Fury opponents seeing red

Published on October 23, 2006 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


LAKE ST. LOUIS, MO --- After two weeks of the United Hockey League (UHL) season, the Muskegon Fury are off to a fast start (5-0-0) which has been ignited by their ability to put the puck in the net and light the red lamp. The Fury have scored 34 goals through the first five games of the season, which is an average of nearly seven goals per contest. That total is more than double of any other UHL team during the early part of the 2006-07 season.

Muskegon has been held under seven goals in just one game this season, which was a 4-2 victory vs. the Chicago Hounds, and had a league season high nine goals in the 9-2 win vs. Quad City during the opening weekend of the season.

Left wing Mike Watt is leading the UHL with nine goals this season. Winger Evan Kotsopoulos is second in the league with five goals followed by forwards Todd Robinson, Rustyn Dolyny, and Elias Godoy who are tied for third with four goals each.

SPARTAN REUNION - Friday's game between the Bloomington PrairieThunder and the Muskegon Fury featured four players who once suited up at Michigan State University. Muskegon right wing Rustyn Dolyny, left wing Mike Watt, defenseman Jon Insana, along with Bloomington defenseman Chris Bogas all once wore the green and white. In addition, Muskegon President/Owner Tony Lisman graduated from Michigan State. Lisman is also part owner of the Bloomington PrairieThunder.

GOALTENDER GETS A BREAK - The Fort Wayne Komets did not allow a shot on goal in the third period of their home opening 8-3 win vs. Quad City on Saturday. The Komets out-shot the Mallards 18-0 in the third period. The last time a team did not record a shot in a period was on opening night of the 2003-04 season when the Kalamazoo Wings held the Missouri River Otters without a shot in the first period.

HOT START FOR NEW HOUND - Chicago Hounds rookie forward made a big impact after signing with the team early in the week. He scored a goal just 4:32 into his first professional game on Friday. That goal proved to be the game-winner in the 5-0 win vs. Flint. He would add a second goal later in the game. The following night, he netted a goal 1:57 into the contest and scored again later in the period in the 4-2 loss to Muskegon. Zbriger has been efficient as his team leading four goals have come on just four total shots.

BIG CROWD - The Fort Wayne Komets welcomed 10,058 fans for their home opener on Saturday. It was the fifth straight home opener in Fort Wayne with attendance over 10,000 fans.

BONUS HOCKEY - The Port Huron Flags and the Elmira Jackals played the first shootout of the 2006-07 UHL season. Their contest was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation on Sunday before the Jackals prevailed in the shootout. There were 102 games decided in the shootout a season ago and the Flags led the league with 11 shootout wins.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Bloomington PrairieThunder - (0-2-0) - Goaltender Jeff Reynaert has played the most minutes (226:16) of any UHL goaltender this season and has made the most saves (133)...Jason Lawmaster is tied for the lead among UHL defensemen with eight minor penalties...The PrairieThunder have been out-shot 26-56 in the first period this season and rank last in the UHL averaging 26.5 shot per game...Bloomington plays five of their next seven games at home in the U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

Chicago Hounds - (1-1-0) - The Hounds suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday with a 4-2 loss to Muskegon...Goaltender Marty Magers made 32 saves to record the first shutout in team history during the 5-0 win vs. Flint on Friday. It was the second shutout of his pro career...Magers ranks fourth among UHL goaltenders with a .941 SPCT...The Hounds penalty killing ranks second in the UHL (89.3%)...The Hounds are one of two UHL teams (Quad City) who have yet to play a home game.

Elmira Jackals - (3-0-0) - After beginning the season 0-2-0, the Jackals have won three straight...Defenseman Dale Lupul had five points (2g, 3a) during the three wins. He assisted on the game-winning goal on Friday, netted the game-winner on Saturday, scored the game-tying goal on Sunday to send the game to a shootout, then scored a goal in the shootout...Right wing Yevgeny Lazarev had his three-game point streak snapped on Sunday, but scored a goal in the shootout...Forward David Morelli scored a goal in his first professional game on Friday.

Flint Generals - (0-3-0) - All eight of Flint's goals this season have been scored on the power play...Right wing Jason Selleke leads the UHL with ten minor penalties...Selleke played his 150th game in a Flint uniform on Saturday...Forward Steve Roberts is second in the league with 26 shots on goal...Defenseman Dion Hyman has three points (1g, 2a) in his last two games...The Generals are allowing the fewest shots per game in the UHL (28)...Flint plays six of their next seven games on the road.

Fort Wayne Komets - (1-0-0) - Saturday's 8-3 win vs. Quad City improved Fort Wayne's record in UHL home openers to 7-0-1...The Komets recorded six power play goals in the win. It is the most power play goals by one team in a UHL game since the 2004-05 season...The Komets lead the UHL in power play conversion (29.2%)... Goaltender Kevin St. Pierre registered the win. It was the third straight for him in Fort Wayne home openers... Rookie center Martin Gascon netted his first professional goal on Saturday. It also proved to be the game-winner.

Kalamazoo Wings - (1-0-0) - With Saturday's home opening win, Mark Reeds moved into a tie for third place in UHL coaching victories...Forward Scott Dobben had two goals in Saturday's 3-2 win. The first was on a penalty shot and the second was the game-winner with just 1:29 remaining in the game...8 of the 12 goals by Kalamazoo this season have been on the power play...The K-Wings have scored first in each of their three games this season... Jeff Brown (D), Adam Elzinga (D), and Shawn Snider (C) all have scored in each game this season for Kalamazoo.

Muskegon Fury - (3-0-0) - Muskegon has outscored their opponents 34-11 through the first five games...The Fury lead the UHL with 12 power play goals...Left wing Mike Watt has scored a goal in all five games this season... Center Todd Robinson surpassed 500 points in his Fury career on Sunday...Muskegon has the top five plus/minus players in the UHL...With Sunday's 7-3 win vs. Flint, the Fury are 12-2-1 in their last 15 games vs. the Generals... Goaltender Clayton Pool earned the win on Sunday to post the 50th victory of his Muskegon career.

Port Huron Flags - (0-2-1) - Goaltender Noah Ruden made his first professional start on Friday. In two games over the weekend, he posted a 2.53 GAA and a .930 SPCT...Center Greg Bullock leads the team in scoring with five points (1g, 4a). He has scored a point in four of the five games for the Flags this season...Bullock is one game shy of 650 for his professional career...Port Huron plays their next four games in the state of Michigan...Defenseman Ryan Gillis is third among UHL defenseman with 15 shots on goal.

Quad City Mallards - (0-2-0) - Captain Patrick Nadeau played the 400th game of his Mallards career on Saturday. He dished out an assist in the game...Defenseman Jami Yoder played in the 600th game of his pro career on Saturday...Newly acquired Don Parsons had four points (3g, 1a) in his first two games with Quad City including the 37th "hat trick" (3g) of his career on Saturday...The Mallards play two more road games before playing five of six at home, including their home opener on November 3rd.

Rockford IceHogs - (2-0-0) - Rockford tied a team record with 15 power play opportunities on Saturday vs. Bloomington...The IceHogs lead the UHL with an average of 43.75 shots per game...They were held to less than 40 shots for the first time this season in Saturday's 5-3 win...Defenseman Matt Gens recorded his first career multi-goal game on Friday, then added a pair of assists the following night...Defenseman Dan Boeser had a plus-5 rating in two games during the weekend...Winger Jesse Bennefield had five points (2g, 3a) during the weekend.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International Hockey League 2 Stories from October 23, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central