Kalamazoo KINGS....

That's right, the Kalamazoo Kings of the Frontier League (baseball). I just discovered their existence when perusing the Florence Freedom schedule. Silly me for never noticing, but they've been around awhile and are former league champions. Oh well. Obviously the name is a play on words of the Kalamazoo Wings hockey team, which is a good marketing idea.

Anyhoo... I was thinking that since the Wings will again be a Cyclones rival, we should flood a Florence Freedom game when they play the Wings - all decked out in Cyclones gear. I'm going to suggest it to the team as well, it would be a perfect tie-in. But even unofficially, it would be fun.

The Freedom host the Wings for three games August 4, 5, and 6. Start clearing your calendars. We can do this; and maybe get a little pre-season press out of it.

Welcome (Back) To the Neighborhood Wings

The Kalamazoo Wings, former Cyclones rivals in the old IHL, will join the ECHL North Division next season.

ECHL PRESS RELEASE

This is good news. After losing Mississippi, Dayton, and Phoenix it's nice to add a team back. So along with the return of Toledo, the net loss to the league is only 1 team.

I have fond memories of the old Kalamazoo Wings / Michigan K-Wings so it will be nice to play them again. It's a good road trip there and a very nice arena. It's small, but it's not a dump. It has a lot of personality but is modern enough that it isn't an embarrassment.

They have a rich hockey history. Some former Wings players you might recognize include:
Doug Barrault, Gord Dineen, Brent Fedyk, MANNY FERNANDEZ, Ron Hextall,Tony Hrkac, Duane Joyce, Marc Labelle, JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER, BRAD LUKOWICH, Roman Lyashenko, Pat MacLeod, Steve Maltais, RICHARD MATVICHUK, Richard Sevigny, Pascal Trepanier, MARTY TURCO, and ROMAN TUREK.

Stingrays 2009 Kelly Cup Champions

Alaska made it a series but South Carolina took the series in Game 7 tonight in Anchorage.

Congratulations Stingrays and Congrats Stingrays fans. I'm sorry you did not get the joy of the win at home, but the win is the win.

It was hard-earned series of playoff hockey.