ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

Kalamazoo Wings weekly

March 18, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


WEEKLY RECAP
Friday, March 15: Kalamazoo 6, Asheville 2 - The Wings picked up their first win over the Smoke in the final meeting between the two teams this season, bettering Asheville 6-2 at Wings Stadium. Kalamazoo erased a two-goal deficit with six unanswered goals. After Asheville picked up goals from Jeff Petruic at 15:00 of the first period and Marty Diamond at 2:34 of the second period, it was all Kalamazoo for the rest of the evening. Harry Schwefel started the flood at 10:57 of the second, and Ted Laviolette tied the game with a power-play blast from the left point at 12:37. The Wings picked up four goals in the third period, getting two from Michael Ford and one each from Randy Holmes and Craig Bilick. Scott Langkow got the win with 35 saves on 37 Asheville tries, while Smoke goaltender Blaine Russell turned away 35 of 41 in the loss. PP: 1-for-4 PK: 3-for-3 SOG: 41 SOGA: 35

Saturday, March 16: Port Huron 6, Kalamazoo 2 - David-Alexander Beauregard scored four goals and added an assist to lead the Border Cats to a 6-2 win over the Wings at McMorran Arena. Beauregard's quadruplet included the game 's first goal, the game's last goal, and a shorthanded breakaway tally just eight seconds into the second period. Ian Jacobs also had a shorthanded goal, and Joey Bastien scored as well for the Cats. Kalamazoo got its goals from Michael Ford and Ted Laviolette. Kevin St. Pierre got the win for the Border Cats by stopping 16 of 18 Wings shots in the first two periods. He was relieved in the third by Matt Mullin, who stopped all ten shots he faced. Tim Knudsen turned away 24 of 30 for Kalamazoo. PP: 1-for-3 PK: 0-for-4 SOG: 28 SOGA: 30

Sunday, March 17: Rockford 3, Kalamazoo 2 (SO) - Harry Schwefel scored a goal with 1:04 left in the third period to send the game to the shootout, but the IceHogs prevailed in the extra session and went home with a 3-2 shootout win in the 21st Annual St. Patrick's Day Green Ice Game at Wings Stadium. Schwefel had both goals for the Wings in regulation, getting things started at the 5:00 mark of the first period. Rockford tied the game just two minutes into the second period on an unassisted goal from T.J. Guidarelli, and took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Clint Wensley at 6:56. Kalamazoo had several chances to equalize, but could not solve Rockford goaltender Steve Debus until Schwefel's late goal. Guidarelli and Jeff DaCosta scored in the extra session for Rockford, while Randy Holmes was the only Wing to find success in the extra frame. Scott Langkow stopped 29 of 31 shots for the Wings, while Debus turned away 26 of 28 Wings attempts. 5,316 fans witnessed the contest, giving the Wings their first sellout of the season and their ninth consecutive Green Ice Game sellout.

NEXT IN LINE
Wednesday, March 20: Wings at Missouri - Kalamazoo makes the second of two visits to Family Arena in St. Charles, MO to take on the Missouri River Otters. Missouri is trying to claw its way into the playoffs, entering the week just one point behind the fourth-place Flint Generals. It's the fourth of five meetings between the club this season, with the season series coming to an end next Friday night at Wings Stadium.

Friday, March 22: WINGS VS. PORT HURON - Kalamazoo hosts the Port Huron Border Cats in the season's final matchup between the two clubs. The Wings and Cats squared off in McMorran Arena last Saturday night, with Port Huron grabbing the 6-2 win.

Saturday, March 23: WINGS VS. FORT WAYNE - It's the final matchup between these two longtime rivals in this 2001-02 season. The Komets appear playoff-bound if they keep up their current rate of play - they're in third place in the Western Conference, four points ahead of Flint.

