ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Weekly

Published on April 1, 2012 under ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Game Rewind

Wednesday, March 28th @ Toledo (Kalamazoo 6-Toledo 1)

Toledo, OH- The Kalamazoo Wings captured their third straight North Division title in convincing 6-1 victory Wednesday night at the Huntington Center against the Toledo Walleye.

Sparked by two goals 23 seconds apart, the K-Wings jumped ahead to a 2-0 advantage. Fed by a Darryl Bootland pass to the high slot, Elgin Reid (8th) put the K-Wings on the scoreboard 8:23 into the period.

Moments later, Darren Archibald (12th) walked out the corner and between the circles to fire a wrister through the legs of Alex Richards to lengthen the lead to two goals.

Putting the game out of reach in the second period, Nick Sirota (21st) extended his goal streak to an ECHL season-long eight games 4:10 by knocking in a Joe Charlebois rebound.

Later in the period, Prab Rai (2nd) scored on a penalty shot to push the K-Wings to four goals. The penalty shot attempt the K-Wings' ECHL season-high ninth (2-for-9) this season.

With 22.6 seconds, Archibald (13th) struck for his second-goal of the game, this time a power-play marker that was setup by Sirota and Eric Kattelus.

Becoming the second K-Wing to earn a hat trick this season, Archbald (14th) netted his third goal of the night deking around Richard 4:56 into the third period.,

Joey Martin broke up Riley Gill's shutout bid late in the game with his 20th goal of the season, which tied Martin with Kyle Rogers for the team-lead.

Gill finished the game with 29 saves.

Friday, March 30th @ Chicago (Chicago 4-Kalamazoo 2)

Hoffman Estates, IL- Nearly coming back from a four-goal deficit, the Kalamazoo Wings scored twice in the third period and had two more goals disallowed in a 4-2 defeat Friday night at the Sears Centre against the Chicago Express.

Even through the K-Wings had plenty of power-play chances (0-for-5) in the opening period, Kalamazoo found themselves trailing the Express.

While Chicago struggled with a man-advantage as well (0-for-2), they did score the period's lone goal even-strength, as Mike Embach (12th) lit the lamp 9:30 into the contest whacking in his own round past Riley Gill.

In the second period, a penalty shot from Anthony Maiani (6th) 3:22 into the period pushed Chicago's lead to 2-0. The penalty shot was the seventh attempted (2-for-7) this season against the K-Wings, the most of any team in the ECHL. Three of the penalty shots (1-for-3) have come against Chicago.

Chaz Johnson (19th) grew Chicago's lead to 4-0 later in the period by recording his team-best eighth power-play tally.

With less than a minute in the middle stanza and seconds after coming out of the penalty box, Danick Paquette (13th) scored on a breakaway, which was setup by a pass from Johnson.

Making a change between the pipes to start the third period, the K-Wings replaced Gill with Maxime Clermont, who only saw three shots and made save on all of them in relief.

Kalamazoo tried to mount a comeback earlier in the stanza with a power-play marker from Darryl Bootland (25th).

Nick Sirota (22nd) brought the K-Wings back to within two goals two minutes later extending his goal streak to a league-best nine straight games. Sirota has earned points in 17 out of the K-Wings last 18 games.

Saturday, March 31st @ Toledo (Kalamazoo 3-Toledo 2)

Toledo, OH- Heading into the Kelly Cup playoffs with a victory, the Kalamazoo Wings concluded the regular season with a 3-2 victory Saturday night at the Huntington Center against the Toledo Walleye.

A physical first period led to plenty of hits and a combined 20 minutes in penalties, but no scoring.

The stalemate ended early in the second period, on blue line slap shot from Steve Miller 3:53 into the period.

Responding late in the middle stanza, Trent Daavettila (18th) recorded the equalizer on the wrist shot that was setup by Darryl Bootland and Eric Kattelus Both Bootland and Kattelus extended their point streaks to four games with the assist.

