Everything Else

High On The Hog: Players Under The Microscope

By Jon Fromi 1588

It’s early in the offseason, but the Rockford IceHogs are going to be a very different looking group come fall.

In the face of a trying 2016-17 campaign, the Blackhawks AHL affiliate looks to be setting up in a similar fashion as in previous seasons. That means getting young and learning on the job.

Decisions will have to be made as to how much turnover takes place in Rockford, with a host of free agents among this past season’s roster. Who do the Hogs re-up with? Who moves on to the next stop in their career?

A lot of these questions may well depend on the new coaching staff. With Ted Dent no longer the head man, the team could opt for a clean slate in terms of retaining veteran skaters.

I spent most of this past week taking a look at the players who finished the spring with Rockford. I submit to you my thoughts on the IceHogs roster and how those players fared over the past season.

 

NHL Forwards (That is to say, forwards on NHL one or two-way deals)

Brandon Mashinter-61 games, 15 G, 15 A, 30 P, minus-20 (UFA)

Mashinter was briefly the IceHogs captain before being called up to Chicago in 2015-16. He served as an alternate captain for much of this season. He’s a steady AHL forward capable of 15-20 goals and 30-35 points year in and year out.

Mashinter plays a simple game in the shadow of the opposing net. He’s big and more than able to play physically. He commands respect in the locker room and with coach Ted Dent. At age 28, he may have had his shot at the NHL (at least in Chicago), but certainly can be a productive veteran in Rockford for at least a few more seasons.

Trouble is, Mashinter was on a one-way deal this past campaign. It’s possible the Hawks re-sign him to a similar contract. Then again, in an expansion year, maybe Mashinter tries to put himself in position to make an NHL roster.

He’s a guy I would welcome back in a heartbeat, though I couldn’t fault Mashinter if he keeps his options open.

 

Kyle Baun-74 games, 14 G, 20 A, 34 P, minus-14 (under contract through next season)

Baun, who really had a bounce-back season after a lacerated arm kept him on the shelf for a good chunk of his rookie year. He plays a similar game to Mashinter, only he looks to be a little better passer with a bit more skill around the net.

Baun benefited from a lot of special teams action that wasn’t available to him last season. He also was a regular on the top-six. Does that continue to be the case with a deeper prospect pool?

Having signed after a college career at Colgate, the standard question tends to focus on how much better you can expect Baun to be (he turns 25 in a couple of weeks). It should be interesting to see if he can make a jump of some kind in his game.

 

Michael Latta-61 games, 5 G, 17 A, 22 P, minus-four (RFA)

Latta played in 32 games for the IceHogs, racking up three goals and 13 helpers. He came to Rockford from Ontario in exchange for Cameron Schilling.

Latta, who spent the last two previous seasons playing in the NHL, provides an experienced veteran option. He has some skill with the puck and can drop the gloves when needed. He wasn’t a standout in his time in Rockford in terms of filling the net, but he has shown goal-scoring potential in AHL stints with Milwaukee and Hershey.

He played well up the middle for the IceHogs in the last two months of the season. If the organization decides to clean house in terms of veterans, Latta could be a solid citizen on which to build next fall’s club.

 

Martin Lundberg-67 games, 9 G, 12 A, 21 P, plus-one (UFA)

Lundberg plays a steady, two-way game. As I pointed out a couple of weeks ago, he can be used on a checking or scoring line and not be terribly out of place in either role.

He wasn’t afraid to go into the corners or tussle with an opponent when he saw the need. Bringing him back would add a versatile skater to the mix in Rockford. This was Lundberg’s first season of North American hockey. He would be welcome depth for the IceHogs, but the money could be better for him in his native Sweden.

 

Luke Johnson-73 games, 8 G, 9 A, 17 P, minus-24 (signed through 2018-19)

Johnson, Chicago’s fifth-round selection in the 2013 NHL Draft, went through his rookie season with few other prospects to battle over ice time. The former North Dakota forward spent the majority of his time in the bottom six.

Scoring his first pro goal December 9 in Texas, Johnson also had an assist in what was his only multi-point game of the campaign. He scored six of his goals in the season’s last three months but wasn’t really a productive offensive player for Rockford.

Johnson did play a lot on the penalty kill; however his all-around game still has a way to go. He is going to have to compete a lot harder for minutes with a host of prospects. If Johnson can’t raise his game, he may see the press box on occasion.

 

Tyler Motte-43 games, 10 G, 6 A, 16 P, minus-19 (signed through 2018-19)

Motte made an immediate impact when he was sent down from Chicago in January-four goals in his first seven games. He went through a ten-game pointless streak from January 18 until scoring a goal February 11 against San Antonio.

A full season in Rockford from Motte might have seen him finish as one of the Hogs more productive scorers; obviously that didn’t happen.

 

Pierre-Cedric Labrie-52 games, 1 G, 7 A, 8 P, minus-12 (UFA)

I certainly wasn’t expecting to get another 20-goal season from the big man. However, what we did get was not enough from a veteran forward.

Labrie’s solitary goal came in the ultimate garbage time-the waning moments of the IceHogs final game. On his best day, it would be hard to call him fast. This past season, he seemed even slower on his skates. Maybe I never noticed Labrie ending his shifts 10-15 seconds earlier than his line mates in the past, but it happened with some frequency in 2016-17.

He has been a fan favorite in Rockford and deservedly so; he plays physical and works hard when he is on the ice. A lower-body injury kept him out of action for about a month. I suspect he was a healthy scratch on occasion as well.

