Dupuis Plays #700 as a Komet

[VodkaFish]

ROCHESTER, MI - Fort Wayne defenseman Guy Dupuis played in his 700th game as a member of the Fort Wayne Komets Sunday afternoon. Dupuis had an assist in the Komets 6-1 victory over the Bloomington PrairieThunder. Dupuis has played 549 of his 700 games in the International Hockey League, dating back to the 1991-92 season. He has registered a total of 368 points (82g, 286a) in his 700 games played so far in a Komets jersey.

Fort Wayne has been on fire, dominating the IHL standings once again this week. In 47 games played, the Komets are 32-11-3-1 with 68 points. They have won 11 out of their last 13 games played, including five shutouts during that span and a five game winning streak. Fort Wayne has been successful on home ice, as they are currently riding an IHL season high 13 game winning streak at Memorial Coliseum, dating back to December 27th.

The Muskegon Fury are showing that they are still in the hunt for the Turner Cup. After a slow start to the season, the Fury have put together a nice run as of late, winning five of their last eight contests. They have had an offensive surge, scoring a total of 29 goals in those eight games played. Muskegon also has the league’s best penalty kill record, killing off 210 of 247 chances so far this season.

AROUND THE “I”

Bloomington PrairieThunder - (0-1-0-0) – John Booras has been part of five of the last six goals the PrairieThunder has scored, by netting four goals and one assist. Rookie Brett Holmberg scored his first goal since December 21st, a span of 21 games, when he found the net against Fort Wayne to help the PrairieThunder avert a shutout Sunday evening. The PrairieThunder’s last two goals in regulation have come in the last 50 seconds. The PrairieThunder scored 16 goals during a four-game winning streak. In the eight games since the streak, the team has scored only 12 goals and posted only two wins. After not having a game for seven days, the PrairieThunder began a span Sunday of nine games in 14 days, including four on the road.

Flint Generals - (0-0-0-0) – The Generals will resume play this Thursday in Kalamazoo after an eleven day break. Flint has not played a game since February 2nd. Their game that was scheduled for Wednesday, February 6th in Fort Wayne was postponed due to weather and rescheduled for Wednesday, March 5th. The Generals continue to be without defenseman Brett Westgarth, who is on call-up with the Iowa Stars (AHL). Westgarth has amassed 42 penalty minutes in the 13 games played with the Stars. Flint is also without the services of left wing Josef Fojtik, who is on call-up with the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL). Fojtik has played in five games and registered an assist Friday night in his 3rd AHL game played. Center Jason Cirone is currently riding a six game point streak, scoring two goals and dishing out five assists. The Generals most prolific scoring period is the second. They have scored a total of 58 goals in the second stanza, only allowing 33 goals against. Flint averages a league-high 3.69 goals per game, scoring 155 goals total so far this season.

Fort Wayne Komets - (2-0-0-0) – The Komets improved to a league-best 32-11-3-1 for 68 points and a 16-point margin over second-place Flint and Port Huron with 29 games remaining in 2007-08. The stingy Komet defense allowed only two goals in two games to lead the IHL with a league-lowest 2.43 goals against per game average. The Komets out-shot the opponents 76-32 to rank first in the IHL with an average of 33.5 shots per game while allowing a league-low 27.3 shots per game. Komets post-to-post: The Komets have the top two goaltenders in the IHL as Nick Boucher leads with a 2.24 goals-against average and .919 save percentage while Kevin Reiter leads with 20 wins and six shutouts. Both goaltenders, appearing in a game apiece this past week, missed shutouts in the last two minutes of each game. Streaking Komets: P.C. Drouin (LW) has an IHL-high 10-game point scoring streak (3g, 11a) and has been even or better on plus/minus 29 straight games. Luciano Aquino (RW) has a five-game point streak (3g, 6a). Colin Chaulk (C) is riding a five-game point streak (4g, 6a). Guy Dupuis (D) has a three-game point streak (1g, 3a). Nick Boucher has won nine straight starts. The Komets have scored a power play goal in 12 straight games.

Kalamazoo Wings - (1-2-0-0) – Glenn Detulleo is on an 11-game point streak, which is two games shy of the K-Wings and IHL season high of 13 games held by Kory Karlander and Nick Bootland. Kalamazoo has lost three straight games at home, which ties their season high for consecutive regulation home losses. Kalamazoo will host the 8th Annual Borgess Health Pink Ice Game presented by WKFR and The CW 7 this Thursday versus the Flint Generals. Kalamazoo is 4-3-0-0 all-time on pink ice. Ed Campbell is one-game shy of 800 in his career. Glenn Detulleo is one-game shy of 400 in his career. Justin Cross is on a three-game point streak and two-game goal streak. Six of Cross' nine goals this season have come against the Muskegon Fury. In his season debut, Jeff Reynaert stopped 35 shots last Thursday to earn a 3-0 shutout victory against the Port Huron Icehawks. In the hunt for the playoffs, Kalamazoo is five points out of fourth place (Muskegon) and six points out of second (Port Huron and Flint). With 28 games remaining in the regular season, Kalamazoo will play 14 at Wings Stadium and 14 on the road.

Muskegon Fury - (2-1-0-0) – The Fury’s record is now 24-19-3-0. They have 51 points, just one point behind Flint and Port Huron for second in the IHL. The Fury have four games in hand on Port Huron, while Flint has four games in hand on Muskegon. The Fury held third place in the IHL for a day after their win over Kalamazoo Saturday, but Port Huron spoiled Muskegon’s opportunity to move into second with a 3-2 win. With the loss, the Fury fall one point behind Port Huron and Flint, who are in a second-place tie with 52 points each. Fury center Billy Collins set a new career high with his 19th goal of the season on Friday. Collins added two goals on Saturday, and this season has set new career highs in points (47), goals (21) and assists (21). With two goals this week, Robin Bouchard is now two goals away from 450 in his Muskegon Fury career. Kyle Kos, who had an assist this week, is now two assists away from 100 for his professional career.

Port Huron Icehawks - (1-2-0-0) – The Icehawks dropped two games over the weekend, but gained some ground in the IHL regardless. With a win over the Muskegon Fury on Sunday, they moved into a second place tie with the Flint Generals with 52 points in the standings. The Generals have eight games in hand, but the Icehawks may be able to gain some more ground on Flint, as the two teams meet four times this month. With a win Sunday over Muskegon, goalie Larry Sterling has now won four of his last five games. He is ranked third in the league for goals against average with a GAA of 2.69. The Icehawks have out shot their opponent in 34 of 50 games this season, and 12 of their last 14. They also continue to lead the league for shots in all three periods, and total shots (1, 660). Rookie Jamie Carroll has averaged a point per game in his last 10 games with four goals and seven assists in that span. He is ranked second in the league for points among rookies with a total of 46 points (19-27-46) for the season. Rookie Josh Aspenlind reached 25 assists in his first pro season with an assist in Sunday’s game.