I hope everyone had a good New Year's. The game
was great!! Our Kwings needed this one. I love Benoit
Beausoleil. He has a lot of energy. And Aaron Plumb he can
fight and score! Good job Kwings, I can't wait for the
next home game!

What a game! Other than the linesman totally
screwing up the delayed penalty call in the first (Keyes
was having a fit, *he* knew what the rule was), this
was close to perfect. Most goals all year, most shots
all year, great game by Cooper...only thing that
evidently needs work is the PK. The guys kept the pressure
up all sixty minutes, no brain-lapses tonight. And
the crowd! How about that, 2,500 on a Sunday...not
bad, guys, let's get these people back on Thursday...

How bout that.. What away to end the old year ..Super game guys...Kwings win ..
If you were not there... you missed a good one....Happy New Years all...

Wishing the Wings a win for their New Year's Eve game :)  Go Wings!

Found a few mistakes on the magnetic schedule
when I compared it to a pocket schedule. The
Wednesday, February 7th game at Port Huron was rescheduled
to Thursday, February 8th; I think there was a press
release about that back in October. The March 3rd home
game that was just rescheduled to March 1st also has
the wrong team listed--it's Mohawk Valley, not Port
Huron. Same thing for February 2nd--Rockford, not Port
Huron.

Go defense! Talk about stepping up to the plate!
I guess "highest scoring defense in the league"
isn't a bad stat to have!?!? Muskegons last goal was an
empty netter in the last minute so the guys kept it
close and competitive. Welcome new guy! Score goals,
OK?

Once again Katt, well said! It is at a point
where we really have done all that we can and we aren't
giving up. Your statement on Sponsors can be unforgiving
too is also correct. We can boast about this team and
bring everyone and their brother to the games, but in
the end, it's up to you guys to give them a show. We
know you can do it. Show 'em what you're made of and
they'll come back to the games!!!

That's what Yahoo puts in when you don't write a message.  I believe it means
"End of Message."

Sounds like a good addition to our team.  About time we started to shake things
up a little.  We needed a points maker and now we have one.  Good :)

<a href=http://espn.go.com/nhl/columns/frei_terry/845553.html
target=new>http://espn.go.com/nhl/columns/frei_terry/845553.html</a><br><br>Abou\
t the Carolina Hurricanes' attendance problems.  There are a few strategies in
there that the K-Wings might want to look at...

We're getting some help in the form of veteran
center Mike Maurice. Kalamazoo claimed him off of
waivers from Flint earlier today. In 23 games with the
Generals, Mike had six goals and 13 assists. He also has an
assist in one game for the GR Griffins. He has a few
full seasons of triple-A hockey under his belt, and
twice scored well over 100 points here at the double-A
level. His stats can be found
at:<br><br><a href=http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=00003474
target=new>http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=00003474</a><br><br>\
Not sure why Flint let him go, but I'm sure he'll
make a nice fit in Kalamazoo...he averages well, well
over a point-per-game at this level.<br><br>P.S. I
have to correct my earlier trivia question now. Which
FIVE current K-Wings played with the now-defunt
Madison Monsters? =)

That's the final.  Muskegon 5, Kal. 3.  Sniff Sniff...

Muskegon 5, Kalamazoo 3

Our scoring problem is being addressed. It seems
that your Kalamazoo Wings DEFENSE has decided to take
matters into it's own hands. Three goals tonight by three
defensemen! Lukasak, Paterson, and Winter all getting their
first goals of the season tonight. Wings are down by
one in the third.

Wings and Fury tied 2 to 2 at end of 1st.  Muskegon scored twice in second to go
up four to two.

Thankya kindly, Nicky...exactly what I was
looking for =)<br><br>Got another trivia question for all
K-Wings fans out there. Which four current Kalamazoo
Wings played with the now-defunct Madison Monsters
team? Don't forget I have another trivia quiz, goto
message 2988...

