Kalamazoo Wings

For the K-Wings franchise that played in the original IHL, see Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000).

Kalamazoo Wings
2021–22 ECHL season
City	Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
League	ECHL
Conference	Western
Division	Central
Founded	1999 (in the UHL)
Home arena	Wings Event Center
Colors	Red, white, blue
Owner(s)	William D. Johnston/Ronda Stryker (Greenleaf Hospitality)
General manager	Nick Bootland
Head coach	Nick Bootland
Media	WQLR Kalamazoo Gazette
Affiliates	Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL) Cleveland Monsters (AHL)
Franchise history
1999–2000	Madison Kodiaks
2000–present	Kalamazoo Wings
Championships
Regular season titles	1 UHL 2005–06
Division Championships	1 UHL 2005–06 4 ECHL 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14
Conference Championships	2 UHL 2005–06, 2006–07 1 ECHL 2010–11
Colonial Cups	1 UHL 2005–06
Kelly Cups	0 ECHL

The Kalamazoo Wings, nicknamed the K-Wings, are a mid-level professional ice hockey team in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A member of the ECHL's Western Conference, Central Division, they play in the 5,113-seat Wings Event Center. They are the affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League, and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League.

Kalamazoo is home to the "Green Ice Game". Played since 1982 on St. Patrick's Day, it is one of the most celebrated games in minor league hockey. The team has sought to duplicate the game's success with the Pink Ice Game (Valentine's Day), the Orange Ice Game (Halloween).

History

A road game in October 2012 vs. Toledo Walleye.

The team began in the 1999–2000 season as the United Hockey League's Madison Kodiaks in Madison, Wisconsin. After one season in Madison, the franchise moved to Kalamazoo, where it renamed itself the Wings in honor of the original Wings that had played in the International Hockey League from 1974 through 2000. The new Wings obtained the right to use the old Wings' name and logo, as well as using the original team's history as its own.

The K-Wings played in the UHL from October 2000 until June 1, 2009, when they withdrew because of concerns that the league, which had renamed itself the International Hockey League in 2007, might go bankrupt. Eight days later, the K-Wings joined the ECHL. From September 13, 2012 until the end of the 2014–15 season, the Wings had an affiliation with the American Hockey League's Chicago Wolves. They were also affiliated with the National Hockey League's Columbus Blue Jackets and Vancouver Canucks as well as their AHL affiliates the Springfield Falcons and Utica Comets, respectively.

Prior to the 2015–16 season, the ECHL required teams to only have one official NHL/AHL affiliate, leading to the K-Wings only keeping their Columbus affiliation and the Blue Jackets' new AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters. They ended their affiliation with the Blue Jackets after one season and affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Syracuse Crunch for the 2016–17 season. They changed again for the 2017–18 season to the Canucks and Comets, their previous affiliates for several seasons.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wings voluntarily suspended operations for the 2020–21 ECHL season. When the team returned for the 2021–22 season, they switched their affiliation back to the Columbus Blue Jackets.. On June 23, 2022, the Wings signed an affiliation extension with the Blue Jackets (and therefore the Cleveland Monsters also) for the 2022-23 season

