Tailing The Komets

The Midwest Hockey League is adding a Fort Wayne franchise for the 2009-10 season at McMillen Park Ice Arena. The Class A-level minor league starts the season in November with teams in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.

“We are very encouraged to be able to place a franchise in Fort Wayne,” MWHL President Wade Stuckey said. “Fort Wayne may well be the best minor league city in America. We realize that with proper scheduling and with greater possibilities for local players, there are plenty of fans in this city. At our price point, there are definitely enough hockey dollars for both organizations to flourish in Fort Wayne. We are very encouraged.”

Mike DeLong has been named the team’s general manager after previously holding the same position with the Findlay Freedom of the former North East Hockey League.

The Fort Wayne nickname will be selected through an on-line contest, with the winning entry receiving a pair of season tickets. Fans may submit their entries at info@mwhl.com.

You can read about it here.

On another thread here, we started talking about if the police and courts should ever step in when something terrible happens on the ice. What’s the standard. I have always had trouble understanding why something that happens in the stands gets someone arrested, while 15 feet away on the ice it’s just part of the game. Isn’t breaking the law, breaking the law?

I’m not suggesting that everything that happens on the ice should be subject to arrest and prosecution, but there will be and have been incidents that should be considered for this. Actions that went way above and beyond the normal intent of the game. Remember this play a few years ago? That was atrocious and in my mind should have been prosecuted.

What do you guys think? Is there anything that happens on the ice you think could be subject to the laws of society, or is it anything goes? What if someone deliberately attacks someone and they die from it? That will happen someday because no matter how much players get suspended, the incidents keep getting worse. Would it make any difference to you if it happened to one of your favorite players?

The first one about the schedule and its hassles is here.

The second one about Colin Chaulk’s 3-on-3 tournament this Saturday is here. This sounds like a lot of fun just to go watch. There’s going to be some tired kids after this. I suggested he let the winners take on Colin, Guy and P.C.

Gross misconduct blog foul on Burgee. Don’t you know we’re trying to attract people to the blog, not drive them away? And I really never was a little thinner. Wendy gets extra points for her picture, though.

Komets President Michael Franke said Wednesday the Komets still hope to move two or three Wednesday games to weekend dates. The Komets are waiting for the NBDL’s Mad Ants to announce their schedule to see which dates are available.

Because the Komets have been Memorial Coliseum tenants for 57 years, the hockey team gets first priority for the first 30 dates it submits, Franke said.

“You’re probably going to get 80 percent of them, and that’s 24 dates,” he said. “The difference between 24 and 38 is 14 dates. We basically have almost every other night during the year that’s not being utilized by a concert or IPFW basketball or the Mad Ants. We have to wait until the Mad Ants schedule is done to see what’s available.”

Franke said the reason the schedule was released Wednesday is because the other IHL teams needed to announce their dates.

The Komets currently have nine Saturday games throughout the season but play eight times on Wednesdays. Last season they had 14 Saturday home games compared to six Wednesdays which included New Year’s Eve. They have not played more than six Wednesdays at home for at least 15 years.

They have also not played fewer than 10 home games on Saturdays since 1995-96. Franke said over the past five years the team has averaged 7,400 fans on Fridays and 8,200 on Saturdays.
During December, January and February, the Komets play only two games at home on Saturdays. Franke said there were only three dates offered to the Komets because the coliseum was booked, including the IHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournament and the NCAA Men’s Hockey Regional.

The Komets play only six home games in December, five in January and six in February.
Another factor was the odd number in the now seven-team IHL. Franke said the clubs tried their best to keep teams idle on Fridays and Saturdays when their building was not available so it would not have a negative effect on attendance.

“This is the most difficult schedule I’ve ever been involved with,” Franke said. “If we can move a couple of midweek games in the next two weeks and get to between 30 and 32 dates on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, we’ll be very, very happy.”

KOMETS 2009-10 SCHEDULE

October

16 – at Dayton, 7:30 p.m.; 17 – at Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 23 – Bloomington, 8 p.m.; 24 – at Quad City, 8:05 p.m.; 30 – at Bloomington, 8:05 p.m.; 31 – Muskegon, 7:30 p.m.

