Everything Else

Duclair! Get Your Ass Out Here You’re Holdin’ Up The Show!

By Sam Fels 2652 0

You’ll just have to take my word for it, but just a couple days ago and Matt McClure and I were wasting time instead of working as we usually are doing, we speculated about things the Hawks might do trade-wise. We know Stan Bowman has usually preferred to makes his moves before the deadline, when prices are a tad cheaper and there’s less competition. That’s how Michael Frolik came here. You add in the fact that the Hawks might not be able to wait until the deadline because of the shape they’re in (oh you don’t know…) and you can see why there was some urgency here. We thought the Hawks weren’t going to give up any real pieces or make a big splash, and the beaten favorite is something they love to try.

We said Anthony Duclair seemed like a likely target.

Well, we got one right. Anthony Duclair is headed to Chicago along with Adam Clendening, the prodigal son, in exchange for Richard Panik and Laurent Dauphin.

The headline here is Duclair, who somehow is still only 22 even though you’ve been hearing his name for years. The attraction to Duclair is obvious. He’s swift, and though only 5-11 plays a much bigger game, and there is a high amount of skill here. This is a player who managed 20 goals at age 20 in Arizona, where he was on the top line and facing tougher competition than he probably should have because quite simply there wasn’t anyone else to.

The red flags are clear, though. He followed that season up with a barf-belch of a ’16-’17 that saw him get sent down for a portion of the season. Duclair has nine goals in 33 games this year, which is not nothing, but there is more to be mined. If he wants it to be, which seems to be the rep with him. The Hawks are right in thinking that if he can’t put it together here, especially with a coach showing new patience in young players, that it’s never going to happen.

Duclair’s best season two years ago came while playing with Max Domi, and there are options for him to do that here. He’s a left shot so playing him with Kane doesn’t really add up, but he could be hellish on a forecheck with Saad and Toews or give DeBrincat and Kampf/Anisimov more to work with than Sharp. It would sadly keep Top Cat on the right side when he should be on the left but Duclair can flip as well.

All of Duclair’s metrics this year are well ahead of the Yotes’ team rates, though that really isn’t much of a claim. More encouragingly, Duclair’s scoring rate at even-strength is the highest of his career right now, at 0.84 per 60. He’s also averaging more attempts and individual scoring chances at evens than he ever has, and more shots. He’s not quite getting the luck shooting-percentage-wise at evens that he did two years ago, but the process is there if the results are not. And oh yes, he’s averaging way more hits per 60 than he ever has, if you’re into that sort of thing.

While it would be fun to sit here and laugh about how Richard Panik turned into Richard Panik again, the reality is the Hawks got him for basically nothing (we still love you, Jeremy Morin), turned him into a younger, cheaper, more talented player that can be part of the solution for a long time here. You can’t argue with that.

The two minor leaguers won’t matter. Laurent Dauphin showed a little in the preseason, but either didn’t show enough in Rockford, or Kampf has shown enough to leap ahead of him on the depth chart, or they’re now convinced Schmaltz is a center which locks down three center spots on the big club for the foreseeable future, or all of the above. Clendening is Rockford depth, because I have to imagine Gustafsson or Pokka or both are going to be involved in future deals. If they were going to be anything, we’d probably know by now.

There is risk in this. You can see similarities between Duclair and Tomas Jurco, though Jurco never had the success in the NHL that Duclair had two years ago. High-talented guys who have just not put it together full-time yet that teams are ready to move on from. If motivation or focus is the problem, sticking him in that dressing room should be a cure he’s looking for. We’ll excuse him if he and many others didn’t quite bring it while playing out the string in the desert in front of friends and family only. He’ll get no such luxury here.

It has potential to be a blockbuster deal. If it’s the opposite, Duclair goes RFA in the summer and you have all of Panik’s cap space to play with. So… why the fuck not?

