Queue up the music boys, it’s the end of the season…and its been a sad one
Tonight is the final game of a rather disappointing regular season for the Canucks Farm Team…but we end the season on a bit of a bittersweet note as Jaime Sifers suits up for his final game of pro hockey. Fingers crossed the squad can pull it together on this final home game of the season for the old man Sifers so they can end his career on a good one. I mean, in reality Fridays 8-1 ought to have been his final game of the season, because that shit was fucking ridiculous. The team put together a great pre-game ceremony for Jaime with an ice video package, and bringing his wife and kids out for a big award presented by the management team and everything…lil dusty in my room when that happened, really bizarre timing
Oh shit Reid Boucher gets the MVP award but he isn’t dressed to play, kind of shitty for the team to not have him again,
TBH I don’t really care about the pre-amble to this one…its Syracuse…they’re fucking good…Utica…is pretty bad…tonight’s game is more about Sifers getting a good game to end his career on and maybe some of the young guys turn up huge again. So lets get into tonight’s lineup and the final game of the season!
Starting Lineup
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
| Bancks | Woods | MacEwen |
| Pyatt | Kero | Lind |
| Gadjovich | Darcy | Gaunce |
| Arseneau | Hamilton | Jasek |
| LD | RD |
|---|---|
| Sifers | LeBlanc |
| Thow | Graham |
| Pratt | Blujus |
| G |
|---|
| Marek Mazanec |
Looks like the new guy PTO Derek Pratt slots in for Brandon Anselmini.
Also with Reid Boucher out of the lineup, Kole Lind slots up to the top line, and then some additional shuffling of Gadjovich to the third line with Cam Darcy and Brendan Gaunce, while Vincent Arseneau comes off the bench to play with Hamilton and Jasek…not really sure how that will work…tbh I’d have rather seen that Gadj/Hamilton/Jasek stick together as they’ve looked great for the last 4 games together.
RE: INJURY REPORT
| Injury Report | — | — | — | — | — |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachman | Juolevi | McEneny | Chatfield | Leighton | Boucher |
| Out for the Season | Out for the season | Out for the season | lower body injury | lower body injury | undisclosed |
| Healthy Scratches | — | — | — | — |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anselmini | Stevenson | Vanderlaan | Doherty | Eliot(wont play due to exp. Draft considerations) |
Streamable Clarity Improvement Notice
Continuing with last issues theme, going to be Players full name (jersey number) – place in streamable (if not outright obvious) then every sub sequential play featuring that player it’ll be last name(jersey number) – place in streamable (if not outright obvious) I’m also going to reduce the amount of hyperlink in the GOAL streamables, since that’s what I think MOST people are here for and don’t want some gaudy blue taking up the screen.
1st period
Comets in the green/white alternates
- Sifers with the first shot on net of the game
- Comets pressuring through 3 minutes – Syracuse with no time in the Comets end at all
- After a stoppage in play, Brendan Woods takes a slashing penalty and the Comets are off to the PK
- Barre-Boulet, Volkov and all the other top guns for Syracuse are all in the lineup tonight so looks like Comets wont be getting any slack in this one…
- GOAL – SYRACUSE – 1-0 Crunch: The Crunch on the powerplay and a pass from Carter Verhaeage gets gloved down by Mitchell Stephens and it goes off Stefan LeBlanc(#3) right in front of the net of Mazanec, allowing Alexander Volkox a very easy backhand goal
- Comets STILL pressuring but all their shots are floaters from the blue line so they’re registering the shots on goal, but they’re sadly just not effective
- Brendan Woods(#21) fishes the puck along the left wing and then races down on a rush with Zack MacEwen(#15) – his saucer pass gets blocked a bit but Mac is still able to get a backhander on net that’s stopped by Tolvanen
