IHL 2 Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Weekly

Published on December 17, 2007 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Game Rewind Wednesday, December 12th @ Bloomington (Kalamazoo 5- Bloomington 4, Overtime)

Bloomington, IL- It was a roller coaster game with a thrilling overtime finish, as Kalamazoo came from behind to defeat the Bloomington PrairieThunder 5-4.

Making his PrairieThunder debut, Rob Guinn (1st) scored on a tip-in 3:28 into the first period to give Bloomington a 1-0 lead. Taking advantage of a loose puck late in the period, Sam Ftorek (11th) skated free in the slot and buried a slap shot past goaltender Jeremy Symington, upping the Thunder's advantage to 2-0.

In the waning moments of the first, Mark Versteeg-Lytywn cut the deficit in half by finishing off a two-on-one, lighting the lamp for the fifth time this year.

Entering Wednesday night, Kalamazoo was the worst scoring team in the IHL in the second period (14 goals), but no one must have told K-Wings who tallied twice in the stanza.

Nick Bootland pulled the K-Wings even at 2-2, netting his team-leading 12th of the season. Exactly four minutes later at 14:18, Bloomington regained the lead with a rebound goal from Pascal Bedard (1st).

For the second time in the period, Kalamazoo scored the equalizer, this time off a Flo Iberer (5th) blue line slap shot with just over three minutes remaining in the second.

Kalamazoo took its first lead of the night 1:58 into the third period when Mike Manley (8th) deflected a shot from the point from Jordan Little.

With less than a minute remaining with their goaltender pulled and on a power-play, the Thunder would knot the game at 4-4 with a goal from Jon Booras (7th).

Not to be denied, Kalamazoo recorded the game-winning tally just 59 seconds into overtime with a breakaway tally from Glenn Detulleo (5th).

The victory snapped a two-game winless streak for the K-Wings, while extending the Thunder winless skid to three games.

Friday, December 14th vs. Muskegon (Kalamazoo 7 - Muskegon 0)

Kalamazoo, MI- With fans earning a free ticket to next week's Kalamazoo Wings December 19th home game if the K-Wings were victorious; Kalamazoo did not disappoint the crowd, defeating the Muskegon Fury 7-0 at Wings Stadium.

Jordan Little (2nd) gave the K-Wings a 1-0 lead 2:17 into the contest, after he tipped in a cross rink pass from Dan Tessier.

Taking advantage of their lone power-play opportunity of the period, Mike Manley extended the K-Wings lead to 2-0 at the 15:04 mark. Kory Karlander concluded the period's scoring at 17:27 netting his 10th of the year.

Kalamazoo continued their dominance early in the second. Rookie defenseman Nathan Oke (1st) scored from the point, which led Muskegon to pull starting goaltender Clayton Pool after surrendering four goals on 15 shots.

Not letting up in the third, Kalamazoo lit the lamp three times in the final stanza including twice from Karlander, earning him the K-Wings first hat trick of the season.

Kalamazoo's special teams played a key role in solidifying the 7-0 victory. The K-Wings went an amazing 3 for 4 on the power-play, while killing all six of the Fury's man-advantage opportunities.

Jeremy Symington earned his league leading ninth victory of the season, stopping all 36 shots to nab his first shutout of the year.

The win by Kalamazoo coupled with Port Huron's loss to Fort Wayne, moves the K-Wings into third place.

Friday, December 15th @ Flint (Flint 2-Kalamazoo 1)

Flint, MI- Held to a combined seven shots in the second and the third periods didn't seem to bother the Flint Generals, who used to first period goals en route to a 2-1 victory over the Kalamazoo Wings.

Coming out flying, Flint's Nick Tuzzolino (3rd) off of a power-play and Mike Alexiou (5th) each netted a goal in the first five minutes of the contest to give the Generals a 2-0 lead.

With no scoring in the second period, Kalamazoo's Mike Bickley (3rd) lit the lamp with a blast from the point at the 2:44 mark of the third.

Unfortunately for Kalamazoo, that would be as close as they would get as the Generals hung on to a 2-1 victory.

The victory extends the Generals winning streak to three games, while ends the K-Wings winning streak at two.

Fast Forward

For the second time this season, the Kalamazoo Wings will hit the ice with four games in five nights starting Wednesday, December 19th at 7 p.m. versus the Port Huron Icehawks at Wings Stadium on Merchant Night. Currently in fourth place, the Icehawks are one point behind the K-Wings in the IHL standings. Kalamazoo, who are 3-0-0-0 against Port Huron this season, will also battle the Icehawks this Saturday, December 22nd at Wings Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. face-off. Saturday's game also coincides with the annual visit by Santa Claus to Wings Stadium.

On Friday, Kalamazoo travels on the road to tangle against the Fort Wayne Komets. The K-Wings are 1-3-0-1 against the Komets this season. Fort Wayne enters the week in a tie with the Flint Generals for first place.

Before heading off for Christmas, the K-Wings will give the gift of hockey on Sunday, December 23rd at 4 p.m. versus the Bloomington PrairieThunder at Wings Stadium. Bloomington trails Muskegon by one-point for the fifth place in the league and is very much in the striking distance for the top spot. The Thunder are 10 points behind the Generals and Komets for first place.

Team Leaders: Kalamazoo Wings

Goals: Kory Karlander (12 Goals)

Assists: Florian Iberer (16 Assists)

Points: Kory Karlander (24 Points)

+/-: Florian Iberer (+16)

Penalty Minutes: Joel Rechlicz (95 Minutes)

Power Play Goals: Nick Bootland, Kory Karlander (4 Goals)

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

Game Winning Goals: Nick Bootland (2 GW)

Shots: Nick Bootland (96 Shots)

Shooting Percentage: Nathan Oke (50.0%)

Overtime Goals: Glenn Detulleo, Florian Iberer (1 Goal)

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

Shootout Percentage: Travis Granbois (100%)

Goals Against Average: Jeremy Symington (2.24)

Save Percentage: Jeremy Symington (0.933)

Jingle Bells

A day after delivering teddy bears to the Children's Hospital at Bronson, K-Wings Lucas Drake, Mike Manley and Nathan Oke will keep in the holiday spirit. The trio will be ringing the Salvation Army bell tomorrow, Tuesday, December 18th from 4-6 p.m. in front of Sam's Club on South Westnedge.

Detulleo Reaches Four

Forward Glenn Detulleo has been racking up the points. Detulleo starts the week on a K-Wings current high four-game point streak.

Symington Receives Honor

For the second time this season, goaltender Jeremy Symington received the Southern Sports Supply Goaltender of the Week. In three games, Symington went 2-1-0-0 with a goals against average of 2.01 and recorded his first shutout of the year last Saturday stopping 36 shots against Muskegon.

Nearing the Century Mark

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

The Obscure Stat of the Week

Overall the K-Wings ranks 5th in the IHL with a penalty kill of 81.8%. However, Kalamazoo is much better killing off penalties at Wings Stadium, as they lead the league in home penalty killing at 85.7%.

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.

Alumni on the Radio

Join members of the K-Wings IHL Alumni 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 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

Wednesday, December 26th @ Flint 7:00 PM

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from December 17, 2007


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