ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Weekly

Published on February 28, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Game Rewind

Monday, February 21st @ Cincinnati (Kalamazoo 4-Cincinnati 2)

Cincinnati, OH- It was no day off on President's Day for the Kalamazoo Wings, as they fought a third period surge from the Cincinnati Cyclones to extend their season-high unbeaten streak to seven games (6-0-0-1) with a 4-2 victory at the U.S. Bank Arena.

Seconds after the K-Wings successfully killed off their second penalty of the opening period, the Cyclones were able to break the gridlock. Off of a Barret Ehgoetz rebound, Paul Mcilveen found the loose puck in front the crease and gave Cincinnati the lead by scoring his 8th goals of the season with 30.6 seconds remaining the period.

Scoring in similar fashion as Cincinnati did in the first, Kalamazoo pulled even in the second period with goal from Kory Karlander (23rd). Karlander, who leads the K-Wings in scoring with 58 points knocked in Justin Taylor's initial shot moments after a Cyclones penalty expired 15:23 into the stanza.

Grabbing their first lead of the game 6:20 into the third period, Brian McGuirk (2nd) scored his first goal since November 5th on a wrist shot from the left circle.

While the K-Wings struggled on the power-play going 0-for-8, the Cyclones used a man-advantage opportunity to tie the game midway in the period. Samson Mahbod's (6th) snap shot from the slot was Cincinnati's lone power-play (1-for-5) goal of the afternoon.

An innocent dump-in turned into the game-winner for Kalamazoo 12:52 into the period. Darryl Lloyd's hit on Brock Sheahan freed the puck for Andrew Fournier, who found Trent Daavettila (21st) for the go-ahead tally.

The assists by Lloyd and Fournier extended both players point streaks. Lloyd has earned at least one point in seven straight games, while Fournier is a on a six-game points streak.

Adding some insurance late in the game, Aaron Clarke (15th) tacked on an empty-net marker to close out the scoring.

In his first appearances between the pipes since his recent call-up to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Riley Gill (9-6-0-0) made 22 saves to earn the victory.

Wednesday, February 21st @ Cincinnati (Kalamazoo 3-Kalamazoo 3-Shootout)

Cincinnati, OH- The Cincinnati Cyclones fought off a late charge from the Kalamazoo Wings to win 4-3 in a shootout Wednesday night at the U.S. Bank Arena.

Despite Cincinnati dictating the pace in the opening period, by outshooting Kalamazoo 15-6, it was the K-Wings that jumped ahead with a rebound marker from Dean Strong (1st) 3:52 in the period.

While the Cyclones thought they tied the game with a goal that was disallowed from Dustin Sproat for throwing the puck into the net; Cincinnati did in fact even things up nearly 10 minutes later, after Dan Eves (5th) scored off of a tape-to-tape cross rink pass from Carl Hudson to cap off an odd-man rush.

The K-Wings went back ahead early in the second period with Patrick Asselin's 18th goal of the season. Assisting on the goal were Joe Charlebois and Darryl Lloyd, who extended his point streak to eight games with the helper.

Just like they did in the first period, Cincinnati answered back to knot the contest back up midway into the period with a blue-line slap shot from Carl Hudson (2nd). Paul McIlveen extended his point streak to six games with an assist on the tally.

While on the power-play late into the second period, Samson Mahbod earned his seventh goal of the season to give the Cyclones a 3-2 advantage heading into the third period.

Rallying back in the third period, Andrew Fournier added to his team-lead in goal scored by notching his 29th goal of the season off a centering pass from Trent Daavettila 15:57 into the stanza to force overtime.

After no scoring in the extra session, the K-Wings troubles in shootouts continued, Kalamazoo dropped their record to 1-4 in shootout finishes. Cincinnati outscored Kalamazoo 3-1 in the shootout, with Lloyd earning the K-Wings lone goal.

Despite the shootout loss, the K-Wings extended their regulation unbeaten streak to eight games (6-0-0-2) and moved to within one point of the Wheeling Nailers for first place in the North Division.

