a tragedy like this happens -- and it could have been prevented by a number of rule changes, or the way helmets are made, or the way that they work -- that debate needs to happen," he said.
"Because if you lose just one life and you don't learn from it, then we're all making a big mistake."
League rules state that helmets approved by the Canadian Standards Association must be worn and fastened securely with a chin strap.
The general unwritten rule of thumb is that no more than one or two fingers should fit between the player's chin and the strap, said OHA president Brent Ladds.
While Cardwell said "each player has a personal choice how he wears it," officials will often point out improperly worn helmets during the pre-game warm-up, Ladds said.
He agreed Sanderson's death should prompt discussion on the matter, and said the issue will be raised at the organization's next monthly board meeting.
"I think our playing rulebook is full of rules that, in a lot of cases, are reactionary to something that's happened or taken place," he said.
"A situation as serious as this, it behooves us to sit down and say, what could we have done to prevent it and what can we do to prevent it in the future?"
While he's seen players occasionally forced to tighten their chin straps, Dunlops captain Peter MacKellar said he doesn't think the rule is being enforced strictly.
Following the fatal incident, however, he's wondering whether the rule should be revisited.
"I got into a fight one or two games later and my helmet came off and all of a sudden you're thinking about Don and you're thinking, `Jeez this could happen right now,"' he said.
"But I've seen so many helmets come off and I've seen people hit their heads on the ice before and, you know, (there were) no real complications."
Sanderson had several on-ice scuffles this season; in 11 games with the Dunlops, he racked up four fighting majors.
The issue of helmet safety also came to the fore in 1998 when then-Ontario Hockey League player Sean Avery -- who is now in the NHL -- suffered a concussion and deep cut to the head when his helmet flew into the air after he was smashed into the glass by another player.
OHL commissioner David Branch said he believes responsibility for players' safety lies with hockey organizations.
"All of us that are in positions to exercise some influence have an obligation to challenge as to what we can do to hopefully not see something like this occur again," he said.
Within the OHA, players who get into a fight receive a game misconduct, while players who remove their own helmet during a fight are slapped with a gross misconduct.
MacKellar, who called the incident "a freak accident," said the team will be dedicating the rest of the season to Sanderson.
"We'll just have to ... work just as hard as he did, because he really worked so hard this year and I was just so impressed with his work ethic and just his loyalty to his team," he said.
"If we can rally for him and play for him -- play in his honour -- I think that'd be a nice touch."
The Whitby Dunlops website said Sanderson's funeral is likely to take place Jan. 6 in Port Perry
Am I an uneducated fan? Mac is far from the first player I have seen remove his elbow pads to fight... Maybe I missed the other misconducts.
Parker celebrated that fight like he just beat somebody up.. How foolish..
C'mon Snuff. Not tonight. Everybody's ticked off enough.
And every car on the road should have a roll cage similar to a race car and all drivers should wear helmets and 5-point harnesses.... that ain't gonna happen either..
I agree Blake I thought for sure Leo was going to get a lot more. He better look over his shoulder in Dayton Wed. night...
Maybe Dschebig can give us a specific rule number because I'm sure it's there, but I can't find it and I got to get started on the story.
From my point of view, Leo didn't make that solid of contact with the Dayton player. Still not a great move, but I'd rather have a guy that cares about winning and shows some emotion than some of the players that just go through the motions night after night.. Leo looked visually frustrated all night, he wants to win I comend him for that, but his emotions got the best of him at the end of the game.
I assume its in the rulebook, just seems like I've seen it go uncalled several times in the past.
That would be rule: stupid call #157
No excuses on that at all JM. The goal was well in, the player was defenseless, it was BUSH. Don't give me a player who cares, either. That was ridiculous. Where was that emotion the rest of the game when it was needed? If that had happened to a FW player, you guys would be screaming bloody murder. No double standards on that kind of thing allowed.
I am sure the league will get a view of that on tape and Leo could have at least a one game suspension. Here is an interesting stat in tonights game:
Bertram -2
Drouin -2
Thomas -2
Phillips -2
Dupuis -2
Chewy -3
Sorry, I shouldn't take it out on JM specifically. OK, Hit, you're up next. LOL.
Bert looks very bad out there. Why does he play so soft? He has lost the only step he had left out there and the opposition skates circles around him, and he plays non-physical. Why are we wasting a spot on him on this roster? I would much rather them go with a kid like Deangelis, or Woodard, or Warner at this point than a guy that the game has obviously passed by.
