TAYLOR MAKES HISTORY, K-WINGS TO CELEBRATE ‘HOCKEY FOR HER’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 30, 2023

TAYLOR MAKES HISTORY, K-WINGS TO CELEBRATE ‘HOCKEY FOR HER’  

 Justin Taylor passed Kevin Schamehorn in all-time points scored as a K-Wing with career point No. 475 last week, two at home this week.

OVERALL RECORD:  17-20-3-0

LAST WEEK:  0-3-0-0

OVERALL RECORD:  17-20-3-0

LAST WEEK:  0-3-0-0

KALAMAZOO, MI - The Kalamazoo Wings, proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets, play three contests this week with two Wings Event Center. First, The K-Wings head south to Fort Wayne to face the Komets on Friday. Then, Kalamazoo will host Fort Wayne Saturday before finishing the week with a home matchup versus the Cincinnati Cyclones on Sunday.

Last week, the K-Wings went 0-3-0-0 (2-3, 0-6, 2-6).

Kalamazoo got the week started with a home matchup versus Toledo, falling 3-2. The K-Wings jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second period with goals by Matheson Iacopelli & Max Humitz, and Justin Taylor assisting on the goal by Humitz to break Kalamazoo’s all-time points record (454). Unfortunately, the Walleye scored three unanswered goals to escape with the victory.

On Saturday, the K-Wings headed to Toledo for a rematch with the Walleye and lost, 6-0. It was a 2-0 game after the first period, and Kalamazoo was skating hard early in the second looking to spark a comeback until Toledo snatched the momentum back with a power play goal. The Walleye scored three in the second and picked up another power-play tally in the third to close out the win.

Finally, on Sunday, The K-Wings fell behind early to the Indy Fuel and lost 6-2. The Fuel scored the only goal in the first period, then added three in the first 10 minutes of the second to take a 4-0 advantage. Kalamazoo fought back with goals by Carson Focht and Coale Norris early in the third, but a shorthanded, empty-net goal for Indy sealed the game up late. 

UPCOMING EVENTS IN DETAIL

The K-Wings play three games this week with two at Wings Event Center.

First, on Saturday, Feb. 4, the K-Wings celebrate ‘Hockey is for Her’ at 7:00 p.m. EST at Wings Event Center versus the Fort Wayne Komets. The K-Wings believe EVERYONE should be welcome in the game of hockey and that no one should be discriminated against on the basis of sex, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or creed. We’ll celebrate the women of the K-Wings, along with empowering women of all ages in Kalamazoo to get involved in hockey. And get to Wings Event Center early, because the first 1,000 fans in the gates will receive a special K-Wings ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ puck. And the K-Wings ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ jerseys will be auctioned immediately following the game.

Then, on Sunday, Feb. 5, the K-Wings face off with the Cincinnati Cyclones at 3:00 p.m. EST for ‘90s Alumni Day’ at Wings Event Center. Join the K-Wings in celebrating the contributions of Kalamazoo’s alumni that suited up in the last decade of the franchise’s time in the IHL. The first 1,000 fans to the arena will receive a K-Wings fanny pack, perfect for the ‘90s theme, and be sure to bring your skates because fans can skate the ice postgame with the players!

RESULTS

Friday, Jan. 27 – Toledo 3, Kalamazoo 2 (Wings Event Center - Kalamazoo, MI) | Box Score

>>  The Kalamazoo Wings (17-18-3-0) played one of their best games this season, Justin Taylor (475) set a new franchise mark for points, but the Toledo Walleye (21-14-4-1) stormed back to win Friday at Wings Event Center, 3-2. Kalamazoo carried a 1-0 advantage into the second period and earned a four-minute power play opportunity at the 0:45 mark, as Toledo was called for a double-minor. Max Humitz (11) scored just 24 seconds into the power play at the 1:09 mark. The K-Wings scored first at the 2:20 mark of the first period as Matheson Iacopelli (9) sniped twine from the left circle. The Walleye responded with a power play goal of their own at the 7:18 mark of the second, tied the game at the 9:13 mark and scored the game-winning goal at the 15:16 mark. Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the third period as the K-Wings outshot the Walleye in the final frame and 37-24 overall, tying a season-low in shots allowed for Kalamazoo. Hunter Vorva (8-4-1-0) stopped several high-quality chances from Toledo to keep the game within reach, finishing with 21 saves on 24 shots faced.Saturday, Jan. 28 – Kalamazoo 0, Toledo 6 (Huntington Center - Toledo, OH) | Box Score