Friday, February 25th Vs Toledo (Kalamazoo 8-Toledo 5)

Kalamazoo, MI- The Kalamazoo Wings fended off a late charge from the Toledo Walleye and moved into first place in the North Division Friday night at Wings Stadium by defeating the Walleye 8-5.

Kalamazoo got themselves on the board just under six minutes into the first period. Dean Strong (2nd) rifled a wrist shot over the shoulder of Toledo goalkeeper, Thomas McCollum. McCollum, a first round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2008, made his third appearance against the K-Wings this season. Brady Leisenring got the primary assist on the goal; the assist was his 200th career professional point.

The K-Wings would strike again in the later in the period on their only power play opportunity of the stanza, this time it was Patrick Asselin who found twine. Asselin put in his own rebound, after receiving a pass from Kory Karlander along the right wing side. The goal for Asselin was his 19th on the season, and his 10th on the power play to tie with Karlander for the team lead. The initial breakout pass came from the stick of Ryan Nie, who sent a rink-long pass from just in front of his crease to Steven Tarasuk who got the secondary assist on the goal.

Asselin's team lead wouldn't last long, as Karlander tallied himself another power play goal with his one-timer blast from the right wing faceoff dot. The goal was Karlander's 24th of the season and his 11th on the power play.

The K-Wings established a four-goal lead only minutes later, riding the back of Aaron Clarke (16th) who added himself a short-handed goal. It came off a tape-to-tape pass from Trent Davvettila on their odd-man-rush. Clarke's goal was his team-leading third shorthanded goal on the campaign.

Toledo couldn't be held off the board forever, as Chris DiDomenico got the Walleye on the board with his sixth goal of the season, just over a minute after the Clarke goal.

Exactly a minute later, Kalamazoo re-established their four-goal lead; again it was Karlander who buried his 25th goal of the season.

The second period scoring was just getting started, as Willie Coetzee got his seventh goal of the season at the 17:14 mark.

But, the K-Wings didn't take long to respond, just a minute and three seconds later, Karlander (26th) capped off his natural hat trick, scoring all three of his goals in the second frame. The hat trick for Karlander was the fifth-trick of the season by a K-Wing.

Capping off the seven-goal second period, Toledo's Kyle Rogers found the back of the net for the ninth time on the season.

Just 10 seconds into the third and final period, the Walleye brought the game to within two goals as this time it was Mike Hedden who netted his team leading 21st goal.

Less than seven minutes passed before Toledo made it interesting, as they closed the gap to within one goal for the first time since 1-0, early in the first period. Rogers (10th) got his second goal of the evening, this time with the man advantage which brought his Walleye into contention, making the score 6-5.

But, Kalamazoo would respond strongly, using the third goal of the season from Mitch Versteeg (4th) who joined the rush to put the puck past the Toledo relief goaltender, Joe Palmer, who came in to replace McCollum.

Finally the K-Wings put this one away, when Strong got the eighth and final goal for Kalamazoo, as he put home a rebound from a Sam Ftorek slap shot. The goal was the third on the season for Strong, as he now has three goals in his last two outings.

Saturday, February 26th Vs Toledo (Kalamazoo 5-Toledo 2)

Kalamazoo, MI- Using 40 Saves from Ryan Nie and two power-play goals from Justin Taylor, the Kalamazoo Wings rolled past the Cincinnati Cyclones by a final score of 5-1 to extend their regulation unbeaten streak in regulation to 10 games (8-0-0-2).

Proving that there was no "hangover" from their eight-goal outing last night against the Toledo Walleye, the K-Wings came out with four goals in the first period against the Cyclones.

The scoring started with Kory Karlander at the three minute mark of the first, when he stole the puck off the stick of a Cincinnati defender and walked in all alone on the Cyclones goaltender Chet Pickard. Karlander let a wrister go from between the circles that beat Pickard over his out-stretched leg. The goal was number 27 for Karlander on the season.