Celebrating his 200th career game, Elgin Reid (9th) gave the K-Wings their first lead of the night scoring on the power-play 5:49 into the third period.

Toledo fought back with a power-play goal of its own, as Bryan Rufenach (13th) scored on a wrap around 15:05 into the period.

Following a face-off victory in the Walleye zone with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, former Walleye, Joe Charlebois (3rd) scored the game-winner with a slap shot from the point.

Held without a point, Nick Sirota's nine-game goal and point streak both came to an end. Sirota has scored in 17 out of the K-Wings last 19 games.

Fast Forward

The K-Wings will begin the Kelly Cup Playoffs this Tuesday, April 3rd with a 7:05 p.m. encounter at the WesBanco Arena against the Wheeling Nailers in Game One of the Best-of-Five Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Game Two of the series will occur on Wednesday, April 4th at 7:05 p.m. at the WesBanco Arena.

The series will return to Wings Stadium on Friday, April 6th with a 7:30 p.m. face-off. If needed, Game Four of the series will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 9th. During the regular season, the K-Wings were 2-1-0-0 against the Nailers. This will be the second playoff meeting between the teams. Kalamazoo defeated Wheeling in six games last season in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Team Leaders: Kalamazoo Wings

Goals: Darryl Bootland (25 Goals)

Assists: Trent Daavettila (56 Assists)

Points: Trent Daavettila (74 Points)

+/-: Darren Archibald (+22)

Penalty Minutes: Darryl Bootland (170 Minutes)

Power Play Goals: Trent Daavettila, Mike Matczak (8 Goals)

Short Handed Goals: Seven Players Tied (1 Goal)

Game Winning Goals: Trent Daavettila, Brandon Svendsen (5 GW)

Shots: Darryl Bootland (221 Shots)

Shooting Percentage: Dean Strong (27.5%)

Overtime Goals: Sam Ftorek (2 Goals)

Shootout Goals: Justin Taylor (5 Goals)

Shootout Percentage: Dean Strong (50%)

Goals Against Average: Riley Gill (2.93 )

Save Percentage: Riley Gill (0.903)

Ending the Season on a Roll

Forward Nick Sirota ended the regular season on fire. Sirota finished the regular season earning points in 17 out of the K-Wings final 19 games.

Playoff Rematch

Kalamazoo's Eastern Conference Quarterfinals matchup against the Wheeling Nailers will be a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Finals, which was won by the K-Wings in six games. During the regular season, the K-Wings were 2-1-0-0 against the Nailers.

Road Tested

During the regular season, the K-Wings had 20 road victories. The 20 wins away from Wings Stadium tied Kalamazoo with the Elmira Jackals for the second-most in the ECHL behind the Reading Royals, who had 21 road victories.

Heating Up

Forwards Darren Archibald, Darryl Bootland and Eric Kattelus ended the regular season on extended point streaks. Archibald earned points in five straight games, while Bootland and Kattelus went on four-game point streaks.

The Obscure Stat of the Week

This season, the K-Wings spent 152 days in first place in the North Division and 16 days in second. Kalamazoo is the only team in the division not to spend any time in either third or fourth place.

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 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 Kory Karlander and 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". The show is on The Classic Hits Station WLKM (95.9 FM) and online through www.kwings.com from 6-7 p.m. at Old Burdick's Wings West.

K-Wings on Radio

Catch all the K-Wings games, home and away, on the K-Wings Radio Network (95.9 FM WLKM & 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 3rd @ Wheeling 7:05 PM (Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game One)

Wednesday, April 4th @ Wheeling 7:05 PM (Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game Two)

Friday, April 6th Vs Wheeling7:30 PM (Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game Three)

*Saturday, April 7th Vs Wheeling 7:30 PM (Eastern Conference Semifinals, Game Four)

*Monday, April 7th Vs Wheeling 7:00 PM (Eastern Conference Semifinals, Game Five)

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

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

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