Komets general manager David Franke still believes he will have a coach in place by June 1, though he declined to get into specifics about potential candidates – with one exception.FORT WAYNE – The Komets would come back to the CHL next season if the membership remains at 14 and the nearby Dayton Gems were still part of the league.
“If the membership came back next year in all the cities,” Komets president Michael Franke said, “it would be great.”
The Komets fell 3-1 at Evansville Saturday night. The IceMen (19-9-3) scored two goals in the first period and added another one in the second to go up 3-0.
Artem Podshendyalov scored a power-play goal in the third period for the Komets (22-11-1).
There has been speculation that more CHL teams could fold or move to other leagues this summer as happened with four teams after last season.
That could have the Komets striking up conversations with the ECHL, another AA-level league.
“There have always been conversations (with the ECHL) on and off (for years),” Franke said, “but as far as any hardened conversations, not up to this point because it’s premature.”
Franke said the topic of teams leaving for the ECHL didn’t come up at last week’s CHL’s meetings in Prescott Valley, Ariz.
Instead, they discussed topics like how many games would be played next season and what the roster sizes will be. No final determination on those issues was made, Franke said.
“Internally, (discussions about next season) have already begun,” Franke said. “We would like to have a final decision made by the middle of April, the first of May. For us, that’s the critical point in time. A lot of those decisions will be made by what’s going on in the CHL.”