At the 8:14 mark, it was Taylor's turn to get on the score sheet. The K-Wings were working with a man advantage, and he received a pass from Patrick Asselin and one-touched the puck past Pickard from the low slot. The goal was the 22nd on the season for Taylor and his seventh power-play goal on the campaign.

Kalamazoo would then go up 3-0 only 45 seconds later, when off the faceoff Andrew Fournier recovered his own blocked shot, and put it past the Cincinnati goalkeeper. The goal was Fournier's team leading 30th goal on the season.

The Cyclones got themselves on the board after 13:52 of action. Paul McIlveen got his 4th on the season by banking his shot off of Nie, while behind the goal line, for the only goal surrendered by the league-leader in wins (23).

Kalamazoo would strike again before the end of the first, as this time it was AJ Thelen (4th) taking advantage of the power play opportunity for the K-Wings. He let a one-time slap shot go from the right side point which beat Pickard over his glove-side, and went into the top corner of the net.

The four goals on 12 first period shots for Kalamazoo was enough for the Cyclones to pull Pickard in favor of Brian Foster. It was the second time in as many nights an opposing goaltender couldn't finish the outing they had started against the K-Wings.

Just over ten minutes into the second period, Taylor would find the back of the net yet again. Using another power play to their advantage, Taylor one-timed a pass from Asselin for his 23rd goal of the season.

There was no scoring in the third period of the game, as Nie was the star of the stanza by stopping all 19 shots that the Cyclones threw at him.

Sunday, February 27th @ Toledo (Kalamazoo 5-Toledo 4)

Toledo, OH- The Kalamazoo Wings extended their season-high unbeaten streak to 11 games (11-0-0-2) fending off a comeback bid from the Toledo Walleye with a 5-4 victory Sunday at the Huntington Center.

Traded to Kalamazoo prior to game time, John Kivisto scored his first pro goal in his second pro game 3:52 into the opening period with assists from Brady Leisenring and Trent Daavettila. Daavettila, who extended his point streak to seven games with the helper, recorded three points in the opening period all on assists.

Toledo answered back five minutes later with a power-play goal from Christopher DiDomenico (7th). DiDomenico has scored four of his seven goals this season against Kalamazoo.

Finishing the period strong, Kalamazoo closed out the period scoring three unanswered. Brian McGuirk found Mitch Versteeg (5th) pinching in from the point to regain the lead for Kalamazoo 13:09 into the period.

Darryl Lloyd pushed the K-Wings lead to 3-1 with 3:37 remaining in the first period scoring his 100th career goal on a power-play marker.

Building their lead to three goals less than two minutes later, Daavettila sent a drop pass to Patrick Asselin for his 20th goal of the season.

For the third straight game and second against Toledo, Kalamazoo chased off the oppositions starting goaltender, as Joe Palmer was pulled for Thomas McCollum after allowing four goals on 10 shots.

Storming back in the second period, Toledo rallied from three goals down to tie the game. Former NHL'er Mike Wilson (1st) started the comeback with a left circle wrister 3:43 into the period.

Nick Duff cut the deficit to a single goal 7:47 into the stanza by registering his first pro goal with a slap shot from the right circle.

Late in the period and while on the power-play, Mike Hedden tied the game at 4-4 notching his 22nd lamp-lighter of the season.

Remaining clutch for the K-Wings, Andrew Fournier, who leads the team with goals with 31, netted his team-leading seventh game-winner 8:07 into the third period with a blast from the slot. Daavettila earned the lone assist on the goal to cap off a K-Wings' season-high tying performance for points in a game (4) and a team season-high for assists in a game (4).

Riley Gill improved his record to 10-6-0-1 by stopping 32 shots in the victory.

With the victory, the K-Wings lead the State Line Face-Off Series, presented by AmeriGas, America's Propane Company, with a record of 8-2-1-1.

