Coach Al Sims and captain Colin Chaulk retired, and now so has the goaltender who backstopped them to four championships between 2008 and 2012.
Here's what Komets captain Colin Chaulk had to say about the release of P.C. Drouin:
"I would say it's difficult and surprising for most of the guys. He's been here for a long time and he's been a special player.
"This all depends on how quickly the new guys capture (our) systems. Obviously, management is hoping they get it sooner rather than later.
"Obviously, management believes they have the pieces in place to overcome a move like this. P.C. has got a lot of talent. He can quarterback the power play and he's coming off a good playoffs. We had a good team and I don't know if management is thinking they should move on with a new group of core guys. But if P.C. Drouin was your third-line left wing, that meant we had a pretty good team."
For the record, I think this might be a mistake. I would have given it a month.
Why?
First of all, Drouin was no longer working his insurance job. He was committed to doing this full time this season. He wanted to go out with a bang.
Secondly, Chaulk has always had a knack for getting the best out of Drouin. I would have banked on that.
Thirdly, I now have serious questions about the Komets' power play. Do they have enough at the point?
Fourthly, they had better be absolutely positive about Bobby Chaumont. He and Drouin are the same type of players. If Chaumont doesn't produce as expected, this will look bad.
All that being said, Drouin did kind of dig his own hole with last season. I cannot begrudge the Komets this move because of that; I just would have given it a few weeks to see what happened.
We all know what Drouin is about and I don't see how an epiphany was made in the last couple weeks. Had the Komets parted with Leo Thomas or Danny Lapointe, it would have been less surprising because they have been streakier and haven't done as much for the organization.
Will Drouin play for someone else? It wouldn't surprise me after the work he put in this summer. His wife has a job in Fort Wayne and his kids are here, but maybe Dayton, Quad City or Bloomington will call. This could absolutely turn into a Brandon Naurato situation.
Regardless, I don't ever want to hear again that the Komets won't make the difficult cut.
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