During the 2010-11 season, the Islanders will be assigning players to Kalamazoo. The K-Wings are also affiliated with the San Jose Sharks of the NHL.

“We (K-Wings) are excited about being the ECHL affiliate of the New York Islanders,” said Paul L. Pickard, president said in a memo released by the organization. “The Islander organization is full of young and talented prospects that will bring energy and a strong work ethic to the K-Wings organization. As part of the Islander family, we will do our part to help them be successful both on and off the ice.”

The Islanders won four consecutive NHL championships between 1980-83, but have not won a playoff series since the 1992-93 season.

“Having a strong ECHL affiliate is crucial to our organization’s future,” said Garth Snow, Islanders general manager in the press release. “The Kalamazoo Wings have a rich history, and I’m confident that they’ll provide the necessary resources to properly develop our prospects and provide a stepping stone to the AHL and NHL.”

The partnership with the Islanders marks the seventh NHL team that the K-Wings organization has been affiliated with. In their history, the K-Wings have been affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings (1974-1987), Philadelphia Flyers (1984-1987; 2009-2010), Vancouver Canucks (1984-1987), Minnesota North Stars (1987-1993), Dallas Stars (1993-2000) and San Jose Sharks (2009-present).

Fournier led the K-Wings with 71 points (27 goals, 44 assists) in 70 games last season. During the ECHL playoffs, Fournier had five points (1 goal, 4 assists) in five games. Fournier had two five-point games and a seven-game point streak. In addition to being named as the McDonald’s Leading Scorer, Fournier also earned the Meijer Most Improved award and was named as the ECHL Sherwood Player of the Week in March.

Daavettila will begin his second full season, third overall, with the K-Wings this fall. In 51 games with the K-Wings last season, Daavettila racked up 49 points (19 goals, 30 assists). Daavettila also received call-ups to the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins and Adirondack Phantoms last season. “Trent is talented forward who has demonstrated an incredible work ethic and has shown the ability to be a strong leader,” Bootland said in a statement released by the team. “His speed creates scoring chances, not only for himself, but also for his line mates.”

Third-year pro Asselin will begin his first full season with the K-Wings this fall. After signing with the team late in the season in a trade with the Utah Grizzlies, Asselin notched 22 points (9 goals, 13 assists) in just 26 games. “Patrick was a pleasant surprise for us last season,” said Bootland. “With his natural ability to put the puck in the net, we anticipate his role to increase this season.”

After starting last season off in a flash, Kharin’s season came to a grinding halt when he was injured just eight games in. Before his season was cut short, Kharin scored 2 goals and 7 assists. Looking forward to coming back and picking up where he left off last season, Kharin is excited to be back in a K-Wings uniform. “It’s a great organization to be a part of and in a great city,” Kharin said. “I really enjoyed my time here last year, even though I was unable to play the majority of the season.”

Although his season was over early on, Kharin remained focused while sitting on the sidelines. “Obviously, it’s tough not being able to do what you love the most, but injuries happen and you can only stay positive in hopes of returning to full strength,” Kharin said. “I was fortunate to be around the guys all year long. That really helped me stay positive and get through my knee rehabilitation.” Kharin said that, while he has been off the ice for a while, he is using the summer to get back into game shape.

K-Wings News and Notes

No longer a K-Wing: Mathieu Curadeau is returning to the Fort Wayne Komets of the CHL. Last season with the K-Wings, Curadeau scored 23 goals and had 24 assists in 51 games.

Preseason match-ups: The K-wings and the Toledo Walleye will face-off in two pre-season games. The K-Wings will host the Walleye on Friday, October 8th. The game will begin at 7:30 pm, and tickets are $5. The two teams will play in Toledo the following night.

Two players, Jeremy Duchesne and David Sloane played for the K-Wings last year. Both players were called up to the AHL during the season, with Duchesne becoming the first K-Wing player to be called up to the NHL since the 1999-00 season.

In a statement released by the K-Wings, team president Paul L. Pickard said, “We (K-Wings) are extremely appreciative of everything the Flyers organization has done for us to be successful during our inaugural ECHL season; however, we feel it is in the best interest or our organization and our fans that we move in another direction. The Flyers are a very successful organization and it was a great experience to be their ECHL affiliate.”

The K-Wings also announced that they have made qualifying offers to eight players for the 2010-11 season. Teams in the ECHL can reserve the rights to up to eight qualified players. Of those eight players, no more than four can be veterans (260 professional games) and no player who receives a qualifying offer can be traded. Players who have already signed a contract for the upcoming season did not need to receive an offer.

Qualifying offers went out to the following players for the K-Wings: Forwards: Mathieu Curadeau, Darryl Lloyd, Brian McGuirk, and Rick Cleaver as well as defensemen Tom Morrow, Ryan McGinnis, Jeff Mason and Devin Featherstone.

