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UHL teams battle for playoff positions

February 20, 2006 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


LAKE ST. LOUIS, MO --- The United Hockey League (UHL) regular season is more than two-thirds completed and teams are battling for a berth in the 2006 Colonial Cup Playoffs.

Rockford is maintaining a comfortable lead on top of the Western Division and has assumed the overall lead in the UHL standings. Muskegon (77 points) and Kalamazoo (75 points) remain in a tight race for the top spot in the Central. Danbury (74 points) leads the Eastern Division, but has played six more games than second place Adirondack (64 points).

Fort Wayne (58 points) and Quad City (56 points) are competing for second place in the Western Division and will face each other four more times this season. Motor City (57 points) sits in third place in the Central but currently holds the seventh playoff spot. Richmond (55 points) has used a solid stretch to put them in position to compete for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Flint (47), Port Huron (43), Elmira (42), Missouri (35), and Roanoke (34) all have some ground to make up to be in playoff contention, but each has 20 or more games remaining to make a charge for the playoffs.

LIGHTING THE LAMP - Scoring has increased from a season ago. UHL games are seeing an average of 6.71 goals scored per game, up from 6.15 during the 2004-05 season. Last season, the Muskegon Fury led the league with a 3.56 goals per game average. Currently, five UHL teams are above that average this season with Muskegon more than a goal per game better; Muskegon (4.58), Kalamazoo (4.29), Rockford (3.90), Danbury (3.78), and Adirondack (3.67).

UHL OLYMPIC CONNECTIONS - Ten players who have spent time in the UHL are currently playing for their respective countries in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Rockford IceHogs defenseman Bob Nardella is playing for Italy. He has four shots on goal and six penalty minutes in four games played.

Other players competing at the Winter Games who have spent time in the UHL include; Latvia's Herberts Vasiljevs (Port Huron Border Cats 1996-97), George Pujacs (Elmira Jackals 2004-05), Rodrigo Lavins (Muskegon Fury 1996-97), Aigars Cipruss (Muskegon Fury 1996-97), Maris Ziedins (Rockford IceHogs 2002-04), Kazakhstan's Konstatin Shafranov (Detroit Falcons 1993-94, Fort Wayne Komets 1999-2000), Slovakia's Miroslav Satan (Detroit Falcons 1993-94), USA's Chris Chelios (Motor City Mechanics 2004-05), and Derian Hatcher (Motor City 2004-05).

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Adirondack Frostbite - (2-0-1) - Right wing Ryan Bennett has 15 points (8g, 7a) in nine games during February. Eight of his ten goals for the season have come this month...The Frostbite have converted on six of their last twelve (50%) power play opportunities...Right wing Kevin Watters leads all UHL rookies in goals (31) and power play goals (14)...Center Sylvain Cloutier has a goal in three straight games and a point in six of the last seven.

Danbury Trashers - (3-0-1) - Center Shawn Collymore and right wing Jean-Michel Daoust are both riding four-game point streaks...Danbury trailed or was tied in the third period of all three of their wins during the week... Defenseman Dave MacIsaac has five assists and a plus-8 rating in his last four games...Center Drew Omicioli has eight goals in eight games vs. Elmira this season...Winger Danny Stewart has goals in three straight games.

Elmira Jackals - (1-3-0) - Center Chris Chaput (20g, 30a) became the first Jackal to score 50 points this season when he dished out an assist in Sunday's 5-4 loss to Danbury...Defenseman Sean Kotary scored his first goal as a Jackal on Friday...Forward Todd Grant scored his first goal in an Elmira uniform on Sunday...Elmira completed a recent six-game home stretch with a 1-4-1 record.

Flint Generals - (1-2-0) - After trailing 3-0 on Sunday vs. Muskegon, the Generals scored the final three goals of regulation to send the game to a shootout, including the game-tying goal with just 39 seconds remaining. Flint won the shootout to earn the 4-3 win...Flint is 2-0-0 in their last two meetings with Muskegon...Flint is 15-0-2 when leading after two periods, including 10-0-0 on home ice.