It is new this year. I will post another item
from theuhlfan.com<br><br>___________<br><br>Lake St.
Louis, MO - The United Hockey League announced today the
format for the 2001 Colonial<br>Cup Playoffs. Under the
new format, ten teams (five per conference) will
qualify for the Playoffs.<br>The four division winners
will be seed 1-2 in their respective conferences based
on regular<br>season record. The remaining three
teams will be seeded 3-4-5 based on records. <br><br>In
the single elimination Wildcard Round, each
respective conference’s fourth seed will host the<br>fifth
seed. The winner advances to meet their conference’s
first seed in the best-of-five<br>Conference
Semi-Finals. The second seed plays the third seed in each
conference’s second<br>Semi-Finals series. The Conference
Finals is best-of-five and the Colonial Cup Finals
is<br>best-of-seven. In all series, the team with the better regular
season record has home ice<br>advantage. <br><br>Below
is a breakdown of the match-up for each series.
<br><br>Wildcard Round (single elimination) <br>West # 4 vs. West
#5<br>East # 4 vs. East # 5 <br><br>Conference Semi-Finals
(best-of-five) <br>West # 1 vs. West Wildcard Winner<br>West # 2
vs. West # 3<br>East # 1 vs. East Wildcard
Winner<br>East # 2 vs. East # 3 <br><br>Conference Finals
(best-of-five) <br>West Semi-Final Winner vs. West Semi-Final
Winner<br>East Semi-Final Winner vs. East Semi-Final Winner
<br><br>Colonial Cup Finals (best-of-seven)<br>Eastern Conference
Champion vs. Western Conference Champion
<br><br>__________<br><br>Ok that one had lots of specifics for you CJ !
:)<br><br>Nicky

Or maybe I didn't...the rules there are last
year's from when the league didn't use a West vs East
finals round...I'm thinking that maybe the UHL hasn't
announced a playoff format for this year yet...

Answered my own question :)<br><br><a
href=http://my.ohio.voyager.net/~shenk/uhl/uhlrules.htm
target=new>http://my.ohio.voyager.net/~shenk/uhl/uhlrules.htm</a>

Ok, cool...but did it say how many rounds the UHL playoffs are?  How many/which
teams make the playoffs?  Does every round follow a best-of-seven format like
the NHL, or does it vary like the IHL?

UHL Playoffs - this was posted earlier this
season on theuhlfan.com discussion
board:<br>____________<br><br>UHL Switches to East vs. West Finals
Format<br><br>Thanks, Craig Cooper/QUAD-CITY TIMES - October 15, 2000
<br><br>There is general agreement that the talent level in the
United Hockey League is improving rapidly.<br><br>League
officials are hoping that parity will follow this season,
making an Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference
championship series competitive.<br><br>For the first time, an
Eastern Conference team is assured of making the
finals.<br><br>Under a format change, Eastern and Western Conference
teams will stay within their conferences in the
playoffs until the Colonial Cup finals.<br><br>The Western
Conference has the past five champions, though, and a team
from what is now the Eastern Conference never has
advanced to the finals<br><br>Regular-season scheduling
also has been adjusted. The Quad-City Mallards, for
example, will see teams from the Eastern Conference only
twice this season on a home-and-home basis.<br><br>But
the Mallards will face the defending Colonial Cup
champion Flint Generals 10
times.<br><br>_________<br><br>So it's like in the NHL where they play teams
within
their conference, and then whoever wins each conference
play each other in the finals.<br><br>Nicky

You're right, Nicky. It's not just winning that
will get the fans to go to games. I know I've seen
some Wings games this year that we lost that still had
me telling people "Damn! Our team is good!" Gritty
inspired play is almost as good as a win. If I can leave
feeling like my team was as fast, skilled, and determined
as the other team, even if they didn't win, then I
call that a good hockey game. I think the first and
most important ingredient to the success of this team
in this market has to be a competitive team that is
FUN to watch. We had that, we've lost it for a small
while, and I think we will have that again. All teams
have slumps. It's just that we're in a situation right
now where there is no forgiveness. Our schedule is
unforgiving. If we do manage to get the fans who've turned up
their noses at the UHL to a game, they will be
completely unforgiving of poor play and they will not come
back. And while everyone understands that these things
take time, the time given to this team won't be
infinite. Sponsors can be unforgiving too. So come on
guys!! We're doing what we can. The rest is up to you!

