ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Weekly

Published on February 15, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


For the Week of February 15th-February 21st

Last Week's Record: 2-2-0-0 Overall Season Record: 26-16-4-2

Game Rewind

Wednesday, February 10th @ Cincinnati (Cincinnati 5-Kalamazoo 2)

Cincinnati, OH- The Cincinnati Cyclones erased a two-goal deficit by scoring five unanswered to defeat the Kalamazoo Wings 5-2.

Despite being out-shot 13-4 in the opening period, the K-Wings jumped out to the lead midway in the period, when Darryl Lloyd celebrated his 26th birthday by netting his 12th goal of the season. Skating up the left wing, Lloyd snipped a wrist shot from inside the circle that beat Cincinnati's Jeremy Smith blocker side.

Jamming in a rebound, Rick Cleaver extended the K-Wings advantage in the second period, with a power-play goal. The lamp-lighter was Cleaver's team-leading 9th power-play, 19th goal and 43rd point overall.

Down but not out, Cincinnati stormed back later in the second with goals from Dustin Sproat (14th) and Chris Morehouse (4th) 28 seconds a part to tie the game at 2-2.

Mark Voakes (6th) scored on a rebound 14:22 into the middle stanza to gain Cincinnati's first lead of the night. Earning a secondary assist on the goal was Barret Ehgoetz. The helper made the Cyclone captain the most prolific scorer in team history with 214 points.

Pulling away in the third period, Ehgoetz (18th) and Sproat (15th) each tacked on goals to give the Cyclones the three-goal victory.

The loss for the K-Wings extends their road winless streak to seven games (0-6-0-1) and they are now 0-6-0-0 at the U.S. Bank Arena.

Friday, February 12th Vs Johnstown (Kalamazoo 5-Johnstown 4)

Kalamazoo, MI- For the Kalamazoo Wings there is truly no place like home. In front of a season-high crowd of 5,014 the K-Wings extended their home unbeaten streak to eight games (7-0-0-1) with a 5-4 victory over the Johnstown Chiefs on Metro PCS and Scout Night.

Getting the fans into a craze early, Patrick Asselin notched his 4th goal of the season and his first as a K-Wing 7:16 into the first stanza when a rebounded shot from Mitch Versteeg found its way onto Asselin's stick and into the net.

Seven minutes later, the Chiefs tied the game at 1-1 on Connor Shields 21st goal of the campaign with assists coming from Chanse Fitzpatrick and Russ Sinkewich. The Chiefs took the lead later in the first when they added a power-play goal from Trevor Hendrikx (3rd) to take a 2-1 lead.

Kalamazoo answered back strong during the second twenty minutes of play scoring two unanswered goals, both with a man-advantage. The first came as Darryl Lloyd (13th) wristed a shot from the point to beat Johnstown's goaltender Kris Mayotte.

Less than two minutes later, Kalamazoo's Trent Daavettila gave the K-Wings the 3-2 lead as a beautiful backhand shot found its way off the crossbar and into the back of the net. Daavettila's 12th tally of the year was assisted by Andrew Fournier and Patrick Asselin. The helper from Fournier extended his home point streak to 10 games, while pushing his home assist streak to eight straight contests.

The K-Wings wasted no time in the third period as Dean Strong (3rd) scored a power-play goal to give Kalamazoo a 4-2 lead. Johnstown answered less than two minutes later as Connor Shields scored his second goal of the game bringing the Chiefs back to within a single-goal.

With eight seconds left, Daavettila (13th) seemed to give the K-Wings some insurance, earning his second goal of the night on an empty-netter.

However, the empty-netter proved to be the game-winner, as Johnstown's Michael Couch scored his first of the season from center ice with 1.5 seconds remaining.

Kalamazoo's power-play proved to be the difference in the contest going 3 for 7, while Johnstown finished the contest 1 for 6 with a man-advantage.

Saturday, February 13th @ Toledo (Toledo 3-Kalamazoo 0)

Toledo, OH- A night after being shutout, the Toledo Walleye turned the tide keeping the Kalamazoo Wings off the scoreboard en route to a 3-0 victory.

Hard hits and stingy defense by both teams highlighted a scoreless opening period. Kalamazoo out-shot Toledo 9-6 in the period and limited the Walleye to only two shots while the Toledo was on a 5-on-3 power-play.

While not able to generate scoring chances with a man-advantage in first 20 minutes of play, Toledo would turn that around in the second, when Joe Charlebois (2nd) slid the puck past Jeremy Duchesne on a backdoor goal setup from a pass from Malcolm MacMillan and Portage native, Evan Rankin. The goal for Charlebois was his first since October 17th versus the Florida Everblades.

Adding insurance, Rankin scored the lone goal of the third period and empty netter with 2.5 seconds remaining in the contest.

