Three home holiday games this week

Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets are home for the holiday week heading into New Year's Eve Saturday as they will host three games on Sweetwater Ice at the Memorial Coliseum in five nights this week.Tuesday, the intrastate rival Indy Fuel (8-17-2, 18 points) are in town for a 7:30pm faceoff. The Fuel have been struggling as of late posting an 11 game losing skid and are winless in their last dozen outings (0-11-1) after establishing a six-game win streak from Nov. 11th thru the 23rd. It will be Indy's second of four trips to Fort Wayne this season and the second of nine meetings after a 4-0 Komet win Nov. 4.Thursday, the Cincinnati Cyclones blow into town for a midweek 7:30pm faceoff. It's the third of eight meetings this season and the first visit by the Cyclones out of three. The Komets are 1-1-0 after the first two meetings. Fort Wayne scored a 2-0 shutout in the last meeting Dec. 7 at Cincinnati. The Clones will host Kalamazoo Tuesday before traveling to Fort Wayne Thursday and are 4-2-2 in their last eight games.Saturday the Komets host their 60th New Year's Eve home game when the Toledo Walleye (21-4-1, 43 points) check in at 7:30pm. The Komets are 40-14-5 at home when welcoming in the new year and have won their last three New Year's Eve games after a 7-0 celebration last year over Indy. Toledo is no stranger to celebrating New Year's Eve in Fort Wayne. The Komets have welcomed in the new year with a Toledo team 10 times before for a 4-6-0 record. The tradition of the Komets playing on New Year's Eve started with a 3-2 home win against the Troy Bruins in 1955. Since then only two dates for a game in Fort Wayne have been missed. The Komets scored a 5-2 win at Indianapolis against the Chiefs in an IHL New Year's Eve game in 1961 for the only one on the road. In 1975-76 the Komets did not schedule a New Year's Eve game. Saturday's match is the third of six meetings this year against the Walleye with the Komets 0-1-1 after the first two meetings. Toledo is riding a five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1) and have only lost four games in regulation in 26 games to date. The Walleye host Wheeling Tuesday, skate at Kalamazoo Wednesday and host Brampton Friday before visiting Fort Wayne for New Year's Eve.-Komets Schedule-

About last week-- The Komets completed the week before the Christmas break taking a split of two games played. After 27 games the Komets are 16-8-3 with 35 points and hold third place in the Central division of the ECHL's Western Conference after advancing to within a point of second place Tulsa (17-12-2, 36 points) with four games in hand.

Wednesday the Komets clipped the Mallards at Quad City 4-3 for a 4-1-0 season series lead after five meetings. The win stopped a brief two-game road winless skid and gave Fort Wayne a three-game win streak, the first since the start of the season.-Gamesheet-

Friday the Komets capped the week with a 6-1 home loss to Brampton. It was Fort Wayne's first home loss in six games and only the third home loss of the season in 13 tilts.-Gamesheet-

Komet streaks-- Kyle Thomas dished an assist on Fort Wayne's goal Friday against Brampton to extend his point-scoring streak to five games (4g, 5a) and he has a home assist and point streak of four games (3g, 6a).

Komet leaders-- Shawn Szydlowski is tied with Thomas at the top with 14 goals and leads with 23 assists and 37 points. Cody Sol leads with +19 and 92 penalty minutes. -Teamstats-

Making tracks-- Mike Cazzola has scored points in six of the last eight games (8g, 5a), Szydlowski has scored points in nine of the last 11 games (6g, 14a), Jamie Schaafsma has points in five of the last seven games (2g, 9a), Thomas has points in seven of the last eight games (4g, 8a) and Brady Vail has scored points in three of his last four games (2g, 2a).

Milestones-- Vail scored his first game winner of the season in Wednesday's 4-3 win at Quad City and for his 100th regular season pro point. Will Weber has skated 98 ECHL career regular season games and Szydlowski has scored 99 career goals (regular season).Family Four Pack, 4 for $55 Night Tuesday-- Fans can take advantage of a 4-for-$55 offer at Tuesday's home game against Indy courtesy of Midwest America Federal Credit Union. Get four tickets, four hot dogs, four soft drinks, four chips for only $55 when purchasing the Family Four Pack at the Memorial Coliseum Ticket Office.

Kids Seat Free Thursday-- Once again this season the Komets feature Kids Seat Free Nights. The next Kids Seat Free Night is this Thursday when Cincinnati visits, courtesy Aunt Millie's, Parkview Health and the Komets. Any child under the age of 12 can see the game for free with a full-priced adult ticket purchase.Komets announce Equipment Sale at Thursday's game-- Prior to and during the Komet home game this Thursday with Cincinnati, the Komets will hold a new and used hockey equipment and skate sale in the Century Club room located just north of the Komet locker room in the Coliseum. Skates, protective equipment and sticks will all be sold at discounted prices.

McDougall's #19 to be retired-- The Komets will retire the number 19 in honor of Fort Wayne legend Terry McDougall in a ceremony to be held on Saturday, Jan. 7 when the Komets host the Quad City Mallards at 7:30pm. McDougall skated seven seasons with the Komets from 1975 to 1982 setting many regular season and playoff records, including most points in a season, tied with Len Thornson, at 139 set in 1978-79 for the IHL's scoring championship. McDougall totaled 576 Fort Wayne career games and is expected to be present for his number retirement ceremony in Fort Wayne.

Komets on the air-- Komet games are scheduled to air this season on WOWO AM 1190 and FM 107.5 with Shane Albahrani calling the play-by-play. All Komet radio broadcasts can also be heard worldwide as presented by Omni Source Radio Recycle at www.komets.com.

Single game and group tickets on sale-- Single game tickets for all Komet home games are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office, online at TicketMaster.com, or at the Komet office at 1010 Memorial Way. Also, Group Night packages are available for Family, Business or Civic Group outings. For more information visit Komets.com or call 260-483-0011.