| Kalamazoo Wings | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States |
| League | ECHL |
| Conference | Western |
| Division | Central |
| Founded | 1999 (in theUHL) |
| Home arena | Wings Event Center |
| Colors | Red, white, blue |
| Owner | William D. Johnston/Ronda Stryker (Greenleaf Hospitality) |
| General manager | Toni Will |
| Head coach | Joel Martin |
| Captain | Collin Saccoman |
| Media | WKZO Kalamazoo Gazette |
| Affiliates | Vancouver Canucks (NHL) Abbotsford Canucks (AHL) |
| Website | kwings |
| Franchise history | |
| 1999–2000 | Madison Kodiaks |
| 2000–present | Kalamazoo Wings |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 1 UHL 2005–06 |
| Division titles | 1 UHL 2005–06 4 ECHL 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14 |
| Conference titles | 2 UHL 2005–06, 2006–07 1 ECHL 2010–11 |
| Colonial Cups | 1 UHL 2005–06 |
| Kelly Cups | 0 ECHL |
 Current season | |
TheKalamazoo Wings, nicknamed theK-Wings, are a mid-level professional ice hockey team inKalamazoo, Michigan. A member of theECHL's Western Conference, Central Division,[1] they play in the 5,113-seatWings Event Center. They are the affiliate of theVancouver Canucks of theNational Hockey League, and theAbbotsford Canucks of theAmerican 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 inminor 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), the Lavender Ice game (Hockey Fights Cancer) and the Rainbow Ice game.
The team began in the1999–2000 season as theUnited Hockey League'sMadison Kodiaks inMadison, Wisconsin. After one season in Madison, the franchise moved to Kalamazoo, where it renamed itself the Wings in honor of theoriginal Wings that had played in theInternational Hockey League from 1974 through 2000. The new K-Wings obtained the rights to use the original team's name, colors, logos, and history as their own.[2]
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 theInternational 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 theAmerican Hockey League'sChicago Wolves.[3][4] They were also affiliated with theNational Hockey League'sColumbus Blue Jackets andVancouver Canucks as well as their AHL affiliates theSpringfield Falcons andUtica Comets, respectively.[5]
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, theLake Erie Monsters. They ended their affiliation with the Blue Jackets after one season and affiliated with theTampa Bay Lightning andSyracuse Crunch for the2016–17 season.[2] They changed again for the2017–18 season to the Canucks and Comets, their previous affiliates for several seasons.[6]
Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the Wings voluntarily suspended operations for the2020–21 ECHL season.[7] When the team returned for the2021–22 season, they switched their affiliation back to theColumbus Blue Jackets.[8] On June 23, 2022, the Wings signed an affiliation extension with the Blue Jackets (and therefore theCleveland Monsters also) for the2022–23 season[9][10]
On July 10, 2023, Kalamazoo announced they had returned to the Vancouver Canucks organization in an affiliation agreement for the2023–24 season.[11] They also entered an agreement with the Canucks AHL affiliate inAbbotsford.[12] On July 30, 2024, they extended their affiliation for two years with both Vancouver and Abbotsford, through the end of the2025–26 season.[13]
| 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 | WonColonial 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 | LostKelly 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 theCOVID-19 pandemic | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2021–22 | 72 | 36 | 35 | 1 | 73 | 224 | 255 | .507 | 5th Central, 19th of 27 | did not qualify | |||||||||
| 2022–23 | 72 | 29 | 37 | 6 | 64 | 178 | 226 | .444 | 5th Central, 23rd of 28 | did not qualify | |||||||||
| 2023–24 | 72 | 38 | 30 | 4 | 80 | 214 | 203 | .556 | 4th Central, 13rd of 27 | Lost Division Semifinal vs.Toledo Walleye, 0–4 | |||||||||
| 2024–25 | 72 | 31 | 33 | 8 | 70 | 201 | 229 | .486 | 5th Central, 14th of 29 | did not qualify | |||||||||
Note: This list does not include captains from theMadison Kodiaks.
Nick Bootland (2007–08) Daniel Carriere (2005–06)Kory Karlander (2007–08) Tyler Willis (2003–04)Ryan Nie (2006–07)Ryan Nie (2006–07) Justin Taylor (2010–22) Justin Taylor (2010–22)Kory Karlander (2004–13) Justin Taylor (2010–22) Tyler Willis (2003–10)Joel Martin (2004-18)Joel Martin (2004–18)Joel Martin (2004–18)
Media related toKalamazoo Wings at Wikimedia Commons
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