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Workington Comets opener will be fiery affair

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Last updated at 10:55, Friday, 03 April 2015

Workington Comets first home meeting of the season against Newcastle tomorrow night will make for a fiery derby atmosphere, according to owner Laura Morgan.

Laura Morgan

Comets will contest the Ian Thomas Shield over two legs against the Diamonds, the first leg at home tomorrow night (7pm start) with the reverse fixture 24 hours later at Newcastles Brough Park (6.30pm start).

As with Redcar, its a derby match with another northern team so both sides should be well-supported and up for it, Morgan said.

Our boys are desperate to get out and see what they can do on our home track.

We got that first away win under our belt early at Redcar.

So now its time to do the same at home for our supporters.

And although Morgan suggested Newcastle might not provide the stern test they have in recent seasons, she stopped short of calling them a pushover.

She added: I think Newcastle look weaker than they have for quite a few seasons but you only have to look back at our team on paper last year to know how difficult it is to predict at the beginning of the season.

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Workington Comets opener will be fiery affair

Comets Clinch 2015 Calder Cup Playoff Spot

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April 1, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets For the first time in franchise history the Utica Comets will be playing in the Calder Cup playoffs. The Comets win over the Rochester Americans, coupled with losses by the Toronto Marlies and the Adirondack Flames, secured their spot in the annual postseason tournament.

The Comets are the first team in the Western Conference to clinch a spot in the postseason, and the third in the American Hockey League behind the Manchester Monarchs (Los Angeles Kings) and the Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals). The Comets sit just one point away from claiming the North Division Championship, which can be won with a Hamilton Bulldogs loss, or a shootout win, as early as Thursday evening.

Eight teams in each conference qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs, with the three division winners in each conference seeded first through third by order of regular season points. The next five teams, in order of regular season points, will be seeded fourth through eight. Home ice advantage is given to the higher seeded team in each playoff match-up.

The Conference Quarterfinal (the first round) is a best-of-five series. Home ice advantage in the Conference Quarterfinals is granted to those teams seeded first through fourth in each conference.

The Conference Semifinals, and the Conference Finals are a best-of-seven series. Teams are reseeded according to the same criteria as the Conference Quarterfinals, with division leaders seeded first, and granted home ice advantage, while remaining teams will be seeded in order of regular season points.

The Calder Cup Finals are also a best-of-seven series, with home ice determined by the higher number of points in the final standings at the end of the Schedule of Championship Games.

The 2014-15 American Hockey League regular season concludes on April 19, and all playoff dates will be announced at a later date.

For a complete schedule of Utica Comets games, as well as ticketing information, visit http://www.uticacomets.com.

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Comets Clinch 2015 Calder Cup Playoff Spot

Eighth Straight Win Vaults Comets to West's Top Spot

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April 1, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets UTICA, N.Y. - The Utica Comets (42-19-6-1) recorded their eighth straight victory with a dominating 5-1 win over the Rochester Americans (27-35-5-1) at The Utica Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday night.

Sven Baertschi (2-0-2) found the back of the net twice for his 13th point in 12 games as a Comets. Ben Hutton (1-0-1) scored his first professional goal in his professional hockey debut, while Hunter Shinkaruk (1-0-1) scored his fifth goal in just as many games to give the Comets the early advantage. Cal O'Reilly (0-1-1) also attributed to tonight's success and extended his point-streak to a career-high 11 games with his 44th assist of the season.

After outshooting the Americans 19-6, the hard work finally paid off at the tail end of the first period. Adam Clendening kept the Comets power play alive as he fed it off to Brendan Gaunce at the corner boards. What followed was a couple of ideal passes that led to Shinkaruk banging it in on the left side for the power-play goal and the 1-0 lead at 17:33. Nicklas Jensen received the secondary assist on the play.

The Comets continued to throw them at the Americans rookie goaltender Anthony Peters immediately into the start of the second stanza. After receiving a pass from Alex Biega, Hutton found his spot just above the slot and snapped one home for his first point in the American Hockey League that gave the Comets their second goal of the night.

Just over two minutes later the Comets found themselves on another power play and Baertschi found his first goal of the game on a one-timer that flew past the glove hand of Peters for their second power-play goal of the game and their third unanswered goal.

