ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Week in Review for December 30th-January 5th

December 31, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Record Last Week: 2-1-0 Overall Record 12-15-7

Game Rewind Kalamazoo came off their brief holiday break as they continued their road trip with three games last week. The K-Wings started the week on Friday (12/27) against the Adirondack IceHawks at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The game would be the 3rd of 5 road games in a row for Kalamazoo. Adirondack started the game with three goals, including two by Dominic Chiasson (17,18) in the first 13 minutes of the opening period. The IceHawks 3-0 lead would stand until the second period when Kalamazoo would mount a comeback. Byran Farquhar would cut the IceHawks lead to 3-1 when he scored his 1st goal of the season off a rebound at the 5:17 mark of the 2nd period. Kalamazoo would make it a one game just 43 seconds later when Peter Roed (12) scored on a breakaway to make the score 3-2. The K-Wings would pull even with Adirondack 13:13 into the second period with Jim Brown's 7th goal of the year. However, from there the night would belong to the IceHawks, as Adirondack would score the game's next five goals, as the IceHawks extended their home winning streak to 7 games with a 8-3 victory over Kalamazoo.

The K-Wings would stay in Glens Falls on Saturdays (12/29), as they battled the IceHawks in game 4 of the K-Wings 5 game road swing. Unlike the night before it would be the K-Wings that would get off to the quick start. Craig Bilick (7) would start the game's scoring 4 minutes into the first period with a wrist shot from the slot. The K-Wings would extend their lead to 2-nothing when Kurt Miller (4) scored off a Bryan Farquhar rebound at the 9:47 mark of the second period. Kalamazoo would continue their offensive onslaught when Richard Keyes (19) beat Jason Wolf with a slap shot from the left circle to make the score 3-0. Adirondack would add a goal in the second period, but it would be enough, as K-Wings goaltender Jeff Reynaert would stand on his head stopping 40 of 41 shots to lead the K-Wings to 3-1 victory.

Kalamazoo would conclude the week and their road swing with a trip to Elmira to play the Jackals. Elmira would attack early, as Mike Hofstrand (7) beat Jeff Reynaert off a deflection to give the Jackals a 1-0 lead just 1:42 into the game, however from their the night would belong to Kalamazoo. The K-Wings would tie the game in the second period with Richard Keyes league tying 20th goal of the season. Kalamazoo would blow the game open in the third period, when Jim Brown (8) would score the eventual game winning goal 5:17 into the third period to give the K-Wings a 2-1 lead. The Wings would add two more goals in the third period, when Kurt Miller scored his 5th and 6th goals of the season. Miller 5th goal of the season extended his point streak to 3 games. Reynaert stopped 25 of 26 shots to record his 7th victory of the season as the K-Wings defeated Elmira by the score of 4-1.

Fast Forward The K-Wings will play three games this week. Kalamazoo will return home tonight as they end the 2002 portion of their schedule as they host the Adirondack IceHawks. This will be the third meeting in less then a week between the two teams. On the season, the K-Wings are 2-1-1 against the IceHawks. Last week, the teams spilt a pair of games at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The game will feature the top three goal scorers in the league, as Richard Keyes, Hugo Belanger, and Dominic Chiasson all are tied for the UHL lead for goals scored with 20.

Kalamazoo will hit the road for the remainder of the week. Kalamazoo will start 2003 on Saturday (1/4) as they travel to Flint to battle the Generals. Kalamazoo is 0-2-1 against the Generals this season. The Generals enter the week in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Generals are led by former K-Wing Bobby Reynolds, who is fourth in the league in scoring with 43 points.

The K-Wings will conclude the week on Sunday (1/5), as they travel to Port Huron to battle the Beacons. This will be the third meeting between the teams this season. In the prior two meetings, the home team as skated away with the victory. This will be the first visit to Port Huron since opening night, when the K-Wings lost to the Beacons 3-2. The Beacons enter the week on a two game scoring streak, and they are tied for second place in the Eastern Conference. The game will be the sixth of seven straight games for the K-Wings against Eastern Conference opponents.