Toledo's Jordan Pearce stopped 36 shots to earn his first shutout of the season. The victory for the Walleye snaps a four-game losing streak and created a three-way tie for second place in the North Division.

Sunday, February 14th Vs Toledo (Kalamazoo 3-Toledo 0)

Kalamazoo, MI- The Kalamazoo Wings continued their dominance on pink ice, as the K-Wings shutout the Toledo Walleye 3-0 to win their seventh straight pink ice clash at Wings Stadium.

Valentines Day started sweetly for the K-Wings on the 10th annual Pink Ice Game in Kalamazoo. Held without a goal for 60 minutes last night, Kalamazoo needed only 45 seconds to register on the scoreboard on Sunday, as Mitch Versteeg registered his third goal of the season on a back hander. Assisting on the goal was Dean Strong and Andrew Fournier.

Strong upped his K-Wings home point streak to six games, while Fournier has now logged points in 11 straight games at Wings Stadium and extended his home assist streak to nine games.

After no scoring in the second, Kalamazoo responded with a pair of goals in the third. Mathieu Curadeau (15th) laser form between the circles 2:39 into the stanza gave Kalamazoo insurance.

With the third largest pink ice crowd (4,650) into frenzy, the K-Wings added to their lead two minutes later with a power-play strike from Sam Ftorek (9th).

Earning his third shutout of the season and second in as many appearances against Toledo, Ryan Nie stopped 18 shots for the win and has now shutout the Walleye for 155:27 straight minutes.

The K-Wings, who are now 7-3-0-0 on pink ice games at Wings Stadium, have won all but two of those games by a single goal. The only other one-goal decision, before today, was back on February 14th, 2007, when the K-Wings shutout the Elmira Jackals 3-0. Goaltending for the K-Wings in that game was Nie, who with the victory on Sunday is 2-0-0-0 with a goals against average of 0.00 on pink ice.

After the first period of play, the K-Wings hosted the largest wedding in southwest Michigan, as Stacey Fields and Lee Carter of Lawrence, Michigan tied the knot. Customary with the K-Wings' Pink Ice Game, the K-Wings hosted the largest wedding in southwest Michigan.

Besides receiving the largest wedding in Kalamazoo, the couple received a night's stay at the Radisson Plaza in Kalamazoo, flowers for the wedding courtesy of Meijer and a wedding cake by Boonzaaijer Bakery.

Fast Forward

Making their final trip down south in the regular season, the K-Wings will play three straight games against the Florida Everblades starting on Wednesday, February 17th with a 7:30 p.m. Kalamazoo and Florida will also meet on Friday, February 19th and Saturday, February 20th. Face-off for those contests are also scheduled for 7:30 p.m. On the season, the K-Wings are 1-1-0-0 versus the Everblades, who start the week in a third place in the South Division.

Snapping a Streak

Kalamazoo enters the week looking to snap a streak. The K-Wings are attempting to end a season-high eight-game road winless (0-7-0-1) streak.

Southern Comfort

Starting on Wednesday, the K-Wings will play their next seven games against the South Division. Kalamazoo is 6-3-0-1 in games versus the South Division.

Quick Start

The K-Wings jumped out to an early lead on Sunday thanks to Mitch Versteeg's goal 45 seconds into the first period. The goal was the quickest by the K-Wings to start a contest this season.

Stingy Defense

In their victory on Sunday, the K-Wings allowed 18 shots versus Toledo. The 18 shots allowed were the fewest surrendered this season by Kalamazoo.

The Obscure Stat of the Week

Kalamazoo's 3-0 victory over Toledo on pink ice was their team's seventh straight on during the annual classic and just the second victory that wasn't decided by a single goal. The other multi-goal victory on pink ice for Kalamazoo was a 3-0 shutout in 2007 versus the Elmira Jackals and was won by Ryan Nie, who is now 2-0-0-0 with a 0.00 GAA and a 1.000 save percentage during pink ice contests.

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 ECHL 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 HYPERLINK http://www.icerays.com www.kwings.com. The site has player profiles, information about Wings Stadium events, and much, much more.

Bezeau and Curadeau on the Radio

Join special guests Billy Bezeau and Mathieu Curadeau as they join Head Coach Nick Bootland and the "Voice of the K-Wings" Mike Modugno this Monday 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 72 regular season games plus the playoffs. Pre-game coverage begins with the Kalsee Credit Union 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, February 17th @ Florida 7:30 PM

Friday, February 19th @ Florida 7:30 PM

Saturday, February 20th @ Florida 7:30 PM

Wednesday, February 24th Vs Gwinnett 10:30 AM (Education Day Presented by Borgess Health and ECCU)

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

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ECHL Stories from February 15, 2010


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