Friday, April 4, 2008

IHL Hockey Fight Bracket

Ok... So Justin Cohn laid out a list of the top IHL Fighters on his blog..
http://jgwebblogs.typepad.com/ice_chips_0607/2008/04/jgs-fighter-ran.html#comments

I, in the spirit of March Madness, devised a bracket system to put these rankings into a tournament style playoff. I didn't allow the highest seed to have a bye. Instead I gave the middle ranked (#8) player a bye.... Yeah so it happens to be Henley.. It's not like this is in any way official, its just for fun. Here are Justin's rankings... (I posted a link to his page, so I hope he doesn't mind that I borrowed his rankings...)

The Journal Gazette’s ranking of best IHL fighters:
1) Mitch Woods, FW (22 fights thru March 25)
2) Robert Snowball, PH (12)
3) Olivier Legault, FW (22)
4) Jeremy Cornish, Blm. (9)
5) Kris Mallette, Fli. (16)
6) Donnie Margettie, PH (12)
7) Kevin Bertram, FW (12)
8) Brent Henley, FW (6)
9) Tyler Willis, Kal. (13)
10) Chris Kovalcik, Mus. (20)
11) Sam Miller, Blm (18)
12) David Segal, Mus. (22)
13) Jeff Ewasko, Blm. (17)
14) Ryan Jorde, Fli. (5)
15) Neil Clarke, Blm. (8)

So I broke this down and gave Henley the bye only because it made for better match-ups this way.

Round 1
Mitch Woods vs. Neil Clarke--------Woods
Ryan Jorde vs. Robert Snowball----Jorde in a close fight
Oliver Legault vs. Jeff Ewasko------Legault all day
Jeremy Cornish vs. David Segal-----Cornish
Kris Mallette vs. Sam Miller---------Mallette
Chris Kovalcheck vs. Don Margettie-Kovalcheck
Kevin Bertram vs. Tyler Willis------Bertram

Round 2
Woods vs. Jorde-----------Jorde takes this one.
Legault vs. Cornish--------Legault gets the edge.
Mallette vs. Kovalcheck----Kovalcheck, but close.
Bertram vs. Henley--------Gotta take Henley in this one.

Semi-Finals
Jorde vs. Legault----------Gotta take Jorde based on this years fights between the two.
Kovalcheck vs. Henley-----Henley gets the job done in this one.

Finals
Jorde vs. Henley---------I think Henley takes this on if healthy

Obviously there are major flaws I'm sure that can be pointed out with this, but its fun to look at. For instance, Snowball could easily beat Jorde in the first round. Bertram vs. Henley is cool to debate. Depending on how you match them up the outcome could differ widely.

Share your thoughts.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

25 games to go....

We find ourselves speeding through another season of Komet Hockey. With 25 games remaining, the Komets are atop the IHL regular season standings. Riding an awesome home winning streak, its hard to find much to complain about. The Komets road record is the only real issue. As another fan pointed out to me. The K's are only walking away with wins 50% of the time on the road. (Taking away the shootouts and overtime nonsense that makes all the dashes in the record) 12 wins in 24 road games. Meanwhile, at home the K's are victorious 81% of the time. This trend could be the only thing that slows the Komets down come playoff time. Drop one to Flint at home and the playoffs take on a whole new look. The Komet/General series has been a giant brightspot to me in the new IHL. I thought the K-Wings may take on the same roughness, but Kalamazoo just doesn't seem to have it in them. The Praire Thunder can be chippy at times, but with all of their talent leaving them high and dry for Europe, they don't have much to look forward to besides next season. Muskegon could be a playoff dark horse, you can never count the Fury out. I just believe they need more effort out of veteran players if they want to make a serious run. So in the spirit of lazy blogging..... It's time for the JungleMonkey 2/3 point player grades.....

Players getting an "A"
Mathieu Curadeau, Nick Boucher, P.C. Drouin, Luciano Aquino, David Huckalo, and Guy Dupuis.

B's go to....
Colin Chaulk, Mitch Woods, Kevin Bertam, Matt Reynolds, Konstantin Shafranov, Brandon Warner, and Kevin Reiter.

C's.....
Sergei Durdin, Terry Marchant, Jake Pence, Kevin Hansen, and Evgeny Saidachev.