The ECHL approved an expansion membership to Chicago for the 2011-2012 season. The team, owned by C & S Family Sports, LLC, will play their games at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Wade Welsh, who spent the past six years with the K-Wings, was named as the teams President.

In other hockey related news, the Central Hockey League and the International Hockey League have joined forces. While details of the transaction remain to be seen, four of the IHL’s six teams will be playing under the CHL umbrella next season. The Fort Wayne Komets, Dayton Gems, Quad City Mallards and Bloomington Prairie Thunder will make the move to the CHL. The Flint Generals and Port Huron Icehawks have ceased operations.

In a statement released by the K-Wings on Tuesday, Burlew said that even though he worked outside of hockey for the past six years, he never lost touch with the sport he loves or the Kalamazoo Wings.

“I am excited and honored to return to an organization that has such a remarkable tradition and has meant so much to the city of Kalamazoo and the communities of Southwest Michigan,” Burlew said.

In addition to playing collegiate hockey at the University of Ohio, Burlew also worked over 1000 games as a referee. Burlew was also the co-owner and President of the El Paso Buzzards of the former Western Professional Hockey League, for which the team won two championships in their first three seasons.

Burlew also was co-founder, Vice President and director of sales and marketing for the now-defunct Huntington Blizzard of the ECHL.

“Jim has had success wherever he has been and we are thrilled he has decided to return to the organization,” said K-Wings president Paul Pickard.

In his first two seasons as coach of the K-Wings, Bootland has compiled a record of 86-49-8-5 and his teams reached the playoffs in both seasons.

This year, Bootland led the K-Wings to the North Division Championship in the teams first season in the ECHL.

Scoring their first goal of the series in the opening period, the K-Wings jumped out to an early 1-0 lead just 1:33 in as Brian McGuirk scored his second goal in the playoffs. K-Wing net minder Riley Gill stopped all 19 shots he faced in the first period.

The Royals knotted the game 1-1 in the second period on an Alex Berry goal. Taking the lead in the third, Olivier Labelle scored his fifth goal of the series to put the Royals up by a 2-1 score.

As the K-Wings have done all season, they kept fighting. Ben Simon’s goal, his third of the series, with just four minutes left in the game sent the game into overtime for the second night in a row, and third time in five games.

Gill stopped a penalty shot by Labelle with just over five minutes left in overtime, but the Royals Andrew Sarauer scored at the 17:08 mark to clinch the series for Reading.

On the night, the K-Wings were 0-2 on the power play while the Royals went 0-5. Gill stopped 52 of the 55 shots he faced while Matt Dalton turned away 36 of 38.

Mathieu Curadeau

And step up he did. With the Royals leading the best of five series 2-1and the K-Wings facing elimination, Curadeau turned up the heat. With time winding down and goaltender Riley Gill pulled for the extra attacker, Curadeau sent the game into overtime scoring with just 38 seconds left in the period. Curadeau didn’t stop there however. Just 2:41 into the extra session Curadeau shot down the ice and sent the puck past Royals net minder Matt Dalton for the game winner.

Curadeau also scored the game winner in overtime last Tuesday night when the K-Wings defeated the Royals 6-5.

Starting the game just as they did the previous three, the Royals scored first. In the three previous games the Royals outscored the K-Wings in the first period 6-0. Last night was no exception as the Royals held a 2-0 lead at the conclusion of the first with goals by Yannick Riendeau and Olivier Labelle. Riendeau has scored the first goal of the game in three out of the four games.

Labelle opened the second period by scoring his second of the night to give the Royals a 3-0 lead but it was game on for the K-Wings from there on out.

Brian McGuirk deflected a Mitch Versteeg shot to put the K-Wings on the board. Trent Daavettila brought the K-Wings to within one goal just 2:14 into the third period. Daavettila now has five points in four playoff games.

Riley Gill stopped 36 of the 39 shots he faced while Dalton turned away 41 of 45. The K-Wings were 0 for 2 on the power play while the Royals went 1 for five.

The K-Wings and Royals will face-off in the fifth and final game of the series tonight beginning at 7:05 pm. WLKM FM 95.9 will carry the game live with the pre-game show beginning at 6:50 pm.

Losing home ice advantage, the K-Wings needed to come out strong on Friday to try and stop the Royals powerful offense. The Royals on the other hand decided to pick up where they left off on Wednesday.

Just like they did in games one and two, the Royals jumped out to an early lead on Friday, taking a 3-0 after the first period of play. Just 2:01 in, Yannick Riendeau started the night off for the Royals with a wrist shot for the early 1-0 lead. Ryan Cruthers added a goal just three minutes later for his third goal in as many games to put the Royals up by a pair.

