IHL 2 Kalamazoo Wings

Kalamazoo Wings Week In Review

Published on December 27, 2004 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


You can usually expect the unexpected when the K-Wings play the Quad City Mallards, but the 2,273 at Wings Stadium even were shocked on how the K-Wings started their game against Mallards on Wednesday, December 22nd. Kalamazoo stormed out of the gates scoring three goals on their first three shots to take a three-nothing leads just 2:37 into the contest. From the there, the K-Wings kept up their pressure on Quad City en route to a 6-2 victory over the Mallards. David Struch and Faron Duthie led the K-Wings will three points each. Gray Shaneberger led all K-Wings in goals scored with two. Goaltender Chad Alban knocked aside 26 shots to record his 11th victory of the season.

After spending some time with their families, the K-Wings returned to the ice on Sunday, December 26th to host the Rockford IceHogs. The game proved to be a defensive battle. Rockford scored the game's lone goal late in the third period, when Olivier Proulx (14) scored a power play goal with just 2:39 remaining in the game to give the IceHogs the 1-0 victory over Kalamazoo. Despite the loss, Kalamazoo's Joel Martin was the star of the game. Martin, who stopped 22 shots in the loss, is now 3-4-0 on the season. Rockford's Michel Robinson was equally as impressive; as the goaltender stopped all 21 shots he faced to record his third shutout of the season.

Fast Forward
The K-Wings will hit the ice four times this week. Kalamazoo starts the week on Wednesday, December 29th in Fraser, Michigan against the Motor City Mechanics. The meeting will be the second between the teams this season, and the first since the K-Wings defeated Motor City 4-1 on opening night in The Garage.

On Thursday (12/30), the K-Wings will stay on the road, as they head up north to play their intra-state rivals the Muskegon Fury. Muskegon starts the week tied for first place in the Central Division with the Flint Generals. The K-Wings, who are just seven points behind the front runners, have one game in hand over both Muskegon and Flint. Thursday's game will be the sixth meeting between the teams. On the year, the K-Wings are 0-5-0 against their intra-state rivals.

The K-Wings will conclude the 2004 portion of their schedule on Friday, December 31st with the 3rd Annual New Year's Eve Bash against the Kansas City Outlaws. The Kalamazoo Wings will team up with COOL 101 FM, and WWMT to present the 3rd Annual New Year's Eve Bash. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. game are available at the Wings Stadium Box Office. Your ticket to the game will also give you FREE admission to the party after the game, which includes the COOL 101 FM Rock and Roll Oldies Dance in The Annex, as well as public Skating in Wings Stadium with music provided by Soundscape Productions.

Kalamazoo will begin the 2005 portion of their schedule with a road date on Sunday, January 2nd against their arch-rivals the Fort Wayne Komets. Sunday's encounter will be just the second between the teams this season, with the Komets winning the first game on November 24th at Wings Stadium. Fort Wayne starts the week in first place in the Western Division, just one point ahead of the Rockford IceHogs.

Ringing in the New Year
The K-Wings will conclude the 2004 portion of their schedule on Friday, December 31st with the 3rd Annual New Year's Eve Bash against the Kansas City Outlaws. The Kalamazoo Wings will team up with COOL 101 FM, and WWMT to present the 3rd Annual New Year's Eve Bash. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. game are available at the Wings Stadium Box Office. Your ticket to the game will also give you FREE admission to the party after the game, which includes the COOL 101 FM Rock and Roll Oldies Dance in The Annex, as well as public Skating in Wings Stadium with music provided by Soundscape Productions.

The Road Is Long
The K-Wings will get used to playing on the road. Eight of the K-Wings next nine games will be played away from Wings Stadium.

Nearing a Milestone
Forward Tim Turner is nearing a personal milestone. Turner starts the week just one game shy of playing in his 100th career game. The Saginaw native could reach the milestone Wednesday against Motor City.

Top Guns
Forwards Yannick Carpentier and Sean Starke are both two of the top marksmen in the UHL. Carpentier, who has a shooting percentage of .213 is fifth in the UHL, while Starke leads all rookies in the category at .211.

The Obscure Stat of the Week
Defenseman Greg Labenski is one of the players featured in a new Playstation 2 video game. In the game, Wayne Gretzky's Hockey, Labenski is on the roster of the Cleveland Barons. Fans can call Greg up to San Jose or trade him to favorite team in "the show".

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 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.

Manley on the Radio
Join special guest Mike Manley 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 Your Local Sports Leader AM 1660 WQSN Monday's from 6-7 p.m. 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 Your Local Sports Leader AM 1660 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 29th @ Motor City 7:30 PM
Thursday, December 30th @ Muskegon 7:30 PM
Friday, December 31st Vs Kansas City 7:30 PM (WWMT, COOL 101 New Year's Eve Bash)
Sunday, January 5th @ Fort Wayne 5:00 PM

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International Hockey League 2 Stories from December 27, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central