- Cam Darcy once again gets hurt and goes down in a heap but the Comets are off to the powerplay for it as Jack Stander gets called for boarding
- lol 1st unit loses the zone instantly, and Aaron Thow gets pressured in his own end by Barre-Boulet but Boulet trips him, putting the Comets on a 5-on-3 powerplay for 1:36
- 1st Unit: Pyatt, Graham, Lind, Kero, MacEwen
- Tic-Tac-Toe from Kole Lind(#13) and Tanner Kero(#10 )to Tom Pyatt(#20) who’s shot gets denied hard by Tolvanen
- on the 5-on-3 a Syracuse stick breaks making it effectively a 5-on-2 but Tolvanen is solid and prevents any serious chances
- There’s your 7th round pick fumbling the puck almost leading to a shorthanded goal for Syracuse
- LOL, Vincent Arseneau(#18) just picking fights with anyone and everyone he can
- Arseneau gets a 10 minute game misconduct immediately after leaving the box for his roughing penalty…aight Comets down a man now for the reaminder of the period
- Kole Lind(#13) gets absolutely smashed in the face by Hubert Labrie who leads in with the elbow , amazingly Labrie doesn’t take any penalty despite blatantly driving elbow first into Lind’s face
- Jonah Gadjovich(#2 2)gets in an absolute scrap with Jack Stander, holy moly what a scrap
- lol refs are losing control of this game…Woods gets tied up with a Crunch player WAYYYY the fuck behind the play and tries to goad him into fighting, then has words with the bunch as he shifts off
- Stefan LeBlanc( #3)wiith a nice shoulder check on the blue line
Score at the end of the first period: 1-0 Crunch
Well they started strong! 9 shots to the Crunches 4; Mazanec has to be much stronger in goal to give this team a chance against the Crunch who capitalize HARD on their opponents mistakes. Too many shots from the blue line from this team but I think they feel they can’t get in close against Syracuse as their D-group is very good at clogging up the slot areas and preventing setups in around the net. Powerplay also has to be MUCH better at setting up faster. Especially since no one has nearly as quick of a shot as Boucher.. they have to be quicker on their one timer setups to even have a chance of cracking one past Tolvanen. Mayhaps the JB energy is channeled in the 2nd.
2nd Period
- no audio to start the 2nd
- Crunch with two huge chances in the first minute of play
- Dylan Blujus gets tripped up by aBrady Brassart, while they’re facing some serious Crunch pressure early and the Comets are off to the powerplay again
- Once again the Comets struggle to set up on the powerplay
heads up the audio on the broadcast is absolutely fucked so there is A LOT of fuzz and feedback noise on the audio clips, I tried to balance but its just straight up shit quality whatever they’re doing right now
- GOAL – SYRACUSE – 2-0 Crunch: Crunch score shorthanded after a horrible missed tripping penalty on Brendan Gaunce…Hell the Crunches Alex Volkov stops skating because he’s expecting the whistle to stop play…but alas no call is made and Otto Somppi races all alone down the ice to deke Mazanec for the backhand shorthanded goal
- Dennis Yan tries to drop the gloves with Kole Lind but Lind doesn’t oblige…Yan to the box for fighting and unsportsmanlike conduct. Lind ALSO to the box for something?
- On the 4-on-4, Tom Pyatt gets high sticked on a zone entry and the Comets are onto their 2nd extended 5-on-3 of the night
- 1st Unit: MacEwen, Gadjovich, Graham, Kero, Pyatt – three one timer chances from MacEwen on the 5-on-4 but ALL are high and wide of the goal
- Zack MacEwen(#15) with a great move along the wing for a solo drive and shot on goal
- GOAL – UTICA – 2-1 Crunch: The Comets FINALLY capitalize on the powerplay, as Jesse Graham(#64) goes cross-ice to Lukas Jasek(# 9)for a one timer that ACTUALLY hits the goalie and Brendan Woods(#21) bats in the rebound to cut the Crunch lead in half.
