Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets announced Wednesday that they have added two more names to the 2016-17 preseason roster. Defenseman Bobby Shea and goaltender Garrett Bartus have agreed to terms.
Shea, 26, will be entering his fourth pro season after spending most of last season appearing in 64 ECHL games with South Carolina while adding three AHL games in Hershey. The Harrison Township, Michigan native logged career highs and led Stingray defensemen with 24 assists and 29 points while leading South Carolina with 180 penalty minutes.Shea enjoyed a four-year collegiate career with Bowling Green State University and finished in 2012-13 leading the Falcons defensemen with 16 assists and 20 points in 40 games. He was also named to the CCHA All-Conference Second Team before making his pro debut appearing in four regular season games with Reading in the ECHL before helping the Royals to the 2013 Kelly Cup Championship in his first pro playoff appearance.
In 2013-14 the defenseman skated 19 games with Toledo and added 29 games with Rockford during his AHL debut. Shea again split 2014-15 between the ECHL and the AHL logging 36 games with Wheeling and 24 AHL games with Hamilton. Shea comes to Fort Wayne with ECHL totals of nine goals, 35 assists, 44 points and 312 penalty minutes after 123 ECHL games.
The Komets also announced that goaltender Garrett Bartus has been added to the preseason roster after signing a tryout agreement. Bartus, 27, appeared in two games with Fort Wayne during 2014-15. The St. Charles, Illinois native will be entering his fourth pro year after backstopping 45 SPHL games last year with Macon. Bartus also appeared in three ECHL games with Adirondack.
Bartus registered a four-year collegiate career in the AHA with the University of Connecticut from 2009-2013. He was named team MVP for 2009-10 and 2010-11 and set new UConn records with 2,816 career saves and five shutouts in a season (2011-12). The netminder posted his first full pro season in 2013-14 appearing in 24 ECHL games with Evansville.
The Fort Wayne roster of 26 players includes 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders. See preseason roster
Three preseason games slated-- The Komets will skate three exhibition games, two at home and one on the road. The preseason schedule is as follows:Friday, Oct. 7, Indy Fuel at Fort Wayne Komets, 8pm ET (Allen County War Memorial Coliseum)Saturday, Oct. 8, Fort Wayne Komets at Indy Fuel, 6pm ET (Indiana Farmers Coliseum)Monday, Oct. 10, Brampton Beast at Fort Wayne Komets, 7:30pm ET (Allen County War Memorial Coliseum)
Home opener Oct. 15-- The Komets will open the season with a home-and-home series against the Quad City Mallards starting Friday, Oct. 14 at Quad City. Both teams return to Fort Wayne for the Komets' home opener Saturday, Oct. 15.See 2016-17 Komet schedule
Season tickets and group tickets for 2016-17 are 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 information.