Record-setting week

April 5, 2005 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


LAKE ST. LOUIS, MO --- The Kalamazoo Wings set a UHL record this week by winning their 12th consecutive road game when they defeated the Quad City Mallards 4-2 on Sunday. The previous record of 11 was shared by the 1999-2000 Quad City Mallards and the 1999-2000 B.C. Icemen. Sunday's victory also marked Kalamazoo's 28th road win of the season which broke the UHL record set by Quad City during the 2001-02 season. The Wings' ten consecutive victories is two shy of their UHL record-tying 12-game streak that they set earlier this season.

FULL HOUSE – The Fort Wayne Komets set a UHL record in their final home game of the season on Sunday when a sellout of 10,525 fans saw the team defeat Adirondack 2-1. Fort Wayne held the previous high of 10,507 which they accomplished twice last season (10/25/03 vs. Kalamazoo and 2/7/04 vs. Flint).

IN THE BOX – The Danbury Trashers entered the UHL record books in their inaugural season when the team accumulated 34 penalty minutes on Friday vs. Richmond. This pushed them over the previous mark of 2,641 set by the 2001-02 Asheville Smoke. Currently, Danbury's season penalty minute total is 2,676.

ONE PLAYOFF SPOT REMAINS – Seven teams have secured their place in the Colonial Cup Playoffs and only one position is yet to be determined. Quad City currently holds the eighth spot with Flint trailing by five points in the standings. Each team has four regular season games remaining.

PLAYOFF FORMAT – The winner of each division (Eastern, Central, Western) will earn seeds 1, 2, 3 in the Colonial Cup Playoffs with the order of the seeds determined by their point total in the final overall standings. The second place team in each division will earn seeds 4, 5, 6 with the order based on their point total in the final standings. Seeds 7 and 8 will be earned by the two remaining teams having the highest point total in the final standings. Teams advancing to the second round and third round will then be re-seeded based on their total points in the final standings. Teams with the higher seed will have home-ice advantage. All three rounds are a best-of-seven series.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Adirondack Frostbite - (2-2-0) – Adirondack clinched the Eastern Division title. It is their first division title since the Adirondack IceHawks won the UHL Northern Division in 2001-02...Left wing Hugo Belanger earned his eighth consecutive 100-point season after picking up a goal and two assists on Saturday vs. Flint...Belanger's seven-game road scoring streak was snapped on Sunday in Fort Wayne...Defenseman Kamil Kuriplach played in his 400th professional game on Wednesday vs. Danbury...Right wing Justin Kelly is four points away from 100 for his career.

Danbury Trashers - (1-1-1) – Danbury has just one power play goal in their last 21 opportunities and have only four goals in their last 40 chances...Forward Francis Belanger has seven points (1g, 6a) in his first nine games with the team after being acquired in a trade with Flint...Forward Jeff Daw is 15th in UHL scoring although he has played in just 59 of 76 games. No other player in the UHL top 20 has played in fewer games.

Elmira Jackals - (0-4-0) – Elmira goaltenders faced 194 shots on goal during the week...Center Jason Cassells scored his first professional goal on Wednesday vs. Richmond. During his 14-day amateur try-out, he tallied three points (1g, 2a) in seven games...Forward Derek Campbell (214) and defenseman Chris Shaw (187) are 3rd and 5th among UHL rookies in penalty minutes this season...Right wing Nathan Gillies notched three points (1g, 2a) in his recent three-game call-up to Bridgeport of the AHL. He recorded a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" (goal, assist, fight) on Friday vs. Norfolk.

Flint Generals - (1-1-1) – Flint's 4-1 victory at Rockford on Friday was the second victory for the team in Rockford this season. It is the only UHL city in which the Generals have more than one win...Flint is 3-3 in shootouts at home. Prior to Saturday's shootout loss to Adirondack, the Generals had not lost in the shootout at home since December 26th...Right wing Rob Valicevic is riding a six-game point streak (1g, 9a). He has registered at least one assist in each of those six games...Right wing Bobby Reynolds has a six-game point streak (4g, 8a)...Center Chad Grills returned to action on Wednesday after missing 33 games due to injury.

