Who surprised you tonight?

I am surprised the Komets apparently gave up on Beech already. Why else would Boucher have played the whole game?

Starenky. I expected a less than talented goon. I was wrong. He's a solid defender. I thought he played well. Maybe I'll be less upset about the lack of Cescon.

Ditto to both comments above.

Disappointed Yngwe was cut already. Any thoughts on that, Blake.

Unrelated but I had seen Mirasty scored a goal in his last game and had this fight. Haha http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC8MWi4gibA

What surprised me tonight was the quote from Sims saying how the top six forward spots were 'SET IN STONE'....

So much for that 'open camp' talk.....

I guess when guys don't come to camp because of visa issues or because they have "skate bite" you have to go on past performance.

I saw that too JR. Unreal.

I really thought Smith looked great. He made some incredible passes. The one to Milam was a thing of Beauty. Bobby Chaumont looked very good.

Bennefield and Chaulk will be good for 60-70 goals on the topline with whoever they put with them. If it is Rizk, he will score 20.

I am surprised that Sims didn't use the 3rd period to mix some of the rookies into the veteran lines to see how they play.

I am surprised that no one tryed to hammer Duhart out there tonight. I saw Starenky try once...otherwise they don't touch him. That has to change.

Starenky is my new fav this year. And Bennefield does remind me of Syro but he has better skating ability.

Yngwe looked pretty good in the scrimmages but maybe not so good Friday night? Plus, the more I think about it, I like Mele, Thorne and Rizk to make the team at forward ahead of him so there just wasn't a spot for him.

As for why Beech didn't play tonight, the Komets have three games in three weeks so they wanted to get Bouch as much time as possible to get him ready for Saturday night, and he looked great.

He's so relaxed right now and in a zone, I almost want to put a mirror under his nose. It's so much different than he was last year after coming back from Australia.

P.C. can't play defensemen. Haven't you guys seen that from the short-handed chances against when he's on the point of the PP?

I still think they will make several big-name cuts this week.

Good night, time to watch the Bears.

I agree with Blake. PC isn't a defenseman.

I agree with JM's agreement....

I feel like mele is consider e vet which I didn't think was the situation but he played great

Mele is a rookie.

My point with PC...I would rather he play defense than Warner.

OK MAN? LOL

Bring in some new blood! Most of these guys are just living the dream. Bring some guys that are hungry to get to the next level. Bouche and many others needs to move on. Every year it is pretty much the same team. Maybe even a new coach.

Loved Starenky! Loved Smith! I thought Warner showed a lot of heart and played well. He will make it. We figured he played Boucher all day to get him ready for Saturday. (And by the way, he looked great!)

Will be interesting how Boucher plays this season knowing he has the bulk of the workload and isn't going to get much "push" from the backup. I think he'll be fine.

Some thoughts on the game last night, the team, and the players.

Brett Smith looks like the real deal. A terrific skater who knows how to distribute the puck. Sometimes you can watch a player and see that they are a "natural".

Bobby Chaumont has a "nose for the net". I believe he had a goal and also an assist on the Jamie Milam goal. That goal was a thing of beauty which was also assisted by Smith.

Speaking of Jamie Milam, he was one of my favorites during his brief stay here a few years ago. He just verified what I already knew. He is going to be really something.

I thought Tom Mele looked well last night. He can really handle the puck! He didn't play enough last year for me to actually recall his strengths or weaknesses. I liked the way he brought the puck into the attacking zone.

It was fun to watch Jesse Bennefield. He plays with a chip on his shoulder. Did everyone see how he chopped the Dayton player's stick in half. He, also, has the offensive skills this team craves. I am glad he was able to play last evening with his infection, and am looking forward to cheering him on as I see a lot of goals coming from him.

I thought Leo Thomas played a good game last night. I have nevr doubted that Thomas can be a good player in the CHL. Sometimes I do wonder about his attitude and still wish he would hustle back to the bench on a line change.

