IHL 2 Kalamazoo Wings

Kalamazoo Wings Week in Review

Published on December 11, 2006 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


The Bloomington PrairieThunder were in town on Friday (12/8) to face-off against the K-Wings. In their only previous meeting with Bloomington, the K-Wings came away with a 3-0 victory. Just like the meeting before, the game was evenly matched. After a scoreless first period, Kalamazoo registered on the scoreboard with a goal from forward Andrew Leach (4) 2:49 into the second period. Bloomington answered late in the second period with a goal from Brad Thompson (3) to even the score at one a piece going into the third. The game would be decided in the final two minutes when Nick Bootland scored his team leading 14th goal of the season on a slap shot at 18:11 into the third period. Sealing the deal for Kalamazoo was Kory Karlander (9), as the forward sent the puck three-quarters of the ice into the empty net, giving the K-Wings a 3-1 victory.

The K-Wings wrapped up their two-game home stand Saturday (12/9) night with a battle against the Flint Generals. Flint came out strong in the opening period looking to rebound from being shutout at home by Muskegon on Friday night. The Generals' Jeff Zehr (5) scored the lone goal in the first stanza with a laser from the left point. Flint continued the scoring in the second with a one-timer from Jason Selleke (8). Kalamazoo showed no signs of backing down in the third period after Justin Cross (12) scored on a rebound from Scott Dobben. Dobben (5) then tied the game with a pass from Tom Askey, who registered his first point of the season. The Generals answered back with less than two minutes left in regulation with the game-winner from Tony Tuzzolino(3). Flint stunned Kalamazoo with the 3-2 victory.

Kalamazoo looked to improve their road winning streak to four games Sunday (12/10) with a game against the Port Huron Flags. The K-Wings took advantage of the power-play in the first with a tally from Kory Karlander, his 10th of the season. The second period was all Kalamazoo as the defense chipped in for two goals. Casey Handrahan (1) and Nick Toneys (1) each scored their first goals of the season in the final four minutes of the second period. Karlander (11) capped of the night for Kalamazoo with an empty-net goal late in the third. Ryan Nie earned his first career shutout against Port Huron, stopping all 27 shots he faced. The K-Wings skated away with a 4-0 win over the Flags.

Fast Forward

Kalamazoo opens up the week with a game on Friday (12/15) with a road trip to Fort Wayne. In the teams' only previous encounter this year, the K-Wings defeated the Komets 3-2 on November 10th at Wings Stadium. Fort Wayne starts the week atop the Western Conference with 28 points.

The K-Wings continue their home and home series with the Komets at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday (12/16) at Wings Stadium. The 7th Annual Teddy Bear Toss will take place on Saturday night presented by Kodiak Construction, WKFR and WOTV. Fans are encouraged to bring a new or gently used teddy bear or other stuffed animal to the game. After Kalamazoo scores their first goal, all fans will be allowed to throw their bears onto the ice. A majority of the bears collected will be donated to WOTV's Angel Tree Foundation. The remaining bears will be delivered by the Kalamazoo Wings to the patients of The Children's Hospital at Bronson next Monday, December 18th at 2 p.m.

Kalamazoo will cap off the weekend with a Sunday contest against the Elmira Jackals at 4:00 p.m. at Wings Stadium. This will be Elmira's first trip to Wings Stadium this season. The K-Wings played the Jackals in two straight contests to open this season and came out with two victories. Elmira is in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference with 26 points.

Team Leaders: Kalamazoo Wings

Goals: Nick Bootland (14 Goals)

Assists: Glenn Detulleo (18 Assists)

Points: Kory Karlander (25 Points)

+/-: Jeff Brown (+8)

Penalty Minutes: Tyler Willis (73 Minutes)

Power Play Goals: Justin Cross (7 Goals)

Short Handed Goals: Scott Dobben (2 Goal)

Game Winning Goals: Nick Bootland (4 GW)

Shots: Nick Bootland (106 Shots)

Shooting Percentage: B.J. Radovich (37.5%)

Shootout Goals: Alexander Valentin, Kory Karlander, Glenn Detulleo (1 Goal)

Shootout Percentage: Alexander Valentin, Kory Karlander, Glenn Detulleo (100%)

Goals Against Average: Ryan Nie (2.00)

Save Percentage: Ryan Nie (0.934)

De-Nie

Goaltender Ryan Nie recorded his first career shutout on Sunday in the K-Wings 4-0 victory over the Port Huron Flags. Ironically, Nie's first career victory also came against the Flags in Port Huron earlier this year with a shoot-out win.

Road Warriors

The K-Wings continue to impress on the road. They now have a 4 game road-win streak and a record of 8-3-0 when away from Wings Stadium. Kalamazoo's road win streak started back on November 25th and includes victories over Flint, Chicago, Muskegon and Port Huron.

A Triple Threat

With three goals over the weekend by Kory Karlander, the K-Wings now have three players on their roster with more than 10 goals; Nick Bootland with 14, Justin Cross with 12 and Karlander with 11. Each of those three players had at least one goal in the past three games.

A Balanced Attack

In Saturday's game against the Flint Generals, goaltender Tom Askey recorded his first point of the season with an assist on a goal by Scott Dobben. With that assist, every player on the K-Wings roster has now generated a point.

The Obscure Stat of the Week

Ryan Nie's shutout against Port Huron on Sunday marked the 4th shutout the K-Wings have against the Flags in their history. What makes the shutouts so unique was that each victory was earned by a different goaltender (Joel Martin, Jeff Reynaert, Tom Askey & Ryan Nie).

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 UHL 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, photos, information about Wings Stadium events, and much much more. Fans of myspace can befriend the official site of Wings Stadium and the Kalamazoo Wings at www.myspace.com/wingsstadium.

Detulleo and Johnson on the Radio

Join special guests Matt Johnson and Glenn Detulleo, as they join Head Coach Mark Reeds and the Voice of the K-Wings, Mike Modugno on "K-Wings Live". The show is on Sports Radio AM 1660 Mondays from 6-7 PM at The Cabana Bar and Grille inside the Holiday Inn Kalamazoo on South 11th Street.

K-Wings on Radio

Catch all the K-Wings games home and away on the K-Wings Radio Network (WLKM 95.9 FM and Sports Radio AM 1660). Join the Voice of the K-Wings, Mike Modugno for all 76 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

Friday, December 15th @ Fort Wayne 8:00 PM

Saturday, December 16th Vs. Fort Wayne 7:30 PM (Teddy Bear Toss Night Presented by Kodiak Construction, WKFR, WOTV)

Sunday, December 17th Vs. Elmira 4:00 PM

Friday, December 22nd Vs. Muskegon 7:30 PM (Fed-Ex Kinkos Night)

Saturday, December 23rd Vs. Port Huron 7:30 PM (Santa Claus comes to Wings)

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from December 11, 2006


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