The IceHogs’ 2013 preseason schedule only featured two contests. Both games were on the road as the BMO Harris Bank Center is undergoing seat renovations. First up for the Hogs was a trip to West Meadows Ice Arena in Rolling Meadows for a tilt against the Wolves, and then it was up to the Kern Center in Milwaukee to take on the Admirals.
It’s been a long summer for the IceHogs and their fans after the team missed the playoffs by a mere 2 points to the Milwaukee Admirals in 2012-13. The Hogs finished 9th in the Western Conference with a record of 42-31-2-1 (87 points). The roster turnover will be noticeable this year for Rockford, which is different from last season where the majority of the team was the same from the year before.
The puck dropped for the final time on Blackhawks Prospect Camp at 10:00 this morning for the final scrimmage of the week. With one last chance to show hockey ops and fans what they could do this week, the prospects put on a great show.
Thursday at Blackhawks Prospect Camp brought the second scrimmage of the week. The White Team was looking to even up the “series” since the Red Team took the 5-4 victory in Wednesday’s scrimmage.
Day 3 of Blackhawks Prospect Camp brought the first scrimmage of the week at Johnny’s Ice House West. Team A (White jerseys) and Team B (Red jerseys) dropped the puck at roughly 11:30 a.m.
Day 2 of Blackhawks Prospect Camp at Johnny’s Ice House West featured two more practices today. The groups weren’t just Free Agents and Blackhawk property anymore—the two were mixed together in what should be preparation for the following three days of scrimmages.
The Blackhawks’ annual Prospect Camp opened up this afternoon with two practice sessions at Johnny’s Ice House West. Although the kids mainly just went through typical drills that a normal hockey practice features, it was a great opportunity to impress the coaches, staff and fans with their skills.
This was it. Week 28 in the AHL schedule. The IceHogs had 2 games left in their schedule and they needed all 4 points to keep their playoff hopes alive. They weren’t in complete control of their own destiny though—they needed the Milwaukee Admirals to lose just one, measly game in order for Rockford to make their first playoff appearance since 2009-10. Only half of the plan worked.
The Rockford IceHogs had another big week on tap for week 27 of the AHL schedule. Every point remained precious as they continued their playoff push.
The IceHogs needed to keep on racking up the points in their games in week 25 and Tuesday of week 26 in order to maintain the pace of the Western Conference points race. During this four game homestand, they needed to take at least 6 of 8 points, but they only got half of the available points.
