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'Jacks Chop Their Way to the Top
Monday, Dec. 1st, 2008
ROCHESTER, MI - The Muskegon Lumberjacks have lots to be thankful for after Thanksgiving weekend as they continue to dominate the IHL standings, remaining in first place after six weeks of action. Muskegon earned four out of six possible points this past week and has an 11-4-1-0 record (23 points), three points ahead of second place Kalamazoo (20 points). The Lumberjacks lead the league in goals for, scoring a total of 76 goals in 16 games. They lost their first game at LC Walker Arena Friday when Bloomington earned a 5-1 victory, snapping the ‘Jacks seven game home winning streak.
Flint has had a league-leading seven shorthanded goals scored against them while Muskegon has yet to give up a short hander this season. On the other end, Fort Wayne and Muskegon lead the IHL in shorthanded goals scored with four, while Flint remains the only team who have not scored while being a man down. Fort Wayne’s P.C Drouin and Muskegon’s Todd Robinson and Frank Littlejohn lead the league, each having scored two shorthanded goals a piece.
Kalamazoo extended their winning streak to an IHL season high eight-games before it was snapped in Bloomington Saturday after a 1-0 defeat by the PrairieThunder, while Fort Wayne and Port Huron both snapped their losing streaks this weekend. Fort Wayne broke their four-game losing streak on Thursday earning the 5-4 victory over the Generals. The Komets improved their record to 29-14-2-2 on Thanksgiving, skating in their 47th consecutive home Thanksgiving game. Port Huron snapped their three-game losing skid Saturday with a 5-3 win over the Flint Generals.
AROUND THE “I”
Bloomington PrairieThunder - (2-1-0-0) – Veteran forward Don Parsons needs just four goals to become the all-time leader in career goals scored in professional minor league hockey. Parsons has 674 in 17 years. The PrairieThunder scored the first goal of the game Friday at Muskegon to snap a streak of 11 straight games that had seen the opponent strike first. Bloomington has only enjoyed scoring the first goal of a game four times in 16 games. Brett Holmberg and Don Parsons have scored at least one point in 11 of the team’s 16 games. Holmberg already has 17 points after scoring just 31 in 76 games as a rookie last season. Likewise, teammate Brent Clarke has scored nine points after scoring only 12 in 73 games during his rookie campaign a year ago. Forward John Nail, who missed eight games with a broken finger, has scored at least one point in five of the eight games he has played. Goalie Scott Fankhouser already has two assists this year, which is a franchise record.
Flint Generals - (0-3-0-0) – Flint Generals are just 2-7-1-1 in their last 11 games and have dropped five in a row. Steve Rymsha was the most productive General during the month of November with 5 goals and 11 assists for 16 points. He had a plus six rating. John DiPace and Josef Fojtik were the most productive shot producers with a combined 108 shots during the month of November. Greg Bullock leads the Generals with 10 road assists, while DiPace, Fojtik and Rymsha each have five goals. Even though the Generals lead the IHL in total penalty minutes with 508, they are fourth in the league in average per game.
Fort Wayne Komets - (2-1-0-0) – The Komets completed week seven collecting four points in three games. The week began with the 47th annual Fort Wayne Thanksgiving game. The victory snapped a four-game Fort Wayne winless streak and marked head coach Al Sims’ 500th win as a pro coach. Winger Dominic Osman netted his second hat trick of the season, both against the Icehawks, while center Colin Chaulk registered four assists. It was Chaulk’s sixth game of scoring three or more points in a game in 13 games played. Saturday night the visiting Muskegon Lumberjacks spoiled a perfect week for the Komets taking a 3-1 win out of Fort Wayne. Curadeau gets nod from Norfolk.: The Komet's leading goal scorer Mathieu Curadeau was called up by the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL Friday. The Admirals are the main affiliate of the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning. Curadeau skated in games Friday, Saturday and Sunday with Norfolk scoring a goal in the Admirals' 3-2 loss at Hershey Sunday night. Prior to Curadeau's call up, the center had 13 goals and 20 points in 14 Komet games.
