Hockey

High On The Hog: Hungry, Like The Wolves?

By Jon Fromi 669

The Rockford IceHogs host Chicago Tuesday night at the BMO Center. It is the biggest game of the year for both teams. There are four games remaining in the regular season. However, the playoff hopes of both teams likely hinge on the result of this season’s final matchup between the I-90 rivals.

The IceHogs earned a split with Milwaukee this past weekend. Chicago took three of four points with Iowa. Heading into Tuesday, Rockford holds a one-point lead for the fifth and final postseason spot in the Central Division.

Rocco Grimaldi paced the IceHogs to a 3-2 victory in Milwaukee Friday night with a pair of goals. Rockford held on for a key victory, with Mike Hardman’s fifth of the season being the game-winner. The following evening, the Admirals led from the opening minute on the way to a 5-1 win. Luke Philp potted Rockford’s lone goal Saturday.

The Hogs and Wolves finish the season with the same three opponents-Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, and Manitoba. Both teams conclude their schedules with games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It really comes down to how each team finishes against common opponents.

Chicago is currently on an eight-game point streak in which it has gone 6-0-2. The piglets are 5-5 over their last ten games and have dropped their last four with the Wolves.  In those games, Chicago has outscored Rockford 17-5.

Remember, the IceHogs must finish ahead of Chicago to secure a playoff appearance, lest fourth-place Iowa loses its last three games. While that’s not impossible (the Wild finish with Milwaukee and a pair in Texas), this is Rockford’s last chance to control its destiny. A regulation win over the Wolves and two victories this weekend will do it, no matter how Chicago closes out the season.

First things first…the IceHogs need a regulation win Tuesday. Rockford has just two regulation wins at the BMO in its last 18 attempts. Those would be April 2 over Grand Rapids and December 31 against the Wolves. Following that 6-2 win, Rockford was 15 points ahead of the Wolves in the standings. Since then:

Chicago: 22-13-2-2

Rockford: 14-17-4-2

So…the Wolves have a full head of steam coming into Tuesday’s showdown. The Hogs are struggling to score consistently and were spanked by the Admirals Saturday night. Arvid Soderblom was out-played in the net by Milwaukee’s backup, Devin Cooley.

Chicago will surely have Pyotr Kochetkov in the net to oppose Soderblom. Kochetkov is 3-0 against Rockford with a 1.31 GAA and a .935 save percentage. He shut out the Hogs back on April 1.

The organization’s response? Let’s send Lukas Reichel to Rockford a day early and let him take care of it.

Reichel, along with Alex Vlasic, comes down from the Blackhawks to try and help secure a postseason position. Buddy Robinson was recalled to Chicago in a reciprocal move on Monday.

Reichel can’t hurt Rockford’s chances in this last week. This gives the Hogs at least an echo of the offensive potential they had in the first three months of the season. Reunite the firm of Brett Seney, Reichel, and David Gust, then put Bobby Lynch with Grimaldi and Philp to form two potent scoring lines.

Will that be enough to best the Wolves? It’s going to have to do, as the only other help from the Hawks would come if/when Joey Anderson is assigned to Rockford (along with Robinson) for the weekend. From a talent standpoint, this is as together a roster as the Hogs have had in the last six weeks.

Next week, I will either be taking a closer look at a play-in series or deconstructing a massive failure of a season for the IceHogs. Follow me @JonFromi on twitter to see how it all shakes out.

 

 

Hockey

High On The Hog: Tightening Up

By Jon Fromi 648

The Rockford IceHogs continue to struggle in their quest for the AHL postseason. This past weekend, Rockford allowed their interstate rivals to inch ever closer to the fifth and final playoff spot in the Central Division.

The Chicago Wolves closed the gap between them and the piglets to four points as the Hogs dropped two out of three games this weekend. It wasn’t pretty; Rockford was shut out by Laval on Friday and in Rosemont Saturday. In fact, the IceHogs took 22 minutes to register as much as a shot on Chicago.

Rockford stopped the bleeding by defeating Grand Rapids 5-1 Sunday afternoon. With six games left for the IceHogs, what looked to be a wrapped-up spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs is very much in doubt.

The regulation win over the Griffins was the first such victory at the BMO since December 31. It’s just the second regulation win for Rockford in its last 15 games, dating back to February 24. Brett Seney led the way with a pair of goals, setting a career-high for him with goals 21 and 22.

