Ice Chips 06'-07'

Labarre out 6-8 weeks, at least

Komets forward J.F. Labarre broke his wrist in two places and will be out 6-to-8 weeks, general manager David Franke said. The injury occurred in Wednesday's 5-1 loss to the Chicago Hounds, when Labarre was checked into the boards. He had surgery, which included inserting a plate, Thursday afternoon. The Komets have no immediate plans to bring in a replacement, though forward Daniel Goneau will return to the lineup Friday at Bloomington, Ill., after being granted a four-game holiday vacation. Labarre has four goals and 10 points in 24 games this season.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Komets win ... again

The Fort Wayne Komets have been looking for consistency. Perhaps they’ve found it.

After alternating between wins and losses during an 11-game stretch, the Komets have finally won back-to-back games.

On Saturday, they defeated the Quad City Mallards 3-2 at Moline, Ill., and it wasn’t easy. The Western Conference-leading Komets fell behind 14 seconds into the game, after Justin Chwedoruk scored, but the Komets fired back with three straight goals, courtesy of David Hukalo, Matt Syroczynski and Bogdan Rudenko.

Then Fort Wayne had to hang on, as it was outshot 32-14 in the final two periods, 42-35 for the game, with the Mallards’ Chad Woollard netting the final goal 12:17 into the second period.

Goaltender Kevin St. Pierre had 40 saves, a night after he paced the Komets to a 4-2 victory over the Elmira Jackals.

Newly signed rookie center Scott Seney tallied two assists in his debut Saturday, as the Komets played without star forwards J.C. Ruid and Daniel Goneau, both granted holiday break in their contracts. Ruid will be back for Tuesday’s game against the visiting Rockford IceHogs, while Goneau will be absent another two games.

The Komets improved to 17-8-0. The Mallards are 10-13-3.

Ruid going ... for 1 game

It seems the Komets' holiday spirit knows no end. Center J.C. Ruid will miss Saturday's game against the Quad City Mallards to be with his family over the holiday. It was a prerequisite of him signing with the Komets last summer.

He is the second player with such a caveat, it turns out. Daniel Goneau is able to miss four games, the first of which was Friday's 4-2 victory over the Elmira Jackals.

The Komets looked good in the game, getting goals from Guy Dupuis, Bruce Richardson, Jonathan Goodwin and Ruid, but they let down a bit in the third period, giving up a pair of goals. The consensus in the locker room was they played well but still need to string together 60 good minutes of hockey.

They hope they can do so at Quad City; Fort Wayne has alternated between wins and losses over the last 10 games and the Komets want a winning streak.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

New player/All-Star ballot

The Komets have signed 26-year-old defenseman Brent Henley, 6-foot-7, 250 pounds. He had been with Pensacola of the ECHL, tallying one goal, six points and 94 penalty minutes in 16 games.

He's believed to be the biggest player ever to skate for the Komets.

He's played in the American Hockey League, too, and looks as if he'll be a physical presence. (He has eclipsed the 250 penalty-minute mark three times in his career.)

In other news, the Fort Wayne players on the all-star ballot are goaltender Kevin St. Pierre, defensemen Mario Larocque and Guy Dupuis, plus forwards Jonathan Goodwin, Bruce Richardson, J.C. Ruid and Martin Gascon.

Gascon made it the ballot as a rookie, of which there are five on the Western Conference options.

Finally, the referee for tonight's game between the Komets and Elmira Jackals will be Jim Hawthorne.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

The guy is Seney

The Komets have 23-year-old center Scott Seney in on a tryout. He is 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, and he's played 11 games this season with Arizona of the Central Hockey League, tallying three goals and four points. He's also played two games with Phoenix of the ECHL in this, his rookie season.

