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CHL Fort Wayne Komets

Komets Southbound

January 24, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Fort Wayne Komets News Release


The Komets are going down south this week. The Komets will skate two games at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City, Louisiana against the Mudbugs Friday and Saturday. Each game starts at 8:05pm eastern time. Bossier-Shreveport will travel to Fort Wayne for a pair of games Jan. 28 and 29 to complete the four-game season series. The Mudbugs (21-17-2, 44 points) are in second place in the CHL's Berry Conference and trail first-place Allen by 13 points. Bossier-Shreveport, led by forward David Rutherford with 23 goals and 44 points, is winless in their last seven games (0-6-1). The Mudbugs will host Texas Tuesday before welcoming the Komets for games Friday and Saturday.

Sunday the Komets will travel to Texas (19-12-4, 42 points) and face the Brahmas at 5pm ET at the NYTEX Sports Centre in Richland Hills, Texas for the only meeting of the season. The Brahmas hold fourth place in the Berry Conference and are unbeaten in regulation their last five straight games (4-0-1) after suffering a 2-1 shootout loss Saturday at Tulsa. Texas is led by center Greg Hogeboom with 25 assists and 41 points. Former Quad City Mallard (UHL) and Muskegon Lumberjack (IHL) winger Chad Woollard leads Texas with 21 goals and four game winners. The Brahmas skate at Bossier-Shreveport Tuesday and visit Rio Grande Friday and Saturday before hosting the Komets Sunday.

On the road -- Komet goaltender Nick Boucher earned a 3-2 win in his last outing Friday at Bloomington for his third straight road win and is unbeaten in regulation in four straight road starts. Boucher has had one regulation loss in his last 11 decisions (6-1-4). The last Fort Wayne road regulation loss was at Quad City Dec. 17. The Komets have won their last four straight road games and are unbeaten in regulation in the last five (4-0-1). The Komets will play all three games slated for this week on the road in their only southern journey of the season.

ABOUT LAST WEEK

The Komets earned two points in the three games played (1-2-0) in week 15 of 2010-11. Fort Wayne had been on a roll since Dec. 22 and have earned points in 12 of 15 games (8-3-4) since then. Entering week 16 the Komets (13-18-5, 31 points) trail first-place Bloomington by 15 points in the Turner Conference with 30 games remaining. Both Fort Wayne losses were by a one-goal margin. Half of the Komets' 36 games played have been one-goal games (6-7-5).

Wednesday, Jan. 19, Missouri 5 at Fort Wayne 4.....the Komets suffered their second regulation loss in 13 games. For the first time in eight games Fort Wayne allowed more than one power play goal (6/9 on penalty kill). Tab Lardner's goal was his 300th CHL career point. Komet goaltender Nick Boucher suffered his first regulation loss in 10 decisions.

Friday, Jan. 21, Fort Wayne 3 at Bloomington 2, shootout.....First of a home-and-home series. Boucher posted his third straight road win and second straight win vs. Bloomington. Lardner has his second straight two-point night and establishes a three-game goal and point-scoring streak (5g, 2a) which includes his second shootout game winning goal. The Komets earned points for the 12th of 14 games in their fourth straight road victory and even the season series with the PrairieThunder at 2-2-0.

Saturday, Jan. 22, Bloomington 4 at Fort Wayne 3.....The Komets suffer only their third regulation loss in 15 games (8-3-4). Left wing Lardner extends his point-scoring streak to four games (5g, 2a) with an assist. Winger Artem Podshendyalov pushes his point-scoring streak to three games (2g, 1a) with an assist. Defenseman Guy Dupuis clicks for his first two-goal night of the season with his second and third goals of the week. The Komets attract their fourth 8,000-plus crowd of the season (8,247).

Francis returns to Komet fold -- The Komets announced Monday that forward Chris Francis has been re-assigned to Fort Wayne by the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets. Francis was called up to the AHL's Springfield Falcons Jan. 17 and did not see action during his stay. Francis, 21, has four goals and 17 points in 28 games with the Komets prior to his call-up to Springfield.

Komet sighting -- Fans can meet mascot Icy Eagle and Komets Leo Thomas and Brandon Warner at the Frontier Fios location on Coldwater Road Saturday, Feb. 5, from 10am-noon while checking out the Frontier Fios Specials. The Frontier location is in the Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts Plaza.

When will I see you again -- The Komets are on the road this week while the Circus claims it's spot in the Memorial Coliseum for performances Thursday through Sunday. The Komets will next skate on Coliseum ice when the Wichita Thunder come to town for two games. Friday, Feb. 4 the Komets host the Thunder at 8pm and Saturday, Feb. 5 the Komets will faceoff against the visiting Thunder at 7:30pm.

Great seats available -- Tickets for all Komet home games are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office and online at www.ticketmaster.com. The Komets offer discounts on group tickets sold at the Komet office at 1010 Memorial Way. For more information visit the Komet office, call 260-483-0011 or visit the Komets' website at www.komets.com.

Report Card Night for 2011 is Saturday, Feb. 5 -- The 2011 Comcast Report Card Night will be Saturday, Feb. 5 when the Komets host Wichita at 7:30pm. Students with an "A" or "A equivalent" on a report card or teacher letter receives a free ticket to the game and Comcast makes a donation to the Literacy Alliance for every "A" student who attends.

Komet Hockey on News Talk 1190 WOWO -- Bob Chase is celebrating his 58th consecutive season behind the Komet microphone broadcasting radio-rinkside and can be heard on News Talk 1190 WOWO and at www.komets.com where games are webcast at Xfinity KometCast.

Komets.com -- The official website for the Fort Wayne Komets is www.komets.com. In addition to live gamecasts, the Komets' home on the web also features news, stats, interactive fan features and information as well as real-time scoring via the CHL and Pointstreak.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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