Comets open intense preseason

The Comets’ quest for the Ron Newman Cup is officially underway.

With preseason camp starting on Wednesday, October 26, intense Comets practices have gotten off to a flying start. Since so many players are local, most of the team has already been working together for months.

“It has helped us transition into preseason really smoothly,” Comets player-coach Leo Gibson said. “The guys are in a really good place where we don’t have to overwork based on the time that we have for preseason.”

The Comets coaching staff has been impressed with the talent that the new players have had, including first-round draft pick Maxwell Rodriguez. The Comets coaching staff is looking to help usher in that new talent.

“It's our responsibility to help them,” Gibson said. “So far, they’re adapting really well to the speed of play. We try to do everything we can to gradually get them up to speed by playing a lot of little games.”

Gibson has been impressed with what he has seen from forwards Rian Marques, Felipe Abreu and Junior Kazeem. Based on the talent currently available, Gibson would not mind stepping away from playing.

“That is something I would be happy to step away from. It’s very pleasing to know that with these guys, I don’t have to worry about playing. So that is something that I can gradually step away from as long as these guys stay healthy and they are continuing to help us be successful.”

The Comets open the 2022-23 regular season with a doubleheader against longtime rival St. Louis Ambush. Game one is in St. Louis on Black Friday, November 25 at 5:05 p.m. CST before both teams meet at Cable Dahmer Arena on Saturday, November 26 at 6:05 p.m. CST.