The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

. This team was previously a member of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

, the original International Hockey League, and the second International Hockey League. They have won four post-season championship titles in the original IHL in 1963, 1965, 1973, and 1993, four in the UHL/second IHL in 2003, 2008, 2009, and 2010, one in the CHL in 2012, and one in the ECHL in 2021. In all of North American professional hockey, only the

Original Six The Original Six () are the teams that comprised the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1942 and 1967. The six teams are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leaf ...

teams of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

and the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

of the AHL have played continuously in the same city with the same name longer than the Komets.

History

The original Komets franchise played in the previous iteration of the International Hockey League from 1952 until 1990. The original IHL franchise then moved to

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

in 1990 as the Albany Choppers. Only two days later, the Franke family of Fort Wayne bought the

Flint Spirits The Flint Spirits were a professional hockey team in Flint, Michigan from 1985 to 1990, and played their home games at the IMA Sports Arena. They were a part of the International Hockey League and replaced the recently departed Flint Generals t ...

, moved them to Fort Wayne, and took the Komets name and history. The Albany Choppers would only play part of one season before folding on February 15, 1991. In 1999, the second IHL Komets franchise joined the

United Hockey League The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the Unite ...

(which later took the IHL name in 2007). In 2010, the UHL/IHL ceased operations and the Komets joined the

along with the surviving members of their former league. They left the CHL for the

in 2012. For the 2014–15 season, the Komets entered into a one-year affiliation with the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

of the

, providing a direct line to Colorado's

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

affiliate, the

Lake Erie Monsters The Cleveland Monsters are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). The team began play in 2007 as the Lake Erie Monsters and since 2015 has served as the top affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hock ...

. 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 The San Antonio Rampage were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. The Rampage was primarily owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment throughout the team's existence. In 2020, the franchise was sold ...

on a two-year deal through the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons. However, the Avalanche and Komets mutually agreed to end the affiliation one season early in 2016. After a season operating independently of an affiliation, the Komets agreed to a one-year affiliation deal with the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mul ...

and their AHL affiliate, the

Tucson Roadrunners The Tucson Roadrunners are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play for the 2016–17 season. Based in Tucson, Arizona, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes, the team plays i ...

, but did not extend the affiliation after the deal ended. On August 21, 2018, the Komets announced a new one-year affiliation agreement with the NHL's

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expan ...

and AHL affiliate

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

. The affiliation was later extended for the 2019–20 season. The affiliation with the Golden Knights ended on May 19, 2022. On July 27, 2022, the Komets announced a new affiliation agreement with the NHL's

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

and their AHL affiliate, the

Bakersfield Condors The Bakersfield Condors are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Bakersfield, California. The team is owned by and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers. The Condors play their home ...

Season-by-season results

''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 This is a list of seasons completed by Fort Wayne Komets in the teams' history across multiple franchises in the original International Hockey League (1952–99), United/International Hockey League (1999–2010), Central Hockey League (2010–12), ...

'' Records as of the conclusion of the 2021–22 regular season.

Players

Current roster

Updated December 21, 2022.

Retired numbers

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 number Retiring the number of an athlete is an honor a team bestows upon a player, usually after the player has left the team, retires from the sport, or dies, by taking his or her former number out of circulation. Once a number is retired, no future pla ...

s to honor 16 people over the course of their history.

Franchise records

Scoring leaders

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

Regular season

*Most goals in a season: Merv Dubchak, 72 (1965–66) *Most assists in a season: Len Thornson, 93 (1966–67) *Most points in a season: Len Thornson, 139 (1966–67) & Terry McDougall, 139 (1978–79) *Most penalty minutes in a season: Andy Bezeau, 590 (1995–96) *Most wins in a season: Kevin St. Pierre, 43 (2003–04) *Most shutouts in a season: Kevin Reiter, 7 (2007–08) & Kevin St. Pierre, 7 (2003–04)

Team records

* On March 28, 2008, the Komets set a new professional hockey record of 23 straight home wins. They defeated the

Kalamazoo Wings The Kalamazoo Wings, nicknamed the K-Wings, are a mid-level professional ice hockey team in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A member of the ECHL's Western Conference, Central Division, they play in the 5,113-seat Wings Event Center. They are the affiliate ...

4–3. The record ended at 25. * On April 12, 2008, the Komets set a new Fort Wayne hockey record of 56 wins in a season. The previous record of 53 was set in 2003–04. * On May 15, 2010, the Komets defeated the Flint Generals in Game 5 of the IHL Turner Cup Finals to win the series, four games to one, earning the Komets a "three-peat" after winning the Turner Cup in 2008 and 2009 as well.

References

External links