Komets sign Brandon Hawkins, Randy Gazzola

Fort Wayne, IN-- The Fort Wayne Komets announced Wednesday that forwards Brandon Hawkins, Morgan Adam-Moisan, defenseman Randy Gazzola and goaltender Louis-Phillip Guindon have all signed contracts for the upcoming season.

Hawkins, 26, starred last season with the Wheeling Nailers scoring 16 goals with 17 assists. Before turning pro, the Macomb Township, Michigan native play two season at Bowling Green University before transferring to Northeastern University during the 2017-2018 season. The 5’10 198lbs forward also played junior hockey with the Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) and Texas Tornado (NAHL). Hawkins also appeared in 11 games over the past two seasons with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL.

“Brandon is an elite level scorer, as we saw first hand many times last season, said Head Coach Ben Boudreau. “He has one of the best shots I’ve seen at this level and he’s every goalie’s nightmare because he can score from anywhere.” 

Gazzola, 27, will be reuniting with his University of New Brunswick teammates Matt Boudens, Marcus McIvor, and Matt Murphy when the Komets open training camp. After five seasons with the Reds putting up 105 points in 134 career games, Gazzola turned pro during the 2018-2019 season playing seven games with the Toledo Walleye. Last season the 6’3 defenseman skated 44 games in Italy with Ritten/Renon of the AlpsHL finishing with 10 goals and 24 assists.

“Randy is a high-quality defenseman that comes with a winning history, he can be relied upon to produce offense from the blue line,” said Head Coach Ben Boudreau.  Randy can think the game better than most and we are excited to have the opportunity to sign someone of his caliber so late in the year.” 

Morgan Adams-Moisan (MOY-ZAN), 24, played 55 games with the Maine Mariners last season scoring 9 goals, adding 12 assists with 67 PIM.  The 6’3 forward has also skated 16 games with the Laval Rocket of the AHL. Before turning professional the La Tuque, QC product played in the QMJHL where he racked up 310 PIM during his four-year career. 

Louis-Philip Guindon (Lou-ee Phil-eep Gain-Don) will be entering his first year as a pro after completing four seasons at McGill University.  The 24-year- old competed in 20 games last season finishing with a record of 12-8 and a 2.22 GAA. 

The Komets lost two defensemen as veteran Bobby Shea and Kyle Haas announced their retirements. Shea, 30, re-signed with Fort Wayne in September. After a season in Beijing, China playing for former Komets head coach Gary Graham. The Harrison Township, Michigan native did not play in 2018-2019 after manning the Komets blueline from 2016-2018.

Kyle Haas led the ECHL in penalty minutes last season. The rookie was called for 32 minor and eight major penalties for a total of 164 minutes.   Haas was the recipient of the Komets Most Improved Player Award for the player showing the most improvement from the beginning of the season to the end.  

The Komets are set to open its 69th season the weekend of February 12th.  A season schedule has yet to be released.