Season records

Season	GP	W	L	T/OTL	Pts	GF	GA	Pct	Regular Season Finish	Playoffs
United Hockey League
2000–01	74	37	31	6	80	220	220	.541	3rd Southwest, 9th of 15	Lost Play-in game vs. Muskegon Fury
2001–02	74	27	37	8	66	213	277	.446	6th Western, 11th of 14	Did not qualify
2002–03	76	29	39	8	66	210	282	.434	5th Western, 10th of 10	Did not qualify
2003–04	76	45	22	9	99	281	207	.651	4th Western, 4th of 12	Lost Quarterfinal series vs. Fort Wayne Komets, 2–3
2004–05	80	50	24	6	100	257	204	.663	2nd Central, 3rd of 14	Lost Semifinal series vs. Fort Wayne Komets, 3–4
2005–06	76	52	17	7	111	332	183	.730	1st Central, 1st of 14	Won Colonial Cup Final series vs. Danbury Trashers, 4–1
2006–07	76	47	23	6	100	251	191	.658	2nd Eastern, 4th of 10	Lost Colonial Cup Final series vs. Rockford IceHogs, 3–4
International Hockey League
2007–08	76	31	34	11	73	242	252	.480	5th of 6 IHL	Did not qualify
2008–09	76	44	29	3	91	274	253	.599	4th of 6 IHL	Lost Semifinal series vs. Fort Wayne Komets, 3–4
ECHL
2009–10	72	42	20	10	94	273	243	.653	1st North, 3rd of 20	Lost Quarterfinal series vs. Reading Royals, 2–3
2010–11	72	40	24	8	88	255	225	.611	1st North, 4th of 19	Lost Kelly Cup Final series vs. Alaska Aces, 1–4
2011–12	72	38	26	8	84	264	237	.583	1st North, 8th of 20	Lost Eastern Conference Final series vs. Florida Everblades, 1–4
2012–13	72	34	30	8	76	205	215	.528	3rd North, 14th of 23	Did not qualify
2013–14	72	42	22	8	92	224	197	.639	1st North, 4th of 21	Lost Quarterfinal series vs. Greenville Road Warriors, 2–4
2014–15	72	36	30	6	78	226	233	.542	3rd North, 16th of 28	Lost Division Semifinal series vs. Fort Wayne Komets, 1–4
2015–16	72	38	28	6	82	233	230	.569	3rd North, 13th of 28	Lost Conference Quarterfinal series vs. South Carolina Stingrays, 1–4
2016–17	72	38	30	4	80	222	237	.556	4th Central, 15th of 27	Lost Division Semifinal series vs. Toledo Walleye, 3–4
2017–18	72	34	31	7	75	251	251	.521	5th Central, 16th of 27	Did not qualify
2018–19	72	36	31	5	77	229	254	.535	4th Central, 15th of 27	Lost Division Semifinal series vs. Cincinnati Cyclones, 2–4
2019–20	61	23	30	8	54	194	241	.443	5th Central, 22nd of 26	Season cancelled
2020–21	Opted out of participating due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22	72	36	35	1	73	224	255	.507	5th Central, 19th of 27	Did not qualify

Players

Current roster

Updated April 20, 2022.

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace	Contract
18		Kyle Blaney	F	R	33	2016	Burlington, Ontario	Wings
19		Erik Bradford	C	L	30	2021	Orangeville, Ontario	Wings
10		Raymond Brice	F	L	29	2021	Houghton, Michigan	Wings
48		Anthony Collins	RW	R	35	2022	Langley, British Columbia	Wings
17		Ryan Cook	D	R	29	2022	Lancaster, New York	Wings
3		Cody Corbett	D	L	31	2021	Lakeland, Minnesota	Wings
4		Michael Davies	D	L	27	2021	St. Louis, Missouri	Wings
23		Andrew DeBrincat	D	R	31	2021	Farmington Hills, Michigan	Wings
35		Trevor Gorsuch	G	L	30	2021	St. Charles, Missouri	Wings
21		Max Humitz	F	L	29	2021	Livonia, Michigan	Wings
44		Matt Iacopelli	F	L	30	2019	Brownstown, Michigan	Wings
29		Jake Kielly	G	L	28	2022	Eden Prairie, Minnesota	Wings
7		Logan Lambdin	LW	L	29	2021	Wyandotte, Michigan	Wings
2		Jeremy Masella	D	L	25	2022	Phoenix, Arizona	Wings
16		Brenden Miller	D	L	30	2021	Orangeville, Ontario	Wings
24		Justin Murray	D	L	26	2021	London, Ontario	Wings
37		Tanner Nagel	RW	R	26	2022	Mossbank, Saskatchewan	Wings
11		Tyler Rockwell	D	L	28	2021	San Jose, California	Wings
9		Colin Saccoman	D	R	27	2021	Stillwater, Minnesota	Wings
25		Denis Smirnov	LW	L	27	2021	Moscow, Russia	Wings
74		Tanner Sorenson	F	R	29	2018	Anchorage, Alaska	Wings
93		Justin Taylor	F	L	35	2021	Mindemoya, Ontario	Wings

Retired numbers

• #1 Georges Gagnon
• #13 Tyler Willis
• #22 Mike Wanchuk
• #26 Kevin Schamehorn
• #27 Neil Meadmore

Team records

Kalamazoo Wings playing against the Chicago Express in 2011

Single season

Goals: 46 Nick Bootland (2007–08)

Assists: 70 Daniel Carriere (2005–06)

Points: 94 Kory Karlander (2007–08)

Penalty minutes: 344 Tyler Willis (2003–04)

GAA: 2.02 Ryan Nie (2006–07)

SV%: .929 Ryan Nie (2006–07)

Career

Career games played: 614 Justin Taylor (2010–22)

Career goals: 237 Justin Taylor (2010–22)

Career assists: 263 Kory Karlander (2004–13)

Career points: 457 Justin Taylor (2010–22)

Career penalty minutes: 1,463 Tyler Willis (2003–10)

Career goaltending games played: 422 Joel Martin (2004-18)

Career goaltending wins: 152 Joel Martin (2004–18)

Career shutouts: 18 Joel Martin (2004–18)

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Kalamazoo Wings Official Website