Hockey

Dead Or Alive, You’re Coming With Me – Hawks @ Scum Games 17 & 18

By Andy Jonathan 1471

VS

Records: Hawks 7-5-4 / Wings 4-10-2

Puck Drop: Monday & Wednesday @ 6:30 Central

TV/Radio: Monday NBCSN/WGN 720 Wednesday: NBC “Rivalry Night”

Your Move, Creep: Winging It In Motown 

 

Now we come to the second dance with our ancient enemy, the Detroit Red Wings. While the Wings themselves may be a subway car filled with dead clowns, they managed to blow the doors off the hovercraft filled with sexual predators that is Nashville on Saturday night. Just goes to show that in any given game, even the shittiest of NHL teams can pull one off.

Before their skulling of the Preds, the Wings had gone through a 1-8 stretch that saw them give up the kind of numbers usually seen at Wrigley when the wind is blowing out. They managed to give up 30 goals in that span, and that includes the one game where they held the Panthers to a whopping two goals.

The Wings on the back end are a mess, as they just threw former Cornerstone of the D-Corps Danny Dekeyser and his 5 million cap hit on waivers this morning. Dekeyser had only played 10 games this season due to various maladies, but was originally thought fairly highly of by the front office (clearly, since they signed him to a contract with that kind of paper attached to it). Now assuming he clears waivers (based on that contract, a virtual certainty) he’ll find a home in Grand Rapids or on the Wings taxi squad.

Other than the dearly departed Dekeyser, the Wings D includes such stalwarts as Marc Staal, Patrick Nemeth and Filip Hronek. Despite this rotating cast of characters the Wings D-men have still managed to give up 3 less goals than the Hawks, which can be directly attributable to the presence of Nikita Zadorov.

Behind that Chinese Fire Drill you have the recently returned from injury Jonathan Bernier and Thomas Greiss, who actually haven’t been terrible thus far. Together the two average an 83.33 save percentage on high danger chances, which is good enough for 9th best in the league. Bernier’s stats, while fairly ugly on the surface, have kept the Wings in games long enough for them to merely lose by 1 or 2, as opposed to the 4 or 5 it could be.

Despite all the issues with the D listed above, where the Wings truly shine in their incompetence is on the offensive side of the puck. I had to look up to make sure this was the case, but the Wings don’t have a single player who has scored double digit points thus far. Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin and the aforementioned Filip Hronek have 9 each, and Bobby Ryan has 8. Some of this is due to the fact that the Wings are completely unable to create any high danger chances for their forwards. The team as a whole has only generated 93 high danger chances so far, 9th worst in the league. If you adjust that for games played, they’re 3rd worst. Only Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin have more than 35 shots on the team.

As for the Hawks, after their comeback in the 3rd Saturday night despite getting domed in possession, they currently sit tied with Carolina, Columbus and Dallas for 2nd overall in the division with 18 points. They lose out big time, however, if the league decides to go to win percentage as a tiebreaker (as they will almost certainly have to do, due to the fact that some teams have a higher viral load than the playpen off the Chicago shoreline in July).

Kevin Lankinen bounced back nicely from urping all over himself in the first game against the Jackets, only allowing an absolute top shelf snipe from Laine and a tip shot from Cam Atkinson. He should get the cage in at least the first game, though I wouldn’t be shocked to see Malcom Subban take one as it appears he’s locked up the backup job after his performance in Dallas.

On the scoring side of things, the Hawks PP continues to be weapons-grade and should prove to be too much for the scattershot PK of the Red Wings. Last time out, the Hawks netted 3 power play goals in the series, and that was before the unit really found it’s stride. Look for DeBrincat and Kane to continue their psychic connection with the man advantage.

As for the 5 on 5 play, the Hawks have managed to actually pot a few goals recently at evens, though the team continues to be underwater most nights possession-wise. Some of this could be helped if players like Ian Mitchell, Beaudin and Boqvist (if he can get out of the pressbox) are allowed to carry the puck out of the zone using their speed and creativity. This would take the pressure off the wingers attempting to move past the blue line and into the neutral zone, allowing them to enter the attacking zone with some speed. We’ll see if Colliton is willing to live with the mistakes that can occationally pop up with those things.

