Coach Al Sims and captain Colin Chaulk retired, and now so has the goaltender who backstopped them to four championships between 2008 and 2012.In what was perhaps the most embarrassing loss of the season, the Komets fell 5-1 Friday to the Kalamazoo Wings at Memorial Coliseum.
It dropped them to 10-13-0 at the Coliseum.
The Komets had won their previous two games – both on the road – and donned special pink jerseys, which are being auctioned off to raise money for the fight against breast cancer. Matt Syroczynski, the 2010 Playoff MVP when the Komets won the IHL title, returned to the lineup after his (save for one game) retirement of nearly three years.
And the energy was palpable for a short while, as the Komets peppered goaltender Joel Martin with shots early on.
But it didn’t last.
On their first seven shots, the Wings got goals from Elgin Reid on a 50-foot shot, Aaron Clark on a rebound and Yann Sauve on another 50-footer.
Komets goaltender Marco Cousineau was yanked in favor of Charlie Effinger, but he didn’t fare much better. On the second shot Effinger faced, he was beaten by Alexandre Grenier and it was 4-0.
Lincoln Kaleigh Schrock fought Clark just before the first period ended, but it sparked nothing for the Komets. In the second period, a blistering check from Kalamazoo’s John Armstrong forced a turnover and allowed him to score for a 5-0 advantage.
Thomas Beauregard scored for Fort Wayne in the third period.
