First of all, let me apologize for my absence since last weekend. The fine folks from South Dakota sent me home sick.

And you want me healthy and rested, don't you? After all, if we've learned anything around here, it's that there really is no offseason.

Last year, there was the IHL getting absorbed by the CHL. The year before that, it was Kalamazoo bolting from the IHL, which led to that league's demise. Two summers before that, it was the UHL that folded and was replaced by the IHL.

So what will this summer bring? Well, if you believe what the Komets have been saying publicly, nothing. Click here to read what general manager David Franke told Ben Smith earlier in the week.

Off the record, people in the know are saying two things: a) The Komets have been, and will always, keep their options open. b) No decisions can be made anyway, until we see what teams are actually leaving the CHL and what the landscape looks like.

We know for sure that Odessa is going to the junior-level North American Hockey League, but other teams in the south could to the Southern Professional Hockey League, and there are rumors Colorado is heading to the ECHL.

Click here to read what the Quad City Times had to say.

I know what you're thinking: Who the heck are the Komets going to play? Well, I honestly don't look at these defections making any difference for the Komets. If Dayton folded or Quad City went to the ECHL, then that would alter the perspective. But, honestly, the landscape in the region is the same now as it was last year, when the Komets chose the CHL.

Of course, any rational person could look at this and see that the ECHL has teams in Cincinnati, Kalamazoo, Toledo, Chicago and Wheeling, and that would make infinitely more sense for Fort Wayne in travel and in building rivalries. But you can't suppose that anyone is being rational. If they were, the ECHL, SPHL and CHL would have gotten together long ago and made a geographically-logical AA tier of minor league hockey, where travel costs aren't insanely high.

But there are too many egos involved, too many strained relations between teams and leagues and personalities, and until everyone is losing enough money, they won't come to their senses.

So, what's going to happen? I don't know. And I don't think the Komets know. But I would take everything anybody says in the coming two months with a grain of salt. Teams will be moving, owners will be changing and Fort Wayne -- one of the very few economically viable teams around -- will be in the luxurious position of being able to choose its destination. You can't tell me any league -- even the ECHL -- would look at the Komets' attendance and history and say, "Nah, we don't want them."

But for the fans' sakes, I hope the Komets choose a league and stick with it. They have said they're sticking with the CHL. But until this two-year trial union between the CHL and IHL is up, and they then recommit, I won't truly believe it. If there's one thing the Komets truly lack right now, it's a rival or two or three, and those are only built over time.

The Komets do have a fledgling rivalry with Bloomington, though, but will the PrairieThunder still be around next season? Click here. Of course, the PrairieThunder is pretty dysfunctional off the ice: Click here.

By the way, could the Rapid City vs. Colorado series actually be better the Fort Wayne vs. Rapid City series? I doubt it. But, this one will actually be best-of-seven. Click here.