Fort Wayne, IN — The Komets were faced with three home games in four nights going into week 22 and successfully prevailed in all three games to take a crucial six points and advance past Port Huron into second place. 

The Komets started the important week white-washing the visiting Bloomington PrairieThunder Wednesday 5-0.  Tim Haun earned his third shutout of the season stopping all 25 shots.  It was the final meeting of the season between the Komets and Thunder with Fort Wayne winning the series 9-2-1-0.  Friday the Komets chopped league-leader Muskegon 5-2 and pulled to within one point of second-place Port Huron.  Saturday the hot Komets cooled the visiting Icehawks 5-1 and snapped Port Huron's win streak at four games while taking second place in the IHL. 

The Komets improved to 38-18-1-2 for 79 points and lead third-place Port Huron by a point and trail first-place Muskegon by eight points with three games in hand and 17 games remaining.  

Another busy week ahead
This week the Komets will skate four games in five nights starting with their fifth and final visit to Port Huron (37-20-0-4) Wednesday.  The Komets are 1-3-0-0 in four previous meetings at McMorran Arena and 4-5-0-0 overall against the Icehawks. The battle for second-place starts at 7pm and is the 10th of 11 meetings.   After dropping a 5-1 decision in Fort Wayne Saturday and snapping a four-game win streak, the Icehawks suffered a 5-3 setback at Muskegon Sunday.  Port Huron is 9-4-0-1 in their last 14 games.

The Komets return for a home doubleheader beginning Friday against Quad City at 8pm.  The Mallards (23-28-4-7) trail Bloomington for the fourth and final playoff spot by five points.  It's the 12th of 15 meetings this season with the Komets leading the series 9-1-0-1.  Quad City will host Flint Wednesday before traveling to Fort Wayne Friday.

Saturday the Komets welcome back Muskegon for a 7:30pm faceoff.  The Lumberjacks rebounded from their loss in Fort Wayne Friday with a win Saturday at Quad City and a home victory Sunday against Port Huron.  The first-place Lumberjacks will skate at Bloomington Wednesday before visiting Fort Wayne Saturday.

Sunday the Komets complete week 23 with a 5pm faceoff at Dayton.  It's the seventh of nine visits to Hara Arena where the Komets are 5-1-0-0 against the Gems.  Fort Wayne leads the series 7-3-0-0 after winning the last three encounters.  Dayton travels to Port Huron Friday before hosting the Komets Sunday.

Streaking Komets.....the Komets enter the week ahead riding a three-game win streak and are 9-2-0-0 in the last 11 games....goaltender Tim Haun earned the decision in all three games last week for a three-game win string and extended his home winning streak to 11 games.....Colin Chaulk (C) has a four-game goal and point-scoring streak (4 goals, 2 assists).....Sean O'Connor (RW) has a four-game point streak (3 goals, 3 assists).....Konstantin Shafranov (LW) has a three-game goal and point-scoring streak (3 goals, 1 assist).

Hukalo hits 200.....David Hukalo (RW), reactivated last week from injured reserve, notched his 200th career point (assist) Friday against Muskegon.

Shooting Komets.....the Komets out-shot their opponents 109-72 for the week and have out-shot opponents in 10 straight games.  The Komets lead the IHL with an average of 35.12 shots per game.

Tim Haun, Sean O'Connor named IHL Players of the Week
The IHL announced Monday that Komet goaltender Tim Haun has been named Goaltender of the Week and right winger Sean O'Connor has been named Rookie of the Week for the period ending March 14, 2010.

Haun, 29, was the goaltender of record in all three Komet wins of the week allowing three goals on 72 shots for a 1.00 goals-against average and .958 save percentage. 

In addition to his three-game win string, Haun has a home winning streak of 11 games.  The Solsgirth, Manitoba native also earned his third shutout of the season blanking Bloomington Wednesday 5-0.  Friday Haun posted a 5-2 win making 24 saves and Saturday the netminder stopped 20 of 21 Port Huron shots for a 5-1 win, his third straight and career best 24th of the season. 

Haun leads IHL goalies with a 2.09 goals-against average and .925 save percentage after 37 games.  Haun, the IHL's February Goaltender of the Month, has earned the weekly award four times this season to date.

O'Connor, 23, earned his first league honor of the season registering multi-point games in each appearance. 

The right winger scored three goals and three assists for six points and a +4 for the week and has points in four straight games (4 goals, 3 assists). 