The IceHogs also got goals from Andrew Perrott, Jakub Galvas, and Luke Philp, who has been a consistent point producer for Rockford. His 24 goals and 46 points in 54 games are career-highs for Philp.

The Wolves, who have a game in hand on the IceHogs, are currently on a five-game point streak. They need only to tie for fifth; Chicago has 27 regulation wins to just 16 for Rockford. The Hogs need to finish the season with a flourish, but it won’t be an easy task.

This weekend, the piglets have a home-and-home with Milwaukee, who has won five of seven meetings with Rockford this season. The Wolves play Milwaukee, who they beat 5-2 on Sunday, again on Wednesday, then have a home-and-home with Iowa this weekend. Chicago has won its last four games against the Wild.

It isn’t difficult to forecast a scenario that sees the Hogs and Wolves in a dead heat by this time next week. If Chicago stays hot and Rockford continues to struggle, the IceHogs could be the team on the outside of the playoff picture.

What is the organization, who pledged that getting playoff games under the belt of its prospects was a priority, doing to reinforce the IceHogs? Surprisingly little.

This is the time of year where college and junior players are signed. The IceHogs signed Notre Dame forward Ryder Rolston to a PTO March 14 and Paul Ludwinski, the Hawks second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, to an ATO on March 29. However, neither player has suited up for Rockford. The team announced that Ludwinski is out indefinitely with an ankle sprain sustained in his junior season with Kingston of the OHL.

Mike Hardman was reassigned to the IceHogs on Wednesday. Joey Anderson cleared waivers Sunday; it appears that he and Lukas Reichel will be assigned to Rockford at the conclusion of the NHL season. Three games will remain for the IceHogs at that point; will it be enough?

There seems to be enough talent on the roster to make the necessary push. However, even with the goal explosion on Sunday, Rockford has averaged 1.93 goals per contest in its last 15 games. That has to change, starting this weekend against the Admirals.

The Hogs are in Milwaukee on Friday night, then come back to the BMO Saturday. Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for updates on the Hogs hunt for the playoffs.

Hockey

High On The Hog: Getting Clearer

By Jon Fromi 612

The Rockford IceHogs are inching closer to the end of their regular season. Will that season continue following the April 16 finale in Milwaukee? Maybe. Probably. The piglets playoff picture continues to develop with just nine games remaining. Here we go…

The IceHogs entered this week seven points behind Manitoba for the third-seed in the Central Division. Following two games at Canada Life Centre, Rockford is eight points behind. The Hogs defeated the Moose 4-3 in a shootout Wednesday on the only attempt that reached twine, that of Rocco Grimaldi’s shot in round two.

This came after Manitoba tied the game with ten seconds remaining in regulation. Picking up two points was key to catching the Moose in the Central Division standings; letting Manitoba slip away with a point was considerably poor form. Two of Manitoba’s three goals came via two-man advantages. Arvid Soderblom stopped 43 shots and denied three shootout attempts for a hard-earn victory.

Friday, Manitoba cruised to a 5-0 lead in the first 21 minutes of action. Soderblom was pulled in favor of Jaxson Stauber after four first-period goals by the Moose. Manitoba claimed a 6-2 win that pretty much ended hopes of Rockford vaulting into a top-three finish in the division.

 

Where Does This Leave The Hogs?

Rockford (30-24-5-4) currently sits in fifth place in the Central with nine games remaining on its regular-season slate. With 69 points, the Hogs trail fourth-place Iowa (72 points) and have two games in hand on the Wild.

Grand Rapids (eight games left) and Chicago (ten games left) sit in the division basement with 61 points entering play this week. The Griffins and Wolves play each other twice the rest of the way. Each also has two games remaining with Rockford. After the Hogs host Laval this Friday, they will finish a three-in-three weekend in Rosemont on Saturday and at the BMO Sunday when Grand Rapids visits.

The IceHogs won’t be winning any tie-breaking scenarios, as Rockford has just 15 regulation wins this season. Twelve points in the final nine games would force Chicago to run the table to tie Rockford. 81 points sounds like a relatively safe finish for the piglets; it may or may not overtake the Wild, but Rockford is looking at a best-of-three play-in series with Iowa whether it finishes fourth or fifth in the Central.

Could the IceHogs catch fire and reel off 6-7 wins to close out the regular season? Perhaps. Let’s go back and find the last nine-game stretch where RFD won six games.

