KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Kalamazoo Wings (36-34-1-0) trailed by one goal for the majority of the hockey game on Tyler Willis’ jersey retirement night, and lost to the Toledo Walleye (47-19-2-2) in the last home game of the regular season Friday at Wings Event Center, 3-0.
The night started off jubilant as K-Wings legend Tyler Willis’ No. 13 was enshrined in the Wings Event Center rafters in front of 5,291 fans. It goes in the books as the fifth sellout at Wings Event Center this season.
Toledo scored the game’s opening goal at the 2:55 mark of the first, and the score held at 1-0 all the way until the 16:46 mark of the third period.
That’s when the Walleye added an insurance goal and capped the game with an empty-netter.
Trevor Gorsuch made 17 saves in the loss, and the K-Wings outshot the Walleye 39-20 in the contest.
With the loss and the Cincinnati tie, Kalamazoo is eliminated from Kelly Cup Playoff contention.
On the season, 135,021 fans came out to support the red, white and blue at Wings Event Center. Kalamazoo made history again with professional hockey’s first Rainbow Ice game and sported a 26% increase in attendance rate compared to the 2018-19 season. That number currently leads the ECHL.
Next up for Kalamazoo is the last game of the regular season against the Toledo Walleye at 7:15 p.m. EDT on Saturday at Huntington Center.
590/106.9 WKZO will join the broadcast in progress immediately following the Tigers’ game.
THIS REPORT WAS WRITTEN BY CHRIS CADEAU, VOICE OF THE KALAMAZOO WINGS
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