Coach Al Sims and captain Colin Chaulk retired, and now so has the goaltender who backstopped them to four championships between 2008 and 2012.Well documented here have been the struggles of the Komets this season. They are 9-8-1 but have lost six of their last eight games, getting outscored 31-16.
Did you know that their parent club, the American Hockey League's Norfolk Admirals, have experienced similar problems?
The Admirals are 9-11-0 but lost 9 of 10 games between Nov. 7 and 28. Part of that is because the Admirals were running into NHL goaltenders almost every night because of the lockout, but, of course, that's not the whole story.
There are other parallels. The Komets won a championship last season before moving leagues. The Admirals won a championship last season, too, but that was when they were an affiliate of Tampa Bay.
"It's all part of learning to be a professional hockey player," said Bob Ferguson, Norfolk's assistant general manager, "whether it's a team thing our an individual thing. These guys are used to being go-to guys (at lower levels) and two or three games without a point is a slump to them. But when you get to the professional level, there are are good players on every team. You have to be able to turn a three- or four-game losing streak around. It's all part of the learning experience."
- Click here to see Swikar Patel's photos from today's Komets practice.
- Former Komets defenseman David Starenky was released by Ontario of the ECHL. In five games with Toledo and Ontario, he was scoreless with 22 penalty minutes and minus-6 rating.
- The Komets would like fans to donate items to Komets Kare package at the games Dec. 16, 19 and 22. Click here to see what they are asking for. There is also a new push for cellphones; see more on that site.
- Not all the money has been tabulated yet, but the Komets (and yours truly) raised over $1,700 for men's health issues through the Movember campaign. Thank you to those who participated, and made sure I finished top-three on the team.
- General manager David Franke said all the Komets will make the trip to Orlando this weekend -- they play three games there -- except Eric Giosa (ankle), Marco Cousineau (groin) and, of course, Chris Auger (knee).