O'Connor reached 24 assists on the season to match his personal record high of 24 assists last year. 

The Brownstown, Michigan native leads Fort Wayne rookies with 16 goals and 40 points after 56 games and tops the Komets shot chart at 182. 



Komets game-worn Camo Jersey auction Friday.....this Friday night's game against the Mallards at 8pm will feature the Komets in their special camo-themed jerseys for U.S. Army Tribute Night.  A silent auction will be held to benefit the Indiana National Guard Relief Fund during the game.

Friday night Marathon Nights.....Friday nights are Marathon Nights at Komet home games.  Fans can take advantage of a buy-one-get-one-free ticket offer with two fill-ups when the Komets host the Quad City Mallards this Friday, March 19 at 8pm.  Fill Up Cards are available at participating Marathon stations.

Hottest Ticket In Town.....still plenty of great seats available for all upcoming Komet home games.  Tickets are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office and online at www.ticketmaster.com.  Single game ticket prices for 2009-10 remain the same as last season, ranging from $8.00 to $20.00 for seniors and adults and starting at $6.00 for children.  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. 

Komet Hockey with Bob Chase......follow the Komets worldwide at www.komets.com Comcast KometCast with Bob Chase, in his 57th consecutive season calling Komet action.  The Komet Hockey broadcast can also be heard on Fort Wayne radio outlets WOWO AM 1190 or ESPN AM 1380 depending on availability.  All games broadcast can be heard at www.komets.com Comcast KometCast.

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. 

KOMETS PLANNER
Komet games this week
Wednesday, March 17......Komets at Port Huron Icehawks, 7pm, ESPN/WKJG Radio AM 1380
Friday, March 19..............Quad City Mallards at Komets, 8pm, WOWO Radio AM 1190
Saturday, March 20..........Muskegon Lumberjacks at Komets, 7:30pm, WOWO Radio AM 1190
Sunday, March 21............Komets at Dayton Gems, 5pm, WOWO Radio AM 1190
All games broadcast on radio are webcast free at www.Komets.com Comcast KometCast.
Komet practice schedule
Note:  All Komet practices originally scheduled for McMillen Ice Arena have switched to the new Canlan Ice Sports arena, 3869 Ice Way in Fort Wayne.
Tuesday, March 16..........10am-11:30am at Canlan Ice Sports
Wednesday, March 17.....10am-11am at Canlan Ice Sports
Thursday, March 18.........11am-noon at Canlan Ice Sports
Friday, March 19.............10am-11am at the Coliseum
Saturday, March 20.........10am-11am at the Coliseum
Tuesday, March 23..........10am-11:30am at Canlan Ice Sports
Wednesday, March 24.....10am-11:30am at Canlan Ice Sports

IHL STANDINGS  thru games of 3/14/2010
TEAM                GP    W     L     OTL   SOL   PTS   WPCT   GF     GA     PIM    HOME        ROAD        L-TEN     STREAK   
Muskegon            62    42    17      0     3   87    .702   234    181    1358   26-7-0-0    16-10-0-3   5-5-0-0   2-0-0-0  
Fort Wayne          59    38    18      1     2   79    .669   195    139    1267   21-6-1-1    17-12-0-1   8-2-0-0   3-0-0-0  
Port Huron          61    37    20      0     4   78    .639   204    179    1122   21-8-0-0    16-12-0-4   5-4-0-1   0-2-0-0  
Bloomington         60    27    25      3     5   62    .517   197    213    1574   17-11-2-0   10-14-1-5   5-4-1-0   2-0-0-0  
Quad City           62    23    28      4     7   57    .460   169    217    892    17-10-1-4   6-18-3-3    5-4-0-1   0-1-0-1  
Flint               61    24    30      3     4   55    .451   176    207    1264   15-9-2-4    9-21-1-0    5-4-1-0   0-0-1-0  
Dayton              63    23    36      3     1   50    .397   175    214    938    13-16-1-1   10-20-2-0   3-7-0-0   1-0-0-0  
TOTALS              428   214   174    14    26   468   .547   1350   1350   8415   -           -           -         -        

