2012 Ray Miron Presidents’ Cup Finals Features Fort Wayne Komets vs. Wichita Thunder
GLENDALE, AZ (April 27, 2012) – The 2012 CHL Ray Miron Presidents’ Cup Finals is set with the Turner Conference champion Fort Wayne Komets and the Berry Conference champion Wichita Thunder facing off in a best-of-7 series that gets underway Saturday night in Wichita at the INTRUST Bank Arena.
2012 Playoff Bracket
CHL Playoff HQ
Wichita earns home ice advantage in the series thanks to their 44-19-3 record in the regular season. Their 91 points were the most in the CHL earning them the Bud Poile Governors’ Cup championship as the league’s regular season point’s leader. Fort Wayne finished the regular season in first place in the Turner Conference with a 40-19-7 record (87 points).
The Thunder will host Games 1 and 2 and Games 6 and 7, while the Komets will host Games 3, 4 and 5 in the 2-3-2 series.
The two conference winners played each other just twice in the regular season with Wichita winning 5-3 at home on December 13 and winning again, this time by a 3-2 score in a shootout, on March 4 in Fort Wayne. Wichita is 3-1-1 in the all-time series and the Komets are 2-2-1 versus the Thunder.
The trip to the Finals is the fourth for the Thunder who won the CHL championship in 1994 and 1995 and lost in the Finals in 1998.
This will be the first journey to the CHL Finals for the Komets who have eight championships under their belt in other leagues (seven in the International Hockey League and one in the United Hockey League). Prior to joining the CHL in 2010, the Komets had won three straight IHL titles (2008, 2009 and 2010).
Both teams are celebrating milestone seasons as it is the 60th campaign for Fort Wayne and the 20th for Wichita. This season is also the 20th Anniversary for the Central Hockey League.
2012 Ray Miron Presidents’ Cup Finals Schedule
Wichita Thunder vs. Fort Wayne Komets
Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 28 – Fort Wayne at Wichita, 7:05 PM
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 29 – Fort Wayne at Wichita, 5:05 PM
Game 3 – Thu., May 3 – Wichita at Fort Wayne, 7:30 PM
Game 4 – Sat., May 5 – Wichita at Fort Wayne, 8:15 PM
*Game 5 – Mon., May 7 – Wichita at Fort Wayne, 7:30 PM
*Game 6 – Fri., May 11 – Fort Wayne at Wichita, 7:05 PM
*Game 7 – Sat., May 12 – Fort Wayne at Wichita, 7:05 PM
* if necessary
**all times local (Fort Wayne is EST and Wichita is CST)