ECHL Fort Wayne Komets

Komet Camp Opens

Published on October 13, 2003 under ECHL (ECHL)
Fort Wayne Komets News Release


Fort Wayne, IN --- The Komets opened training camp today with a media luncheon at the Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne and began their quest to repeat as the United Hockey League Colonial Cup Champions.

Head coach Greg Puhalski and player-assistant coach Troy Neumeier start camp with a roster of 26 players. The defending champion Komets have 2 weeks to prepare for their 5th season in the UHL which gets underway Friday, Oct. 24 at Muskegon at 6:40pm (Fort Wayne time). The first training camp practice is scheduled for 2pm this afternoon at the coliseum (see camp practice schedule below).

The Komets have 3 exhibition games scheduled including 2 at the coliseum in Fort Wayne. Wednesday, Oct. 15 the Komets will host Port Huron at 7:30pm. Friday, Oct. 17 the Komets host the Kalamazoo Wings in a pre-season tilt at 8pm. Saturday, Oct. 18, the Komets conclude their exhibition slate with a trip to Kalamazoo Wings Stadium for a 6:30pm faceoff.

The Komet's 76-game regular season begins on the road at Muskegon with a 6:40pm (Fort Wayne time) faceoff at L.C. Walker Arena Friday, Oct. 24. The 2003-04 campaign ends on the road at Missouri Saturday, Apr. 10 after 25 weeks of UHL play.

The Komets will begin their home slate of 38 regular season games Saturday, Oct. 25 against the visiting Kalamazoo Wings at 7:30pm. The home opening festivities celebrating the Komet's Colonial Cup Championship and the beginning of it's defense will take place prior to the opening faceoff.

The Komets have taken up residence in the Western Conference of the 12-member UHL this season along with Kalamazoo, Missouri, Muskegon, Quad City, and Rockford. The Eastern Conference includes Adirondack, Columbus, Elmira, Flint, Port Huron and Richmond.

Game time.....the Komets are bringing back the traditional 8pm start for Friday night home games as part of a revival of Old Time Komet Hockey Night. Various Komet oldtimers will be honored at Friday night home games and fans can take advantage of a "buy one, get one free" ticket offer available at all area participating Marathon stations. Sunday starts remain at 5pm and Monday thru Thursday and Saturday home games will continue to face off at 7:30pm.

Behind the bench.....last year's UHL Coach of the Year Greg Puhalski will be starting his 4th season as head coach since his first season behind the Komet bench in 2000-01. In his 3 seasons as Komet coach Puhalski has registered a record of 123-71-30. Puhalski starts the season defending the Tarry Cup and the Colonial Cup after posting a league best 44-21-11 record last season and taking the championship with a 11-1 post-season record. Assisting Puhalski will be 13-year veteran Troy Neumeier who will be entering his 2nd year as Komet player-assistant coach.

St. Pierre's start delayed.....goaltender Kevin St. Pierre will miss training camp and the first few weeks of the regular season due to a hand injury. St. Pierre is expected to first see action the weekend of Nov. 7.

Bouchard decides not to return.....Frederic Bouchard has elected to not join the Komets for the 2003-04 season due to personal reasons. The defenseman had originally agreed to terms with the Komets for the upcoming season after spending last year with Augsburg in a German elite league. Bouchard had previously skated with the Komets for 3 seasons from 1999-2002.

Retiring numbers.....the Komets will retire 2 numbers this season. Center Colin Chin's #26 will be retired in a ceremony Friday, Nov. 7. Winger Steve Fletcher will be honored with the retirement of his #77 on Friday, Jan. 9. Chin skated 10 consecutive seasons with Fort Wayne during his 11-year career while Fletcher was a member of the Komets over 7 seasons (8 seasons counting his 1-game appearance last year).

All Stars in Fort Wayne.....the UHL All Star Game will be held on Fort Wayne ice Sunday, Jan. 18 at 7:30pm at the coliseum. More details to come.

Komets on the air and over the internet.....starting with the first game of the regular season, Oct. 14 at Muskegon, the Komets will broadcast most games this season on either WOWO Radio AM 1190 or WONO Radio AM 1380 with Bob Chase calling the play-by-play in his 51st season behind the Komet microphone. All games broadcast will be carried on the internet at the Komet's website at www.komets.com via Comcast KometCast. In addition to live game radio, www.komets.com also features stats, news, information and more updated daily. The UHL also will feature the return of U-Ticker, keeping score of all games in progress. A link to U-Ticker will be posted on the Komet's website at www.komets.com or at the UHL's website www.theuhl.com.

Check out the Fort Wayne Komets Statistics

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