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It’s tough to catch Brandon Warner without a smile on his face these days.
“It seemed like it’d been years since I’d played,” Warner said, after making his season debut with the Komets on Nov. 13.
In actuality, Warner hadn’t played in about 10 1/2 months because of a hip injury he suffered last season. He had a notch of bone that was fraying the labrum, the cartilage in the hip joint. When doctors went to surgically repair it Feb. 10, they also found a microfracture in his femur.
There went Warner’s chances of being on the ice for the Komets’ second straight Turner Cup championship, which came against tonight’s opponent, the Muskegon Lumberjacks.
Missing his chance to hoist the Cup was particularly disheartening for Warner because he’s from Huntertown and grew up a fan of the Komets.
“It was tough to watch,” said Warner, 26. “As an athlete, you want to be out there every single game. But it was good to see them win. That was the biggest thing. Whether I was on the ice or off the ice, I was still a part of this team.”
Warner has 13 goals and 33 points in 85 games, mostly as a defenseman, the position he prefers, though he played some forward last weekend. He has one of the hardest shots on the team and sees time on the power play.
But he’s still getting acclimated to playing hockey again. Since the surgery, he’s struggled to get his strength and flexibility back, which has been particularly difficult because doctors have recommended he stay away from his preferred exercises. And he’s working on getting his skating speed back, too.
“That power right out of the hole, from start to stop, it seems like I’ve lost a little bit of that jump,” Warner said.
Warner participated in training camp and thought he’d be in the lineup for the season opener Oct. 16, but he was surprised to learn management had put him on injured reserve for the first month to give him more time to heal. It also gave the Komets time to give extended looks at other players.
“I was kind of upset when I first found out about (going on IR). I wanted to play. I’d already missed three-quarters of a season,” Warner said. “But the more I sat down and thought about it, I started thinking it was good because who knows, I might have gotten out there and been overanxious, just did something stupid and ended up getting hurt again.”
Today’s game will be the first at the Coliseum between Fort Wayne and Muskegon since their two brawls in a 3-1 Komets victory Oct. 31.
Note: The Komets have agreed to contract terms with forward Justin Chwedoruk, 25, and he should be in the lineup, pending league approval.
Last season, he had six goals and 22 points in 27 games with Dayton of the ECHL, and he started this season in Europe.
“We recognized that we need some help offensively,” Komets general manager David Franke said. “He can score goals, set up plays, and is a pretty good forward.”
The Komets released center Travis Whitehead, who had one goal in six games.
