K-Wings preparing for season

The Kalamazoo Wings have been putting things together through the month of July, beginning on the opening day of the month with qualifying offers to eight players.
The Wings sent sheets to three defensemen and five forwards and continued to build the squad through the month.

Listed below are the players extended qualifying offers.

Steven Kaunisto: The Wings must have been impressed with what it saw in Kaunisto in the final dozen games of last season, offering the 28-year-old, 6’0.” 192 lbs. defenseman a chance to pick up where he left off this fall.

Hailing from Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Kaunisto is entering his sixth season of pro hockey, including 67 games at the ECHL level, another 187 in the former CHL and 30 more in the SPHL.

Lucky enough to start his junior career on hometown teams in the MWEHL and NAHL, Kaunisto moved on to Cedar Rapids of the USHL in 2005-06 before moving on to play four seasons at Lake Superior State, University, wearing the captain’s ‘C’ in his final season there. Kaunisto played four games at Reading at the end of his final season at school to kickoff a pro career that has already seen him don 11 different jerseys.

Last season he started with the Rapid City Rush and also played a couple of games in Florida before moving to Kalamazoo. All totalled, he played 32 games and collected nine points (1g, 8a) and he finsished the season as a +3 on the ice with the Wings.

Sacha Guimond: A 24-year-old, 6’2,” 174 lbs. defenseman from Ville-Marie, PQ, Guimond played 42 games with the Wings last season as well as another five with HC Banska Bystrica in Slovakia.

As a junior, Guimond worked his way through Tier II leagues in Quebec and Northern Ontario, finally reaching the OHL with the London Knights midway through the 2010-11 season and the following year he put in a full year with Baie-Comeau Drakar in the QMJHL.

He has also moved around in the pro ranks, The Wings were his eighth stop last season in a pro career that has seen him play primarily on ECHL teams with a handful of games on loan to various AHL teams as well.

In 42 games with the Wings last season, Guimond collected 24 points (4g, 20a) and 20 penalty minutes and he finished the regular season as a +13 on the ice. He went on to play five regular season games and another 18 playoff contests in Slovakia.

Ben Wilson: The Wings are hoping to bring this 24-year-old, 5’10,” 168 lbs. native of Calgary who has back for a third season.

Wilson Played parts of two seasons at Olds in the AJHL before playing two more in the WHL, all with the Calgary Hitmen, his second season as an Assistant Captain.

He made his pro debut in 2011-12 with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters, playing 38 games there over the next two seasons with stops in Allen and Denver of the CHL as well. Wilson started the 2013-14 season in Kalamazoo and has played 83 games there now over the past two campaigns, collecting 10 points (3g, 7a) and 181 penalty minutes along with two more assists in nine playoff contests.

Eric Kattelus: Looking to return for a fifth season is this 28-year-old, 6’1,” 194 lbs. left winger who has been an Assistant Captain for the Wings in each of the past two campaigns.

A native of Houghton, MI, Kattelus played junior with Bismarck in the NAHL in 2005-06, then moved on to Indiana of the USHL the following season before spending four seasons at Michigan Tech in his hometown.

In his final season with the Huskies, Kattelus played just nine games before making his pro debut with 25 games in Cincinnati. The following season, Kattelus moved to Kalamazoo and apart from a pair of call ups to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, he has been there since.

Last season Kattelus picked up 40 points (6g, 34a) in 40 games along with 44 penalty minutes and a +7 rating. He added two more assists in four playoff games.

Lane Scheidl: A 23-year-old, 5’11,” 181 lbs. forward with some experience on the blue line, Scheidl played 69 games in Kalamazoo last season.

The Saskatoon, SK native played parts of five seasons in the WHL with Vancouver Giants, Red Deer Rebels and Regina Pats, wrapping up his junior career with an 80-point season as an Assistant Captain in Regina. At the end of that season, he made his pro debut with 11 games at Worcester of the AHL.

The following season he split time between Worcester and Ontario before signing on with the Wings at the beginning of last season. He contributed 30 points (13g, 17a) and 71 penalty minutes.

Michael Neal: A 26-year-old 6’2,” 187 lbs. forward from Whitby, ON, Neal came to the Wings halfway through last season and made a big impression.

A Fifth Round (149th Overall) Selection of Dallas Stars in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Neal was in the middle of a four-year OHL stint with Belleville and Sarnia at the time. He made his pro debut with the Texas Stars in 2009-10 and also spent time in Idaho of the ECHL, calling both of those spots home at various times through the next three seasons.

Following other stops in Orlando, Bakersfield and Las Vegas, Neal started last season in Cincinnati, moving to Kalamazoo midway through the campaign.