Any true expansion team in a large enough market
will have a year or two grace period where the fans
will come, win or lose. Take the Griffins and the
Minnesota Wild for example. After the novelty of the
Griffins wore off, people stopped coming...Minnesota looks
like they have a bright future, so if they keep
winning, they should keep the fans coming.<br><br>But we
have two strikes against us already. We're not a true
expansion team (in more ways than one), and we're not a
large market. Does anyone know how Kalamazoo compares
to the other UHL markets population-wise? Brian? The
fans came in '74-'75 because we were the first pro
hockey team in Kalamazoo. The kept coming because we won
cups and were competitive throughout the '80's. The
less-than-stellar play of the IHL team in the mid-to-late-90's may
have tarnished the reputation of Kalamazoo hockey.
That's another hurdle for us to get over.<br><br>Don't
worry...the team will get marketed, they will get better, the
schedule will be 200% better next year, and the fans will
come. We're already getting more coverage in the
media.<br><br>-Chris<br><br>P.S. Anyone know how the UHL playoffs work? Someone
asked me and I realized I wasn't sure myself...

I tolled them and they said they would print a aplogy but I haven't seen one. 
It is just a case of a small town paper with no editor.  She said the writers
proofread there own articles!

<EOM>=End Of Message..It happens when you hit post without entering
anything in the msg box...done it a few times myself...

I do agree. I brought a group to the Dec. 8 game,
and though we lost in a shootout, it was a GREAT game
and everyone who went said they were suprised that
the game was as high-energy as it was. If they had
played as poorly as they played the past couple of home
games, I am sure those folks would not have come
back.<br><br>Everyone says that the team will still be here next year.
I hope that's the case. But we WILL loose the team
eventually if we don't get attendance up and we won't get
attendance up if people don't have a good time going to the
games.<br><br>That being said, I agree that we can get our fan base
up again if we have time and if the play is good at
the games. I don't even think it's so much winning as
playing hard. We had decent attendance for 27 years, and
there isn't any reason why we can't get there
again.<br><br>Nicky

I don't think I agree with this one. I can
remember back to the KWings first hockey season in the IHL
and trust me, they did not play well. We lost almost
every game but the fans came and returned and the team
survived for 27 years. Have faith. Those who won't go back
after only one game I doubt would go back win or lose.
Being a WMU grad I can say WMU hardly is action filled
hockey either (sorry WMU fans) College hockey is ok but
UHL is certainly an improvement up from it. The fans
are going to come to the games we just have to
understand this is the team's first season in the UHL and it
takes time to rebuild the fan base here. The team will
lose occasionally, it will have slumps and it will
have a few lackluster nights but overall we will be a
sucess and things will even out. We are hoovering right
around .500 for the season so far, a few wins and we
will be right back on track. I plan on being at the
Jan 4th game. I expect against Ft Wayne we will see
the ol' fireworks again :) Have faith fans, it took
Ft Wayne and Muskegon time to rebuild their fan
bases too.

You're right. That was definitely a missed
opportunity. And we can't afford to turn potential fans off
like that. This team HAS to perform well each and
every game. It may not be fair, but they're going to
have to play better than the IHL team to pull in as
many fans. How many of those people who saw that ONE
game are going to go out and tell someone that the
Wings suck? And that person will tell someone else that
they heard that the Wings suck. And there go countless
potential fans. I want so badly to see that stadium full
again. Remember how it rocks in there when it's full?
And that was with a so so team that had one eye on
the exit's! I'd love to see that place full and
rockin' and the Wings still going strong in the
post-season. I'll be doing the Scorecast tonight for any one
who wants to check in. It's a great place to get info
on the game.

I attended a retirement party last night for a
former co-worker. I was talking to another former
co-worker at the party. Seems he is an avid Bronco hockey
fan. As it turns out the Broncos were out of town last
weekend, so he and his group of 27 other fans decided to
attend the K-Wings game of Dec. 22 where they lost to
Flint 2-0. Those of you who were at that game know it
lacked any intensity whats so ever. He said most of the
members of the group left saying that was their last
K-Wing game.<br> I told him that it was just an off
night and overall play is excellent and please give it
another try. He said he would, but doubted most of the
other group would be back. Just one example of what
we're up against in selling our team to the community.
We are basically starting over and we don't have a
nice new arena to start out with like a new team in a
new city. So good play on the ice = more fans in the
seats.

It took them long enough to print it. Matter of fact, I was hoping we would have
a little winning streak going when it was printed. Oh well, can't win 'em all.
See ya at the game.