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Bloomington Records First Shutout Of 09-10 Season

October 26, 2009 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


ROCHESTER, MI--- The Bloomington PrairieThunder opened up their home portion of their schedule on Saturday, earning a big win over the Dayton Gems. Bloomington goaltender Paulo Colaiacovo earned the IHL's first shutout of the 09-10 season, turning aside all 26 shots he faced from the Gems. The PrairieThunder notched in one goal in the first, two in the second and another in the third to defeat Dayton 4-0. Robin Gomez and Russ Smith each had multi-point nights for the PrairieThunder. Bloomington has won four straight home openers, dating back to their inaugural season (2006-07).

Quad City also opened up their season at home on Saturday, drawing in 7,766 fans for the Mallards first home game in the IHL. Mallards forward Mike Zbriger scored at the 12:50 mark of the first period, putting Quad City on the board first. The Komets answered back with just 11 seconds left in the first, then added two more in the second to defeat the Mallards by a final score of 3-1.

The Komets drew a sell-out crowd of 10,511 fans to their home opener Friday vs. Bloomington. It was the eighth straight Fort Wayne home opener to attract over 10,000 fans. The Komets defeated Bloomington 2-1, extending their home-opener winning streak to six games.

AROUND THE "I" AROUND THE "I"

The Dayton Gems earned their first win of the young season Friday in a high-scoring battle with the Muskegon Lumberjacks at LC Walker Arena in Muskegon. The two teams traded goals through the first and second periods, then Muskegon center Matt Robertson tied up the game midway through the third for the Lumberjacks. Dayton forward AJ MacLean scored the game winner just 1:24 after the game-tying goal from the -˜Jacks. The Gems never looked back, tacking on an empty netter with one minute remaining to seal their first victory by a final score of 7-5 over the Lumberjacks.

Bloomington PrairieThunder (1-1-0-0)-Goalie Paulo Colaiacovo registered the third shutout in the PrairieThunder's four- year history by stopping 26 shots, including six power play attempts, in a 4-0 win over Dayton. Colaiacovo started the weekend with a 4.91 GAA and a .844 save percentage. By the end of the weekend, he had improved his numbers to 2.63 GAA and .916 save percentage. Bloomington kept its home opener unbeaten record intact at 4-0 with their 4-0 win over Dayton on Saturday. Center Ryan Finnerty had an assist in both Bloomington games over the weekend to make him the only player on the team to score in each of the PrairieThunder's first four games. The PrairieThunder has been successful in stopping the last 10 power play opportunities against them in three games.

Flint Generals (0-3-0-0)- For better or for worse, penalty killing has become second nature for the 2009-10 Generals. They have found themselves down a man 28 times, but they have been in the sin bin a league leading 175 minutes. Good thing they play well on the PK, they've only allowed four goals, putting them third in the league at 85.7%. So far this young season, the Generals have not made much use of being a man up on the opponent. They have had the advantage 15 times through five games played. They have managed only two goals, both by Tyler Howells. Unfortunately, they allowed a shorthanded goal in their first game against Port Huron this past weekend.

Fort Wayne Komets (2-0-0-0)- The Komets swept both games played last week to improve to 3-1-0-0 and move into a first-place tie with the Port Huron Icehawks. The Komets clipped the Bloomington PrairieThunder 2-1 Friday night to extend their home-opener winning streak to six games. The Komets are unbeaten in regulation in 15 straight home openers (13-0-2). Komet firsts: Tomas Klempa (RW) scored his first pro goal and point in his first pro game Friday night. Fort Wayne native Kaleigh Schrock (RW) scored his first pro goal and point Friday night. Center Travis Whitehead scored his first pro goal and point Saturday at Quad City. Saturday's game at Quad City was the Komets' first trip to Quad City since March 2, 2007 (2-1 shootout win).

Muskegon Lumberjacks (1-1-0-0)- After the first two weeks of the IHL season, the Lumberjacks are the highest scoring ammo arsenal in the league, having scored 19 goals-for in four games for an average of 4.75 per game. Muskegon has thrived in the first two periods so far in the young season, outscoring the opposition by a combined 15-7; in the first period, 7-3 and in the second period, 8-4. Lumberjacks rookie defenseman Matt Krug and veteran defenseman Jason Lawmaster share the league lead for best plus/minus with a plus-five. In marking his second coming to Muskegon, veteran defenseman Tom Galvin, in his IHL debut Friday night against Dayton, scored two goals. On Sunday, Todd Robinson became the fourth player in Muskegon history to play 500 games for the hometown team.

Port Huron Icehawks (2-1-0-0)- The Icehawks are currently tied for first place in the league with the Fort Wayne Komets. Both teams have six points and a .750 winning percentage. The Icehawks kicked off the 2009-10 season with a three game winning streak. This streak came to an end on Sunday with a loss in Muskegon. The winning streak is in stark contrast to last season, when the Icehawks lost the first four games of the season. The winning streak marks the first time that a Port Huron team won its first three contests since the 2002-03 season. Defenseman and Marysville native Nick Rolls tallied his first professional point Saturday versus Flint, as he assisted on a goal by Derek Patrosso. The Icehawks have averaged more shots per game than any other team in the league at 34.75.

Quad City Mallards (0-1-0-0)- At 12:58 of the first period of the Mallards' 3-1 loss to Fort Wayne, Mike Zbriger became the first Mallard to score in a regular season game at the i wireless Center since Chad Woollard scored at 18:28 of the third period of the Flock's 5-4 shootout loss to Flint on April 6, 2007. Zbriger's goal was also his first for Quad City; defenseman Matt Burke assisted on the goal- his first assist in a Mallard uniform. Zbriger's goal was the Mallards' first on the power play this season; the Mallards are the only team in the IHL that has not yet allowed a power play goal. Goal- tender Sebastien Laplante took the loss last Saturday despite making 31 saves in his first appearance against the Komets since being selected off the Fort Wayne roster by the Mallards in July's IHL expansion draft.



International Hockey League 2 Stories from October 26, 2009


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