Warriors and Chargers to meet in next four games
An extended “home-and-home” series is on tap for Wayne State and Alabama-Huntsville. The Chargers travel to Detroit this weekend for a pair of games, with the Warriors visiting Huntsville on Dec. 28-29 to complete the four-game regular-season series.
WSU vs. Alabama-Huntsville
Wayne State snapped a five-game losing streak against UAH with a 4-1 victory in the 2001 College Hockey America championship game in Huntsville. WSU is 1-3-0 at home versus the Chargers and have been shutout in two of the last three home matches.
Wayne State University Head Coach Bill Wilkinson
Bill Wilkinson, the only head coach in the three-year history of men’s hockey at Wayne State University, is in his 20th season as a collegiate head coach.
Last year, Wilkinson led the Warriors to 12 more victories than the inaugural season, and the CHA tournament crown. The three-time Central Collegiate Hockey Association Coach of the Year, has compiled an overall coaching record of 341-346-59. The 341 victories places him 34th on the NCAA all-time win list.
2001-02 Schedule
The Warriors schedule features four games (two at home, two away) against each of the other five members of College Hockey America plus 14 non-conference contests. The seven non-league series includes home matches against CCHA members Ferris State and Lake Superior, Western Collegiate Hockey Association member Michigan Tech, plus a home-and-home series with Bowling Green. The three road series are at Wisconsin of the WCHA, and Ohio State and Northern Michigan of the CCHA.
2001-02 Captains
This year’s co-captains are junior center Jason Durbin (Trenton, MI/Danville Wings) and junior defenseman Keith Stanich (Bethel Park,PA/Waterloo Blackhawks).
Assistant Coaches
Both full-time assistant coaches, Danny Brooks and Willie Mitchell, plus volunteer coach, Cal McGowan, have each been with the program since its inception. Brooks worked with Coach Wilkinson at Western Michigan, while Mitchell served as an assistant at Michigan State.
Last Weekend
Wayne State limited visiting Bemidji State to two goals each night, but could only muster one goal on Friday and rallied from a 2-0 deficit on Saturday for a 2-2 overtime tie. Tyler Kindle had a goal each night, while Dusty Kingston tallied a power-play goal on Saturday. Netminder Dave Guerrera made 21 saves on Friday and had 22 stops on Saturday.
Scouting Alabama-Huntsville
The Chargers have a 10-6 overall record for head coach Doug Ross, a native of Dearborn, Michigan. He ranks 16th on the NCAA all-time win list for coaches with 423 victories. UAH had a four-game winning streak snapped in an 8-5 setback at Niagara on Saturday.
Junior forward Karlis Zirnis leads the Chargers in scoring with 19 points on six goals and 13 assists. Junior defenseman Tyler Butler (6-10--16), senior forward Jessi Otis (5-11--16), freshman forward Jared Ross (6-7--13) and junior forward Steve Charlebois (6-7--13) are UAH’s
next top four scorers. Sophomore Adam MacLean (4-5-0, 4.26, .861) and junior Mark Byrne (6-1-0, 3.27, .900) have played the majority of time in the UAH cage. The Chargers power play has scored on 18.8% of its chances (16 for 85), while the penalty killers are operating at 81.0% (68 for 84).
Penalty Killing
The Warrior penalty killing units did not allow a goal for the second consecutive weekend and have now killed off 24 straight opponent power-play chances.
Huntsville vs. Hitsville
Wayne State concludes its school-record seven-game homestand this weekend when Alabama-Huntsville visits Great Lakes Sports City (Fraser). A family of four will be admitted for free either game this weekend by bringing an unwrapped toy in the Toys for Tots program.
Firing Away
The Warriors set a season-high with 44 shots on goal in Saturday's 2-2 tie with Bemidji State.
Home Ice Blues
WSU is 1-5-1 at home this year including an 0-3-1 mark in Saturday games at GLSC. In contrast, the Warriors are 3-3-1 on the road with a 2-1-1 mark in Friday away contests.
Kindle Lights the Lamp
Junior defenseman Tyler Kindle scored a third period goal each night against Bemidji State to extend his point streak to three games. Kindle is now the team scoring leader among blueliners with nine points.
A complete copy of this week's game notes is also available in PDF.