Alban Returns Chad Alban has rejoined the K-Wings after spending last weekend with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League. Alban appeared in two games for the Griffins last weekend, posting a 1-0 record with a 2.34 goals against average and a 0.893 save percentage.

Five Alive Forward Mark Lawrence will enter tonight's game with a five game point streak. The five game point streak is the second longest streak this season for the K-Wings. Both Peter Roed and Richard Keyes have posted 6 game scoring streaks earlier this season.

Roed Work Before the K-Wings game last Saturday night (12/28) against the Adirondack IceHawks, Kalamazoo placed forward Peter Roed on the 7-Day IR. Roed sustained an undisclosed injury the night prior also against Adirondack

He Shoots He Scores With his goal against Elmira last Sunday (12/29), Richard Keyes has scored 20 goals this season. Richard's 20 goals tie him with both Hugo Belanger (Adirondack) and Dominic Chiasson (Adirondack) over the league lead.

Rubber Match Including tonight's game, 3 of the last 4 games for Kalamazoo have been against the Adirondack IceHawks. In the previous two meetings the IceHawks defeated the K-Wings 8-3 last Friday (12/27). Kalamazoo avenged their loss the following night at the Glens Falls Civic Center by the final of 3-1.

Two in a Row The K-Wings victory against Elmira was the first time the K-Wings have won two straight road games this season. The victory also extended Kalamazoo's winning streak to 2 games, which ties their season high. The last time the K-Wings won two straight was 11/17-11/20, when they defeated Missouri and Rockford.

Home Sweet Home Wings Stadium has been a major home ice advantage for the K-Wings. Kalamazoo hasn't lost a regulation game at home since November 9th, when Muskegon defeated the K-Wings 5-3. Since their set back on November 9th, the K-Wings have played 8 games at Wings Stadium and in those games the K-Wings have registered a record of 5-0-3.

Killing Spree The K-Wings penalty-killing unit has been tear of late. Kalamazoo has killed 18 of their last 19 penalty kill opportunities. Since Paul Pickard has taken over as Head Coach the K-Wings have killed 86.2% of their penalty kills opportunity (25 of 29).

Road Warriors Before last week the K-Wings were 2-10-5 on road, however, as of late the K-Wings have thrived on the road, as Kalamazoo has won 3 of their last 4 away from Wings Stadium.

It's Miller Time K-Wings forward Kurt Miller enters this week on a 3 game point scoring streak. Miller has tallied 5 points (3 goals and 2 assists) in his last 3 games.

The Obscure Stat of the Week The last time the K-Wings won two straight road games was last season, when the K-Wings defeated the Fort Wayne Komets (2/16/02) and the Port Huron Border Cats (2/21/02).

Tickets Get Your Tickets!! Tickets for all K-Wing home games are now on sale. Catch all the action as your K-Wings play the very best the UHL has to offer. Tickets for are on sale by calling the K-Wings at 345-5101.

Get on Line This season the best to keep track of the K-Wings is to log onto www.kwings.com. The new site has player profiles, information about Wings Stadium events, and much more.

K-Wings on Radio Catch all the K-Wings games home and away on the K-Wings Radio Network (WLKM 95.9, WQSN 1660 AM, and WRCC 1400 AM). Join the "Voice of the K-Wings" Mike Modugno for all 76 regular season games and the playoffs. Pre game coverage begins with the Basic Communications Pre Game Show 15 minutes prior to face-off. For the most complete coverage of the K-Wings from the Opening Face-Off to the Final Buzzer keep your radio tuned this season to the K-Wings Radio Network.

UP COMING GAMES Tuesday, December 31st Vs Adirondack 7:00 PM (New Year's Eve Bash Sponsored by COOL 101 FM/WWMT) Saturday, January 4th @ Flint 7:30 PM Sunday, January 5th @ Port Huron 5:05 PM Wednesday, January 8th Vs Elmira 7:00 PM (AAA 2-for 1 Night, Family Four Pack for $28)

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ECHL Stories from December 31, 2002


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