>>   The Kalamazoo Wings (17-19-3-0) held their ground early against the Toledo Walleye (22-14-4-1) but the game fell out of reach in the middle frame Saturday, ultimately falling at Huntington Center, 6-0. Toledo notched the first goal of the game at the 5:53 mark of the first and scored again at the 10:50 mark. Kalamazoo battled hard, skating to a 9-9 draw in shots in the opening frame, but trailed 2-0 at intermission. The Walleye scored on both of their power play opportunities in the second period, once at 7:13 and again at the 16:57 mark, and added an even strength tally between the two at 13:23 mark to make it 5-0. Another power play goal was scored at the 6:45 mark of the third, wrapping up the scoring in the contest. Justin Taylor and Matheson Iacopelli led the K-Wings with four shots, and. Evan Cormier (5-13-2-0) made 26 saves on in the loss.

Sunday, Jan. 29 – Indy 6, Kalamazoo 2 (Wings Event Center - Kalamazoo, MI) | Box Score

>>   The Kalamazoo Wings (17-20-3-0) battled hard for 60 minutes against the Indy Fuel (28-12-2-0), but could not overcome Indy’s three-goal second and lost at Wings Event Center Sunday, 6-2. Indy opened the scoring at the 7:27 mark of the first period, and carried the 1-0 lead into the intermission despite Kalamazoo leading in the shot department, 10-8. The Fuel pushed the lead to 4-0 by the half-way mark of the game with goals at the 3:13, 7:48 and 9:15 marks of the second. The first goal of the frame for Indy came on the power play, and the last led to Hunter Vorva (8-5-1-0) being pulled from the game, making 10 saves on 14 shots. Then, Carson Focht (6) got the K-Wings on the board with a goal at the 14:22 mark. Indy pushed the lead back to four with a goal at the 0:27 mark of the third, but Coale Norris (5) picked top-right corner from just outside the left faceoff dot at the 3:48 mark to cut the deficit to 5-2. Evan Cormier was solid in relief of Vorva in goal, stopping 15 of 16 shots faced, and Indy scored again shorthanded on an empty net at the 16:29 mark to finish the scoring on the afternoon.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Friday, Feb. 3 – Kalamazoo at Fort Wayne, 8:00 p.m. EST – Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (Fort Wayne, IN)

Saturday, Feb. 4 – Fort Wayne at Kalamazoo, 7:00 p.m. EST – Wings Event Center (Kalamazoo, MI)

Sunday, Feb. 5 – Cincinnati at Kalamazoo, 3:00 p.m. EST – Wings Event Center (Kalamazoo, MI) 

ON THE MOVE

Jan. 27 - Goaltender Pavel Cajan was recalled from loan by Cleveland (AHL)

Jan. 28 - Forward Erik Bradford was recalled from loan by Cleveland (AHL) 

FAST FACTS

·           Forward Justin Taylor (475) passed Kevin Schamehorn (474) for No. 1 on the K-Wings career points leaderboard with an assist on Max Humitz’s power play  goal in in the second period Friday.

·           Forward Mason McCarty returned from missing 11-games on Friday and added an assist for point No. 20 of the season on Sunday.

·           Defenseman Ryan Cook notched assist No. 7 on Sunday, tying his career-high set last season between Norfolk, Adirondack, and Kalamazoo. 

TEAM TRENDS

·       9-0-0-0 when scoring 4+ goals

·       9-1-0-0 when leading after the 2nd Period   

·       7-3-1-0 on the road in one and two-goal games

STATISTICAL LEADERS

POINTS:              28 – Brandon Saigeon

GOALS:               11 – Max Humitz, Mason McCarty

ASSISTS:          21 – Brandon Saigeon

PLUS/MINUS:    +8 – Leif Mattson 

PIMS:                   66 – Justin Murray

PP GOALS:      4 – Matheson Iacopelli, Max Humitz

PP ASSISTS:        8 –  Justin Murray

SH GOALS:      2 – Raymond Brice

GW GOALS:    3 – Raymond Brice, Max Humitz

SHOTS:           108 – Max Humitz

WINS:                  8 – Hunter Vorva

GAA:                   2.57 – Hunter Vorva

SAVE %:             .918 – Hunter Vorva

* Currently with Cleveland (AHL)

** Currently with Columbus (NHL)

SPECIAL TEAMS

POWER PLAY:   Last Week – 1/13 (7.7%)

                           This Season – 24/146 (16.4%) – No. 25 in the ECHL                         

PENALTY KILL:   Last Week – 4/9 (44.4%)

                            This Season – 116/146 (79.5%) – No. 17 in the ECHL

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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 Columbus Blue Jackets and the American Hockey League’s Cleveland Monsters. Kalamazoo plays their 36 regular season home games at Wings Event Center from October through April.

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