 

Everything Else

Game #42 Runnin’ a Little Bit Hot Tonight – Hawks 8, Senators 2

By Rose Rankin 3013 0

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

Corsica

Sometimes you want something so badly that you become fixated on it, you turn the image or idea over and over in your mind, and eventually you build it up into a magnificence that’s totally out of proportion. And when you finally get it, the reality can’t possibly live up to your imagined ideal, and the chasm between desire and result is painfully clear. I am happy to report this situation did NOT happen tonight with my defensive pairing fantasy-turned-reality of Kempny-Murphy while Seabrook sat in the press box. Let’s get right to it:

– I was, dare I say, elated to hear that Seabrook was getting sat tonight. No, I don’t hate him—in fact I have an inordinate amount of affection for anyone on the Cup-winning teams (I know, I know, I’ve bashed him all season but you’ve got to believe me). So honestly, I felt pangs of guilt over how happy I was. And I still feel some now over how happy I am with the defensive play tonight generally. Yes, Rutta got de-pantsed by Duchene in the first, yes, he and Foreskin were scrambling like meth-addled gerbils in the second which led to the first Senators goal, but we knew they were going to pull shit like that. What I care about was that Michal Kempny and CONNOR MURPHY! had, respectively, a 71 and 69 CF% (NICE). Two of the Hawks’ goals included assists by both defensemen on the ice at the time. This was a defense I could live with, even if I’m still confused by Forsling-Rutta (whatever). As my esteemed colleague Adam mentioned earlier today on Twitter, we can make fun of Seabrook and still think good things about him. I’ll be thinking of warm fuzzy memories while he enjoys nachos from the comfort of the press box (fingers crossed).

– Wtf where has this power play been? The Hawks scored three—count ’em three—power play goals tonight, which I’m pretty sure ties their pp goals for the season. Schmaltz had two of them, which more than made up for his rather dismal possession numbers (25 CF%?? Hey, you get a pass tonight, pal!). All the way around, they had better traffic in front of the net, and while the Senators’ PK definitely blows (28th in the league), the Hawks power play actually blows worse (29th). So if this is what it takes to get some creativity and confidence on the man advantage, so be it. Better they’re the punching bag than us.

– I know there’s been a lot of chatter about the Hawks somehow waving a magic salary cap wand and getting Erik Karlsson at the trade deadline, and the merits of this idea are best saved for another time and place, but I can’t get over his dejection at taking a needless interference penalty in the second which led to Rutta’s goal. Karlsson finished the night with a 63.9 CF% so it wasn’t all doom and gloom—he just pulled a great Denis Lemieux.

– Speaking of Ottawa defensemen, I truly forgot that Dion Phaneuf was still in the league. I found he’s still a useless oaf, and I hope he goes away soon.

– Patrick Kane had five points tonight, and apparently that’s the first time he’s done that, which seems odd. It would have been better if Schmaltz had gotten a hat trick instead of Kane getting the 8th goal in the third period, but isn’t this a nice thing to be complaining about?

– Anton Forsberg was solid again tonight. He finished with a .926 SV%, and I couldn’t even hold the first goal against him. The Senators had about 35 chances while Forsling and Rutta do what they do in the defensive zone, and Mark Stone eventually capitalized after about 17 of those 35 chances. Forsberg made key saves when he needed to and he looked confident and well-positioned. Keep it going, guy.

You couldn’t ask for more than a DLR when going through a rapid sequence of games right before the bye week. It’s not only that points are important, which they most certainly are, but the Hawks also need to take advantage on nights like this and beat shitty opponents (check), and some momentum through this week when they’re facing the Jets in a few days definitely helps too. Also, you can’t tell me it’s a coincidence that on the night when the entire team sees that membership in the Circle of Trust actually has limits, they explode like a pimple and score eight goals. Yes, the Senators suck, but the Hawks have played plenty of shitty teams and not had a DLR.

On that note, I’d just like to point out that the last DLR this season was game #1, when I was doing the wrap, and now at the halfway point of the season, as I’m writing the wrap, they do it again. Clearly it’s me, so you’re all welcome.

Beer of the night: Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ by Lagunitas

 

 

Everything Else

Game #42 – Hawks vs. Senators Preview/Architectural Rendering: Kanata, ON. Doo Doo Do Do Do…

By Sam Fels 2031 0

 vs. 

RECORDS: Hawks 20-15-6   Senators  14-17-9

PUCK DROP: 6:30

TV: NBCSN Chicago

BULLSHIT BULLSHIT BULLSHIT: Brian 5or6

Well this seems like a momentous day for really weird reasons. We’ll get to that in a second. After getting to recalibrate their weapons by firing on the stationary target that is the Edmonton Oilers, the Hawks can double that up by doing so against the Eastern Conference version, the Ottawa Senators. And they may get to do it against a severely hampered Senators team, and believe me when I tell you this team didn’t have a lot to hamp. With the 2nd half of the season kicking off tonight, this would be a good way to get it started the right way. Then again, the Hawks couldn’t have started the first half off any better (TEN! TEN! TEN!), and look where that got them.

