CHL Fort Wayne Komets

CHL Finals Game 3 Tonight; Komets Lead Series 2-0

May 3, 2012 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Fort Wayne Komets News Release


Fort Wayne, IN -- The Komets will host the Wichita Thunder in Game 3 of the CHL Presidents' Cup Finals Thursday night at 7:30 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

Game 4 of the series will be held Saturday at 8:15pm in Fort Wayne. Game 5, if necessary, will faceoff at 7:30pm in Fort Wayne Monday. If Games 6 and 7 are necessary, they are slated to be played at Wichta Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12.

The Komets lead the best-of-7 series 2-0 after capturing Games 1 (5-3) and 2 (6-3) at Wichita last Saturday and Sunday. Over the past 12 playoff seasons, the Komets have won seven out of seven playoff series when jumping out to a 2-0 series lead.

The Komets are making their first appearance in the Finals as a member of the CHL. The Komets have captured eight league championships in the 60-year history of the Fort Wayne franchise and are looking for their ninth league crown in 19 trips overall to the Finals. Wichita, skating it's 20th anniversary season, are making their fourth appearance in the Finals and has won two CHL Championships in 1994 and 1995.

IN REVIEW

The road to the Finals -- The Komets won the regular season Turner Conference Trophy with a 40-19-7 record and 87 points while Wichita won the Berry Conference Trophy and CHL regular season title with a 44-19-3 record and 91 points in 66 games. The Komets defeated Rapid City and Missouri to get to the finals while Wichita eliminated Rio Grande Valley and Texas to advance to the final round.

Final round leaders -- Leading the Komets are Chris Auger (9 goals, 19 points, +9), Mike Vaskivuo (11 assists, 19 points) and Colin Chaulk (11 assists). Leading the Thunder are Thomas Beauregard (10 assists, 16 points) Chris Cappel (9 assists), Alex Bourret (9 assists, +8) and R.G. Flath (8 goals). Of the top 15 CHL playoff scoring leaders, there are eight Komets and four Thunder. 15 Komets have scored goals in post-season play, 14 Thunder have scored.

Streakers -- Fort Wayne's Bobby Chaumont has a 4-game goal streak and Chris Auger has a 3-game goal scoring streak. Fort Wayne's Brett Smith and Mike Vaskivuo and Wichita's Kevin Young each have 4-game assist streaks. Komet netminder Nick Boucher has won the first two games of the Finals for a total winning streak of four games in the playoffs and has started all 15 Fort Wayne games while Adam Russo is winless in the first two games of the finals and has started all 13 Wichita games.

Getting defensive -- Komet defensemen Jamie Milam (3 goals, 8 assists), Frankie DeAngelis (3 goals, 7 assists) and Jamie Lovell 4 goals, 5 assists) round out the top three defensemen in the CHL playoffs. Wichita's Kevin Young (3 goals, 6 assists) and Daniel Tetrault (3 goals, 3 assists) rank fourth and fifth in scoring by defensemen. Thunder Jarred Mohr leads defensemen in plus/minus with +9 followed by Komet Brent Henley +7. Wichita has the stingiest defense in this year's post-season play with an average of 2.54 goals against per game. The Komets rank sixth with 3.2 goals against per game. On the offense, the Komets rank first with 3.67 goals per game while the Thunder rank third with 3.31 goals per game.

Goaltenders -- In post-season play, Komet netminder Nick Boucher (10-4) has allowed 42 goals on 452 shots for a 2.87 goals-against average and .907 save percentage in 15 games while the Thunder's Adam Russo (8-5) has allowed 28 goals on 300 shots for a 2.40 goals-against average and .907 save percentage in 13 starts. In the two games of the finals so far, Boucher (2-0) has allowed six goals on 63 shots for a 3.00 goals-against average and .905 save percentage while Russo has given up eight goals on 45 shots in two appearances (93:34) for a 5.13 goals-against average and .822 save percentage. Wichita goalie Bryan Hogan appeared in 25 minutes of relief in game 2 allowing two goals.

Nine straight for Sims -- Head coach Al Sims has taken the Komets to the playoffs on nine straight occasions. Sims made post-season appearances in all four of his previous seasons with Fort Wayne from 1989-90 to 1992-93 before returning to the Fort Wayne bench in 2007-08. Since his return, Sims has now coached the K's to five additional post-season appearances for nine consecutive regular season advances to the playoffs. During his nine Fort Wayne playoffs, Sims has advanced to the Finals six times and has captured four Championships.

Tickets for Komet home playoff games this Thursday and Saturday nights are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office and online at Ticketmaster. For ticket information call the Komet office at (260) 483-0011, or visit the Komets online at www.komets.com.

2012 CHL Ray Miron Presidents' Cup Finals Schedule

Fort Wayne Komets vs. Wichita Thunder (best-of-7)

Komets lead series 2-0

Game 1 --

Saturday, April 28 -- Fort Wayne 5 at Wichita 3

Game 2 --

Sunday, April 29 -- Fort Wayne 6 at Wichita 3

Game 3 --

Thursday, May 3 -- Wichita at Fort Wayne, 7:30pm ET

Game 4 --

Saturday, May 5 -- Wichita at Fort Wayne, 8:15pm ET

*Game 5 --

Monday, May 7 -- Wichita at Fort Wayne, 7:30pm ET

*Game 6 --

Friday, May 11 -- Fort Wayne at Wichita, 8:05pm ET

*Game 7 --

Saturday, May 12 -- Fort Wayne at Wichita, 8:05pm ET

* If necessary

All games broadcast on News Talk 1190 WOWO and now 92.3 FM, and webcast free at www.komets.com at Xfinity KometCast.

Special "Sound Off With The Komets" Thursday and Saturday -- The Komets announce that Indiana's News Center will televise special editions of "Sound Off With The Komets" presented by PHP live from the Budweiser Super Suite at the Coliseum before each game on WPTA TV 21 Alive . Thursday's show will be held from 7pm-7:30pm and Saturday's edition will air from 7:30pm-8pm with Tommy Schoegler hosting.

Check out the Fort Wayne Komets Statistics



Central Hockey League Stories from May 3, 2012


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