| Varsity Athletes Key To IHL Champion Komets
July 2nd 2009 |
VARSITY ATHLETES KEY TO TURNER CUP CHAMPIONSHIP DEFENSE
It seems the Fort Wayne Komets, back-to-back defending Turner Cup Champions of the resurrected International Hockey League have found a formula for success: sign as many Varsity athletes to contracts as possible. It started with the addition of Justin Hodgman with just games left in the 2007-08 regular season. Hodgman’s Erie Otters missed the OHL playoffs, and the Komets brought in the high-scoring forward in order to add depth for a playoff run of their own. Hodgman’s contribution is difficult to overstate. The then 19 year-old tallied 14 points in 13 games, including the triple-OT winner in game 7 of the finals, and was named Turner Cup MVP.
The 2008-09 version of the Komets introduced a second Varsity athlete to pro hockey. Danko Mironovic not only surprised more than a few skeptics by making the team out training camp, but was a top-four defenseman by season’s end, earning himself recognition as the team’s Most Improved Player. When the team got bit by the injury bug mid-season, it meant yet another Varsity athlete would find his way to Fort Wayne. Vince Tarantino, who had been playing in Amsterdam at the time, joined Mironovic on the blueline upon signing for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, the injury bug in Fort Wayne was hungry last season, and Tarantino was limited to 11 games before succumbing to a hip problem.
Hodgman, again, joined the club after his OHL obligations were completed, and again, the Komets won the Turner Cup. It should come as no surprise then, that the club recently Varsity athlete Vince Laise to a contract for the 2009-10 season, where he is expected to join Mironovic and Tarantino in pursuit of a three-peat.
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