Utica Comets set October 10 home opener after playoff near miss
The Comets locked in a Saturday, Oct. 10, 6 p.m. home opener and paired it with a ticket push aimed at turning last season’s one-point miss into momentum.
The Utica Comets gave their 2026-27 season its first real checkpoint, setting their home opener for Saturday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. at the Adirondack Bank Center. The opponent was not announced, but the date and building alone put a familiar autumn marker on the calendar and gave the club its clearest early-season sales pitch.
The announcement mattered because it came with context, not just logistics. Utica finished last season one point shy of a playoff berth, a race that went to the final game of the regular season, and the organization framed this opener as the start of a push built on continuity rather than turnover. Ryan Parent will enter a full second season behind the bench after taking over in November 2024, and the club emphasized a returning core that includes forwards Angus Crookshank, Shane Lachance, Cam Squires and Matyas Melovsky, along with defensemen Mikael Diotte and Ethan Edwards.
Crookshank is the headliner in that group. In his first season in Utica, he led the Comets with 24 goals and finished second on the team with 36 points, production that gives the club a proven finishing touch as it tries to turn last year’s narrow miss into a playoff berth. That kind of returner matters in the AHL, where roster turnover is constant and the first home game often tells fans whether a team is starting over or building on something real.
Utica also paired the opener announcement with a local ticket campaign aimed at turning interest into early commitment. The Opening Night Sell-A-Thon presented by Utica Coffee was set to run from June 22 through July 1, with daily prizes and a grand prize package for opening-night ticket buyers. Incentives ranged from coffee discounts and gift cards to lunch with a player, a family entertainment bundle and a Turning Stone Resort Casino getaway that included a hotel stay, golf, spa services and a dining credit.
Season-ticket memberships are already on sale, with packages starting as low as $18 per game and including New Jersey Devils preseason tickets. For a club that missed the postseason by a single point, Oct. 10 is less a placeholder than a first test of how much momentum last spring’s finish can still generate.
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