Fort Wayne Komets Press Release

Komets sweep into second place with six points
Boucher IHL Goaltender of the Week
Icehawks visit Friday, Thunder rolls in Sunday

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, March 16, 2009

Fort Wayne, IN — The Komets earned six points in week 22 to improve to 34-17-3-8 and 79 points. The Komets pulled within four points of IHL leader Port Huron with four weeks and 14 games remaining in 2008-09.

The week began with a 3-1 win over the IHL leading Icehawks at Port Huron Friday night. Saturday the Komets stopped the Kalamazoo Wings 5-2 in front of a sold-out Fort Wayne crowd of 10,511 at the Memorial Coliseum. It was the Komets' third sell-out this season. Fort Wayne owns the second highest per-game home attendance average in minor league pro hockey of 7,892. Sunday the Komets scored a 4-3 victory at Bloomington to take a sweep of the three games played for the week.

The Komets extended their winning streak to five games and have lost in regulation only twice in their last 18 outings. Fort Wayne has won their last four straight road games and have the IHL's best road record at 21-8-0-4. With 13 home wins this season and nine home games remaining, the Komets appear to be headed toward their first season in franchise history (57 years) of having a better record on the road than at home.

Looking ahead the Komets skate four games this week, two on the road and two at home. Tuesday the Komets visit Port Huron for a 7:30pm faceoff. The Komets have a chance to pull within two points of the first-place Icehawks in their last visit to McMorran Arena of the season. The Komets are 6-1-0 in seven visits to Port Huron and lead the series 7-5-0 overall.

Friday the Komets host the Icehawks at 8pm and begin a stretch of five home games in nine nights. Friday will mark the 14th of 15 meetings this season and the sixth of seven on Fort Wayne ice where the Komets are 1-4-0 against Port Huron so far.

Saturday the Komets travel to Bloomington for the first of a home-and-home series on back-to-back nights. It's the sixth of seven Komet games at Bloomington where the Komets are 3-1-0-1 after five meetings at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. The Thunder, 4-1-0-1 in their last six games, host Kalamazoo Friday before facing the Komets Saturday.

Sunday the Komets return home to welcome Bloomington at 5pm for the final Sunday Fort Wayne home game of the regular season. It's the Thunder's fifth of seven visits to Fort Wayne where the Komets ar 2-1-0-1 in four meetings to date.

IHL names Boucher Goaltender of the Week.....Nick Boucher has been named the Southern Sports Supply IHL Goaltender of the Week for the week ending March 15, 2009. Boucher won both games played to extend his winning streak to three games and move ahead of IHL goalies with an overall 2.64 goals-against average and .912 save percentage after 41 games. The netminder backstopped the Komets to a 3-1 win over league-leading Port Huron Friday making 34 saves on 35 shots. Saturday Boucher earned his 21st win of the season making 23 saves on 25 shots in a 5-2 victory over the visiting Kalamazoo Wings. For the week Boucher allowed three goals in two games for a 1.50 goals-against average and stopped 57 of 60 shots for a .950 save percentage. The award is the third weekly award for Boucher this season.

Komets meet trade deadline with deal for Aldoff.....The Komets met the IHL trade deadline last Thursday, March 12th by dealing forward Dominic Osman and defenseman Dylan Row to Kalamazoo for veteran defenseman Rod Aldoff. Aldoff, 38, is in his 14th career year and answered the call by registering four assists in his first three games with the Komets over the weekend.

Streaking Komets.....Defenseman Rod Aldoff has a three-game assist streak (4 assists).....winger Olivier Legault has a three-game point streak (2 goals, 1 assist), his first three-game point streak of his career.....defenseman Guy Dupuis is riding a four-game point streak (1 goal, 4 assists).....goaltender Sebastine Laplante is unbeaten in his last eight appearances. Laplante has not been beaten in regulation since returning from 60-day I.R. January 28.....netminder Nick Boucher has a three-game win streak, his third of the season.

Milestones: Defenseman Rod Aldoff dished his 300th pro assist Saturday night at Kalamazoo and scored his 400th pro point (assist) Sunday at Bloomington.....defenseman Guy Dupuis scored his 100th Fort Wayne career goal Saturday vs. Kalamazoo and is five goals shy of tying the Komets' franchise record of 105 goals by a defenseman set by Jim Burton in 1988-89.

