Roy Chin is finally retiring
June 12, 2008Here’s an example of an official so good that no one wants him to retire.
P.C. is officially coming back
June 12, 2008The Komets announced Thursday that veteran winger P.C. Drouin has agreed to terms and will return for the defense of the 2008 IHL Turner Cup. Drouin, 34, will be skating his fourth season in Fort Wayne.
Last season Drouin was added to the Komet’s roster in November after starting the season appearing in 20 games at Nottingham (EIHL).
The left winger finished last season with a Fort Wayne second-best 74 points and led the Komets with 51 assists in 62 games. Drouin was the Komet’s point leader for the months of January, February and March while earning the IHL’s Forward of the Month award for March.
Drouin has registered 74 points in each of his the three previous seasons with the Komets. In 2005-06 Drouin matched his 2004-05 Komet performance of 24 goals and 50 assists. Last year Drouin continued his consistency accumulating 74 points scoring 23 goals and 51 assists.
2008-09 will be Drouin’s 13th pro season since completing four seasons with Cornell University in the NCAA from 1992 to 1996. Drouin was signed by Boston of the NHL in 1996 and skated three NHL games with the Bruins during 1996-97.
Drouin joins Fort Wayne head coach Al Sims and veteran center Colin Chaulk as Komet returnees for 2008-09. Sims and Chaulk will each be serving the second year of their current agreements with the Komets.
Chaulk, 31, will be skating his sixth season in Fort Wayne and 11th as a pro. The 2008 Turner Cup was Chaulk’s second league championship with the Komets after also winning the crown in 2003. Chaulk tied Drouin with 74 points for 2007-08 scoring 24 goals and 50 assists and was named the Komet’s Most Valuable Player for the season, as voted by the players.
Fun story about Guy and a fan
June 11, 2008At least it was a lot of fun for me to write. You can read it here.
News and notes
June 5, 2008The IHL addition of Youngstown could happen very quickly. I heard that the ECHL has told the SteelHounds they want the team to go dark for a year and come back in 2009-10. That’s very unlikely to happen.
If it doesn’t happen right away, that’s a good sign, too, because it means the IHL owners are taking their time and are checking things out. They aren’t just going in with hands out taking anyone who expresses a bit of interest. SteelHounds Owner Herb Washington is very well respected, though, so there likely won’t be any problems.
Some other notes:
* Former Komets coach Dave Allison is looking for a job again. His Iowa Stars team has switched affiliations from Dallas to Anaheim. He’s in the running for the new job. Allison is a great coach and an even better man who will get a chance somewhere.
* Former Komet John Anderson and the Chicago Wolves are up 3-0 in the AHL Calder Cup Finals. Maybe now he’ll finally get a shot at the NHL. He certainly deserves it.
* I’ve got a very interesting story coming up, likely next week, relating to a human-interest story involving the Komets.
* Rockford averaged 3,826 fans this year in the AHL compared to 3,895 last year in the UHL. Quad City went from 3,120 in the UHL to 3,523 in the AHL. Yeah, that will pay the bills. Bet the Blackhawks were real thrilled the IceHogs lost to the Wolves, too.
Komets 2008-09 schedule
June 2, 2008October
17 - at Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 18 - Flint, 7:30 p.m.; 24 - at Bloomington, 8:05 p.m.; 25 - at Kalamazoo, 7:30 p.m.; 31 - Kalamazoo, 8 p.m.
November
1 - at Bloomington, 8:05 p.m.; 7 - at Muskegon, 7 p.m.; 8 - Bloomington, 7:30 p.m.; 13 - at Flint, 7:30 p.m.; 14 - Muskegon, 8 p.m.; 15 - at Kalamazoo, 7:30 p.m.; 21 - Port Huron, 8 p.m.; 22 - Kalamazoo, 7:30 p.m.; 27 - Flint, 7:30 p.m.; 28 - at Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 29 - Muskegon, 7:30 p.m.
December
5 - at Flint, 7:30 p.m.; 6 - Bloomington, 7:30 p.m.; 9 - at Port Huron, 11 a.m.; 11 - at Flint, 7 p.m.; 12 - at Muskegon, 7 p.m.; 13 - Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 19 - at Muskegon, 7 p.m.; 20 - Muskegon, 7:30 p.m.; 21 - Kalamazoo, 5 p.m.; 26 - Bloomington, 7:30 p.m.; 27 - at Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 29 - Kalamazoo, 7:30 p.m.; 31 - Flint, 7:30 p.m.
