HISTORY! A HALF-CENTURY OF WINGS MEMORIES

HISTORY! A HALF-CENTURY OF WINGS MEMORIES

Pam Shebest recaps some highlights from the K-Wings last 50 years of hockey in Kalmamazoo.

By Pam Shebest for K-Wings.com

KALAMAZOO, MI – Green ice, Championship Cups, an on-ice kiss and pink-ice weddings.

The Kalamazoo Wings have had a colorful history leading up to their 50th anniversary. That history will be celebrated during the Warrior/ECHL Hockey Heritage Weekend when the K-Wings host the ECHL Hall of Fame induction ceremony and dinner Jan. 17 at the Radisson Plaza Hotel with former K-Wing Bernie Saunders as the keynote speaker.

The K-Wings will host Toledo at 7 p.m. on Jan. 18 after a ceremony retiring the jersey of former K-Wing Brent Jarrett. One familiar visitor who plans to be in town for the weekend is Terry Roof, the K-Wings trainer from 1977 to 1992 before joining the NHL St. Louis Blues.

Dream becomes reality

The K-Wings got their start in 1973 when a group of investors, led by Ted and Martha Parfet, were granted an International Hockey League expansion franchise. The group broke ground in February 1974 and work on a new arena began in April.

In what was called “The Miracle on Vanrick,” Wings Stadium was ready for hockey action on October 18 with some seats still being bolted down on game day. Unfortunately, the K-Wings lost 7-3 to the Saginaw Gears and did not win their first game until Nov. 24.

Things took off from there, with the K-Wings winning their first Turner Cup in seven games against the Grand Rapids Owls on May 22, 1979.

“They won the Turner Cup on Turner Avenue in Grand Rapids,” said Jim Panyrek. “That’s one thing I’ll always remember.”

A season ticket holder, Panyrek noted, “My butt has been in the same seat since Year 2 in Section 7.”

The K-Wings made it back-to-back Cups the next year with a six-game win against the Fort Wayne Komets.

Maury and Kathy Benton were among the fans who traveled to the final game and recalled, “We got back (to Wings Stadium) about 1:30 or 2 a.m. and everyone was at the stadium,” Maury said. “It was a big deal.”

Benton also recalled one of the more colorful K-Wings, Terry Ficorelli, the team’s broadcaster from 1974-1984.

“We used to laugh at him because he had a vocabulary that I don’t think was in the dictionary,” Benton said. “He could sure make a boring game an exciting game and a couple times, he almost fell out of the press box (he got so excited).”

To help fans, Fic, as he was affectionately called, published a “Fictionary,” giving definitions of his colorful comments. The Bentons, who have attended K-Wings games since the start, purchased their season tickets in the middle of the second season and still have the same seats in Section 22.

Green Ice arrives

During a 1982 brainstorming session about marketing the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day game, then director of public relations Stephen Doherty threw out a suggestion to color the ice green. The idea took off, but that first game was a bit of a disaster.

Green food coloring was used to tint the ice and green paper shamrocks were on the faceoff dots under the ice.

The bad thing is that food coloring has an ingredient that inhibits freezing and by the third period the ice was becoming mushy. That led to a Muskegon player’s breakaway. Only problem was that the puck stuck on the ice while the player kept skating.

In addition, players who fell on the ice ended with green streaks on their uniforms. The good news is that the K-Wings won the game, 4-1, and the process of coloring the ice has much improved. The green-ice game, featuring green beer, continues to be one of the team’s most poplar events.

That was also the first time the team’s special jerseys were auctioned off, with proceeds going to local charities. A few years later, the K-Wings added Valentine’s Day Pink Ice games with hearts on the faceoff dots. Those first few games also featured a wedding during an intermission.

Today, the K-Wings also have Orange, Lavender and Rainbow Ice games.

New affiliate, new owner, ‘The Kiss’

On June 12, 1987, the K-Wings became the primary affiliate of the NHL Minnesota North Stars and the next year changed their team colors from red, white and blue to the North Stars’ green, gold, black and white. In the summer of 1993, Minnesota split its NHL team between the Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks, leaving the K-Wings with Dallas.

With the IHL expanding to larger cities, the league commissioner approached the Parfets who agreed to change the name from the smaller market Kalamazoo Wings to Michigan K-Wings. One incident that stands out during that time for many fans is “The Kiss.”

