FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 23, 2019

McDONALD SCORES IN RETURN AS SHORT-HANDED WINGS FALL IN TOLEDO

Kalamazoo forward Chad McDonald comes out of retirement to help injury-plagued team and scores a goal in debut, a 5-2 loss to the Walleye.

Box Score

TOLEDO, OH – Playing a man short for the first time this season, the Kalamazoo Wings (5-7-2-0) signed forward Chad McDonald out of retirement Saturday for their game against the Toledo Walleye (9-5-1-0) at Huntington Center.

McDonald, who played in 71 games last year for the Wings, scored a goal in his return, although the K-Wings lost 5-2.

Toledo capitalized late in its first power play, as Josh Winquist tipped a point shot past Jake Hildebrand to give the Walleye a 1-0 lead 4:16 into the game. Marcus Vela added to the lead when he knocked a centering feed out of the air and into the net.

The K-Wings answered quickly when Kyle Blaney scored his third of the season just 53 seconds after Vela’s goal to bring Kalamazoo within one at the end of 20 minutes.

Abbott Girduckis brought Toledo’s lead back to two when he cut through the slot and one-timed a centering pass over Hildebrand’s blocker in the second period, and Justin Buzzeo snapped a shot into the top of the net from the left circle to make it 4-1 after two frames.

The Walleye added to their lead in the final stanza, when Josh Kestner capped off a 2-on-0 with a goal following a K-Wings turnover at the blue line. McDonald answered with a hard wrist shot from the top of the right circle to bring Kalamazoo back to within three with just under half the period to play.

Kalamazoo finishes off a three-game weekend Sunday against Brampton at 2:00 p.m. at CAA Centre, with pregame coverage at 1:40 p.m. on 1660 AM, The Fan, and ECHL.TV.

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The Kalamazoo Wings are a professional hockey team located in southwest Michigan that has been a staple in the Kalamazoo, MI professional sports landscape since 1974. The K-Wings compete in the ECHL and are the AA affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks. Kalamazoo plays their 36 regular season home games at Wings Event Center from October through April.

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