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.

USHL schedule today?

While the Ice briefly posted a tentative schedule on their website a few days back, the official 2011-12 USHL schedule is expected to be released today.

We'll, of course, post the schedule when we get it and break it down when we get the opportunity.