Former Fort Wayne Komets Forward Announces Retirement

Contemplating retirement isn’t easy for any athlete, no matter how successful their career has been.

After 14 seasons in professional hockey and 10 with the Fort Wayne Komets, forward Shawn Szydlowski announced his retirement from the game on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old St. Clair Shores, Mich. native played his first pro game in 2011 with the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League. After stints with Rochester (AHL), Gwinnett (ECHL), and Fort Worth (CHL), the former Buffalo Sabres prospect was assigned to the Komets, making his Memorial Coliseum debut on Oct. 23, 2013.

“Shawn Szydlowski was a dynamic player on the ice,” Komets general manager David Franke said in a statement. “He could score, hit, and fight. He was an MVP-caliber player and a big fan favorite. Winning the Kelly Cup was the crowning achievement of his illustrious career. I’m sure we will see Shawn at the Coliseum, not as a player, but as one of our biggest fans. We wish Shawn all the best.”

Speaking of fights, Szydlowski never shied away from the physical side of the game. One of his best drop-the-gloves moments was this Nov. 6, 2015 fight with A.J. Jenks.

In his 10 seasons with the Komets, Szydlowski won an ECHL scoring title and MVP award in 2017-18. He’s ninth all-time in Komets history in games played (528); 10^th in regular-season points (511); fourth in playoff points (78); 11^th in regular-season goals (189); and ninth in regular-season and post-season points (589). He holds the Komet single-game record for most short-handed goals, scoring three on March 21, 2015, against Missouri.

Szydlowski was named to the ECHL all-star team three times (2014-15, 2016-17 and 2017-18). As Franke pointed out, his biggest accomplishment was a Kelly Cup Championship with Fort Wayne in 2021.

“It’s the ultimate goal for anyone at any level, and there are a staggering amount of guys who go through their entire careers without winning a championship at any level,” Szydlowski told Justin A. Cohn of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. “I think that’s actually pretty easy to do, since I know how hard it was for me to win just one.”

In his final season with the Komets, Szydlowski skated in 52 games, scoring 10 goals with 14 assists, and was named team captain before the final regular season game.

Along with his professional career in North America, Szydlowski also appeared in games with Frisk Asker in Norway. Over his entire professional career, he appeared in 806 regular season and playoff games, recording 248 goals, 422 assists, 670 points and 890 penalty minutes.

Szydlowski currently resides in St. Clair Shores, where he’s working in the insurance industry. It’s a far cry from playing hockey, but perhaps he will get back into the game in some capacity. He should certainly be inducted into the Komets Hall of Fame at some point. A Shawn Szydlowski Night, complete with retiring his No. 27, would also be a fitting tribute to a fine career.

The Komets hope to bounce back from a four-game skid last week when they hit the road for a two-game series Friday and Saturday against the Tulsa Oilers and a Sunday game against the Wichita Thunder.