Komets

I'm sure many fans thought it was going to be a much more exciting "name'' than Ed Campbell, but think about it for a minute. How often do AHL-caliber players come to this level, and better yet, would be delighted to come here? And what's the biggest problem with this team right now? A down in the dumps attitude, which is completely understandable. Eddie the prankster would be perfect in the room to help fix that, plus he would give the Ks potentially the best defense in the league, which automatically helps Frenchie, right? That potentially solves three problems with one player.

Some of Dusty's reaction:

"It's a good hockey situation there  (in Kalamazoo). They have a good record. They have a good coach there. In that perspective it's a plus. Personally it's obviously a little difficult right now. I bought a house and I'm engaged here. I like it here and that's why I bought a house here.

If you haven't heard, which I'm sure all of you have, it's Dusty Virag to Kalamazoo for the rights to Andrew Luciuk. Terms of the contract have been agreed upon, but there's a need to get his immigration papers in line before he can play. He's hoping to go by this weekend.

It's a shame for Dusty who has done so much for the Komets. Haven't had a chance to talk to him yet, but I'll bet he's upset.

Luciuk seems like a standup guy and said he can't wait to get here.

There are so many potential options that I really have no clue (insert your own joke here). I think for the first time in the 15 years I've been covering the team that anything is possible, and no one is automatically discounted from being involved in a trade. It's all going to depend on which player the opponent wants, just as it did with Danny Stewart two weeks ago.

I asked Komets General Manager David Franke about Galbraith and he said he's coming back. "He's already got a return ticket.''

I talked with Guy Dupuis after Friday's 8-5 loss to Muskegon, and it reminded me that he has been through a start like this twice before with the Komets, in 1994 and 1996. Each time the team seemed to continue to get worse, just as is happening now.

I was talking with UHL Vice President of Hockey Operations Brad Jones today about a few topics and he gave me some interesting statistics I thought I'd share.

Six weeks into the 2004-05 season there had been 125 high sticking minors, 134 for holding, 134 for hooking and 181 for slashing.

Six weeks into this season -- with 10 more games on the schedule for one more team -- there have been 159 calls for high sticking, 188 holding calls, 340 hooking call and 203 slashing minors.

I don't know how many of you got to read the story I did about a month ago about Kevin St. Pierre and his relationship with Zach and Ethan Shlater. Ethan has diabetes, which has always been a big topic for Kevin and his charitable work.

At the time, Kevin talked about creating T-shirts which could be sold to help raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. The T-shirts are now on sale at the Komets games, at Komet Kuarters or by calling the Komets office at 260-483-0011.

One thing I have always suggested the IHL and UHL do is come up with a defenseman of the week category for their weekly awards. Here's why: Guy Dupuis had a great week last week with three goals and one assist along with a plus-3 rating, so the Komets nominated him for the league's player of the week award. He did not receive the award because Rockford's Billy Tibbett's had four and three assists in four games.

After Saturday's game, Komets coach Greg Puhalski expressed his frustration with the number of "cheap'' penalties his team was taking. The Komets are averaging one fewer power play per game than their opponents, which is often crucial considering the Komets have been skating short-handed and often with four defensemen. They're wearing out on the penalty kill.