When the International Hockey League's General Manager of the Year Award was announced, Komets boss David Franke wasn't upset that his name wasn't being proclaimed.

“There's only one award I want, and that comes at the very end of the year,” Franke said.

Still, Franke pulled off some amazing deals this year, many of which faced extreme doubt when they were announced. He brought back coach Al Sims, 14 years after he left Fort Wayne, with a record that was 23 games under .500 since. Defenseman and Fort Wayne firefighter Kevin Bertram came back after a three-year absence from playing. Colin Chaulk returned after playing a year in Italy, but that was easy compared to the return of 39-year-old Konstantin Shafranov, who played the last nine years in Russia. Then P.C. Drouin came back after playing a year and a half in Europe. Every move Franke tried, worked, and this turned out to be the best team he's produced in 18 years running the Komets. That's saying something considering five of the top 10 regular seasons in the Komets' 56-year history have come during the past five seasons. The Komets have won three of their six playoff championships during his tenure.

That record deserves an award all in itself.

“They are all special, but this is maybe more special because we won the regular season and the playoff championship, and that hasn't happened too many times in this organization,” Franke said.

“In my opinion, I think this is the greatest Komet hockey team ever. We came back from a 3-1 deficit, we won in three overtimes. We are the best team in the IHL, and we're now batting .500 as owners as far as winning cups in the finals. That will put you in the hall of fame.”