Fort Wayne Komets - (3-1-0) - Center Sean Venedam, left wing P.C. Drouin, and defenseman Rob Guinn have skated in all 76 Komet games this season...Fort Wayne has the second best penalty kill in the UHL (86.7%)...The Komets lead the league with 2,660 shots on goal...The Komets have eclipsed the 100-point mark in the standings for the second straight season...Center Colin Chaulk completed the home portion of the schedule riding a seven-game home assist streak...Forward Mike Wiggins scored his first professional goal, which was also the game-winner, in Sunday's 2-1 win vs. Adirondack...Sean Venedam was named the Komet's season MVP.

Kalamazoo Wings - (4-0-0) – Kalamazoo has won ten straight games and are undefeated in regulation in their last 12 (11-0-1)...Forward Andrew Luciuk is riding a team season high eight-game point streak...Forward Sean Starke is one game shy of 100 for his career...Defenseman Daniel Carriere is two assists shy of 100 for his career... Goaltender Joel Martin is 9-0-1 in his last ten starts while Chad Alban is 6-0-0 in his last six starts...Right wing Kevin Kerr was featured in a story in this week's edition of Sports Illustrated.

Kansas City Outlaws - (1-3-1) – The Outlaws snapped their seven-game winless streak on Saturday with a 5-1 win vs. Missouri...Left wing Jason Ruff scored the Outlaws fourth shorthanded goal of the season on Sunday vs. Missouri. Ruff and left wing Jimmy Callahan each have two for the season...Kansas City is a combined 4-6-1 vs. its remaining two opponents (Fort Wayne and Port Huron)...Right wing Joe Seroski is third in the UHL with 39 goals... The Outlaws are 20-8-3 when scoring the first goal of the game.

Missouri River Otters - (1-2-0) – Missouri clinched a playoff spot for the first time in two years...The River Otters currently have 40 wins, which is one shy of the team record set in the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons...Missouri has allowed 220 goals this season. The team record for fewest allowed is 236 during the 2002-03 season...Newcomer T.J. Kemp registered his first two professional points (2a) on Sunday vs. Kansas City...The Otters have allowed the fewest shots on goal in the UHL this season (2,057).

Motor City Mechanics - (4-0-0) – Rookie goaltender Zach Sikich earned his first professional win in his first pro start in Motor City's 5-2 victory vs. Elmira on Friday. He made 26 saves...Rookie forward Jared Ross scored his first pro goal on Saturday vs. Fort Wayne. He then tallied three points (2g, 1a) on Sunday vs. Elmira...Motor City has won eight consecutive games after going 4-0-0 for the second straight week...The Mechanics fired at least 50 shots on goal in all four games this week...Motor City came back from a 2-0 deficit against Fort Wayne to earn the 3-2 victory. Right wing Matt Hunter scored with 20 seconds remaining in the game to complete the comeback.

Muskegon Fury - (3-0-1) – Muskegon's 50 wins equal the team record set during the 1998-99 season. Their 30 home wins is also a team record...Currently, the Fury's 18 losses are the fewest in the UHL...Muskegon is undefeated in regulation in their last six games (5-0-1). They have outscored their opponents 32-10 during that span...Center Jeff Nelson has 12 points (1g, 11a) in his last six games. He is second in the UHL with 70 assists... With his three points (2g, 1a) on Wednesday vs. Port Huron, center Todd Robinson became only the second player in Fury history to amass 400 points...Robin Bouchard (41g, 52a), Brant Blackned (33g, 60a), and Jeff Nelson (23g, 70a) are currently tied for fourth among UHL scoring leaders with 93 points.

Port Huron Beacons - (1-2-0) – Defenseman Chris Slater is riding a three-game point streak...Left wing David Beauregard has a point in four of his last five games (3g, 2a)...Goaltender Stu Dunn tied a career high on Saturday vs. Rockford when he played in his 41st game of the season...The Beacons are 11-18-1 within their division and 19-22-5 outside of the Central Division...Stu Dunn turned away the second penalty shot that he has faced this season when he stopped Muskegon's Clay Wilson in the second period on Wednesday. Port Huron goaltenders have faced three penalty shots this season which is the most in the UHL.