Rochester had their turn on the power play with less than 30 seconds left in the period and found a goal directly off the faceoff in the Comets zone. Dan Catenacci was credited with the Americans' only goal of the game as he tipped it through the legs of Joacim Eriksson.

With the start of the third period came a goaltending change as Rochester swapped Peters for untested rookie Sam Marotta.

Naturally, just 20 seconds into the start of the third, the Comets found their fourth of the game after O'Reilly dished a no-look pass to the right dot. Alexandre Grenier received the pass and snapped it to the short side to make it 4-1. Clendening also received an assist on the play.

Marotta continued to stop most of the Comets in his AHL debut, but a one-on-one with Baertschi was too much for the netminder to handle. The Switzerland native deked Marotta out of position and backhanded the puck in for a final score of 5-1. Cory Conacher received an assist as well as Alex Friesen who tallied his second of the game.

While the Comets did their part in trying to clinch a playoff berth Wednesday night, they are awaiting the outcome of two other games in the AHL, which will have the final say in whether or not the Comets finalize their place in the playoffs.

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Eighth Straight Win Vaults Comets to West's Top Spot

Workington Comets starlet Greaves drawn in British Under-21 semi-final

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Last updated at 10:48, Wednesday, 01 April 2015

Workington Comets starlet Nathan Greaves is set to miss Sundays Ian Thomas Shield meeting against Newcastle Diamonds after being drawn in the British Under-21 semi-final at Mildenhall.

Nathan Greaves

The 17-year-old reserve will ride at No6 in a bid to earn one of nine places up for grabs in the final at Coventry on Tuesday week.

Comets asset Paul Bowen is due to ride at number eight for Workington on Sunday in Greaves absence.

Fans got their first chance to see 25-year-old Bowen in action around the Zebra Claims Stadium, formerly known as Derwent Park, at the clubs annual press and practice day last month.

A former Moto-X rider, Bowen came to the attention of the Comets management after turning his hand to speedway and putting in several sterling performances while riding for Workington Meteors at Northside speedway training track.

He secured a place at National League side Buxton late last season and he has been signed up by the Hitmen for this year.

Comets No5 Kyle Howarth has already been seeded in the final, where his competition for the title will include ex-Workington rider Ashley Morris.

First published at 10:43, Wednesday, 01 April 2015 Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk

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Workington Comets starlet Greaves drawn in British Under-21 semi-final

Comets Reassign Blain to Kalamazoo

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March 31, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets Utica Comets Director of Hockey Operations Pat Conacher announced today that the Vancouver Canucks have reassigned defenseman Jeremie Blain to the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL.

Blain, 22, has appeared in 14 games this season with the Comets and recorded four assists and two penalty minutes. He recorded six penalty minutes in six games with Utica during the 2013-14 campaign.

In Kalamazoo this season, the Blain has collected four goals and 20 assists in 38 games. Blain spent the majority of last season with the Kalamazoo Wings and recorded 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in 25 games.

The 6'2", 192-pound defenseman was originally selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the fourth round (#91 overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

For a complete schedule of Utica Comets games, as well as ticketing information, visit http://www.uticacomets.com.

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Comets Reassign Blain to Kalamazoo

Local Roundup: Comets fall to Panthers

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ASHEBORO The Asheboro High School varsity baseball team ran into a buzzsaw named Michael Horrell on Monday, falling 3-0 to Ledford in Mid-Piedmont Conference play at McCrary Park.

We had a couple of chances our best was in the bottom of the sixth when we got two guys on, but a double play groundout spoiled it, Blue Comets coach Tim Murray said. (Horrell) did an excellent job. That was one of the best performances Ive seen all year. He had a good fastball; his location was very good. He was the game.

Tristan Marsh got the start for AHS (4-2, 6-3) and went five innings, while Cameron Reid finished the game.

Tristan pitched well, Murray said. He kept us in the ballgame. We took him out because of his pitch count. Cameron did a great job, too. I cant fault our pitching.

At the plate, AHS had just four hits Aaron Garner had two and Reid and Parker Clayton each had one.

