Szydlowski returns for seventh season, Komets add two others

Fort Wayne, Ind. -The Fort Wayne Komets announced that Shawn Szydlowski has agreed to terms and will return for the 2019-20 campaign while the team has also added forward Matthew Boudens and defenseman Eric Israel.

Szydlowski, 28, will be entering his ninth season as a pro, eighth in the ECHL and seventh with Fort Wayne. The St. Clair Shores, Michigan native is a three-time Fort Wayne MVP and was the team's regular season points leader on three occasions (2014-15, 2015-16 and 2017-18) and was playoff leader in 2014 and 2016. In 2017-18, he was named ECHL MVP while winning the league scoring championship with a career high 79 points and ranking second in plus-minus with +39. Szydlowski is a two-time ECHL First Team honoree (2015, 2018) and was named the 2017 ECHL All-Star team captain and starter 

During his career, Szydlowski has skated American Hockey League stints with Rochester, Binghamton, Lake Erie, Norfolk and Cleveland totaling 19 points (1g-9a) in 78 games. He has registered all-time Fort Wayne career marks of 174 goals, 266 assists, 440 points and 477 penalty minutes in 423 games. Szydlowski has netted four Fort Wayne hat tricks and reached the 25-goal plateau with the Komets four times.  

Last season Szydlowski started the year in Norway skating 11 games with Frisk Asker before returning to Fort Wayne to rank second in Komet scoring with 55 points (19g-36a) in 59 games while co-leading in plus-minus with +7.

Boudens, 25, completed his fifth season with the University of New Brunswick last year scoring 18 points (6g-12a) and posting a +23 in 28 games while leading the squad with 101 penalty minutes. The Pembroke, Ontario native captured his third University Cup championship with the Reds and finished his collegiate career with 64 points (17g-47a) 309 penalty minutes and +62 in 135 games.

In 2010-11, Boudens completed two years of juniors with Pembroke, winning Canadian championships each season before logging a three-year Quebec Major Junior Hockey League career at Drummondville. During his final year of juniors, he ranked second with the Voltigeurs with 24 goals and third with 59 points while leading the team with 125 penalty minutes. 

Israel, 24, is coming off a four-year college career at Robert Morris University where he amassed totals of 21 goals, 64 assists and 85 points in 146 games. The Huntington Woods, Michigan native made his collegiate debut winning the AHA regular-season championship and was named RMU Freshman of the Year for men's hockey.  He led Colonials' defensemen each of his last three seasons in goals, assists and points.  Last season, Israel led the league and tied for fifth in Division I with 85 blocked shots and was named to the AHC All-Academic Team for the third straight year.

Prior to his college stint with Robert Morris University, Israel skated two seasons of juniors with Brockville and led team defensemen both years in goals and points and was named to the 2015 CCHL Second All-Star Team.