Pascal Morency was put on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, but that's not why he wasn't playing last weekend. The Komets are sticking to the broken skates story. They put him on IR retroactively because he does have a shoulder injury -- remember, he separated it last month -- and it saves them some roster space. But that's not why he wasn't playing.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Scoops galore

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- OK, the word on Pascal Morency is that he's not being punished by coach Pat Bingham. After playing only one shift Friday and being a healthy scratch Saturday, both said it was because of equipment problems. Morency's skates, apparently, began falling apart and he didn't have good replacements.

And here's the news on Goneau: He will miss 11 days and four games because he's leaving Sunday to be with his family over the holidays. It was written into his contract last summer that he could do so. He's the first Komets player to have such a stipulation since Brent Gretzky is 2001-02.

As for the game, the Komets lost 4-2 to the Kalamazoo Wings. In their last 10 games, the Komets have lost every other game, leading center Bruce Richardson to say: "We need to hate losing more than we like winning."

He said the Komets' don't have that mentality yet and that's why, when they tied the game at 2, the Wings were able to come right back with a couple of third period goals. I agree that the Komets let down in the third period, after they came out hitting everything in sight for 10 minutes.

• Bingham believes his team played well this weekend but he pointed out the Wings did a good job of using the "home-ice advantage" that lets them make the last line change. It enabled them to have Lucas Drake's line against more tired Fort Wayne players.
• The Komets were incensed with the work put in by referee Neil Christopher. I don't blame them. Not only did he make some phantom calls early, he missed some blatant stuff late. That included Chris McAllister spearing Jonathan Goodwin in front of the Wings net and about 10 feet from Christopher, who must have seen it. Shocking non-call.
• With Goneau gone, who's the player that'll have to step up the most? I would say Morency. He needs to show he can be more than just an agitator. It's also time for Syroczynski to prove he can be a second-line player.

By the way, Happy Hanukkah.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Bye George

The Komets will not be signing forward Michael George. At least not this year.

General manager David Franke said that because the U.S. has hit its yearly cap on H2B visas, required for foreign hockey players to work in this country, the Komets will not be able to arrange for him to sign with the Komets until after Jan. 1, 2007. It also means the Komets will not be able to sign any other players who don't have the H2Bs until that time.

• Still no official word on suspensions for the Komets or Elmira Jackals from last weekend's brawling. It should come down later today.
• The Komets may be without forward K.J. Voorhees on Wednesday at Chicago. He has a calf injury, Franke said.
• The Flint Journal's Brendan Savage has a column on how it's time for Jackals general manager Robbie Nichols to get out or be forced out of the league. It's an interesting perspective, since Savage has covered Nichols, a former Generals coach.
• Youtube.com has lots of video from the weekend games. Click here to see the first big melee, in which Curtis Tidball of Elmira somehow ends up with almost all of his uniform off.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Ruid honored/league discusses

Komets center J.C. Ruid was selected as the UHL's player of the week, after he had three goals and six points in two games against the Elmira Jackals.

Also, the UHL held a two-hour conference call with members of the Komets and Jackals, regarding the two penalty-marred games, which included brawls and a postgame confrontation between Jackals general manager Robbie Nichols and Komets center Bruce Richardson outside the locker rooms.

Participating in the conference call were UHL commissioner Richard Brosal, vice-president of hockey operations Brad Jones, Komets general manager David Franke, Komets coach Pat Bingham, Richardson, Nichols, Elmira coach Kris Waltze and a supervisor of officials.

The UHL will announce any suspensions Tuesday or, possibly, Wednesday morning. The UHL is reviewing video from the games and Franke submitted a five-page synopsis of things he witnessed.

The Komets play the Chicago Hounds on Wednesday night.

