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Kalamazoo Wings capture Tarry Cup

April 17, 2006 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


LAKE ST. LOUIS, MO --- It came down to the final weekend of the United Hockey League (UHL) season to determine the Tarry Cup Championship, the best record overall in the regular season. Heading into Friday's action, the Kalamazoo Wings and Muskegon Fury had identical records. Muskegon suffered a 5-2 loss at the hands of the Fort Wayne Komets. Kalamazoo held the head-to-head tiebreaker over Muskegon, therefore a win by the K-Wings would clinch the top spot in the UHL no matter the outcome of Saturday's games. Two goals by rookie center Jason Deitsch helped lead Kalamazoo to a 5-2 win over the Missouri River Otters and clinched the first Tarry Cup Championship in the team's history.

Friday was the seventh consecutive win for the K-Wings and fifth straight victory for goaltender Joel Martin. The team would drop their final regular season game to Fort Wayne on Saturday, but would still end up with the best record in their seven-year UHL history (52-17-7). The 52 wins is a new team record and the second straight season with 50 or more wins as they finished with a 50-24-6 record in 2004-05. The 17 losses this season were the fewest in team history, breaking their mark of 22 in 2003-04.

Kalamazoo led the UHL with 332 goals which was also a new team record, shattering their mark of 281 they set during the 2003-04 season. The squad allowed a league low 183 goals, which breaks the team record of 204 allowed last season.

Kalamazoo will now make their fifth appearance in the UHL Colonial Cup Playoffs. They have earned the top seed and home-ice advantage throughout the 2006 postseason.

OLIVEIRA NETS 61 - Richmond RiverDogs forward Mike Oliveira scored his 60th goal of the season late in the third period of Saturday's finale vs. Missouri. He would add an empty net tally a few minutes later to finish with 61 goals during the 2005-06 season. It is the most goals scored by a UHL player since Trevor Jobe recorded 61 in the 1999-2000 season when he split time between the Knoxville Speed and Adirondack IceHawks. Oliveira becomes the ninth player (13 times) in UHL history to score 60 or more in a season.

SCORING CHAMPIONS - Muskegon teammates Robin Bouchard (59g, 57a) and Jeff Nelson (33g, 83a) each finished the 2005-06 regular season with 116 points. It is the first time in UHL history that there has been a tie for the overall scoring leader. It is the second time in his career that Bouchard has led the UHL in scoring. He tallied 120 points (55g, 65a) in the 2003-04 season. Nelson led the league with 83 assists.

FANTASTIC FINISH - The Quad City Mallards finished the regular season on a six-game winning streak and went 16-4-1 over their final 21 games to secure a berth in the Colonial Cup Playoffs. The Richmond RiverDogs made a strong push for a playoff spot going 14-6-1 in their final 21 games. Richmond's playoff hopes were still alive on Saturday as the Motor City Mechanics left the door open after suffering a winless stretch of 0-4-1. However, Motor City earned a victory on the final day of the regular season and finished with an identical record as Richmond. Motor City held the head-to-head wins tiebreaker over the RiverDogs, thus capturing the final berth in the 2006 Colonial Cup Playoffs.

NO PLACE LIKE ROAD - The Danbury Trashers set a new UHL record by losing just seven games on the opponent's ice this season. The previous mark of eight road losses was shared by the Quad City Mallards (2000-01) and the Chatham Wheels (1993-94).

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Adirondack Frostbite - (1-2-1) - The Frostbite set a new team record this season by allowing 229 goals, breaking their mark of 235 (2000-01, 2004-05)...Left wing Hugo Belanger finished the regular season with 98 points (31g, 67a). It is the first time since the 1996-97 season that he failed to reach the 100-point plateau...The Frostbite were one of five UHL teams to win at least 20 games at both home and on the road.

Danbury Trashers - (2-0-0) - Center Drew Omicioli established new team records this season in goals (48), game-winning goals (11), and tied the team record for points (87)...Center Shawn Collymore led all rookies and ranked fourth overall in the UHL with a plus-44 rating...Winger Jean-Michel Daoust set new Trasher rookie records for goals (30), assists (35), and points (65)...Donny Grover led all UHL rookie defensemen with 41 points (10g, 31a).

Elmira Jackals - (1-1-0) - The Jackals snapped their five-game losing streak with a 2-1 shootout victory over Adirondack in their final game of the regular season. Right wing Jason Sessa had the game-tying goal in regulation and the deciding goal in the shootout...Defenseman Trevor Burgess had his five-game scoring streak snapped on Saturday...The Jackals were the only UHL team to finish with more wins on the road (16) than at home (11).

