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Professional minor league ice hockey team in Fort Wayne, Indiana From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team, which currently plays in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. They have won post-season championship titles in 1963, 1965, 1973, 1993, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2021. In all of North American professional hockey, only the Original Six teams of the NHL and the Hershey Bears of the AHL have played continuously in the same city with the same name longer than the Komets.
| Fort Wayne Komets | |
|---|---|
| |
| City | Fort Wayne, Indiana |
| League | ECHL (since 2012) |
| Conference | Western |
| Division | Central |
| Home arena | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum |
| Colors | Orange, black, white |
| Owner(s) | The Franke family/Scott Sproat |
| Head coach | Jesse Kallechy |
| Media | 96.3XKE (96.3 FM) (WXKE) |
| Affiliates | Edmonton Oilers (NHL) Bakersfield Condors (AHL) |
| Website | komets |
| Franchise history | |
| First IHL Franchise | |
| 1952–1990 | Fort Wayne Komets |
| 1990–1991 | Albany Choppers |
| Current ECHL Franchise | |
| 1985–1990 | Flint Spirits |
| 1990–present | Fort Wayne Komets |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 12 (1959–60, 1962–63, 1972–73, 1977–78, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1986–87, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09) |
| Division titles | 2 (2016, 2018) |
| Conference titles | 2 (2012, 2021) |
| Turner Cups | 7 (1963, 1965, 1973, 1993, 2008, 2009, 2010) |
| Ray Miron President's Cup | 1 (2012) |
| Colonial Cups | 1 (2003) |
| Kelly Cups | 1 (2021) |
 Current season | |
There have been two different hockey teams known as the Fort Wayne Komets. The original Komets franchise was founded in 1952 in the International Hockey League. In 1990 they moved to Albany, New York and became the Albany Choppers. They only played part of one season in Albany before folding on February 15, 1991.[1]
The second team was founded in 1985 in Flint, Michigan where they were known as the Flint Spirits. In 1990, only two days after the first Komets team left Fort Wayne, the Franke family of Fort Wayne bought the Flint Spirits, moved them to Fort Wayne, and took the Komets name and history. From 1985-1999 they also played in the IHL, then in 1999 they moved to the United Hockey League (UHL). In 2007 the UHL changed its name to the International Hockey League, which became available when the previous IHL ceased operations in 2001. In 2010 that league also ceased operations, and the Komets joined the Central Hockey League (CHL) along with the surviving members of their former league. In 2012 they left the CHL for their current league, the ECHL.
For the 2014–15 season, the Komets entered into a one-year affiliation with the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, providing a direct line to Colorado's American Hockey League affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters.[2][3] After a successful season and partnership proving beneficial to all parties, on July 21, 2015, the Komets announced a continuance of the affiliation with the Avalanche and new AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage on a two-year deal through the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons.[4] However, the Avalanche and Komets mutually agreed to end the affiliation one season early in 2016.[5] After a season operating independently of an affiliation, the Komets agreed to a one-year affiliation deal with the Arizona Coyotes and their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners,[6] but did not extend the affiliation after the deal ended.[7]
On August 21, 2018, the Komets announced a new one-year affiliation agreement with the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights and AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves.[8] The affiliation was later extended for the 2019–20 season.[9] The affiliation with the Golden Knights ended on May 19, 2022.[10]
On July 27, 2022, the Komets announced a new affiliation agreement with the NHL's Edmonton Oilers and their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.[11]