Kalamazoo Wings - (2-1-0-0) – Kalamazoo's record of 9-3-0-0 is the second best November for the K-Wings is decade and the best since 2005-06 when the K-Wings went 11-3-0-0. Mark Nebus leads the league in plus/minus at +13. Joel Martin stopped 40 shots on Saturday in a loss to Bloomington. Martin, who is 1-2-0-0 on the season, has received zero goals from his team in both losses. Rick Cleaver ranks second overall and leads all rookies in plus/minus with +12. The K-Wings IHL season-high eight-game winning streak, as well as their four-game road winning streak came to an end last Saturday. Kalamazoo will conclude their five-game road swing with two games on Thursday at Flint and on Saturday against Muskegon. Former NHL'er Jeremy Stevenson played his final game in his hockey career last Saturday. Tyler Willis is four points shy of 400 in his career. Kalamazoo is 0 for their last 18 on the power-play, which dates back to the third period versus Bloomington on 11/27/08.
Muskegon Lumberjacks - (2-1-0-0) – With their 3-1 victory Saturday night at Fort Wayne, the Lumberjacks posted their third consecutive win so far this season against the defending Turner Cup Champions. The Muskegon defensive effort was far superior this past week, surrendering only seven goals against in three games for a GAA of 2.33. Muskegon’s best period on the road is the crucial third period, outscoring the home teams 18-11. Muskegon is 4-0-0-0 when they score a shorthanded goal and 5-0-0-0 when a Lumberjack player scores a hat trick. Muskegon third year head coach Bruce Ramsay (95) is just five wins away from becoming only the third coach in the Muskegon pro hockey modern era to reach 100 wins. He has been preceded by Rich Kromm and Todd Nelson. Rookie center Bill Bagron’s first ever goal proved to be the game winner in the third period Saturday night in the ‘Jacks 3-1 victory in Fort Wayne. Defenseman Matt Gens played his 200th professional game Thanksgiving night against Port Huron.
Port Huron Icehawks - (1-2-0-0) – Several defensemen have turned in solid offensive performances for the Icehawks as of late. Derek Merlini is on a three point streak with one goal and two assists in that span and Ian Turner has tallied assists in his last two games (4a). Turner is currently ranked second in the league in defenseman scoring with 14 points and is tied for second in assists among defenseman with 11. The Icehawks more than doubled their opponents in shots on goal on both Friday and Saturday. They have been outshot just three times this season and have been tied in shots three times. They have outshot their opponents 670-525 overall and lead the league in shots in all three periods and total shots. They are 6-7-0-0 when outshooting their opponents this season. With five first period goals last weekend, the Icehawks continue to lead the league in first period goals. They have outscored their opponents 31-15 in the opening stanza this season. They are 7-5-0-0 when leading after the first period and 7-0-0-0 when leading after the second period.
Flint has had a league-leading seven shorthanded goals scored against them while Muskegon has yet to give up a short hander this season. On the other end, Fort Wayne and Muskegon lead the IHL in shorthanded goals scored with four, while Flint remains the only team who have not scored while being a man down. Fort Wayne’s P.C Drouin and Muskegon’s Todd Robinson and Frank Littlejohn lead the league, each having scored two shorthanded goals a piece.
Kalamazoo extended their winning streak to an IHL season high eight-games before it was snapped in Bloomington Saturday after a 1-0 defeat by the PrairieThunder, while Fort Wayne and Port Huron both snapped their losing streaks this weekend. Fort Wayne broke their four-game losing streak on Thursday earning the 5-4 victory over the Generals. The Komets improved their record to 29-14-2-2 on Thanksgiving, skating in their 47th consecutive home Thanksgiving game. Port Huron snapped their three-game losing skid Saturday with a 5-3 win over the Flint Generals.
AROUND THE “I”
Bloomington PrairieThunder - (2-1-0-0) – Veteran forward Don Parsons needs just four goals to become the all-time leader in career goals scored in professional minor league hockey. Parsons has 674 in 17 years. The PrairieThunder scored the first goal of the game Friday at Muskegon to snap a streak of 11 straight games that had seen the opponent strike first. Bloomington has only enjoyed scoring the first goal of a game four times in 16 games. Brett Holmberg and Don Parsons have scored at least one point in 11 of the team’s 16 games. Holmberg already has 17 points after scoring just 31 in 76 games as a rookie last season. Likewise, teammate Brent Clarke has scored nine points after scoring only 12 in 73 games during his rookie campaign a year ago. Forward John Nail, who missed eight games with a broken finger, has scored at least one point in five of the eight games he has played. Goalie Scott Fankhouser already has two assists this year, which is a franchise record.