• If any of the Fort Wayne players gets a suspension, I suspect it will be defenseman Mario Larocque, who was the third man in a fight Saturday. Also look for Curtis Tidball of Elmira and, probably, Nichols to receive some punishment.
• Here's another idea: Instead of just a straight suspension, perhaps some of the parties involved shouldn't be allowed to play when these teams meet the rest of the season. That was a tactic used in the International Hockey League with success. What do you think?
• And why have the same referee two nights in a row with the same two teams? That's just asking for trouble, at least if he does a poor job of keeping order.
• Komets defenseman Kevin Hansen, who has a concussion, will not play Wednesday. He was hurt in a fight with Tidball.
• By the way, don't forget about my weekly foray into radio on 98.9 FM, about 9 a.m Tuesday with the TNT Morning Show. I'm sure we'll have more than enough to talk about.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Larocque misses practice

Komets defenseman Mario Larocque didn't practice today. General manager David Franke said it's because of a sore neck. He is, at this time, expected to make the trip to Elmira, N.Y., for games Friday and Saturday.

Speaking of Larocque, while there had been some concern among the Komets' players that he might be suspended for slamming Jesse Bennefield of Rockford into the ice Saturday night, Franke said he's sure he would have heard by now if any punishment were going to be handed down. Besides, if you're going to suspend Larocque, you'd have to suspend Bennefield for his two-handed slash that preceded the whole thing.

By the way, even though he was slashed, the UHL office has confirmed that it was appropriate for Larocque to be assessed an instigation penalty for starting a fight.

• Pascal Morency, the Komets' feisty forward, was on the ice this morning. He fell funnily on his recently separated shoulder Saturday, but he should be fine.
• Also making the trip to Elmira will be Michael George, the rookie forward who has been skating with the team for about a week. He will be signed this week.
• You've got to love www.youtube.com. Check out the clip of Pascal Morency's fight with Robin Big Snake by clicking here. (By the way, why do Big Snake's fights often have this huge pre-fight production, like it's Foreman vs. Ali?)
• Last week, I pointed out the resemblance between the Komets' Kevin Hansen and actor George Clooney. It was kind of popular, so let's do another one. How about Fort Wayne defenseman Mike Dombkiewicz, below left, and baseball player Johnny Damon, circa his Red Sox days.

Tense 1st period

It has been a tense first period at Memorial Coliseum, one without any scoring between the Komets and the Rockford IceHogs. (The loudest cheer so far came when it was announced UCLA defeated USC 13-9 in college football.) Clearly, the Komets are more into this game than they were Friday, when they lost 4-3 to the Quad City Mallards.

The hero of the game thus far is Rockford goalie Frederic Cloutier, who had two great stops on close-range shots from J.F. Labarre and Pascal Morency.

• The Komets signed defenseman Nick Tuzzolino, who is 6-foot-6, 225 pounds. He was a seventh round draft pick of the New York Islanders in 2005.
• Forward K.J. Voorhees is out with a calf strain and defenseman Jani Honkanen is ill. Remaining out is defenseman A.J. Bozoian with a hip pointer.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

That was quick

Forward Pascal Morency is back in the lineup after missing six games because of a separated shoulder.

It didn't take him long to make an impact.

Seconds into his first shift, his hard work deep in the offensive zone got the puck to teammate J.C. Ruid, who faked goaltender Jason Tapp to the ice before scoring tonight. The Komets lead the Quad City Mallards 1-0 after one period of play.

• Forward Bogdan Rudenko is out of the lineup with a wrist injury, general manager David Franke said. Defenseman A.J. Bozoian also remains out.
• More on Nick Tuzzolino, the rookie defenseman trying out with the Komets: He remains unsigned by the New York Islanders and decided he didn't want to be an overage player in juniors this season. As for whom this puts on the hotseat, the Komets aren't saying. Conventional wisdom suggests its either defenseman Arthur Kiyaga or defenseman A.J. Bozoian. They seem a little less sure about Bozoian, who continues to get injured.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

New players

The Komets have two rookies in on tryouts -- defenseman Nick Tuzzolino and forward Michael George -- and the team plans to sign them both, general manager David Franke said.

Tuzzolino, 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, was selected in the seventh round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He had been with Sudbury of the Ontario Hockey League, where he had three goals, 11 points and 41 penalty minutes in 26 games last season.

