The Utica Comets saw their season come to an end last week. The Comets lost two of their final three games, ending the season with a 31-33-6-2 record. Utica finished last in the North Division, but made a valiant effort after a 13 game losing streak to begin the season. The Comets finished the year 31-23-5.

Results aside, it was a big final week for professional debuts. Forward Cam Squires joined the Comets, as he signed his entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils. Squires, a 20-year-old winger, was a fourth-round pick in 2023. With Cape Brenton of the QMJHL this season, he had 75 points in 59 games. The year prior, he had 72 points in 66 games.

In addition to Squires, another forward made his professional debut, as Shane Lachance played in two games. Like Squires, Lachance signed his entry-level deal with the New Jersey Devils and finished the season with Utica. Lachance, a towering 6-foot-5 forward, was a sixth-round pick by Edmonton in 2021. He was acquired by New Jersey at the deadline for orchestrating a deal between Edmonton and Boston. Lachance captained Boston University, who lost in the NCAA title game this season posting 30 points in 40 games.

For last week’s review, click here.

Weekly Results

Marlies 6, Comets 2; Apr. 16

It was a blowout loss to begin the final week of the season for the Comets against a playoff-bound Toronto team. Interestingly enough, Utica started the game off strong, as the above mentioned Squires snipped home his first ever professional shot, giving Utica a 1-0 lead at the end of the first frame.

Toronto tied things up early into period two, but then, Utica regained the lead thanks to a Colton White shot. The game remained 2-1 unit the third period, where the Marlies went on to score five unanswered. All five came at even strength and resulted in a 6-2 decision in favor of Toronto.

Isaac Poulter had a tough go of it in net, stopping 22-of-28. Despite the six goals, Utica was a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. NHL veteran Matt Murray only needed to make 23 stops off 25 Comet shots for Toronto.

Crunch 3, Comets 2; Apr. 18

The Comets notched a second-straight loss in their second game of the week, this time at the hands of the Syracuse Crunch, another playoff-bound team. Like Wednesday’s game, Utica jumped out to the lead, as the captain, Ryan Schmelezer continued his excellent ending to the year, potting his 22nd goal of the year. On the goal, Squires tallied his first assist, making points in back-to-back games to begin his professional career.

Syracuse then struck for two quick goals, just over a minute a part, before the Comets were able to answer back to tie things back up at two. Schmelzer got his second of the game, once again assisted by Squires. On the secondary assist, defenseman Luke Reid got his first point with the Comets. Reid, a former sixth-round pick of Nashville in 2020, ended the season on loan from the Devils’ AHL affiliate the Adirondack Thunder. The 23-year-old defenseman spent five seasons at the University of New Hampshire before making the leap to the ECHL, earlier this season.

After Utica tied the game up to end the second frame, Syracuse scored the game-winning tally just 53 seconds into the final period; a power play goal. In the game, Utica went 3-for-5 on the penalty kill, which was certainly the deciding factor. Poulter started once again, and stopped 23-of-26 in the loss. Both Squires and Schmelzer had a multi-point games.

Comets 3, Crunch 2; Apr. 19

The Comets ended their season on a high note, with a 3-2 victory on the second leg of their back-to-back with Syracuse. Unlike the first two games of the week, Utica had to play from behind. Syracuse scored the game’s first two goals in the second period. Utica finally answered back via Shane Lachance’s first professional goal, a redirection of a Luke Reid point shot.

Utica kept the good times rolling into the third period, where they scored the game tying and winning goals. Ryan Wheeler scored the game-tying goal, his first AHL goal, which was assisted by Lachance (his first career) and Topias Vilen (23). Wheeler, 27 years old, made his AHL debut in the Comets’ finale and is a veteran of 201 ECHL games. He played his college hockey with UConn and has played 123 games with the Devils’ ECHL affiliate, Adirondack, over the last two seasons, posting 48 points and 159 penalty minutes.

Xavier Parent scored his 17th goal of the season, the finale’s game winner. Schmelzer punctuated his excellent ending to the year with his 21st assist on the goal and Squires continued his hot start to his professional career with his third assist in as many games. Jeremy Brodeur, who had a 0.905 save percentage in 24 ECHL games this season, stopped 26-of-29 in victory.

Statistic Update

With the Comets season coming to an end, below are the team’s final leading scorers:

• Ryan Schmelzer; 23 goals, 21 assists, 44 points (72 games)
• Brian Halonen; 27 goals, 13 assists, 40 points (62 games)
• Nolan Foote; 18 goals, 21 assists, 39 points (53 games)
• Xavier Parent; 17 goals, 19 assists, 36 points (61 games)
• Mike Hardman: 18 goals, 17 assists, 35 points (57 games)

Other notables were Nathan Légaré, who scored a career-high 17 goals in 69 games. Additionally, Topias Vilen was the Comets highest point-getter on the back end with 24 in 58 games. As mentioned, Cam Squires began his professional career with a bang, posting four points (one goal, three assists) in only three games. Other late signee, Shane Lachance, also was a point-per-game player, with two in two games.

In net, Isaac Poulter led the way with 36 games played. He posted a 16-13-6-1 record to go along with a 2.86 goals against average and a 0.898 save percentage. Nico Daws closely trailed Poulter by appearing in 34 games. He posted a 11-20-2-1 record to go along with a 3.16 goals against average and 0.893 save percentage.

Standings Update

As mentioned, the Comets finished the season with a 31-33-6-2 record. They started by losing 13 straight but ended the season on a 31-23-5 stretch. That record was good for last in the North Division and 26th in the league overall. They missed the playoffs by 11 points.