Red Wings Alumni outlast the Komet Legends.....No oxygen tanks were needed for the Detroit Red Wings Alumni to turn back the Komets Legends Saturday night 4-1. Both teams skated the two 20-minute running time periods to the delight of an estimated 3,000 fans who turned out prior to the current-day Komets/Kalamazoo game. Dustin Virag scored the lone Komet tally while Tom Williams scored a pair and Dan Newman and Dennis Hextall each had a goal for the Red Wings Alumni. Former Komet goalie Parris Duffus made 19 saves on 23 shots while former Red Wing star Eddie Mio stopped 20 of 21 Komet Legends shots.

Over $10,000 raised in Komets Army Jersey Auction......During the Komets' 5-2 win Saturday night over the visiting Kalamazoo Wings Fort Wayne fans participated in a silent auction for the camouflage green and orange army jerseys worn during the game by the Komets. $10,077 was raised in the auction, with proceeds benefiting the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Komet captain Guy Dupuis' number 2 army jersey fetched the most at $1,000. Second was the number 15 sweater of Brad MacMillan and third highest was Mathieu Curadeau's number 94 at $767.

"Live From Radio Rinkside" signing at Komet Kuarters Wednesday.....Legendary Komet broadcaster Bob Chase will be at Komet Kuarters this Wednesday night, March 18, to meet Komet fans and sign his new book "Live From Radio Rinkside". Copies of Mr. Chase's new book will be on sale and he will be available to autograph new book purchases along with the News Sentinel's Blake Sebring and Komet players P.C. Drouin and Leo Thomas. The book signing will be held from 5pm-7pm.

KOMETS PLANNER
Komet games coming up
Tuesday, Mar. 17.....Komets at Port Huron, 7:30pm, WKJG/ESPN Radio AM 1380.
Friday, Mar. 20........Port Huron Icehawks at Komets, 8pm, WOWO Radio AM 1190
Saturday, Mar. 21....Komets at Bloomington PrairieThunder, 8:05pm (FW time), WOWO Radio AM 1190
Sunday, Mar. 22......Bloomington PrairieThunder 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. Mar. 17......10am-11am at McMillen Ice Arena
Wed. Mar. 18....11am-noon at McMillen Ice Arena
Thu. Mar. 19.....10am-11:30am at McMillen Ice Arena
Fri. Mar. 20......10am-11am at the Coliseum
Tue. Mar. 24.....10am-noon at the Coliseum
Komets Schedule

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 3/15/09
TEAM                GP    W     L     OTL   SOL   PTS   WPCT   GF     GA     PIM    HOME        ROAD        L-TEN     STREAK    
Port Huron          63    38    18      5     2   83    .659   216    165    1112   19-11-2-1   19-7-3-1    7-2-0-1   2-0-0-0   
Fort Wayne          62    34    17      3     8   79    .637   234    184    1437   13-9-3-4    21-8-0-4    8-1-1-0   5-0-0-0   
Muskegon            61    35    20      3     3   76    .623   244    236    1481   19-10-1-2   16-10-2-1   5-5-0-0   0-4-0-0   
Kalamazoo           63    35    27      1     0   71    .563   217    201    1155   19-11-1-0   16-16-0-0   4-6-0-0   0-2-0-0   
Bloomington         61    27    29      1     4   59    .484   199    226    1181   15-12-1-2   12-17-0-2   5-4-0-1   0-1-0-0   
Flint               64    18    40      2     4   42    .328   198    296    1545   12-18-1-1   6-22-1-3    2-8-0-0   0-1-0-0   
TOTALS              374   187   151    15    21   410   .548   1308   1308   7911   -           -           -         -         

