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Five IHL Teams Still Fighting for Last Playoff Spots
Monday, Mar. 24th, 2008
ROCHESTER, MI - With just three weeks left in the regular season, five of the six member clubs are still fighting for their chance to play in the 2008 Turner Cup Playoffs. Fort Wayne is the only team who has clinched a spot, sitting atop the standings with 103 points. There is just 13 points that separate sixth place Bloomington (59 points) and second place Port Huron (72 points). The race between third thru fifth is even closer with third place Muskegon sitting at 69 points, fourth place Flint at 68 points and fifth place Kalamazoo at 67 points.
Fort Wayne tied the all time IHL consecutive home winning streak of 22 straight set back in the 1965-66 season by the Muskegon Mohawks. The Komets will have a chance to break the 42-year-old IHL single season record Friday night when Kalamazoo travels to Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Their 10-game winning streak was snapped Monday after a 5-4 shootout loss to Kalamazoo on Monday.
Flint won their first game Friday night since releasing head coach Kevin Kerr two weeks ago. They are currently 1-4-0-1 since Associate Coaches Peter South, Steve Pronger and Jason Muzzatti took over coaching duties. After going 1-6-0-2 in their last 10 games, the Generals held on to a 2-1 victory over the K-Wings on home ice, breaking their four game losing streak.
AROUND THE “I”
Bloomington PrairieThunder - (1-2-0-0) – The PrairieThunder won their 26th game during the week to surpass the franchise record of 25 set last season in their first year of existence. Rookie Brett Holmberg has scored three goals in his last nine shots on goal. Defenseman Sam Miller scored his first goal of the season (64 games) Friday against Muskegon. The PrairieThunder has converted on 6 of its last 12 power play opportunities. Rookie Neil Clark has had two goals and two assists in the last four games. Forward Don Parsons continues to lead the PrairieThunder in scoring with 64 points (30g, 34a). He is also fourth in the IHL in shots with 253. Goaltender Loic Lacasse ranks third among IHL goaltenders in saves (1,179) and is fourth in save percentage (.906).
Flint Generals - (1-2-0-0) – The Flint Generals will participate in their fourth school day game of the season on Wednesday morning. This time the Generals will host more than 3,300 school children at Perani Arena and Event Center at 10:30 am when the Muskegon Fury come to town. It’s the second time that the Generals and the Fury have been involved in a school game this season. Muskegon beat the Generals 5-4 in a shootout in early January in Darren McCarty’s first game. The Generals are 1-1-0-1 overall in school day games with a win and a loss versus the Kalamazoo Wings. Goaltender Eric Marvin continues to lead three of the individual goaltender statistics. Marvin ranks first in minutes-played (2755:58), saves (1231) in the IHL and is also tied for first in losses (18). Forward Mike Kinnie has been on fire the last five games for the Generals with two goals and three assists for five points. Shaun Fisher has five assists in his last five games, while goaltender Eric Marvin has a 1-1-0-1 mark in his last three starts and a goals against average of 2.60.
Fort Wayne Komets - (3-0-0-1) – The IHL season champion Komets earned seven of a possible eight points and broke the 100-point mark, improving to 48-12-5-2 for 103 points with nine games remaining in 2007-08. It's the second consecutive 100+ point season for the Komets and 13th overall for the 56-year-old Fort Wayne franchise. Fort Wayne records to watch: 53 wins (now at 48 with nine games remaining), 112 points (now at 103 points), 32 home wins (now at 29 with four home games remaining). Hot Komets: In addition to the 22-game home winning streak, the Komets are unbeaten in regulation 16 straight games (last game lost in regulation was Feb. 17 at Bloomington). The Komets are also riding a nine-game road unbeaten streak. Luciano Aquino (RW) has an IHL season-high 12-game point-scoring streak (9g, 10a). Mathieu Curadeau (C) has a seven-game point streak (6g, 4a) and three-game assist streak (3a). Goalie Kevin Reiter has posted seven straight wins and is unbeaten in regulation eight straight. Goaltender Nick Boucher is unbeaten in regulation 19 straight games that he has started and is unbeaten overall 13 straight (11-0-1-1). Sims steers 1,000th game: Komet head coach Al Sims coached his 1,000th game Friday at Port Huron (3-2 win).