Early in the season, you could make a case for some bad puck luck. However, Labrie scoring chances were few and far between the last three or four months. Injuries could also have factored into what was his least productive AHL season for the Hogs.

At 31, Labrie has some mileage on him. Could he be back in Rockford for a fourth season? I would suspect not, unless it’s on an AHL deal.

 

AHL Forwards (all of whom are UFAs)

Jake Dowell-66 games, 4 G, 11 A, 15 P, minus-10

The Hogs captain did not enjoy a repeat of last season’s career-high scoring numbers (11 G, 24 A), but wasn’t too far off from his usual offensive output.

Dowell isn’t in Rockford to score. His role is to mentor, win faceoffs, and play hard in his own end. He has worn a C on his sweater longer that any IceHogs player. Will that continue in 2017-18?

I don’t know.

Dowell is 32. His days as a legit NHL competitor are long in the rear-view mirror. After an uncertain future concerning his long-term health, Dowell and his wife had their first child this season. He also played in his 500th AHL contest.

He’s a known commodity; if the IceHogs offer him another one-year AHL deal, they know what they can expect. Does Rockford still value his leadership? Does Dowell want to continue this phase of his hockey career?

 

Jeremy Langlois-66 games, 8 G, 6 A, 14 P, minus-four

Langlois was Rockford’s most productive AHL contract by far. Like Lundberg, he could fit in in a number of areas at both ends of the ice.

In what was about a one-month stretch in the middle of the season (Jan. 27-March 3), Langlois shone brightly. In 17 games during that run, he had six goals, four helpers, and was a plus-four. Langlois saw time on special teams. For an AHL signing, he brings a lot to the table and would be a welcome addition to next year’s IceHogs.

 

Evan Mosey-41 games, 4 G, 5 A, 9 P, minus-one

The Downers Grove, Illinois native made the jump to the AHL from several seasons in lower-tier European hockey. He fared pretty well; his goals-for relative to team was fourth-highest among the Hogs regulars. This despite playing almost exclusively on the lower lines with defensive oriented line mates.

Following the season, Mosey played very well for Great Britain in the IIHF World Championships in the IB Division. He led his team with seven points (3 G, 4 A) and helped them win a gold medal. Great Britain will be promoted to the second tier of the World Championship structure.

The 28-year-old Mosey adjusted well to the step up in class and is certainly worth another AHL deal from the IceHogs.

 

Chris DeSousa-36 games, 4 G, 1 A, 5 P, minus-eight

DeSousa played the same type of game he was known for in 2015-16. The 5’9″ forward finishes checks and looks to initiate physical play.

He started the fall injured and never really got rolling the way he did the season before, when he totaled 13 points (7 G, 6 A) in 67 appearances with the Hogs.

 

Tyler Barnes-25 games, 4 G, 3 A, 7 P, minus-six

Barnes is a point-a-game producer in the ECHL who signed on with Rockford but did not finish the season with the IceHogs. He did play in a career-high 25 AHL games, splitting his time between the Hogs and the ECHL. Barnes had 15 points (5 G, 10 A) in 15 games with the Indy Fuel before being loaned out in the spring to the Allen Americans. There, he totaled six goals and six helpers and helped Allen advance to the second round of the ECHL playoffs.

Bryn Chyzyk got into two games with Rockford without making a dent in the score sheet. He played 30 games with the ECHL’s Indy Fuel (5 G, 7 A, minus-22).

 

NHL Defensemen

Eric Gustafsson-68 games, 5 G, 25 A, 30 P, minus-27 (RFA)

Like most of the blue line, Gustafsson suffered from the lack of finishers up front. With more talent at forward next season, he might be primed for huge offensive numbers.

In 2016-17, though, Gustafsson and the defensive corps were forced to fend off the attacks of opponents. It led to a lot of goals in the Rockford net.

In terms of offense, Gustafsson had a pretty decent season. He led the IceHogs with 185 shots on goal and 25 assists. Eleven of those came on the man advantage.  He played a prominent role on the Hogs power play unit, even though that group was one of the AHL’s least effective.

Like I said, re-signing Gustafsson and improving the skill at forward could result in him being a dangerous offensive weapon.

 

Ville Pokka-76 games, 6 G, 24 A, 30 P, minus-25 (RFA)

Interesting stat: Pokka did not score an even-strength goal this season. He had four on the power play, one via a 5-on-3, and a shorthanded goal. He was at his best on the power play, notching 18 of his 30 points when in that mode.

Like Gustafsson, Pokka had to play back on his heels quite a bit, limiting his effectiveness. At age 22, Pokka is still learning to be a solid defender. I don’t think he took a step back; he was a similar player as he was the past two seasons, minus a veteran partner. On the other hand, his defense is still a question mark if Pokka is to make it to the NHL.

 

Viktor Svedberg-51 games, 2 G, 9 A, 11 P, minus-seven (Signed through 2017-18)

As has often been the case with Svedberg, staying healthy was an issue this past season. He missed most of January due to injury and last played for Rockford on March 18.

When he was on the ice, Svedberg showed improvement in his defensive positioning. In a season where the defense was constantly facing odd-man rushes, you would think the 6’9″ Svedberg would be getting lit up right and left. That didn’t really happen.

Svedberg is a pretty good defender, provided he can keep an opponent at stick length and turn the play to the outside. If a skater gets inside Svedberg’s reach, good night. However, I think Svedberg is much more adept at compensating for his lack of mobility that when he first arrived in Rockford in 2013.

Svedberg could someday prove to be quite the capable defender. The question is in his durability.