FORT WAYNE KOMETS TEAMSTATS  thru games of 3/15/09
#     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   62  28   51   79   +15    72    7   22    2    3    3   6     0   0   2    0      4    .000  178    .157  
2     Dupuis, Guy         D    62  14   43   57   +24   105    5   25    3    2    2   1     1   0   2    0      3    .000  249    .056  
94    Curadeau, Mathieu   C    38  29   26   55   +15    57   11    7    1    1    4   5     1   4   0    1      5    .200  169    .172  
7     Varone, Rick        C    62  20   29   49    +9    91    4    6    3    0    2   6     0   1   0    3      11   .273  131    .153  
21    Hukalo, David       RW   56  18   31   49   +22    63    9   10    1    1    6   2     0   1   0    0      2    .000  156    .115  
44    Thomas, Leo         C    46  21   18   39   +16    51    7    4    1    0    2   5     0   1   0    0      3    .000  155    .135  
        (TOTALS)               55  25   20   45    +9    92    9    4    1    0    3   5     0   1   0    0      3    .000  180    .139  
24    Shafranov, Konstan  LW   47  19   26   45   +16    22    6    8    0    0    3   1     0   3   0    1      5    .200  112    .170  
91    Chaulk, Colin       C    28  5    38   43    +6    46    2   21    0    3    2   1     0   0   0    0      1    .000  69     .072  
20    Versteeg-Lytwyn, M  LW   26  10   15   25   +16    29    2    1    0    1    1   2     0   1   0    1      4    .250  80     .125  
        (TOTALS)               46  14   23   37   +10    41    2    2    0    1    2   2     0   1   0    1      4    .250  126    .111  
29    OConnor, Sean       RW   50  16   19   35    +8    26    4    2    0    2    1   2     0   0   0    1      5    .200  143    .112  
25    Aldoff, Rod         D    3   0     4   4     +1    4     0    2    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  3      .000  
        (TOTALS)               60  7    27   34   +14    60    4   14    0    0    1   1     0   0   0    1      4    .250  88     .080  
    X Osman, Dominic      RW   37  18   12   30    +4    37    7    3    1    0    3   2     0   0   0    0      1    .000  137    .131  
28    Holladay, Jay       D    55  3    12   15   +10    79    0    4    0    0    0   2     0   0   0    0      2    .000  109    .028  
    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    55  4    10   14    -3    56    0    1    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  54     .074  
3     Mironovic, Danko    D    57  2     9   11   +11    57    0    0    0    0    1   1     0   0   0    0      0    .000  43     .047  
14    Pence, Jake         D    23  1     9   10    +7    20    0    5    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  45     .022  
15    MacMillan, Brad     RW   47  6     3   9     -5   217    0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  75     .080  
4     Boulay, Brian       D    62  4     5   9     +3    94    0    0    0    1    1   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  75     .053  
82    Legault, Olivier    LW   31  5     3   8     +2    97    1    1    0    0    1   1     0   0   0    0      0    .000  21     .238  
22    Bertram, Kevin      D    45  2     6   8    +21   103    0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  48     .042  
    X Lewis, Adam         C    22  1     5   6    -10    23    0    0    0    1    0   0     0   1   0    0      0    .000  40     .025  
    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    11  0     1   1     +8    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  
    X Podelnyk, Mike      F    1   0     1   1     +1    2     0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  4      .000  
33    Boucher, Nick       G    41  0     0   0     0     0     0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  0      .000  
60    Laplante, Sebastie  G    14  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  
    X Row, Dylan          D    3   0     0   0     0     0     0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000  2      .000      
                               GP  G     A   PTS  +/-   PIM   PPG  PPA  SHG  SHA  GWG  FG  OTG  UAG  ENG  SHOG  SHOA  SHO%  SHOTS  SPCT  
      TOTALS                   62  234  388  622  +234  1437  67   127  12   15   34   40    3  13   4    7      47   .149  2175   .108  

#       GOALIE              GP  MIN      W   L   OTL  SOL  SO  GA   GAA   SHOW  SHO  SHOGA  SHOAA  SAVES  SPCT  
33      Boucher, Nick       41  2455:09  21  13  1    5    1   108  2.64  0     6    9      17     1120   .912  
60      Laplante, Sebastie  14  818:43   9   2   2    1    1   42   3.08  0     1    2      11     350    .893  
    X   Haun, Tim           8   493:44   4   2   0    2    1   25   3.04  1     2    4      18     218    .897  
        TOTALS              62           34  20  3    8    3   184  2.97  1     9    15     46     1688   .902