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Thousands welcomed back the Utica Comets at their sold out home opener Wednesday. It's the team's second year and they're already improving from year one. Alana LaFlore reports how venue improvements and a new roster means the Comets' future looks bright.

UTICA, N.Y. -- With five games now under their belt, the Comets are back. Last year's season began with a 10 game losing streak, but towards the end they turned it around.

"If we went three and seven we would have actually made the playoffs," said Michael Melioris, a Comets fan. "We're on a roll - we had a shut out this year."

After Wednesday's game against the Adirondack Flames, the Comets already have three wins. This year's roster has five first round draft picks and the new blood has been a big boost.

"You can see it right away, I mean there's more chemistry on the ice, a lot of the guys played together last year so you don't have to worry about that familiarity anymore," said Utica Comet communications director Mark Caswell, Jr.

Not only is the roster beefed up - the Aud has made improvements of its own. It added a members bar and suite over looking the ice and did other projects like paint jobs, installing new lighting, putting televisions to broadcast games in the concourse and infrastructure repairs. Improvements many hope trickle into the rest of the city.

"You have Tony's that opened up right in the back last year, it just catches on - the appearance of the city is shaping right up," said Melioris. "This is a Renaissance city, it's coming back - it's going to be a high tech city."

With fan support - the home opener was the Comets 18th sold out game - and a stronger start - the team hopes things will continue picking up.

Next month they'll play in the Toyota Frozen Dome Classic against the Syracuse Crunch - the first ever hockey game at the Carrier Dome.

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Fans Welcome Back Comets at Sold Out Home Opener