Fuel to open schedule with home-and-home against old rival

The Indy Fuel and Fort Wayne Komets haven't yet played a game against each other, but their rivalry is already pretty strong.

It's a rivalry goes back to the days when the IHL's Indianapolis Ice and Fort Wayne Komets did battle, often a dozen times a year. And while the rivalry has been on hiatus for 15 years -- the last time Fort Wayne and Indianapolis hockey teams met on the ice, it was an exhibition game in 1999 -- it still fuels passions on both sides.

So, fittingly, as the Indy Fuel begin their inaugural ECHL campaign this fall, it will happen with the Fort Wayne Komets as the visitors.

Fort Wayne will visit the State Fairgrounds Coliseum on Oct. 17 for a 7:35 p.m. puck drop, beginning a new era in Hoosier hockey, both for the Indy Fuel and the newly-renovated Coliseum, which will be unveiled after a two-year remodeling project that transformed the Coliseum into a spectacular, modern arena. The next night, the Fuel will head up I-69 to help the Komets usher in their season. There's no better way to usher in a new era.

Schedule on ECHL.com 
Official release

The ECHL announced its full schedule for the 2014-15 season Wednesday afternoon. Each team will play 72 games.

The Fuel will get a quick introduction to the home fans, as five of the first seven games are at the Coliseum, including the first three Friday nights of the year -- Oct. 17 against Fort Wayne, Oct. 24 against Toledo and Oct. 31 against Evansville.

The majority of the home schedule will be in "prime time," as the Fuel have 13 Friday night home games and 11 Saturday home games. They will also play nine games on Wednesdays and three Sunday afternoon games. Start times for Friday/Saturday games will be 7:35 p.m., for Wednesday games 7:05 p.m. and for Sunday games 3:05 p.m. All home games will be played at the Fairgrounds Coliseum.

Other schedule highlights include a Halloween night game against Evansville on Oct. 31, a Thanksgiving night trip to Fort Wayne on Nov. 27, followed by back-to-back home games against Cincinnati the next two nights. The Fuel also have holiday-weekend home games on Dec. 26-27 and Jan. 2-3. On Valentine's Day, the Fuel will host the second half of a back-to-back against Cincinnati. The home finale will be Wednesday, April 8 against Kalamazoo, with a trip to Reading to close the regular season out April 10-11.

The most-faced foes are the three nearby ones. The Fuel will meet the Fort Wayne Komets 11 times -- five at home, six in Fort Wayne, and the Evansville IceMen 10 times (4 at home, 6 in the Pocket City). They'll also meet the Cincinnati Cyclones nine times, including six home games. They'll play the Reading Royals eight times.

The biggest homestand will be from Nov. 28-Dec. 6, when the Fuel will play six consecutive home games in an eight-day span. They'll also have another similar run from March 27-April 8, when they will play six home games (and one road game) in 13 days. The longest roadtrip is a five-city, 10-day, six-game trip from Jan. 10-19 that concludes with a rare Monday matinee at Gwinnett.

All 72 games will be played against ECHL Eastern Conference foes. They will host every team in the conference except the Greenville Road Warriors. The Fuel will play each team at least twice.

