Utica Comets Week in Review: Oct 31st – Nov 6th
By Jeremy Davis
7 years ago
Photo credit: Sarah Hobday
I missed the Comets weekly report last week (my apologies), but even though the Comets have played an extra pair of games, I couldn’t deprive the loyal local fans of the farm team a review of the lost week. I’ll give a bit of a stripped down rundown of the three games that took place between October 31st and November 6th, and a newer edition of the weekly update (on last weekend’s games) will appear in the next couple of days.
This was a bad week for the Comets, there’s not really any way around that – three losses and just a single points to show for them. A least we can take solace in the fact that the following week went marginally better. But we’ll get to that.
The Games
Tuesday, November 1st at St. John’s: 4 – 3 Overtime Loss
Wednesday, November 2nd at St. John’s: 6 – 3 Loss
Saturday, November 5th at Syracuse: 2 – 1 Loss
Roster Report
Lines:
Injury Update:
There are plenty of injuries to go over at the AHL level, but as some time has passed, we’ll just run through them. Cole Cassels, Tom Nilsson, Marco Roy, Ashton Sautner and Wacey Hamilton each missed the entirety of this week with injuries. Jayson Megna is also injured, and trapped on Vancouver’s roster while recovering.
The Stats
Skaters:
| # | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | P | Sh | PIM | |
| 28 | A. Grenier | RW | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 0 | |
| 26 | M. Chaput | C | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | |
| 7 | J. Subban | D | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | |
| 16 | J. LaBate | LW | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 7 | |
| 8 | J. Negrin | D | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |
| 21 | P. DeSimone | C | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | |
| 34 | C. Bancks | LW | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | |
| 25 | D. Archibald | LW | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |
| 41 | C. Billins | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 37 | A. Pedan | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | |
| 14 | M. Zalewski | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | |
| 38 | C. Valk | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 5 | D. Shields | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 18 | M. Carcone | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 4 | E. McEneny | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | |
| 24 | D. Hulak | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 9 | Y. Laplante | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 20 | C. Kunyk | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 71 | B. Rendulic | RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | † | A. Sautner | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | † | M. Roy | LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | † | W. Hamilton | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | * | J. Megna | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | * | T. Stecher | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | † | C. Cassels | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
† Missed game(s) due to injury/illness; * Missed game(s) due to NHL call up.
Goalies:
| # | Player | GS | Record | GA | SA | Sv% | GAA |
| 30 | T. Demko | 1 | 0-1-0 | 4 | 25 | 0.840 | 3.81 |
| 32 | R. Bachman | 2 | 0-2-0 | 7 | 50 | 0.860 | 3.55 |
Demko kept the Comets in the Tuesday game through regulation, earning the Comets a point, though they fell in overtime. Despite getting tagged for five goals against St. John’s in the Wednesday game, Bachman got the start again on Saturday, breaking the alternating rotation that had determined the starter to that point in the season.
Prospects:
- Alex Grenier was the best Comet during this week, putting up two goals and three assists, as well as firing seven shots on net.
- Jordan Subban had another solid week, gathering four assists, including a pair on the power play.
- Joe LaBate returned from his three game suspension and made his presence known, putting up a goal and two assists and getting into a fight for good measure. The guy has all the makings of a future Gordie Howe hat-trick type player.
- No other prospects had points during this week, which is obviously not great. The most disappointing are probably Mike Zalewski, who has one assist on the year, and Andrey Pedan, who is still looking for his first point. Curtis Valk, Michael Carcone, Evan McEneny and Borna Rendulic all played three point-less games, while Yan-Pavel Laplante played two.
Team Level:
The Comets carried play for large portions of the two games against St. John’s, though score effects undoubtedly had an effect, as they spent much of the games trailing. They were outshot by Syracuse 27-24, but over the course of the week, they outshot their competition 90-76.
Utica’s power play continued to be one of their few strengths. They converted on four of 17 opportunities (23.5 percent). Their penalty kill, on the other hand, continued to leave much to be desired. They allowed three goals on 10 opportunities, and continued to sport the AHL’s worst kill rate.
Leaders:
Player of the Week
This was a pretty subpar week for the majority of Comets players. One that made the most of things was Alex Grenier, who managed to tally five points in three games, including a pair of goals.
The Comets have been carried offensively so far this season mainly by Grenier, Michael Chaput, and Jordan Subban. The three represent the top of the power play formation and are thus frequently involved in goals together. Both of Grenier’s goals in this week were powerplay markers assisted by Chaput and Subban.
Grenier is having a hot start, and was producing at a point-per-game pace at the conclusion of the week that this update covers. He’s already 25-years old, which makes him a bit of an afterthought as a prospect. However, if he keeps producing in the American League, he should at least be able to carve a career as a professional that can earn spot call ups here and there, not unlikely what Chaput and Megna have been doing with their careers.
Looking Ahead
These games have already been played, so there doesn’t seem much point in previewing them. The Comets’ position in the standings is an ugly one. Don’t expect that to change much by the next update.
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