ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Weekly

Published on January 4, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Game Rewind

Thursday Vs Cincinnati (Cincinnati 3-Kalamazoo 1)

Kalamazoo, MI- The Cincinnati Cyclones didn't have to wait to midnight to start their New Year's celebration. The Cyclones wrapped up the 2009 portion of their schedule defeating the Kalamazoo Wings 3-1 during the 8th Annual New Year's Eve Bash, presented by COOL 101 and WWMT News Channel 3.

An evenly contested opening 20 minutes of play tilted in favor of Cincinnati late in period, when Scott Reynolds continued to be a thorn in the side of Kalamazoo. Reynolds gave the Cyclones the lead 15:06 into the period with his 13th tally of the year. The goal was also his eighth lamp-lighter and 11th point overall in seven games versus the K-Wings.

Continuing to be a goaltending duel in the second period, neither team was able to tickle the twine. The Cyclones out-shot the K-Wings 11-7 in the middle stanza. Generating a majority of their opportunities on the power-play, Cincinnati was 0-for-3 with a man-advantage in the period, while the K-Wings went 0-for-1.

Earning some breathing room in the third period, Matt Pierce intercepted a pass in the K-Wings zone and turned it into his team-leading 15th goal of the season.

Down by two goals with less than five minutes remaining in the regulation, Andrew Fournier notched his team-leading 15th of the year to bring the K-Wings back to within a single goal.

A Cincinnati penalty late in the game gave Kalamazoo the opportunity to pull even; however, with an empty net, a K-Wings miscue in the Cyclones zone led to an insurance shorthanded goal from Barrett Ehgoetz (12th).

Earning the victory, Robert Mayer stopped 25 shots to improve his record to 9-5-0-0 and 4-0-0-0 against Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo's Ryan Nie turned aside 26 shots in the loss to drop his mark to 7-4-1-0 and 1-2-0-0 versus Cincinnati.

Friday, January 1st @ Toledo (Kalamazoo 1-Toledo-0)

Toledo, OH- Ryan Nie was a mason in front of his net and it took another mason, Jeff Mason, for the Kalamazoo Wings to score the lone goal of night to defeat the Toledo Walleye 1-0.

Hard hits and end-to-end action highlighted a scoreless opening period of hockey. Kalamazoo's Nie saved 11 shots in the first, while his counterpart Jordan Pearce turned aside all 10 attempts Kalamazoo sent his way in the period.

The scoreless gridlock and physical play continued in the second period. Kalamazoo out-shot Toledo 12-11 in the period. The K-Wings were whistled three times in the period for nine minutes in penalties, while the Walleye earned four trips to the penalty box for 11 minutes.

In a game that appeared that the first team to score would win; it was Mason (5th) would knock in a rebound with 3.7 seconds remaining in regulation to secure the victory.

The goal was Mason's first tally since December 5th, also at Lucas County Arena versus the Walleye. Assisting on the goal was Mathieu Curadeau and Ryan McGinnis. The game was McGinnis' 100th career professional contest.

Saturday, January 2nd Vs Toledo (Kalamazoo 6-Toledo-3)

Kalamazoo, MI- Snapping a four-game home winless streak, the Kalamazoo Wings used the force of Trent Daavettila on Star Wars Night to defeat the Toledo Walleye 6-3.

Kalamazoo's hero from last night kept his scoring touch; Jeff Mason (6th) delivered the K-Wings first tally of the night 3:23 into the first period with wrist shot from between the circles. Four of Mason's six goals this season have come against Toledo.

Special teams played a pivotal role for the Walleye in the remainder of the period. J.C. Sawyer's (13th) power-play blast tied the game for Toledo 5:44 into the period. Late in the opening frame, Derek Nesbitt (5th) rocketed a shorthanded slap shot past Ryan Nie to give the Walleye a 2-1 advantage.

Not to be out done, Kalamazoo's power-play unit answered back in the second period, as Sam Ftorek (4th) recorded the equalizer midway in the period.

A turnover late in the period proved costly for the Walleye. Daavettila poked the puck away from David Phillips, who skated diagonal from the left corner to the front of his net. Rick Cleaver (14th) found the loose puck and sent it past Thomas McCollum.

The go-ahead goal from Cleaver extended his K-Wings season-high point streak to 10 games.

Keeping the scoring barrage going early in the third, Bryan Jurynec (4th) lit the lamp for the eventual game-winner. Darryl Bootland (6th) added some insurance for the K-Wings rifling a slap shop from the right circle.

Maxime Tanguay (12th) brought the Walleye back to within two goals scoring on a wrap around late in the period, but the K-Wings closed out the scoring with an empty-netter from Daavettila to cap off a four-point (1 goal, 3 assist) night for the rookie forward.

Fast Forward

Kalamazoo will begin their three-game week on Wednesday, January 6th with a 7:05 p.m. encounter against Johnstown Chiefs. Wednesday's match-up will be the first ever between the K-Wings and the Chiefs. Johnstown starts the week in fourth place in the East Division with a record of 9-18-3-3 (24 points). On the season, Kalamazoo is 7-1-0-0 versus teams from the East Division.

Returning to Wings Stadium on Friday, January 8th, Kalamazoo will host the Charlotte Checkers at 7:30 p.m. in the first of two straight contests between the teams. Currently in third place, Charlotte is starts the week one point behind the Florida Everblades for second place in the South Division. The K-Wings are 1-0-0-0 versus the Checkers this season. Friday's game will be a Frugal Fan Friday, which features $1 beer and $1 hot dogs.

On Saturday, the K-Wings and Checkers will square off at 7:30 p.m. For an additional $10, fans can upgrade their tickets to all-you-can-eat seats, featuring hot dogs, nachos and popcorn.

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

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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.

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