November

6 – at Flint, 7:30 p.m.; 13 – Quad City, 8 p.m.; 14 – Dayton, 7:30 p.m.; 15 – at Muskegon, 5 p.m.; 18 – Flint, 7:30 p.m.; 20 – Muskegon, 8 p.m.; 21 – at Bloomington, 8:05 p.m.; 22 – at Quad City, 5:05 p.m.; 26 – Flint, 7:30 p.m.; 27 – at Muskegon, 7 p.m.; 28 – Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.

December

4 – Quad City, 4 p.m.; 5 – at Dayton, 7:30 p.m.; 9 – Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 12 – at Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 13 – Dayton, 5 p.m.; 18 – Quad City, 8 p.m.; 19 – at Quad City, 8:05 p.m.; 20 – at Bloomington, 5:05 p.m.; 26 – at Muskegon, 7 p.m.; 27 – at Flint, 4 p.m.; 29 – Dayton, 7:30 p.m.; 30 – at Dayton, 7 p.m.; 31 – Bloomington, 7:30 p.m.

January

2 – at Flint, 7:30 p.m.; 8 – Bloomington, 8 p.m.; 9 – Muskegon, 7:30 p.m.; 10 – at Dayton, 5 p.m.; 15 – Flint, 8 p.m.; 16 – at Bloomington, 8:05 p.m.; 17 – Quad City, 5 p.m.; 22 – at Muskegon, 7 p.m.; 25 – at Port Huron, 7 p.m.; 29 – Quad City, 8 p.m.; 31 – at Port Huron, 5 p.m.

February

3 – Dayton, 7:30 p.m.; 5 – Port Huron, 8 p.m.; 6 – at Quad City, 8:05 p.m.; 10 – Bloomington, 7:30 p.m.; 13 – at Quad City, 7:05 p.m.; 14 – at Bloomington, 5:05 p.m.; 17 – Bloomington, 7:30 p.m.; 19 – Port Huron, 8 p.m.; 20 – at Dayton, 7:30 p.m.; 24 – at Quad City, 8:05 p.m.; 26 – at Dayton, 7:30 p.m..; 27 – Flint, 7:30 p.m.

March

3 – Dayton, 7:30 p.m.; 5 – at Bloomington, 8:05 p.m.; 6 – at Flint, 7:30 p.m.; 7 – Flint, 5 p.m.; 10 – Bloomington, 7:30 p.m.; 12 – Muskegon, 8 p.m.; 13 – Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 17 – at Port Huron, 7 p.m.; 19 – Quad City, 8 p.m.; 20 – Muskegon, 7:30 p.m.; 21 - at Dayton, 5 p.m.; 26 – at Muskegon, 7 p.m.; 27 – at Dayton, 7:30 p.m.; 28 – at Flint, 4 p.m.

April

2 – at Flint, 7:30 p.m.; 3 – Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 7 – Muskegon, 7:30 p.m.; 9 – Dayton, 8 p.m.; 10 – at Dayton, 7:30 p.m.; 11 – Quad City, 5 p.m.; 16 – at Quad City, 8:05 p.m.; 17 – Quad City, 7:30 p.m.; 18 – Flint, 5 p.m.

I was just reading about some general problems newspaper bloggers have on their sites in regard to profanity, insulting posters and general mayhem just to stir things up and get attention, and I wanted to thank you that I don’t have to deal with that too often. (Unless we’re talking about Burgee’s five-hole, that is.) But thank you for keeping your comments relatively sane and classy. It is not something I take for granted, but I always appreciate. I know I’ve got it pretty good with you folks.

About Woods and Syroczynski can be read here.

From Glenn Marini of WANE.

Mitch Woods video can be seen here.

Matt Syroczynski can be watched here.

* Here are some videos from WANE on Mitch and Syro.

* IHL schedule should be released tomorrow afternoon.

* Komets are still talking with Rick Varone and Olivier Legault.

* Komets will not have a new home uniform but will have a second road uniform which will make its debut at home in December for reverse jersey month.

“We were going to make a change (with the home jerseys), but after talking to some of the players and getting their input, I think they would prefer we stay with the same home jersey,” David Franke said. “We’ve won a lot of games and championships in that jersey, and we don’t need to make a change yet.”

* The Komets are not talking to Robin Big Snake.

* Franke said the Komets are looking at getting 26 to 28 players in training camp, and that includes a forward, defenseman and a goaltender from Evansville.

* Need to get your hockey fix? Colin Chaulk is having a 3-on-3 tournament at McMillen on Saturday.