Quad City Mallards - (1-2-1) – Newcomer Danny Grover recorded his first professional goal on Saturday vs. Kalamazoo...Goaltender Robert Gherson suffered his first home loss since March 16th when Rockford beat the Mallards 1-0 on Wednesday...Center Patrick Nadeau notched his 16th goal of the season on Friday vs. Kansas City. He ranks third in goals scored on the Quad City roster despite playing in just 46 games this season...Nadeau has goals in three consecutive road games...Right wing Greg Barber is riding a four-game assist streak.

Richmond RiverDogs - (2-1-0) – Right wing David Brosseau has goals in eight consecutive games. The eight-game streak is a season high in the UHL...Left wing David Hymovitz is third in the league with 96 points (31g, 65a)...Left wing Jim Duhart leads the UHL with 308 shots on goal...Hymovitz is riding a five-game assist streak...

The ‘Dogs have the third best home power play record in the UHL (20.6%)...Richmond is 25-23-3 within their division and 7-17-2 outside of the Eastern Division.

Rockford IceHogs - (2-2-0) – Rockford is 16-4-2 in the second game of back-to-back contests...The IceHogs were 0 for 22 on the power play this week...Rockford finished the month of March with an 8-3-2 record. It is their fifth winning month of the season...The IceHogs set a team record on Saturday when they scored their 239th goal of the season. The previous team high of 238 was set during the 1999-2000 season...Rockford was 15-6-1 on Saturday's this season...The team is 2-3-2 in their last seven games... Winger Eric Labelle netted his first career AHL goal on Saturday when he scored for the Utah Grizzlies.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Kansas City Outlaws left wing Mark Lee finished the week with ten points (5g, 5a) and a plus-five rating in five games. On Monday, he tallied three points (2g, 1a) including the game-tying goal in the third period of Kansas City's 5-4 shootout loss to Fort Wayne. On Wednesday, he again recorded three points (1g, 2a) in the 4-3 loss to Kalamazoo. Lee notched his third three-point game of the week in Saturday's 5-1 victory vs. Missouri. The 20-year-old Mount Pearl, Newfoundland native is third on the Outlaws with 61 points (19g, 42a). He is third amongst UHL rookies in scoring and tied for the rookie lead with 16 power play assists.

Other players nominated for the Sher-Wood UHL Player of the Week include: Adirondack left wing Hugo Belanger, Danbury forward Jeff Daw, Elmira right wing Jason Sessa, Flint right wing Bobby Reynolds, Fort Wayne center Colin Chaulk, Kalamazoo center Andrew Luciuk, Missouri defenseman Mike Dombkiewicz, Motor City right wing Joe Burton, Muskegon center Todd Robinson, Port Huron defenseman Chris Slater, Quad City forward Jason Deskins, Richmond right wing David Brosseau, and Rockford right wing Chris Gobert.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

Muskegon Fury goaltender Sylvain Daigle finished the week with a 2-0-1 record, a 1.67 GAA, and a .944 save percentage. On Wednesday, he made 34 saves in the 5-2 victory vs. Port Huron. In Friday's 3-2 shootout loss to Fort Wayne, he made 31 saves. He turned away 20 of 21 shots on goal in the 4-1 victory vs. Rockford on Sunday. This is the third weekly honor of the season for the 28-year-old native of St. Hyacinthe, Quebec. He is currently riding a five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1) and is 17-1-1 in his last 19 starts. Daigle leads all UHL goaltenders with a 2.01 GAA and a .932 save percentage.

Other players nominated for the Southern Sports Supply UHL Goaltender of the Week include: Adirondack's Derek Gustafson, Danbury's Scott Stirling, Elmira's Greg Hewitt, Flint's Nathan Grobins, Fort Wayne's Tyler Masters, Kalamazoo's Chad Alban, Kansas City's Jan Chovan, Missouri's Jason Tapp, Motor City's Rod Branch, Port Huron's Stu Dunn, Quad City's Robert Gherson, Richmond's Brent Belecki, and Rockford's Grady Hunt.



International Hockey League 2 Stories from April 5, 2005


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