- Syracuse takes ANOTHER penalty. This time after Alexander Volkov trips Jesse Graham along the Comets end-boards
- 1st Unit: Graham, Lind, MacEwen, Kero, Pyatt – couple shots from Lind and Graham, but the Crunch are able to clear
- 2nd Unit: Thow, Jasek, Darcy, Gadjovich, Gaunce – some great slap passing from Jasek to try set up Gaunce and Graham. Really great quick cycling from them but they lose the zone and the powerplay ends
- Utica have now regained the edge in shots for, with 11 to 8 so far with 6 minutes left in the period. Nice pushback from the squad in the back half of the 2nd period
- GOAL – SYRACUSE – 3-1 Crunch: Immediately after the faceoff draw, Alexander Volkov leads a rush down to the Comets end where he cuts to the middle of the net but drop passes to Nolan Valleau who’s shot appears to bounce off a sliding Dylan Blujus(#8) stick and over the pad of Mazanec to regain the 2 goal lead
- GOAL – UTICA – 3-2 Crunch: The Crunch fumble the puck in their own end, allowing Lukas Jasek( #9) to pick up the loose puck for a backhand pass to Brendan Woods(#2 1)who sets up Vincent Arseneau (#18)along the goal line for a shot on goal, where he catches his own rebound for the tap in goal to bring the Comets within 1 once again!
- Otto Somppi takes a slashing penalty with 20 seconds left in the 2nd period so the Comets are off to their 7th powerplay of the game
- Crunch win the faceoff draw and tie it up in the corner to wind down time on the period
The Score at the end of the 2nd period: 3-2 Crunch
Well I definitely liked the pushback in the last half of that period. Lot of pushback despite the awful goals against; Comets finish the period up 15 to 9. Like the momentum that was swinging in their favor at the end there, hopefully they can just stick with the discipline and avoid going up on the penalty kill. They just need to get more of that tic-tac-toe going around the net because its done well for them on the goals scored.
3rd Period
- Crunch player loses his stick while Comets are on the powerplay
- 1st unit: Kero, MacEwen, Lind, Jasek, Graham
- GOAL – UTICA – 3-3 Tie: The Comets capitalize on the early powerplay! As Jasek(#9) sets up Graham(#64) for the one timer which gets tipped in front by Tanner Kero(#10) and MacEwen(#15) picks up the rebound to get it past Tolvanen for his 22nd of the year to tie the game at 3!
- Woods tosses the glove s to try and throw down with Sosunov, and even Sosunov tosses the gloves to try and give’er a go, but the refs just say nope and prevent the two from scrapping….Sosunov is fucking 6’9” so that would’ve been QUITE the tilly I imagine. Sosunov AND Woods both look at the refs like “wtf dude just let us go?” and give eachother lil bumps on the arms acknowledging the mutual respect
- Both pick up 2 minutes for roughing so we’re at 4-on-4 for two minutes
- Gaunce and Jasek chewing away a tonne of 4-on-4 time in the Crunch zone, and then force them to ice the puck to give them an offensive zone start
- Comets 4th liners do a great job of cycling and pressuring the Crunch but face a turnover going the opposite way, but Arseneau races back to block the shot and then create a rush the other way
- Shots in favor of Comets after 6 minutes – 6 to zero
- Woods(#21) leads the rush through center, drops off for Pyatt(#20) who’s shot rebounds out, and Woods being the team player he is steps aside to let the retiring Jaime Sifers(#26) step in for a bomb on goal that rebounds out
- MacEwen(#15) rushing through center tries to split the D but gets tripped up
- Ahhh the strong start comes to an end as Wacey Hamilton gets dinged for hooking. And they are off to the penalty kill after holding the Crunch shotless after 9 minutes of play in the third
- 1st PK group: Bancks, Sifers, LeBlanc and MacEwen – kill a minute and change of the penalty clogging up the lanes and holding the Crunch to just 1 shot