Flint Generals - (0-3-0-0) – Flint Generals are just 2-7-1-1 in their last 11 games and have dropped five in a row. Steve Rymsha was the most productive General during the month of November with 5 goals and 11 assists for 16 points. He had a plus six rating. John DiPace and Josef Fojtik were the most productive shot producers with a combined 108 shots during the month of November. Greg Bullock leads the Generals with 10 road assists, while DiPace, Fojtik and Rymsha each have five goals. Even though the Generals lead the IHL in total penalty minutes with 508, they are fourth in the league in average per game.
Fort Wayne Komets - (2-1-0-0) – The Komets completed week seven collecting four points in three games. The week began with the 47th annual Fort Wayne Thanksgiving game. The victory snapped a four-game Fort Wayne winless streak and marked head coach Al Sims’ 500th win as a pro coach. Winger Dominic Osman netted his second hat trick of the season, both against the Icehawks, while center Colin Chaulk registered four assists. It was Chaulk’s sixth game of scoring three or more points in a game in 13 games played. Saturday night the visiting Muskegon Lumberjacks spoiled a perfect week for the Komets taking a 3-1 win out of Fort Wayne. Curadeau gets nod from Norfolk.: The Komet's leading goal scorer Mathieu Curadeau was called up by the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL Friday. The Admirals are the main affiliate of the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning. Curadeau skated in games Friday, Saturday and Sunday with Norfolk scoring a goal in the Admirals' 3-2 loss at Hershey Sunday night. Prior to Curadeau's call up, the center had 13 goals and 20 points in 14 Komet games.
Kalamazoo Wings - (2-1-0-0) – Kalamazoo's record of 9-3-0-0 is the second best November for the K-Wings is decade and the best since 2005-06 when the K-Wings went 11-3-0-0. Mark Nebus leads the league in plus/minus at +13. Joel Martin stopped 40 shots on Saturday in a loss to Bloomington. Martin, who is 1-2-0-0 on the season, has received zero goals from his team in both losses. Rick Cleaver ranks second overall and leads all rookies in plus/minus with +12. The K-Wings IHL season-high eight-game winning streak, as well as their four-game road winning streak came to an end last Saturday. Kalamazoo will conclude their five-game road swing with two games on Thursday at Flint and on Saturday against Muskegon. Former NHL'er Jeremy Stevenson played his final game in his hockey career last Saturday. Tyler Willis is four points shy of 400 in his career. Kalamazoo is 0 for their last 18 on the power-play, which dates back to the third period versus Bloomington on 11/27/08.
Muskegon Lumberjacks - (2-1-0-0) – With their 3-1 victory Saturday night at Fort Wayne, the Lumberjacks posted their third consecutive win so far this season against the defending Turner Cup Champions. The Muskegon defensive effort was far superior this past week, surrendering only seven goals against in three games for a GAA of 2.33. Muskegon’s best period on the road is the crucial third period, outscoring the home teams 18-11. Muskegon is 4-0-0-0 when they score a shorthanded goal and 5-0-0-0 when a Lumberjack player scores a hat trick. Muskegon third year head coach Bruce Ramsay (95) is just five wins away from becoming only the third coach in the Muskegon pro hockey modern era to reach 100 wins. He has been preceded by Rich Kromm and Todd Nelson. Rookie center Bill Bagron’s first ever goal proved to be the game winner in the third period Saturday night in the ‘Jacks 3-1 victory in Fort Wayne. Defenseman Matt Gens played his 200th professional game Thanksgiving night against Port Huron.
Port Huron Icehawks - (1-2-0-0) – Several defensemen have turned in solid offensive performances for the Icehawks as of late. Derek Merlini is on a three point streak with one goal and two assists in that span and Ian Turner has tallied assists in his last two games (4a). Turner is currently ranked second in the league in defenseman scoring with 14 points and is tied for second in assists among defenseman with 11. The Icehawks more than doubled their opponents in shots on goal on both Friday and Saturday. They have been outshot just three times this season and have been tied in shots three times. They have outshot their opponents 670-525 overall and lead the league in shots in all three periods and total shots. They are 6-7-0-0 when outshooting their opponents this season. With five first period goals last weekend, the Icehawks continue to lead the league in first period goals. They have outscored their opponents 31-15 in the opening stanza this season. They are 7-5-0-0 when leading after the first period and 7-0-0-0 when leading after the second period.
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