When the Komets announce the signing of Pascal Morency tomorrow, which I fully expect them to do, will that help alleviate some of your fears about team toughness? That gives them two guys, along with Bruce Richardson, who will fight with anybody. To my thinking, that's two guys to build on and allow the Komets to take their time finding the right superheavyweight. They probably still need one more, but those are two very good pieces to start which who can both play a regular shift as well. I think they are probably still looking for a big, bruising defenseman and an extra forward type. If they can do that, it would give them a very nice balance of toughness and skill.
I'm not so much concerned about the size factor either because I don't see any other teams that are that big, either right now. Looks to me like this team will have some flexibility as regards to style of play.
Comments
I agree, Pascal is a great signing. Also agree that we need one big 6'3" 210+ enforcer. And I don't mean a goon. Enforcer does not = goon.
Will AJ be announced tomorrow as well?
I would guess so.
Don't get me wrong, Morency looks like he will throw them.
But, agree with Monkey, A) you don't want your assistant/coach/#1 center to be your main fighter. B) I don;t care how many PIM a 5' 10" guy has, he's not gonna scare a heavyweight or intimidate anyone.
As I said on the other board: You don't "hope those guys appear in camp" -- you RECRUIT them.
We should sign Chaz Johnson from Rockford last year. Talk about a guy that could put the puck in the net and also hand down beatings. I wonder if he is going to be in an AHL camp though. Blake, do you have any information on the rookies that Mike Dombkiewicz was talking about when he was signed?
I never seen Chaz Johnson hand anyone a beating. In fact I seen Mr. Robert Q. Guinn jump him from behind and whoop his tail. Rob had forgotten that you should fight face to face. As he said... He has forgotten alot about fighting. Back to Chaz, the guy could score some goals. But as far a feared fighter. No thanks.
Do you think the AHL handshake affiliation will help us with depth and if so where will the extra players come from, seems like if we play hard all year at the end we run out of steam and players do to injury and not being able to keep a lot of players on the roster and in reserve.
it certainly sounds good, coach and everyone wanting a more physical team but how are we going to fare when game 76 rolls around. it seems as though the other teams in the league have had better depth the past couple of years.
im still taking a wait and see attitude. remember last year, we started camp with worlton and hickey and look what we wound up with!
Blakes could you ask Franke a question for ME? I want to know if they are thinking about getting Robin Big Snake and if we are getting a radio show back again!
I agree with skate in that while there is nothing wrong with having a guy 5-10 be a fighter, you need some aircraft carriers to match up with the other teams in this league. We went through this with Galbraith last year. He would fight anybody but when you are under 6 feet what chance do you have against guys like Angel, Watson, MacIntyre (sp)? etc? These guys are all well over 6 feet!
We still have some roster spots to fill and I hope that we get some bruising defensemen who aren't afraid to move people out from in front of the net and some power forwards who can bang in the corners and create some room for our skill guys.
Go K's!
As far as Chaz Johnson goes: We made him look like an all star during the playoffs last year by letting him stand, unchallenged, in front of our net!
He does play physical and he was running our guys pretty good but who did we have to out there to keep him in check? Jorde? please! Galbraith? too small.
Other teams already have guys 6'3" - 6'6" on their rosters already this year that can skate a regular shift, put some points up and fight when necessary. You need these big guys to keep the other teams from running your skill guys, especially in the playoffs!
Now I'm not saying that Fort Wayne is superior to any other city in the UHL, but with our fan support, facilities, etc, we should be able to recruit these 'hard to find' players just as well if not better than the other teams!
Let's stop getting pushed around!
GO K's!
Morency should be an important piece to the team's toughness. I wouldn't go as far as to give him the top enforcer job for the team, however. From what I can gather, he is a huge aggitator. He'll get other teams mad at him and want to fight him, taking the attention off of our skilled players. I agree that we are still in need of a heavyweight. I think Richardson can fight, but I'm willing to bet that he'll be a player that we won't want to spend too much time in the penalty box. There has to be some big, rough players coming out of college or juniors and trying to make it to pros. Get a couple of those guys into the camp and earn a spot.
Is there any word on the rookies that Domber talked about a month ago???
They cannot get Big Snake or Johnson because I'm sure Rockford offered them a deal so they are on the IceHogs protected list. Rockford will never give up those rights without a, pun intended, fight. Steve Martinson is not dumb. I don't think they'll be back in this league because they can actually play.
Burgee, it really doesn't matter because you can only have 19 players anyway, especially since four of them have to be rookies. Besides, there's never been a Komets team in their 54-year history that started and ended the season with the same roster. There will be plenty of changes throughout the year, and there's nothing to be done about it. Plus, there will be some very good talent available as the ECHL gets going.
As for Domber's rookies, I heard it's not working out. They'd rather go to the AHL or the ECHL.
It has become very obvious that a lot of players figure the owners will cave and give them more money the longer they wait. I'm guessing that's not going to happen this year.
I'm sure some teams have agreed to pay larger amounts of money for a top-flight thug/goon/enforcer whatever. Because there are so few of those good players around, I think everyone is bidding on the same five or six guys. I'm not sure the Komets are willing to overpay for that position. I wouldn't.