Kalamazoo Wings - (2-2-0-0) – Kalamazoo has won a season-high six straight at home. Kalamazoo is on a five-game road winless streak. The K-Wings will start a three-game road swing this Friday. The K-Wings are one point behind the Flint Generals for fourth and two points behind the Muskegon Fury for third. Nick Bootland leads the league in both goals (38) and shots (305). Jamie Vanderveeken leads all IHL defensemen with eight power-play goals. Kalamazoo leads the league in shorthanded goals scored on the road with seven. Kalamazoo is 8-0-0-1 when leading on the road after the first. With their 5-4 shootout victory over Fort Wayne, the K-Wings are 18-6-0-3 on Green Ice and 2-1-0-0 versus Fort Wayne. Kory Karlander leads the league in scoring with 82 points.
Muskegon Fury - (2-1-0-0) – This week, the Fury play four games in a five-day span. Wednesday morning, Muskegon travels to Flint to take on the Generals. Friday, the Fury host the Prairie Thunder. Saturday, Muskegon plays at Fort Wayne before returning home Sunday afternoon to play Kalamazoo. The Fury’s Dan Riedel is currently on a nine-game point streak, the second-longest streak in the league. The IHL’s defending Rookie of the Week scored five points (3g, 2a) and had a plus-five plus-minus rating this week. His 25 goals and 44 points lead all Fury rookies. Philippe Plante needs five points for 300 in his career. Mark Cadotte is six assists away from 300 for his career and 13 goals shy of 200 for his career. David Segal is six games away from 100 for his career. Friday in Bloomington, Chris Kovalcik played the 200th game of his career.
Port Huron Icehawks - (1-1-1-0) – With a win Wednesday over Kalamazoo, the Icehawks extended their win streak to four games. The streak was snapped on Friday with a 3-2 loss to Fort Wayne. The Icehawks are 3-1-1 in their last five games and 5-3-2-0 in their last ten. The Icehawks overtime loss at Muskegon on Sunday was just their second overtime loss of the season. The Hawks continue to hold the league’s best record after regulation this season, with a 4-2 mark in overtime games and a 5-2 record in shootout games. Jereme Tendler made a big impression in his first game as an Icehawk on Friday, notching his first professional goal in the first period against Fort Wayne. The rookie from American International College was signed to a professional tryout prior to Friday’s game. Goalie Larry Sterling turned in another big weekend for Port Huron, with a win Wednesday over Kalamazoo and an overtime loss at Muskegon on Saturday. He is 4-0-2-0 in his last six games and has not lost in regulation since February 23. He is tied for second in the league for wins with 20 and is ranked third behind Fort Wayne’s Kevin Reiter and Nick Boucher for goals against average with a 2.56 GAA. With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Icehawks have the league’s lightest schedule, with seven home contests and just two more road games (both at Kalamazoo)
Fort Wayne tied the all time IHL consecutive home winning streak of 22 straight set back in the 1965-66 season by the Muskegon Mohawks. The Komets will have a chance to break the 42-year-old IHL single season record Friday night when Kalamazoo travels to Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Their 10-game winning streak was snapped Monday after a 5-4 shootout loss to Kalamazoo on Monday.
Flint won their first game Friday night since releasing head coach Kevin Kerr two weeks ago. They are currently 1-4-0-1 since Associate Coaches Peter South, Steve Pronger and Jason Muzzatti took over coaching duties. After going 1-6-0-2 in their last 10 games, the Generals held on to a 2-1 victory over the K-Wings on home ice, breaking their four game losing streak.
AROUND THE “I”
Bloomington PrairieThunder - (1-2-0-0) – The PrairieThunder won their 26th game during the week to surpass the franchise record of 25 set last season in their first year of existence. Rookie Brett Holmberg has scored three goals in his last nine shots on goal. Defenseman Sam Miller scored his first goal of the season (64 games) Friday against Muskegon. The PrairieThunder has converted on 6 of its last 12 power play opportunities. Rookie Neil Clark has had two goals and two assists in the last four games. Forward Don Parsons continues to lead the PrairieThunder in scoring with 64 points (30g, 34a). He is also fourth in the IHL in shots with 253. Goaltender Loic Lacasse ranks third among IHL goaltenders in saves (1,179) and is fourth in save percentage (.906).
Flint Generals - (1-2-0-0) – The Flint Generals will participate in their fourth school day game of the season on Wednesday morning. This time the Generals will host more than 3,300 school children at Perani Arena and Event Center at 10:30 am when the Muskegon Fury come to town. It’s the second time that the Generals and the Fury have been involved in a school game this season. Muskegon beat the Generals 5-4 in a shootout in early January in Darren McCarty’s first game. The Generals are 1-1-0-1 overall in school day games with a win and a loss versus the Kalamazoo Wings. Goaltender Eric Marvin continues to lead three of the individual goaltender statistics. Marvin ranks first in minutes-played (2755:58), saves (1231) in the IHL and is also tied for first in losses (18). Forward Mike Kinnie has been on fire the last five games for the Generals with two goals and three assists for five points. Shaun Fisher has five assists in his last five games, while goaltender Eric Marvin has a 1-1-0-1 mark in his last three starts and a goals against average of 2.60.
