Kalamazoo Wings

 

See also: Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000)

Kalamazoo Wings
City	Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
League	ECHL
Conference	Eastern Conference
Division	North Division
Founded	1999 (current franchise) 1974 (namesake)
Home arena	Wings Stadium
Colors	Red, white, blue
Owner(s)	William D. Johnston
General manager	Jim Burlew
Head coach	Nick Bootland
Media	WLKM (95.9 FM) Kalamazoo Gazette
Affiliates	New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks (NHL) Albany Devils (AHL)
Franchise history
1974–1995	Kalamazoo Wings (IHL)
1995–2000	Michigan K-Wings (IHL)
1999–2000	Madison Kodiaks (UHL)
2000–2009	Kalamazoo Wings (UHL/IHL)
2009–present	Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL)
Championships
Regular season titles	2 IHL 1979–80, 1980–81 1 UHL 2005–06
Division Championships	4 IHL 1979–80, 1980–81, 1990–91, 1993–94, 1998–99 1 UHL 2005–06 3 ECHL 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12
Conference Championships	2 IHL 1979–80, 1980–81 1 UHL 2005–06 1 ECHL 2010–11
Turner Cups	2 IHL 1978–79, 1979–80
Colonial Cups	1 UHL 2005–06
Kelly Cups	0 ECHL

The Kalamazoo Wings, nicknamed the K-Wings, are a mid-level professional ice hockey team in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A member of the ECHL's Eastern Conference, North Division, they play in the 5,113-seat Wings Stadium.

Kalamazoo is home to the "Green Ice Game". Played since 1982 on St. Patrick's Day, it is one of the most celebrated games in minor league hockey. The team has sought to duplicate the game's success with the Pink Ice Game (Valentine's Day), the Orange Ice Game (Halloween) and a new creation the Golden Ice Game (sponsored by McDonalds).

History

Kalamazoo Wings playing against the Chicago Express in 2011

The team began in the 1999–2000 season as the United Hockey League's Madison Kodiaks in Madison, Wisconsin. After one season in Madison, the franchise moved to Kalamazoo, where it obtained the right to use the name and logo of an earlier team that had played in the original International Hockey League from 1973 through 2000.

That team, which had named itself for its affiliation with the NHL Detroit Red Wings, changed its name during the 1995 playoffs to the Michigan K-Wings because the league wanted to raise its franchises' appeal to larger market. The team's owner, the late R.T. Parfet, was the only small-market owner to oblige, but later concerns about larger-market teams entering the league, and the league's stability led to the Wings owners requesting inactive status and dissolving the team.

The new K-Wings played in the UHL from October 2000 until June 1, 2009, when they withdrew because of concerns that the league, which had renamed itself the International Hockey League in 2007, might go bankrupt. Eight days later, the ECHL accepted the K-Wings into their league. On September 22, 2011 it was announced that the Vancouver Canucks signed an ECHL affiliation agreement with the Wings. The Wings announced an ECHL affiliation agreement with the New Jersey Devils on October 4th, 2011.

Championships

Year	League	Trophy
1978–1979	International Hockey League	Turner Cup
1979–1980	International Hockey League	Turner Cup
2005–2006	United Hockey League	Colonial Cup

Retired numbers

• #22 Mike Wanchuk

Players

Captains

Captain - Wes O'Neill
Alternate - Sam Ftorek
Alternate - Kory Karlander

Current roster

Updated July 30, 2012.

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace	Contract
21	Canada !	Anthony, StevenSteven Anthony	6.0 !LW	L	21	2011	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Canucks
25	Canada !	Archibald, DarrenDarren Archibald	6.0 !LW	L	22	2011	Newmarket, Ontario	Canucks
16	United States !	Charlebois, JoeJoe Charlebois	2.0 !D	R	26	2010	Potsdam, New York	Wings
35	Canada !	Clermont, MaximeMaxime Clermont	1.0 !G	L	20	2011	Montreal, Quebec	New Jersey
14	United States !	Cloutier, DustinDustin Cloutier	7.0 !RW	R	26	2011	Berkley, Michigan	Wings
45	United States !	Daavettila, TrentTrent Daavettila	6.0 !LW	R	28	2011	Mobile, Alabama	Wings
8	United States !	Ftorek, SamSam Ftorek (A)	2.0 !D	R	37	2009	Phoenix, Arizona	Wings
30	United States !	Gill, RileyRiley Gill	1.0 !G	L	27	2010	Northfield, Minnesota	Wings
12	United States !	Haczyk, BryanBryan Haczyk	3.0 !F	L	25	2011	Secaucus, New Jersey	Albany
4	Canada !	Harty, JonJon Harty	2.0 !D	L	24	2012	Oromocto, New Brunswick	Wings
11	United States !	Helminen, DwightDwight Helminen	4.0 !C	L	29	2012	Hancock, Michigan	Wings
33	Canada !	Karlander, KoryKory Karlander (A)	4.0 !C	L	40	2010	Melita, Manitoba	Wings
15	United States !	Kattelus, EricEric Kattelus	3.0 !F	R	25	2011	Houghton, Michigan	Wings
7	United States !	Matczak, MikeMike Matczak	2.0 !D	L	24	2011	Sewell, New Jersey	Wings
5	Canada !	O'Neill, WesWes O'Neill (C)	2.0 !D	L	26	2010	Windsor, Ontario	Wings
44	Canada !	Rai, PrabPrab Rai	4.0 !C	L	22	2011	British Columbia	Canucks
24	Canada !	Reid, ElginElgin Reid	2.0 !D	L	25	2011	Milton, Ontario	Wings
20	United States !	Sirota, NickNick Sirota	7.0 !RW	R	28	2011	Fox Lake, Wisconsin	Wings
18	Canada !	Strong, DeanDean Strong	3.0 !F	R	27	2011	Mississauga, Ontario	Wings
13	United States !	Svendsen, BrandonBrandon Svendsen	6.0 !LW	R	28	2010	Roseville, Michigan	Wings
93	Canada !	Taylor, JustinJustin Taylor	4.0 !C	L	23	2010	Mindemoya, Ontario	Wings
28	United States !	Tolles, JoeJoe Tolles	2.0 !D	L	24	2012	Toledo, Ohio	Wings
2	Canada !	Young, HarryHarry Young	2.0 !D	L	22	2011	Windsor, Ontario	New Jersey