The Hawks D continues to be an adventure in their own end, as without Connor Murphy to take up minutes Duncan Keith has been forced to shoulder a larger load. Duncs averaged about 25 minutes per night in the Columbus series, and despite his superhuman training regimen will not be able to keep up that kind of pace. Ian Mitchell played almost 40 minutes in the series and scored his first career goal, as did Nicholas Beaudin. Both are still fairly raw in their own end, however, and Zadorov isn’t helping. Also scratching Boqvist in favor Lucas Carlsson and letting the kid actually learn from his mistakes might be helpful in the long run. Which is the entire point of this season, if you think about it.

All told, if Lankinen and Subban do their part and the PP doesn’t suddenly fall off a cliff the Hawks should (SHOULD) handle the Wings this week. Granted now that I’ve gone from clinically depressed to cautiously optimistic about this team, this is where the wheels will fall off and the Wings will double up their offensive output in a single series. Hopefully I didn’t just motherfuck this into existence. It’s highly unlikely, as if you take out the first game against the Jackets the team has looked fairly competent overall…and dare I say FUN.

Let’s Go Hawks

 

 

Hockey

High On The Hog: Yetman Making His Mark

By Jon Fromi 1403

The Rockford IceHogs have a couple of home games this week as they continue to play for their first win of the 2020-21 campaign. The piglets collected a standings point Saturday but fell in overtime in Iowa.

Despite a 0-2-1 start, the beginning of the season has been good to a couple of players who seem to be intent on taking advantage of available minutes. One such player is forward Chad Yetman.

Yetman is Chicago’s sixth-round pick in this past summer’s draft. In normal circumstances, he probably would have finished out his junior career with the Erie Otters of the OHL. With that league currently on hiatus, Yetman signed an AHL deal with the IceHogs on January 11.

Yetman led Erie with 43 goals in 61 games last season. So far, taking the chance to jump up to the AHL and make a grab at playing time has paid off. Yetman has appeared in all three games with Rockford and posted his first pro goal in a February 9 loss to the Wolves.

Yetman racked up a pair of assists in the first period of what eventually became a 3-2 overtime loss to Iowa on Saturday. His three points are tied with Cody Franson for the team lead in the early stages of the season. Yetman has also found a spot on Rockford’s first power play unit.

With several Blackhawks prospects up getting NHL minutes or sitting on the taxi squad, there are opportunities for a player like Yetman to impress the team brass and earn an entry contract. That’s a path current Hawks forward Andrew Shaw navigated back in 2011 when he signed an AHL deal with Rockford.

Yetman’s a different type of player from Shaw, but he’s off to a nice start to the season.

 

Roster Moves

Chicago made a couple of paper moves in order to keep the required four players on their taxi squad. Evan Barratt was recalled to the taxi squad Thursday and returned to Rockford Friday.

Barratt, who took a high hit from Wolves defenseman Max Lajoie last Tuesday, finished that game and skated in Iowa Saturday night.

Forward Mikael Hakkarainen made the phantom trip to the taxi squad on Saturday and was reassigned to the Hogs on Sunday. Also coming down to Rockford was forward MacKenzie Entwistle, who had 26 points (11 G, 15 A) for the IceHogs in his rookie season.

With several players, like Shaw, on the injured list at the moment, it should not be a surprise to see other Hawks prospects getting similar treatment in regard to short-term call-ups.

 

Disappointment In DesMoines

Saturday, February 13-Iowa 3, Rockford 2 (OT)

The IceHogs picked up their first point of the season. However, Rockford let a two-goal lead slip away to end the night on a disappointing note.

Rockford drew first cord 3:39 into the game. The goal came from the stick of Brad Morrison, playing in his first game for the Hogs this season. Morrison was able to toss the puck into the Wild zone and head to the net while Chad Yetman chased it down. Yetman’s centering pass was on the mark; Morrison flipped the dish over Iowa goalie Dereck Baribeau to light the lamp.

Morrison got his second goal of the season a bit later in the opening frame. Yetman brought the puck out of the defensive zone and found Mitchell Fossier down the left side of the ice with the entry pass. Fossier took a shot from the left dot that glanced off of the skate of Iowa defenseman Fedov Gordeev. The puck bounced off Baribeau’s mask and into the crease, where Morrison scooted it to the back of the net. The IceHogs led 2-0 at the 13:37 mark and took that advantage into the intermission.