 

Carl Dahlstrom-70 games, 6 G, 5 A, 11 P, minus-12 (signed through 2018-19)

In what was his first full season in Rockford, Dahlstrom showed potential at both ends of the ice. His size makes him a good candidate for an old-time defensive blue liner.

Paired with several teammates over the course of the season, Dahlstrom posted the best goals for relative to team of any of the defensive regulars. All his scoring occurred at even strength. Dahlstrom also led IceHogs defensemen with a 5.9 shooting percentage.

Bulking up his assist numbers will be an area to watch for the big Swede; at age 22, there is definitely room from improvement.

 

Robin Norell-65 games, 1 G, 8 A, 9 P, minus-21 (Signed through 2018-19)

Norell is another Swedish rookie who should be in the mix when putting together next season’s club. I wasn’t overly impressed with Norell’s game; I’m not sure what he does particularly well after watching him this season.

Ted Dent’s tendency to employ seven defensemen in the lineup gave Norell some extra time on the ice. He was most often a member of the bottom defensive pairing. He got 42 shots on goal, by far the fewest of any of the regular defensemen.

He doesn’t create a lot of offense. He’s not a physical defensive type. Norell is 22 and is signed for two more seasons. This was his first full season of North American hockey, so we should look to him being more aggressive and/or productive in his sophomore campaign.

 

Nolan Valleau-46 games, 3 G, 5 A, 8 P, minus-19 (RFA)

Valleau wasn’t used nearly as often as his rookie season, when he appeared in 62 games. In Valleau’s last 29 appearances, from December 31 to the end of the season, his offensive output was two goals and no assists.

Like Norell, Valleau was often a bottom pairing or seventh defenseman this season. I’m not sure he’s shown enough potential to garner an extension from the Blackhawks.

Technically, Hawks prospect Dillon Fournier was on the Hogs roster for the bulk of the season. He played four games in Indy, was reassigned to Rockford by the Blackhawks November 7, and never appeared in a game for the IceHogs. This was the final season of Fournier’s entry deal. Two of those seasons were lost to injury, but right now it would be fair to term the second-rounder from 2012 a bust. I would doubt Fournier receives an extension.

 

AHL Defensemen

There weren’t many of these. Jonathan Carlsson was released mid-season after spending most of his season in Indianapolis. Nick Mattson skated 63 games for the Fuel (1 G, 15 A) and just two January contests for Rockford.

Robin Press is a player I would figure to be back on an AHL deal, mostly because the organization seems to feel he has potential. After his team in the SHL found little use for him this season, Press was signed to an AHL deal with Rockford and sent to Indy for some much-needed playing time.

He got into 30 games with the Fuel, scoring two goals and adding ten assists. He got into nine games in the latter half of Rockford’s season but was pointless in that time. I never got the feeling that Press was comfortable on the ice in any of his appearances with the IceHogs.

 

NHL Goalies

Jeff Glass-20 games, 8-10-2, 2.63 goals against average, .914 save percentage (signed through 2017-18)

Glass was signed mid-season, initially on an AHL contract, and played his way to a two-year NHL deal a few weeks later. With Scott Darling’s rights now belonging to Charlotte, Glass is, on paper at least, Corey Crawford’s backup.

I cannot imagine that Chicago is content with this arrangement.

First off, Glass is likely to be the goalie exposed in the expansion draft. Secondly, he has zero NHL appearances at age 31. Is it possible that Glass is an older version of Darling? Put me in the camp that is not of that belief.

Glass, who toiled in the KHL for seven seasons before returning to AHL rinks, was solid for Rockford and could well find his way back with the Hogs as a veteran presence in net. I would have to believe that the Blackhawks will be signing a goalie with NHL experience this summer. If Glass beats that man out in training camp, so be it.

It’s quite possible that Glass has developed into a reliable goalie with NHL potential. I think he’ll have to continue to prove that for him to win a permanent spot behind Crawford.

 

Lars Johansson-39 games, 12-17-4, 2.75 goals against average, .907 save percentage (UFA)

I would imagine that an extension for Johansson depends heavily on what goes on above and below him. If Glass remains in the organization and Chicago elects to sign an experienced veteran, Johansson may find himself looking for work.

Johansson, like all the Hogs goalies, didn’t have a lot of help keeping pucks out of the net. He was up with the Hawks backing up Darling following Crawford’s appendectomy (playing zero games). Johansson was a bit shaky upon his return to the IceHogs, but was very solid the rest of the season.

Johansson turns 30 over the summer; are the Hawks confident enough in his NHL potential to re-sign him?

 

Mac Carruth-24 games, 5-11-5-3, 3.64 goals against average, .879 save percentage (UFA)

I can’t imagine a scenario that ends in Carruth being re-signed by the Blackhawks. He’s had an up-and-down run over parts of four seasons; that will likely end this summer.

From mid-January, when Glass arrived, to the end of the season, Carruth was given four starts. He was not very good in any of them. The sporadic work was clearly the writing on the wall for Carruth.

 

AHL Goalies

Rockford had former Michigan State net-minder Jake Hildebrand under contract, along with ECHL journeyman Eric Levine. As expected, neither player figured much into Rockford’s season.

Hildebrand appeared in three games for the Hogs in December while Johansson was up with Chicago. He posted a 4.58 goals against average and an .868 save percentage. In 39 games with the Indy Fuel, Hildebrand had a 3.75 goals against average and a .899 save percentage.