Popular pugilist Mel Angelstad (6-foot-2) was being egged on during a game by Fort Wayne’s Eric Boguniecki (5-8).

“(Boguniecki) was jawing away at (Angelstad), but instead of dropping his gloves to duke it out, (Angelstad) kissed his avenger,” Benton said.

“That was hilarious,” long-time season ticket holder Bob Moore added.

Jo Anne Belka went one better.

The next time Fort Wayne was in town, “I got ahold of red wax lips and handed them out to a lot of my friends,” she said. “We went down to the end where Fort Wayne was warming up and we were wearing those lips.

“The Fort Wayne players were laughing because they knew why we were doing it.”

About that time, a K-Wings icon made its appearance. A kingfisher who “lives in the Kalamazoo River and eats trout,” was born October 31, 1997.

The big green bird was named Slappy (official name Slapshot) and he became the “face of the K-Wings.”

Following the 1999-2000 season, after Dallas ended the affiliation, the Parfets designated the team as “inactive.” That meant the end of pro hockey in Kalamazoo.

That is, until that summer, when Keith Decker moved his United Hockey League Madison Kodiaks from Wisconsin to Kalamazoo. The Parfets allowed Decker to use the K-Wings name.

“If it hadn’t been for Keith Decker taking the team over, Kalamazoo would not have had hockey,” Panyrek said.

Two years later, the Parfets bought back the team, keeping it until current owners William Johnston and Ronda Stryker (Greenleaf Hospitality Group) took ownership in 2008.

Over the years, two women, have played for the K-Wings and both for just one game.

Molly McMaster played briefly March 11, 2006, promoting National Colorectal Cancer Awareness month.

The second was Mariah Fujimagari, who was in the K-Wings training camp in 2023. She replaced Jonathan Lemieux in net for the third period of an exhibition game Oct. 14. 

The game against the Toledo Walleye went to overtime, with a 4-3 K-Wings win, making Fujimagari the first female to win an ECHL game.

Third championship

May 27, 2006, the K-Wings won their third championship, defeating the Danville Trashers, 2-1 in overtime, in Connecticut. Lucas Drake scored the game-winner with several Kalamazoo fans at the game.

One of those was Joann VanderWeele, a 33-year season ticket holder.

“One of my best memories is watching the team win the Colonial Cup and having (goaltender) Joel Martin run to me on the ice and go, ‘Mama, we did it,’” she said.

To celebrate, the team gifted season ticket holders with replicas of the players’ championship rings.

One lucky fan, Bob Moore, got the real thing.

“They had one ring left over, so they auctioned it off off when they did the jersey auction,” Moore said. “My wife (Char) bought it for me and they had my last name put on it.”

To start the 2007 season, the K-Wings joined the “new” IHL, a foray that lasted just two seasons until they joined the ECHL to start the 2009-10 season.

Since then, coach Nick Bootland (now an assistant with the AHL Hershey Bears) became the winningest coach in Kalamazoo history and Joel Martin (current K-Wings coach) became the winningest goalie in team history.

The K-Wings made history, playing at Toledo in the ECHL’s first outdoor game, defeating the Walleye, 2-1, Dec. 19, 2014.

They also hold two Guinness World Records, the first for the largest lightsaber battle (3,880 participants) on Nov. 2, 2019, and the second, for the most people waving foam fingers simultaneously (3,414) set Oct. 19, 2024.

Kalamazoo was among the several sports teams that went dark during the COVID-19 pandemic, ending their season on March 11, 2020 and sitting out the next season.

As the team has turned into the post-Covid world, the Wings have enjoyed attendance hikes in each of the last nine seasons under General Manager Toni Will. Culminating with the fourth-highest attendance average in franchise history last season. 

They continue to compete in the ECHL and, in a few years, plan to move into a new multi-million dollar arena.

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The ECHL HOF Dinner is coming to Kalamazoo on Friday, January 17. You can secure your spot to hear Kalamazoo Legend Bernie Saunders give the keynote address, plus premier trophies from the Hockey Hall of Fame are expected to make an appearance. Click above to get all the perks on this historic night!

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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 and the American Hockey League’s Abbotsford Canucks. Kalamazoo plays their 36 regular season home games at Wings Event Center from October through April.

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