FORT WAYNE KOMETS TEAMSTATS  thru games of 3/14/2010
#     PLAYER              POS  GP  G     A   PTS  +/-   PIM   PPG  PPA  SHG  SHA  GWG  FG  OTG  UAG  ENG  SHOG  SHOA  SHO%   SHOTS  SPCT 
91    Chaulk, Colin       C    54  20   46   66   +28    94    5   17    0    1    5   7     0   0   2    1      1    1.000  130    .154 
71    Drouin, P.C.        LW   59  21   41   62   +12    50    9   17    0    3    5   1     1   2   0    1      3    .333   165    .127 
44    Thomas, Leo         C    58  25   20   45   +14    51    7    6    4    0    4   5     2   1   0    0      3    .000   144    .174 
24    Shafranov, Konstan  LW   44  17   28   45   +22    12    4   10    0    0    4   5     0   0   0    2      3    .667   75     .227 
29    OConnor, Sean       RW   55  16   24   40    +9    33    5    5    3    1    3   0     0   3   0    0      1    .000   182    .088 
27    Syroczynski, Matt   LW   31  18   17   35   +18    22    5    4    0    0    3   2     0   0   1    0      0    .000   156    .115 
2     Dupuis, Guy         D    59  8    24   32   +16    75    5   13    0    0    2   0     0   1   0    1      1    1.000  176    .045 
14    DeAngelis, Frankie  D    56  9    21   30   +20    6     2    8    2    0    3   1     0   0   0    0      0    .000   111    .081 
79    Schrock, Kaleigh    RW   59  15   10   25    +4   138    0    0    1    2    3   2     0   1   2    0      1    .000   157    .096 
96    Chwedoruk, Justin   F    49  10   15   25    -1    29    4    4    1    1    0   2     0   0   1    0      2    .000   132    .076 
21    Hukalo, David       RW   25  7     9   16    +1    32    4    5    0    0    2   2     1   0   0    0      1    .000   65     .108 
9     Warner, Brandon     D    46  1    14   15    +5    18    0    3    0    0    0   1     0   0   0    0      0    .000   69     .014 
20    Phillips, Bobby     D    50  2    10   12   +17    44    0    0    0    1    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000   58     .034 
22    Bertram, Kevin      D    50  2    10   12   +22    84    0    0    0    0    0   1     0   0   0    0      0    .000   52     .038 
19    Rodger, Keith       D    53  2     8   10    +7    99    0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000   53     .038 
15    MacMillan, Brad     RW   42  7     2   9     +6   223    0    0    0    0    1   1     0   1   1    0      0    .000   65     .108 
    X Woodard, Matt       D    49  4     4   8     -5    33    2    2    0    0    0   1     0   0   0    0      0    .000   64     .063 
3     Mironovic, Danko    D    55  1     6   7    +13    67    0    1    1    1    0   0     0   1   0    0      0    .000   50     .020 
    X Varone, Rick        C    23  1     5   6     -4    14    1    3    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000   47     .021 
    X Klempa, Tomas       RW   24  3     2   5     -6    2     0    2    0    0    0   2     0   0   0    0      0    .000   69     .043 
17    Woods, Mitch        RW   21  1     3   4     +2    71    0    1    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000   21     .048 
35    Haun, Tim           G    37  0     3   3     0     14    0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000   0      .000 
    X Stayzer, Blair      D    13  1     0   1     0     34    1    0    0    0    0   1     0   0   0    0      0    .000   16     .063 
    X Whitehead, Travis   C    7   1     0   1     0     4     0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000   6      .167 
    X Saidachev, Evgeny   RW   7   0     1   1     -2    2     0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000   6      .000 
33    Boucher, Nick       G    25  0     0   0     0     0     0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000   0      .000 
    X Laise, Vince        F    2   0     0   0     0     0     0    0    0    0    0   0     0   0   0    0      0    .000   0      .000 
    X Duffus, Parris      G    1   0     0   0     0     0     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                   59  195  323  518  +198  1267  54   101  12   10   38   34    7  13   7    5      16   .313   2072   .094 
#       GOALIE              GP  MIN      W   L   OTL  SOL  SO  GA   GAA   SHOW  SHO  SHOGA  SHOAA  SAVES  SPCT 
35      Haun, Tim           37  2181:59  24  10  0    2    3   76   2.09  3     5    5      18     937    .925 
33      Boucher, Nick       25  1382:01  14  8   1    0    1   58   2.52  0     0    0      0      648    .918 
    X   Duffus, Parris      1   0:31     0   0   0    0    0   0    .00   0     0    0      0      0      .000 
        TOTALS              59           38  19  1    2    4   139  2.36  3     5    5      18     1585   .919