Sunday, March 24: Wings at Quad City - Kalamazoo closes out the season series with the Mallards at The MARK of the Quad Cities this Sunday evening. The Mallards clinched their sixth consecutive season with 50 or more wins with a victory over Knoxville yesterday. Kalamazoo is one of only two teams, along with Flint, to have an above-.500 record against Quad City. The Wings are 3-2-1 against the Mallards in the seven games played between the clubs this season.

HOME SLATE WINDING DOWN: There's just four more chances over the next two weeks for fans to catch their Kalamazoo Wings at Wings Stadium! Two of them come this weekend - on Friday night, it's another Brewster's Puck Pack Night at Wings Stadium! Fans can get four $7 tickets, a $5 gift certificate and a coupon for free breadsticks or chili con queso at Brewster's Junction, two Wings Stadium open skating passes, and two hockey pucks all for just $25! That's over a $60 value! The Puck Pack Coupon is needed to get a Puck Pack - fans can find that coupon in this week's editions of the Kalamazoo Gazette! Then on Saturday, it's Scout Night at Wings Stadium! The Wings will be welcoming all sorts of Scouting units to the game against Fort Wayne. Scout leaders can call the Wings office at 616-349-9772 to get more information on Scout Night.

Plenty of tickets are still available for the Wings' two home games against Port Huron and Fort Wayne this weekend! For ticket information, call the Wings Stadium box office at 616-345-5101 or stop by Wings Stadium. Box office hours are 10 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday, and at 10 AM this Saturday. Tickets are also available at all participating Ticketmaster outlets, including online at www.ticketmaster.com.

IN THE STANDINGS: Kalamazoo's 6-2 loss to Port Huron on Saturday mathematically eliminated the club from the Colonial Cup Playoffs. There are essentially three teams fighting for the final two spots now - Fort Wayne is in third place with 82 points, Flint is in fourth position with 78 points, and Missouri is in fifth with 77 points.

BY THE NUMBERS: LW Randy Holmes leads the team in scoring with 26 goals and 31 assists for 57 points. C Jim Brown is second in scoring with 55 points (22G, 33A). Michael Ford leads the team in goals with 27, one ahead of Holmes, while Brown leads the team in assists. D Jeff Foster is on the 21-day injured reserve list with a plus-9 rating, which is still the best on the team. RW Benoit Beausoleil leads the club in penalty minutes with 202.

PERSONNEL UPDATE: New blood continued to flow in for the Wings last week, with C Bryan Farquhar and D Brendan Kenny joining the club. Both players came from Western Michigan University - Farquhar was selected by the Wings in last Tuesday's North American Amateur Draft, while Kenny came over from a graduate assistant coaching position with the Broncos. Also, C Steve Moore was placed on the 21-day injured reserve list, ending his season. The Wings also released wingers B.J. Stephens and Troy Mann.

EXPERIENCE "K-WINGS LIVE": K-Wings Live, the Kalamazoo Wings weekly coach's show, hits the airwaves on The Sports Station, AM-1660 WQSN at 6:00 every Tuesday night this season. Broadcast live from Gallagher's Eatery on Stadium Drive, the program is a weekly look at the week gone by and the week ahead for the team with the voice of the Wings, Brian Smith, head coach Mark Lawrence, and a Wings player. We also take questions from the folks in attendance at Gallagher's. However, this week will be a little different - with the Wings on the road, Ryan Maguire from WQSN will be hosting the program and will be joined by Paul Pickard, the Wings' acting general manager. Make sure you stop by for the fun!

WWW.KWINGS.COM - YOUR HOME FOR WINGS HAPPENINGS: Set your homepage to www.kwings.com to keep in touch with everything going on with the Kalamazoo Wings! The site contains information about your favorite Wings players, and their pictures have arrived on the site! You can also get ticket information, check out the schedule, and sign up for Kalamazoo Wings E-News to receive all the latest information on the Wings directly in your email box! Check it out at www.kwings.com.

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ECHL Stories from March 18, 2002


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