IHL 2 Fort Wayne Komets

Komets top West after 19 weeks

February 21, 2005 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Fort Wayne Komets News Release


Fort Wayne, IN — The Komets earned 4 points for the 4th consecutive week to move into the top spot in the Western Conference of the UHL with a 36-16-4 record. The Komets share first place in the West with Rockford with 76 points but hold a slim lead in point percentage with .679 to Rockford's .655.

The 3-game week started with a 6-1 setback to Kalamazoo in Fort Wayne Wednesday night. The Komet's lone goal was scored by Chris Grenville (RW) after taking a lead pass from winger Danny Stewart. The goal was Grenville's 600th career point. Komet goalie Tyler Masters registered the loss making 26 saves on 32 shots in his 22nd appearance of the season.

Friday the Komets played the first game of a home-and-home series against the Beacons at Port Huron posting a 3-2 shootout victory. Adam Lewis (C) scored his first goal of the season while Stewart added the 2nd Komet tally of the game. Goaltender Kevin St. Pierre took the win for the Komets stopping 22 of 24 shots in regulation and allowing only 1 goal in 5 Port Huron shootout attempts in the extra frame. P.C. Drouin (LW) and defenseman Steve Rodberg netted shootout marks for the Komets.

Saturday the Komets topped the Beacons 4-1 in the 2nd game of the home-and-home series in front of a Fort Wayne crowd of 7,720. St. Pierre made 22 saves for his 23rd win of the season. Grenville netted a pair while Jason Kean (D) and Sean Venedam (LW) also added marks for the Komets. The victory was Komet coach Greg Puhalski's 300th career UHL win as the Komets remain unbeaten by Port Huron in 4 meetings this season (4-0-0).

This week the Komets will play 3 home games in 4 nights before hitting the road Sunday. Wednesday the Flint Generals pay a visit for a 7:30 faceoff. Friday the Komets host Quad City at 8pm and Saturday the Kalamazoo Wings are in Fort Wayne for a 7:30pm start. Sunday the Komets begin a 5-game road tour with a 4pm game at Flint. Next week the Komets will on the road east for games at Richmond, Danbury, Elmira and Adirondack.

Tickets for Komet home games are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office and online at www.ticketmaster.com. Group tickets and discounts are also available by calling the Komet office at (260) 483-0011.

Komet leaders: Sean Venedam (LW) 65 points, 32 goals, 8 power play goals, 6 game winning goals (T-league high), 219 shots.....Colin Chaulk (C) 50 assists.....Rob Guinn (D) +34 (league high).....Jeff Worlton (RW) 267 penalty minutes.....Kevin St. Pierre .924 spct (league high).....Komets lead the UHL with 195 goals (3.48 goals per game), 335 assists, 530 player points.

Komet Ironmen.....4 players have skated all 56 Komet games to date. The Komet ironmen currently are Sean Venedam, P.C. Drouin, Danny Stewart and Rob Guinn.

The 3 winningest UHL coaches still active in the UHL

Puhalski first to score 300 UHL wins......Komet head coach Greg Puhalski has become the first coach in UHL history to capture 300 regular season wins (504 games) with his 4-1 victory over the visiting Port Huron Beacons Saturday night. Second to Puhalski is Quad City coach Paul Gillis with 294 wins (503 games). Third is Flint coach Robbie Nichols with 269 regular season UHL wins (472 games).

Grenville joins 600 club.....Chris Grenville (RW) tallied his 600th career point with a goal Wednesday night 2/16/05 vs Port Huron

Milestones ahead: Dustin Virag (RW) has posted 199 career UHL (and Komet) points.....Kevin St. Pierre (G) has 96 career UHL wins.

Komet's Player of the Week: Chris Grenville (RW), 3gp, 3g, 1a, +3. Komet's Goaltender of the Week: Kevin St. Pierre, 2gp, 2-0-0, 160 min, 3ga, 1.50 gaa, 44/47, .936 spct.

KOMET CALENDAR
Games this week:
Wednesday, Feb. 23.....Flint Generals at Komets, 7:30pm (Radio: WOWO AM 1190)
Friday, Feb. 25....Quad City Mallards at Komets, 8pm (Radio: WOWO AM 1190)
Saturday, Feb. 26.....Kalamazoo Wings at Komets, 7:30pm (Radio: WOWO AM 1190)
Sunday, Feb. 27.....Komets at Flint Generals, 4:05pm (Radio: WOWO AM 1190)
Komet games are also webcast at www.komets.com at Comcast KometCast.

Komet practices coming up:
Tuesday, Feb. 22.....10am-11:30am at the coliseum
Wednesday, Feb. 23.....10am-11am at the coliseum
Thursday, Feb. 24.....10:30am-noon at the coliseum
Friday, Feb. 25.....10am-11am at the coliseum
Saturday, Feb. 26.....10am-11am at the coliseum
Monday, March 7, 10am-11:30am at the coliseum
(Note: After this weekend, the next practice in Fort Wayne won't be until March 7, after the Komets return from an eastern road trip.)

If the playoffs were to start this week

The 2005 UHL Colonial Cup playoffs will consist of 8 teams. The top 2 teams in each conference shall be seeded 1-3 (based on points). Seeds 4-6 will be the 2nd-place conference teams (based on points). The 2 teams with the next highest point total clinch the remaining 2 spots (7 and 8). Based on point-percentage since all teams have not played an even amount of games at this point, the Komets would be seed number 3 and have home-ice advantage against Danbury (seed number 6) in a best-of-7 first round series.

Season Ticket Exchange night Wednesday.....each season the Komets offer Season Ticket Exchange nights on various home dates. Season ticket holders can redeem their unused tickets from previously scheduled Komet home games for tickets on Season Ticket Exchange Nights. This Wednesday night is another Exchange Night as the Komets host the Flint Generals at 7:30. Unused season tickets can be exchanged at the Coliseum Ticket Office.

Komets.com.....the Komet's official home on the web is www.komets.com. Updated Komet news and information plus stats, schedules, upcoming events, free Comcast KometCast and more can be found at the Komet's home on the web at www.komets.com.




International Hockey League 2 Stories from February 21, 2005


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