That would be Dec. 21-Jan. 13, where the piglets went 6-2-1. Immediately after that nine-game run, RFD lost seven straight. The best the IceHogs have managed since was a 5-2-0-2 mark from Jan. 31-Feb. 22.

To summarize, Rockford could play its best hockey of the last three months to lock up a spot in the post season. Just winning the remaining four games with Grand Rapids and Chicago in regulation probably does it as well. Finishing with 79 points, or ten points in these last nine games, is likely good enough to qualify. The IceHogs certainly have control of their playoff destiny at the moment.

 

How’s The Roster?

Rockford is slowly re-gaining some depth up front. The Blackhawks reassigned F Buddy Robinson to the Hogs on Sunday. Another player or two could possibly follow to help Rockford before hitting the BMO ice against Laval Friday. At the moment, the IceHogs have been competitive largely on the strength of Grimaldi, Luke Philp, and David Gust, who accounted for four of Rockford’s five goals this past weekend (The fifth belonged to D Issak Phillips).

Getting Robinson back is another step towards what could be a deep, formidable playoff roster. Lukas Reichel, Joey Anderson, and Mike Hardman are playoff-eligible and would provide a boost to close out the regular season. The IceHogs could also pick up a PTO or an ATO that could chip in as the regular season winds down.

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for my musings as Rockford finishes the stretch run over the next couple of weeks.

Hockey

High On The Hog: Into The Realm Of The Moose

By Jon Fromi 645

The Rockford IceHogs helped themselves solidify a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs this past week, winning two of three games at the BMO Harris Bank Center. Fittingly, both wins came in Gus Macker Time and were spearheaded by big goals from their veterans.

The piglets scored a 4-3 win over Manitoba Wednesday night. Luke Philp had a two-goal night to help the Hogs reach overtime, where recently-acquired Rocco Grimaldi swiped a puck and went coast-to-coast for the game-winner.

After suffering a 6-2 loss to visiting Colorado Friday, Rockford responded with a 3-2 overtime triumph. Grimaldi picked up a pair of assists; Zach Jordan notched his first goal since being called up last week in the opening frame. Philp recorded the other Hogs goal in the second period. After a scoreless third, David Gust scored the game-winner off of a pass by Jakub Galvas.

Rockford (29-23-5-4, 67 points) is still tied with Iowa for fourth place in the Central Division. There is a nine-point gap between the Hogs and Wild and the sixth-place Chicago Wolves. The Moose sit in third place with 74 points. The IceHogs have a chance to control their fate in terms of where they finish in the division this week. That’s because Rockford travels north of the border for two huge games in Manitoba.

The Moose have a game in hand on the IceHogs entering Wednesday’s game. Manitoba is coming off a seven-game road trip. Winning the last meeting between the two teams in regulation would have improved Rockford’s chances of catching the Moose in the standings. Nonetheless, picking up two regulation wins in Manitoba is the priority this week.

 

Lynch Steps Up

Former Moose forward Bobby Lynch chipped in with a goal in the win against his former team on Wednesday. Lynch potted his tenth goal of the season in the second period after setting up Philp’s first tally in the first.

Lynch, 24, signed with Rockford after an eight-goal, 13-assist season in 46 games with Manitoba last year. The 6’2″ forward has been a steady presence on the Hogs bottom six most of the season. Lynch has stepped up his game when given the chance, with eight goals and two helpers in his last 20 games. This includes an overtime game-winner on February 4 over Iowa when given a rare spot in the 3-on-3.

He may fall back to a third or fourth line role if expected players come down from Chicago in the final weeks of the season. However, Lynch’s play has helped keep the Hogs playoff chances afloat.

 

Roster News

Back on Monday last week, the Hogs recalled goalie Mitchell Weeks from the Indy Fuel. Weeks was 12-5-1 with a 2.53 GAA and a .912 save percentage in 19 games with Indy.

The next day, Notre Dame forward Ryder Rolston was inked to a PTO by Rockford following his signing of an entry-level contract with the Blackhawks starting next season. Rolston, who had been injured for the latter part of the NCAA season, has yet to play for Rockford.

Gust returned to action on Wednesday night after his wife gave birth. Also back on Wednesday from concussion protocol was D.J. Busdeker. Brett Seney was back in the lineup from his concussion on Friday; he celebrated his 300th AHL game with a power-play goal in the second period of the loss to Colorado.