2014-15 Indy Fuel schedule (all times Eastern)
Friday, Oct. 17: FORT WAYNE, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 18: at Fort Wayne, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 22: KALAMAZOO, 7:05 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 24: TOLEDO, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 25: at Evansville, 8:15 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 26: FORT WAYNE, 3:05 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 31: EVANSVILLE, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 1: at Evansville, 8:15 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 7: at Cincinnati, 7:35 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 9: at Wheeling, 4:05 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 15: WHEELING, 7:35 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 19: ORLANDO, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 22: at Reading, 7:05 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 23: at Reading, 5:05 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 27: at Fort Wayne, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 28: CINCINNATI, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 29: CINCINNATI, 7:35 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 3: EVANSVILLE, 7:05 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 5: FLORIDA, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 6: FORT WAYNE, 7:35 p.m.
Thursday Dec. 11: at Orlando, 7 p.m.
Friday Dec. 12: at Florida, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday Dec. 13: at Florida, 7 p.m.
Wednesday Dec. 17: READING, 7:05 p.m.
Friday Dec. 19: TOLEDO, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday Dec. 20: at Fort Wayne, 7:30 p.m.
Friday Dec. 26: CINCINNATI, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday Dec. 27: CINCINNATI, 7:35 p.m.
Wednesday Dec. 31: at Fort Wayne, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 2: TOLEDO, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 3: READING, 7:35 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 9: CINCINNATI, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 10: at Toledo, 7:15 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 11: at Wheeling, 4:05 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 15: at Greenville, 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 16: at Greenville, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 17: at South Carolina, 7:05 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 19: at Gwinnett, 12:35 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 23: ELMIRA, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 24: EVANSVILLE, 7:35 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 25: at Evansville, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 28: GWINNETT, 7:05 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 30: READING, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 31: ELMIRA, 7:35 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 6: at Evansville, 8:15 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 7: at Evansville, 8:15 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 8: KALAMAZOO, 3:05 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 13: at Cincinnati, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 14: CINCINNATI, 7:35 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 20: at Elmira, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 21: at Elmira, 7:05 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 25: KALAMAZOO, 7:05 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 27: at Fort Wayne, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 28: at Fort Wayne, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 6: at Evansville, 8:15 p.m.
Saturday, March 7: WHEELING, 7:35 p.m.
Sunday, March 8: at Kalamazoo, 3 p.m.
Friday, March 13: EVANSVILLE, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, March 14: at Toledo, 7:15 p.m.
Tuesday, March 17: at Kalamazoo, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, March 18: FORT WAYNE, 7:05 p.m.
Friday, March 20: at South Carolina, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, March 21: at Greenville, 7 p.m.
Friday, March 27: READING, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, March 28: SOUTH CAROLINA, 7:35 p.m.
Wednesday, April 1: TOLEDO, 7:05 p.m.
Friday, April 3: at Cincinnati, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, April 4: FORT WAYNE, 7:35 p.m.
Sunday, April 5: ELMIRA, 3:05 p.m.
Wednesday, April 8: KALAMAZOO, 7:05 p.m.
Friday, April 10: at Reading, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 11: at Reading, 7:05 p.m.

Schedule by opponent

• Cincinnati Cyclones (9): 6 home (11/28, 11/29, 12/26, 12/27, 1/9, 2/14), 3 away (11/7, 2/13, 4/3)
• Elmira Jackals (5): 3 home (1/23, 1/31, 4/5), 2 away (2/20, 2/21)
• Evansville IceMen (10): 4 home (10/31, 12/3, 1/24, 3/13), 6 away (10/25, 11/1, 1/25, 2/6, 2/7, 3/6)
• Florida Everblades (3): 1 home (12/5), 2 away (12/12, 12/13)
• Fort Wayne Komets (11): 5 home (10/17, 10/26, 12/6, 3/18, 4/4), 6 away (10/18, 11/27, 12/20, 12/31, 2/27, 2/28)
• Greenville Road Warriors (3): 3 away (1/15, 1/16, 3/21)
• Gwinnett Gladiators (2): 1 home (1/28), 1 away (1/19)
• Kalamazoo Wings (6): 4 home (10/22, 2/8, 2/25, 4/8), 2 away (3/8, 3/17)
• Reading Royals (8): 4 home (12/17, 1/3, 1/30, 3/27), 4 away (11/22, 11/23, 4/10, 4/11)
• Orlando Solar Bears (2): 1 home (11/19), 1 away (12/11)
• South Carolina Stingrays (3): 1 home (3/28), 2 away (1/17, 3/20)
• Toledo Walleye (6): 4 home (10/24, 12/19, 1/2, 4/1), 2 away (1/10, 3/14)
• Wheeling Nailers (4): 2 home (11/15, 3/7), 2 away (11/9, 1/11)

By day of week
Monday: 1 (0 home, 1 away)
Tuesday: 1 (0 home, 1 away)
Wednesday: 10 (9 home, 1 away)
Thursday: 3 (3 away)
Friday: 24 (13 home, 11 away)
Saturday: 25 (11 home, 14 away)
Sunday: 8 (3 home, 5 away)

Home-and-homes
10/17-18: Fort Wayne (H/A)
10/31-11/1: Evansville (H/A)
1/24-25: Evansville (H/A)
2/13-14: Cincinnati (A/H)

Back-to-backs vs. same team
11/22-23: Reading (A)
11/28-29: Cincinnati (H)
12/12-13: Florida (A)
12/26-27: Cincinnati (H)
1/15-16: Greenville (A)
2/6-7: Evansville (A)
2/20-21: Elmira (A)
2/27-28: Fort Wayne (A)
4/10-11: Reading (A)

Schedule by month
October: 7 games (5H, 2A)
November: 10 games (4H, 6A)
December: 12 games (7H, 5A)
January: 15 games (8H, 7A)
February: 10 games (3H, 7A)
March: 11 games (5H, 6A)
April: 7 games (4H, 3A)