Though they finally scored five goals for the first time this season Thursday night, the Komets are going to try something else to boost their offense. Starting Monday morning, retired forward Konstantin Shafranov will start working with the forwards.
Shafranov, 42, retired following last season after a 17-year professional career that included five National Hockey League games and two appearances in the Olympics and seven in World Championshps. In 350 games over seven seasons with the Komets, the right wing scored 158 goals and 362 points.
``Shaffy has played at every level professionally in the world,'' Komets general manager David Franke said. ``He's a very smart, offensive-oriented player and is very well respected by all the players, so why not try to tap into his expertise and see if he can help us? I think one area he can help us out is our passing. I think that still needs a lot of work. He's got a wealth of knowlege so we might as well tap into it.''
Basically, Shafranov will be a consultant to Komets coach Al Sims and assistant Gary Graham and will concentrate on helping the forwards with their positioning, passing and shooting. Franke said Shafranov will not be in uniform during practices, and currently there are no plans for him to try to return as a player.
``I think he's going to work with us for a couple of weeks, and we'll see where we're at and see where he's at,'' Franke said. ``This could be a short-term deal, it could be the rest of the season, he could come back and play. That's not in the plan right now, but you never know. You get injuries or if we continue to struggle, then maybe you look at it.''