 

The Kids

It’s difficult to asses the slew of ATOs that arrived in the final weeks; these are players who have finished their respective seasons elsewhere and are getting their first taste of the next level. However, here are a few random thoughts:

As previously mentioned, the makeup of the IceHogs will be vastly different come fall, particularly up front. Currently, Chicago has eight players signed to entry contracts-Matheson Iacopelli, Anthony Louis, Matthew Highmore, Alexandre Fortin, Graham Knott, Nathan Noel, Alex DeBrincat, and (assuming his signs as expected) David Kampf.

The player who made the most noise was one that is not signed with the Blackhawks. William Pelletier made an immediate impact when he came in on his ATO in terms of scoring chances. The team put up a very nice article on the Hogs website on Pelletier’s success jumping from Division III collegiate hockey to the AHL. A great coda to that story would be Chicago or Rockford signing the kid to a contract.

Add in Baun and Johnson, along with possibly others like Motte, and Rockford is going to comprised mainly of young talent, at least the way it looks right now.

On the defensive side, Luc Snuggerud made an impression as a player who can get pucks to the net. Including the rookie, Rockford has four defensemen under contract heading into next season. This group could have a very similar look, barring some moves from the front office.

It was another fun season covering the IceHogs, even if Rockford’s fortunes weren’t the most sunny. I’ll be back in a few weeks to update you on signings and re-signings that may happen. I will also send out thoughts on my twitter feed (@JonFromi) on occasion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything Else

That Looks Like Fun: Eastern Conference Game 1s and Previewing West’s Game 2s

By 1162

As much as it’s been built up, even by just me, certainly the first round of Caps-Penguins didn’t disappoint. It was just about as fast as you could hope, close, with the biggest names stepping to the fore. And yes, I mean Nick Bonino, of course.

In truth, the Caps were pretty much all over the Penguins for most of the game, kicking them around in shots and possession, the latter to the tune of a 65% adjusted Corsi-share. The Caps can get push from all three pairings from Carlson, ShattenKevin, Orlov, and even Schmidt. The Pens aren’t short of go even without Letang with Hainsey, Schultz, and Daley but it’s just not the quality of what Washington is rolling. And you don’t want to be in a place where you really have to depend on Schultz and Daley, however good they’ve looked in black and gold.

Everything Else

Life Goes On: Eastern Conference 2nd Round Preview

By 2275

The West kicks off tonight, so let’s get the previews done before we settle in for what really is shaping up as a pretty intriguing second round (except for Sens-Rangers, and that has Erik Karlsson).

HOLY FUCKING SHIT CAPITALS-PENGUINS!!!

Look, any hockey fan worth his or her salt has known this was going to happen in the second round and that it’s essentially the Stanley Cup Final. Barring some injury weirdness or Henrik Lundqvist going Fantastic Four in net or something equally unpredictable, either of these teams is going to annihilate the Rangers or Senators. These are the two best teams in the NHL by some distance. This is the Steamboat-Macho Man to the Final’s Hogan-Andre The Giant. I doubt we’ll remember the Final as much as we’ll remember what might happen here. Instead of rolling our eyes at the same matchup for the second year in a row and our exhaustion of the NHL trying to force this down our throats for years before both teams were ready to provide classic series years in a row, we should just be anxious to watch the best the sport is going to offer.

Everything Else

Live From The Five Hole – I See My Life Somehow

By 1227

It’s our post-mortem podcast. A bit shorthanded as Slak and Matt are on assignment, so Feather and I go through the Hawks’ crash out, the comments coming out of it, the firing of Mike Kitchen and Ted Dent, and what may come this summer. It’s action packed!

Download | iTunes | Google Play | RSS

Everything Else

Dent Vents, Gets Sent (Away)

By Jon Fromi 2132

Just last night, I was firing off tweets as to the future of Ted Dent, who just finished off his sixth season as the head coach of the Rockford IceHogs. With Mike Kitchen being given his walking papers Monday, I figured Dent, who spent eleven years in the organization, could conceivably be in line to move into a spot on the Blackhawks bench.

Based on the events of today, I would figure that to not be the case. Turns out that Dent’s sixth season as head coach of the Hogs was his last season as head coach of the Hogs.

Hawks GM Stan Bowman gave Dent his walking papers this morning in the latest move of what looks to be a thorough housecleaning. The move surprised me more than it did others; I stated just yesterday that I thought Dent had the players playing hard as the season wound down. I am sticking to that statement based on what I saw down the stretch.

That said, it looks like the writing was on the wall for a move to be made.

I hadn’t heard the tales of troubles in the locker room, though I have no reason to doubt the words of those in the know. Chris Hine of the Tribune cited some venting Dent did via social media and a text to his players that basically cried out “Don’t blame me, I just work here.”

Most of that frustration was from Bowman moving Rockford’s top three scorers at the trade deadline. This came at a time when the Hogs were starting to show some signs of improvement in what long before had become a lost season.

It’s hardly inside knowledge that Chicago management has called the shots in terms of the IceHogs. Rockford employs the same systems as the parent club, which makes sense. Dent has apparently bristled on occasion at the tinkering from above with his lineup card over the years. It seems as if things boiled over and now Dent is looking for another job.

Now, it’s completely understandable that Bowman fire a longtime coach (especially if he wasn’t fan of the rants that coach sent out on twitter) to try and flush out the staleness of an extended tenure. If locker room chemistry is an issue, maybe a change does everyone good.

If you’d like to get some new blood in the mix, now’s the time. With a plethora of new faces ready to begin their pro careers in Rockford, it might be a time for a cool change.

