Coach Al Sims and captain Colin Chaulk retired, and now so has the goaltender who backstopped them to four championships between 2008 and 2012.Having not seen the Komets play, in person, in more than three weeks, I was impressed.
Their 5-3 victory over the Quad City Mallards was all about Fort Wayne's tenacity.
The Komets didn't let down against a clearly overmatched team. And every one of Fort Wayne's goals featured some dogged work, the most impressive being a Lincoln Kaleigh Schrock goal that saw him bank the puck off the boards, skate around Kyryll Katrych, muscle his way back to the puck and wrist a shot past goaltender Kyle Jones.
Lots of work paid off for the Komets, who have won 11 of 13 games and pulled within four points of first-place Muskegon, with those teams meeting Saturday night at Memorial Coliseum.
Interesting happenings late in the game with the Mallards: There were four fights, including one between Komets star center Colin Chaulk and Mallards heavyweight Marc Rechlicz. The fight was incited when Rechlicz hit Chaulk from behind, just after Chaulk had passed the puck. Chaulk noted that it's exactly the type of play the NHL is trying to outlaw.
During their scrap, though, Komets coach Al Sims said Rechlicz tried to head butt Chaulk, and the Komets will ask the IHL to review that incident for possible suspension.
The Komets are 10-1-1 against the Mallards this season.
- In other news, the Komets raised about $9,000 for the Indiana National Guard Relief Fund, thanks to a auction of game-worn jerseys. Defenseman Guy Dupuis' fetched $1,222, Schrock's sold for $750 and Konstantin Shafranov's went for $700.
- Mark your calendars: The "We've got Game" internet radio show, co-hosted by Justin Cohn and Ben Smith, will be hitting the air on April 6. The show will feature a range of topics, from sports to pop culture. We'll have details to follow here, of course, but you can also bookmark the following page -- Click here -- to whet your appetite.
