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ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Weekly

April 4, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Kalamazoo, MI- Led by Cory Conacher, who ironically was in school two weeks ago, first professional hat trick, the Cincinnati Cyclones defeated the Kalamazoo Wings during their first sellout (5,113) of the season on the second of two Education Day Games, presented RxOptical, Bounceland, Edison Electric and Putter's Family Fun Center.

Cincinnati was able to get on the scoreboard first, when Carl Hudson (2nd) slid in from the point and deflected a Casey Pierro-Zabotel centering pass past Ryan Nie 7:10 into the opening period.

Pulling even in the second period, Justin Taylor (25th) stole the puck away from Hudson and scored on a breakaway 11:02 into the stanza.

Responding with three goals in the final five minutes of the period, Cincinnati went ahead 4-1. Ryan McLeod earned his first ECHL tally of the season on a breakaway 14:49 into the second period.

Cincinnati extended their lead to two goals two minutes later scoring five seconds into a power-play with a blue-line slap shot from Garrett Suter (2nd).

Conacher (3rd) continued his assault on ECHL goaltenders late in the period, ringing in his third goal in two games since going the Cyclones. Conacher, who lit the lamp as he was being hooked to the ice, joined Cincinnati last weekend after finishing his collegiate career at Canisius College and playing two games in the American Hockey League with the Rochester Americans.

The third period belonged to Conacher (3rd, 4th) who notched two more goals to earn the hat trick. The native of Burlington, Ontario finished the game with three points, +4 on four shots on net.

Nie was replaced by Riley Gill after the Cyclones sixth goal. Nie (29-16-2-3) finished the game with 20 saves in 45:50. In relief, Gill made two saves in just over 14 minutes of work.

With the victory, Brian Foster continued to stymie the K-Wings allowing just one goal in his last 127:07 against Kalamazoo.

Friday, April 1st @ Cincinnati (Kalamazoo 5-Cincinnati 0)

Cincinnati, OH- Riley Gill stopped 24 shots to earn his 3rd shutout of the season helping the Kalamazoo Wings avenge a lopsided loss on earlier in the week to the Cincinnati Cyclones by dismantling the Cyclones 5-0 Friday night at the U.S. Bank Arena.

Catching goaltender Chet Pickard out of position, Kory Karlander slid the puck around the goaltender and into the open net 4:08 into the period. The goal was Karlander's 33rd of the season and team-tying (Trent Daavettila) 78th point overall.

Coming out firing in the second period, Kalamazoo struck three times in the period. Aaron Clarke became the sixth member of the K-Wings to reach the 20-goal plateau this season by deflecting a Sam Ftorek blast 3:30 into the period. Also assisting on the goal was Andrew Fournier, who extended his road point streak to an ECHL season-high 12 games.

Fournier and Ftorek collaborated again three minutes later, when Fournier found Daavettila (31st) in the slot for his team-leading 79th point of the season.

Kalamazoo closed out the scoring with 8.6 seconds remaining in the period with Clarke's second of the stanza.

Adding salt to the Cyclones' wounds, Daavettila (32nd) added his second goal of the night on the power-play to wrap up the scoring 10:42 into the third period.

Saturday, April 2nd Vs Elmira (Kalamazoo 4-Elmira 1)

Kalamazoo, MI- The Kalamazoo Wings benefitted from the return of Brandon Svendsen, who had been playing with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers since mid-November, riding his 3 points (1goal, 2 assists) en route to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Elmira Jackals on Fan Appreciation Night.

Wanting to have momentum heading into the playoffs, Kalamazoo wasted no time getting started in the opening period. Playing in his first game since early November for the K-Wings, Svendsen continued his eight game point streak after a mere four-month layoff from his last points in the Kalamazoo sweater. His drop-pass found the stick of Kory Karlander who scored his 34th of the season with the quick wrist-shot past the Elmira goaltender, Jared DeMichiel.

Using their first power-play opportunity, the K-Wings capitalized yet again. This time it was Sam Ftorek (9th), using his blast of a slap shot to squeak the puck past DeMichiel. The man-advantage tally put Kalamazoo up 2-0 after twenty minutes of play.

