Icehawks Clinch Third Playoff Spot

March 29, 2010 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


ROCHESTER, MI--- The Port Huron Icehawks became the third team to punch their ticket to the 2010 Turner Cup Playoffs. Port Huron (84 points) secured their spot Saturday, earning two points in their 3-2 win in Bloomington. It is the third time in three years they have made the trip to the playoffs. The Icehawks have nine games remaining in the regular season, sitting 11 points behind first-place Muskegon (95 points), who also have nine games left in the regular season.

With just three weeks left in the regular season, three member clubs are still fighting for their chance to play in the 2010 Turner Cup Playoffs. With Muskegon, Fort Wayne and Port Huron already securing their spots, Bloomington (68 points), Flint (61 points) and Quad City (61points) are all fighting for the fourth and final spot in the playoffs. The race continues to heat up as all three teams won their contests Sunday.

Bloomington has 10 games left in the regular season, three of which are against Flint and two against Quad City. Flint has played the least amount of games to this point, with 11 left. The Generals will play eight of those 11 against the top three teams, Muskegon, Fort Wayne and Port Huron. Quad City has played 68 games so far, leaving just eight remaining. The Mallards will play five of those eight against the top three teams as well, with two against Bloomington and one against Dayton.

Bloomington's Craig Macdonald netted two hat tricks this past week, scoring his second and third hat tricks of the season. He tallied two power play tallies and one even-strength goal Wednesday in the PrairieThunder's 5-2 win over Dayton. Sunday afternoon, he netted one power play and two even-strength goals, pushing Bloomington to a 4-3 win over Port Huron. The hat tricks were the fifth and sixth scored by a PrairieThunder this season, which ties Muskegon for the most by a team so far this season.

AROUND THE "I"

Bloomington PrairieThunder (2-1-0-0)- The PrairieThunder have racked up 30 wins this season, which surpasses head coach Jarrod Skalde's record last year of 29 wins. The 50 combined wins so far over the two seasons make Skalde the winningest coach in team history. Forward Brett Holmberg had his seven-game goal streak snapped after he was held goalless in Wednesday's contest against Dayton. Craig Macdonald's two hat tricks in three games marked the first time in PrairieThunder history that has ever happened. Goaltender Andrew Martin made his return to the lineup Wednesday, making three straight starts for the PrairieThunder, after missing 19 games due to injury. Martin recorded a 2-1-0-0 record in his return, losing only to Port Huron Saturday 3-2.

Dayton Gems (1-3-0-0)- The Gems played four games in five days this week, going 1-3-0-0 during Week 24. The trav- eled to Bloomington, losing 5-2 Wednesday before the weekend games vs. Port Huron, Fort Wayne and Quad City. The Gems defeated the Icehawks Friday 4-1, lost to the Komets Saturday 5-1, then traveled to Quad City where the Mallards beat the Gems 4-2. Goaltender Derek MacIntyre has played 17 games in a row, leading IHL goaltenders in games (46), minutes played (2636:55), saves (1,350), tied for the most shutouts (3) and tied for second in shootout percentage (.800). The Gems have played in five shootouts this season winning four of the five. Two of the team's rookies, Corey Couturier and Tim Hartung, have perfect 100% shoot out averages.

Flint Generals (1-0-0-0)- With their thrilling shootout win over Fort Wayne last night, the Generals improved their home record to 16-9-2-4 at Perani Arena. The Generals have three players in the top 15 IHL scoring leaders: John Ronan is 13th with 56 points, Jamie Schaafsma and John Mori are tied for 14th with 54 points each. Mori's 54 points makes him the second most productive rookie in the IHL this season. He has scored 26 goals, which is second among rookies as well. He also lead the IHL in shorthanded tallies with five this season. Rookie Matt Moffat scored the game-winning tally in the shootout last night, making him two-for-two in the shootout this season. Defenseman Brandon Gentile leads all IHL defenseman in shooting percentage with 12.7%.

Fort Wayne Komets (1-1-0-1)- The Komets completed week 24 maintaining second place in the IHL. The Komets will finish the season with 10 games in the first 18 days of April; seven at home and three on the road. The month starts with the Komets skating three games in three nights this weekend and four games in five nights next week including three home games in five nights April 7th through 11th. The Komets complete the regular season playing three games in three nights on the final weekend of the season. David Hukalo (RW) notched his 100th career goal Sunday at Flint and P.C. Drouin (LW) skated his 800th career game Sunday. Matt Syroczynski (LW) has a five-game point-scoring streak (5 goals, 3 assists) and Guy Dupuis (D) has a three-game goal-scoring streak (3 goals).

Muskegon Lumberjacks (2-0-0-0)- The Lumberjacks latest win streak has reached four in a row, which equals their fourth longest win streak of the season. The 'Jacks are 6-1-0-0 in their last seven games. The past weekend, the goaltending combination of Sebastien Centomo and Matt Lundin each allowed only one goal against in a 4-1 and 3-1 triumph over Fort Wayne and Quad City respectively with both netminders earning #1 star honors for each of those games. The Muskegon penalty killing cast has been extremely efficient in recent action, having gone 10 for the last 10; 18 for the last 19; 25 for the last 27 and 43 for the last 48. Defenseman Mario Larocque scored the 100th goal of his pro career, the game's first goal Saturday night in the 'Jacks 3-1 win over visiting Quad City.

Port Huron Icehawks (1-2-0-0)- Many season records were set in Sunday night's game at Bloomington. Icehawks goalie Larry Sterling set season highs in saves (41), shots faced (45), saves in one period (20) and shots faced in one period (22). Port Huron was outshot 117 - 90 over the weekend including being nearly doubled in shots, 41-22 in their win Saturday at Bloomington. The PrairieThunder passed the Icehawks for second in shots per game at 32.39 while the Icehawks dropped to third at 32.34. Fort Wayne leads the IHL at 35.3 shots per game. Goalie Adam Russo earned an assist on Port Huron's lone goal Friday night vs. Dayton. Russo has four assists this season and leads all IHL goaltenders in points. Over the weekend, Russo made his 1000th save of the season.

Quad City Mallards (1-1-0-0)- Justin White set a team single game season high by collecting four assists in yesterday's win over Dayton. White equaled a Mallard single game season high by recording four points yesterday. He has collected assists in four straight games (0-7-7). Chris Lipsett scored twice yesterday to reach 25 goals for the season. Lipsett has now scored 25 or more goals in a season eight times in his 14-year career. He has scored at least 25 goals in each of his last four seasons. Tyler Kindle is riding a five-game point scoring streak (2-4-6). Kindle scored in both of the Mallards' games last weekend. The Mallards scored four goals yesterday after scoring three or fewer in each of their prior seven outings. Three of those four goals were scored on special teams- two on the power play and one shorthanded.



International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 29, 2010


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