A couple of miscues allowed the Wild to draw even in the second period. Gabriel Dumont finished an odd-man rush at the 5:58 mark following a loss of a board battle in neutral ice. Later in the period, a Cole Moberg pass was picked off in the high slot during four-on-four action. Damien Giroux crashed the net, knocking in the rebound of Adam Beckman’s shot past IceHogs goalie Matt Tomkins to make it a 2-2 game at 9:52 of the second.

The action slowed in the final twenty minutes, with neither team finding the net. Rockford ended the last 1:10 of regulation and the first 50 seconds of overtime with a man advantage, but couldn’t cash in. Tomkins denied Will Bitten on a penalty shot after John Quenneville was forced to take him down on a breakaway chance.

The Wild won the resulting faceoff in the Rockford zone, and the IceHogs never touched the puck again. Beckman wound up with a shot from the top of the left circle that got under the glove of Tomkins, ending the contest.

Tomkins stopped 33 of 36 shots for Rockford and was a big reason the Hogs were able to come away with a standings point. Garrett Mitchell squared off with Dumont in an even bout midway through the third period after a big hit on the Wild forward.

Three Stars-Beckman, Morrison, Giroux.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Mitchell Fossier-Chad Yetman-Brad Morrison

Andrei Altybarmakyan-Dylan McLaughlin-John Quenneville (A)

Evan Barrett-Matej Chalupa-Chris Wilkie

Gabriel Gagne-Garrett Mitchell (C)-Tim Soderlund

Chad Krys-Cody Franson (A)

Alec Regula-Dimitry Osipov

Issak Phillips-Cole Moberg

Matt Tomkins

Cale Morris

Power Play (0-2)

Barratt-Quenneville-Yetman-Regula-Franson

Penalty Kill (Iowa was 0-4)

Forwards-Mitchell-Quenneville-McLaughlin-Wilkie-Chalupa

Defensemen-Phillips-Moberg-Osipov-Regula

 

This Week

Rockford has two weeknight home dates coming up. Tuesday, the Hogs face the undefeated Chicago Wolves. On Thursday, the Grand Rapids Griffins come to the BMO Harris Bank Center. Both games are set to start at 6:00 p.m.

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for game updates, news, and thoughts on the IceHogs throughout the sesaon.

Hockey

Endless Winter – Hawks Split Series With Jackets

By Matt McClure 1686

Box Scores: Game 15 | Game 16
Game Logs: Game 15 | Game 16
Natural Stat Trick: Game 15 | Game 16

 

Fresh off two OT wins in Dallas that was leading some in the hockey cognoscenti to declare the Hawks AHEAD OF SCHDULE, and FUN, the team got to return home to face the ongoing extravaganza of comedic mediocrity that is the Columbus Blue Jackets. It’s been scenarios like this where Coach Jeremy Boylen’s teams have began to flirt with competence that they immediately shit all over themselves, so in this two game series, maybe it’s a step in the right direction that they only kind of did. Or it could just be a case of two bad teams smashing into one another for two straight games; it could be that too. But at least the Hawks were able to end the back half of the series in an entertaining manner on Saturday night, all usual caveats about 3 on 3 being a complete joke still applying.

Baseball

A Legend Returns – Cubs sign Jake Arrieta to a 1-year, $6 million deal

By Summer Corson 1260

During the ensuing clown show that was the Cubs offseason, the front office acknowledged they needed to sign a new pitcher to fill out their rotation. Wouldn’t it be good if they could placate the angry fans after trading away Yu Darvish for a bunch of question mark young players and letting two pieces of the 2016 World Series team in Jon Lester and Kyle Schwarber walk? Killing two birds with one stone, the Cubs front office was able to calm the angry Twitter mob as best they could by signing Jake Arrieta to a 1-year deal worth a whole $6 million.

Jake Arrieta is a Cubs legend and a 2015 Cy Young Award winner – a season in which he posted a crazy 22 wins of 33 starts, a 1.77 ERA, four complete games and three shutouts, one of which a no-hitter. In three postseason appearances in 2015, he won two of those games, one of them a complete game shutout.

In 2016, Arrieta had 18 wins out of 31 starts, a 3.10 ERA and another no-hitter. These weren’t his 2015 numbers, but they still weren’t awful. Although his pitching was slightly underwhelming in the NLDS and NLCS of this year, he was able to come in clutch in two World Series starts, winning both of them and coming out of it with a total 2.38 ERA.