Dent did a more than capable job moving prospects through the system. He had a bit of a reputation around the AHL as a guy who sent players into a game for some extra orneriness, especially when his teams were down. Perhaps his most famous of these moves was sending Kyle Beach to take a center-ice faceoff with the Hogs down 6-3 to Grand Rapids, starting the Pink In The Rink Donnybrook back in 2013.

I always chuckled to myself when fans in my section would complain about Dent’s moves. The gripes should have been aimed up in the press box, at least on the night’s Bowman was in attendance.

As I said just yesterday, I can’t blame Bowman for doing his job and running the organization. One thing about his comments to the Tribune did make me raise an eyebrow:

“I think it’s true that’s a good training ground,” Bowman said. “The American League is also for players to get opportunities to succeed and fail that they might not get at this level. We want to be better there as well. There’s no doubt we’re not happy with the fact our team didn’t make the playoffs. We have to find ways up and down our organization to be better.”

If Bowman’s reasons for letting Dent go lay in not working and playing well with others, I find it hard to register a beef. However, to suggest that Dent’s hitting the bricks because he couldn’t win with the lack of speed and skill at forward that Bowman assembled for him…I respectfully disagree.

This past crop of Hogs was not a playoff team. I suspected this before opening night and it became painfully evident within a few games (yes, even when Rockford was 4-2 the first two weeks). If Bowman wants a playoff contender, fortify those prospects with some proven AHL lamp-lighters this fall.

Regardless of the justification, Dent’s exit raises endless possibilities, both on the Rockford staff as well as which players return for another go at the BMO. There were a lot of question marks after the massive egg the Hogs laid this past season. Today’s move gives the snow globe that is Rockford’s roster another couple of shakes…fer sure.

Does Bowman have Dent’s successor in his back pocket? Are other heads going to be carried out on pikes? Guess we’ll see in the coming weeks. I’ll post next week to mull the future of this year’s roster.

 

 

Everything Else

Life Goes On: Western Conference 2nd Round Preview

By 2494

It won’t for most Hawks fans, as we know that the majority of the fanbase heads over to Wrigley once the Hawks are done (and a few lost and desperate souls head to Comiskey, which they should because the food and beer is so much better), but the NHL playoffs do continue once they’re out of it. And they kick off tomorrow night in the West, before we get to what will be the main event on Thursday in the East. And we don’t have much else to do, so let’s preview both series.

Predators vs. Blues

This is probably too distasteful for most Hawks fans, but I don’t really have any bile for the Predators. I think you all know how I feel about the Blues. Luckily, I think the latter is up against it.

Everything Else

Something Something About Taking The Heat Something Something About Firing Kitchen

By 1313

We have our first shot fired in what will apparently be Hawks-acalypse ’17. Today Mike Kitchen was fired as assistant coach, and it’s kind of amazing he was still around to be fired. But we’ll get to that. There are a lot of angles that would be a ton of fun to speculate on from this and could turn out to be utter horseshit. But we’re going to do it anyway because…FUN!

First off, I’m dying to know whose decision this actually was. There’s almost no way it was Quenneville’s, because Kitchen has been an extension of Q his entire career. It’s hard to believe that Kitchen could have been doing anything that drastically different this year than he ever has, and even Q would have to recognize the historic and epic failure of the penalty kill in the season’s first month was A. a perfect storm of events and B. really had no bearing on their playoff ouster.

So did Stan Bowman fire Kitchen himself? Or did he make Q do it? How much of a fight did that cause? Oh god just hook it to my veins!

Everything Else

High On The Hog: Sifting Through The Ashes

By Jon Fromi 1538

The 2016-17 Rockford IceHogs were not built for success. It should come as no surprise that the team went through the worst season in its ten-year AHL history.

There is much optimism for the team that will work the BMO Harris Bank Center ice come October. Let’s face it; after the recently-completed campaign there is no option but to look to the future for hope.

(Speaking of which, take a gander at that little girl’s face as she holds hands with Michael Latta for the anthem in Rockford’s season finale. I defy you to tell me her skates touched the ice as she made her way off the rink.)

I included this to give you a warm, positive feeling heading into this post. Feel better about the last couple of days? O.K., then. Let’s get to the Hogs season wrap-up.

No Rockford team, including the last nine AHL years and eight previous seasons in the UHL, has won fewer games than the 25 the Hogs won in 2016-17. Their .408 points percentage is by far the lowest since Rockford became a Blackhawks affiliate.

Last Saturday, after the IceHogs had dropped their 22nd home game of the season, the team claimed in their post-game video that Rockford had a winning home record for the tenth-straight year. I appreciate the need to place things in a positive light, but that just isn’t the case.

The Hogs had a .513 points percentage. However, they lost 22 games at the BMO; 15 in regulation, five in Gus Macker Time and two shootouts. Rockford was 16-22 at home, a .421 winning percentage.

Using this standard, the IceHogs also had losing seasons at home in 2010-11 (19-21, .475) 2011-12 (18-20, .474). Still, this is the worst Rockford has been in its own barn.

Away from the BMO, the Hogs were abysmal. No amount of spin-doctoring can remove the stink of the road.

Scoring only 1.92 goals a contest, Rockford staggered to a 9-24-4-1 mark. That is a .237 win percentage and a .303 points percentage. The IceHogs were the AHL worst out of their home digs this past season. The road wins (9) and road losses (29) are also franchise nadirs.

Three of those nine road wins came during what would prove to be the high-water mark of the season. Rockford won in Milwaukee February 10, then came home and won four straight. The season-high five-game win streak was broken February 18, but the Hogs went to Manitoba and swept the Moose in a two-game set.

