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UHL teams look forward to new year

January 3, 2007 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


LAKE ST. LOUIS, MO --- The 2006 portion of the United Hockey League (UHL) schedule has wrapped up and now teams are setting high goals for the 2007 portion. With the season nearing the midway point and the All-Star Classic just around the corner, teams are making preparations for the remainder of the 2006-07 campaign and positioning themselves for a run at the Colonial Cup Championship.

The Port Huron Flags ended 2006 as one of the hottest teams in the league. Over the final ten games of 2006, the club posted an 8-1-1 record with the only regulation defeat coming on the final day of December. The Flags will have a couple of tough opponents to begin January as they face Western Conference leader Fort Wayne on Friday followed by Eastern Conference leader Muskegon the next evening.

The Muskegon Fury have led the league all season, but find themselves away from home for five of their first six games of 2007. They have proven themselves on the road to this point as they currently maintain the league's best road record this season (15-2-0).

The Quad City Mallards have plenty of reason to be excited about 2007. The early part of the season was rocky for the club, but the team has rallied together and ended December with a 6-3-1 record over their last ten games. The season took a positive turn when the club managed a stretch of seven games without losing in regulation (5-0-2) to earn 12 points and vault them up to third place in the Western Conference standings.

Defending Colonial Cup Champion Kalamazoo finds themselves near the top of the standings once again this season. The K-Wings posted a 6-2-2 record over their final ten games of 2006. They comfortably sit in second place in the Eastern Conference standings, but have aspirations of making a run at the Muskegon Fury for the top spot in both the conference and the league.

A total of 160 games of the 380 games on the 2006-07 UHL schedule were played prior to the first of the year.

ROAD WARRIORS - The Muskegon Fury had their road winning streak halted at 11 games when they were defeated by the Quad City Mallards 4-2 on New Year's Eve. The 11-game road win streak was one game shy of tying the league record of 12 set by the Kalamazoo Wings during the 2004-05 season.

With the 3-2 win in Rockford on Saturday, the Fury have now won a game in every UHL arena this season. Goaltender Clayton Pool continues his road dominance as he has yet to lose away from home (13-0-0). He has earned a 1.80 goals against average in 13 road games.

LAMP LIGHTER - Port Huron Flags winger Bobby Kukulka had his seven-game goal scoring streak snapped in Friday's 3-2 shootout loss vs. Elmira. He dished out an assist to maintain an eight-game point streak. The goal streak is the longest by any UHL player this season. Kukulka has scored 18 points (9g, 9a) in just 13 games with the club this season.

COACHING MILESTONE - Rockford IceHogs head coach Steve Martinson was behind the bench for his 800th career game on Friday. Martinson led the IceHogs to a 3-0 win vs. the Chicago Hounds in the contest. He is currently in his 12th season as a head coach.

WELCOME BACK OLD FRIEND - Kalamazoo Wings forwards Glenn Detulleo and Jesse Rycroft will be in familiar surroundings when their team visits the Quad City Mallards on Friday. Each spent the entire 2005-06 season with the Mallards. Both players began the season in a Mallards uniform and it will mark the first trip back to Quad City for both since being acquired in trades to Kalamazoo. It will also be the 100th professional game played for Rycroft.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Bloomington PrairieThunder - (0-4-0) - Forward Alex Goupil scored two goals on New Year's Eve. It was his second multi-goal game of the season. He has two of the three multi-goal games by Bloomington players this season... Center Trevor Baker had an assist in his return to the lineup after missing 26 games due to injury. He has registered five points (1g, 4a) in six games played this season...The PrairieThunder have not won in nine consecutive games (0-7-2)...The team is 1-19-0 when trailing after two periods.

Chicago Hounds - (2-3-0) - Center Maris Ziedins has six points (4g, 2a) over his last five games and has a plus-6 rating over that span...The Hounds signed goaltender Corey Wogtech who appeared in nine UHL games last season...Goaltender Marty Magers has appeared in 28 of the 29 games played by the Hounds this season... Forward Kris Vernarsky has registered a plus-5 rating over his past five games...Chicago has won two straight games on home ice. Three of their next four games are at home.

