Wings Weekly: Vol. 45, No. 1

Last Week:

Sat., Oct. 13 – Wings at Indy – L, 8-4

This Week:

Fri., Oct. 19 – Wings vs. Ft. Wayne, 7:30 pm

Sat., Oct. 20 – Wings at Ft. Wayne, 7:35 pm

Wings Open 45th Anniversary Season Home Schedule with Jersey Retirement:

For the first time in 38 years the Kalamazoo Wings will retire a jersey number on Friday night as Kevin Schamehorn’s #26 will be retired. The jersey retirement ceremony will kick off the home portion of the 201-19 season beginning at approximately 7:30pm.

Schamehorn, who played in 495 games over a course of three different decades in Kalamazoo, still holds the franchise record for points (474) and is tied for the most goals (239) with Mike Wanchuk. The native of Victoria, BC, Schamehorn currently resides in Kalamazoo and has called southwest Michigan home since retiring from hockey after the 1989-90 season. The number 26 worn by Schamehorn is the first of two numbers to be retired by the K-Wings this season.

Opening Night activities will begin at 4:45 with Fan Fest. Puck drop for the game against Ft. Wayne is 7:30 pm. First 1,000 fans through the doors on Friday night will get a replica Kevin Schamehorn #26 banner.

Back to the Old Way:

This season all home games, except for Sundays, Education day and New Years Eve, will begin at 7:30 pm. The shift from 7:00pm to 7:30pm returns to the original start time of games from the inaugural season.

Sunday games as well as New Years Eve will take place at 3:00 pm, while Education Day will start at 10:30 am.

Mixing the Old and New:

Saturday night four rookies took the ice for the K-Wings, including three who were making their ECHL debuts. Chad McDonald, Eric Ylitalo, Chris Collins, and Jagger Dirk all suited up for Kalamazoo in the season opening loss to Indy. In addition Defenseman Jagger Dirk and forward Chris Collins each netted their first professional goals in the game. 

Seven non-rookies also made their K-Wing debut in the loss, while Kalamazoo also suited up seven players who skated in at least a game for the K-Wings last season.

Komets In Town:

The upcoming home-and-home series with Ft. Wayne marks the start of 13 games against the Komets this season. Last season the rivals faced off six times with the Wings boasting a record a 5-1-0-0. Friday will be the first of only five trips for Ft. Wayne to Kalamazoo. The majority of the season series will take place in Ft. Wayne, with eight of the 13 games taking place at the Allen County War Memorial.

Scheduling Breakdown:

Kalamazoo plays each of the first seven regular season games against Central Division foes. Overall the Wings will play 56 of the 72 games this season against in-division foes. Of the 16 out of division games, seven will come against the North Division, while the remaining nine will be against the Mountain Division. Kalamazoo does not face any South Division teams this season.