Fast Forward

After completing their most grueling stretch of their schedule, seven games in nine nights, the K-Wings will have a little time to unwind playing just two games this week starting on Friday, March 4th with 7 p.m. encounter at the Huntington Center against the Toledo Walleye during the State Line Face-Off Series, Presented by AmeriGas, America's Propane Company. Friday's game coincides with the Walleye's "Pink in the Rink" Pink Ice Game. No strangers to pink ice games, the K-Wings are 8-3-0-0 in pink ice contests all-time, all of which at Wings Stadium, and have won eight straight pink ice games, including last season versus Toledo (3-0, 02/14/10). Kalamazoo is 8-2-1-1 against Toledo, who starts the week in fourth place in the North Division, 12 points behind the K-Wings.

Having a rare Saturday night off, the K-Wing will return to action this Sunday, March 6th with a 4 p.m. face-off versus the reigning Kelly Cup Champions, Cincinnati Cyclones during another Family Hockey Day in the 'ZOO and Stars Wars Night. During all Sunday home games kids (12 and under) eat FREE. This Sunday, the first 500 kids will also receive a FREE inflatable megaphone courtesy of Kalsee Credit Union. Kalamazoo 7-2-1-1 against Cincinnati, who starts the week in third place in the North Division, nine points behind Kalamazoo.

Team Leaders: Kalamazoo Wings

Goals: Andrew Fournier (31 Goals)

Assists: Trent Daavettila (39 Assists)

Points: Kory Karlander (83 Points)

+/-: Trent Daavettila (+19)

Penalty Minutes: Darryl Lloyd (102 Minutes)

Power Play Goals: Kory Karlander (11 Goals)

Short Handed Goals: Aaron Clarke (3 Goals)

Game Winning Goals: Andrew Fournier (7 GW)

Shots: Andrew Fournier (180 Shots)

Shooting Percentage: Dean Strong (33.3%)

Overtime Goals: Patrick Asselin, Andrew Fournier, Sam Ftorek, Kory Karlander (1 Goal)

Shootout Goals: Darryl Lloyd (2 Goals)

Shootout Percentage: Darryl Lloyd (66.7%)

Goals Against Average: Ryan Nie (2.90)

Save Percentage: Ryan Nie (0.913)

Seventh Heaven

Forward Trent Daavettila enters the week on a seven-game point streak. Daavettila, who holds the K-Wings' season-high for consecutive games with a point with 12, has notched 14 points (2 goals, 12 assists) over the course of his current streak.

Nearing Milestones

Forward Aaron Clarke is closing in on a personal milestone. Clarke needs one more assist to reach 100 in his career.

Nearing a Dozen

Kalamazoo enters the week unbeaten in regulation in 11 straight (9-0-0-2) games. The 11-game streak is the longest unbeaten streak by the K-Wings this season and the longest current unbeaten streak in the ECHL.

Banner Month

The K-Wings finished the month of February with a record of 10-2-0-2. The 10 victories represents the most wins in a month this season by the K-Wings.

The Obscure Stat of the Week

This Friday the K-Wings will play the Toledo Walleye in the Walleye's "Pink in the Rink" pink ice game. On the season, Kalamazoo is 3-0-0-0 in colored ice games and are 8-3-0-0 all-time in pink ice games, including eight victories.

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 can be purchased 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.

Fournier and Strong on the Radio

Join special guests Andrew Fournier and Dean Strong as they join Head Coach Nick Bootland and the "Voice of the K-Wings", Mike Modugno this Monday on "K-Wings Live" presented by Miller Lite. The show is on The Classic Hits Station WLKM (95.9 FM) and online through www.kwings.com from 7-8 p.m. at Old Burdick's Wings West on Sports Drive.

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

Friday, March 4th @ Toledo 7:00 PM

Sunday, March 6th Vs Cincinnati 4:00 PM (Family Hockey Day in the 'ZOO/Star Wars Night)

Wednesday, March 9th Vs Toledo 7:00 PM (State Line Face-Off Series, Presented by AmeriGas, America's Propane Company/College Night)

Friday, March 11th @ Wheeling 7:35 PM (Game to Be Played In Johnstown, PA)

Saturday, March 12th Vs Wheeling 7:30 PM (Saturday "Celebrity" Series, Featuring the World Famous Laker Girls)

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

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ECHL Stories from February 28, 2011


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