Elmira Jackals - (2-1-0) - Prior to the weekend, forward Tommy Kotsopoulos had not played a game in 20 days. He scored four goals over his first three games back, doubling his season total of goals scored...Defenseman Chris Mann scored his second goal of the season in Sunday's 6-4 victory vs. Port Huron. It also proved to be the game-winner. Mann scored just one goal last season...Rookie defenseman Derek Miller dished out four assists over the last three games. He currently leads the team with a plus-8 rating.

Flint Generals - (1-4-0) - The Generals have played more games (36) than any other UHL team at this point of the season...Flint leads the league with 50 power play goals scored but also lead the league with 45 power play goals allowed...The team ranks second in the UHL with 30.11 shots per game...The Generals play their next two games at home before hitting the road for five games. The have lost their last two home games and their last two road games. They have been outscored 17-8 in their last four contests.

Fort Wayne Komets - (2-2-1) - Center J.C. Ruid is riding a four-game point streak. He scored his 20th goal of the season in the 4-2 win vs. Chicago on New Year's Eve...Rookie defenseman Arthur Kiyaga has an even or better plus/minus rating in each of his last 15 games. He ranks second on the club with a plus-5 rating this season...The Komets lost their first shootout of the season on Saturday. They had won their previous three contests that ended in a shootout. Over their last two shootouts, they have converted in just 1 of 10 rounds.

Kalamazoo Wings - (4-1-0) - Kalamazoo has won three straight...They are unbeaten in regulation over their last five home games (3-0-2)...Left wing Lucas Drake is riding a nine-game point streak...Center Kory Karlander has a point in four straight games...Right wing Justin Cross leads all UHL rookies with 17 goals...Kalamazoo has played four of their last five games on the road and will play their next three on the road. They have an 11-5-0 record away from home this season. Forward Scott Dobben has a point in nine of his last 11 games.

Muskegon Fury - (3-1-0) - Sunday's loss to Quad City was the first defeat of the Fury by a Western Conference opponent this season. Muskegon had been unbeaten in regulation vs. Quad City in their last 13 meetings (12-0-1)... Muskegon leads the UHL in total goals for (145) and goals per game (4.26). They lead the league in goals allowed per game (2.35) and rank tied for first in total goals allowed (80)...Left wing Mike Watt (15g, 17a) has averaged two points per game over his last 16 contests.

Port Huron Flags - (2-1-1) - Left wing Colt King scored a "hat trick" (3g) in Saturday's 6-4 win vs. Elmira. He scored the game-winning goal and dished out an assist. He has the game-winning goal in each of the last two victories for the Flags...Center Greg Bullock is riding a ten-game point streak. He has 18 points (5g, 13a) over that span...Center Steve Hildenbrand has multi-assist games in five of his last seven contests and has an even or better plus/minus rating in each of his last nine games. His plus-9 rating currently leads the team.

Quad City Mallards - (3-1-0) - The Mallards have a 5-2-0 record over their last seven contests...Quad City began a five-game home stretch with a 4-2 win vs. Muskegon on New Year's Eve. The team is 6-6-2 on home ice this season...Rookie winger Justin Chwedoruk has recorded 13 points (4g, 9a) and a plus-7 rating over his last seven games. He has registered an even or better plus/minus rating in each of his last 15 games...Forward Don Parsons netted two goals in a span of 31 seconds during the final two minutes of Sunday's 4-2 win vs. Muskegon.

Rockford IceHogs - (3-1-0) - Center Preston Mizzi is riding a five-game point streak...Winger Nicolas Corbeil also has a five-game point streak...Sunday's 4-3 win at Bloomington marked the first time the IceHogs won a game this season when trailing after two periods...Rockford is undefeated at Bloomington this season (4-0-0)...Despite an impressive 2.13 GAA and a .926 SPCT in December, goaltender Frederic Cloutier had a record of 5-7-0 during the month...Corbeil led the team in scoring during December with 15 points (9g, 6a).

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from January 3, 2007


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