Game #1

At Binghamton Devils

Saturday, October 5th, 2019

7:05 pm Eastern/4:05 pm Pacific

The day is finally here, Comets fans! Hockey is back and the Utica Comets are getting things going with a road game in Binghamton against the Devils, (New Jersey affiliate).

These pre-game reports will be somewhat sparse until we get into the season a little bit as there is not a lot of new info to pass your way for what we do with this piece.

Last season, the Comets and Devils squared off in eight games with the Devils coming away on the right side of the wins column. Over the eight-game series, the Devils had five wins, outscoring the Comets by a margin of 27-24 and also had the better numbers on the power play and penalty kill. You could say that Bingo had the Comets number last year.

Reid Boucher and Michael McLeod finished with seven points each to lead the season series, while TheBigFella and Kevin Rooney each had six. Former Comets defender Evan McEneny and John Quenneville had five points each in the series.

The Comets used five goaltenders over the eight-game series as Thatcher Demko, Richard Bachman, Ivan Kulbakov, Connor LaCouvee, and Michael Leighton all saw action against Bingo last season.

Blake Pietila lead all Devils scorers last year with 20 goals, 26 assists, and 46 points in 50 games. He has since moved on to the Anaheim organization. John Quenneville sat second with 18 goals and 21 helpers, giving him 39 points in 37 games. He too has moved on and is now with Chicago. Rounding out their top three was Brandon Gignac with 12 goals, 24 assists and 36 points in his 66 games. He’s still with the Devils.

Michael McLeod was their rookie leader with six goals and 27 helpers to give himself 33 points in his 55 games last season. For the Comets, it was Lukas Jasek leading the rookies last year after Jonathan Dahlen was dispatched to San Jose in a late-season trade. Jasek, for his part, put up nine goals and 22 helpers, giving him 29 points in 63 games.

Reid Boucher was the man in Utica last season, blowing up scoring records and piling up points. Reid finished the season with 31 goals and 31 helpers, giving him 62 points in 56 games. Tanner Kero sat second with 24 goals and 33 assists to give himself 57 points in 67 games. Zack MacEwen rounded out the Comets top three scorers with 22 goals and 30 assists to give himself 52 points in 69 games. Boucher, Jasek, and MacEwen are back with the team to start this season, but Kero has moved on to the Dallas organization.

The Comets announced their opening night roster yesterday and it is chock full of players.

The club will be without the services of Nikolay Goldobin, Sven Baertschi, and Alex Biega as all three have some “immigration issues” to deal with and they are expected to join the club next week.

The Comets have also named their leadership group for the upcoming season. It should come as no surprise to see Carter Bancks named captain once again, while Wacey Hamilton and Reid Boucher will wear “A”s…as will a couple of younger players as Zack MacEwen and Ashton Sautner have both earned the opportunity to wear an “A” on their sweater this season. Congrats to the entire leadership group.

The Comets are a much deeper looking team this season and they are loaded with high-end veterans. The coaching staff will have to navigate that minefield as they can only play six players with vet/vet exempt status but they have nine such players on the roster. That won’t be an issue today with Baertschi, Goldobin, and Biega yet to arrive, but it will be something to keep an eye on going forward.

It is interesting to note that Boston Leier, who is with the team on a PTO, (professional tryout offer) has made the opening night roster, as has Dyson Stevenson, who is with the club on an AHL deal and might have started in Kalamazoo. It will also be interesting to see if either player sticks around once Baertschi and Goldobin arrive. Things will be more crowded than they are already.

*Update*

The Comets announced today that Boston Leier has been released from his PTO with the team. He will be joining the Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL.

The team will also have a pretty green backend as rookies Brogan Rafferty, Olli Juolevi, Josh Teves, and Mitch Eliot could all see regular time, some of that group will be leaned on for some heavy minutes in the early going, in my opinion.

Alex Biega will help settle things down once he arrives on the scene, but this group should be able to play with pace and be able to move pucks out of their end rather quickly. For the most part, the group skates really well and most of them can move the puck well with their stick.

In goal, it is looking like we will be seeing a three goaltender approach as Zane McIntyre, Michael DiPietro, and Richard Bachman are all still in town, while rookie Jake Kielly has been sent to the Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL to get minutes. The added stability in goal should not be undersold this year. The Comets had a pile of masked men in their crease last year and it didn’t have a positive effect on their defensive play and goals allowed.

This will be an interesting season in Utica. The team is deep, there are young players who have had a taste of the NHL and are driven to get back there. There are also young players who are doing everything they can to get that first taste for themselves. Let’s not forget the trio of NHL players who have been dispatched by the big club. They will all be trying to force their way back onto an NHL roster, whether that is in Vancouver, or elsewhere.

The AHL is a tough league and it is a long season with players bouncing back and forth between the AHL/NHL levels, but this is a promising one. I think that a lot of things will have to go the Comets way in order for them to make the playoffs and challenge for a Calder Cup, but I like a lot of what I see on this roster. They have some size, they have some speed, and they have some legitimate game-breaking skill if guys like Goldobin, Baertschi, and Boucher spend the bulk of their year in Utica.

That’s it for this pre-game. Stay tuned for your CanucksArmy Utica Comets Post-game Report following today’s action.

Until then…