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Battle For First Place Begins

March 16, 2009 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


ROCHESTER, MI--- A battle for the top spot in the IHL will begin this week with first place Port Huron (83 points) and second place Fort Wayne (79 points) facing off in a home-and-home series with the Komets being just four points away from a share of first place. The battle begins Tuesday when Fort Wayne travels to Port Huron. Fort Wayne brings a five-game winning streak into McMorran Arena, with four of those wins coming on the road. The Icehawks will take their three-game road winning streak into Fort Wayne Friday night, where the Komets have won their last two games.

Two players from those teams look to extend their point streaks during the next two contests. Icehawks forward Nick Lindberg is currently riding a six-game point streak, notching in three goals and eight assists (11 points) in his last six games. Komets defenseman Guy Dupuis has also remained on fire as of late, scoring two goals and five assists during his five-game point streak.

Muskegon's Todd Robinson becomes the first player this season to reach 100 points. In 60 games played so far this season, the Lumberjacks center has notched in 101 points with 23 goals and 78 assists. This is the fifth time in Robinson's 10 year career, and fourth time in eight years with Muskegon, that he has reached 100 points. The last time a player in the IHL recorded 100 points was back in the 1998-99 season when Houston Aeros center Brian Wiseman notched in 109 points in 77 games and Chicago Wolves forward Steve Maltais scored 100 points in 82 games played.

AROUND THE "I"

Bloomington PrairieThunder - (2-1-0-1) - Jon Booras set the franchise's record for most points scored in a season when he netted seven points to move his total to 84. The previous record was 81, set last year by Don Parsons. Booras needs three more goals to set the team record for a single season. He has currently has 36. Rookie Nick Goyens had his first multiple point game as a pro in Friday's 4-3 win at Kalamazoo. The PrairieThunder are currently riding a season-high four game road winning streak. Veteran defenseman Sam Miller needs three more minutes in penalties to reach 1,000 for his career. Jan Jas should reach the 500 game mark in his 11-year pro career with three games this week.

Flint Generals - (1-1-0-0) - Flint has lost six consecutive road games. The last victory on enemy ice was a 3-2 victory at Muskegon on February 7th. Flint's come-from-behind 5-4 victory over Muskegon on Friday snapped a six-game losing streak. It was also the Generals 3rd victory of the season when trailing after two periods. Frank Littlejohn has scored five goals since joining the Generals; four of them against his former Muskegon teammates. Rookie Center Jordan Boman scored the game-winning goal against Muskegon on Friday night while short-handed. Boman has scored four goals this season, three of them against Muskegon. Friday night was his first goal at Perani Arena and his first GWG of the season. Seven of 12 games against Muskegon have resulted in one goal games. Flint has a 3-4 record in those seven games. Flint's victory over Muskegon ended a four-game losing streak to the Lumberjacks including three consecutive games at Perani Arena. Five of six games played at Perani Arena between Flint and Muskegon has resulted in one goal games. Flint has a record of 2-3 against the Lumberjacks in those five games.

Fort Wayne Komets - (3-0-0-0) - The Komets extended their win streak to five games and have lost in regulation only twice in their last 18 games. Fort Wayne has won their last four straight road games and have the IHL's best road record at 21-8-0-4. With 13 home wins and nine home games remaining, the Komets appear to be headed toward their first season in franchise history (57 years) of having a better record on the road than at home. This week the Komets begin a stretch of five home games in nine nights when they host Port Huron Friday. Komet streaks: Defenseman Rod Aldoff passed assists in each of his first three games with the Komets (4a) last week. Winger Olivier Legault has a three-game point streak (2g,1a) Defenseman Guy Dupuis has a five-game point streak (2g, 5a) Netminder Nick Boucher has a three-game win streak. Goaltender Sebastien Leplante is unbeaten in his last eight appearances. Laplante has not been beaten in regulation since returning from 60-day I.R. Jan. 28th. Milestones: Defenseman Rod Aldoff dished his 300th pro assist Saturday night at Kalamazoo and scored his 400th pro point (assist) Sunday at Bloomington. Defenseman Guy Dupuis scored his 100th Fort Wayne career goal Saturday at Kalamazoo and is five goals shy of tying the Komets' franchise record of 105 goals scored by a defenseman set by Jim Burton in 1988-89.

Kalamazoo Wings - (1-2-0-0) - Kalamazoo will play Muskegon during the 28th Annual Green Ice Game tomorrow. The K-Wings are 18-6-0-3 on Green Ice and 14-4-0-2 in their IHL history. Tommy Lange is on a four-game point streak. Kalamazoo is on a two-game overall and two-game home losing streak. The K-Wings will play three out of their next four at home. Dominic Osman recorded three points in his first two-games as a K-Wing. The K-Wings Alumni will play the Red Wings Alumni this Saturday before the K-Wings-Generals Game. When Glenn Detulleo went down in the second period with a injury and missed the remainder of the Saturday's game against Fort Wayne, marked the fifth player (Detulleo, Tyler Willis, Bryan Jurynec, Anthony Battaglia and Mark Nebus) with major offensive contributions to be out of the K-Wings lineup. In total, Kalamazoo was missing 185 points out of their lineup, which includes three of their top five offensive weapons. Rick Cleaver leads all IHL rookies in goals scored with 23. Jason Tapp is tied for second among goaltenders in victories with 21. Kalamazoo has outscored their opponents 74-54 in the third period.

Muskegon Lumberjacks - (0-3-0-0) - When the Lumberjacks lost to Port Huron Sunday night, it represented their first setback in six games on the road on Sunday this season. Overall, it was only their second setback in nine Sunday outings so far this season. The loss also marked the second time this season that the Lumberjacks have lost back-to-back games on the road. Muskegon's present four-game losing streak is their longest losing streak of the current campaign. Defenseman Adam Bartholomay appeared in his 100th pro game the past Friday night at Flint, celebrating his new personal milestone with his 9th goal of the season. In his first four games against his former team, the Flint Generals, Lumberjacks center John DiPace has scored eight points (4g, 4a). Fresh off the campus as the captain of his Utica College team, left wing Bryce Dale earned his first professional point Sunday night assisting on Alec Kirshcner's third period goal, playing in his first ever pro game. Center Billy Collins' next goal will be the 100th of his pro career and all with Muskegon.

Port Huron Icehawks - (2-1-0-0) - After putting up just one goal in Friday's game versus Fort Wayne, Port Huron combined for 15 goals on Saturday and Sunday. The Icehawks recorded a season high nine goals in Saturday's 9-1 routing of the Flint Generals and scored seven goals in Sunday's win versus Muskegon. The Icehawks could clinch a berth in the Turner Cup playoffs as soon as this weekend. The magic number for the Icehawks to earn a trip to the playoffs is seven, which could be obtained by a combination of Icehawks wins and Bloomington losses. The Icehawks first line of Bryan Smolinski, Steve Rymsha and Tab Lardner was on a tear over the weekend, combining for a total of eight goals and nine assists between games on Saturday and Sunday. Jeremy Tucker returned to the Icehawks lineup on Friday after being out since January 17th with an injury. He made his presence known, with three goals over the three games. After the Icehawks wrap up a five game home-stand on Tuesday versus Fort Wayne, they will embark on a five game road trip. Of the Icehawks 13 remaining regular season games, five are on home ice and eight will be played on the road.



International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 16, 2009


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