George, 6 feet, 190 pounds, had 35 goals and 74 points in 55 games last season in juniors with Battlefords.

The two players who had been in tryouts, rookies Brock Becker and Andrew Dawe, have been excused.

By the way, you're going to laugh and everybody's telling me I'm wrong, but does anyone else think Kevin Hansen (below left) looks like George Clooney. Seriously, look at Hansen when he has his helmet on.

Gabrielsen waived

The Komets have waived forward/defenseman Jonas Gabrielsen, general manager David Franke said.  He was scoreless in one game.

"He wanted more ice time or the opportunity to explore something else," Franke said, "and we couldn't find him the ice time."

The Komets have no immediate plans to replace Gabrielsen, but when they do it will likely be with a rookie, Franke said.

• The Komets have yet to place forward Pascal Morency on injured reserve. They want to see how Morency responds to treatment after separating his shoulder last weekend. The earliest he would return to the lineup would be Saturday against the Chicago Hounds.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Labarre injured

Komets forward J.F. Labarre will be out a week or two because of a groin injury suffered during Sunday's 4-3 victory over the Flint Generals in an overtime shootout. He has one goal and two points in eight games this season.

• Taking Labarre's place on the line with Pascal Morency and Martin Gascon, my subject of a story in tomorrow's paper, is David Hukalo.
• Daniel Goneau, who fractured a cheekbone last weekend, is back on the top line with Jonathan Goodwin and Bruce Richardson.
• You may be interested in my story on Colin Chaulk, the former Komets captain now playing in Italy.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

The word on Goneau

Here's what Komets general manager David Franke had to say about right wing Daniel Goneau, who was injured Friday when a puck struck him in the face: "He's got a fracture in his cheekbone and he'll go to the doctor on Monday. We'll find out then if he can play with this or if surgery is required. We just don't know right now."

So, Goneau could be out a week or months. If he does play anytime soon, he'll have to wear a full cage or face shield, Franke said.

With Goneau out, there have been some fans speculating there will be a return for forward Kelly Miller, who quit the team Oct. 25 because he hadn' tbeen playing much. Don't hold your breath. Because Miller's on a non-roster spot, he can't return to Fort Wayne from the Southern Professional Hockey League for 45 days from the time he left Fort Wayne.

"It goes to show you," Franke said. "He was impatient and thought he knew better."

Franke said the team has no immediate plans to bring someone else in to replace Goneau.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Slow starters

The kids with the Halloween costumes are at Memorial Coliseum -- there's about to be the annual parade of costumes during the first intermission -- and it seems the Komets dressed as ghosts in the first period.

They were invisible.

This was the worst period of the season for the Komets, as they played without energy and seemingly without any idea what to do with the puck in their own zone. So, the Bloomington Prairie Thunder opened the scoring.

Late in the period, though, thanks to some power-play work, Fort Wayne recovered with a goal from J.C. Ruid. It's now 1-1.

I watched Komets coach Pat Bingham during this period and he seemed to remain quiet. I think that's smart. He needs to see how this team will respond when they're down.

• The Komets played without forward David Hukalo, who has a leg injury, and defenseman Jonas Gabrielsen, who has a hamstring injury. They were put on injured reserve. General manager David Franke said defenseman A.J. Bozoian was put on team suspension for person reasons. Bozoian did suffer a leg injury Friday and the Komets needed to make some room on their roster.
• The Komets signed defenseman Jani Honkanen and he's in the lineup.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Oh, the irony

Forward Bogdan Rudenko has been suspended one game by the UHL for checking from behind in Saturday's 8-3 victory over the Quad City Mallards.

So, the Komets will go from having one too many veterans to being one under the maximum Friday, when they take on the Rockford IceHogs.