At that point, Rockford had won seven of eight and was approaching some measure of respectability. Then the IceHogs went out to California and lost to San Diego and Ontario. Rockford returned home and the bottom completely dropped out.

In the space of two days, the Blackhawks sent the Hogs top three point scorers-Abbott, Carrick (who had done a lot of the heavy lifting during the Hogs surge), and Mark McNeill-to other teams via trades. From the time of the McNeill trade shortly before Rockford’s game with Manitoba on February 28, the team went 4-13-1 the rest of the way.

The severely undermanned Hogs put on a brave face and chose not to lay down in the bulk of those games. Despite the influx of some prospects on amateur tryouts and the refusal of the team to pack it in, the last 18 games yielded a .222 win percentage to go with a .250 points percentage.

For the season, the Hogs won four straight after dropping their first two games in Cleveland to begin the season on a positive tip. They won three straight just before Christmas and had the aforementioned five-game win streak in February.

That was about it; Rockford won consecutive games on four other occasions. On the other hand, the IceHogs had losing streaks of nine, eight, seven, six, and four (three times) games over the course of the season. With the exception of two weeks in February, there wasn’t much for Hogs fans to be excited about.

How did this happen? Let me offer the following thoughts.

 

Whom Do We Sue?

If you’re the type that has to assign blame for a disastrous season in Rockford, let’s spare a few parties. This was not coach Ted Dent’s fault; Dent’s role is to develop young players and those were in short supply. The players assembled on the roster played to form for the most part. I credit Dent, along with the team leaders, for the IceHogs playing hard despite the long odds facing them on a nightly basis.

There were some underachievers that I’ll point out next week when I take a closer look at the players on this season’s roster.  Just know that this team was flawed in some key areas, and for that the blame must be squarely focused on Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman.

Again, let’s not light any torches.  Bowman’s job is to win at the NHL level. The IceHogs are not run in a way that will make them perennial AHL championship contenders. Rockford feeds prospects to the parent club. The only fair criticism that can be made in terms of Bowman’s handling of the Hogs was that the cupboard was bare in terms of young players for Dent to develop.

This wasn’t a mystery going into the start of this season. This comes from my 2016-17 preview:

As of my writing this preview, I see just a few legit Hawks prospects on that list. (Luke) Johnson and (Tanner) Kero fit into that category. (Kyle) Baun has a lot to prove in order to retain the prospect tag to me, but if he’s on this list (Sam) Carrick deserves to be, too. The rest of the two-way guys are AHL depth signings.

Kero played just 28 games in Rockford, spending most of the season with Chicago along with players like Ryan Hartman, Tyler Motte, and Vinnie Hinostroza. Most of the Blackhawks top prospects were pressed into service at the NHL level. Again, that’s the goal. However, very few replacements for those departed players were signed. The ones that were-Alexandre Fortin and Graham Knott-wound up back in juniors.

 

Offense

The seeds for a low-output offensive team were there at the start of the season. Again, from my preview:

Heading into the season, there is a lot to consider. Depending on what players make the club in Chicago, there could be a real dependence on veteran scoring this season. Like the parent club, the IceHogs look to be very solid on the defensive side and in net. Most of my question marks lie in who’s going to be around to put the puck in the opposing goal.

By the end of the season, there was practically no one.

The Hogs had Spencer Abbott as their only real veteran scoring threat. At the time of his February trade, Abbott was leading the Hogs in goals (15) and points (35). In fact, those numbers would still have topped the roster in both categories despite his playing elsewhere for the last six weeks.

Rockford headed into action on opening night with one real scoring type, a lot of role players who needed scorers to clean up after, little in the way of prospects at forward and a lack of team speed at the position. Sound promising? The Hogs battled to overcome the hand they were dealt but wound up with predictably lackluster results.

Rockford was dead last in the AHL with 175 goals scored. The goal output of 2.30 per contest was the worst in team history (including the UHL days) by a wide margin. The IceHogs power play operated at a 14.3 success rate, second worst in the league to Charlotte (who made it up to their fans by making the playoffs).

Fourth in the league in shots, Rockford was unable to get the puck into high-percentage scoring areas. This was a team that had to rely on dirty goals every night. The pickings were slim; not being able to create goals in transition or by efficient passing was on constant display.

 

Defense

If you’re looking for positives here, move along. Rockford was near the bottom of the league in this category as well. However…

Here’s where I have to apologize; the last few weeks, I have been reporting inaccurately on the number of goals that Rockford has given up this season. Somehow, I plucked out a number and ran with it. I was ready to pronounce a franchise-record regarding goals allowed until I went to confirm that final total and saw my gaffe.

Rockford did not set a team mark in defensive ineptness. I offer the most sincere mea culpa to all you friendly folks who tune in here each week as well as my twitter handle.

That said, they still weren’t that good.

The Hogs surrendered (checking again) 246 goals for the season, an average of 3.24 a game. That was 26th in the 30-team AHL. With most of the organization’s defensive prospects coming back, I figured that this would be a strength of this team. The problem was that the back end was set up to push the tempo and create pressure in the offensive zone, and the forward core was not set up to make that happen.

As a result, the IceHogs blue line found themselves perpetually on its heels, facing the rushes of opponents. They did not respond well to the change of style. Rockford defenders were often prone to turnovers in the vicinity of their own net.

More speed and skill up front could quickly turn this unit around. A couple of defensive-minded players would make a difference as well.

