Komets expand preseason roster by three

Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets announced Wednesday that they have added three forwards to the preseason roster.  Brett McKenzie, Taylor Ross and Alan Lyszczarczyk have agreed to terms for 2019-20.

McKenzie, 22, is coming off his rookie pro season of 62 ECHL games with Atlanta where he ranked second with 29 assists and third with 45 points while adding 54 penalty minutes.  The forward also made his AHL debut appearing in five games with Providence. 

McKenzie was selected by Vancouver in round 7 of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft prior to his third season of juniors with North Bay.  During 2016-17 the Ottawa, Ontario native scored OHL career highs of 29 goals, 38 assists to lead the Battalion with 67 points prior to being named to the 2017 OHL All-Star Team.  McKenzie completed his juniors career with 101 goals, 123 assists and 224 points in 328 OHL games.

Ross, 21, will be looking to make his pro debut with Fort Wayne after serving four full seasons in the WHL. Last season the Kronau, Saskatchewan native ranked second on Lethbridge with 34 goals, fourth with 69 points and led the Hurricanes with a plus-minus of +41 for a career year of juniors.  Prior to juniors, Ross won the 2014 SMHL Championship with the Notre Dame Argos midget team before splitting the 2014-15 season with Estevan (SJHL) and Spokane (WHL) in his juniors debut.

Lyszczarczyk (liss-ZARR-chick), 21, completed a four-year juniors career last season, sharing the year with Owen Sound and Mississauga in the OHL.  The forward led Mississauga with 35 goals and 71 points in 54 games to finish with OHL totals of 87 goals, 118 assists and 205 points in 251 games.  Before his juniors career, Lyszczarczyk skated two complete seasons in the Czech U18 league with Prati Chomutov where he totaled 96 points in 61 games.

The Komets preseason roster grows to 11 players including seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender.  

See the Komets preseason roster

Komets to face Nailers in two preseason tilts-- The Komets will face the Wheeling Nailers in two exhibition games.  The home-and-home practice series starts Friday, Oct. 4 at Wheeling at 7:05pm ET.  The Komets will host the Nailers Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7:35pm ET on Sweetwater Ice at the Memorial Coliseum completing the preseason slate.

68th season opener Oct. 12-- The Komets will open the 68th season of Komet Hockey on Saturday, Oct. 12 when the Kalamazoo Wings visit for a 7:35pm faceoff. 72 games are scheduled for the 2019-20 campaign with 36 at home and 36 away.

See Komets schedule

Season tickets for 2019-20 are on sale now at the Komet office at 1010 Memorial Way.  Single game tickets will go on sale in September.  For more information visit Komets.com or call 260-483-0011.