Al Sims, 60, who guided the Komets to five championships between 1993 and 2012 with a stint coaching the NHL’s San Jose Sharks in between, retired Monday as the winningest coach in the francise’s 61-season history.
Mathieu Curadeau has a lot more help than he did a few weeks ago. Recently acquired forwards Colin Chaulk, Artem Podshendyalov and Danny Lapointe all add to the Komets’ scoring depth.
But Curadeau, a center, isn’t changing his mentality. He wants to score and lead the Komets to another championship.
“I still have my role and my job to do,” Curadeau said. “Those guys are obviously huge acquisitions for the team and will help us a lot. But for me, things don’t change. I have to play better and go hard every night.”
Curadeau came into this season as the Komets’ No. 1 center, based on his past success with the team – 68 goals and 124 points in 122 games between 2007 and 2009 – and the 23 goals and 47 points he had last season with Kalamazoo of the ECHL.
But, as Komets coach Al Sims said, “He thought the weight of the world was on his shoulders, and he didn’t have it going.”
The Komets quickly sank to the Central Hockey League cellar, losing 16 of their first 21 games, as Curadeau tallied only four goals and 10 points. Since then, his scoring production has improved some – he has two goals and five points in nine games – and there has been improvement in his number of scoring chances.
And the Komets’ overall play has improved. They’re on a 4-1-3 surge heading into tonight’s game against Evansville at Memorial Coliseum.
“At the beginning of the season, I know, we could have played better,” said Curadeau, 25. “We could have been more aggressive and gone more to the net. Every guy here had a great season last season, and everybody expected us to be really, really good, so maybe we took that for granted. But now everybody’s working hard and we’re back on the right track.”
Curadeau, who prides himself on his play at both ends of the ice, is minus-13 for the season. Over the last nine games, he’s plus-1.
“Yeah, I’ve been playing better, a little bit,” Curadeau said. “Obviously, I’m not scoring every game, but my game has been better, I’ve been playing more aggressive and better defensively. I have a little (undisclosed) injury that’s keeping me from being 100 percent, but I’m getting there and hopefully I will be 100 percent soon.”
Despite moving up in the standings – Fort Wayne is three points back of Evansville for eighth place in the Turner Conference – the Komets’ offense still needs to improve. They rank 18th with 2.37 goals per game and are coming off Sunday’s 1-0 overtime loss to Quad City. With more help around him, and signs that his play is improving, Curadeau is expected to help lead the charge.
“He’s just got to stay at it and work hard, get his offensive game going because it’s not there yet,” Sims said. “He’s got to pick it up. He needs to shoot the puck. Matt is at his most dangerous when he’s skating and shooting.”