Following the goal, goaltender Ryan Nie was pulled from the game and replaced with Riley Gill. Nie stopped two of the four shots he faced in the first five minutes of the game.

The Royals added another goal later in the period, a power play tally by Stefano Giliati for a 3-0 advantage.

Holding the Royals scoreless in the second, it was the K-Wings turn to light the scoreboard. Mounting a comeback bid, Trent Daavettila notched a short handed goal to cut the lead 3-1. A power play goal by Dean Strong later in the period brought the K-Wings to within one goal of the Royals, but that is where the comeback attempt ended for the K-Wings.

Giliati’s second of the night midway into the third period put the game out of reach for the K-Wings. Marc Carvosie scored an empty net goal to end the game.

Royals net minder Matt Dalton stopped 42 of the 44 shots he faced and Riley Gill turned away 32 of 34 on the night.

Facing elimination, the K-Wings will look to keep their season alive on Sunday with a 7:05 pm face-off for game four. If the K-Wings are victorious, game five will be played on Monday in Reading.

Round One Playoff Analysis

Scoring: Four of the top 20 scoring leaders in the ECHL come from these two teams. Ryan Cruthers of the Royals and Andrew Fournier of the K-Wings both ended the season with 71 points while Rick Cleaver notched 70 points for the K-Wings and Ben Gordon racked up 69 points for the Royals. Both teams come with an arsenal of scoring power. For the K-Wings Sam Ftorek, Mathieu Curadeau, Dean Strong and Trent Daavettila can all be counted on for timely goals and have combined for 192 points. The same can be said of the Royals’ Andrew Sarauer, Stefano Giliati, Aaron Brocklehurst and Olivier Labelle and their 198 combined points. On the season, the K-Wings out scored the Royals 28-16 and on the season as a whole 273 to 254.

Advantage: Draw, leaning toward Kalamazoo.

Defense: Reading’s Aaron Brocklehurst is an offensive defenseman. In 67 games Brocklehurst scored 15 goals and 24 assists for the Royals. Seven of the 15 goals were scored on the power play with two of those goals scored against the K-Wings. On the flip side, Brocklehurst has a plus/minus of -3. The K-Wings defensive tandem of Devin Featherstone and Mitch Versteeg have a plus/minus of +24 and +14 respectively and the two combined for 39 points on the season. If Ryan McGinnis comes back from the AHL, the defensive unit only improves for the K-Wings.

Advantage: Kalamazoo

Special teams: When it comes to scoring power play goals on home ice, the K-Wings ranked 4th in the league compared to the Royals who were 15th. The K-Wings fair better than the Royals on the road as well, but dropping to 9th and 17th respectively. Where it gets tricky for the K-Wings is the penalty kill. At home the K-Wings ranked 18th on the PK while the Royals were last. But on the road the advantage goes to the Royals who rank 9th to the K-Wings 13th on the penalty kill.

Advantage: Kalamazoo, if they stay out of the penalty box.

Goaltending: The match up of Ryan Nie (28-12-2-2) versus the rookie Matt Dalton (22-20-0-4) should give the edge to the K-Wings. Nie has been here before for the K-Wings as he helped carry the K-Wings all the way to the UHL Finals against the Rockford IceHogs, where the K-Wings lost in game 7 in 2006-07. This season, Nie won more games in goal (28) than any other net minder in the ECHL. However, like Dalton, Nie was a rookie that season for the K-Wings.

Advantage: Kalamazoo.

Home/Away: The K-Wings finished the season with a home record of 25-7-2-2 and a record of 17-13-4-2 away from Wings Stadium. With the K-Wings choosing to play the first two games at home, they need to capitalize on their success on home ice home as well as the Royals sub-par record on the road. The Royals were 21-12-0-3 at home but just 16-17-1-2 on the road. A good start at home will carry the K-Wings, while a shaky start could spell trouble.

Advantage: Kalamazoo

Coaching: Last season, Nick Bootland was a first year head coach who led the K-Wings to the IHL playoffs. Coaching in a new league this season with an almost entirely different team and set of rules, Bootland guided the team to a 42-20-6-4 record, a North Division Championship and to within a point of the American Conference title, all in the team’s first year in the ECHL. Bootland should also be in the running for Coach of the Year in the ECHL. Royals’ coach Larry Courville is in the playoffs for the first time ever. After being named as the interim coach last season, the Royals battled back after an early season slump to capture the seventh seed in this season’s playoff race.

Advantage: Bootland.

And the winner is: The Royals have never lost a first round match-up in their previous four ECHL playoff appearances. This should be the year that their luck runs out. While the playoffs are always tricky to predict, the K-Wings should sweep the series 3-0, with the strong possibility that one of the games will go to overtime.