IHL 2 Kalamazoo Wings

Kalamazoo Wings Week In Review

December 7, 2004 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


The K-Wings started the month of December with four games in five nights. The first of the four games was on Wednesday, December 1st in Danbury, Connecticut against the Trashers. In the first period, Danbury opened up the game's scoring with the game's first two goals. Kalamazoo closed the game to 2-1 late in the period, with a goal from Sean Starke (3). The Trashers increased their lead in the second with two unanswered goals to give Danbury a 4-1 lead. Late in the second period, an injury to Trashers forward Brad Wingfield led to a penalty marred third period. With the penalties came power play chances for the K-Wings and Kalamazoo would capitalize on those chances. First, it was Yannick Carpentier scoring his 5th goal of the season on the power-play to cut the Trashers lead to 4-2. Right after Carpentier cut the Trashers lead to two, Gray Shaneberger (2) got into the scoring column with a power-play goal of his own to make the score 4-3 Danbury. Unfortunately, the one goal deficit would be as close as the K-Wings would get, with less than a minute to play in regulation; Danbury's Doug Christiansen (6) scored his second goal of the night on an empty netter to give the Trashers a 5-3 victory over Kalamazoo.

The K-Wings stayed on the road on Friday (12/3), as they traveled to Elmira, New York to play the Jackals. Kalamazoo stormed out of the gates scoring the games first three goals. The K-Wings grabbed the lead early in the opening period, with a Tom Ditzer (1) deflected goal. Later in the period, Sean Starke extended his goal scoring streak to three games, with his fourth tally of the season. The K-Wings added one more goal in the first period, as Tyson Turgeon, who was activated from the team's injured reserve list earlier in the day, notch his second goal of the year to give the K-Wings a 3-0 lead after the first period. Elmira started to chip Kalamazoo's lead away in the second period with a goal from Tom Clayton (1). The K-Wings answered back late in the period, when Chad Allan (3) lit the lamp on the power play to regain a three goal lead from Kalamazoo at 4-1. In the final stanza, the Jackals rallied back scoring three goals in the final 3 minutes and 36 seconds of play to force the game into a shootout. In the extra session, the Jackals outscored the K-Wings 3-2 to win the game by the final of 5-4.

Kalamazoo's tour of upstate New York continued on Saturday (12/4) in Glens Falls, New York against the Adirondack Frostbite. The K-Wings captured the lead midway into the opening period, when Yannick Carpentier (6) snipped a wrist shot from between the circles and beat Frostbite goaltender Jan Chovan to give the K-Wings the 1-0 lead. Adirondack's most prolific scorer, Hugo Belanger (11) answered back later in the period to tie the game at 1-1. Sixteen seconds after Belanger knotted the game up, the K-Wings would regain it. With the puck loose in front, Gray Shaneberger crashed the net and tipped in his third goal of the year to give the K-Wings a 2-1 lead after one period of play. In the second period, Adirondack continued the see-saw affair with a goal from Justin Kelly (12) to tie the game back at 2-2. The resilient K-Wings would not be undone, this time it was rookie sensation Sean Starke (5) extending his goal scoring streak to four games to give the K-Wings a 3-2 lead. Later in the period, the Frostbite answered back again, this time it was Frank Littlejohn (6) scoring the equalizer to the tie the game at 3-3. Trevor Segstro (7) gave the Frostbite their lone lead of the night by scoring his seventh goal of the year just 6:14 into the final period. Less than three minutes later, the K-Wings stormed back with a goal from Faron Duthie to tie the game at 4-4. The game remained tied and for the second consecutive night the K-Wings would head into a shootout. Unlike the night before, the K-Wings led by David Struch, who scored the lone goal of the extra session, would prevail and defeat the Frostbite 5-4.

The K-Wings conclude their four games in five nights and their six game road swing on Sunday (12/5) in Richmond, Virginia against the RiverDogs. Kalamazoo got on the board first, as Shaun Fisher (2) snuck between the circles and scored a power play goal just 2:08 into the first period. Later in the period, Richmond's David Hymovitz's answered back with his ninth goal of the year to tie the game at 1-1. With exactly five minutes remaining in the opening period, Yannick Carpentier would steal the puck from Richmond's Jami Yoder and scored his team leading seventh goal of the year on a wrap around to give the K-Wings a 2-1 lead. However, from the there the night would belong to the RiverDogs, as Richmond scored the game's next four goals and go on to defeat the K-Wings by the final of 5-2.