But if you’re reading this, you probably know all of these stats and remember them quite fondly. Here’s what Arrieta has been since then, however, since he left and went to the Phillies for three seasons. His ERA has been steadily declining with each year (3.96, 4.64, and 5.08 since 2018). He has pretty much split wins and losses in his starts and has thrown no complete games or shutouts since 2016. His 2020 stats were definitely not stellar, but it seems like Arrieta is hoping, like many players around the league, that last season would be an anomaly.

It is definitely fun to see Arrieta back with the club, and he will almost certainly be slotting in the starting rotation alongside Kyle Hendricks and Zach Davies. Arrieta is also in the twilight of his career at age 35, and it’s safe to say his pitching decline is among us. However, I am cautiously optimistic that Arrieta improves some on his 2020 stats and throws a few good games for the Cubs as our third or fourth starter, especially if he’s behind a nails defense.

Is he Yu Darvish? No, but few are in this league. Especially if the Cubs are able to get their offense going this season, I think Arrieta at this price isn’t too bad of a signing.

Hockey

High On The Hog: Getting Wild In Iowa

By Jon Fromi 1281

The Rockford IceHogs are still looking for their first win of the recently-started 2020-21 season. Rockford resumes the quest for victory Saturday night when the piglets travel to DesMoines. The first of ten meetings with the Iowa Wild is set to start at 6:00 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.

Here is how the week went for the IceHogs, along with a look at their Saturday foe.

 

Roster Moves

On Thursday, the Blackhawks recalled defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk to the taxi squad. Kalynuk had played in both of Rockford’s first two games, posting a goal and an apple in the season opener.

In a reciprocal move, Chicago assigned defenseman Anton Lindholm to the IceHogs. Lindholm had been on the taxi squad and had not appeared in a contest with the Hawks so far this season. The 26-year-old Lindholm had 164 games of AHL experience under his belt with the San Antonio Rampage and the Colorado Eagles.

 

A Look At The Iowa Wild

Minnesota’s AHL affiliate is 1-1-1 on the season. All three games were at home with Texas. The Wild is coached by Tim Army, who is starting his third season as the head man in Iowa.

AHL veteran Gabriel Dumont is pacing Iowa with four points (3 G, 1 A) on the season. Second-year center Connor Dewar also has four points (2 G, 2 A). Forward Dimitry Sokolov (2 G, 1 A) is entering his third full season, with 15 and 16 goals the past two years.

Former IceHogs forward Joseph Cramarossa signed a one-year contract with Minnesota this past summer. Moxie Joe has a goal this season to go with a fighting major so far for the Wild. He’s another experienced skater that should agitate the piglets.

Cody McLeod has a dozen NHL seasons under his belt. The 36-year-old forward spent last season with the Wild and returns as an alternate captain. Center Jarrett Burton is another veteran who has time with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Rochester over the last five seasons.

Skokie native Louie Belpedio is back for a third season on Iowa’s blueline. Also on defense for the Wild is Ian McCoshen, who spent most of last season with Rockford. Keaton Thompson is entering his fifth year in the AHL and second for Iowa. Hunter Warner is another Wild defenseman that has several seasons with the team.

In goal, the Hogs will likely be facing Dereck Baribeau, who has played well in his two starts this season. He’s sporting a 1.92 GAA and a .923 save percentage. The 6’6″ Baribeau saw limited action with Iowa last season, playing 15 games with Allen in the ECHL.

Hunter Jones gave up seven goals to the Stars in his AHL debut on February 5. Jones is a second-round pick of the Wild in the 2019 NHL Draft.

 

Recapping This Week’s Action

Tuesday, February 9-Chicago 5, Rockford 2

The piglets traveled to Hoffman Estates, losing to the Wolves for the second-straight game. Philip Tomasino and Rem Pitlick each had a pair of goals to send Rockford home 0-2 on the season.

The Wolves got the scoring started late in the opening period. Seth Jarvis took in a pass from teammate Joey Keane at the top of the right circle on a Wolves power play, set up by an Evan Barratt slashing infraction. Keane maneuvered around Michael Krutil and fired a shot that glanced off of Hogs goalie Scott Darling. The puck entered the Hogs net at 15:59 for a 1-0 Chicago lead.

