Komets burn Icehawks 4-0 to complete week 16
Generals invade Friday, Lumberjacks visit Sunday
Warner out for the season

FORT WAYNE KOMETS PRESS RELEASE                    
Fort Wayne Komet Hockey Club | 1010 Memorial Way, Fort Wayne, IN  46805 | 260.483.0011
Member International Hockey League
Contact: Chuck Bailey, Director of Communications | 260.482.6550 | chuck@komets.com

Posted Monday, February 2, 2009

Fort Wayne, IN — The Komets capped week 16 of 2008-09 shutting out the visiting Port Huron Icehawks Saturday night 4-0 after the Icehawks blanked the Komets the night before 4-0 in Fort Wayne. 

Komet netminder Sebastien Laplante earned his first shutout of the season, 12th of his career, making 26 saves for his fifth win of the year in eight appearances.   David Hukalo, Maxime Gravelle, Konstantin Shafranov and P.C. Drouin each dented the twine for Fort Wayne.

Saturday night's Komet home win snapped the Icehawk's unbeaten road streak at 12 games and gave the K's their first home victory of the season in five Port Huron visits.

Earlier in the week the Komets gained a point in a 4-3 shootout loss at Bloomington Wednesday night.

The Komets (23-15-1-6) completed the week with 53 points, trailing first-place Port Huron (27-15-2-1) by four points.

The Komets are idle until Friday when the Flint Generals invade the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum for an 8pm faceoff.  The Komets lead the series 6-1-0-1, 4-0-0-0 at home, and are unbeaten by the Generals in the last four meetings (3-0-0-1).  The last time the K's faced Flint was Jan. 9 when they doubled-up the visiting Generals 4-2.  Flint is idle until it's trip to Fort Wayne Friday.  The last-place Generals have lost their last two games and are 2-2-1 in their last five.

The Komets will have a rare Saturday night off this weekend before welcoming the Muskegon Lumberjacks Sunday at 5pm.  The Komets and 'Jacks are even in the season series 4-4-0-1 after the Komets chopped the Lumberjacks 10-3 in the last meeting Jan. 24 at Muskegon.  Muskegon is coming off a pair of wins over the weekend and are 3-3-0 in their last six outings.  The Lumberjacks skate at Bloomington Wednesday and play host to Bloomington Friday and Flint Saturday before traveling to Fort Wayne Sunday.  Entering the week, the third-place Lumberjacks have four games in hand over Fort Wayne and trail the Komets by a point.  Muskegon has a chance to make up ground with four games this week.

Warner sidelined for the season.....second-year defenseman Brandon Warner will undergo hip surgery soon, sidelining the Fort Wayne native for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs.  Warner appeared in 26 games this season scoring seven goals and 14 points.  Warner made his pro debut last year after a four-year stint at Michigan State.

Holladay hits 100.....rookie defenseman Jay Holladay marked his 100th pro game Wednesday at Bloomington.

Tracking Dupuis.....veteran defenseman Guy Dupuis has 95 career goals and 497 assists since his career began in 1990 with Adirondack in the AHL.  The 19-year pro, skating his 12th season with the Komets, ranks third on the all-time list of regular season games played as a Komet with 774 and second overall with 838 (including playoff games).  If Dupuis maintains pace with the season, he could break Eddie Long’s record of most career games played (801) on April 4, and could become the all-time leader in Komet games played (regular season and playoffs combined) by topping Terry Pembroke’s mark of 864 on April 3rd when he skates his 865th Fort Wayne game.  Dupuis, last year’s IHL Defenseman of the Year, has appeared in all 45 Komet games to date this season.

Komets attracting a crowd.....the Komets attracted a total attendance of 15,586 for the two home games played over the weekend.  The Komets lead the IHL and are second in all minor league pro hockey this season with a per-game home average attendance of 7,763 after 22 games at the Coliseum.  Saturday’s crowd of 8,307 marked the 69th time the Komets have attracted an 8,000+ crowd since the renovation of the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in 2002.

Free tickets for your A's on Comcast Report Card Night Friday night when the Komets host the Generals at 8pm.  Students with an "A" or "A" equivalent on their report card will get one free ticket when they show their "A" at the Coliseum Ticket Office.  Fans are encouraged to get their tickets early for Friday night's game in advance at the Coliseum Ticket Office.  Tickets are subject to availability.  Also, Comcast will be making a donation to the Literacy Alliance for every "A" student attending the game.  For more information, call the Komet office at 260-483-0011.