The Blue Comets travel to Central Davidson on Wednesday.

SWR shuts out AHS

ASHEBORO The Asheboro High School varsity softball team beat Asheboro 10-0 in 4 1/2 innings Monday in MPC action.

Katie McNeill picked up the win, striking out 11 batters.

At the plate, McKenna hoover had two hits, including an RBI triple, while Ashley Floyd hit an in-the-park home run and Bridgette Smith added a home run. Alicia Marion and Kara Lambeth each chipped in a double.

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Local Roundup: Comets fall to Panthers

Comets Win Seventh Straight

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March 28, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets UTICA, N.Y. - The Utica Comets have taken one step closer to clinching the North Division after winning their seventh game in a row Saturday evening, 4-2 at The Utica Memorial Auditorium. The Rockford IceHogs' six-game winning streak came to an end and have drifted three points away from the Comets' point total in the West.

Joe Cannata made the most of his third start of the season by tallying his second win and stopping 37 shots of the 39 he faced from the IceHogs. In his second two-goal night of the season, Darren Archibald (2-0-2) got the Comets on the ground and running late in the first period. Both Hunter Shinkaruk (1-0-1) and Cory Conacher (1-0-1) found goals later on in the game to give them the edge they needed for the win.

Despite being outshot 16-8 in the first period, the Comets were the first ones to find the net off of a turnover that happened to swing in the Comets favor at 17:33. Brandon DeFazio got it going as he rushed into the zone to find Anti Raanta trying to play the puck from the left circle. Raanta fumbled with the rubber, which gave DeFazio the opportunity to pop it out of his possession. As the puck rolled to the center slot, Archibald was there to spike it into the open net past the diving defensemen, Kyle Cumiskey, as he tried to prevent the Comets inevitable 1-0 lead.

Just 26 seconds into the second period, Clendening fed Archibald a breakout pass that led to a one-on-one with Raanta. As Archibald entered the slot, he sniped it over the blocker side for his second goal of the night to put the Comets up by two. Both Clendening and DeFazio received their second assists of the night on the play.

At 4:07 Sven Baertschi and Cal O'Reilly raised tensions in the crease with some successful tic-toe passing just outside the slot. Conacher eventually received the puck and was able to bang in his own rebound for the Comets' third unanswered goal of the night and his third goal in four games.

After playing only 23:57 in net, Raanta was pulled replaced by Michael Leighton.

Apparently a goalie change was what the IceHogs needed to rally the team, because 29 seconds later, Alex Broadhurst wrapped the puck around the net and snuck it in past the post to give the IceHogs their first goal of the night.

The Comets wrapped it all up at 9:54 in the third period after Shinkaruk put on a show in the offensive zone by causing a turnover and scoring his fifth goal in the month of March and the Comets' fourth of the night.

Rockford's Spencer Abbott made it a final score of 4-2 after finding the last goal of the game following a 6-on-5 advantage the IceHog's obtained by pulling Leighton out of the crease with three minutes left in the game.

After Saturday night's victory over the IceHogs, the Comets have extended their point total to 89, which gets them within four points of clinching the North Division.

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Comets Win Seventh Straight

Comets Overpower Hogs to Snap Streak

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March 28, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL) Rockford IceHogs Utica, N.Y. - One streak had to come to an end on Saturday night as two of the Western Conference's hottest teams faced off from the Utica Memorial Auditorium. It was the Utica Comets (41-19-6-1) that escaped with their hot streak in tact with a 4-2 victory over the Rockford IceHogs (39-20-5-2).

Utica pushed their winning streak to seven straight games while snapping the IceHogs six game winning streak. Rockford had picked up points in 10 of 11 games prior to Saturday night's loss (9-1-1-0).

Despite the Hogs outshooting the Comets by a wide margin, 39-23, Utica took advantage of every opportunity they were given and received a solid performance in net from Joe Cannata. The puckstopper blocked 37 of the 39 shots he faced en route to his third win of the season.

Winger Darren Archibald opened the scoring for Utica in the first period with his first of two on the night. Goaltender Antti Raanta came out to play a puck but Archibald stripped it away and buried his 11th of the season at 17:33.