Midway through the contest, Barratt had just completed a pass when he took a hit from Wolves defenseman Max Lajoie. Barratt left the game with the aid of the training staff; he was not putting weight on his right knee. Lajoie had to tangle with Andrei Altybarmakyan, who jumped in and dropped the gloves in a brief scrap.

Lajoie was given a major penalty and game misconduct for kneeing. Barratt would return to action later in the period. Altybarmakyan was handed a two-minute instigating minor and a ten-minute misconduct. After some four-on-four action, the Hogs got some power play time and were able to tie the contest.

D.J. Busdeker pounced on the rebound of a Chad Krys one-timer and sent the puck through the wickets of Chicago goalie Jeremy Helvig. Alec Regula was credited with the secondary assist for the goal, which came 13:55 into the second stanza.

The game didn’t remain tied for long. Chicago’s Philip Tomasino drove to the net and snapped a shot that got over Darling’s glove at 16:10 of the second. Two minutes later, with Rockford again on the man advantage, Krys whiffed on a one-time attempt and fell to the ice. Rem Pitlick was off to the races, easily beating Darling on the breakaway strike for a 3-1 Wolves lead.

Tomasino got a stick on a Jeremy Davies shot, changing the direction enough to get it into the Hogs net to make it 4-1 Chicago in the ninth minute of the third period. The IceHogs picked up a shorthanded goal of their own at the 10:44 mark. Chris Wilkie sent a wrist shot from the goal line near the right half boards. The puck glanced off of the leg of Helvig and into the net to cut the Wolves lead to 4-2.

Pitlick closed out the scoring in the final minutes, taking a pass from Stelio Mattheos and beating Darling to complete the odd-man rush with 1:32 remaining in the game.

Lines (Starters in italics)

John Quenneville (A)-Evan Barratt-Andrei Altybarmakyan

Matej Chalupa-Dylan McLaughlin-D.J. Busdeker

Tim Soderlund-Chad Yetman-Chris Wilkie

Riley McKay-Garrett Mitchell (C)-Hakkarainen

Wyatt Kalynuk-Cody Franson (A)

Chad Krys-Micheal Krutil

Alec Regula-Dimitry Osipov

Scott Darling

Cale Morris

Power Play (1-9, gave up shorthanded goal)

Kalynuk-Franson-Quenneville-Yetman-Barratt

Krys-Regula-Soderlund-Altybarmakyan-Busdeker

Penalty Kill (Wolves were 1-6, Hogs posted a shorty)

Forwards-Mitchell, McLaughlin, Wilkie, McKay, Quenneville, Hakkarainen

Defensemen-Franson, Kalynuk, Krys, Osipov, Krutil, Regula

 

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for thoughts and game updates as the Hogs tangle with Iowa Saturday night.

 

 

 

 

 

Hockey

March Of The Elephants – Jackets vs Hawks Games 15 & 16 Preview

By Matt McClure 1241

vs

Game Times: 7:00PM (2/11 & 2/13)
TV/Radio: NBC Sports Chicago, WGN-AM 720
It’s Anti-Italian Discrimination: The Cannon

Picking up from last week’s episode of The Columbus Blue Jackets’ 2021 Cavalcade of Numbskullery, Gunnery Sergeant R. Lee Tortorella and his charges return to West Madison for the second time in three weekends, and are somehow even more hilarious than when these two teams last met up.

Hockey

Ride The Snake – Hawks Sweep Series w/Dallas 2-1 (OT) 2-1 (OT)

By Andy Jonathan 2090

Game 1 Box Score / Game 2 Box Score

Game 1 Natural Stat Trick / Game 2 Natural Stat Trick

 

The Hawks just broke off their 3rd win in a row against teams with legitimate cases for deep playoff runs this spring/summer. Could this Hawks crew be more than what we thought they’d be at the beginning of the season, or is this merely a bright strech in what will end up being a dark river of despair that stops at a lottery pick? The answer is: I have no fucking idea anymore.

Statistically speaking, the underlying metrics for these last 3 Hawks wins should realistically result in them getting their doors blown off each night. One would be safe in assuming that if your team sported a CORSI of 44, 44, and 41 in 3 straight games you’d be thrilled at getting any points at all, yet the Hawks took 5 of a possible 6. Hockey is dumb and fun somtimes, folks

TO THE BULLETS!

