Komm Anxious For First AHL Action
ALLENTOWN - If the Philadelphia Flyers intend to keep goaltender Anthony Stolarz on the NHL roster to begin the season - he wasn't placed on waivers Wednesday - it will allow for Brandon Komm to begin the season in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Flyers' AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
With Carter Hart in Allentown, Komm would assume the backup role. But after a well-traveled 2017-18 season saw Komm bounce from team-to-team four times - Idaho, Quad City, Manchester and Reading - his first taste of AHL life would be a welcomed reward for his hardships from a year ago.
"It was tough in the beginning," Komm recalled of last season. He had just gotten engaged.
"My fiance moved out with me and then our life kind of got turned upside down. It's one of those things where you kind of look in the mirror and find out what kind of man you are when you're tested with adversity like that."
After eventually landing with the Phantoms' ECHL affiliate Reading Royals late last season, Komm said he found his identity not only as a goalie on the ice but as a person as well. He finished the season going 6-2 with Reading with a 2.06 goals-against average and .936 save percentage to go along with two shutouts.
"You just want to work hard at all times and then when an opportunity presents itself you just want to take advantage of it," Komm said of his current situation with the Phantoms. "It's one of those things where you have to visualize it happening and not be surprised when it does."
Komm didn't look out of place in AHL preseason action, going 1-1 in two games stopping a combined 53 out of 59 shots.
Spending his last four years in the ECHL, Komm - who signed an AHL contract with Lehigh Valley over the summer - was certainly aware of his situation in the organization with all of the goalies signed to NHL contracts. It more than humbles him.
"I use it for motivation. I definitely have a chip on my shoulder. I feel like I have a lot to prove, and I'm ready for it."
