Home Opener Oct. 17

Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets announced Monday their schedule for 2015-16. Fort Wayne's fourth season in the ECHL and 64th overall begins with a home-and-home series against longtime rival Kalamazoo. The season opens with a trip to Kalamazoo Friday, Oct. 16 before the two teams tangle on Coliseum ice in Fort Wayne for the Komets' home opener Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7:30pm. The 2015-16 campaign concludes with the Komets hosting the Indy Fuel Saturday, April 9.The ECHL has moved Fort Wayne from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference which is divided into three divisions. The Komets will be seated in the Midwest Division with rivals Cincinnati, Evansville, Indy and Quad City. Central Division rivals include Allen, Missouri, Tulsa and Wichita while Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Rapid City and Utah make up the West Division.Each team in the ECHL will skate a 72-game season evenly divided with 36 home games and 36 road games. The Komets will face Indy the most with 11 meetings as the Fuel visits the most with six trips to Fort Wayne. The Komets face Cincinnati the second most on 10 occasions and travel to Cincinnati a season high seven times.

31 of the 36 home games are slated for weekends and holidays. A rare Monday home game starts the Christmas holiday week on Dec. 21 against Gwinnett followed by a four-day holiday break. The Komets will continue to host traditional holiday games on Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. Cincinnati visits for Thanksgiving while Indy will be in town for New Year's Eve for the second straight year. The Komets will reciprocate with a trip to Indianapolis to face the Fuel on New Year's Day. It will be the first New Years Day game for the Komets since Jan. 1, 2011 when they celebrated the new year with a 4-3 shootout win at Dayton.The Komets will host a rare home triple-header weekend beginning with Orlando Friday Jan. 15. Rapid City then visits Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 16 and 17. It will be Rapid City's first appearance in Fort Wayne since April 8, 2012 in the CHL playoffs. Colorado returns to Fort Wayne Sunday, Feb. 21. The Eagles will be making their first visit to Fort Wayne since the Komets capped the 2010-11 CHL season with a 2-1 win over Colorado March 26, 2011.

"We are very pleased with our home schedule and look forward to bringing back the exciting rivalry with Colorado and Rapid City," Komet president Michael Franke said.

Making their Fort Wayne debuts in 2015-16 will be the Manchester Monarchs and the Brampton Beast. The Monarchs are a new entry in the ECHL from the AHL and will visit Friday, Dec. 18. The Beast will make their first visit to Fort Wayne Saturday, Dec. 19.The Komets will be making their first ever trek to Alaska this year. The Komets will visit the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage for three games against the Aces on March 9, 11 and 12.-Printable Komets 2015-16 schedule-Home start times-- The Komets will continue with start times of 7:30pm for Monday thru Thursday and Saturday games. Friday games will faceoff at 8pm and Sunday games will start at 5pm.Season tickets for the 64th season of Komet hockey in Fort Wayne are on sale at the Komet office, 1010 Memorial Way. for information visit www.komets.com or call the Komet office at 260-483-0011.