On May 28, 2024, the Komets and Edmonton Oilers extended their affiliation agreement for the 2024-25 season.[12]
This is a partial list of the last ten seasons completed by the Fort Wayne Komets. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Fort Wayne Komets seasons
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | Pts | GF | GA | PIM | Standing | Year | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | Kelly Cup |
| 2012–13 | 72 | 33 | 35 | 1 | 3 | 70 | 205 | 246 | 1385 | 4th, North | 2013 | Did not qualify | |||
| 2013–14 | 72 | 36 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 84 | 215 | 215 | 954 | 3rd, North | 2014 | W, 4–1, REA | L, 2–4, CIN | — | — |
| 2014–15 | 72 | 48 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 102 | 251 | 200 | 1033 | 2nd, North | 2015 | W, 4–1, KAL | L, 3–4, TOL | — | — |
| 2015–16 | 72 | 40 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 89 | 240 | 200 | 1196 | 1st, Midwest | 2016 | W, 4–3, CIN | W, 4–0, UTA | L, 1–4, ALN | — |
| 2016–17 | 72 | 45 | 19 | 6 | 2 | 98 | 264 | 210 | 1292 | 2nd, Central | 2017 | W, 4–1, QC | L, 1–4, TOL | — | — |
| 2017–18 | 72 | 46 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 98 | 290 | 216 | 1078 | 2nd, Central | 2018 | W, 4–1, CIN | W, 4–2, TOL | L, 3–4, COL | — |
| 2018–19 | 76 | 36 | 26 | 4 | 6 | 82 | 233 | 248 | 1132 | 3rd, Central | 2019 | L, 2–4, TOL | — | — | — |
| 2019–20 | 62 | 31 | 23 | 6 | 2 | 70 | 218 | 220 | 1044 | 3rd, Central | 2020 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||
| 2020–21 | 51 | 29 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 63 | 170 | 136 | 925 | 3rd, West Conf. | 2021 | — | W, 3–2, WIC | W, 3–1, ALN | W, 3–1, SC |
| 2021–22 | 72 | 40 | 25 | 6 | 1 | 87 | 267 | 225 | 1271 | 2nd, Central | 2022 | L, 3–4, WHL | — | — | — |
| 2022–23 | 72 | 34 | 31 | 4 | 3 | 75 | 270 | 275 | 1450 | 4th, Central | 2023 | L, 3–4, CIN | — | — | — |
| 2023–24 | 72 | 35 | 30 | 3 | 4 | 77 | 224 | 226 | 996 | 5th, Central | 2024 | Did not qualify | |||
Records as of the conclusion of the 2023–24 regular season.[13]
The Komets have honored over 40 personnel in three sections - Executive Builders, Team Personnel and Media - in the Komets Hall of Fame established in 1988. They have also retired numbers to honor 16 people over the course of their history.[14]
| No. | Player | Position | Tenure | Date of honor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chuck Adamson | G | 1962–1967 | October 26, 2013 |
| 2 | Guy Dupuis | D | 1991–2011 | October 29, 2011 |
| 5 | Terry Pembroke | D | 1964–1978 | 1988 |
| 6 | Lionel Repka | D | 1958–1969 | 1988 |
| 11 | Len Thornson | C | 1957–1969 | 1988 |
| 12 | Reg Primeau | C | 1960–1969 | 1988 |
| 16 | Eddie Long | RW | 1952–1966 | 1988 |
| 18 | Rob Laird | LW | 1974–1989 | March 6, 2002 |
| 26 | Colin Chin | C | 1986–1996 | November 17, 2007 |
| 30 | Robbie Irons | G | 1967–1981 | 1988 |
| 33 | Nick Boucher | G | 2007–2012 | October 26, 2013 |
| 40 | Bob Chase | Media | 1953–2016 | 1993 |
| 58 | Ken Ullyot | Owner | 1958–1982 | 1988 |
| 59 | Colin Lister | Owner | 1959–1985 | 1988 |
| 77 | Steven Fletcher | LW | 1990–2002 | November 17, 2007 |
| 91 | Colin Chaulk | C | 2002–2013 | February 19, 2017 |
| 504[lower-alpha 1] | Al Sims[15] | Coach | 1989–93, 2007–13 | March 25, 2017 |
List of Fort Wayne Komets alumni who played more than 100 games in the IHL and 100 or more games in the National Hockey League/World Hockey Association.
List of Fort Wayne Komets alumni who played more than 25 games in the ECHL and 25 or more games in the National Hockey League.
These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed regular season.
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; * = still active with the team
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Len Thornson | C | 763 | 412 | 807 | 1219 |
| Eddie Long | RW | 801 | 425 | 427 | 852 |
| Colin Chaulk | C | 581 | 187 | 497 | 684 |
| Terry McDougall | C | 507 | 249 | 395 | 644 |
| Colin Chin | C | 660 | 246 | 390 | 636 |
| John Goodwin | LW | 480 | 200 | 387 | 587 |
| Guy Dupuis | D | 945 | 126 | 417 | 543 |
| Reg Primeau | C | 452 | 200 | 342 | 542 |
| Merv Dubchak | RW | 437 | 321 | 218 | 539 |
| Robbie Laird | LW | 520 | 223 | 276 | 499 |
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