Team records

Single season

Goals: 66 Dave Michayluk (1984–85)

Assists: 113 Rob Brown (1993–94)

Points: 155 Rob Brown (1993–94)

Penalty minutes: 648 Kevin Evans (1986–87)

GAA: 2.02 Ryan Nie (2006–07)

SV%: .929 Ryan Nie (2006–07)

Career

Career goals: 239 Mike Wanchuk and Kevin Schamehorn

Career assists: 308 Brent Jarrett

Career points: 475 Kevin Schamehorn

Career penalty minutes: 2,776 Kevin Evans

Career goaltending wins: 196 Georges Gagnon

Career shutouts: 13 Manny Fernandez

Career games: 392 Georges Gagnon

Standings

Year	GP	W	L	T/OTL	PTS	GF	GA	Pct	Standings
1974–1975	75	17	53	5	39	203	318	.260	10 of 11
1975–1976	78	27	41	10	6	273	318	.410	8 of 9
1976–1977	78	38	27	13	89	325	290	.571	2 of 9
1977–1978	80	35	31	14	84	315	288	.525	4 of 9
1978–1979	80	40	28	12	92	368	327	.575	4 of 9
1979–1980	80	45	26	9	99	366	274	.619	1 of 10
1980–1981	82	52	20	10	114	369	244	.704	1 of 8
1981–1982	82	41	36	5	89	355	333	.543	3 of 7
1982–1983	82	32	44	6	76	311	341	.463	5 of 8
1983–1984	82	37	38	7	83	333	316	.506	5 of 7
1984–1985	82	40	35	7	89	323	297	.543	5 of 9
1985–1986	82	47	35	0	100	345	314	.610	4 of 10
1986–1987	82	36	46	0	80	331	353	.479	8 of 9
1987–1988	82	37	33	12	86	328	360	.524	7 of 9
1988–1989	82	39	36	7	85	345	350	.518	6 of 10
1989–1990	82	53	23	6	112	389	311	.682	3 of 9
1990–1991	82	52	29	1	105	354	302	.640	2 of 11
1991–1992	82	37	35	10	84	292	312	.512	7 of 10
1992–1993	82	29	42	11	69	291	367	.421	10 of 12
1993–1994	81	48	26	7	103	337	297	.636	5 of 13
1994–1995	81	43	24	14	100	288	249	.617	5 of 17
1995–1996	82	40	24	18	98	290	272	.598	7 of 19
1996–1997	82	31	44	7	69	208	272	.421	17 of 19
1997–1998	82	39	36	7	79	223	261	.518	15 of 18
1998–1999	82	35	34	13	83	232	253	.506	11 of 16
1999–2000	82	33	37	12	78	178	223	.476	12 of 13
1999–2000	74	35	33	6	76	254	376	.514	8 of 14
**2000–2001	74	37	31	6	80	220	220	.541	9 of 15
2001–2002	74	27	37	8	66	213	277	.446	11 of 14
2002–2003	76	29	39	8	66	210	282	.434	10 of 10
2003–2004	76	45	22	9	99	281	207	.651	4 of 12
2004–2005	80	50	24	6	100	257	204	.663	3 of 14
2005–2006	76	52	17	7	111	332	183	.730	1 of 14
2006–2007	76	47	23	6	100	251	191	.658	4 of 10
2007–2008	76	31	34	11	73	242	252	.480	5 of 6
2008–2009	76	44	29	3	91	274	253	.599	4 of 6
**2009–2010	72	42	20	10	94	273	243	.653	3 of 20
2010–2011	72	40	24	8	88	255	225	.611	4 of 19

(**) – From 1974 to 2000 competed in the International Hockey League. From 2000 to 2009 competed in the United Hockey League and International Hockey League. From 2009 to present, competes in the ECHL

External links

• Kalamazoo Wings Official Website