Komets open season tonight at Kalamazoo

Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets open the 2015-16 campaign tonight when they faceoff against the Wings at Kalamazoo at 7:30.

After tonight, the Komets and Wings travel back to Fort Wayne for the Komets' 64th home opener Saturday night at 7:30 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.The Komets have opened the season against Kalamazoo three times before going 0-3-0 with all three games at home and are 33-25-0-5 after 63 season openers. This will be the 38th season Fort Wayne has been in a league with Kalamazoo, but the Komets have never before opened a season at Kalamazoo. The Komets have had six previous home openers against a Kalamazoo team (1-3-1-1) and are 39-18-1-5 after 63 home openers.

The Komets open the season with 22 players on the roster including 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders after a two-week preseason training camp. -See Komet Roster-Returning to the Komet fold from last year are forwards Brett Perlini, Mike Embach, Shawn Szydlowski, Garrett Meurs and Kyle Thomas along with defensemen Cody Sol and Drew Daniels and goaltender Pat Nagle. Fans will recognize forward Dean Ouellet and defenseman Jordon Southorn who are returning after skating the 2013-14 season in Fort Wayne. Szydlowski led the Komets last year with 38 goals and 74 points and was voted the team MVP. Embach was the top playmaker with 46 assists and ranked second with 70 points. Daniels is entering his second season with the Komets after earning the ECHL Plus Performer of the Year last season with +46. Daniels captured the Komets' Defenseman of the Year Award after leading blueliners with 41 assists and 45 points.Newcomer Jamie Schaafsma will start the season as captain of the Komets. The veteran center collected his third league championship in as many seasons with Allen in the ECHL last season. Alternate captains will be Daniels and Szydlowski.

The Komets are enjoying their second season as an affiliate of the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and first as an affiliate with the AHL's San Antonio Rampage. Eight players will start the season in Fort Wayne as a result of the affiliation including Alex Belzile (RW), Trevor Cheek (F), Garrett Meurs (RW), Brock Montgomery (RW), Cody Corbett (D), Justin Hamonic (D), Will Weber (D) and Spencer Martin (G).

Pre-game ceremonies begin at 7:30pm sharp Saturday for the home opener. Fans are encouraged to arrive early.The Komets will skate a balanced schedule of 36 home games and 36 road games and will reside in the ECHL Western Conference, Midwest Division with Cincinnati, Evansville, Indy and Quad City. Even though they're not in the same conference, the Wings will face the Komets eight times and the Toledo Walleye battle the Komets nine times. The Komets will see division and state rival Indy the most at 11 meetings while Cincinnati will skate against the Komets 10 times. The Komets will face Quad City seven times and Rapid City four times.-See Komets Schedule-

Tickets for all 36 Komet home games are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office and online at TicketMaster.com. Season tickets for 2015-16 continue on sale at the Komet office at 1010 Memorial Way in Fort Wayne. Call the Komet office at 260-483-0011 or visit komets.com for more information.Komets on the air-- Komet games this weekend will be aired on Fort Wayne radio as Bob Chase launches his 63rd consecutive season announcing Komet hockey play-by-play radio rinkside. Tonight's game will be broadcast on WOWO AM 1190 and FM 92.3. Due to conflicting schedules, Saturday night's Komet home opener will be broadcast on ESPN Radio AM 1380. All Komet radio broadcasts can also be heard worldwide as presented by Omni Source Radio Recycle at www.komets.com.Tonight's match at Kalamazoo will also be aired by MyTV in Fort Wayne. It will be the first of 12 Komet road games telecast by MyTV during the season and carried on the station's Fort Wayne digital and cable channels including digital channel 33.2 and cable channels Comcast SD 18 and 252, Comcast HD 1018, Direct TV 34, Frontier SD 9 and Frontier HD 509. 21Alive's Tommy Schoegler and Kent Hormann will again share play-by-play duties.Soundoff With The Komets continues this year on 21Alive in Fort Wayne. The 30-minute live telecast is hosted by Tommy Schoegler from SportOne/Parkview IceHouse each Monday night at 7:30 throughout the season. This Monday Tommy's guest will be Komet play-by-play announcer Bob Chase and, for this Monday night, will actually air from the Field House.See the Komets Wednesday at Tucanos Brazilian Grill in Jefferson Pointe. Komet legendary mascot Icy will be on hand with Komet stars Mike Embach, Pat Nagle, Cody Sol and Drew Daniels for photos, autographs, great food, friends and fun! See the Komets at Tucanos from 6:30pm-8pm Wednesday, Oct. 21!