Earlier today, forward Kelly Miller left the Komets to play for Huntsville in the Southern Professional Hockey League. Miller hadn't played a game and was a bit disgruntled because Fort Wayne was carrying eight veterans, one more than they can play. He had been the man out.

Somehow, I don't think the prospect of playing one game this weekend would have changed Miller's mind on leaving.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Miller needed a change

Center Kelly Miller wasn’t entirely happy. That much wasn’t hard to figure out.

As the Fort Wayne Komets’ players were introduced at the home opener Saturday night, Miller, donning a suit, briefly waved to the crowd and then sprinted off the bench and to the stands.

As one of eight players of veteran status – the Komets can only play seven in games – Miller had found himself the man out in the first three games of the season. With no guarantee that he would see much more playing time in the future, Miller went in search of other opportunities and he found one: Miller has left the Komets to play for Huntsville of the Southern Professional Hockey League.

“I’m going to be in the lineup every night, probably be a first- or second-line player,” Miller said. “There will be more pressure on me and more responsibility.”

Despite the departure, Miller said he holds no ill will toward the Komets. In fact, he didn’t rule out a return should the Komets need his services again.

Last season, when the Komets were struggling, Miller came out of retirement to help the Komets to an unlikely playoff berth, tallying 12 goals and 30 points in 56 games along the way.

“I was sticking it out this season and I loved it in Fort Wayne,” Miller said. “That’s why I didn’t ask for a trade. They treated me so well.”

Miller, 27, played 55 games with the Komets from 2001 to 2002, scoring nine goals and 19 points in 55 games. After he was released, he played for six different teams and was an all-star with Rockford before going to briefly coach juniors in the North American Hockey League with his brother.

The Komets (2-1-0) wanted Miller to stick with the Komets a little longer before making any decisions, but Miller found an opportunity with the Havoc, which has yet to open its season. With bonuses, Miller could end up making more money than he was in Fort Wayne.

“I feel like they treated me so well in Fort Wayne,” Miller said. “The things they’ve done for me are unbelievable. … But I’ve heard nothing but good things about Huntsville. Someday, they want to win a championship there. I know everybody says (the SPHL) is a lower level, but I think it’s going to be just as good. It may be a lot of fun.”

• In my opinion, this parting of the ways is the best thing for both Miller and the Komets. He's going to get more money, more playing time and, if he really tears it up down there, perhaps an invite from another UHL or ECHL team. As for the Komets, as I've said from the start, while I like the idea of having eight veterans, it causes too many problems. I don't know of any teams who have done it with much success and we saw why here. There's always a player who's really unhappy and you could sense the Komets were feeling pressure to play Miller whether or not they wanted to do it.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Miller leaving team

Komets forward Kelly Miller has left the team to play for Huntsville of the Southern Professional Hockey League. I will have more on this later in the day; I'm down at Indianapolis Colts practice and am about to go do some interviews, so check back in an hour or so for comments from Miller. Before you conspiracy theorists start up, though, Miller contacted Hunstville, so it's not a tampering situation.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Stay out of the dang box

Before we get to the good stuff, this needs to be written: The Komets continue to take dumb penalties. When I can hear A.J. Bozoian slashing all the way up in the penalty box, there's something wrong. So, it's no surprise the Komets were short-handed four times in the first period of their home opener.

The good news, though, for the roughly 10,000 people who are here, is that the Komets lead the Quad City Mallards 3-0 after one period.

J.C. Ruid scored a short-handed goal. Jonathan Goodwin and Bogdan Rudenko added power-play goals as Mallards netminder Jason Tapp looks, well, so-so at best tonight.

Quad City entered the night being outscored 15-3. Yeah, that looks like it's going to continue in this one.

