It’s January in Indiana.  Cue the wild temperature swings and questions about the Colt’s off season plans (or Bears for those of you in The Region).  Thankfully, we have hockey to take our minds off of things like 30 degree temperature swings and cryptic Jim Irsay tweets.  January, for us puck heads, marks the beginning of the second half – the last stretch of road to conquer before hitting tournament time in the early spring.  It’s a chance for those teams with losing records to begin anew, and it's a challenge for teams with winning records, to keep their winning ways.  At the very least, the thought of January hockey makes it easier to forget your springtime allergies are flaring up in the dead of winter.  So with that in mind, let’s take a look at what the weekend has to offer for the INHockey.net Game of the Week.

Now, before I get too far down the road of what’s to come, let me first remind you that my last pick was for Carmel to win against Penn way back on December 17th, as we headed into the holiday break.  Penn had a tough road trip ahead of them, playing Zionsville on Friday night and then Carmel on Saturday afternoon which lead me to believe Carmel would pull out the win on Saturday.  In deed, that was the case as the Carmel Gold team trounced Penn with a  7-2  beat down.  Full disclosure, I did expect the game to be a lot closer and if you follow me on Twitter, I was actually having second thoughts.  Nonetheless, my record is now 2-2-1 on the season. 

Looking ahead, MLK weekend is typically pretty quiet on the youth side of things.  However, high school hockey is rocking with the MLK Weekend Tournament in Indianapolis.  High school tournaments are a blast and you really could just grab a seat and hang out for the day to watch hockey.  Here are the games I have highlighted as “must watch” on my list for the weekend of January 15th and 16th :

• Friday @ 9:30 PM Carroll vs Carmel Gold - Fishers Fuel Tank #2
• Saturday @ 9:45 AM Bloomington vs Penn - Fishers Fuel Tank #2
• Saturday @ 11:15 AM Lake Central Blue vs HSE A – Fishers Fuel Tank #2
• Saturday @ 2:15 PM South Stars A vs Bishop Noll – Fishers Fuel Tank #2
• Saturday @ 9:45 PM Crown Point at Central Indiana Knights – Fishers Fuel Tank #2
• Sunday @ 11:30 PM Bloomington vs Carmel Gold – Coliseum (Fairgrounds)
• Sunday @ 12:30 PM Adams/Marian vs Westfield – Fishers Fuel Tank #1

Because of the high school tournament and lack of youth hockey games around the state, my official “Game of the Week” has got to be the Indy Fuel at the Fort Wayne Komets.  I mean, seriously, who doesn't love a good old fashioned ice grinder?  If you haven’t been to a Komets vs Fuel game, and you like "old time hockey," then in the words of Shaekspeare, "Get thee to a game, now!".  The games are gritty, the fans are loud, and it’s about everything you want from a hockey game.  So, if you're in Fort Wayne on Sunday, this will be a great game to catch.

The Komets have had a strong year so far with a 20-13 record while the Fuel have been struggling with a 10 -23 record.  Despite their opposite records, the last meeting on December 27th was a bit of a goat rodeo, with 14 goals being scored in that game.  Wow! Holy goaltenders, Batman! 

Player's to watch in this game are INdy's standout forwaard Alex Wideman ( 12 goals, 16 assists) and Fort Wayne's Shawn Szydlowski (21 goals, 28 assists). 

The Fuel have dropped the last two games against the Komets and it’s not going to be any easier this time, since they have to make the trip up I-69 and play in a very hostile War Memorial Coliseum.   I expect the Komets to win this one at home, 3-1 over the Fuel.

The Komets are my Hoosier team for the week.  You heard it here first!