I think there are some guys on the team pressing out there and are squeezing the life out of their sticks, maybe trying too hard....Chewy, OC, Huk, Shaf, Klempa, for starters.
Still the one thing that bothers me is the way they started the game. They were flat. Non-aggressive, sleep-walking out there. I think Al needs to stress guys going out during their shift and making a whole shift where each player on the ice rattles the board with an opposing player in between them and the boards. This team refuses to play the body and they look like they are shying away from the physical play. Dayton just went out there tonight and handed it to us physically and then they dominated the 3rd period because they played harder and played more like a team.
I suppose Mac will get 1-5 games off for what happened tonight right? Isn't he subject to suspension everytime he gets a gamer because of the number of gamers he has accumulated and suspensions?
Leo made a bone-headed play. And I agree with Blake, he should have showed that spirit throughout the game and not at the end after a guy beat you down the ice and scored an empty netter on you. If a Dayton player had done that to us, I would have been ticked off bigtime, but I also suppose the Komet players would have pretended it didn't happen and would have casually skated back to the bench because none of them seem to care about those things.....
This is not a team worthy of a playoff spot right now.
This is not a very good team right now.
This team needs a change.
This might not be the Komets year for a change. I will still show my support to them.....but man they are playing like crap.
I bet big changes are coming.....and 2/3 of these guys should be busting their tails right now or they will be the ones gone, and new guys will replace them.
One thing I wonder about though, does Al ever set the lines and just let guys play together? Or will he continue to change the lines every 2 or 3 shifts out there so guys never get a chance to build line chemistry??? I know guys have been hurt, out, what-not, but the constant line mix-ups might be part of the reason why they all look lost out there so often.
This team confuses me.
did I miss something ... I thought "skate nights" were to include Komet players ?? Or is that only if they win ??
And though I was impressed with the attendance tonight... why can't we make noise and show our support through out the WHOLE game instead of the last minute ???? Just wondering ........
Maybe if the team would give the fans something to cheer rather than the non-physical going thru-the-motions crap they gave us once again tonight, then this wouldn't be the fans fault and maybe actually the guys on the ice with the Orange and Black on would be responsible for this. Scoring chances or not.....this team needs to pick up the spirit a ton, and needs to play with a lot of urgency....instead, they went out there tonight acting like it was the first game in a long string of games to come in which they decided not to give it their all because they were trying to conserve energy for the next game. Wrong approach.
The most frustrating thing is everyone know something is wrong, but nobody seems to have any idea how to fix it. Would you get rid of one, two or three players? Everybody has different ideas whom to get rid of, too. This is a real challenge for Al Sims and David Franke. Everybody is looking for a spark, but no one seems able to provide one. Considering all the pressure the defense and goaltending has been under this year, they've performed very well, but the last couple of games they have really struggled.
The last skate I saw that was after a late game, there weren't any players on the ice either, and the K's had won that night. So I think it has more to do with it not being a Sunday (when the games are played early) than anything else. That being said, after a game like tonight, I'm sure the guys were in no mood for it anyway.
hey sebring, i see you have double standards for certain people on here. i talked about how soft bertram was a few weeks ago and all you wanted to do was bash me. all you could do was bring up that worthless plus/minus crap and how he won 3 championships. did he win them by himself. then you wanted to bash me for using a nickname which half of the people on here do. so with that said you have my name and email. sure not afraid of bertram and sure as hell not scared of you.
LOL, all I would want Bert to do is carry me out of a burning house, he did drop the gloves and get ready to pummle somebody, I think the coach dictated who was fighting when tonight, a lot of unknowns that we will never know, the thing that scares me is the Gems speed and john marks behind the bench, look for them to be in the finals, sorry port huron, you don't have it this year, musky you'll finish playoffs in # 4 position. Blake Sebring for mayor, Schebig drinks foo foos and Bam 24 is a sissy who drinks girlie drinks.
Ok... I am in the penalty box (with my helmet on)
There are always rumors that certain teamsin other leagues may not make it through this season. If that is true there may be some free agents out there soon. The players on those teams that fold may end up in a dispersal draft but then the teams picking them up will have to cut players. My opinion is the veteran leadership is not earning their paycheck. True one of those players was dealing with a situation far more important than hockey but the rest of the team should have stepped up for him tonight and cleary they didn't. And I know it isn't PC (and I don't mean P.C.) to call out a local kid but has Brandon Warner truly earned his spot on this team? I know he is coming off injuries but if he wasn't a local I think he'd be taking more heat than he does.