By Dean Jackson
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The Fort Wayne Komets opened their 74th training camp Monday at Parkview SportOne Icehouse, launching year three of the Jesse Kallechy era with a clear blueprint: build a team that can execute, compete in the league’s toughest division, and earn home ice when it matters most.
Before hitting the ice, the team met with the media at their annual preseason luncheon. Head coach Jesse Kallechy laid out the framework for what the Komets hope to build—and what they’re up against.
“You got to get out of the division,” Kallechy said. “Our division is, in my opinion, the most competitive division in the league. So you need to find a way to win your division.”“And for us, that’s kind of our goal. One is find a way to make sure we’re in the mix to win the division, and then ultimately setting ourselves up with home ice advantage in the playoffs.”
The Komets return 13 players from last year’s squad, including assistant captain Alex Aleardi and former captain Anthony Petruzzelli. Team MVP Jack Dugan has departed for Germany, but Kallechy likes the experience and depth already in camp.
“We have great experience,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of young guys that are learning the league. Our forward group is very, very deep.”
“Getting a lot of guys back from a really good team sets us up for success. So nothing’s guaranteed, but we got to make sure that we try and take advantage of what we have.”
Still, the team’s personality is not yet defined.
“We haven’t been on the ice yet,” Kallechy said. “So I think as a coach, you build a team, and you have an idea of what you want it to be, but it’s something you got to let take place organically. So I think throughout this week we’ll get a better idea.”
With the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum undergoing ice plant renovations, all practices will be held at the Icehouse and remain open to the public. The Komets will play just one exhibition game this preseason—Sunday, October 12 at Trine University’s Thunder Ice Arena in Angola. The puck drops at 2:00 p.m., with free general admission at the door.
“We worked really hard to make sure we had an exhibition game,” Kallechy said. “We couldn’t be more thankful that the venue, up in Trine and Trine University, accommodated it for us. So we’re very grateful for that.”
Kallechy visited Thunder Ice Arena during the booking process and came away impressed.
“Yeah, it’s an unbelievable facility. We went up and visited when we were booking, going through this whole process, and I thought the venue was terrific,” he said. “So I think for our guys, it’s going to be like playing in a mini jungle.”
“I think our fans will travel. So I expect it to be a great atmosphere. Was it about 1500 seats? 1000 seats? Yeah, it’s about that. So I have no doubt that the line will probably be out the door to fill that place up.”
The exhibition game will serve as a pressure test for execution and role identification.
“We’re going to spend this week trying to establish how we want to play,” Kallechy said. “And I’m going to be looking in that game to see the guys that can execute. That’s going to be the big one—making sure that we’re executing how we want to play, making sure we’re finding different roles for everybody.”
“So for us, it’s going to be using guys in different situations and trying to find out kind of where everybody fits.”
Kallechy expects surprises—both good and bad.
“Every year there’s a few that blow us away,” he said. “So I would expect this year will be no different. It’s going to be a very competitive camp with who we have and what we have.”
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