During his five seasons as a head coach in Fort Wayne, Al Sims has seen some pretty amazing things, but he thinks this year's Komets team might end up being the most remarkable.

“It's probably the best team I've ever coached,” Sims said Friday night after the Komets established an International Hockey League record with their 23rd-straight home victory.

That's a strong statement considering the 1993 Komets shocked the pro hockey world by going 12-0 during the playoffs to win the Turner Cup. That team beat a San Diego squad in the finals that had the best record in minor league history.

This year's team leads the IHL standings by 29 points.

“I just think 23 in a row, and I think they are going to go past 112 points and that would be better than '93,” Sims said. “That team that we had then, I'd say the chemistry was the same, but they weren't as talented as this by far. We have a lot more talent on this team, not only the talent but the work ethic that they had back then. We were a third- or a fourth-place team when we won that championship. We didn't win by 30 points.

“The fact that these guys keep winning when they are 30 points ahead of everybody speaks volumes about their desire to win and their attitude. I think there's more records ahead of us that are going to be broken.”

The 1993 Komets and the International Hockey League were considered to be on the AAA-level of minor league hockey, while the current IHL is considered Class AA, but Sims said that doesn't matter to him.

“I'm glad it's behind us,” Sims said. “As far as we go with it, that's great, but I'm glad the guys got it.”

Komets captain Guy Dupuis played on both teams.

“We have a great team, but it's tough to compare to '93 when we had an unbelievable team, too,” Dupuis said. “Here we're kind of expected to win, and in '93 we were the underdogs and we were playing against the best team ever to play minor league hockey. That accomplishment to me ranks way up there. To defeat them four straight to me has a really special place in my heart.”