ROCHESTER, Mich - The International Hockey League has now completed its third week of their second season and we have already begun to see the excitement.  The defending Turner Cup Champion Fort Wayne Komets have picked up where they  left off, leading the six team league. 

The Port Huron Ice Hawks, the team the Komets had beaten for the title last year, are not having as much luck.  Hockey in Muskegon has a new look this season with the return of the Lumberjacks; the Bloomington Prairie Thunder are showing some life after an ownership and coaching change. 

Fort Wayne Komets: One of the most successful minor league franchises is showing the rest of the league that it is not just history that draws close to 9000 fans to each game, it is winning too. The Komets are off to the best start in the league at 5-1-0-0.   The Komets have nine players with a plus/minus of +6 or better with Colin Chaulk leading that group and the league with a +10. 

Photo by Barry Jones

This team has been around too long not to know that you need someone to protect your skill guys, and for that the Komets call on Brad MacMillan.  MacMillan may only stand at 5’10” and weigh in at 200 pounds, but this guy knows how to protect his team, averaging just over 6 PIM’s in his 5 games.  Fort Wayne was the team to beat all last season and they have not skipped a beat coming into this season.

Bloomington Prairie Thunder:  Probably the surprise of the IHL thus far; the Prairie Thunder find themselves in second place just two points behind the Fort Wayne Komets with a franchise best start of 4-2-0-0.  There were some changes in this franchise in the off season with new local ownership led by Tim Leighton and new first year Head Coach Jarrod Skalde. 

Skalde chose Don Parsons as his team Captain for the 08-09 season and with good reason.  Parsons is a mere 8 goals behind Kevin Kerr’s record for the all-time minor league goals.  Parsons sits with 669 career goals 8 of those coming this year.  Parsons and teammate Jon Booras lead the league in points so far with 14.  The Prairie Thunder is showing their fans that another season as the league’s worst in unacceptable.

Flint Generals: If you want physical hockey the Generals of Flint want you at Perani Arena.  The Generals lead the league in penalty minutes

Photo by Barry Jones

with a total of 249 in just 8 games.  John DiPace leads Flint in points (13) and in PIM (39).  Flint had a rough start to the season losing their first game in Fort Wayne 3-11 but has since improved to 3-4-1-0 which places them in third place with 7 points.

Muskegon Lumberjacks: That is right, with a new ownership group bringing Muskegon their 49^th consecutive season of hockey, they have decided to put the former Fury to rest and bring back the Lumberjacks.  Probably one of the best things the Lumberjacks have done is bring in former Quad City Mallards General Manager Tim Taylor.  Taylor has some great connections in the hockey world and it is shown in Muskegon’s roster.  Taylor has called upon former Mallards to help fill in the Lumberjacks. Some of those players are Chad Woolard, Frank Littlejohn and fan favorite Luke Stauffacher.  Stauffacher has a great start on the season with 7 points and is +6.  Muskegon currently resides in 4^th place with a 3-2-0-0 start on the season.

Kalamazoo Wings: The Wings decided in the off-season to bring back their former Captain Nick Bootland, but not as a player, instead as the 20th head coach in Kalamazoo Wings history.  The rookie coach has struggled so far into the season posting a 2-4-0-0 record.  He did however make noise when he decided to sign controversial net minder Jason Tapp.  Tapp, who has had a save percentage of over .900 since the 2003-2004 season is at a .860 so far this season.  He has also played in all 6 games so far for the Wings racking up a league leading 358 minutes between the pipes.  The Wings do however have Glenn Detulleo, who last year put up 73 points for Kalamazoo and this year already has 8 points in 6 games.  The Wings have a chance to compete, but they will need some help.

Port Huron IceHawks:  The IceHawks have gone from overtime in game 7 of the Turner Cup Finals last year to a league worse 2-5-0-0 start.  The

Photo by Barry Jones

IceHawks in last place this time of year is almost as big of surprise as the Prairie Thunder being in second.  Port Huron brought back a lot of talent from their 2007-08 roster with Kris Vernasky, Tab Lardner and Jamie Carroll to name a few.  They have brought in new talent such as defensemen Ian Turner.  Bottom line is the IceHawks have too much talent to be in the cellar for long.  I see the IceHawks turning it on real soon and competing for a top 4 spot in the league.

With all of that being said, we are only 3 weeks into the season.  No one can predict with 100% accuracy what the teams will look like the beginning of April when the regular season comes to an end.  We have all heard the negative comments about a six team league, but if the first season of the reborn IHL has taught anything, it is that it can be exciting, unpredictable and above all entertaining.

Contact the author at justin.boyd@prohockeynews.com.

Photos by Barry Jones at barry.jones@prohockeynews.com.