The Kalamazoo Wings, nicknamed the K-Wings, are a mid-level professional ice hockey team in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

. A member of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

's Western Conference, Central Division, they play in the 5,113-seat

Wings Event Center Wings Event Center (formerly Wings Stadium) is a 5,113-seat multi-purpose arena located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The arena, opened in 1974, is home to the Kalamazoo Wings, an ice hockey team in the ECHL. The stadium changed the name to the Wings ...

. They are the affiliate of the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

, and the

Abbotsford Canucks The Abbotsford Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Abbotsford, British Columbia. The team began play in the 2021–22 season with home games at Abbotsford Centre as the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hocke ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

. 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 Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

. 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.

History

The team began in the 1999–2000 season as the

United Hockey League The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the Unite ...

's Madison Kodiaks in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

. 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 K-Wings obtained the rights to use the original team's name, colors, logos, and history as their 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

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena ...

. They were also affiliated with the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern C ...

and

as well as their AHL affiliates the

Springfield Falcons The Springfield Falcons were a ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) and played in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the MassMutual Center. In 2016, the Falcons' franchise was purchased by the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Arizona Co ...

and

Utica Comets The Utica Comets are a professional ice hockey team based in Utica, New York. They are members of the North Division in the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL) and affiliated with the National Hockey League's (NHL) New Jersey D ...

, 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 A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a depression (geology), basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land an ...

. They ended their affiliation with the Blue Jackets after one season and affiliated with the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

and

Syracuse Crunch The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team based in Syracuse, New York. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning. They play in they home games at the Upstate Medical Univer ...

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 COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the Wings voluntarily suspended operations for the

2020–21 ECHL season The 2020–21 ECHL season was the 33rd season of the ECHL. Due to the ongoing restrictions in the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season was pushed back to December 11, 2020. The Fort Wayne Komets were the Kelly Cup champions, de ...

. When the team returned for the 2021–22 season, they switched their affiliation back to the

. On June 23, 2022, the Wings signed an affiliation extension with the Blue Jackets (and therefore the

Cleveland Monsters The Cleveland Monsters are a professional ice hockey team based in Cleveland. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Monsters play home games at Rocket Mortgage F ...

also) for the 2022–23 season On July 10, 2023, Kalamazoo announced they had returned to the Vancouver Canucks organization in an affiliation agreement for the 2023–24 season. They also entered an agreement with the Canucks AHL affiliate in Abbotsford.

Season records

Seasons

Players

Team captains

First franchise

= IHL (First incarnation)

= * Unknown, 1974–95 *

Brad Berry Bradley L. Berry (born April 1, 1965) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player who played 241 games in the National Hockey League. He played for the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota North Stars, and Dallas Stars. He was most recently the head coa ...

, 1995–99 * Unknown, 1999–00

Second franchise

''Note: This list does not include captains from the Madison Kodiaks.''

= UHL

= * Unknown, 2000–03 * Marty Flichel, 2003–04 * Tyler Willis, 2004–05 * Nick Bootland, 2005–07

= IHL (Second incarnation)

= * Nick Bootland, 2007–08 * Glenn Detulleo, 2008–09

= ECHL

= * Sam Ftorek, 2009–10 * Wes O'Neill, 2010–12 * Elgin Reid, 2012–13 * Jean Bourbeau, 2014–15 * Tyler Shattock, 2015–17 * Ben Wilson, 2017–20 * Justin Taylor, 2021–22 * Chaz Reddekopp, 2023–24 * Collin Saccoman, 2024–present

Retired numbers

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

Team records

Single season

:Goals: 46 Nick Bootland (2007–08) :Assists: 70 Daniel Carriere (2005–06) :Points: 94

Kory Karlander Kory Karlander (born March 21, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who most notably played for the Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL. In his 17th season as a professional hockey player, at the age of 39, Karlander was named to th ...

(2007–08) :Penalty minutes: 344 Tyler Willis (2003–04) :GAA: 2.02

Ryan Nie Ryan Nie (born April 15, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Career Nie started his professional career with the Kalamazoo Wings of the UHL, signing with the team prior to the 2006-07 season as a backup to former long ...

(2006–07) :SV%: .929

(2006–07)

Career

:Career games played: 614 Justin Taylor (2010–22) :Career goals: 237 Justin Taylor (2010–22) :Career assists: 263

(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)

References

External links

* * {{Michigan Sports ECHL teams Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL) players Professional ice hockey teams in Michigan Ice hockey clubs established in 1999 Sports in Kalamazoo, Michigan Philadelphia Flyers minor league affiliates Columbus Blue Jackets minor league affiliates Vancouver Canucks minor league affiliates San Jose Sharks minor league affiliates New York Islanders minor league affiliates Tampa Bay Lightning minor league affiliates 1999 establishments in Wisconsin