 

NUMBERS DON’T LIE

 

-Except sometimes they do? Honestly, the only reason the Hawks have been able to escape their massive CORSI deficet is the fact that the powerplay continues to be fucking nails. For the first time in recent memory, they have not one but TWO powerplay units that can not only move the puck efficiently, but can finish their shots after sick passing. Both DeBrincat and Janmark’s goals were set up by nifty passes from Dylan Strome and Dominik Kubalik respectively. The Hawks ability to create passing lanes that set these goals up haven’t been seen since 2015-2016 season when the Hawks PP torched the league at an impressive rate.

-Another thing keeping this Hawks run afloat is well above average goaltending. Simply put, Malcom Subban and Kevin Lankinen are directly responsibe for the Hawks getting the points that they’ve gotten during this new point streak. Since the calendar flipped to February, only Cal Petersen from LA has faced more shots than Kevin Lankinen, and he’s had 3 more high danger shots. LA is obviously a dumpster fire on both sides of the ice, but defensively they’re pretty comparable to the Hawks. Hopefully Lankinen can keep this up, because once they regress to the mean on the PP they’re gonna need him.

-While the PP has been able to paper over some deficiencies for the team, on the defensive side of the puck the Hawks are still a borderline disaster. They are bottom 5 in high danger chancces given up, and are still unable to jump start the offense with a decent transition game. Obviously Zadorov is still a clownshow in his own end, but surprisingly Duncan Keith has been the 2nd worst defenceman in CORSI for since the start of the season. He’s also had the most partners on the team, so Coach Pretty has obviously been using Keith in all pairings in multiple situations, but it was still a shock to see. Especially since the eye test on Duncs has been pretty positive, but that might just be because Zadorov has been eye-bleedingly bad.

-Brandon Hagel has been more and more noticeable each night with his speed. Prince Pretty has rewarded him with more ice time, as he actually cracked 15 minutes in night 1 against the Stars. While he hasn’t been able to dent the twine just yet, with the appropriate matchups going forward it seems like only a matter of time.

-Speaking of rookies, the GWG by Pius Suter in game two came from a line of 3 rookies on the ice in OT (Suter, Hagel and Ian Mitchell) which was very nice to see after an overabundace of Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane in the first weeks of the season. More please.

-The Hawks now sit with a 6-4-4 record at the 1/4 point of the season, good for the #3 spot in the modified division. While this is awesome to see, if the team really does have aspirations to make the playoffs they need to stop being involved in these 3 point games. Winning in regulation has never been more important, as if the league continues to plan on using points as the primary measure for getting into the playoffs, giving up loser points will be a dagger. Though I’ve heard rumblings (as Foley himself mentioned on the broadcast last night) of the league moving to Win % as a statistic for breaking ties in playoff seedings. Being that the NHL is realistically not going to be able to finish the season on time with all the rescheduled games due to COVID, they may have no other option but to go that route.

-Next up for the Hawks are the Tortorella-led Blue Jackets again, who managed to go a whopping 2 periods of play before SENDING A MESSAGE to newly acquired goal whiz Patrik Laine. He was benched halfway through the 2nd and the entire 3rd periods of the last game against Carolina for “mouthing off” to an assistant coach. I’m sure Torts and Laine will be an endless source of entertainment for the rest of the season and definitely won’t cause the Jackets to implode like a dying star. Fuck Colombus and their stupid cannon.

 

Let’s Go Hawks

Hockey

High On The Hog: First Impressions

By Jon Fromi 1333

The Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate of the Blackhawks, finally got their season underway Saturday afternoon at the BMO Harris Bank Center. As I expected, the piglets were unable to slow down the talented Chicago Wolves. Rockford lost their season opener 5-4.

What I did not expect to see was the IceHogs competing with their intrastate rivals. Rockford has nowhere near the firepower the Wolves possess, yet they led twice in the contest and had an open look to tie things up late in the game.

The key for the Hogs this year will be how the young prospects will contribute to the scoring sheet. On Saturday, three rookies drew cord-Chat Yetman, Wyatt Kalynuk, and Matej Chalupa. Evan Barratt chipped in with an assist and was active around the net.

