IHL 2 Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Weekly

Published on December 10, 2007 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Game Rewind Friday, December 7th @ Port Huron (Kalamazoo 4- Port Huron 2)

Port Huron, MI- In a season in which the K-Wings have struggled in the second period, Kalamazoo answered the bell in the period with three straight goals en route to a 4-2 win versus Port Huron.

Gaining some momentum late in the first period, Port Huron started the game's scoring at the 16:08 mark with a power-play tally from Brent Hughes (4th).

Just over a minute later, Kory Karlander pulled the K-Wings even at 1-1 scoring the equalizer on a wrist shot from just inside the left circle.

Dominating the second period, Kalamazoo erupted for three unanswered goals. In his Kalamazoo debut, Dan Tessier (1st) lit the lamp 46 seconds into the stanza to give the K-Wings a 2-1 lead. Five minutes later, Mike Manley sent a drop pass to Mark Versteeg-Lytwyn (4th) who snipped the shot into the net. Keeping the offense going, Manley (2nd) extended the K-Wings lead to 4-1 with a power-play tally.

Trying to get back into the contest, Tab Lardner (12th) finished off the scoring in both the period and the game with a shot from the left circle.

Jeremy Symington stymied Port Huron by stopping 31 shots in the victory. The win marks the first time this season that Kalamazoo has won a game after giving up the first tally of a contest (1-6-0-1). The victory also ends Port Huron's winning streak at five games.

Saturday, December 8th vs. Fort Wayne (Fort Wayne 3 - Kalamazoo 1)

Kalamazoo, MI- Kalamazoo pelted Fort Wayne with 42 shots on goal, but in the end Komets goaltender Nick Boucher was up to the challenge during the K-Wings 3-1 loss the 8th Annual Teddy Bear Toss Night presented by Kodiak Construction, the CW 7 & WKFR.

Fort Wayne fans began the night with their own teddy bear toss early in the first period after Maksim Shirokov (1st) gave the Komets a 1-0 lead with a slap shot from the slot. The Komets extended their lead to 2-0 less than three minutes later at the 8:12 mark, when Guy Dupuis found Luciano Aquino (12th) open for a backdoor power-play goal.

In the infant stages of the second period, Kory Karlander (8th) gave the crowd of 3,188 a reason to cheer, as his power-play tally led to tossing of 1,256 stuffed animals onto the ice.

Regaining a two-goal lead later in the stanza, P.C. Drouin (2nd) struck from the point with a power-play tally to make the score 3-1.

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Kalamazoo created chances in the final period, but could not penetrate the puck past Boucher, who stopped a Komets' season high 41 saves in the victory.

The 1,256 stuffed animals collected set a new franchise record for teddy bears gathered. The previous record was 1,239 set last season, also against Fort Wayne.

A majority of bears thrown onto the ice will go to the Salvation Army, which will distribute them to children during the holidays. The remaining stuffed animals will be delivered to kids at the Children's Hospital at Bronson, when the K-Wings, Slappy and Santa Claus visit them on December 17th at 2 p.m.

Sunday, December 9th vs. Muskegon (Muskegon 4- Kalamazoo 3, Shootout)

Kalamazoo, MI- Two opening period goals jump started the Kalamazoo Wings, but in the end, last second heroics from Chris Mills stalled the K-Wings in a 4-3 shootout loss at Wings Stadium.

Kory Karlander brought the crowd into a frenzy, tickling the twine on a spinning backhander 5:23 into the opening period. Karlander's tally extended his goal streak to five-games and point streak to eight; both streaks are season highs for Kalamazoo.

Capitalizing on the power-play, Justin Cross (2nd) lit the lamp after deflecting a picture perfect pass from Glenn Detulleo at the 11:40 mark to extend the K-Wings lead to 2-0.

Muskegon started to chip away at the K-Wings lead in the second period with a power-play tally from Dan Riedel (5th). Rookie forward Adam Bartholomay pulled the Fury even early in the third with a rebound goal.

Kalamazoo regained the lead midway in the period with a blast from Nick Bootland. The goal from Bootland was his team-leading 10th of the season.

With just 47.5 seconds remaining in regulation, Chris Mills fought in front of the crease and knocked in the equalizer to force overtime.

After no scoring in the extra session, the game was decided in a shootout. Muskegon out scored Kalamazoo 2-1 in the shootout and went on to defeat the K-Wings 4-3.

The victory upped the Fury's winning streak to a season-high four games, while dropping the K-Wings home winless streak to four (0-2-0-2).

Fast Forward

The Kalamazoo Wings will start the week on Wednesday, December 12th with a 7:05 p.m. (CDT) face-off against the Bloomington PrairieThunder. This season, Kalamazoo is 1-1-0-1 against Bloomington with its lone regulation loss coming on November 21st at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. Both teams enter Wednesday's contest attempting to snap a two-game winless streak. Kalamazoo, who are tied with Muskegon for fourth place with 19 points in the IHL with Muskegon, are a point ahead of Bloomington.

