As part of his duties as the Komets Director of Communications, Chuck Bailey keeps track of statistics that sometimes add up to something interesting.

Such as, during their five Novembers under coach Gary Graham, the Komets are 32-24-4, but during their last five Decembers they are 33-12-6.

Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but shouldn’t there be a reason why the team really picks up its play the colder the weather gets? After all, they were 6-5-1 in November this season, but they are a torrid 5-0 so far in December. They are so hot, they can’t wait to play their next game, which is tonight in Cincinnati.

Graham said he had no idea the records were like that.

“I wouldn’t be able to tell you month-to-month what the records are on my teams,” he said. “I’m a game-to-game guy. I worry about who is in front of us.”

But there are significant things the Komets are doing much better of late, such as controlling the puck in the opposing zone, giving up fewer turnovers, winning more faceoffs and giving up fewer odd-man rushes. Those things can’t be coincidences.

There are a few clues in the Komets’ locker room.

“I think at the start of the season, we’re not playing many games and it’s hard to get into a rhythm,” defenseman Curtis Leonard said. “Then we get into game mode and the chemistry comes together and we get going. It’s hard to get going when you’re only playing one or two games a week.”

That’s a definite factor, especially for the goaltenders who are usually only playing one game a week. That’s hard to deal with and is often part of the reason they seem to fight the puck early in the season. The only option is to play one guy all the time in net, and then that messes with your backup goaltender if he’s needed later.

“Every year is different, but this year’s team it took us a little longer to adjust to each other’s styles,” captain Jamie Schaafsma said. “With NHL teams, those lineups don’t change that dramatically, while in the ECHL there’s a big turnover every season. Not to make excuses, but it took us longer to gel on-ice. Off-ice we’ve come together real good, but on the ice we were on different pages for a while and it took us a while.”

The Komets also had to shuffle their forward lines almost constantly early because of injuries and call-ups. The loss of Justin Hodgman to injury was huge. There are also new players to integrate into the system, and let’s face it, Fort Wayne isn’t the easiest place to play if the team gets off to a tough start. Everyone has high expectations of the Komets.

“I think it’s more of a coincidence because you can’t plan that,” said Shawn Szydlowski who is in his fifth December as a Komet. “This year, we wanted to make up for our poor start which wasn’t acceptable. We knew how good of a team we had, and we knew it wasn’t acceptable.”

The roster has definitely stabilized of late, too, and that has helped Graham be able to stick with his forward lines. The goaltenders, particularly Michael Houser, have gotten hot because they are playing more games. He’s definitely in a good routine.

“I think the game just kind of settles,” forward Garrett Thompson said. “Everybody comes in at the beginning of the year and feels like they have something to prove and the competition is really high. It’s a new team every year, and it takes time to get comfortable. I think there’s a standard here to uphold and every year it takes a while to kick in.”

Maybe the biggest change every year isn’t so much the calendar but the schedule. It seems the Komets always go on an extended four or five-game road trip in late November. That allows them to get away from home, hang out together and basically only think about hockey because of fewer distractions. They usually come back from that trip with a .500 record and then make some changes.

Usually, that includes a trade or two as Graham and General Manager David Franke try to tweak the lineup. After an extended trip, they have a much better feel for what their team is and who can do what as individual players. Then all the things that Graham has been preaching in practice start to kick in, and the team takes off.

The players also know who is capable of what, and that camaraderie they earned on the trip pays off over the next 10 or so games. Usually, things level off a bit in January where the Komets have been 28-16-7 under Graham, but they pick up again in February where they have been 29-10-11. They really try to get hot in April just before the playoffs, going 15-6-1.

“It’s nice to see the team going in a good direction and turn our home record around,” Schaafsma said. “We have to remember what got us here. We still have a long way to go to get our game to where we want it to be.”