FORMER K-WING GOURDE, LIGHTNING WIN STANLEY CUP

Tampa Bay forward, who played 2013-14 season in Kalamazoo, becomes second alum in as many years to win Stanley Cup.

KALAMAZOO, MI – Former Kalamazoo Wings forward Yanni Gourde and the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup Monday in Edmonton. The Lightning’s 2-0 victory in Game 6 against the Dallas Stars clinched the organization’s second Stanley Cup and first since 2004.

Gourde, 28, scored 15 goals and had 34 points in 30 games during the 2013-14 season for the K-Wings, his last stint in the ECHL. The Saint-Narcisse, Quebec native has 63 goals and 151 points in 254 NHL games over the last five seasons with Tampa Bay. He signed a 6-year, $31 million extension with the Lightning in November 2018.

In addition to his time in Kalamazoo, Gourde played eight ECHL games with the now-defunct San Francisco Bulls. He also played 298 American Hockey League games with the Worcester Sharks and Syracuse Crunch.

Gourde becomes the second K-Wings alum in as many years to play on a Stanley Cup winning team, joining St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington, who played for Kalamazoo the same year as Gourde and won a championship with the Blues in 2018-19.

The Kalamazoo Wings are a professional hockey team located in southwest Michigan that has been a staple in the Kalamazoo, MI professional sports landscape since 1974. The K-Wings compete in the ECHL and are the AA affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks. Kalamazoo plays their 36 regular season home games at Wings Event Center from October through April.

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