Colin Chaulk was a leader on the ice. Like Smith, he is a nutural, also. We already knew that though, didn't we?

The defense included three youngsters and I didn't notice them, too much. I mean that in a complimentary way as if when you don't notice them, then they played a well positioned game. I did notice that Warner pinched in when he should have held his position and a 2 on 1 resulted which Dayton scored on. When will he learn and more importantly when will management learn?

I also noticed how the defense could move the puck up the ice quickly and accurately. That was something which was missing from last years' club.

On Justin Cohn's blog, under "Blocking the owners' view", he writes this: "Franke said there will be no cuts made until Monday. He also said there are no additions in store, except for the arrival of Artem Podshendyalov in a few days, after he had problems with his immigration work papers." This was posted around 5:00pm, before the game. Then, minutes after the game, they release seven players. Wow!!

Considering the Franke statement, I wish Mightbite would ask his "source" about the "new" player coming in by opening night. Did something fall through? Just curious as I think, after watching the game last night, we still need another scorer to complete the forward lines. If you could do that for me, Mightbite, I would be exterely appreciative.

Sorry, one more thing. Dayton has four goaltenders on their roster. They can only keep two of them. The Komets would be wise to watch the waiver wires and claim any of the four.

Dayton has 2 good goalies....we dont need either of the 2 they cut....they aren't good.

I disagree, we have plenty of scoring, we have to cut 2 more guys that are scorers.

We need another D-Man and a goalie.

I agree, need to get a good, young back-up goalie. I really liked Smith to Hit, he passes, shoots, and moves really great with the puck. Gonna be fun watchin these guys play this year as long as they keep them!! Lets Go Komets!!!

Zane Kalemba was a goaltender let go from Dayton today. He played 28:17 minutes allowing 1 goal for a 2.10 GAA. Compared to Beech, he is a vast upgrade.

Agreed that the Komets need another D-man. I would waive Warner and bring one in .

I disagree that the komets have plenty of scoring. We all thought that was the case the last two years. What happened? They started both seasons averaging two goals a game. They need one more to complete the lines.

Really, and how do they fit one more "scorer" under the salary cap Alan?

That is the problem right now. They have darn near maxed it out and they made the comment that whoever is left will have to accept what money is left.

I think they have scoring. The weakness is one more sound D-Man in my opinion. There are 2 D-men left that worry me. I watched one of those Super Star dmen pinch clear into the right faceoff circle and watched the puck and 2 Dayton players go 2 on Frankie for a goal because of this Super Star.

And before anyone says I am singling him out again..this is the same complaint we all had about him last year. He takes too many stupid chances pinching in and leaves Frankie or whoever is on the ice with him out to dry. +/- is only as good as the guy who is keeping that stat. If a player hops onto the ice at the end of a scoring chance that the Komets score on and he had nothing to do with the goal, how is that a fair measure of that player playing both ends of the ice?

Ok,,,,I will stop. I think I have made my point on what part of the team needs some help.

I apologize.

Hit, we don't have any idea where they are with the salary cap. Sure, they may say there is no room but it's been known that they always have some in reserve, so to speak, in case someone would fall into their laps. And besides, them saying stuff like that is just another way of negotiating through the press.

However, just for the sake of argument, lets just say they are maxed out. You would have to substitute one contract for another. For example I could see a guy like P.C. ( I would assume he is one of the higher paid players) getting cut if a well known sniper was to come in. You get me another guy who could score thirty goals and I could wave bye-bye to P.C. in a hurry. The injured reserved list, trades, cuts from other camps, and Europe also come to mind.

The Franke's can be pretty creative when they want to be with the salary cap. We've seen it before and we'll probably see it again.

You are correct and I'm in complete agreement with you on the defense. It's easy to see who should go and I'm not afraid to say it. Warner will hurt the Komets rather than help them. His main attribute is his offense. With the defensive core they have in place, it isn't important anymore to carry him any longer.