Flint Generals - (1-0-1) - The Generals finished 3-0-2 in their final five home games...The final two games in the regular season for Flint went to a shootout. They participated in a league high 19 shootouts this season...The Generals have a combined 24 shootout losses in the past two seasons...Flint ranked ninth in the UHL with 3.11 goals per game this season, but scored four or more in five of the final six contests.

Fort Wayne Komets - (3-0-0) - Left wing P.C. Drouin registered his 100th UHL career assist on Friday...Left wing Lance Galbraith recorded the 100th assist of his pro career on Saturday...Center Kelly Miller concluded the regular season riding a three-game point streak...Defenseman Rob Guinn skated in all 76 Komet games this season after skating in all 80 games last season...Defenseman Troy Neumeier also played in all 76 regular season games.

Kalamazoo Wings - (2-1-0) - Kalamazoo set team records this season for wins (52), home wins (27), goals (332), assists (568), points (900), power play goals (115), power play percentage (21.62%), shorthanded goals (17), and goals allowed (183)...Defenseman Greg Labenski led the UHL with a plus-54 rating...Daniel Carriere, Nick Bootland, Adam Elzinga, and Kory Karlander played in all 76 games this season. Carriere has missed just one game over the past two seasons.

Missouri River Otters - (0-2-1) - Winger Jim Duhart netted three goals during the week and currently is just two goals shy of 500 for his professional career...Defenseman Tim O'Connell was the only River Otter to play in all 76 games this season. He was third on the team with 40 points (13g, 27a)...Kevin Reiter had the highest shootout save percentage among UHL goaltenders who faced ten or more shooters this season.

Motor City Mechanics - (1-1-0) - Forward Tom Kotsopoulos finished the season riding a three-game goal streak... Center Greg Bullock has six points in five games played since returning from injury...Forward Peter Szabo led all UHL rookies with 55 assists...Rod Branch led all UHL goaltenders in wins (38), minutes played (4128:10), and saves (1994)...Center Kris Vernarsky ended the season on a three-game point streak.

Muskegon Fury - (1-2-0) - Muskegon equaled their club record from last season with 51 wins. They also equaled their record for fewest losses (18)...The Fury registered the most road wins (24) and fewest road losses (10) in team history...For the third consecutive season, Muskegon led the UHL in power play conversion (24.0%)...Rookie winger Ryan Keller tied the UHL season record for game-winning goals (11)...Defenseman Dave Van Drunen led the team in plus/minus (+37) for the second straight season.

Port Huron Flags - (1-1-0) - Left wing Trevor Edwards netted two goals, including the game-winner in Friday's 5-1 win vs. Motor City...The win snapped their 11-game home winless streak (0-10-1). It was the highest goal output for the Flags in the last 11 games...Goaltender Jeremy Symington made 50 saves in Saturday's regular season finale...Edwards and forward Steve Dix each played in 74 of the 76 games for the Flags this season.

Quad City Mallards - (2-0-0) - The Mallards finished the regular season on a six-game winning streak. Each of those games was decided by one goal and four went to the shootout...Chad Woollard, Glenn Detulleo, Matt Radoslovich, Samy Nasreddine, and Joel Pullman each played in all 76 regular season games. Prior to this year, only four players in team history had appeared in every game during a regular season.

Richmond RiverDogs - (2-1-0) - The RiverDogs registered their highest goal output of the season in the 9-3 win over Missouri in the final game of the year...Richmond was 3-1-0 in their four-game road stretch to finish the season...Defenseman Dan Vandermeer tied a league season high with a plus-6 rating in Saturday's game. He also finished second in the UHL with 75 assists and led all UHL defensemen in scoring with 90 points.

Roanoke Valley Vipers - (0-3-0) - Left wing Mike Wiggins registered a "hat trick" (3g) plus added an assist in the regular season finale...Wiggins, Matt Elich, Mark Scott, John Osborne, Jan Jas, and Sean Starke all finished the season riding a three-game point streak...Goaltender Glenn Ridler set a league season high when he made 57 saves in Saturday's 7-5 loss to Danbury.

Rockford IceHogs - (1-0-1) - Rookie winger Robin Big Snake led the UHL in penalty minutes (423), marking the second straight season a Rockford player has led the league...The IceHogs led the league in penalty minutes (2,582)...Defenseman Steve Pelletier has played in 156 consecutive games for the IceHogs...Rockford netted three shorthanded goals in their final two games...The IceHogs led the league in penalty killing (87.0%) and home penalty killing (90.3%).

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from April 17, 2006


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