Gems Visit Fort Wayne Friday Night

March 23, 2012 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Dayton Gems News Release


Dayton, OH - The Dayton Gems continue their final week of play and begin a three game weekend series with conference rival Fort Wayne Komets on Friday night inside the War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Faceoff is set for 8:00pm.

Most recently, theGems jumped out to an early lead and would survive a third period Mallards comeback effort to secure a thrilling 4-3 win on Cassano's Italian Ice inside the historic Hara Arena on Tuesday evening. Scoring in the Gems winning effort was Matt Baxter, Jon Ornelas, Nick Fanto and Brett Lutes.

Gameday In Fort Wayne

The Gems and Komets meet for a season high twelfth time this season, with Fort Wayne holding onto a 7-4-0 record against the Gems this season in their prior eleven confrontations. Dayton enters Friday night's game 4-6-1 against the Komets and have won the last two games against Fort Wayne, out scoring the Komets 9-3 in those games.

Dayton skates onto Coliseum Boulevard for the second to final time this season riding a three game winning streak, dominating play against Bloomington, Laredo and Quad City in their last calendar week of action. Dayton's powerplay continues to be ranked in the top ten this week, but will have to contain the efficient Komets special teams, coming in 3rd on the PP and 4th on the PK. Dayton has relied on solid netminding from fan favorite Larry Sterling, who continues to lead the entire CHL with an impressive .927 save percentage.

The Komets (37-19-7) continue their homestand after most recently suffering a 5-2 loss to the Mallards on Wednesday. Fort Wayne enters Friday's game with just one win in their last seven games, and despite remaining in first place in the Turner Conference, are now only one point ahead of both Evansville and Rapid City. The Komets have played to a 17-8-6 record at home this season in the jungle and have won the last two meetings with the Gems in Fort Wayne.

Dayton Gems Game Notes

Player of the Week - Dayton's Nic Polaksi was named CHL Player of the Week for his four point performance in Sunday's 9-1 win over Laredo.

Trainer of the Year -Dayton's Bryan Rogers was named the CHL's Athletic Trainer of the Year for 2012.

Jammed It for Jimmy - The Gems thawed the IceMen 4-3 in front of a season high crowd of 5,187 insideHaraArena on Saturday, January 28. Portions of the ticket proceeds went to local teen cancer patient Jimmy Jenks,whodropped the ceremonial first puck.

Sign of the Times -February 25th's win over the Sundogs opened with a unique performance of theNationalAnthem by Fairborn middle school students, who "signed" the anthem in sign language.

Man of the Year -Gems captain Greg Labenski was named a finalist for the CHL's prestigious "Man of the Year" award.

Stellar Sterling - veteran netminder Larry Sterling continues to battle near the top of the CHL statchart,maintaining the CHL's best save percentage of .927.

All Star Lutes - Brett Lutes represented the Gem City as the lone Gems player participating in the 2012 All Star Game. Luteswould earn two assists and a +5 rating to help his CHL All Star team beat the CHL's Arizona Sundogs6-4.

The Closer - Dayton's Tim Hartung sits tied for most Game Winning Goals by a defenseman with 4, whileleadingthe CHL's blueliners in Shootout Goals with 7. He was named CHL "Best shootout player" in 2012.

Powerplay Master - Brandon Naurato is tied for third in the CHL for most powerplay goals with 10.

Tune Into The Game Live!

Fans can cheer on their Gems by tuning intowave96.net or CHL TV starting at 8:00pm eastern time, with Gems broadcaster Tom Michaels handling the play-by-play. Fans can also stream the game live from their smartphones throughwave96.net and the free TuneIN radio app.



Central Hockey League Stories from March 23, 2012


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