The Utica Comets have lost another one of their star players to the parent Vancouver Canucks as Philip Holm has been recalled by the big club.

This is great news for Philip Holm, he has definitely earned a look. The Comets’ roster is there for the Canucks to call upon when needed, and Trent Cull and his staff have shown time and again that they, and their roster, can soldier on without their big guns.

The Holm recall has necessitated the signing of another defenseman to bolster the roster. That signing was announced today to be Frankie Simonelli. Simonelli is a 25-year-old, right shot defenseman who stands 5’10” and weighs in at 200lbs.

Simonelli is a former teammate of Joe LaBate and Brendan Woods with the University of Wisconsin, as well as having played this season with fellow Comets’ PTO signee, Andrew Cherniwchan with the South Carolina Stingrays in the ECHL. In 46 games this season with the Sting Rays, Simonelli has eight goals and 22 assists, good for 30 points.

The Comets will need the added firepower on the back end now with Holm in Vancouver.

The Comets are back in action tomorrow at 4:00 pm Pacific when the Syracuse Crunch come back to town. CanucksArmy will have your post-game report following the game.