The Utica Comets' season is over after a 4-0 loss to the Toronto Marlies in Game 5 last Sunday.
After pushing the AHL's top team to the brink of elimination with two big wins on home ice, the Comets were unable to solve Toronto goaltender Garrett Sparks, who was brilliant once again in his home rink at Ricoh Coliseum. The Marlies' lineup also got a boost thanks to the addition of Travis Dermott and Andreas Johnsson, who returned from their stints with the Maple Leafs.
Johnsson had a goal and two assists and Dermott also tallied an assist. Both players helped pump up the Marlies' power play, which went 2-for-6 for the day. Carl Grundstrom opened the scoring on the man advantage with what proved to be the game-winning goal, just 3:34 into the first period, while Zack MacEwen was serving a holding penalty.
The Comets fought to the end, outshooting the Marlies 16-13 in the third period. Total shots for the game were 38-37 for Toronto. The Marlies' final goal was scored into an empty net with 2:11 left in the final frame.
In the end, Nikolay Goldobin led the Comets with six assists in five playoff games. Reid Boucher led the team with three goals, while Michael Chaput, Cole Cassels and Tyler Motte each had two. Thatcher Demko finished with a 2.69 goals-against average and, more importantly, a .927 save percentage.
Despite the disappointment of the loss, the season as a whole was a win for Utica. In their first year under new coach Trent Cull, the Comets improved by nine points in the regular-season standings—scoring 16 more goals than in 2016-17, while allowing four less, and getting back into the playoffs. The improvement is even more impressive when you factor in the team's ever-changing roster that saw 58 different players wear a Utica uniform thanks to call-ups by the Canucks and a whopping 478 man-games lost to injury, according to Ben Birnell of the
Utica Observer-Dispatch.
Birnell's story also includes a list of which players are under contract, plus the RFAs and UFAs. Restricted free agents in need of new deals include Cole Cassels, who showed some progress this year, sniper Reid Boucher and Michael Chaput, who was solid in the playoffs.
Unrestricted free agents of note include Jayson Megna and Joe LaBate. I believe both were on the injured list during the playoffs.
One UFA who impressed during the playoff run was Tanner MacMaster, a smallish forward who signed as an ATO in March after finishing his fourth year at Quinnipiac. MacMaster went 2-5-7 in 13 regular-season games, then added another four points in the playoffs. It's expected that he'll sign a contract to return next season.
It sounds like all the adversity the team faced this year made for a very tight group that played hard for each other. As more players from the Canucks' prospect pool flow through to pro status, the Comets should be even more interesting to watch next season.
There had been some talk that Thatcher Demko might join up with Team USA at the World Championships if the Comets failed to advance, but the timing didn't work out. The Americans announced their preliminary roster on Saturday, one day before the Comets were eliminated, and it includes three goalies: NHL regulars Scott Darling and Keith Kinkaid along with Charlie Lindgren, who split his time between the Montreal Canadiens and the AHL Laval Rocket this year.
The U.S. team is taking on the host team from Denmark today in a warmup game. The Danish team includes two former Canucks: defenseman Philip Larsen and one-time first-round draft pick Nicklas Jensen, who was the leading scorer for Jokerit of the KHL this season. He's also one of FOUR Jensens
on the Danish roster.
I feel bad for Jannik Hansen, that he doesn't get to be part of the Danish team in his home country when he's not really doing anything else. He's a black ace with the San Jose Sharks—he hasn't played in a game since the second-last game of the regular season back on April 5.
If the Sharks do get eliminated by Vegas, maybe he can come over after the second round? It's hard to fathom that the Golden Knights are now just two games away from reaching the final four, isn't it?
Denmark and the United States are playing in the Group B pool at Worlds this year, based in the small town of Herning. The pool also includes Canada, Latvia, Germany, Finland, Norway and South Korea.
The Canadians held their warmup camp in Riga, Latvia, and finished up their preparations today with a 6-1 win over Team Latvia.
One-time Canucks prospect Rodrigo Abols scored the lone goal for Latvia. The Canucks surrendered his rights last summer after they picked him ahead of Ty Ronning in the seventh round of the 2016 draft.
Jon Abbott and Dave Tomlinson will be handling radio duties once again from Herning, while Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro will be back behind the mic on the TV side for Group B.
One Canucks prospect we won't be seeing in Herning:
Over in Group A in Copenhagen, Elias Pettersson is in!
Pettersson didn't score in Sweden's tuneup games over the weekend, but showed enough moxie to impress coach Rikard Gronborg.
Pettersson capped off his amazing season with more awards:
And he wasn't alone. Jonathan Dahlen and Petrus Palmu also picked up end-of-season awards over in Europe:
Finally, over on Team Russia:
Tryamkin generally does most of his social media posting on Instagram, so maybe he has just forgotten about Twitter, but for as long as his Twitter header and profile pic show him in Canucks colours, I will continue to hold out hope that he could be back in Vancouver again some day.
As for me—I'm heading for Herning on Wednesday. My posts won't be as regular as usual, and could come at some odd hours, but I'll keep you abreast of what's happening with Bo Horvat and the rest of the Canucks crew.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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