 

Goalie

This is an area in which I have written at length several times this season, so don’t expect me to belch out another 3000-words on the topic. I will say that being the last line of defense on a team that gave up so many point-blank chances and odd-man rushes was not a position to relish.

Lars Johansson had a decent debut season in the AHL, all things considered. Jeff Glass was a pleasant surprise, playing solid in net for his 20-game stretch. Mac Carruth did not enjoy the same success he had the previous spring and didn’t get a lot of steady work in the last few months.

Depending on how the chips fall in expansion and free agency, I would expect Johansson (who will be a RFA this summer), Glass (signed through next season), or both to be back in Rockford. Carruth (a UFA) likely moves on.

 

Comportment

Rockford set another franchise mark this season; fewest penalty minutes. The Hogs were tabbed for 973 minutes, far less that last year’s 1292 and way fewer that the previous franchise low of 1159 set in 2013-14. This is an all-time mark for Rockford, UHL or AHL incarnation.

The IceHogs were sent to the box on minor infractions 299 times. That was the second-fewest in the league to Bakersfield’s 273 (dispensed in eight fewer games). The penalty kill unit gave up 49 goals, tied for eighth fewest in the league.

Rockford was in the middle of the pack with a 81.1 kill rate, but they were much better in this area after a very rough start. Trust me, keeping teams from converting man advantages was the least of the Hogs worries this season.

Despite being eighth in the AHL in fighting majors assessed, Rockford earned just 39 in 2016-17. This is by far a franchise low. This could be expected in that all fights coming out of faceoffs would result in game-misconducts, and all fights from the tenth on would be subject to suspension. Here’s my early season hypothosis:

As a result of these rule changes, I would expect to see more players on each team drop the gloves, as it will be hard to keep one designated scrapper on the ice. It surely will be something to keep an eye on early in the season.

How’d I do? Well, here’s how things turned out…

Fights were down 28 percent around the league from a year ago. That percentage went down 34 percent in Rockford. In all, 391 players were given at least one fighting major over the course of the campaign. That was down from 418 the year before, which confused me a bit until I realized that fewer fights meant fewer players scrapping.

My theory that the top pugilists would be less active was correct, though I was still surprised how striking the numbers were in this area. In the 2015-16 season, 22 players had ten or more fighting majors. Mike Liambas led the league with 20.

How many players topped the ten-fight plateau this season? Two. Ross Johnston of Bridgeport led the league with eleven. Rockford’s Michael Latta earned his tenth in Rockford’s finale last Saturday (yes, he will be suspended for the first game in the AHL season come fall).

There were nine players who got to nine fighting majors, including Liambas. No one wanted to face the vacation time required to match the work rate of previous seasons. Jake Dowell led Rockford with seven scraps (Latta earned seven of his FMs in Ontario), while Chris DeSousa and P.C. Labrie followed with six apiece.

 

Come And See The Show (Or Not)

One area that predictably took a hit in the wake of a losing season was the number of butts in the seats.

For the first time in the past five seasons, the IceHogs did not set a new attendance mark. After a record 5014 per night average in 2015-16, Rockford averaged 4328 to the 38 contests held at the BMO this past season.

Attendance was not this low since the 2011-12 campaign (4244). This year’s final tally is the sixth lowest in the ten-years Rockford has been an AHL franchise.

The front office in Rockford promoted IceHogs hockey as “a beautiful combination of violence strength violence, speed and intensity. There wasn’t much violence, thanks to the AHL’s fight restrictions. There wasn’t a lot of speed, or skill for that matter, at least until some of the youngsters showed up in the final weeks.

You know what I can’t fault? The effort. I really can’t. This team was dead in the water even before Bowman waved the white flag and gave up on the Hogs season at the end of February. I can’t say the same for the players based on what I saw down the stretch.

About those players…

I’ve rambled on far enough this week without launching into a player-by-player assessment of the IceHogs this past season. I’ll be returning, possibly as soon as next week, to take a microscope to the roster.

I promise that I might offer my two cents as to who may be around to open the 2017-18 campaign, who impressed me out of the ATOs the last few weeks, and any additional thoughts not squeezed out of my brain.

 

 

 

Everything Else

Endless Summer

By 1917

It will be the longest summer for the Hawks since 2008. Even when they bit it in the first round in ’11, ’12, and last year, they at least made it to the last week of April. They barely cleared Tax Day this time.

So there’s going to be plenty of time for the Hawks to diagnose their issues and then prescribe what they want to do about it. Fifth Feather was correct last night, in that you can’t make rash decisions on a small set of games. Let’s go back to 2012. You actually forget how good that team was in the regular season, the second half without Toews. They finished with 101 points, and after that nine-game losing streak that nearly killed us all, they actually went 16-5-4 with Patrick Kane as the #1 center.

But they got goalie’d by Mike Smith, Toews wasn’t in any condition to be playing, and Crawford threw up all over himself. You’ll recall after that series there were plenty of calls for heads to roll, trade Kane for Ryan Miller, and how the 2010 Cup was a total fluke. You’ll also recall that this is when the rumors of Q and Stan Bowman not working well together and Q batting his eyes to Marc Bergevin in Montreal started to swirl. This supposedly caused McDonough to sort it all out, which led to Mike Haviland being turfed as an assistant and the hiring of Jamie Kompon, whatever that did for you.