• The Komets are playing without Kelly Miller, Matt Syroczynski and Jonas Gabrielsen.
• They are still giving a tryout to Jani Honkanen. The Komets will likely sign him but need to get his immigration work papers approved by the government first.
• I hope you caught my story on Arthur Kiyaga, the Komets' rookie defenseman from Uganda. He is a very interesting guy. If you want to hear full audio of my interview with Kiyaga: Download arthur_kiyaga_interview.WMA

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

No more cuts

Komets general manager David Franke said there will be no more cuts before Friday's season opener at Rockford, Ill. Some players are sick and have minor injuries, he said, so the Komets will likely place three or four players on injured reserve to get down to the required 19 players on the active roster.

Here are some stories from around the league you might be interested in reading:

• Stories from The Flint Journal and The Quad City Times about UHL commissioner Richard Brosal's conference call Tuesday.
• An introduction to hockey from The Bloomington Pantagraph.
• The Battle Creek Enquirer's look at the defending-champion Kalamazoo Wings.
• From HockeyRefs.com, a list of those officiating in the UHL this season.

I know several of you are web-only readers, but I encourage you to pick up the print edition Thursday. We will have a 12-page special section on the Komets. It'll be a little more comprehensive in print, but certainly plenty of it will be available at http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/sports/hockey/.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

One more cut

The Komets made another roster move today, cutting defenseman Adam Blanchette.

Also, even though he was cut Monday, there's a chance defenseman Carl Michaelson may resurface with the Komets. Apparently he's been out with an injury -- the team didn't say what it was -- but they are going to continue to look at him.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

First cuts come

The decisions were hard. But they had to be made.

The Fort Wayne Komets dropped seven players from their roster Monday: forwards Jean-Simon Richard, Drew O’Connell and Martin Aubin, defensemen Chris Cote, Carl Michaelson and Charlie Levin, plus goaltender Daniel Ljung.

“Although nobody was on obvious choice, we tried to get down to workable numbers,” said coach Pat Bingham, in his first season with the Komets. “We’re at (23) players now, which is a pretty workable number for practices and what we’re trying to do.”

The Komets open the regular season Friday at Rockford, Ill.

There were no major surprises among the cuts, although Richard, who had 13 goals and 31 points in 26 games last season for Oswego State, and is the cousin of Komets winger Pascal Morency, had looked like a particularly promising prospect.

But on the veteran-laden Komets, the competition for roster spots, which began with the opening of training camp Oct. 2 and featured three exhibition games – all victories for Fort Wayne – was as tough as it had been since 2002. The Komets, coincidentally, went on to win the Colonial Cup that season.

“The one thing I feel good about is the character of our hockey club, the veteran leadership,” Bingham said. “I don’t sense any resistance whatsoever in trying to get everybody working hard and buying into the systems. I see veteran guys who are going first in drills and guys who are executing properly.”

Aubin had never gotten onto the ice for the Komets; a back injury prevented him from passing a physical.

The Komets are allowed to carry 19 players on their active roster. They can have up to four more players on injured reserve and one on team suspension, but there are no serious injuries among the players right now.

“I think we’re going to have to make some more moves before Friday night’s game,” general manager David Franke said.

The Komets have been expecting the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears to assign them a defenseman – the teams have an informal working agreement – but Bingham said he’s heard no news on that front as of yet. The Komets currently have eight defensemen.

“I’m focusing on what’s right here,” Bingham said. “I don’t make a habit of calling AHL teams, just the same way they don’t call NHL teams asking when someone will get sent down. You work with what you have.”

For the guys who remain with Fort Wayne, they will prepare for two weekend games – the Komets play at Bloomington, Ill., on Saturday – as management continues to scour the waiver wires and see if anyone else of worth is available. If not, Bingham is happy with the crew he has assembled.

“There are several guys who are pleasant surprises,” Bingham said. “Nobody looked out of place in the (exhibition) games. Everybody at least has an understanding of what we’re doing. … There are a lot of guys who want to be there and giving you everything you’re asking for.

“How we’re going to shape up around the league and how good we can get, that’s still a giant question mark. We have a foundation to build upon, which is exciting, encouraging and a positive thing.”