Wendy's after-game skate Sunday.....fans are welcome to bring their skates to this Sunday's Komet/Lumberjack game for the free Wendy's skate immediately following the game. 

KOMETS PLANNER
Komet games coming up
Friday, Feb. 6.....Flint Generals at Komets, 8pm, WOWO Radio AM 1190
Sunday, Feb. 8.....Muskegon Lumberjacks at Komets, 5:00pm, WOWO Radio AM 1190
All games broadcast on radio are webcast free at www.Komets.com Comcast KometCast
Komet practice schedule
Tue. Feb. 3.....10am-noon at the Coliseum
Wed. Feb. 4.....10am-noon at the Coliseum
Thu. Feb. 5.....10am-11:30am at McMillen Ice Arena
Fri. Feb. 6.....10am-11am at the Colisem
Sat. Feb. 7.....11am-noon at the Coliseum/or Gym
Sun. Feb. 8.....10am-11am at the Colisem
Tue. Feb. 10.....10am-11:30am at McMillen Ice Arena
Komets Schedule

Icy and the Komets step out to Glenbrook Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep Saturday.....This Saturday the Komets will swap the ice floor for the showroom floor at Glenbrook Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep on Coliseum Blvd. across from Glenbrook Mall.  Autographed game pucks and photo opportunities will be available as Komet mascot Icy and the Komets will be on hand from 11am-2pm at the dealership to meet and greet Komet fans.

Tickets.....Komet tickets 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 in Fort Wayne.  For more information visit the Komet office, the Komets' website at www.komets.com, or call 260-483-0011.

Komet Hockey On The Web and Air.....Most Komet games are broadcast on WOWO Radio AM 1190 with Bob Chase at the Fort Wayne microphone for his 56th consecutive season.  Some games will be aired on WKJG/ESPN Radio AM 1380 as an alternative when conflicts occur.  All games aired on radio will also be available free on the internet at Comcast KometCast at www.komets.com.  Fans can follow the official scoring of all Komet games this season by clicking on the "Scoreboard" at www.komets.com.

Komets.com.....The official website of the Fort Wayne Komets is www.komets.com.  In addition to featuring free webcasting of live Komet game radio, Komets.com also provides fans and media with up-to-date team stats, news, interactive fan features and information.  Fans can also follow all Komet games with real-time scoring via the IHL and Pointstreak by clicking the Scoreboard at Komets.com.


IHL STANDINGS thru games of 1/31/09
IHL 2008/2009
TEAM                GP    W     L     OTL   SOL   PTS   WPCT   GF    GA    PIM    HOME        ROAD        L-TEN     STREAK    
Port Huron          45    27    15      2     1   57    .633   152   127   827    12-9-1-0    15-6-1-1    5-3-1-1   0-1-0-0   
Fort Wayne          45    23    15      1     6   53    .589   162   135   1010   10-8-1-3    13-7-0-3    5-2-0-3   1-0-0-0   
Muskegon            41    24    13      3     1   52    .634   166   157   984    15-6-1-1    9-7-2-0     6-3-1-0   2-0-0-0   
Kalamazoo           42    25    17      0     0   50    .595   150   128   795    13-5-0-0    12-12-0-0   4-6-0-0   0-2-0-0   
Bloomington         42    17    22      1     2   37    .440   137   168   826    11-10-1-1   6-12-0-1    6-2-0-2   3-0-0-0   
Flint               47    15    26      2     4   36    .383   152   204   1068   10-11-1-1   5-15-1-3    3-4-1-2   0-2-0-1   
TOTALS              262   131   108     9    14   285   .544   919   919   5510   -           -           -         -         

