The Komets announced their first round IHL playoff schedule Monday and the quest for the Turner Cup will begin Friday in Fort Wayne with game 1 at 8pm. The regular season champion Komets gained home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs and will face the fourth-place Muskegon Fury in a best-of-seven game series.

The Fort Wayne-Muskegon series will follow a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 format with games 1, 3, 5 and 7 scheduled at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

Game 2 will be at Muskegon's Walker Arena Saturday, April 19 at 7:30pm. Game 3 will be hosted by Fort Wayne Sunday, April 20 at 6pm. Game 4 will be held at Muskegon Wednesday, April 23 at 7:30pm.

If necessary, game 5 is set for Fort Wayne Friday, April 25 at 8pm and game 6 will be held at Muskegon Saturday, April 26 at 7:30pm. If a seventh and final game is needed it will be skated at Fort Wayne Tuesday, April 29 at 7:30pm.

During the regular season the Komets faced Muskegon 15 times and won the series 10-3-1-1, completing the season with five straight wins over the Fury. The Komets were unbeaten by Muskegon at home in seven meetings (6-0-1) and 4-3-0-1 over eight meetings at Muskegon.

2008 marks the 42nd IHL Turner Cup Playoff appearance for the Komets. It's the 49th post season appearance in the 56-year history of the Fort Wayne franchise including seven in the United Hockey League. The Fort Wayne franchise boasts five league championships including four IHL Turner Cup Championships and one UHL Colonial Cup Championship.

Komets Final Playoff Roster set.....the Komets also announced today that their final playoff roster is set with 21 skaters including 11 forwards, eight defensemen and two goaltenders. The Komets added amateur defenseman Ken Dufresne (dew-FRANE). Dufresne, 20, hails from Rivier-au-Renard, Quebec, and recently completed four seasons of juniors play. He finished the 2007-08 season with 3 goals and 32 points with Terrebonne of QJAAAHL.

The Komets elected to not place Maksim Shirokov on the final roster making the defenseman eligible for the IHL waiver draft which will take place Tuesday. Winger Olivier Legault was placed on the "unable to perform" spot on the final roster and the Komets will retain his rights for next season.

Komets streaking to the end.....center Colin Chaulk completed the season riding a 9-game point-scoring streak (2 goals, 9 assists) and 4-game assist streak.....right winger Luciano Aquino finished on a 4-game point streak (3 goals, 2 assists).....goalie Kevin Reiter won his last straight games.....goalie Nick Boucher finished unbeaten in regulation 18 straight games and was not beaten in regulation in 24 straight games that he started....the Komets were unbeaten in regulation the last 25 straight games of the season (22-0-2-1).

Komet Ironmen....left winger Matt Reynolds and defenseman Jake Pence skated all 76 games of 2007-08.

Career Year....many career highs were reached this season. Kevin Bertram 271 penalty minutes...Kevin Hansen 157 penalty minutes...David Hukalo 20 goals, 24 assists and 44 points...Matt Reynolds 19 goals, 33 assists and 52 points...Guy Dupuis matched his career high of 15 goals in a season...Kevin Reiter 32 wins...Nick Boucher 24 wins.

Fill up at Marathon and earn Komet tickets for Friday's playoff game....the Komets Marathon Fill-Up cards, available all season at participating area Marathon gas stations, will be honored for the Komet's playoff game this Friday when the Komets host the Muskegon Fury at the Memorial Coliseum at 8pm. Fans can earn a "buy 1, get 1 free" ticket offer every time they fill up three times at Marathon.

Komet hockey on the air and around the world.....all of the Komet's playoff games will be broadcast on Fort Wayne radio and webcast free on the internet at www.komets.com Comcast Kometcast. Most radio broadcasts will be on WOWO Radio AM 1190. When conflicts occur, the games may be switched to WKJG/ESPN Radio AM 1380. All three games this weekend, games 1, 2 and 3 of the Komet's first round with Muskegon, are scheduled to air on WOWO Radio AM 1190 with Bob Chase calling the action radio-rinkside.

KOMETS PLAYOFF PRACTICE PLANNER
Tuesday, Apr. 15.....10am-noon at the Coliseum
Wednesday, Apr. 16.....10am-noon at the Coliseum
Thursday, Apr. 17.....10am-noon at the Coliseum
Friday, Apr. 18.....10am-11am at the Coliseum
Sunday, Apr. 20.....10am-11am at the Coliseum

Komets on the net.....the official website of the Fort Wayne Komets is www.komets.com. In addition to featuring free webcasts of live Komet game radio, Komets.com also provides fans and media with up-to-date team stats, news, features and information as well as real-time scoring via the IHL and Pointstreak. Scoring of all Komet games can be viewed as it happens at Komets.com