Everything Else

Choking on the Ashes of Her Enemy – Predators 4, Blackhawks 1

By 1378

Box Score

HockeyStats.ca

Natural Stat Trick

McClure’s recipe to beat the Blackhawks in the post-season remains undefeated – Either control 55% of the play or have your goalie stop at least 95% of the shots he faces. For the Predators, Pekka Rinne stopped 98% of the shots thrown his direction. That is the biggest reason for the Hawks season ending in 4 games and why this was their worst/shortest playoff appearance in this era.

While the broadcast booth, head coach and talking heads tried to downplay the lack of Hasek-like saves from Rinne in this series, he still stopped nearly every shot thrown his direction. And that’s not something you could say in his previous two appearances against the Blackhawks in the playoffs.

Surely, a goal like this was the result of hard work, determination, guts, grit, blah, blah…

Rinne was excellent in this series, stopping every shot he needed to. That was the biggest difference. Pure and simple.

On the other side, Corey Crawford was nearly as good. The problem was his team only scored 3 goals in 4 games and only one in 5-on-5 play. Crawford kept the Hawks in the game, once again, while Nashville teed off in the first period looking to end it early. Of course, his team couldn’t get anything past Rinne.

Ok, fine. Let’s get to it.

–The Predators second goal was the perfect microcosm of this forgettable series. The Hawks have a dominating shift where the Predators couldn’t touch the puck for a solid minute. Rinne makes a couple key stops; Viktor Arvidsson gets sprung on a break because the Hawks were gassed at the end of a shift, he finds the trailing Colton Sissons while Brent Seabrook somehow loses his stick. Crawford makes a terrific save, doesn’t know where the puck is, feels it hit his arm and then reacts by throwing it into the empty net.

With ten minutes left in the third and a two goal deficit, that was pretty much it for the Hawks.

What a fun series.

I’m not sure there’s really anything else to say about this game. It went just like the other three. The Hawks looked good for stretches; Nashville looked better and every time the Hawks looked like they may score, Rinne made a save. Then Nashville would come down and score off a shot that deflected off three sets of blades, a stick, a visor and the corpse of Johnny Cash.

–It would’ve been nice to see Kempny’s speed in a series like this. It would’ve been even better if he didn’t get his first sniff in an elimination game on the road. Tonight, Kempny created chances in the offensive end with his feet by breaking through Nashville’s neutral zone trap a few times. Alas, his usage at the end of the season made it impossible to play him more than 8 minutes he got tonight as he would’ve been prone to a few more mistakes as the ice time increased.

To be fair, though, Johnny Oduya played his best game of the series but that’s after three games where he was abysmal.

–How do I even begin to try and explain how or why Nashville looked so much faster than the Hawks over the course of these 4 games? I really can’t. After the last couple years where the Hawks clearly were getting out skated by teams (Really, I thought the 2015 series against Nashville looked just as heavily tilted towards the Predators at times but the Hawks somehow managed to win 4 games. Because hockey and they wanted it more or something like that), I thought they addressed this issue heading into the season.

Surely, 109 points and their place in the standings is a good indicator they were on the right track. Schmaltz, Hartman and Hero were all younger, quicker and faster than Andrew Ladd, Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weise. Brian Campbell, Kempny and (bad) Oduya were all upgrades over Omer Svedberg and Erik Gustafsson.

The more I think about it, I’m leaning heavily in the direction that the Hawks really emptied their tanks chasing this division title back in February and March. When it came to going to the reserves here in April, they had nothing left.

We discussed this on the podcast quite a bit but this was the first time in the Quenneville era the Hawks kept the pedal to the metal in the final couple months of the regular season. It meant they won the division and clinched home ice throughout but that doesn’t do a whole lot of good when you only muster 3 goals in 4 games of the playoffs.

This doesn’t mean they should’ve scratched Kane, Toews or Keith for games in February like they’re the San Antonio Spurs but maybe they didn’t have to go for broke every game during that stretch. Or maybe they shouldn’t have been playing Kane or Toews for 20+ minutes a night when they didn’t have to.

–As for what’s ahead, we have plenty of time to pontificate about the future of this roster. There are some areas that are in need of an upgrade but they certainly don’t need any kind of major overhaul. It’s very easy to overreact after a series like this because it all looked so terrible. You only needed to watch five minutes of the post-game show to know that Jamal Mayers should be allowed nowhere near hockey personnel decisions. And I’m sure his opinion aligns with 99% of the CSN viewing audience.

Obviously, the hard cap will force some key changes to be made but that’s not anything new. If there are issues taking place behind the scenes, (i.e. an LA/Sutter situation) that changes the dynamic of what may happen but there’s no inclination of something like that at this moment.

I’m not nearly as pessimistic as Sam and don’t believe any windows have been shut permanently. All you have to do is look at teams like Anaheim, Nashville, San Jose, or Pittsburgh as teams of recent vintage whose proverbial window was closed and yet, they’re all still playing with a real shot at winning it all this year. Calgary was some scary, young fast team that lasted as long as the Hawks and were ousted by a team with Kevin Bieksa playing big minutes. Edmonton will most assuredly fuck up whatever they have plenty of times in the coming seasons. Things aren’t as bad as they may seem right now.

Hockey will continue to be the most weird, unpredictable sport from year to year. That you can bet on.

–Thanks to everyone for reading, listening and sending in your questions this year. Hard to believe we’ve been doing this for 9 years now. I’ve mentioned this before but I thought this season (at least the regular season) was probably the most fun since 2013. Of course, the playoffs were as miserable as all of last season but at least the Hawks were nice enough to end it as quickly as they could.

It goes without saying that we’ll still be around in the months ahead. Free agency and the draft will be here before we know it. For the Hawks, it shaping up to be a pretty active time.

That’s all for now.