ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Weekly

Published on March 21, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Kalamazoo, MI- Denied their first colored ice sweep since the 2003-04 season, the Kalamazoo Wings lost 5-1 to the South Carolina Stingrays during the 30th Annual "World Famous" St. Patrick's Day Green Ice Game, Presented by 5/3 Bank, WWMT and WRKR.

Following up on his initial shot, Jordan Pietrus (5th) scored on a backhander 14:08 into first period to give South Carolina the first goal of the game.

In the second period, the Stingrays extended their lead 1:39 into the period with the first of two goals in the frame from Trent Campbell, who scored his 15th goal of the season off of a K-Wings turnover.

Kalamazoo cut the lead in half midway in the period with A.J. Thelen's (6th) left circle blast deflecting off of a South Carolina defenseman and past goaltender Shane Owen.

After the K-Wings benefited off a fortunate bounce, the Stingrays received one of their own. Three minutes later while on a power-play, and chipping the puck off of the glass, Tommy Goebel's pass hit off of a metal partition and towards the net, where Ryan Del Monte (3rd) was there to knock it in to push the Stingrays lead to 3-1.

Later in the period, Goebel earned his third point (1 goal, 2 assists) of the game finishing off a two-on-one odd-man rush 17:04 into the period by beating Ryan Nie five-hole.

South Carolina capped off their four-goal period with 2.5 seconds remaining in the second period on a power-play tally from Campbell (16th).

Neither team would score in the final period, though the K-Wings had the best scoring chances of the period with a missed attempted on a penalty shot from Darryl Lloyd.

After going on beaten in regulation in a span of 16 games (13-0-0-3), the K-Wings have lost their last two contests.

Kalamazoo finished the season going 4-1-0-0 on colored ice games, including a road victory against the Toledo Walleye

Friday, March 18th Vs Trenton (Kalamazoo 5-Trenton 0)

Kalamazoo, MI- Goaltender Riley Gill was frugal and the Kalamazoo Wings offensive was explosive as the K-Wings shutout the Trenton 5-0 on Celebration! Cinema Night and on the final Frugal Fan Friday of the season.

A fast-paced opening period resulted in plenty of scoring chances and two goals for the K-Wings. Creating a turnover behind the Devils net, Bryan Jurynec pushed the puck to Brian McGuirk, who found Aaron Clarke wide open just in front the net for his 19th goal of the season 17:18 into the period.

While Kalamazoo went 0-for-2 on the power-play in the first period, their penalty-kill unit did deliver some offense. With 24.6 seconds remaining in the period, Sam Ftorek's dump-in found its way to the stick of Trent Daavettila, who delivered his 27th goal of the season.

The second period ended with Kalamazoo in the driver's seat. 14:44 into the period, Kory Karlander knifed a rebound passed Trenton goaltender, Jeff Lerg. The goal for Karlander was his 31st on the season and added another point to his team high total, now at 73. Assisting on the goal was AJ Thelen and Jurynec.

In the third period, Kalamazoo would tack on two more goals from Patrick Asselin (26th) and Darryl Lloyd (11th) to close out the game's scoring. The goal from Asselin extended his point streak to four games.

Gill earned his second shutout of the season and his first as a K-Wing stopping 32 shots to raise his record to 11-7-0-2.

Sunday, March 20th @ Wheeling (Kalamazoo 4-Wheeling 2)

Wheeling, WV- The Kalamazoo Wings are heading back to the Kelly Cup playoffs, as the K-Wings earned a berth on Sunday with a 4-2 victory over the Wheeling Nailers.

Striking early, Brandon DeFazio (2nd) deflected a Tim Crowder slap shot 4:35 into the contest to give the Nailers a 1-0 lead.

Kalamazoo answered back five minutes later, when Trent Daavettila laid a drop pass to blade of Andrew Fournier, who rifled home his team-best 36th goal of the season. The goal gave Fournier 11 points on the season against the Nailers, including seven goals, the most of any member of the K-Wings. With the assist, Daavettila extended road point streak to a league current-high of nine games.

Just like they did in the opening period, Wheeling wasted no time to light the lamp to start the second. Earning his second goal in as many games since commencing his pro career, Chris Kushneriuk (2nd) knocked in his own rebound to regain a one-goal for the Nailers 3:35 into the stanza.