FORT WAYNE KOMETS TEAMSTATS  thru games of 1/31/09
#     PLAYER              POS  GP  G     A   PTS  +/-   PIM   PPG  PPA  SHG  SHA  GWG  FG  OTG  UAG  ENG  SHOG  SHOA  SHO%  SHOTS  SPCT  
71    Drouin, P.C.        LW   45  25   36   61   +15    50    6   13    2    2    3   5     0   0   2    0      3    .000  148    .169  
91    Chaulk, Colin       C    28  5    38   43    +6    46    2   21    0    3    2   1     0   0   0    0      1    .000  69     .072  
21    Hukalo, David       RW   43  11   25   36   +14    51    5    9    1    1    4   2     0   0   0    0      2    .000  114    .096  
2     Dupuis, Guy         D    45  9    27   36   +12    82    4   17    1    1    2   1     1   0   1    0      3    .000  178    .051  
7     Varone, Rick        C    45  13   20   33   +11    72    2    4    1    0    2   3     0   1   0    3      9    .333  100    .130  
44    Thomas, Leo         C    29  13   12   25   +13    32    6    2    1    0    2   3     0   1   0    0      3    .000  104    .125  
        (TOTALS)               38  17   14   31    +6    73    8    2    1    0    3   3     0   1   0    0      3    .000  129    .132  
24    Shafranov, Konstan  LW   32  14   17   31   +10    20    5    5    0    0    2   0     0   3   0    0      4    .000  78     .179  
94    Curadeau, Mathieu   C    21  17   12   29    +2    24    7    6    1    0    1   3     0   3   0    1      5    .200  91     .187  
20    Versteeg-Lytwyn, M  LW   9   5     7   12    +7    6     1    0    0    0    0   1     0   1   0    1      3    .333  35     .143  
        (TOTALS)               29  9    15   24    +1    18    1    1    0    0    1   1     0   1   0    1      3    .333  81     .111  
29    OConnor, Sean       RW   35  11   10   21    -1    16    3    2    0    0    1   1     0   0   0    1      4    .250  95     .116  
19    Osman, Dominic      RW   24  13    5   18    -1    11    5    2    1    0    1   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  101    .129  
    X Warner, Brandon     D    26  7     7   14    -1    27    2    3    0    0    1   3     0   0   0    0      1    .000  45     .156  
74    Gravelle, Maxime    C    42  3     9   12    -3    44    0    1    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  40     .075  
28    Holladay, Jay       D    44  2    10   12    +7    48    0    3    0    0    0   2     0   0   0    0      2    .000  90     .022  
15    MacMillan, Brad     RW   35  5     2   7     -4   156    0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  56     .089  
3     Mironovic, Danko    D    45  1     6   7     +4    47    0    0    0    0    1   1     0   0   0    0      0    .000  33     .030  
22    Bertram, Kevin      D    29  1     5   6    +10    76    0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  29     .034  
    X Lewis, Adam         C    22  1     5   6    -10    23    0    0    0    1    0   0     0   1   0    0      0    .000  40     .025  
82    Legault, Olivier    LW   24  3     2   5     +1    49    0    0    0    0    0   1     0   0   0    0      0    .000  18     .167  
4     Boulay, Brian       D    45  2     1   3     0     71    0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  53     .038  
    X Beckett, Jason      D    8   0     2   2     +7    15    0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  21     .000  
    X Potts, Ryan         F    5   0     2   2     +2    0     0    1    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  0      .000  
52    Tarantino, Vince    D    10  0     1   1     +7    2     0    1    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  9      .000  
    X Field, Mike         F    7   0     1   1     -4    20    0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  1      .000  
14    Pence, Jake         D    6   0     1   1     0     6     0    1    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  7      .000  
33    Boucher, Nick       G    30  0     0   0     0     0     0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  0      .000  
60    Laplante, Sebastie  G    8   0     0   0     0     2     0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  0      .000  
    X Haun, Tim           G    8   0     0   0     0     2     0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  0      .000      
                               GP  G     A   PTS  +/-   PIM   PPG  PPA  SHG  SHA  GWG  FG  OTG  UAG  ENG  SHOG  SHOA  SHO%  SHOTS  SPCT  
      TOTALS                   45  162  263  425  +111  1010  48   91    8    8   23   27    2  11   3    6      40   .150  1556   .104  

#       GOALIE              GP  MIN      W   L   OTL  SOL  SO  GA   GAA   SHOW  SHO  SHOGA  SHOAA  SAVES  SPCT  
33      Boucher, Nick       30  1785:23  14  11  1    3    1   83   2.79  0     4    6      10     807    .907  
60      Laplante, Sebastie  8   451:16   5   2   0    1    1   21   2.79  0     1    2      11     217    .912  
    X   Haun, Tim           8   493:44   4   2   0    2    1   25   3.04  1     2    4      18     218    .897  
        TOTALS              45           23  16  1    6    3   135  3.00  1     7    12     39     1242   .902