Komets Capture IHL's Huber Trophy

[VodkaFish]

ROCHESTER, MI - With 13 games still remaining on the Komets regular season schedule, Fort Wayne captured the IHL regular season championship Saturday night with a 4-3 shootout victory over the Flint Generals. Winning the Huber Trophy for the eighth time as a member of the IHL, the Komets become the first minor league professional team in North America to clinch a regular season title this year. The Komets have won a total of 11 regular-season championships in their 56 year history.

Fort Wayne also broke their franchise record for consecutive home wins of 18 in a row Friday night with a shootout win over the K-Wings. After defeating the Generals Saturday, the streak currently stands at 20 wins. They need just two more victories at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum to tie the IHL record of 22 set by the Muskegon Mohawks back in the 1965-66 season.

After going to a shootout just four times so far this season, the Port Huron Icehawks had three in a row over the weekend, all three coming on the road. Before Friday night in Bloomington, the Icehawks were 2-2 in the shootout. They now have a 5-2 record, sweeping all three victories over the weekend. Port Huron was not the only team pushing extra hockey this past week. Out of the eight games played, five of them went to the shootout round.

AROUND THE “I”

Bloomington PrairieThunder - (0-0-0-2) – The PrairieThunder has not lost in regulation for seven straight games, a franchise record, and has registered an 11 of a possible 14 points during that span. In those seven games, the PrairieThunder has been involved in four shootouts (2-2) record) and one overtime loss. Leo Thomas has scored at least one point in 15 of the last 19 games, including six of the last seven. Blake Stewart has scored at least one in eight of the 17 games with the PrairieThunder, including four of the last six. Thomas, Stewart and Don Parsons have all scored points in the same game in five of the last six games, including three of the last four. Thomas and Parsons have scored points in the same game 10 times in the last 17 games. The PrairieThunder has scored only three power play goals in the month of March (28 attempts) and only four in its last 55 attempts over the last 14 games. It's been a month since the PrairieThunder has had back-to-back games where it has scored power play goals. Conversely, the opponent has scored only three power play goals in the month of March against the PrairieThunder and 10 in 82 attempts over the last 14 games.

Flint Generals - (0-2-0-1) – Rookie Justin DePretis has eight goals and one assist for nine points in eight games with the Flint Generals during the month of March. Two of the goals were first goals and three were on the power play. Defenseman Shaun Fisher continues to have a productive month with seven helpers. John DiPace has five points (3 goals and 2 assists) in his last five games. Nick Tuzzolino leads all rookies with 19 power play assists. The Generals have scored 103 goals on the road this season which is second in the league behind Port Huron. Goaltender Eric Marvin continues to lead all IHL goaltenders in minutes played with 2635:24 and saves with 1174. The Flint Generals lead the IHL in overall power play record, scoring 70 goals on 360 opportunities (19.4%) in 61 games played so far this season.

Fort Wayne Komets - (2-0-0-0) – The Komets have a chance to smash their all-time records of 53 wins and 112 points in a season. The Komets set the mark of 53 wins during 2003-04. Fort Wayne has hit 112 points four times in the past including 1983-84, 1985-86, 1991-92 and 2003-04, but has never had more than 112 points in a season in its 56-year history. Konstantin Shafranov (LW) scored both game-winning shootout goals in the two games played after missing on two attempts earlier in the season. Komet streaks: The Komets have 20 straight home wins, are riding an IHL high 10-game winning streak and are unbeaten in regulation 12 straight games. The Komets have out shot opponents 22 consecutive games. Goaltender Nick Boucher is unbeaten in regulation in 17 straight games he has started, has a six-game winning streak and 11-game unbeaten streak (10-0-1-0). Netminder Kevin Reiter has won five straight games and is unbeaten in regulation six straight (5-0-1-0). Luciano Aquino (RW) has an eight-game point-scoring streak (5g, 6a) and a league-high (of players still playing in the IHL) five-game assist scoring streak (6a). Mathieu Curadeau (C) has a five-game point streak (4g, 2a). P.C. Drouin (LW) has a three-game point streak (3g, 1a). In the last 21 games, the Komets have lost in regulation only once (18-1-2-0).

Kalamazoo Wings - (1-1-0-1) – Kalamazoo returns to action tonight versus Fort Wayne during the 27th Annual World Famous St. Patrick's Day Game Presented by Fifth-Third Bank. The K-Wings are 17-6-3 Overall Record and 13-4-2 on Green Ice Games in their IHL history. Kalamazoo is 1-1-0-0 versus Fort Wayne on Green Ice. Kalamazoo is riding a four-game home winning streak. Forward Kory Karlander was called up to the Grand Rapids over the weekend and earned a point off an assist in yesterday's game versus Toronto. Karlander is on a nine-game point streak for Kalamazoo. Glenn Detulleo is one-goal shy of 100 in his career. Defenseman Jared Mohr is three games shy of 100 in his career. Kalamazoo trails Muskegon by two points for fourth place in the league. Nick Bootland leads the league in goals scored with 37. Tyler Willis set an IHL season-high for assists in a game with five last Wednesday versus Flint.

Muskegon Fury - (2-0-0-1) – This week, the Fury will play three contests. Thursday and Friday nights, the Fury are on the road at Bloomington. Saturday, Muskegon hosts the Port Huron Ice Hawks at 7:30 p.m. at Walker Arena. The Fury’s Robin Bouchard reached 1,200 career points with his second assist of the game Friday against Flint. Overall, Bouchard has a four-game streak with multiple points. Over that span, he has 10 points on five goals and five assists. Bouchard needs just eight goals for 600 in his professional career. Philippe Plante needs seven points for 300 in his career. Mark Cadotte is seven assists away from 300 for his career and 13 goals shy of 200 for his career. Chris Kovalcik is two games away from 200 for his career. David Segal is nine games away from 100 for his career.

Port Huron Icehawks - (3-0-0-0) – Kris Vernarsky reached 200 points in his professional career with three assists over the weekend. He is ranked fourth on the team for scoring with 51 points this season. Several other Icehawks are quickly approaching milestones. Steve Hildenbrand needs just one goal to reach 100 in his pro career and Rich Hansen is two goals shy of 50 in his professional career. With a shootout win on Sunday, goalie Larry Sterling has now won three of his last four starts. He has not lost in regulation since February 23rd. He is tied with Fort Wayne’s Nick Boucher for second place in the league for wins with 19 and trails only Fort Wayne’s Boucher and Kevin Reiter for save percentage with a .909 SPCT. Marty Magers also had an outstanding weekend for Port Huron, with two shootout wins on Friday and Saturday. The Icehawks continue to lead the league for penalty killing on the road, killing off 83.8% of penalties and giving up just 32 power play goals in 197 shorthanded situations. The Icehawks out shot their opponents by at least 10 in all three of last weekend’s game. They have out shot their opponent in 43 of 64 games this season and lead the league for shots in the third period (706).