He collected 28 points (13g, 15a) through the final 39 games of the season after picking up 11 (6g, 5a) in the first 21 at Cincy. Neal also added a goal and assist in five playoff games with the Wings.

Justin Kovacs: A 23-year-old, 5’11,” 194 lbs. winger from Grosse Pointe Woods, MI, Kovacs got a brief taste of pro hockey with the Wings at the end of last season.

Wrapping up a four-year run at Western Michigan University, Kovacs played the final eight games with the Wings and chipped in five points (1g, 4a) for the team.

Kovacs played his junior with Topeka of the NAHL and Cedar Rapids of the USHL.

Matt Caria: After showing off his offensive skills last season, the Wings are hoping to bring back this 26-year-old, 5’10,” 176 lbs. native of Sault Ste. Marie, ON.

Caria played much of his junior in his hometown, starting with the NOJHL’s Soo Thunderbirds and eventually the OHL Greyhounds before wrapping it up at Plymouth.

After getting a taste of pro with short stints at Utah and Florida of the ECHL, Caria moved on to Lakehead University for a four-year run there.

Caria played his first full ECHL season with the Wings in 2013-14 and returned for another season last year. In 131 games played so far, Caria has racked up 113 points (49g, 64a) and the Wings are hoping he will be back this fall to add to those impressive totals.

Each team is entitled to reserve the rights to a maximum of eight qualified players. Of the eight qualified players, no more than four could be veterans (260 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the upcoming 2015-16 season). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded.

The qualifying offer must remain open for acceptance until Aug. 1 at which time the qualifying offer becomes null and void and the team may sign the qualified player to any salary or may elect to take no further action. Teams that extend a valid qualifying offer to a non-veteran player shall retain the rights to that qualified player for one playing season. 

A team that extends a valid qualifying offer to a veteran player will retain the rights to that veteran until Aug. 1. After Aug. 1, if the veteran player is not signed to a contract by the team, the veteran shall be deemed a restricted free agent and shall be entitled to seek and secure offers of employment from other ECHL teams.
If a restricted free agent is not signed to either an offer sheet or a contract by an ECHL team by Aug. 31, the player shall be deemed an unrestricted free agent.

Martin signs with Wings

The Wings added stability on the back end later in the month, locking down veteran goaltender Joel Martin who will return for a seventh season in Kalamazoo.

A 32-year-old, 6’1,” 192 lbs. native of Fort Worth, TX, Martin began his pro career in 2002-03, wrapping up his final year of junior with three games in goal for the Bakerfield Condors, then with the WCHL. Martin prepared to make the jump with three full seasons of play in the WHL with Lethbridge, Tri-City, Vancouver and Calgary.

Martin first played for Kalamazoo, then a UHL team in the 2004-05 season and he returned for the following season as well. Over the next few seasons, Martin played primarily in the ECHL with Trenton and Elmira along with some brief stints in the AHL at Cleveland, Norfolk and Syracuse.

Meanwhile the Wings moved to the IHL and Martin rejoined the team in the 2008-09 season. He continued to play in various pro leagues, including a season in Denmark before once again finding his way to Kalamazoo to start the 2012-13 ECHL season.

Since then, Martin has appeared in 154 games with the Wings and played there exclusively other than loans to AHL teams in Milwaukee, Chicago and Iowa.

Last season, Martin appeared in 58 games for the Wings, posting a 2.94 GAA and a .908 SP. Martin established a league record for minutes (3,739) in the 2012-13 season with the Wings when he appeared in 63 games.

Head Coach Nick Bootland is clearly pleased to see Martin back between the pipes.

“Joel Martin is a true professional,” said Bootland in a team press release. “At the age of 32, Joel continues to be the hardest working player on our team.”

Taylor returning for record breaking season

The team’s most recent signing brings back more stability with the return of forward Justin Taylor.

The 26-year-old, 5’11,” 181 lbs. native of Mindemoya. ON was claimed by the Washington Capitals in the Sixth Round (180th Overall)  of the 2007 Entry Draft. He is something of a rarity have played almost his entire pro career in Kalamazoo.

At the time of the draft, Taylor was in the middle of a four-year OHL run — all with the London Knights and he wrapped it up in 2009-10 wearing the captain’s ‘C’.

Taylor played 15 games with Bridgeport of the AHL the following season along with the first 48 of his 256 games played so far in a Wings’ uniform. In 2012-13, Taylor left Kalamazoo midway through the season, playing at Trenton and Idaho, but he rejoined the Wings the following season and has been in Kalamazoo since.

His 79 ECHL goals is a franchise record and he is currently fourth all time in team points, one behind Kory Karlander’s 170.

Last season Taylor played in 60 games and collected 34 points (11g, 23a), adding a goal and assist in five playoff games as well.