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Lumberjacks Have Strong Outings In Week Fourteen

January 19, 2009 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


ROCHESTER, MI--- The Lumberjacks had a strong week during the fourteenth week of the 08-09 season, gaining momentum in the IHL standings by earning seven out of eight possible points. Muskegon has now moved into a tie for second place with Kalamazoo with 46 points, after going unbeaten in regulation this past week. The K-Wings entered the week winless in their last three contests, but earned four points this week, both in overtime contests. The Port Huron Icehawks stay in first, despite losing back-to-back games for the first time since November.

Extra hockey was played this past week in the IHL, having two games decided in overtime and two in a shootout. It began Wednesday when Kalamazoo earned a 3-2 victory over Flint in overtime. Saturday night, the K-Wings also defeated the Lumberjacks 5-4 in overtime, while Bloomington outscored Flint in the shootout to earn the 3-2 win the same night. Sunday, the Komets lost 3-2 in a shootout, as they only scored once compared to Muskegon's two goals in the extra session.

Penalty shots were also awarded to four different players, all in key game-tying or winning situations and against the same two goaltenders. Wednesday, Flint's Steve Rymsha was denied by Kalamazoo's Joel Martin. Saturday, Martin also denied Muskegon's Todd Robinson late in the third while the game was tied. Port Huron's Kris Vernarsky was stopped by Fort Wayne's Nick Boucher, who then stopped Muskegon's Luke Stauffacher Sunday evening, also in a tie game.

AROUND THE "I"

Bloomington PrairieThunder - (1-2-0-0) - Jon Booras is one point shy of the 50-point mark in 35 games. Last season, in 74 games he only scored 57 points. He is currently riding a six-game scoring streak and has scored at least one point in 26 of 35 games and had multiple points in 14 games. Jan Jas and Henry Kuster have combined to get 20 points in the PrairieThunder's last 30 goals (9 games) since joining the team. Jas has six goals and five assists for 11 points in nine games, while Kuster has three goals and six assists for nine points in five games. Marty Standish had a six-game consecutive scoring streak snapped in his last game, but has contributed at least one point in 16 of the 20 games he has played in since joining the team Nov. 21. Newcomer rookie Mike Kusy scored the winning goal as the ninth shooter Jan. 17 against Flint in only his second professional game. Defenseman Geoff Patton scored the first goal of his professional career in his 86th game on Jan. 16 in Muskegon. He has now scored in three straight games (1 goal, 2 assists). The last two home games for the PrairieThunder at U.S. Cellular Coliseum have gone beyond regulation.

Flint Generals - (1-0-1-1) - Flint came from behind in all three games last week to earn four out of six possible points. Steve Rymsha's 14-game point streak and Greg Bullock's 10-game point scoring streak came to an end in Kalamazoo on Wednesday night. Flint surrendered only one power play goal while shorthanded 15 times last week. The lone goal was Kalamazoo's overtime game-winner on Wednesday night. Flint is 2-2-1-1 in their last six games. They have only allowed 14 goals in that time frame from January 8th-January 17th. Goaltender Chad Alban has started or appeared in 14 of the last 20 games dating back to December 7th, including 10 of the last 20 games. Steve Rymsha (26) continues to lead the IHL in goals scored. Kyle Deck continues to lead all rookies in points (34) and power play goals (6). Deck's total of 11 goals tops all defensemen. Flint's last four games have been one goal decisions.

Fort Wayne Komets - (2-1-0-1) - The Komets earned five points in week 15 of 2008-09 to improve to 20-14-1-4 for 45 points and pull within four points of first place Port Huron. After getting a 5-2 loss at Muskegon out of the way on Tuesday, the Komets came back to grab five points in three games over the weekend. The Komets are winless in four shootouts so far this season after posting a 6-2 shootout record last season. Leading between the pipes: Komet netminder Nick Boucher, scoring a 0.97 goals-against average and .968 save percentage in all three games this past weekend to extend his unbeaten streak to three games, tops IHL goaltenders with a 2.70 goals-against average and .909 save percentage overall in 27 games. Curadeau returns: The AHL's Norfolk Admirals have reassigned center Mathieu Curadeau to Fort Wayne. The hottest ticket in town: The Komets attracted 15,655 fans for the two home games over the past weekend (Friday 7208, Sunday 8447) and continue to rank second in attendance of all pro minor league hockey. Only the AHL's Hershey Bears draw better than Fort Wayne with a per-game average of 8,647, compared to Fort Wayne's average attendance of 7,760.

Kalamazoo Wings - (2-1-0-0) - K-Wings remain only IHL team undefeated in overtime/shootout games. Kalamazoo is 4-0 in OT and 2-0 in SO. Kalamazoo's 5-4 OT win over Muskegon is the K-Wings first victory at L.C. Walker Arena since a 4-3 victory on January 20, 2008 a span of seven games (0-6-1-0). Casey Handrahan played in his 300th career game last Saturday. Jason Robinson is three games shy of 600 in his career. Joel Martin is two games shy of 200 in his career. With games tied in the third period and with under 6 minutes remaining, Kalamazoo stopped penalty shots on both Wednesday (Steve Rymsha) and Saturday (Todd Robinson). Rod Aldoff is two goals shy of 100 in his career. Rob Jarvis' OT winner last Wednesday snapped a 0 for 15 spell on the power-play for Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo is now 17-1-0-0 when leading after two periods of play. Their lone loss occurred on opening night at Bloomington. Kalamazoo leads the IHL in home penalty killing at 88.5%.

Muskegon Lumberjacks - (3-0-1-0) - At home, the Lumberjacks recently capped an extended five-game home stand earning eight of 10 points. Muskegon's 10 setbacks thus far this season are four less than any other team in the IHL. Currently tied for second place with Kalamazoo with 46 points, the Lumberjacks have achieved the league's best overall record at 21-10-3-1 for a win percentage of .657. Through their first 35-games thus far this season, the Lumberjacks have scored four or more goals in 25 of those contests. Only four times in those 35-games has Muskegon scored fewer than three goals for in a single game. Since the first incarnation of the Lumberjacks exited and the dawning of a new Muskegon franchise in 1992, Muskegon has won 699-games as a bona fide franchise. Muskegon goes for #700 this Friday night at Bloomington. Left wing Chad Woollard leads the IHL with 12 power play goals.

Port Huron Icehawks - (1-2-0-0) - The Icehawks entered the week leading the league on the power play and having put up at least one power play goal in their last 11 games, but saw that streak snapped this week. They were scoreless on the power play in all three games played (0-13) and fell to second in the league on the power play overall (38-183; 20.8%). The Icehawks still hold a nine game road winning streak, which they will look to extend this week when they hit the road for two of their three games. They hold the league's best road record at 14-5-0-0 and lead the league on the power play (21-91; 23.1%) and the penalty kill (86.7%) on the road. Goalie Larry Sterling reached two career milestones this week. He recorded his 100th professional win on Thursday versus Bloomington and played in his 200th career game on Friday. The Icehawks continue to lead the league in first period goals this season, as they have outscored their opponents by more than double in the opening period (61-29). They have not been as successful in the second period, where they have been outscored 49-31.



International Hockey League 2 Stories from January 19, 2009


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