I don't think that's been part of the Komets gameplan, in part because there is so much less fighting in hockey. The role doesn't have the same importance as it used to, and it's obvious by the rules and such that the sport is not going to go back that way. I think fighting will always be part of the game, but right now it's looking more and more like a gimmick part of the game. Seriously, how many enforcers last year actually had an impact on the outcome of the actual game? Not that many. All it did was make you feel better if your team lost.
That said, I think team toughness and sticking together is 100 times more important than having one guy.
OK, everybody jump on me now instead of facing reality.
Blake, I think what everyone gets upset about is that we have all heard the team toughness the last 3 or 4 years. I agree that team toughness is more important then just one guy doing all the work. The team backing each other up creates team chemisty. I think we should wait and see because this is a new coach with new systems and new ideas. Chief is gone! Chief's idea of team toughness was to just let it go and nobody do anything about it. Hopefully Bingham's idea of team toughness will be much much different.
I agree with you Blakes, team toughness is vital in today's hockey. A few other teams have really been bulking up on fighters (Elmira). I don't think the Komets will match a few of those teams in numbers of enforcers. That'll really be where the team toughness will be much more important than the one or two 'big guys' that we might get. Plus I'm much more comfortable with Bingham's 'team toughness' compared to Puhalski's 'team toughness.'
What worries me although is that even though we have a few guys who can fight, they shouldn't be the one's that have to take on the other 6'4 goons from other teams. I'm sure Richardson and Morency (if signed) will, but it's not fair to them to have to take on the burden of facing other team's heavyweights night in and night out. That's why we need at least one big guy who will.
Chaz Johnson is AHL material, no doubt about it. Big Snake would be, if he learns to control his temper. If not, he'll be back in the U.
Where has Hit Somebody been lately? Komet Warrior -- have you guys been hanging out together alot lately?
Good luck finding that 6'3" 210 lb enforcer, not many of those around. This is the UHL not the NHL, which makes those types of players hard to come by, at least ones that can contribute something to your team besides getting knocked out like Worlton.
Thank you Blake for stating what I was trying to say to Skate.
Hockey as a sport has evovled so much the fight, while still a part of the game and loved by the fans, is seen as a negative by teams and owners. I think more teams are interested in winning then they are the body count after a game and for that reason they go after skill guys that can either put the puck int he net ort kep guys from putting it in the net.
I don't mind team toughness and guys willing to fihgt and to stick up for one another, but they have to be able to contribute more than a token shift during a game and a enforcer (and yes JM and Skate, enforcer=goon) 9 times out of 10 will not be able to do that.
I'm with chuckitt on waiting and seeing what happens with Moruency. I know of him but I hardly remember what he did against the K's which leads me to believe that I wasn;t overall impressed with him. Things might change, but as I said I'll have to see him play a few games before jumping on the bandwagon.
Blakes what team do you think Big Snake and Jonhson will be on? And what about MY radio show?
Who cares where Chaz Johnson and Big Snake will go? As long as it's not here. I've been watching all the team rosters and am amazed that a couple can still manage to sign a lot of the players that they had last year with the cap. (Rockford) Are these guys seriously taking huge pay cuts, or is something else going on?
I'm not sure rockford paid that much to begin with. I think the IceHogs just paid everybody the average and were below the cap. They are probably getting raises because the cap went up.
The thing about having big goons, or just one or two, is that many teams just ignore them and then try to take advantage of their lack of skill while they are on the ice. They have become a liabiity if they can't actually play, meaning the guys who can do both are worth their weight in gold and usually move up very quickly. They aren't at this level very long if at all.
OK, thanks Blake.
For the love of Icy, stop using the word goon. Nobody wants a goon. We would like a MacIntyre/Angel type that can play a regular shift and fight when needed, we would just like a guy with size. Does anyone read the box scores of other UHL games? Fighting in the UHL has not stopped, fighting in Fort Wayne has. Nobody is asking for Jeff Worlton.
Does anyone remember Shawn Legault. He played with Elmira for a couple years. He's 6' 3" - 215lbs. He can skate a regular shift and put the puck in the net. He has ammassed over 300 PIMS several times!
Hardly anyone is saying that when they post, JM. All I see what being posted is, where are the guys that can fight, PERIOD. Outside of a select few, that all I see as to what people are asking for, that is what a goon is.
P.S. I'll stop using the word goon as soon as other stop using the word enforcer because they are one in the same.
Question....do the Komets WANT someone to have 250-300 penalty minutes?
Only reason I ask is I can't picture Komets management looking at free agents and asking themselves "will this guy give us 300 penalty minutes?"
And if these are multitalented guys who can put the puck in the net, do you WANT them being in the box 300 minutes a year? I don't know. I guess it comes down to what the team looks like once it is put together and what roles you want these guys to play.
Excellant question Tony!!!!
But if a guy can put 10-20 goals in the back of the net and still police the ice, then why not?? If he still gets 300 PIMS and puts points on the board, i'll take a guy like that anyday. Look at Kevin Kotyluk. He was forced into the enforcer role and handled the majority of our fights. But he also put points on the board.
Here is the big announcement
KOMETS ADD 6 SKATERS TO ROSTER
http://komets.com/press/083106.htm