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for thoughts on the IceHogs throughout the season.

 

Hockey

High On The Hog: Scary Numbers

By Jon Fromi 537

Things are starting to get a little tight down Rockford way. The IceHogs completed a five-game road trip by going 1-3-1, punctuated by a 5-1 beating at the hands of the Chicago Wolves Saturday night. Rockford preceded that loss with a 2-1 overtime setback in Grand Rapids Friday.

The piglets find themselves shorthanded due to injury and call-ups. It’s not a unique development in the AHL, but it’s coming hard and heavy for Rockford, as well as at a most inopportune time.

The Wolves, 10-4-0-1 in their last 15 games, are making a strong push to grab a playoff spot and defend their Calder Cup title. Saturday dropped Rockford to a tie with Iowa for fourth place in the Central Division. The Wild claimed third with Sunday’s win over Manitoba, knocking the Hogs into the fifth and final playoff spot. Chicago, along with the Griffins,  is eight points behind Rockford with 16 games remaining.

The Hogs and Wild each have 14 games left. It was inconceivable just a month ago that the Wolves could overtake one of or both of these teams. Now, Rockford is struggling mightily and is staring at some truly scary numbers. Here are but a few.

 

7

This was the number of goals the piglets managed on the five-games away from the BMO Center over the past couple of weeks. After falling 5-3 to Toronto in the opening game of the trip, Rockford scored all of one regulation goal in each of the remaining four games. To have won one of those contests and earned a point in another is a testament to the strong play of goalie Arvid Soderblom.

Seven is also the number of the IceHogs top seven scorers from the first five months of the season who were out of the lineup Saturday in Rosemont.

Adam Clendening and Dylan Sikura were traded. Cole Guttman, Reichel, and Philp are with the Hawks. Brett Seney is in concussion protocol. David Gust is with his wife awaiting the birth of their first child.

Pieces were picked up in exchange for some of the players moved out of Rockford. However, right now a lot of pieces are with the Blackhawks. Philp (who signed a two-way deal with Chicago for next season on Thursday) was an emergency recall on Saturday, leaving the Hogs with just eleven forwards for that night’s game.

The organization’s plan was for a host of players to return to Rockford following the conclusion of the NHL regular season. Help is on the way…it just isn’t going to get to ‘Bago County for another month. Following the last game on the Hawks schedule on April 13, Rockford has just three games on its regular season schedule.

 

8-12-3-2

Since defeating the first-place Texas Stars on January 3, this is the IceHogs record in the subsequent 25 games. In that span, Rockford is averaging 2.20 goals per contest.

Want another gut punch?

This year’s IceHogs through 58 games: 27-22-5-4, 63 points

Last year’s IceHogs through 58 games: 28-24-4-1, 63 points

In other words, the veteran-laden club the organization compiled this summer has fared no better than the scrappy prospects that toiled the previous season. I would never have believed this having watched this team challenge for the top of the division most of the first three months, but the numbers are screaming it.

Dropping seven straight games in January will do that. The Hogs went 8-2 from November 13 to December 7, their best stretch of the season so far. Since then, most of the remaining Central clubs have gone on similar runs. It’s the Wolves turn at the moment.

Last season’s scrappy prospects finished 8-6 in their final 14 games. Rockford needs to respond in its remaining games. Eight wins might be enough to maintain position for a play-in series. The question is…can they manage eight wins?

The Hogs have four games with second-place Milwaukee and three with third-place Manitoba. Rockford hosts the Moose Wednesday night before Colorado arrives at the BMO for two games this weekend. They also have two games remaining with the hungry Wolves, a pair with Grand Rapids, and a single date with Laval among the remaining schedule.

 

15

Regulation wins by the IceHogs this season, tied with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (last in the Eastern Conference). Only  San Diego (last in the AHL) has fewer. There are no chances of winning a tie-breaker if things continue to head south.

 

21

Times Rockford has needed Gus Macker Time to settle a contest this season, by far the tops in the league. The IceHogs are 12-9 in those games; 7-5 in overtime and 5-4 in the shootout.

We’ve heard head coach Anders Sorensen tout the resiliency of his team, and that is apparent. Rockford has eight third-period rallies for wins. The number the Hogs need to note is their 15-0-1-1 mark when leading after two periods. Just avoid digging holes.

