Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets announced today that Kelly Cup Championship Team Captain AJ Jenks has announced his retirement after 11 professional seasons.
Jenks, 31, completed a four-year OHL career with the Plymouth Whalers, finishing his junior career with totals of 79 goals, 114 assists, 193 points, and 280 penalty minutes in 249 games. Jenks was selected by the Florida Panthers in the 4th round, 100th overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. The Wolverine Lake, Michigan native also won a Gold Medal at the 2010 World Junior Championship with Team USA. He made his professional debut playing 63 games with Rochester of the AHL that same season. In 2011-2012, the 6’2 forward marked his ECHL debut playing 13 games with the Cincinnati Cyclones. Jenks spent parts of the next three seasons with the Florida Everblades and the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL before signing with the Toledo Walleye in 2014. The lefthander played five seasons with Toledo, having a career year in 2016-2017, scoring 19 goals, 27 assists in 46 games. Jenks agreed to term with the Komets on August 20, 2019 and was named the 36th Komet Captain on December 31, 2019. In his final season, Jenks played 40 games, scoring 11 goals with 16 assists, culminating with the team winning the Kelly Cup Championship.
“In August of 2019, the Komets announced the signing of AJ Jenks. We brought AJ to Fort Wayne to captain the Komets to a Kelly cup championship and it paid off,” said General Manager David Franke. “To retire a champion is every player’s dream career and he did it. Thank you, AJ, Stephanie, and Arthur Jr. for becoming part of the Komet family. Enjoy the next chapter of your lives.”
The Komets will open their 2021-22 regular season home campaign on Saturday, October 23rd when the Wheeling Nailers visit for a 7:35 p.m. faceoff on Sweetwater Ice at the Memorial Coliseum.
Season tickets for the 2021-22 season 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