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With his mission complete, Jonathan Dahlen arrived in Utica on Thursday and, under normal circumstances, that would qualify as good news for Ryan Johnson and the rest of the Comets’ staff.

And it does. To a degree. But, with space at the Adirondack Bank Centre already at a premium, it qualifies as part of a larger migration pattern which has made Utica the fastest-growing city in central New York.

Johnson, the team’s harried GM, now says there are, “33 or 34” bodies in Utica as the Comets prepare for the final weekend of their season, the AHL playoffs and — the real story — a seminal moment in Vancouver Canucks history. That, at least, was the count as of Thursday. As in all things with the Comets, that’s subject to change.

“We’ve had bodies coming in from college, from junior, from Vancouver,” said Johnson, forgetting southern Sweden, where Dahlen just led his club team, Timra, to an epic comeback victory over Karlskrona and promotion to the Swedish Elite League.