Sports stats



Jr. K-Wings Weekly

December 20, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings News Release


Game Rewind- Saturday, December 16th @ Michigan Warriors. 5-2 Loss.

Flint, MI- On a night featuring fights and an abundance of penalties, Michigan's AJ White netted two goals to lead the Warriors to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Jr. K-Wings. Kalamazoo peppered Michigan goaltender Brach Tiller with 39 shots but were only able to manage two goals.

The first period began with the two squads feeling each other out, and letting their respective defenses rule the tempo. Off a steal in their own zone, the Warriors transitioned up ice quickly and had an odd-man rush on the Jr. K-Wings defense. A shot from the right side by Mike Economos produced a massive rebound, in which Ben Gislason was there to punch into the net. His first of the season was the only goal of the first period, giving Michigan a 1-0 lead heading into the locker room after twenty minutes of play.

The second period started with a bang for the Michigan Warriors. Just 3:40 into the period, White forced a turnover deep in the Kalamazoo zone. He stole the puck along the left-wing side, skated to the right, and slid a backhand pass across the slot. It found the stick of Tyler Perpich who was there to light the lamp for the seventh time on the season, giving the Warriors a 2-0 lead.

Just under seven minutes later, Kalamazoo would get on the scoreboard for the first time of the evening. Robbie Payne forced a turnover in the attacking zone, handed the puck to Austin Hervey, who slid it to Brandon Flood. Flood smoothly held the puck on his backhand until he had enough space in the net to blast it in. The goal was his first as a Jr. K-Wing, and his eighth of the season.

Only two and a half minutes passed before Michigan would jump back out to a two-goal lead. While working with a power play, AJ White put home a second-chance opportunity off a shot from Derek O'Flynn. The goal for White was his team-leading 20th of the campaign, good enough for fourth in the NAHL.

Turnovers in the defensive zone seemed to plague Kalamazoo all night long. Just 42 seconds into the third period another giveaway resulted in a tally for the Warriors. White's second of the night and 21st of the season came when he blasted a wrist shot over the stick-side of Ken MacLean from the slot area. The goal gave Michigan their biggest lead of the night at three goals.

Six and a half minutes into the third period and trailing by three goals, Kalamazoo pulled to within two. Kyle Gattelaro tallied his tenth of the season on a top-shelf finding shot from the right circle. His quick wrister beat Tiller to keep the Jr. K-Wings alive.

Later into the third period, Michigan again pulled ahead by three goals. Robert Mathana's fifth of the season was also the Warriors fifth of the game. The goal came unassisted 13:29 into the period.

-MORE- Game stats can be found at: http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/gamesheet_full.html?gameid=1647013

Sunday, December 18th Vs. Michigan Warriors. 8-2 Win.

Kalamazoo, MI- The Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings got two goals and an assist from defenseman, Anthony Appleyard on their way to an 8-2 rout of the Michigan Warriors on Sunday at the Borgess Health Rink at Wings West.

It only took 55 seconds for Kalamazoo to get themselves on the board. Danny Hamburg re-directed a shot off the stick of Sean Campbell and into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season.

At the 7:06 mark of the period, Appleyard scored his first of the game on a wrist-shot from the right side point, his third of the campaign.

Just two and a half minutes later, Appleyard notched his second of the game and his fourth of the season when he sent another wrist shot into the top corner of the goal. The goal was the third on nine shots for the Jr. K-Wings forcing the Warriors to pull goaltender, Gabe Grunwald in favor of Brach Tiller.

With seven seconds remaining in the first period, Chris Eckler scored his seventh of the season when he slapped home a rebound on the doorstep from a Derek O'Flynn slap shot from the point.

The second period started with another tally from the Warriors, making it a one-goal game. Bobby Bodette (2nd) ripped a wrister from the top of the right circle that beat Kalamazoo starter, Alex Okicki over his stick side.

That would be all the scoring from the Warriors on the afternoon, as the Jr. K-Wings scored the next five goals. The five unanswered outburst from Kalamazoo began with Brandon Flood (9th) centering a pass that hit a defenders stick and found the back of the goal.

Before the second period would end, Kalamazoo would tickle the twine yet again. Nick Kovalchik received a pass from Danny Hamburg and schooled Tiller with a forehand-backhand deke for his fifth marker of the season.

Kovalchik would score again, eleven and a half minutes into the third period on a rebound strike from the right side.

One minute and nine seconds later, Chris Hughes buried the puck from the high slot, into the top corner past Tiller for his fifth goal of the season.

The scoring rounded out with Taylor Burden scoring in almost identical fashion to Flood. Burden's fourth of the season came when he tried to center the puck, but it went off the pads of Tiller and into the back of the net. The goal tied the season high for most goals in a game for Kalamazoo, with eight.

Game stats can be found at: http://pointstreak.com/prostats/gamesheet_full.html?gameid=1647030

-MORE- Looking Ahead

Kalamazoo now enters their league-wide Holiday break period. They will not hit the ice in game action until January 6th, when they visit Springfield to face the Jr. Blues for a two-game set.

Team Leaders: Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings

Goals: Robbie Payne (20 Goals)

Assists: Robbie Payne, Drew Graves (16 Assists)

Points: Robbie Payne (36 Points)

+/-: Robbie Payne (+12)

Penalty Minutes: Brandon Flood (61 Minutes)

Power Play Goals: Robbie Payne (7 PPG)

Short Handed Goals: Robbie Payne, Nick Kovalchik (1 SHG)

Game Winning Goals: Robbie Payne (4 GWG)

Shots: Chris Hughes (104 Shots)

Shooting Percentage: Robbie Payne (22.2%)

Goals Against Average: Alex Okicki (2.64 GAA)

Save Percentage: Alex Okicki (.920%)

A.A.'s Great Day

In Sunday's outing against the Michigan Warriors, Kalamazoo defenseman, Anthony Appleyard had two goals in the first period, along with an assist in the second, to give him his most productive outing of the season. His bid for a natural hat trick fell short in the first, when he missed high on a great scoring chance from the slot.

Eight is Great

Kalamazoo tied a season high for most goals in a game with eight against the Michigan Warriors on Sunday afternoon in Kalamazoo. The last time, an 8-7 win over the Jamestown Ironmen on October 30th. Their eight goals at home set a new high, as the previous record was seven, also against the Warriors.

Stay Updated All Season Long

Log onto www.pointstreak.com during the course of the season to keep up to date with stats and information regarding the Jr. K-Wings.

Tickets! Get Your Tickets!!

Tickets for all Jr. K-Wings home games are now on sale. Catch all the action as your Jr. K-Wings play the very best the NAHL has to offer. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Wings West office.

Get On-Line

This season, the best way to keep track of the Jr. K-Wings is to log onto www.jrkwings.com. The site has player profiles, information about Wings Stadium events, and much, much more.

Jr. K-Wings on The Air

Catch all the Jr. K-Wings games, home and away, on www.fasthockey.com. The home games will be with the "Voice of the Jr. K-Wings" Joey Roberts. The pre-game will start five minutes before puck drop.

-MORE- Upcoming Games

Friday, January 6th @ Springfield 8:00 PM

Saturday, January 14th Vs. Michigan 2:00 PM

Sunday, January 15th Vs. Traverse City 2:00 PM

Tuesday, January 17th @ Traverse City 6:35 PM

Friday, January 20th @ Michigan 7:30 PM

• Discuss this story on the North American Hockey League message board...

North American Hockey League Stories from December 20, 2011


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.

Other Recent Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central