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The K-Wings will return to Wings Stadium Friday, December 14th at 7:30 p.m. to take on intra-state rival, the Muskegon Fury. Muskegon is on fire on the road right now leading the IHL with five straight road wins. On the season, the K-Wings are 2-2-0-1 against the Fury. Friday night is Win-Win Night presented by Win 98.5 FM (WNWN). If Kalamazoo defeats Muskegon, all fans in attendance will receive a FREE ticket to the K-Wings home game on December 19th versus Port Huron.

Rounding out the week, the Kalamazoo Wings will take on the 2nd place Flint Generals on December 15th at 7:30 in Perani Hockey World & Event Center. The K-Wings recorded its first win against the Generals with an exciting shootout victory on November 30th in Flint. With 24 points on the year, the Generals trail the Fort Wayne Komets by a single-point for the top spot in the IHL.

Team Leaders: Kalamazoo Wings

Goals: Nick Bootland (10 Goals)

Assists: Florian Iberer (14 Assists)

Points: Kory Karlander (21 Points)

+/-: Florian Iberer (+13)

Penalty Minutes: Joel Rechlicz (93 Minutes)

Power Play Goals: Nick Bootland (4 Goals)

Short Handed Goals: Florian Iberer, Kory Karlander, Mike Manley (1 Goal)

Game Winning Goals: Nick Bootland (2 GW)

Shots: Nick Bootland (83 Shots)

Shooting Percentage: Kory Karlander (14.5%)

Overtime Goals: Florian Iberer (1 Goal)

Shootout Goals: Mike Bickley, Travis Granbois (2 Goal)

Shootout Percentage: Travis Granbois (100%)

Goals Against Average: Jeremy Symington (2.31)

Save Percentage: Jeremy Symington (0.934)

'Tis the Season

K-Wings fans had a charitable weekend. Fans tossed 1,256 bears during the 8th Annual Teddy Bear Toss Night presented by Kodiak Construction, The CW 7 and WKFR on Saturday and eight people, including Athletic Trainer Elizabeth Hughes, donated hair for Locks of Love on Sport Clips Haircuts Day on Sunday.

Eight Isn't Enough

Forward Kory Karlander continues to find ways to score. Karlander is on an IHL season tying five-game goal streak and a K-Wings season high eight-game point streak (7 goals, 5 assists).

Earning Points

So far this season, when the K-Wings have led after two periods, they have guaranteed themselves at least one point. Kalamazoo has a record of 7-0-0-2 when holding a lead entering the third period.

Nearing the Century Mark

Forward Mike Manley is closing in on a personal milestone. Manley needs three more points to reach 100 for his pro career.

The Obscure Stat of the Week

So far this season, the K-Wings have had a full 19-man roster for four games and have accumulated 75 man-games missed due to injuries or illness. The 75 man-games are the most for K-Wings since the 2002-03 season, when the K-Wings endured 90 man-games missed through 19 games.

Tickets! Get Your Tickets!!

Tickets for all K-Wings home games are now on sale. Catch all the action as your K-Wings play the very best the IHL has to offer. Tickets are on sale now by calling the Wings Stadium Ticket Office at (269) 345-5101.

Get On-Line

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

Smith and Granbois on the Radio

Join special guests Brad Smith and Travis Granbois as they join Head Coach Brian Curran and the "Voice of the K-Wings" Mike Modugno on "K-Wings Live". The show is on The Classic Hits Station WLKM (95.9 FM) and online through the B-2 Networks through www.kwings.com from 7-8 p.m. at Old Burdick's Bar and Grill inside the Holiday Inn Kalamazoo on South 11th Street.

K-Wings on Radio

Catch all the K-Wings games, home and away, on the K-Wings Radio Network (95.9 FM WLKM & B-2 Networks on kwings.com). Join the "Voice of the K-Wings" Mike Modugno for all 76 regular season games plus the playoffs. Pre-game coverage begins with the Digital Highway 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.

Upcoming Games

Wednesday, December 12th @ Bloomington 7:05 PM (CDT)

Friday, December 14th Vs Fort Wayne 7:30 PM (Win-Win Night Presented by WNWN)

Saturday, December 15th @ Flint 7:30 PM

Wednesday, December 19th Vs Port Huron 7:00 PM (Merchant Night)

Friday, December 21st @ Fort Wayne 8:00 PM

Saturday, December 22nd Vs Port Huron 7:30 PM (Santa Claus visits Wings Stadium)

Sunday, December 23rd Vs Bloomington 4:00 PM

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from December 10, 2007


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