The Comets continued where they left off in the middle frame garnering two more tallies. Playing his former team for the first time, former Hogs defenseman Adam Clendening sprung Archibald on a breakaway just 26 seconds into the second period. Archibald raced in and flipped the puck to the back of the net to extend the Utica lead to 2-0.

Then, less than four minutes later the Comets used a power play to bump the lead up to 3-0. Raanta stopped a Sven Baertschi shot but the puck kicked out to the stick of Cory Conacher and the winger deposited the rebound at 4:07. The goal chased Raanta from the game as he was replaced by Michael Leighton

The Hogs had an answer on the very next shift however. Leighton came in and was tested right away. After denying a chance from point blank, the IceHogs transitioned to the other end where Alex Broadhurst whacked in a loose puck for his second goal in as many games.

Rockford pressed in the final 20 minutes to get back in the game, outshooting the Comets 14-4 in the period, but Utica again took advantage of a turnover. Hunter Shinkaruk forced a turnover right in front of the Hogs' cage before going upstairs on Leighton to make it a 4-1 game with 10:46 remaining.

In desperation mode, Ted Dent pulled Leighton in favor of the extra attacker and the IceHogs were able to bring the game within a pair. Forward Spencer Abbott stayed hot as he hammered home his 14th goal of the season and seventh since joining Rockford. The 26 year-old now shows 10 points (7g-3a) in 10 games with Rockford.

But it was too little too late as the IceHogs dropped their first game in regulation since March 14, and split the season series with Utica. The Hogs will finish up a brief three game road swing in Grand Rapids on Wednesday.

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Comets Overpower Hogs to Snap Streak

Comets Dominate Barons in Sixth Straight Victory

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March 27, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets UTICA, N.Y. - After setting a franchise record last Sunday for five wins in a row, the Utica Comets did it again on Friday night as they trampled over the Oklahoma City Barons 4-2 to extend their win streak to six at The Utica Memorial Auditorium.

Rookie Hunter Shinkaruk (1-1-2) lit the lamp for his third game in a row after scoring the Comets' third unanswered goal in the second period. After missing 31 games from an injury, Wacey Hamilton (1-0-1) made his presence known after netting the Comets' fourth goal of the game. Both Cory Conacher (1-0-1) and Cal O'Reilly (1-0-1) found goals as well that led to the downfall of the Barons.

Even after dominating the entire first 20 minutes of the game and an 18-3 shot advantage, the Comets only found the net once after a spinning pass from the top of the circle. O'Reilly took notice of the chance and forced his way to the other side of the crease as he popped in Shinkaruk's pass for the early 1-0 lead. With O'Reilly's 50th point of the season, the Comets captain ran his point streak to nine games.

As the second period began, the Comets continued to cash in on their shot opportunities. At 3:54 Conacher sped into the zone and released a snap shot over Laurent Brossoit's blocker side to put the Comets up two goals to none. Bobby Sanguinetti and Peter Andersson both assisted Conacher on his seventh goal of the season.

Just one minute later, Shinkaruk found himself on the right side of the puck as he received a dish from Alex Biega just inside the right circle. Shinkaruk knocked home the one-timer for his 11th goal of the season, which put the Comets up 3-0.

At 11:03 the Comets found their fourth unanswered goal of the game after Hamilton retrieved the puck after a forced turnover cause by Mike Zalewski. Hamilton walked into the slot and slipped it passed Brossoit's right leg pad for the 4-0 lead.

The Barons finally answered back with less than two minutes left in the second period on the second half of a Comets double minor. After a set up from Ryan Hamilton, Jason Williams found a lane to shoot and snuck one past Joacim Eriksson's blocker side to make it 4-1.

The third period only saw the Barons score once more but it wasn't enough to catch up to the Comets commanding three-goal lead. At 12:55, Oklahoma's Mitch Moroz tipped in a shot from Jordan Oesterle to make it a final score of 4-2.

After Friday night's win over the Barons, the Comets have extended their point total to 87 which gets them within eight points of clinching the first place within the North Division.

The Comets will be return to The AUD tomorrow night to take on the Rockford IceHog's for their second and final meeting of the season.

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Comets Dominate Barons in Sixth Straight Victory


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