For Jordon Southorn, it wasn’t a matter of if he would return to Fort Wayne. It was a matter of when.

After a season away, he’s back in a Komets uniform and believing that his experience playing at a higher level will make him better.

“Last season was obviously an eye opener and a learning experience,” Southorn said. “Hopefully I can bring some of that down to Fort Wayne and be a better player than I was here before.”

Southorn skated 64 games for the Komets in 2013-14, totaling 14 goals, 37 points and 64 penalty minutes, and the 6-foot-3, 200-pound defenseman helped the Komets to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

A fourth-round draft pick of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres in 2008, Southorn leveraged his time in Fort Wayne into a contract to play last season in the American Hockey League with Portland, the top minor-league affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes.

However, he played in only 26 games – he had three goals, nine points and eight penalty minutes – and even spent eight games back in the ECHL with Gwinnett.

“I was only down in the (ECHL) for just over two weeks; 95 percent of season, I was in the American League and where I wanted to be,” he said. “I didn’t play as much as I wanted to, but it was a numbers game there, and it opened my eyes to a lot of things.

“The compete level in the AHL is there every night. It’s about being a professional. It’s a different ball game in itself. You’re that much closer to the NHL at that level. I was never there before (very long) and seeing it firsthand last season, it was an experience.”

Free last summer to sign where he wanted, he jumped at the chance to return to Fort Wayne because of the way the Komets had treated him.

“When I get here in that trade (in 2013-14), they knew I hadn’t played in a while. I had taken some personal time off,” he said. “They welcomed me with open arms, and I did well from the get-go.

“If you look at my rap sheet, I’ve been to a few (ECHL) teams, but I knew if I was going to go back to the league that it would be with the Komets.”

The Komets (4-2-0), coming off back-to-back losses, play host to the Toledo Walleye (4-2-1) tonight in the first meeting between the teams since the Walleye won the seventh game of the North Division finals last season.

Southorn leads the Komets’ defensemen with three goals and has four points, second only to Drew Daniels’ seven.

But he is valuable for more than just scoring; Southorn and 6-6 Cody Sol are charged with protecting the Komets’ goalies from opposing forwards.

Southorn was a popular player with the fans in his first stint with the Komets because of his knack of scoring and physical play. He thinks they’ll like him just as much this time around.

“I’m the same persona as I was going in. My personality doesn’t change,” he said. “My hockey is the same. Of course, you learn some things every year, but I think all around my game is the same. I’m better defensively, more aware, which is good. You can’t be too good in the defensive zone. I like generating offense but don’t want to be a minus player. Being a professional was what I took away from last season – how to be a real pro.”