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The contingent of local hockey fans who have followed the Fort Wayne Komets and Detroit Red Wings for years are going to get a treat March 14. The Journal Gazette has learned that there will be a game between the Red Wings' alumni team and a collection of Komet old-timers at Memorial Coliseum.
The 5 p.m. game, which will be part of a fundraising tour by the Red Wings team, will take place before the present-day Komets' game versus the Kalamazoo Wings.
The rosters for the Wings and Komets alumni have not yet been determined, Fort Wayne general manager David Franke said.
The Red Wings alumni will also play games in the IHL's four Michigan cities -- Flint, Port Huron, Muskegon and Kalamazoo -- as they raise money for their various charities.
The Red Wings' alumni roster has about 42 players, any of whom could play in Fort Wayne, and it includes the likes of John Ogrodnick, Dino Ciccarelli, Joey Kocur, Lee Norwood, Paul Ysebaert and Mickey Redmond.
The Komets could look to players such as Colin Chin, Steve Fletcher, Robbie Irons, Kelly Hurd or Len Thornson, with Franke hoping to get a roster of about 20 players.
It's likely tickets to the Komets' evening game will also be good for admission to the alumni game, though those details haven't been completed.
While the IHL continues to put the finishing touches on its collaboration with the Red Wings and league alumni, it made changes Wednesday it hopes will benefit its current season's teams.
Fearful that injuries are going to force teams to play shorthanded, the IHL has added two new injured reserves -- 45-day IR and 60-day IR.
Players placed on those spots will not count against the salary cap and will not be part of the 21-man active roster. Players on the 30-day IR, which was instituted last summer, don't count against the cap, either, but do remain part of the active roster.
The Komets currently have three players on 30-day IR -- Dominic Osman (foot), Jake Pence (ribs) and Brandon Warner (wrist) -- and one more injury would have made them play shorthanded.
Now they will likely move Osman to 45-day IR, Franke said.
The Komets play at Muskegon on Friday night.
