Center Leo Thomas has accomplished so much with the Komets – three playoff championships, 99 goals, 265 points accrued – that he couldn’t be blamed if he came into training camp this year assuming he would have a spot on the team all locked up.

But that’s not the case.

The Komets are in a different league, the ECHL, with typically younger and faster players. Thomas, 33, hasn’t played with the Komets since hoisting the Central Hockey League’s cup in 2012.

He knows that nothing is guaranteed when it comes to making this squad, not when he’s competing with established players like Shawn Szydlowski, newcomers with big résumés like Jamie Schaafsma and whomever the parent Colorado Avalanche and San Antonio Rampage send down from the NHL and American Hockey League.

"I know it’s not going to be handed to me," Thomas said. "When I was talking to (coach Gary Graham and general manager David Franke) earlier in the summer, I made it clear to them that I want to earn it. I want the chance and to work my hardest. I’ve played the game long enough to know what to do and what not to do. I just want to work hard and the rest will take of itself."

During Thomas’ previous 285-game stint with the Komets – from 2008-12 in the International and Central Hockey leagues – he was a speedy top-line-caliber player who could be counted on to play special teams and add some feistiness too.

In the ECHL, he knows he’ll have to use his speed – but in different ways.

"(Speed) is going to have to be (crucial) in this league," Thomas said. "I think I’m not obviously going to have the ice time I did the last couple years. I have no problem being the third-line grinder or doing whatever I need to make this team. I know I won’t be a top-six guy or scoring 30 goals. I need to be a checker or just get used on the penalty kill. I want to prove I can succeed in this league. I’m up for whatever."

Thomas’ biggest asset may be his familiarity with Graham, who was an assistant coach when Thomas was last with Fort Wayne. And when Graham got his first head-coaching job in 2012 with Pensacola of the Single-A Southern Professional Hockey League, he brought Thomas with him to be his first captain.

Thomas was with Pensacola for only 29 games because of an altercation in the stands when rushing to the defense of a teammate got him suspended for the remainder of the season after he had 10 goals and 21 points. He resurfaced that season with Bloomington of the CHL for 15 games in which he had three goals and seven points.

He played the last two seasons with Mississippi of the SPHL, as its captain, and had 48 goals and 94 points in 109 games.

If Thomas doesn’t make the roster of the Komets, who open training camp Monday at Memorial Coliseum, he may return to Mississippi, which still owns his SPHL rights.

"It’s not a bad league," Thomas said of the SPHL. "Obviously the ECHL is way better competition. I think it will be easier here in some ways because guys are where they’re supposed to be, and the players are faster and smarter. It’s easier playing that style of hockey. But (the SPHL) has been getting better year after year. I was on the ice for every possible scenario, and I got a ton of ice there.

"I think I can make this jump. I’ve watched the games and played against a lot of these guys. But it will be up to me to come into camp prepared and in great shape and ready to go."

Notes: The Komets have added defenseman Nicholas Kuqali and goaltender Andrew Walsh to the training camp roster. Kuqali, 30, played 22 games last season in the ECHL with Wheeling, tallying four assists. Walsh, 24, completed a four-year career at Bemidji State last season, going 2-6-2 with a 2.77 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. He then appeared in two games with Stockton.

jcohn@jg.net