Elmira would get themselves on the board during the second stanza of action, as Yannick Tifu (28th), extended his team scoring lead, while bringing his Jackals to within one.

Seven minutes later, the K-Wings countered. Using a power-play opportunity, Steven Tarasuk received a pass from Justin Taylor along the right wing side, and ripped a slap shot past DeMichiel to re-establish the two-goal lead for Kalamazoo.

The K-Wings found twine one more time in the second period. It was Svendsen who shot a top-corner-finding slapper that made the game 4-1 in favor of Kalamazoo. Assisting on the goal was Karlander, who with that assist, racked up his 500th career helper of his career.

There was no scoring from either team in the third period, as the K-Wings kept their lead they built in the first forty minutes.

Fast Forward

Kalamazoo will begin the Kelly Cup Playoffs with Game One of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on Tuesday, April 5th with a 7:30 p.m. face-off at the Germain Arena against the Florida Everblades. Game two of the best of five series will be on Wednesday, April 6th also at 7:30 p.m.

The series will switch to Wings Stadium on Friday, April 8th for a 7:30 p.m. face-off for game three. Game four, if needed, would be on Saturday, April 9th at 7:30 p.m. and game five, if needed, would be Monday, April 11th at 7 p.m. at Wings Stadium.

On the season, the K-Wings were 1-3-0-1 against the Everblades.

Team Leaders: Kalamazoo Wings

Goals: Andrew Fournier (38 Goals)

Assists: Trent Daavettila (48 Assists)

Points: Trent Daavettila, Kory Karlander (89 Points)

+/-: Trent Daavettila (+28)

Penalty Minutes: Darryl Lloyd (130 Minutes)

Power Play Goals: Patrick Asselin (12 Goals)

Short Handed Goals: Aaron Clarke (3 Goals)

Game Winning Goals: Andrew Fournier (10 GW)

Shots: Trent Daavettila, Andrew Fournier (238 Shots)

Shooting Percentage: Dean Strong (33.3%)

Overtime Goals: Five Players Tied (1 Goal)

Shootout Goals: Darryl Lloyd (2 Goals)

Shootout Percentage: Darryl Lloyd (40%)

Goals Against Average: Ryan Nie (2.80)

Save Percentage: Ryan Nie (0.914)

Heading South

Kalamazoo will begin the Kelly Cup Playoffs on road to play the Florida Everblades. During the regular season, Kalamazoo went 1-3-0-1 against Florida and was 7-11-0-1 against teams from the South Division.

Road Tested

Kalamazoo finished the regular season on a 13-game road unbeaten streak (10-0-0-3). The 13-game unbeaten streak was season-high for the K-Wings and the ECHL.

Positive Experience

Forward Trent Daavettila was named the co-recipient of the Reebok ECHL Plus-Performer of the Year. Daavettila and Greenville's Brandon Connelly each finished the season at +28.

Grand Return

After returning from the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers, forward Brandon Svendsen made his presence left for K-Wings last Saturday. Svendsen extended his K-Wings' point streak to nine games by earning 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in Kalamazoo's 4-1 victory over Elmira.

The Obscure Stat of the Week

Forward Darryl Lloyd holds a unique distinction with the K-Wings. Lloyd is the only member of the K-Wings this season to play in every game this season.

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.

Karlander and O'Neill on the Radio

Join special guests forward Kory Karlander and defenseman Wes O'Neill 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. Tonight's show is emanate from Estero, Florida.

K-Wings on Radio

Catch all the K-Wings games, home and away, on the K-Wings Radio Network (95.9 FM WLKM & American-One 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

Tuesday, April 5h @ Florida 7:30 PM (Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game One)

Wednesday, April 6th @ Florida 7:30 PM (Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game Two)

Friday, April 8th Vs Florida 7:30 PM (Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game Three)

*Saturday April 9th Vs Florida 7:30 PM (Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game Four)

*Monday, April 11th Vs Florida 7:00 PM (Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game Five)

(* Denotes Games that Will Only Be Played If Necessary)

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics



ECHL Stories from April 4, 2011


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