- 2nd PK group: Kero, Woods, Sifers, Blujus – Blujus with two long clears that holds the Crunch shotless for the remainder of their powerplay
- The beefy line of Hamilton, Arseneau, Gadj, Blujus and Pratt pressuring HARD on the Crunch…figures the cameraman spends the one setup shot on goal by Arseneau to Hamilton, focusing on the aftermath of a hit instead of the play lol
- The pressure from the beefy line pays off as they force the Crunch to ice the puck giving the Comets another offensive zone draw
- MacEwen(#15) holds the blue line for Sifers then rushes to crash the net to catch a centering feed, but CLEARLY gets a stick in the skates and gets hauled down into the net but no call
- Insane pressure from the Comets this period as they have held the Crunch to 1 shot after near 15 minutes of 3rd period action
- Kero(#10) with a drop feed to Brendan Gaunce(#16) who’s slapper goes off the mask of Tolvanen, and just out of reach of the tap-in attempt from Kero(#10)
- 5 minutes remaining, and after a d-zone start the Crunch manage their SECOND shot of the period
- Graham takes a cross-checking penalty with 3:23 to go in the 3rd period…oh god whyyyyyy
- 1st PK Group: Hamilton, Pyatt, LeBlanc, Sifers – HUGE pressure from the Crunch on the first wave of powerplay pressure, Sifers with two huge clearing attempts on loose pucks in the slot but the Crunch do good to hold the zone and continue the pressure
- 2nd PK Group: Blujus, Bancks, Woods, Sifers – another two huge cross-ice clears forcing the Crunch to reset – 1:18 left and a huge shot from the blue line gets blocked by Sifers and forced out of the zone and ending the powerplay
- 27 seconds left and crowd starts up a Jaime Sifers chant
- Lind(#13) with a takeaway at neutral ice that leads to a rush alongside Brendan Woods(#21) who falls while taking a pass, but Lind picks it up and twists for a sharp angle shot that goes off the side of the goalpost
Well that was pure domination…3v3 will be interesting though as the Crunch have great speed and space creation. Fingers crossed! Comets outshot the Crunch 12 to 5 in that 3rd period…holy guac, we’re getting some exciting hockey for the final game of the year!
Overtime
- haha Cull gives Sifers the start in OT
- Gaunce( #16) sets up Pyatt( #20) for an early rush in overtime and draws the slashing penalty to give the Comets the OT powerplay
- Powerplay 1st Unit: MacEwen, Jasek, Graham, Kero
- Graham(#64)with a laser beam off a shot that I think goes off the back bar and out…but refs wave it off
- No ping whatsoever, but the refs don’t choose to review it. Bizarre call
- 2nd powerplay group: Gaunce, Lind, Thow, Woods
- Hubert Labrie loses his stick and Gaunce(#16) sets up Sifers(#26) for a bomb on the blueline, what a blast…got some Sedins final game flashbacks right there
- Sifers(#26) with a huge set up in OT for Hamilton( #36) who goes cross-ice to Jasek(#9) but Tolvanen comes up with a HUGEEEEE save on Jasek’s shot
- Sifers(# 26) again with a huge setup, look at the speed of MacEwen(#15) here to catch the puck for a scoring chance holy fuck
- THE HITS KEEP COMING
- Blujus(#8) boxes out Foote , then pokes the puck ahead for a breakaway chance, and he slides into Tolvanen, but the loose puck is found by Kero(#10) but Tolvanen STILL makes the save
- Cull calls for a timeout with 5 seconds left in OT with the Comets getting an offensive zone draw
- Still can’t get over the wheels on MacEwen to catch that pass…Jesus Christ
After ALL those chances, the gametime runs out and we are going to the shootout! Do we see Sifers in the shootout? Comets held Syracuse to 0 shots in OT! Man they want to win for the old man!
Shootout
- Syracuse starts first
- SYRACUSE – CARTER VERHAEAGE – MISS
- UTICA – Jaime Sifers – SAVE
- SYRACUSE – NICK BLIGH – SCORES
- UTICA – LUKAS JASEK – SCORES
- SYRACUSE – NOLAN VALLEAU – loses control of the puck!!
