The Komets have long had ties with the NHL's Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks' coach, Bruce Boudreau, is a former coach and player with Fort Wayne. And Fort Wayne's coach, Al Sims, is a former assistant coach with Anaheim.

So it makes sense that the Komets' most significant affiliation with a higher-level club since the 1990s would come with Anaheim.

"I think it's great for our hockey team to have the affiliation and for them to have enough confidence in us to develop their prospects and turn them into good pros," said Sims, whose team finalized an affiliation with the Ducks and the American Hockey League's Norfolk Admirals on Wednesday.

"I am looking forward to the relationship and it should be lots of fun working with some of my old acquaintances within the Ducks organization."

The Komets have won four championships in the last five years – three in the now-defunct IHL and last season's CHL title – and they are readying for their first ECHL season.

The Komets often had NHL affiliations in the original IHL, a AAA-level tier they left in 1999. In that final season, they had an affiliation with the NHL's Florida Panthers, but they haven't worked much with higher-level clubs since.

The Komets had informal working agreements with Kalamazoo of the higher-level IHL in 1999-2000 and with Norfolk in 2008-09. The Komets had an affiliation with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets in 2010-11, but it didn't bear much fruit for Fort Wayne.

Fort Wayne expects to place up to four players in Norfolk's training camp, which begins Sept. 27, a day before the Komets opens their camp.

Also on Wednesday, the Komets added five players to their preseason roster – defensemen Chris Haltigin and Tim Buttery, and forwards Brayden Metz, Michael Hoban and Cory Park – giving them 21 players so far.

Haltigan, 24, had five goals and 21 points in 39 games last season with the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he is the all-time leader in games played with 147.

Buttery, 24, had two goals and six points in 39 games with Michigan State.

Metz, 22, had 23 goals and 56 points in 56 games with Louisiana of the Single-A Southern Professional Hockey League. His spot in Komets camp was arranged through Dayton of the Federal Hockey League.

Hoban, 23, tallied eight goals and 22 points in 26 games with Babson College. If he doesn't make the club, he will play for Pensacola of the SPHL, coached by former Komets assistant Gary Graham.

And Park, 25, had 13 goals and 23 points in 24 games with Neumann College, the school the produced Komets star Lincoln Kaleigh Schrock.

Notes: Single-game tickets go on sale Sep. 12 at 10 a.m. at Memorial Coliseum's ticket office and at www.ticketmaster.com. Adult prices range from $12 in the upper deck to $25 in the lower arena. For seniors and students, they are $10 to $20. And for kids, they are $7 to $15.