Fort Wayne Komets - (2-1-0) - The Komets are 7-1-2 in their last ten games...Left wing P.C. Drouin is riding a nine-game assist streak...Right wing David Hukalo is on a five-game point streak and four-game goal streak...Over the last ten games, Fort Wayne is 15 of 53 (28.3%) on the power play. During that same span, they have killed off 66 of 76 (86.8%) opponent power plays...The Komets hosted 16,283 fans total in their two weekend games.

Kalamazoo Wings - (3-1-0) - Center Jason Deitsch is riding an 11-game point streak...Defenseman Greg Labenski is on a six-game point streak and defenseman Daniel Carriere is on a five-game point streak...Carriere (50a) broke the team season record for assists by a defenseman in one season...The K-Wings have won four of their last five road games...Left wing Brad Church recorded his 200th career assist on Sunday.

Missouri River Otters - (3-0-0) - Winger Lonnie Loach scored the shootout game-winning goal on Saturday vs. Quad City. It was his first shootout attempt of the season...Missouri is 4-3 in shootouts this season...Goaltender Brendan Cuthbert recorded his first shootout win...Defenseman Tim O'Connell has four goals in his last five games and ranks third among all UHL defenseman...Missouri finished their season series with Port Huron at 5-1-0.

Motor City Mechanics - (2-0-0) - Left wing Mel Angelstad played in his 300th UHL game on Saturday...Forwards Brent Gretzky and Peter Szabo are riding five-game point streaks...Gretzky is one goal shy of 200 in his UHL career...Center Adam Edinger tied the team record for goals in a season (36) and set a new record for power goals in a season (13)...The Mechanics are 18-7-1 when Edinger scores a goal and 22-8-1 when he records a point.

Muskegon Fury - (1-0-3) - Muskegon ended a five-game winless stretch (0-3-2) when they came from behind to earn a 7-6 shootout victory vs. Rockford on Saturday...All four of the Fury's games this week went to the shootout and eight of their last 14 have gone to the extra session...Muskegon overcame a five-goal deficit to send the game to a shootout on Friday vs. Richmond. Defenseman Ryan Crane recorded a hat trick (3g), the first of his career.

Port Huron Flags - (0-4-0) - The Flags are on a six-game losing streak. The have been outscored 37-11 during that stretch...Left wing Brett Lutes is third in the UHL with 15 power play goals and fourth in the league with 212 shots on goal...Winger Jim Murphy has scored on four of his five shootout attempts this season...Scott Hay ranks second among UHL goaltenders in saves (1329) and third in minutes played (2384:47).

Quad City Mallards - (2-1-1) - Brian Curran recorded the 200th win of his coaching career in Tuesday's 8-2 victory vs. Port Huron...Center Glenn Detulleo dished out five assists on Tuesday...Forward J.J. Wrobel scored the 100th goal of his career on Sunday...The Mallards recorded a team season high four power play goals on Tuesday... Goaltender Jason Tapp has appeared in 48 of the team's 51 games this season.

Richmond RiverDogs - (2-1-0) - Center Mike Oliveira is on a 20-game point streak. He registered "hat tricks" (3g) in back-to-back games during the week...Richmond is 13-2-2 in their last 17 games...Saturday's 8-3 loss to Kalamazoo was their first loss in regulation since January 27th...Kris Waltze is 5-1-1 since taking over as head coach on February 4th...Mike D'Alessandro ranks fourth among UHL goaltenders in save percentage (.916).

Roanoke Valley Vipers - (1-2-1) - Rookie left wing Mike Wiggins is riding a four-game point streak...Right wing Matt Elich scored a goal on Saturday in his debut with the team. He was acquired in a trade earlier in the week... Left wing David Beauregard tallied four points (1g, 3a) and scored the game-winner in the shootout of Saturday's 6-5 shootout victory vs. Danbury...Roanoke plays their next five games on the road.

Rockford IceHogs - (2-1-1) - Rockford had their 11-game winning streak snapped in Wednesday's 4-2 loss to Fort Wayne...The IceHogs are unbeaten in their last eight road games (7-0-1)...Rockford scored four goals in a span of 1:43 in the third period of Saturday's 7-6 shootout loss to Muskegon...The IceHogs allowed just 11 shots on goal in the 5-0 win vs. Port Huron on Sunday. It was the second shutout of the season for Michel Robinson.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from February 20, 2006


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