Coach Al Sims and captain Colin Chaulk retired, and now so has the goaltender who backstopped them to four championships between 2008 and 2012.One would think big crowds would lead to big victories for the Komets.
But that hasn't been the case.
In the 10 highest-attended games at Memorial Coliseum -- including Friday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs -- the Komets are only 4-4-2 and have been outscored 36-34.
This isn't to say Friday's game was awful. The Komets had an inspiring comeback from two goals down, thanks to power-play goals from Michael Ratchuk and P.C. Drouin. And goaltender Nick Boucher was awesome, stopping 30 of 32 shots and 6 of 8 shootout attempts.
(See the video of the shootout, and, yes, it's too bad I don't have Boucher's third-period check of Justin Aikins. But there are some great near-misses by the Komets.)
"Boucher played great and deserved a better outcome than what happened," Drouin said.
But the Mudbugs should give thanks to their goalie, John DeCaro, who stopped 23 of 25 shots, and 7 of 8 shootout attempts. Only Mathieu Curadeau foiled him in the shootout.
The Mudbugs' goals in the shootout came from Aikins and Steven Crampton.
The Komets lead the league in average attendance with 7,398 fans per game, and Friday's draw of 9,327 was the fourth largest of the season here.
The Fort Wayne team that went 82-19-13 at the Coliseum the last three seasons, is only 17-11-4 at home this season, the Komets' first in the CHL.