Evening the score at 2-2 just over a minute later, Brady Leisenring (7th) recorded the equalizer off of a Kory Karlander rebound on the K-Wings first power-play attempt of the afternoon.

Kalamazoo grabbed their first lead of the night midway in the third period with a wrist shot from Bryan Jurynec (3rd). With the puck behind the Nailers, net, Aaron Clarke sent a pass to the slot to Jurynec, who recorded his first game-winner of the season.

Adding insurance late in the game, Daavettila capped off a two point night with an empty-net tally with 26 seconds remaining to secure the victory.

The victory extended the K-Wings road winning streak to four games and road unbeaten streak to nine games (7-0-0-2). Both streaks are season-highs for Kalamazoo.

Fast Forward

Kalamazoo will be their four-game week this Wednesday, March 23rd with the first of two Education Day games at Wings Stadium versus the Cincinnati Cyclones. Face-off this Wednesday is slated for 10:30 a.m. and the game is presented by RxOptical, Bounceland, Edison Electric and Putter's Family Fun Center. On the season, Kalamazoo is 8-2-1-1 versus Cincinnati this season, which includes a victory over the Cyclones in their morning school game. Cincinnati enters the week in third place in the North Division, two points behind the second place Wheeling Nailers.

On Friday, the K-Wings will commence a three-game road swing with a 7 p.m. face-off against the Trenton Devils. Kalamazoo last lost a road game in regulation on February 9th in Trenton. So far this season, the K-Wings are 2-1-0-0 versus the Devils, who start the week in third place in the Atlantic Division.

Kalamazoo will conclude the week with a pair of games at the First Arena against the Elmira Jackals. The K-Wings and Jackals will square off on Saturday, March 26th at 7:35 p.m. and then again on Sunday, March 27th at 4:05 p.m. On the season, Kalamazoo is 4-2-0-0 versus Elmira, who starts the week in second place in the Atlantic Division.

Team Leaders: Kalamazoo Wings

Goals: Andrew Fournier (36 Goals)

Assists: Trent Daavettila (45 Assists)

Points: Kory Karlander (75 Points)

+/-: Trent Daavettila (+28)

Penalty Minutes: Darryl Lloyd (124 Minutes)

Power Play Goals: Patrick Asselin, Kory Karlander (11 Goals)

Short Handed Goals: Aaron Clarke (3 Goals)

Game Winning Goals: Andrew Fournier (9 GW)

Shots: Trent Daavettila (208 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 (50%)

Goals Against Average: Ryan Nie (2.84)

Save Percentage: Ryan Nie (0.915)

Playoff Bound

For the second straight season the K-Wings are heading to the Kelly Cup playoffs. Kalamazoo punched their playoff ticket on Sunday with a victory over the Wheeling Nailers.

Karlander Nears Milestone

Forward Kory Karlander is closing in on an impressive milestone. Karlander needs two more assists to reach 500 in his career.

Road Tested

Kalamazoo enters the week on a four-game road winning streak and on a nine-game road unbeaten streak (7-0-0-2). Both streaks are season-highs for the K-Wings.

Road Warrior

Forwards Trent Daavettila enters the week on nine-game road scoring streaks. The nine-game streak is the longest current road scoring streak in the ECHL.

The Obscure Stat of the Week

The K-Wings, who will play the Cyclones this Wednesday morning during the first of two Education Day Games, presented by RxOptical, Bounceland, Edison Election and Putter's Family Fun Center, are no strangers to a.m. starts. All-time, the K-Wings are 8-5-1-1 in education day games, including 5-5-0-1 at home.

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.

Clarke and Coutu on the Radio

Join special guests forward Aaron Clarke and defenseman Justin Coutu 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

Wednesday, March 23rd Vs Cincinnati 10:30 AM (Education Day, Presented by RxOptical)

Friday, March 25th @ Trenton 7:00 PM

Saturday, March 26th @ Elmira 7:35 PM

Sunday, March 27th @ Elmira 4:05 PM

Wednesday, March 30th Vs Cincinnati 10:30 AM (Education Day, Presented by RxOptical)

Friday, April 1st @ Cincinnati 7:30 PM

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

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ECHL Stories from March 21, 2011


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