IceHogs earn Colonial Cup Championship with 3-1 win
May 24, 2007 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Rockford IceHogs News Release
Rockford, Ill.- A storybook season came to a storybook end. The Rockford IceHogs clinched its first ever Colonial Cup Championship with a 3-1 Game Seven Colonial Cup Finals win over the Kalamazoo Wings in front of a franchise postseason record 6,236 at the Rockford MetroCentre. The IceHogs won the Championship series 4-games-to-3.
The home team won all seven games in the Colonial Cup Finals and this one went down to the wire. Rockford grabbed the 1-0 lead early in the first period while shorthanded. Center Kevin Ulanski picked off a Kalamazoo pass and broke over the Wings line on a 2-on-2 breakaway. Ulanski pulled in the high-slot and beat Ryan Nie 2:47 in to give Rockford the 1-0 lead.
Kalamazoo battled back and tied the score at 1-1. Wings wingman Nick Bootland was camped out in front of the Rockford net while Kalamazoo was on the power play and he tipped in a Tyler Willis pass past Frederic Cloutier for his 12th postseason goal at 9:08.
The tie game was broken in the second period when Hogs winger Jason Notermann would notch the eventual game-winning goal. Notermann broke into the Wings zone and fired a shot in on Nie. Nie made the initial save, but Notermann was there to clean up the garbage and knocked in his fifth postseason goal at 6:11 to give the IceHogs a 2-1 lead. Notermann also netted the game-winning goal in the IceHogs Semifinals clincher.
The game was tight the rest of the way and wasn't iced until late in the contest. Up by just a goal and with the Wings pressing to tie the game, winger Nicolas Corbeil finished off Kalamazoo when he blasted home his ninth postseason marker at 18:27. Corbeil's goal sent the MetroCentre crowd into a fury and the Hogs road out the 3-1 win and its first ever UHL Championship.
Cloutier made 24 saves in the win and tied a UHL postseason record with his 12th win. Ulanski was named the Colonial Cup Postseason MVP after leading the IceHogs with 21 points in its 17 game championship run.
Thank You To The Fans: The Rockford IceHogs would like to thank all of its loyal fans. Without you, the IceHogs run to its first ever championship would not have been as special! Thank you for eight great seasons of United Hockey League Hockey. This championship is for you.
International Hockey League 2 Stories from May 24, 2007
- IceHogs earn Colonial Cup Championship with 3-1 win - Rockford IceHogs
- IceHogs win Colonial Cup championship - IHL 2
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