January
2 - at Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 3 - at Kalamazoo, 7:30 p.m.; 4 - at Flint, 4 p.m.; 7 - Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 9 - Flint, 8 p.m.; 10 - Bloomington, 7:30 p.m.; 13 - at Muskegon, 10:30 a.m.; 16 - Kalamazoo, 8 p.m.; 17 - at Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 18 - Muskegon, 5 p.m.; 23 - at Kalamazoo, 7:30 p.m.; 24 - at Muskegon, 7 p.m.; 25 - at Bloomington, 4:05 p.m.; 30 - Port Huron, 8 p.m.; 31 - Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.
February
6 - Flint, 8 p.m.; 8 - Muskegon, 5 p.m.; 11 - at Muskegon, 7 p.m.; 13 - Kalamazoo, 8 p.m.; 14 - at Bloomington, 8:05 p.m.; 15 - at Kalamazoo, 4 p.m.; 20 - at Flint, 7:30 p.m.; 21 - Kalamazoo, 7:30 p.m.; 25 - Muskegon, 7:30 p.m.; 27 - Flint, 8 p.m.; 29 - at Kalamazoo, 7:30 p.m.
March
4 - at Flint, 7 p.m.; 6 - at Muskegon, 7 p.m.; 7 - at Kalamazoo, 7:30 p.m.; 8 - at Flint, 4 p.m.; 13 - at Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 14 - Kalamazoo, 7:30 p.m.; 15 - at Bloomington, 4:05 p.m.; 17 - at Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 20 - Port Huron, 8 p.m.; 21 - at Bloomington, 8:05 p.m.; 22 - Bloomington, 5 p.m.; 25 - Flint, 7:30 p.m.; 27 - Flint, 8 p.m.; 28 - Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.; 29 - at Flint, 4 p.m.
April
1 - Muskegon, 7:30 p.m.; 3 - at Bloomington, 8:05 p.m.; 4 - Muskegon, 7:30 p.m.; 8 - Bloomington, 7:30 p.m.; 10 - at Kalamazoo, 7:30 p.m.; 11 - Bloomington, 7:30 p.m.
Bootland’s the boss
May 29, 2008I bet this means Greg Puhalksi will get Bloomington.
The Kalamazoo Wings, proud member of the International Hockey League, announce the hiring of Nick Bootland, as the franchise’s Director of Hockey Operations and Head Coach. Per club policy, the terms of the contract will be undisclosed.
Unveiled during a press conference this afternoon, Bootland becomes the 20th Head Coach, not including interim coaches,
“Priding ourselves on the ability to promote within, Nick, who is a proven leader on and off the ice, lead us to a championship as a player and we feel he will do the same as our Head Coach,” said General Manager Wade Welsh. “We (K-Wings) wanted someone that not only knows what it takes to win in this league, but what it knows what means to be a member of the K-Wings.”
Perhaps the greatest captain in K-Wings’ history, Bootland has played the past four seasons in Kalamazoo. The team captain for the past three seasons, Bootland wasn’t only a vocal leader, but he led by example.
By wearing the “C” for the past three seasons, Bootland joined Ron Wilson, Scott Robinson and Derrick Smith as the only member of the K-Wings to earn the honor in three straight seasons.
Not much going on
May 27, 2008I just talked to David Franke and he said he’s continuing to have post-season meetings with the players and he’s meeting with Al Sims tomorrow as they start game-planning how they want to put next year’s team together. Franke and Sims both said they’d be happy if they got 8-to-12 players back next year. They’d prefer to have more than that, but they know it’s unlikely. Some players will move up, some will try to go to Europe and some will possibly retire - though they both said no one has indicated that as of yet.
Franke said as far as he knows he believes Colin Chaulk, Guy Dupius, Konstantin Shafranov, Kevin Bertram, Brandon Warner, David Hukalo, P.C. Drouin, Kevin Hansen, Kevin Reiter and Nick Boucher are expected to remain in town throughout the summer. The Komets are hoping to have a big presence at the Three Rivers Festival. Brent Henley is still in town recovering from having his knee cleaned out, but he’s heading home on Friday. Henley told Franke his knee feels great so far.
The IHL meetings will be June 22-25 in Las Vegas. No, darnit, The News-Sentinel will not send me to the meetings. I even offered to split my winnings with the paper.
Where does Game 7 rank?
May 23, 2008Among your all-time favorite Komets games?
Some others to consider: G7 91 vs. Indy; G4 91 vs. Peoria; G3 93 vs. San Diego; G2 93 vs. Atlanta, on the road; 96 (I think) vs. San Antonio with Bezeau and Racine; Tony Horacek We’re No. 1; Fletcher scores in the shootout vs. Chicago; Fletch returns; G5 2003 vs. QC; Ramsay scores in OT vs. QC 2000; 4 OTer vs. St. Paul 1960; Fitchner takes on Flint.
Help me out here, Chuckitt, which ones am I missing?