Fort Wayne Komets - (3-0-0-1) – The IHL season champion Komets earned seven of a possible eight points and broke the 100-point mark, improving to 48-12-5-2 for 103 points with nine games remaining in 2007-08. It's the second consecutive 100+ point season for the Komets and 13th overall for the 56-year-old Fort Wayne franchise. Fort Wayne records to watch: 53 wins (now at 48 with nine games remaining), 112 points (now at 103 points), 32 home wins (now at 29 with four home games remaining). Hot Komets: In addition to the 22-game home winning streak, the Komets are unbeaten in regulation 16 straight games (last game lost in regulation was Feb. 17 at Bloomington). The Komets are also riding a nine-game road unbeaten streak. Luciano Aquino (RW) has an IHL season-high 12-game point-scoring streak (9g, 10a). Mathieu Curadeau (C) has a seven-game point streak (6g, 4a) and three-game assist streak (3a). Goalie Kevin Reiter has posted seven straight wins and is unbeaten in regulation eight straight. Goaltender Nick Boucher is unbeaten in regulation 19 straight games that he has started and is unbeaten overall 13 straight (11-0-1-1). Sims steers 1,000th game: Komet head coach Al Sims coached his 1,000th game Friday at Port Huron (3-2 win).
Kalamazoo Wings - (2-2-0-0) – Kalamazoo has won a season-high six straight at home. Kalamazoo is on a five-game road winless streak. The K-Wings will start a three-game road swing this Friday. The K-Wings are one point behind the Flint Generals for fourth and two points behind the Muskegon Fury for third. Nick Bootland leads the league in both goals (38) and shots (305). Jamie Vanderveeken leads all IHL defensemen with eight power-play goals. Kalamazoo leads the league in shorthanded goals scored on the road with seven. Kalamazoo is 8-0-0-1 when leading on the road after the first. With their 5-4 shootout victory over Fort Wayne, the K-Wings are 18-6-0-3 on Green Ice and 2-1-0-0 versus Fort Wayne. Kory Karlander leads the league in scoring with 82 points.
Muskegon Fury - (2-1-0-0) – This week, the Fury play four games in a five-day span. Wednesday morning, Muskegon travels to Flint to take on the Generals. Friday, the Fury host the Prairie Thunder. Saturday, Muskegon plays at Fort Wayne before returning home Sunday afternoon to play Kalamazoo. The Fury’s Dan Riedel is currently on a nine-game point streak, the second-longest streak in the league. The IHL’s defending Rookie of the Week scored five points (3g, 2a) and had a plus-five plus-minus rating this week. His 25 goals and 44 points lead all Fury rookies. Philippe Plante needs five points for 300 in his career. Mark Cadotte is six assists away from 300 for his career and 13 goals shy of 200 for his career. David Segal is six games away from 100 for his career. Friday in Bloomington, Chris Kovalcik played the 200th game of his career.
Port Huron Icehawks - (1-1-1-0) – With a win Wednesday over Kalamazoo, the Icehawks extended their win streak to four games. The streak was snapped on Friday with a 3-2 loss to Fort Wayne. The Icehawks are 3-1-1 in their last five games and 5-3-2-0 in their last ten. The Icehawks overtime loss at Muskegon on Sunday was just their second overtime loss of the season. The Hawks continue to hold the league’s best record after regulation this season, with a 4-2 mark in overtime games and a 5-2 record in shootout games. Jereme Tendler made a big impression in his first game as an Icehawk on Friday, notching his first professional goal in the first period against Fort Wayne. The rookie from American International College was signed to a professional tryout prior to Friday’s game. Goalie Larry Sterling turned in another big weekend for Port Huron, with a win Wednesday over Kalamazoo and an overtime loss at Muskegon on Saturday. He is 4-0-2-0 in his last six games and has not lost in regulation since February 23. He is tied for second in the league for wins with 20 and is ranked third behind Fort Wayne’s Kevin Reiter and Nick Boucher for goals against average with a 2.56 GAA. With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Icehawks have the league’s lightest schedule, with seven home contests and just two more road games (both at Kalamazoo)
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