Kevin Reiter said he took less money to come to Fort Wayne than he could have gotten a couple of other places in the CHL for two reasons: He knows the Komets want to win, and his father has some health issues so he wants to be close to Pittsburgh.
``I'm comfortable with the team and the organization. amd I know the situation,'' he said. ``I'm really looking forward to playing with Bouch again. We're both fortunate because Al knows goaltending, and we kind of feed off each other a little bit. We really care about what we do, and we're working hard every day.
``I haven't found a better ownership group or better opportunity anywhere else. I'm really looking forward to joining that group of guys again. I think it's gong to be fun and a new challenge, but we have a great team on paper.''
Reiter said he had surgery in January for his abdominal muscle problems and could have played at the end of last season but decided to sit out and work it hard this summer.
``I've been on the ice for three weeks, and I feel strong and everything is good to go.''
I asked him the difference between the CHL and IHL, and Reiter said, ``You're kind of comparing apples to oranges, except in the IHL they had seven or eight vets. The CHL is a younger league. In the IHL the older guys played things at a higher level. They were happy to be in the town where they were. You weren't playing as many weeks or as many games in the CHL, but every game was a little bit bigger. I remember it seemed like we were playing four in five nights ever week in the IHL. I think the biggest difference was the veteran leadership, and those guys definitely upped the caliber of play compared to the CHL with having only four veterans.