Fast Forward

It's another four games in five nights for the K-Wings. For the first time since November 24th the K-Wings will return home to Wings Stadium on Wednesday, December 8th to battle the Flint Generals on Classic Hits 96.5 FM Merchant Night. Flint starts the week in second place in the Central Division. The Generals won the first meeting between the teams this season by the final of 3-0 in Flint.

Kalamazoo heads back on the road on Friday (12/10) to visit the Muskegon Fury. The Fury are the top team in the Central Division and are 2-0-0 against the K-Wings this season. Muskegon could be without the services of forward Todd Robinson, who has been called-up to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL. Without Robinson in the lineup, the Fury are only 3-5-2 in their last 10 games.

On Saturday (12/11), the K-Wings return home to entertain the Danbury Trashers. The K-Wings will be looking to avenge last weeks lost to Danbury. The Trashers, who are the best home team in the UHL are only 5-5-0 away from Danbury. The Trashers start the week atop the Eastern Division. The game also coincides with Meijer Girl Scout and WNWN 98.5 FM Win-Win Night. If the K-Wings win, everyone in attendance will receive a coupon for a FREE ticket to the K-Wings home game on December 15th versus Richmond.

The K-Wings conclude the week on Sunday (12/12) with a road trip to Rockford, Illinois to battle the IceHogs. Rockford enters the week with a record of 15-5-3, which is the best record of any team in the UHL. The game, which was originally scheduled for November 28th, was rescheduled to December 12th due to a scheduling conflict at the Rockford MetroCentre. On the season, the IceHogs are 1-0-0 against Kalamazoo.

Elzinga Suspended

Defenseman Josh Elzinga has been suspended five games by the UHL for his actions during the K-Wings game against the Danbury Trashers on December 1st. Elzinga has already served three games of the suspension, he will miss tomorrow's game against Flint and serve the fifth game on Saturday versus Danbury; however, Elzinga will be able to play in the K-Wings game on Friday, December 10th at Muskegon.

Shooting Gallery

K-Wings Rookie Sean Starke leads all rookies in shooting percentage at .263. Besides leading all rookies, Starke is also second in the league.

Giving a Helping Hand

Forward Yannick Carpentier is currently on a three game assist streak. The three game streak ties Carpentier for the longest assist streak by a K-Wings player.

Home Sweet Home

The K-Wings concluded their six-game road swing on Sunday with a 5-2 loss to Richmond. With the road trip complete the K-Wings can look forward to playing at home, as 8 of the K-Wings next 13 games will be played at Wings Stadium.

The Obscure Stat of the Week

The K-Wings have been winning the close games. So far this season, the K-Wings are 3-1-1 in games decided by one goal. Lifetime the K-Wings are 82-40-38 in one goal games.

Tickets Get Your Tickets!!

Tickets for all K-Wing home games are now on sale. Catch all the action as your K-Wings play the very best the UHL has to offer. Tickets are on sale now by calling the Wings Stadium Box Office at (269) 345-5101.

Get on Line

This season the best 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.

Vilneff on the Radio

Join special guest Mark Vilneff as he joins Head Coach Mark Reeds and the "Voice of the K-Wings" Mike Modugno this week on "K-Wings Live". The show is on The Sports Station 1600 AM WQSN Monday's from 6-7 PM at Sports Forum on Mosel.

K-Wings on Radio

Catch all the K-Wings games home and away on the K-Wings Radio Network (WLKM 95.9 FM and The Sports Station 1660 AM WQSN). Join the "Voice of the K-Wings" Mike Modugno for all 80 regular season games plus the playoffs. Pre game coverage begins with the Digital Highway 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, December 8th Vs Flint 7:00 PM (Classic Hits 96.5 Merchant Night)

Friday, December 10th @ Muskegon 7:30 PM

Saturday, December 11th Vs Danbury 7:30 PM (Meijer Girl Scout, WNWN 98.5 Win-Win Night)

Sunday, December 12th @ Rockford 3:05 PM (CST)

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics



International Hockey League 2 Stories from December 7, 2004


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