Chalupa’s third-period goal was set up with a nice feed from behind the Wolves net by D.J. Busdeker. Andrei Altybarmakyan contributed a secondary assist and, like Barrett, had three shots on goal.

It was nice to see the youth of Rockford get into the offensive mix. That is going to have to continue if the IceHogs expect to stay with teams like Chicago. Especially since the piglets will be seeing a lot of the Wolves.

Chicago, who had beaten Grand Rapids 3-1 the previous evening, was filling in as Rockford’s opponent after the Cleveland Monsters were grounded with COVID-19 issues. It was announced over the weekend that two additional games with the Wolves had been scheduled. The first of which will be in Hoffman Estates on Tuesday, February 9.

Musings

  • Matt Tomkins saw 36 shots and made 31 saves. It appears that Rockford coach Derek King is set on giving the former Ohio State goalie the starters role. Tomkins wasn’t bad, considering the Wolves kept the pressure on for the last 50 minutes of action.
  • The Wolves bore a passing resemblance to the Admirals team of a year ago that just overwhelmed opponents in the offensive zone. Makes sense, since many of those players now skate for Chicago. The Wolves aren’t quite as experienced or adept at passing as that Milwaukee bunch, but the nose for the net is there.
  • Rockford mustered just on even-strength goal in the game. Several players, including Altybarmakyan and Chalupa, created breakaway chances in the opening period only to be denied by Wolves goalie Jeremy Helvig. That turned out to be a key momentum swing, as Chicago stayed in the game long enough to get its offense rolling.
  • Kalynuk, making his pro debut, really appeared to be accustomed to the speed of the game. He made some nice plays at both ends of the ice and his one-timer was spot on.
  • Franson, who set Kalynuk up for his first pro goal, had three helpers and was easily the best defenseman on the ice. Much like his run with the Hogs in 2018, he is strong at both ends and capable of controlling the action on the power play. He’s on an AHL contract and was pretty up front about trying to earn some NHL ink. Franson could draw some interest from a team in need of some depth at defense as the season progresses.
  • In keeping with the “prospect camp” approach the Blackhawks are taking with their AHL affiliate, the piglets were sporting some pretty high numbers on their porcine sweaters. Krys, for example, went from wearing number 4 a season ago to donning number 43. Only four players had numbers lower than 40. Lots of fives, sixes, and sevens out there for Rockford.
  • Rockford’s Dmitry Osipov was involved in a brief scrap with Jeannot midway though the first period. First fight of the year…and with ten more meetings between the IceHogs and Wolves, it won’t be the last.
  • With eleven games between these two teams, there will likely be a clear winner of the vaunted Illinois Lottery Cup, presently holding open the locker room door at the BMO Harris Bank Center (or so I like to think).

 

Roster Moves (Just Where Is Jack Ramsey?)

As things got underway at the BMO Saturday, I got a tweet inquiring about defenseman Jack Ramsey, who wasn’t on the ice for the Wolves game. Ramsey also was not on the Hogs opening day roster. Or the training camp roster. Or the Indy Fuel’s roster, because that’s where I looked next.

Ramsey signed a one-year AHL contract with the IceHogs on April 30. The Minnesota defenseman was a seventh-round selection of the Blackhawks in the 2014 NHL Draft. He spent the bulk of last season with the Fuel (2 G, 8 A in 46 games). He was recalled a couple of times by Rockford but never got into a game.

I will try and follow up on Ramsey’s status for this season.

 

Hey! We Got A Recap!

Saturday, February 6-Chicago 5, Rockford 4

The Rockford IceHogs got off to a fast start in their season opener. They just couldn’t keep a talented Chicago Wolves out of the net.

The Hogs raced out to an early 2-0 lead, only to see Chicago rally from behind twice as the Wolves took over to win, 5-4. A pair of goals from Wolves rookie Seth Jarvis proved to be the difference in this high-scoring affair.

The Hogs were 2-2 on the power play in the first half of the opening period. With Lukas Craggs in the box for holding, John Quenneville took a pass from Wyatt Kalynuk into neutral ice. A give and go with Cody Franson allowed Quenneville to streak into the Wolves zone. He beat Chicago goalie Jeremy Helvig from the slot at 4:41 for a 1-0 Rockford advantage.