- UTICA – KOLE LIND – SCORES
- Sifers goes through the line with big hugs to everyone
- Dyson Stevenson, Mitch Vanderlaan, Jalen Chatfield, Richard Bachman, Ashton Sautner, Michael Leighton and Thatcher Demko all present for the lineup of hugs
- Chatfield looks like he’d rather be ANYWHERE else than standing in that lineup…kind of bizarre how dead inside he looks lol…crack a smiler for your retiring brother dude jesus lol
Final Score: 4-3 Utica Comets
Scoresheet
| Period | Team | Goalscorer | Primary assist | helper | type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Syracuse | Alexander Volkov | Mitchell Stephens | Carter Verhaeghe | PPG |
| 2nd | Syracuse | Otto Somppi | — | — | SHG |
| 2nd | Utica | Brendan Woods | Lukas Jasek | Jesse Graham | PPG |
| 2nd | Syracuse | Nolan Valleau | Alexander Volkov | — | 5V5 |
| 2nd | Utica | Vincent Arseneau | Brendan Woods | Lukas Jasek | 5v5 |
| 3rd | Utica | Zack MacEwen | Tanner Kero | Jesse Graham | PPG |
| SO | Syracuse | Nick Bligh | — | — | SO |
| SO | Utica | Lukas Jasek | — | — | SO |
| SO | Utica | Kole Lind | — | — | SO |
Takeaways
- Damn man that was almost as exciting as the 8-1 victory on Friday…Comets just absolutely coming alive in the last period and overtime session. Comets managed to hold the best team in the North Division to just 5 shots and rally back three times to earn the victory at home and close out a disappointing season in style!
- Really great showings from the youth in tonight’s game, MacEwen had an insane game…Jasek was creating offense constantly when he was on the ice, Gaunce was playing like he was told his contract renewal depended on thonights result…Lind was playing effectively in both ends of the night. Aaron Thow probably secured himself a lineup spot for next year. Even the vets played solid too, Brendan Woods was using his speed effectively and although he got caught with a couple PIM’s he was effective all night and ended the evening with a goal and an assist on 3 shots.
- Overall I hope the takeaway from tonight is that the Comets team CAN and SHOULD rely on the youth to carry the load of this team…Jasek and Lind were absolutely huge for this team tonight. Put some faith in your draft prospects guys! Playing the vets over and over in key situations didn’t get you guys into playoffs, so why bother with the same mantra next year??? Let the kids play! Give em ALL the icetime! They got the fire and the skill to make the wins happen! It shouldn’t even matter IF they win or not…the icetime is crucial for the learning and growth of their games! JUST PLAY EM!
- Whats with the Canucks organization and having incredible games for retiring players?
- Powerplay was pretty ass for the most part, but 2 for 8 against the divisions best team without Reid Boucher or Evan McEneny or Olli Juolevi holding the blue line is pretty good I suppose!
Comets Three Stars
- Lukas Jasek – 2 key assists on goals to cut the lead of the Crunch as well as a hand in the game tying goal in the third period that lead them to a dominant OT and the shootout goal for the win *Kole Lind – dominant in both ends of play tonight, created several turnovers and led several odd man rushes off his active stick work – plus the shootout game winner!
- Zack MacEwen – just see that fucking streamable of his end to end rush to catch that Sifers pass…jesus Christ the wheels
HM: Jaime Sifers – 4 shots on goal and created two incredibly exciting chances for the Comets in OT… a great game for the guy to end his career on
What’s Next?
Well guys it’s been an absolute blast covering the farm this season. IMO The Farmies has taken some great strides since when I first started, and I hope to grow this thing more in the offseason with my writing, ya know, keep putting blogs on the net, write about the greasy areas etc. Kind of dreaming a bit, but I’d like to catch up with some Comets players for a little review of the season and maybe get some exclusive content here…but given that I’m moving towards the end of May, it’ll be a now or never kind of thing, so fingers crossed I can put something together!
I’ve also done a lot of personal stat keeping this season, and hope to analyze everything to provide a breakdown of my interpretation of all our prospects seasons in a mass review.
Hope you all enjoyed this final Farmies of the 2018-19 season, as always, any comments, feedback or suggestions for me to improve on the Farmies series in the off-season, please let me know! Have a great summer everyone. Fuck Toronto, Fuck Boston, Fuck Messier, and Go Canucks Go.
