Hi, Justin Kohn of the Journal of Gazette here, back to preview for another season of
Comet Hockey. Not a lot of familiar faces back this season. Returning players include Mike
Embach and Chauncey Lowsky, Lincoln Kaley Schrock, the captain of course, Christian Wollett, Matthew
Mayone, and William LaCasse. So a lot of new faces. The Comet spent a lot of time in the off
season trying to accomplish a few things. They wanted to get a lot more well-rounded players,
some gritty players, some guys that are willing to go into the corners, go into those battle
areas. If you remember last year's training camp, it looked great on paper. A lot of guys who could
put the puck in the net, but not necessarily those guys that could play the systems, play
unselfishly. So they really wanted to address that. They also wanted to get bigger, a little bit
tougher. The addition of guys like Matt Krug and Cody Sol should help in that department. The team
is definitely bigger. A lot of guys over six foot one. If you remember the end of last season,
there was only six guys on the roster who were taller than six foot one. And goal-tending is
going to be a lot different now. Even though Ben Meisner had such a great playoff, the team
decided to go in a different direction. They brought in Pat Nagel. He was a member of the Florida
Everblades Championship team a few years ago. Was also the third goal-tender when Norfolk won
the American Hockey League Championship. He was around when Syracuse made the finals. So he's been
around that. He's seen what it takes to get it done. Should be a very good goalie. Of course,
expectations always high in Fort Wayne when it comes to goal-tenders. We don't know who the other
goal he's going to be. He's going to come from the Colorado Avalanche organization. So we'll find
that out later. But whoever it is, of course, the Aves are going to expect him to get a lot of
playing time too. But I would expect the comments should be good and net. Some things that I look
at that I wonder, did they do enough? Of course, again, did they have enough playmaking defensemen?
I think they need to get at least one or two more guys. Maybe one of those guys will come from the
Avalanche. If not, it could be another year. I've seen some forwards back run at the point
and some nervous moments in terms of who's going to be working the power play on defense.
Also, I think they do need another power forward type. And also, let's not forget that the comments
lost the ECHL's leading scorer in Brandon Marino. If you're looking for a guy who's sort of the X
factor that could step up and fill that void, I think maybe the guy to keep an eye on is Angelo
Esposito, a former first round pick. He hasn't put up a lot of points the last few years playing
in Europe, but was a prolific scorer in juniors. I would imagine he has to be motivated this year
because it's really his last chance, I would think, to kind of move up with an NHL organization again.
But players who have the most pressure on them, certainly Mbock and Sid Lowsky,
they brought them back to put more on their shoulders. So let's see what they could do with it.
Stay tuned to this video. I put some highlights together of some players returning.
Hope you enjoy it and I'll see you throughout the season.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
