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Fort Wayne Komets (1982-83, IHL)

1982-83 Regular Season--Komets vs. Flint Generals
     As you can see by the program, 1982-83 was the 31st straight season of Komets Hockey. By now, the team had changed their colors slightly, dropping black for royal blue. Former Komets center Ron Ullyot was back behind the bench, and the team was a secondary affiliate of Vancouver, Washington and Winnipeg.
     Ullyot's Komets had a fine season in '82-83, with an excellent 45-26-11 record, giving them 101 points on the year. They finished second place in the Eastern Division and overall in the IHL. the Komets were second only to Huber Trophy champion Toledo and 21 points ahead of third place Flint.
     Fort Wayne had the second-best offense in the IHL that year, piling up 377 goals on the year. Ron Ullyot had a pair of 50-goal scorers that season, as both Ron Leef and Barry Scully each had 57. Leef led the team in points with 120. Two others scored at least 30 goals, and four other players had at least 20.
     The Komets were slightly weaker on the blueline, allowing 344 goals, fifth overall in the IHL. They used four different goaltenders that year, but Darrell May and Dan Sanscartier played the bulk of the games in the Fort Wayne net. Sanscartier played the majority of postseason games.
     Fort Wayne opened the Turner Cup Finals against the Flint Generals. The best-of-five series went the limit, with each team winning on home ice. The Komets took Game 5, 4-3, to advance to Round Two. They wouldn't last long, as they ran into the powerful Toledo Goaldiggers, who shredded the Komets in 5 games (best-of-seven), outscoring them 26-17 in the series. Toledo would then win it's second straight--and final--Turner Cup in six games over Milwaukee.
     Another nice Komets program at 47 pages. For it's age (31 years old), it's in excellent condition. There are a few color ads, but the majority is black-and-white. This program is from a March 16, 1983, game against the Flint Generals. The Generals, led by longtime IHL coach Ted Garvin, were led by veteran forward Len Fontaine and 50-goal scorer Tony Fiore. In net, the Generals had a fine 1-2 punch, with future Montreal Canadien Steve Penney and fellow youngster Rick Knickle, who would go on to a stellar minor league career and play in a few games with the Los Angeles Kings. There's an article by Komets Coach Ron Ullyot and a short "Around the I" article as well. Local ads include Scott's Discount Foods, WFFT-TV 55 ("Now 24 Hours a Day!") and Smitty's Lanes.

Sources:
International Hockey League Statistics: 1982-83 (from hockeydb.com)
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