K-Wings Weekly: K-Wings Climb Back to .500 on Orange Ice, Prepare for First Road Contest Saturday

October 31, 2022 – ECHL (ECHL) – Kalamazoo Wings News Release

Kalamazoo prepares for Military Appreciation Night on Friday then heads to Indy on Saturday.

OVERALL RECORD: 2-2-0-0

LAST WEEK: 2-1-0-0

KALAMAZOO, MI – The Kalamazoo Wings, proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets, play one game at Wings Event Center this week before heading out for their first road trip of the season. First, the K-Wings welcome the Toledo Walleye on Friday, November 4, and then travel to Indianapolis on Saturday, November 5 to square off against the Indy Fuel.

Last week, the K-Wings went 2-1-0-0 (1-2, 6-3, 2-0).

Kalamazoo regrouped this week with three gutsy efforts to climb back to .500 on the young season.

First, the K-Wings gave the Indy Fuel, a team that scored seven goals in their first game, everything they could handle on Wednesday. Despite the loss, the K-Wings outmatched the Fuel for most of the contest.

Kalamazoo then used Wednesday’s disappointment to thump Iowa on Friday, 6-3. The game featured six different goal scorers, four players with multiple points and it goes in the books as Joel Martin’s first career head coaching win.

Finally, the K-Wings finished the week with a victory on Orange Ice, shutting out the defending Western Conference champion Toledo Walleye. Evan Cormier made 39 stops in the victory for his fifth career shutout and first as a K-Wing.

Also, Wednesday’s Education Day game marked the first time two head coaches of color led their teams against each other in ECHL history (Joel Martin – Kalamazoo, Jason Payne – Cincinnati).

UPCOMING EVENTS IN DETAIL

One of the two games Kalamazoo plays this week is at Wings Event Center.

Friday, November 4 at 7:00 p.m. EDT versus Toledo at Wings Event Center is ‘Military Appreciation Night,’ presented by Bronson. Make sure to wear your red, white and blue as we pay our respect to our nation’s troops and veterans the K-Wings way. You’ll also love Kalamazoo’s Military Appreciation jerseys, so join us on Dash during the game to bid. Click HERE to enter the auction once the puck drops. And last but not least, it’s a $3 Friday ($3 beers, sodas and hot dogs), presented by Bud Light.

RESULTS

Wednesday, Oct. 26 – Cincinnati 2, Kalamazoo 1 (Wings Event Center – Kalamazoo, MI) | Box Score

>> Cincinnati scored both of its goals with four skaters on the ice, scoring once during four-on-four play and once shorthanded. Raymond Brice (1) scored Kalamazoo’s first and only goal of the game at the 7:38 mark in the third. Collin Saccoman (1)earned the assist on the goal with a tremendous individual effort from end to end to find Brice, who tied the game. Hunter Vorva (0-1-0-0) made his first career ECHL start for the K-Wings and began building his highlight reel with saves on multiple point-blank opportunities for Cincinnati. Vorva made 26 saves in the contest.

Friday, Oct. 28 – Kalamazoo 6, Iowa 3 (Wings Event Center – Kalamazoo, MI) | Box Score

>> The win goes in the books as the first career head coaching win for Joel Martin. The K-Wings raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and never looked back. First, defenseman Olivier LeBlanc (1) ripped a shot from the blue line into the net. Four minutes later, Anthony Collins’ (1) netted a goal to make it 2-0. Then Brandon Saigeon (1) scored his first goal as a K-Wing to make it 3-0, chipping in his own rebound from right in front of the crease. Iowa got on the board just before the first period expired, but Coale Norris (1) restored the Kalamazoo lead to three with his first professional goal in the second. Then after Iowa drew to within two again, Matheson Iacopelli (3) struck for the K-Wings on the power play. Mason McCarty (1) then capped the scoring with an empty-net goal. Goaltender Evan Cormier (1-0-0-0) looked comfortable in net, and made 27 saves in his K-Wings debut. Saigeon (3), LeBlanc (2), McCarty (2) and Norris (2) all had multiple points in the contest.

Saturday, Oct. 29 – Kalamazoo 2, Toledo 0 (Wings Event Center – Kalamazoo, MI) | Box Score

>> Evan Cormier (2-0-0-0) survived 39 shots on Saturday to win in shutout fashion on ‘Orange Ice’ at Wings Event Center. Cormier put on a show in front of almost 3,500 fans, as he stopped shot after shot down the stretch, including 16 in the third period, to earn his fifth career shutout. He also helped lead the K-Wings penalty kill to a perfect 2-2 performance. For the second night in a row, Kalamazoo scored in the first two minutes of the game as Max Humitz (1) scored at the 1:06 mark on a beautiful 2-on-1 conversion. Then Mason McCarty (2) finished off his own leftovers to make it 2-0 at the 4:47 mark of the second. McCarty fired the initial shot from the slot and cleaned up the rebound. Kalamazoo improved back to .500 with the victory.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Friday, Nov. 4 – Toledo versus Kalamazoo, 7:00 p.m. EDT – Wings Event Center (Kalamazoo, MI)

Saturday, Nov. 5 – Kalamazoo at Indy, 7:00 p.m. EDT – Indiana Farmers Coliseum (Indianapolis, IN)

ON THE MOVE

Oct. 27 – Goaltender Evan Cormier was loaned to Kalamazoo by the Manitoba Moose (AHL)

Oct. 27 – Goaltender Trevor Gorsuch was released from his Standard Player Contract by Kalamazoo

FAST FACTS

– Joel Martin recorded his first career head coaching win, as Kalamazoo beat Iowa 6-3 on Friday

– Coale Norris scored his first pro point, and first pro goal, on Friday versus Iowa in Kalamazoo’s 6-3 win

– Daniel D’Amico also notched his first pro point with an assist on Friday versus Iowa

STATISTICAL LEADERS

POINTS: 5 – Mason McCarty

GOAL: 3 – Matheson Iacopelli

ASSISTS: 3 – Mason McCarty, Brandon Saigeon

PLUS/MINUS: +5 – Brandon Saigeon

PIMS: 10 – Justin Murray

PP GOALS: 3 – Matheson Iacopelli

SH GOALS: 0

GW GOALS: 1 – Max Humitz, Coale Norris

SHOTS: 14 – Justin Taylor

WINS: 2 – Evan Cormier

GAA: 1.50 – Evan Cormier

SAVE %: .957 – Evan Cormier

* Currently with Cleveland (AHL)

** Currently with Columbus (NHL)

SPECIAL TEAMS

POWER PLAY: Last Week – 2/8 (25%)

This Season – 4/16 (25%) – T-No. 9 in the ECHL

PENALTY KILL: Last Week – 7/9 (78%)

This Season – 9/15 (60.0%) – No. 28 in the ECHL

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