A few minutes later, Joey Keane was sent to time out for holding the stick. The IceHogs won the resulting offensive zone draw and maneuvered the puck to a pinching Franson. The veteran defensman found Evan Barratt in front of the Chicago crease. Helvig stopped the attempt, but Chad Yetman’s put back gave Rockford a 2-0 lead at the 8:35 mark.

The Wolves rallied in the latter half of the first period. Jarvis potted his second goal of the season, cleaning up a rebound of a Jamieson Rees power move to the Hogs net at 17:22 of the first. Just over a minute later, Cavan Fitzgerald sent a snipe from the top of the left circle. The shot beat Hogs goalie Matt Tomkins, clanged off the left post and settled into the net to tie the contest at two goals with 1:36 remaining in the fist period.

Rockford went up early in the second when Franson set up Kalynuk for a one-timer from the right dot on the man advantage 4:36 into the middle frame. The Wolves responded with three unanswered goals.

Coming off a faceoff win in the Hogs zone, Alexandre Carrier sent a shot wide of the net. However, the carom off the end boards wound up on the stick of Tanner Jeannot, who tied the game 3-3 at the 5:11 mark. Another strong move to the net by Rees got him past the defending Chad Krys. Jarvis was on hand to finish the play and put the Wolves up 4-3 at 8:10 of the second.

Rem Pitlick got in the way of a Quenneville pass attempt to set up a breakaway chance. Pitlick sent a shot over the blocker of Tomkins for a 5-3 Chicago lead at the 14:35 mark. The IceHogs found themselves down a pair at the second intermission.

Rockford cut the Wolves lead to 5-4 on an even-strength goal by Matej Chalupa, who gathered in a nice backhand pass from behind the net by D.J. Busdeker and snuck a shot past Helvig. Dylan McLaughlin was credited with the secondary assist and also helped out with a screen of Helvig on the goal, which came at 9:27 of the final frame.

The equalizer would not materialize before the final horn. Yetman had an open look from the left post on a late Rockford power play. However, his put back attempt of Barratt’s shot was just off the mark. Despite pulling Tomkins for a two-man advantage, Chicago held firm and time ran out on the Hogs.

Tomkins made 31 saves in the loss, in which the Hogs were out shot 36-32. The game’s three stars, in order, were Jarvis, Franson, and Kalynuk.

Lines (Starters in italics)

John Quenneville (A)-Evan Barratt-Andrei Altybarmakyan

Tim Soderlund-Dylan McLaughlin-D.J. Busdeker

Matej Chalupa-Chad Yetman-Michal Teply

Mikael Hakkarainen-Garrett Mitchell (C)-Gabriel Gagne

Wyatt Kalynuk-Cody Franson (A)

Alec Regula-Dimitry Osipov

Chad Krys-Michael Krutil

Matt Tomkins 

Scott Darling

Power Play (3-6)

Barratt-Yetman-Quenneville-Franson-Kalynuk

Chalupa-Altybarmakyan-Teply-Regula-Krys

Penalty Kill (Wolves were 1-5)

Forwards-Mitchell-Hakkarainen-Quenneville-McLaughlin

Defensemen-Krys-Kalynuk-Franson-Krutil-Regula-Osipov

 

Next up for the piglets are these same Chicago Wolves. The two teams will meet at the Triphahn Center in Hoffman Estates on Tuesday in one of those classic 2:00 p.m. starts that everyone can enjoy.

Follow me on twitter @JonFromi for game recaps, news, and thoughts on the IceHogs all season long.

 

Hockey

Waiting Around To Die – Hawks at Stars Games 13 & 14 Preview

By Matt McClure 1554

at

Game Times: 2:00PM (2/7), 7:30PM (2/9)
TV/Radio: NBC Sports Chicago, ESPN+ (2/7), WGN-AM 720
Sky Point Riley Gale: Defending Big D

This past fall or summer or whatever (time has no meaning anymore), the Stars nearly set the hockey world back 20 years by boring-ing their way to the Cup Final only to be fodder for the eventual and inevitable champion Lightning, with interim coach and NHL lifer Rick Bowness largely keeping Jim Montgomery’s desolate and exhausting defensive system in place which clearly belied Montgomery’s personal life. But that run earned Bowness a Magic Training Camp of his own, and after being the first of now countless covid breakouts across the league, the Stars have somehow turned into a pinball machine of scoring.