Fort Wayne, IN — The Fort Wayne Komets will begin their defense of the IHL Turner Cup Championship Friday, Oct. 17 at Port Huron against the team they defeated for the IHL crown 4 games to 3 in the 2008 finals.

The Komet's home opener will be Saturday, Oct. 18 when they host the Flint Generals at 7:30pm.

The IHL will consist of the same six teams that competed during 2007-08. Besides Fort Wayne, the IHL includes the Bloomington PrairieThunder, the Flint Generals, the Kalamazoo Wings, the Muskegon Fury and the Port Huron Icehawks.

The Komets will again skate a balanced 76-game season with 38 home games and 38 road games. The Komets will face Bloomington 14 times while facing Muskegon and Port Huron 15 times each. The Komets skate against Flint and Kalamazoo 16 times each. Flint, Kalamazoo and Muskegon will visit Fort Wayne eight times each. Bloomington and Port Huron will visit seven times each.

The Komets will skate at home on 12 Fridays, 14 Saturdays, four Sundays, one Monday, six Wednesdays and one Thursday. "We have more Fridays and Saturdays than last year and 33 of the 38 home games are Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays," Komet President Michael Franke said. "We couldn't ask for a better schedule for the fans."

The Generals visit Fort Wayne for both traditional holiday home games. The Komets will face Flint on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 27 and New Year's Eve, Wednesday, Dec. 31.

The Komets will play three games in three nights 12 times and are slated for four games in five nights five times. The busiest time at home will be in March when the Komets skate five home games in nine nights from March 20 to 28. The longest time away for the Komets will be 15 days from Feb. 28 to Mar. 14.

Komet home games will follow the same start time schedule as last season. Games played on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday nights will start at 7:30. Friday home games faceoff at 8pm while Sunday games will begin at 5pm.