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Jr. K-Wings Weekly

December 18, 2012 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings News Release


Game Recap-

Friday, December 14th @ Springfield Jr. Blues. 5-3 Win.

Springfield, IL - Kalamazoo was able to score early and often on Friday night. Although they were handily outshot by Springfield, Kalamazoo coupled opportunistic goals with a solid effort from goalie Alex Okicki to earn the 5 - 3 victory.

Just five minutes into the first period, the Jr. Blues turned the puck over in their own zone as Cole Pierce intercepted the would be pass. Pierce was able to put the puck in the back of the net for his first goal as a Jr. K-Wing.

Kalamazoo's 1-0 lead would hold up until the 13:25 mark when Brett Skibba was able to draw in the Kalamazoo defenders and then find a wide open Theo Tydingco (2nd) sitting in front of the Kalamazoo goal, giving Springfield the game tying goal.

The game would not be tied for long. A little over two minutes after the Jr. Blues tied the game up, the Jr. K-Wings regained the lead. This time, Trevor Boyd found an attacking Kyle Gattelero (5th), who put a backhander past Ryan Kellenberger.

The second period started with Kalamazoo extending their lead. Just a few minutes into the period, Brennan Sanford (2nd) drove home a goal. This would prove to be the end of the night for Kellenberger, as Springfield decided to make a change between the pipes and put Matt Leon into the game.

Although there was a different goalie, the results were the same. Less than two minutes after the Sanford goal, Danny Hamburg (9th) extended the Jr. K-Wing lead to 4 - 1. The goal was assisted by Gatterlero, who recorded his second point of the night.

Springfield refused to quit. At the 7:26 mark, Mike Fazio (7th) cut the Kalamazoo lead to 4 - 2 with a power play goal. Fazio's goal was set up by a defender splitting pass from Ryan Atkinson.

After a major brawl with less than five minutes left in the game saw multiple players from both sides ejected, Kalamazoo was able to take advantage of a 5 on 3 opportunity. Robbie Payne scored his 15th goal of the season to extend his position as the team's leading scorer.

With just 4.6 seconds remaining in the contest, Springfield scored to make it 5 - 3.

Kalamazoo and Springfield have met three times this season, with Kalamazoo winning all three games.

Official game stats can be found at http://pointstreak.com/prostats/gamesheet_full.html?gameid=1993662

Saturday, December 15th @ Springfield Jr. Blues. 3-2 Win.

Springfield, IL - As a result of brawls in their last two games, the Springfield Jr. Blues only dressed five defensemen and eleven forwards on Saturday night. They also lost another defenseman to a game ejection early in the first period.The numbers disadvantage proved to be too much to overcome for the Jr. Blues, as they fell to the Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings by the score of 3-2.

There was only one power play in the first period, which the Jr. Blues were able to kill. However, at the 15:41 mark, right after the Jr. Blues got back to full strength, the Jr. K-Wings were able to strike. Davis Dekorte was able to score his third goal of the season. Dekorte's goal was assisted by Luc Boby and Patrick Spellacy.

With less than a minute left in the first, Kalamazoo was able to extend their lead when Taylor Burden (8th) was able to get past the Springfield defenders for the breakaway opportunity. Burden was able to put the puck right between the pads of Matt Leon and give Kalamazoo the 2-0 lead heading into the locker rooms.

The Jr. Blues made things very interesting in the second period. At the 9:47 mark in the second, Captain Mike Fazio (8th) scored for the second straight night to cut the Jr. K-Wing lead to just 2-1.

In the first period, Kalamazoo scored a goal with less than a minute left. In the second period, Springfield returned the favor. Brett Skibba (14th) was able to take advantage of the power play and tie the game at 2 with his wrister that found its way past Marcus Due-Boje with just 17 second remaining.

The score was not tied for long. At the 2:08 mark in the third, Spellacy recorded his second point of the night when he was able to corral the rebound of his own shot and put it in the back of the net for the go ahead goal. This goal would prove to be the game winning one for the Jr. K-Wings.

Kalamazoo has now won all four meetings with Springfield this season. These two teams will next play on February 9th, 2013.

Official game stats can be found at http://pointstreak.com/prostats/gamesheet_full.html?gameid=1993672

Looking Ahead

The Jr. K-Wings hit the road again this weekend, as they are set to faceoff against the North Division leading Jamestown Ironmen in two straight contests. Jamestown sits atop the division with the Soo Eagles with a total of 41 points, but Kalamazoo isn't far behind since winning four of their last five games. The Jr. K-Wings are just two points back on the two leading clubs, with a chance to pull even, or even surpass them this weekend. The Ironmen have most recently split a series with the Johnstown Tomahawks, right after a four game, West Coast trip, in which they went 2-0 against Fresno and 0-2 against Wenatchee.

Team Leaders: Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings

Goals: Robbie Payne (15 Goals)

Assists: Josh Dangel (16 Assists)

Points: Robbie Payne (28 Points)

+/-: Sam Johnson (+14)

Penalty Minutes: Danny Hamburg (57 PIMs)

Power Play Goals: Robbie Payne (6 PPG)

Short Handed Goals: Mikhail Bushinksi (1 SHG)

Game Winning Goals: Robbie Payne, Danny Hamburg (3 GWG)

Shots: Kyle Gattelaro (86 Shots)

Shooting Percentage: Luc Boby (24.5%)

Goals Against Average: Marcus Due-Boje (2.86 GAA)

Save Percentage: Marcus Due-Boje (.913%)

Logging Miles

The Jr. K-Wings are two games into a ten game road trip that won't see them home until January 13th. It is by far the longest road swing for Kalamazoo, whose road record is 8-6-1.

First Time for Everything

The Jr. K-Wings sweep of the Springfield Jr. Blues last weekend was the first road sweep of an opponent since the Jr. K-Wings returned to the ice in 2011. They outscored their opponent 8-5 over the course of the weekend, and it helped position themselves to within two points of the division lead.

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.

Upcoming Games

Friday, December 21st @ Jamestown 7:00 PM

Saturday, December 22nd @ Jamestown 5:00 PM

Sunday, December 30th @ Johnstown 6:00 PM

Monday, December 31st @ Johnstown 6:00 PM

Friday, January 4th @ Soo 7:30 PM

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