CHAMPS TO CLASH IN KOMETS HOME OPENER
CHL releases 2010-11 schedule
59th season of Komet Hockey in Fort Wayne starts Oct. 16

Fort Wayne, IN | Friday, July 23, 2010 --- The 59th season of Komet Hockey in Fort Wayne gets underway Saturday, Oct. 16 at 7:30pm when the reigning IHL Turner Cup champion Komets host last year's CHL Miron Cup champion Rapid City Rush.

The Central Hockey League (CHL) released the 2010-11 season schedule Friday.  The Komets, along with Bloomington, Dayton, Evansville and Quad City will continue to be members of the International Hockey League participating in the CHL North Conference along with Colorado, Missouri, Rapid City and Wichita.  Nine teams also make up the South Conference including Allen, Arizona, Bossier-Shreveport, Laredo, Mississippi, Odessa, Rio Grande Valley, Texas and Tulsa forming the 18-geam coalition.

Each team will play 66 games with the season running Oct. 15 through March 27.  The post-season will start the week of March 28.  The campaign marks the 19th year of hockey in the CHL and the IHL's 60th anniversary season.

The Komets will skate 36 home games and 30 road games to make up the 66-game slate.  Weekends and holidays dot 30 of the 36 Fort Wayne home dates.  "The schedule will give our fans more of a variety this year and it gets started on opening night with the clash of the champions," said Komet President Michael Franke.  "With the 30 weekend and holiday games including three games during the Christmas and New Year period when the kids are home from school, we couldn't be happier."

Fort Wayne faces Dayton the most with 14 meetings.  Dayton and Evansville each travel to Fort Wayne the most with seven trips planned for each team.  Quad City visits on six occasions and Bloomington skates on Fort Wayne ice five times.  Bossier-Shreveport, Colorado, Mississippi and Wichita each visit twice while Arizona, Missouri and Rapid City visit once apiece.  Allen, Laredo, Odessa, Rio Grande Valley, Texas nor Tulsa have games scheduled in Fort Wayne.

The Komets are home on 12 Fridays, nine Saturdays and five Sundays.  Ten games fall during the week Monday thru Thursday with eight Wednesdays, one Monday and one Thursday.  The Komets' busiest month will be February when they skate 14 games.  The Komets will play three games in three nights 10 times and have four stretches of four games in five nights.  The longest stretch of the season occurs Feb. 16 to Feb. 21 when the Komets will skate five games in six nights.  The longest time between home games is at the start of the season when the Komets have 19 days between their home opener Oct. 16 and the second home game of the season on Nov. 5.

The Komets make their first long road trip the second weekend of the season when they fly to Prescott Valley, Arizona to face the Sundogs Oct. 22 and Oct. 23.  It's the longest road trip in the league covering 1,819 miles.  Arizona will make the haul to Fort Wayne Nov. 19.

The Komets will host Bloomington for the first time this season Friday, Nov. 5, after completing last season with an eight-game unbeaten unbeaten streak against the PrairieThunder from the end of last season. 

One of the longest rivalries in the league continues Thursday, Nov. 20 when Fort Wayne visits the Hara Arena in Dayton.  It will be the 176th meeting between the Komets and Gems with the Komets trailing the all-time series 79-84-12.  The Komets finished last season riding an eight-game win streak against Dayton and taking the season series 12-3-0.

In three of the 11 meetings between the Komets and Evansville, the Icemen will play their home games in Fort Wayne at the Memorial Coliseum.  Those games are Nov. 6, Jan. 7 and Mar. 6.

The complete season schedule can be viewed by visiting the CHL website at www.centralhockeyleague.com.

The complete Fort Wayne schedule can be viewed by clicking here.

Home game times unchanged......the Komets will continue to start home games on Fridays at 8pm.  Saturdays and weekdays Monday thru Thursday will get underway at 7:30pm.  Sunday games faceoff at 5pm.

Fort Wayne debuts.....the coalition between the IHL and CHL will give Komet fans a chance to see teams never seen before in Fort Wayne.  Rapid City makes the trip from South Dakota for the first time ever for the Komets' home opener Saturday, Oct. 16.  The Arizona Sundogs first skate on Fort Wayne ice Friday, Nov. 19 for their only trip to Fort Wayne this season.  The Evansville Icemen, and new entry as a member of the IHL this year, will make the first of seven visits Saturday, Nov. 6.  The Mississippi RiverKings visit for the first of two games in Fort Wayne Wednesday, Dec. 29.  The Missouri Mavericks make their single trip of the campaign to Fort Wayne Wednesday, Jan. 19.  The Wichita Thunder make their debut at the Coliseum with back-to-back games Friday, Feb. 4 and Saturday, Feb. 5.  The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs first appear in Fort Wayne Wednesday, March 16 and the Colorado Eagles will visit for a pair when they make their Fort Wayne debut Friday, March 25. 

The Fort Wayne debut trips include visits to Arizona Friday, Oct. 22, Evansville Thursday, Oct. 11, Missouri Saturday, Nov. 13, Wichita Dec. 10, Bossier-Shreveport Jan. 28, Texas Jan. 30, Colorado March 11 and Rapid City March 12.