Because of his speed and hustle, there's no doubt which player
has stood out the most after the first two days of the Fort Wayne Komets'
training camp. Forward Pascal Morency has been all over the ice.
“He can skate and he knows the speed that I'm asking him to play
at, and he shows it in every drill,'' Komets coach Pat Bingham said. “I'd like
for the other guys to recognize the speed and intensity that he does things
because that's what it's going to take and nothing less. He's not the only one,
but he gets it.''
Morency sat out most of last year with a broken hand and might
have the best conditioning of any player. In fact, he worried about getting too
muscular this summer so he spent extra time boxing six days a week instead of
lifting.
Bingham said forwards Kelly Miller and rookie Martin Gascon have
also looked sharp, and said also complimented Jonathan Goodwin, saying he sees
all the little things he does well. Veteran defensemen Guy Dupuis and Mario
Larocque have also looked good.
“There's no question on the back end that our veterans, Dupuis
and Larocque are our guys who understand how to be a player and what it
takes,'' Bingham said. ``They've done a good job of listening to what I'm
asking them to do and setting the example. It's going to be up to the rest of
them to follow, but I like their leadership ability.''
Bingham also had a chance to work with his goaltenders before
practice. Kevin St. Pierre may be having the best of his four training camps
with the Komets.
``There's a reason he's been a good goaltender in this league for
a lot of years,'' Bingham said. ``He usually fills the net pretty good, but he
also gets across that net pretty good from one side to the next, and that's not
with him probably at his peak shape. He looked good in there. There was a
little glimmer in my eye today when I watched him do a couple of things, and
that's important.''
