Fort Wayne Komets crowned CHL Champions

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Add another chapter to the 60-year history of the Fort Wayne Komets – Central Hockey League Champions. Bobby Chaumont scored twice as the Komets posted a five-goal first period, en-route to a 6-3 series-clinching win over the Wichita Thunder in front of 9,560 fans at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Monday night. Goaltender Nick Boucher was solid in net, as he was the entire series, stopping 22-of-25 Thunder shots and tying Rapid City’s Danny Battochio’s (2010) post-season record for wins (12). Wichita’s Bryan Hogan was saddled with all six goals in the loss. For the second-straight game in the Ray Miron President’s Cup Final, the opening goal came by way of penalty shot. Wichita’s Aaron Davis, after being pulled down while heading to the net, scored on Boucher at 2:29 of the first to put the Thunder up 1-0. From there, however, the Komets took over and closed the door early. Colin Chaulk tied things up less than three minutes later, redirecting a Mike Vaskivuo shot. 41-seconds later, the Komets had their first lead of the night. Kaleigh Schrock jumped on a Wichita turnover and fired a shot from the right face-off dot that beat Hogan top shelf. They would go on to add two more goals in the next 2:45.

Frankie DeAngelis added a power play tally at 7:33, sending a shot from the point through traffic and past Hogan for a 3-1 lead. Chaumont then added his first of the night just over a minute later, scoring from just outside the crease on a rebound to put Fort Wayne up by three. Wichita would strike a minute later, cutting the deficit to two on a Matt Robinson goal from Davis and Thomas Beauregard at 9:45. Taking a cross-ice feed from Davis, Robinson shifted around a defender and fired a shot through traffic from the middle of the circles to score. Determined not to allow Wichita back into the game, Fort Wayne added one more score at 14:27. Moving in on Hogan, Vaskivuo took a pass from DeAngelis and neatly tucked the puck away into the net to make it 5-2. Chaumont added his second of the night in the second period, taking a pass from a diving Tom Mele then deking Hogan and placing the puck into the net past Hogan’s glove-side, making it 6-2. From there, the Thunder would only manage one more goal, despite having four power play opportunities in the final two periods. Wichita finished the night 0-4 with the man advantage, while Fort Wayne scored once out of their two chances. Wichita’s power play was stagnant during the series, and most of the playoffs, with the Thunder connecting on just two of 21 chances in the final. In 16 playoff games, Wichita scored five power play goals on 63 chances. Fort Wayne, on the other hand, was 6-for-18 in the series and 16-for-63 in the post-season. Beauregard would have the third period’s only tally, dragging the puck around two defenders and hitting the net from just inside the right circle at 9:07, but it would prove to be too little, too late. As the clock ticked inside the two-minute mark of the third period, the crowd erupted in cheers, and chanted “Let’s go Komets,” ultimately leading to the home team skating the cup around the rink once the final buzzer sounded. The championship is the Komets’ ninth in 60-seasons, and its third in three different leagues (IHL, UHL, CHL). It was also their fourth championship in five seasons.
 
Vaskivuo, with 24 points (10 G, 14 A), was named the CHL Playoff MVP. Contact the writer at: john.hall@prohockeynews.com Contact the photographer at johnrothwell@prohockeynews.com