• For those unclear, Jonas Gabrielsen, who played the last five years in Europe, will not be considered a rookie. He is a simple non-veteran.

Ruid signs

After a complicated negotiation process that saw the Fort Wayne Komets even rescind a contract offer, things have worked out in the end.

J.C. Ruid, one of the most feared forwards in minor-league hockey, will be in Fort Wayne on Monday when the Komets open training camp.

“He’s definitely a very dangerous offensive player, as his stats would bear out,” Komets coach Pat Bingham said. “And he’s a big, rangy guy who is very difficult to knock off the puck. He uses his body very well. He’s not a bruiser but he uses his body to protect the puck.”

Ruid, 31, has played 238 games in the UHL, tallying 135 goals and 294 points with Asheville, Adirondack and Rockford.

He spent last season in Austria and Denmark. And his desire to return to Europe almost prevented him from joining the Komets.

Still bitter from last season’s midseason departure of star forward Mark Smith to Europe, the Komets wanted a firm commitment from Ruid that he wouldn’t go to Europe.

“We just felt that our organization, our fans, his teammates, the players, we all deserved a commitment,” Bingham said. “It happened last year (that a player left for Europe) and (ownership) didn’t want to see it happen again and I agree. We all want the commitment.”

When Ruid couldn’t give that commitment, the Komets pulled their offer last weekend. But Ruid rethought things this week.

“I just needed a little more time to figure out if I wanted to go to Europe or settle in one place and make that situation work,” Ruid said. “I’ve looked at (the roster) and that was part of my decision to go to Fort Wayne. To have the opportunity to win is big.”

This will be the fourth time that Bingham has been a head coach over Ruid. They teamed up with Asheville (N.C.) in 2000-01, Adirondack (N.Y.) in 2002-03 and Wheeling (W.Va.) in 2003-04.

With Adirondack, Ruid scored 40 goals and 96 points in 71 games. In Wheeling, Ruid was the team captain.

“Pat’s a great person,” Ruid said. “I have a lot of respect for him. He puts his heart out when he coaches.”

The addition of Ruid gives the Komets eight veteran players, one more than they’re allowed to play in each game. Bingham said he was unconcerned with the prospect of having to sit a player each game, though.

“It adds another decision into everything we have to do,” Bingham said. “But I think it affords us flexibility and makes (training) camp competitive. If people want to be here and make a good showing, I don’t see the problem in having something extra. Besides, to think that everybody can compete at an elite level every single night, I think that’s a stretch.”

Bingham added that none of the veterans, which includes Kevin St. Pierre, Guy Dupuis, Kelly Miller, Daniel Goneau, Bruce Richardson, Mario Larocque and Bogdan Rudenko, should take this signing as a negative reflection on themselves.

“We like all the veterans we have,” Bingham said. “Every one of them we’ve signed, we see them all being big parts of this team. We really did our homework and asked a lot of question. They seem like the guys who can deal with a situation like this.”

• Bingham said he didn't know whether Ruid or Richardson would be the top-line center. "We've got two guys, 1A and 1B, and they can fight it out for position," he said.
• In regards to players defecting for Europe midseason, Bingham had a suggestion: Just as all the AA leagues honor contracts from other leagues, they should get together and make an edict that if a player reneges on a contract to go to Europe, like Smith did, that player won't be allowed back in any league until after the following season. Interesting idea.
• Ruid said part of the reason he came to Fort Wayne was how much he loved playing at Memorial Coliseum.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

More additions

The Fort Wayne Komets have added six players to their roster for training camp, which opens Monday. They include forward J.F. Labarre, who played last season with Youngstown of the Central Hockey League, defenseman Jonas Gabrielsen, who comes from Norway, and defenseman Carl Michaelson, who played in France after getting cut by the Komets last fall. Also signed were rookie defensemen Chris Cote, Charlie Levin and Arthur Kiyaga.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette