IHL 2 Kalamazoo Wings

The Force was strong for the K-Wings

Published on November 15, 2008 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Kalamazoo, MI - No Jedi mind tricks were needed, just strong special teams and stingy goaltending in the Kalamazoo Wings 6-2 victory over the Fort Wayne Komets on Star Wars Night.

For the second straight night, the K-Wings drilled home the contest's first goal on their first power-play chance. With Kalamazoo enjoying a man advantage early in the first, Tommy Lange flipped a perfect saucer pass from behind the Komets cage into the slot for a charging Jason Robinson (1st), who buried a wrister from 25 feet at 7:03.

A penalty call also played a role in Fort Wayne's equalizer a few minutes later. The Komets pulled goaltender Sebastien Laplante for an extra attacker pending a delaying penalty to the K-Wings. Brad MacMillan slid a centering pass to Kevin Bertram (1st), who promptly tossed a backhand shot under Jason Tapp for a 1-1 score at 14:30.

However, the K-Wings quickly got their lead right back on a rocket of a slapshot from fan favorite Tyler Willis (1st) at 17:03. Anthony Battaglia led a 3-on-2 Kalamazoo rush and dished the puck to Willis on the right wing, who ripped a blast on the move top shelf past Laplante, which got the Wings Stadium crowd of 2,923 on their feet waving their United Kennel Club rally towels that were distributed prior to face-off.

Another long slapper early in the second frame increased Kalamazoo's strangle hold. Glenn Detulleo (5th) pulled in a long lead pass from Lucas Drake on the left side and let a seemingly harmless shot go from just inside the blue line. It turned out to be far from harmless for Fort Wayne as it trickled through to Laplante and bounced into the net for a 3-1 Kalamazoo lead.

At 7:36, the Komets got careless in their own zone while attempting to set up their power play. An errant pass to the center of the ice was intercepted by Kalamazoo's Battaglia (1st) at the top of the left circle. He took one look at the goal, put his head down and drilled a heavy blast past Laplante's blocker hand, which led to Fort Wayne's head coach Al Sims to pull Laplante for Nick Boucher.

Konstantin Shafranov (6th) got the Komets back into the contest with a breathtaking breakaway goal at 16:48. Rick Varone picked up the primary assist.

Kalamazoo put the game on ice in the third period, scoring twice. Casey Handrahan's right point blast was deflected by Willis (2nd) at 5:01. Over four minutes later, while enjoying a 5-on-3 power-play, Detulleo slid a perfect pass to Jeremy Stevenson (5th), who sent an off-balance slap shot past Boucher to close out the game's scoring.

Kalamazoo went 2 for 7 on the power-play, while killing off all 10 of Fort Wayne's power-play chances. Through three games against the K-Wings, the Komets power-play is now 0 for 18.

Prior to tonight's game, Kalamazoo unveiled and wore their third jerseys. The jersey was submitted by Brian Weaver during the K-Wings Jersey Contest in August. A committee helped decide on the final three selections that were then put on kwings.com for a fan online vote.

Kalamazoo will return to the ice this Tuesday, November 18th at McMorran Place Area with a 7:30 p.m. face-off against the Port Huron Icehawks.

The K-Wings will head back to Wings Stadium on Friday, November 21st with a 7:30 p.m. encounter versus the Bloomington PrairieThunder on Win-Win Night, presented by Win-98.5 FM. If the K-Wings win, all fans in attendance will receive a FREE game ticket for the game against Port Huron on Sunday, November 23rd.

Single-game tickets for any of the K-Wings 38 regular season home games are currently on sale at the Wings Stadium Ticket Office. Ticket Office hours are Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information, call Wings Stadium Ticket Office during regular business hours at (269) 345-5101.

For more information about tonight's game, please contact Director of Public Relations/Broadcaster Mike Modugno at (269) 349-9772 extension 220.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from November 15, 2008


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