Incompletes....
Brent Henley, Oliver Legault, and Maksim Shirokov.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

WHO'S READY TO SEE SOME OF THIS???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BEktABSaw0

Start the Henley countdown!!!!!!

Guy is ready for action!!!

It appears that Guy Dupuis will be back in the Komets lineup this weekend. Not a moment too soon. The powerplay has been woeful. Hopefully, Guy can get it back on track.

Lackluster Weekend

Last weekends games at the MC left a lot to be desired from a fan's point of view. Not much phyicality, not much in the way of fighting, and nothing in the win column. Statistically speaking, a few notes...

Shafranov goes for 2 assists and is a +2
Warner has two assists and is a -1
Chaulk has a goal and assist -2
Durdin had 0 points and is a -1
Aquinio had 1 goal and 1 assist, -1
Reiter stops 30 of 32
Boucher stops 18 of 22

The powerplay was 2/12 or 16%
Penalty Kill allowed 2 goals on 13 attemts 85%

With lots of talk of a veteran getting cut in the coming weeks, Shafranov appears to have stepped up his play, perhaps its just getting back into game shape. His passes look crisp and when used as an extra forward he seems to have more speed. The defense continues to struggle without Guy Dupuis. Durdin has yet to show the flare for scoring that was advertised. Kevin Bertram continues to play hard and physical. While his stats don't show anything in the way of scoring, he is showing a great deal of heart and hustle. Warner had a couple of assists and played average on defense. The Komets just don't have a strong scoring threat on defense.

Matt Reynolds could easily win the "Unsung Hero Award" at the end of the season. He does his job quietly and consistently.

What has to happen for Legault and Woods to get some more playing time? Woods supplies a lift when he hits the ice. Plugging him to each line in a period may get a spark going. Three shifts a period would satisfy the fans and might just help the team. Neither of these guys is a liability (see Jeff Worlton) when they are on the ice.

I'm not sure what to make of Coach Al Sims calling out some players after Saturdays game. Is he even calling out the right guys? There are a couple of veterans (other than the obviously lousy Marchant) that could use a kick in the pants to get going.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Komets and Kalamazoo Nov 16-17

The IHL has the right idea with back to back or home-and-home series. This weekend proved to be for the Komets/Wings rivalry. Physical hockey, good crowds, and a little bit of bitterness at the end of it all. It looks like Bloomington/Flint is creating some ill will as well. If the league can get Port Huron to get some asses in the seats I believe the league can be very successful.

The physical play in the Komets/Wings series has been good. Kalamazoo has some great size and a couple of kids that like to fight. With Legault out and Henley still on the mend they looked to take advantage of the situation. Kevin Hansen has proved again that he is one tough dude. I think these kids from Kalamazoo may have a wake-up call in store for them when Mr. Henley hits the ice. He was seen watching the end of the game scrum very intently from the tunnel. Coach Curran may think twice about pulling the crap that he did last night with Brent in the lineup. I was surprised that we didn't see Kevin Bertam step up to fight anyone, but with Guy Dupuis out with an injury, Bertram doesn't need to be in the box. So far this season Bert has pulled more than his fair share of the weight in the toughness department. Boucher looked good in goal. We are lucky to have two top-notch goalies on our roster. Let's just hope that they both stay happy with their playing time.

Rumors are afloat that P.C. Drouin is headed to Fort Wayne. Which would lead one to believe that a vetran may be on his way out. I'd look for it to be Shafranov or Marchant.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Komet Bobblehead Giveaway

Source One Solutions is sponsoring a Komet Bobblehead giveaway again this year. You can vote here.... http://s1sonline.com/komets/

I will play the roll of Sean (P. Diddy) Combs and only encourage you to vote. After you vote it shows the results. At this point it looks like Colin Chaulk, Guy Dupuis, and Brent Henley are the early leaders. I'm not sure if it limits you to one vote based on your IP address or if you can vote as often as you like.

Just like political elections, you can't complain if you don't vote.

IHL, Komets, General Hockey

I'm starting this blog in an effort to give fans of the Komets and IHL a place to discuss their opinions and share their feelings with regard to the league and their favorite teams. While all fans are welcome, The Fort Wayne Komets will be discussed at legnth. I will try to post polls, new topics, and stats as often as possible. Everyone is welcome to post their opinions just be respectful of others. I will delete comments that are out of line. Most of all enjoy and have fun... -JungleMonkey