IHL 2 Fort Wayne Komets

Komets open camp on 54th season

October 10, 2005 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Fort Wayne Komets News Release


Fort Wayne, IN --- The Komets have opened camp on their 54th season of hockey in Fort Wayne. The franchise is beginning it's 16th season under the ownership of the Franke Family with Stephen Franke continuing as C.E.O. and majority owner.

Greg Puhalski is entering a Fort Wayne record 6th consecutive season as head coach of the Komets and Troy Neumeier will start his 4th stint as assistant player coach.

Skater Dustin Virag will extend his career with the Komets to 5 seasons and Colin Chaulk will center a Komet line for the 4th straight season after leading the K's in assists and points each of the last 3 seasons while serving as team captain. Danny Stewart starts his 3rd straight year as a winger in Fort Wayne while goaltender Kevin St. Pierre begins his 3rd season between the Fort Wayne pipes.

Also returning from last season are forwards P.C. Drouin, Jonathan Goodwin, Blake Stewart, Jeff Worlton, David Hukalo and Mike Wiggins and defensemen Rob Guinn and Jason Kean. Guy Dupuis also returns to the Komets. The veteran defenseman skated 8 seasons in Fort Wayne while in the International Hockey League from 1991 to 1999. -See the Komet's Preseason Roster-

The Komets will have 2 weeks to prepare for their 7th UHL campaign. Camp will include a home-and-home exhibition series against the Kalamazoo Wings starting in Fort Wayne at McMillen Ice Arena Friday, Oct. 14 at 7:30pm. The series moves to Kalamazoo for a 6:30pm (FW time) faceoff Saturday night, Oct. 15. Tickets for the Komet's home pre-season match against the Wings will go on sale Tuesday, Oct. 11 at the Komet general office, 1010 Memorial Way in Fort Wayne and at the door at McMillen Ice Arena the night of the game. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 11 and under. There will be no Fort Wayne radio broadcast of the preseason tuneups.

The 78-game UHL season begins on the road for the Komets at Roanoke. The Komets travel to the expansion Valley Vipers for 2 games Friday, Oct. 21 and Saturday, Oct. 22. The Komets then go back on the road for a 3-game weekend starting at Muskegon Friday, Oct. 28. Saturday, Oct. 29 the Komets travel to Kalamazoo and Sunday, Oct. 30 visit the new Port Huron Flags before returning to Fort Wayne to prepare for the home opener Saturday, Nov. 5 at 7:30pm against the Motor City Mechanics. The 26-week, 2005-06 regular season schedule concludes with the Komets hosting a double-header weekend April 14 vs Muskegon and April 15 vs Kalamazoo. -Get the complete Komet Schedule-

Again this year the UHL is divided into 3 divisions. The Komets continue to sit in the Western Division with Missouri, Quad City and Rockford. The Central Division holds Flint, Kalamazoo, Motor City, Muskegon and Port Huron while Adirondack, Danbury, Elmira, Richmond and Roanoke make up the Eastern Division.

Komet home games will continue to start under the same arrangement as last year. Monday-Thursday and Saturday games faceoff at 7:30pm. Friday games start at 8pm and Sunday games will begin at 5pm.

Komet Hockey on WOWO......most of the Komet games will be broadcast on WOWO Radio AM 1190 this year with Bob Chase at the Fort Wayne microphone for his 53rd consecutive season. Some games will be aired on WKJG/ESPN Radio AM 1380 as an alternative when conflicts occur. All games aired on the radio will also be available via the internet at www.komets.com Comcast KometCast.

Komets.com.....the official website of the Fort Wayne Komets is www.komets.com. In addition to live game radio, the Komet's home on the web also features stats, news, interactive fan features and information as well as real-time scoring via the UHL and Pointstreak. Scoring of all Komet games can be viewed as it happens at www.komets.com.

Check out the Fort Wayne Komets Statistics



International Hockey League 2 Stories from October 10, 2005


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