 

Roster News

Last week, Nolan Valleau was released from his PTO. Koletrane Wilson was returned to the Indy Fuel, then recalled back to Rockford when Filip Roos was recalled by the Hawks.

Pavel Gogolev, obtained by the Hawks in a trade with Toronto, was waived and released from his NHL entry deal. He then signed an AHL contract with the Marlies and was assigned to Newfoundland of the ECHL, where he had been at the time of the trade.

Along with Philp being recalled by the Hawks Saturday was G Anton Khudobin. Philp, Khudobin, and Roos were all assigned to Rockford on Sunday.

UPDATE-Monday, the Hawks recalled forwards Mike Hardman and Buddy Robinson. The Hogs recalled goalie Mitchell Weeks from the Indy Fuel.

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for thoughts on the IceHogs throughout the season.

 

 

 

Hockey

High On The Hog: The Rearrangement

By Jon Fromi 605

As the Rockford IceHogs prepare to start the process of locking down a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs, it’s probably a good time to focus on the way the roster was reshaped over the past week. In case you missed it, the Blackhawks made a couple of trades.

This flurry of transactions was a two-prong effort between Chicago and Rockford. As was the case around the league, moves were made involving what amounted to swaps of AHL and NHL contracts. The get-around was using “future considerations”. This fleshed out what seemed to be one-sided trades at the NHL level with reciprocal AHL deals that got the players where everyone wanted them to go.

If you want to sort out all the moves, be my guest. I’m more concerned with the pieces that departed and arrived in Rockford when the trade deadline occurred. Here’s how things currently stand.

Out

NHL Contracts

G Dylan Wells-to Dallas

D Cooper Zech-to Rangers

AHL Contracts

D Adam Clendening-to Hartford

F Carson Gicewicz-to Rochester

In

NHL Contracts

D Andrew Welinski-from Rangers

F Pavel Gogolev-from Toronto

F Maxim Golod-from Anaheim (Hawks assigned Golod to the Indy Fuel)

G Anton Khudobin-from Dallas

AHL Contracts

F Rocco Grimaldi-from San Diego

F Logan Nijhoff-from San Diego (Hogs assigned Nijhoff to the Indy Fuel)

F Zach Jordan-from Hartford (Hogs assigned Jordan to the Indy Fuel)

F Colin Bilek-from Mantitoba (Hogs assigned Bilek to the Indy Fuel)

 

In Addition…

The Blackhawks assigned David Gust, Brett Seney, Issak Phillips, Lukas Reichel, and Joey Anderson (newly acquired from Toronto) to the IceHogs. Reichel and Anderson were paper moves that were pulled back to Chicago following the trade deadline, but both players are eligible to participate in the postseason for Rockford.

So…how did the Hogs make out?

Surprisingly well. Grimaldi is the type of player BMO fans should salivate over; a veteran AHL sniper who has produced in AHL stops in San Antonio, Portland, and Milwaukee. In San Diego this season, the 30-year-old Grimaldi had 27 goals and 29 helpers in 54 games.

Gogolev was responsible for Rockford’s only regulation goal in a 2-1 shootout win in Laval Saturday night, tipping in a shot by Welinski (4 G, 12 A in 40 games with Hartford).

Khudobin sure would have come in handy earlier this season. There was a need for a veteran goalie who could have played the role Arvid Soderblom was cast in due to injuries. With Soderblom now set to receive the bulk of the starts down the stretch and Jaxson Stauber playing well in a Hogs loss in Belleville Friday, the 36-year-old veteran still provides experienced insurance for Rockford.

As a result of the bevy of moves, the Hogs found themselves a little undermanned this past week. Rockford battled but lost 5-3 in Toronto on Wednesday and 4-1 Belleville on Friday before defeating the Rocket Saturday.

Seney and forward D.J. Busdeker left Friday’s contest with injuries. Busdeker returned for the third period. The following night, both players sat out, forcing the Hogs to play two defensemen, Nolan Valleau and Koletrane Wilson, at forward.

I would imaging that Gust, who was with his expecting wife, and Grimaldi will be in the lineup for Rockford this coming weekend, when the IceHogs finish their five-game road trip in Grand Rapids Friday and in Rosemont on Saturday.

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for thoughts on the IceHogs as they look to maintain and improve upon their playoff position.