No reason to not start off with the biggest piece of news, and that is Brent Seabrook will be a healthy scratch tonight for the first time…well, ever. I don’t recall this happening in his rookie year, though it might have and we’ve just blocked most of that season from our memories. In fact, Seabrook has been something of a rock of durability, missing only 11 games in the ensuing 11 years since. But you can’t say that Seabrook hasn’t earned this, and the Hawks pairings would make a lot more sense if they looked something like:

Keith-Murphy

Forsling-Kempny

Oesterle-Rutta

Of course, that’s not what they’ll look like tonight as Oesterle will stay with Keith, the two kids together, and Kempny and Murphy returning to their natural sides on the second pairing. This way Q doesn’t have to rearrange three pairings. While Murphy took the blame for Friday’s loss unfairly, Seabrook has been this all season and now can’t even get the space to do the things he does well, i.e. shoot and pass. He’s been either slow or uncaring or both down low in his own zone, and that’s just not good enough. At the moment, he’s not one of the best six d-men the Hawks can send out there.

The hope is that this shows Seabrook that he’s not untouchable and has no guarantees. At almost 33, he’s never going to be what he was but he can certainly be more than he is. At that age he really should be able to handle third pairing or even sheltered second pairing minutes ok, and he hasn’t done that all season without Connor Murphy (CONNOR MURPHY!) saving his ass. Seabrook will draw back in soon, perhaps as soon as tomorrow, and there better be a fire under his ass when he does.

As for the rest of the lineup it looks like Tomas Jurco will be the forward scratched as the suddenly spiky Patrick Sharp sticks around.

None of this should matter of course, because the Senators are the NHL’s little league right fielder with the glove on his head twirling in a cirlce. They’re second-bottom in the East and three points adrift of the team above them, the Canadiens. And while this isn’t much of a roster outside Karlsson, it’s not helped by SUPER GENIUS Guy Boucher running a system suited for 1999 and boring the shit out of everyone involved. And the system doesn’t work when it’s not getting lights-out goaltending, and Craig Anderson is 36. This a team that doesn’t really have a top-liner anywhere unless you count Matt Duchene, and he’s basically a top line wing playing center and a really good rhythm guitarist at center instead of a lead.

Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman are great second line scoring wingers too, but now that Bobby Ryan is turning colors in the sun they need them to be first line scorers and that’s just not who they are. Karlsson can only do so much.

Making it even better for the Hawks tonight is that several Sens are either sick or hurt and gametime decisions. Duchene (you’re holdin’ up the show!), Oduya, Ceci, Brassard all might not make the bell tonight, though all could play as well. This is not a juggernaut. This team is bottom 10 in goals per game, goals against per game, and shot for per game. They do limit shots against them ok thanks to Boucher’s strangulation of anything interesting that might happen, but Anderson just hasn’t been up to the challenge of stopping the ones they do see. Again, 36.

No excuses here. The Hawks have to get this one, and they really have to sweep the week before the bye hits and teams pass or get farther away from them simply because they’re not playing. They’ve missed enough hanging curves of late with losses to Vancouver, blowing a lead against  Vegas when they had played the night before, and arguably missing the first 30 minutes against a wonky Calgary team. No more bullshit.

 

Game #42 Preview

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

High On The Hog: Hop On The Bus, Gus

By Jon Fromi 2291 0

The Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, will be embarking on a pivotal road trip this week. At six games, it is the longest time away from the BMO Harris Bank Center this season.

This is a key stretch; after a very friendly schedule to begin the season, the piglets are going to have to get it done in the opposition’s barn for a while. With two rookie goalies still trying to get acclimated to AHL competition, Rockford is in danger of dovetailing out of playoff contention.

In what is proving to be quite the log jam behind Central Division-leading Manitoba, Rockford is finding themselves drifting down the ladder. The Hogs started the week in second place. As of Monday morning, they’re in fifth following a 1-2-0-1 week.

The play in net has been inconsistent. After Jeff Glass’s promotion to the Hawks, Rockford has won just twice in its last seven games. Rockford’s young club has grown accustomed to a bit of a Get Out Of Jail Free card behind them. That is not going to be the case as this road trip begins.

The IceHogs power play has perked up, with goals in each game of what was the team’s final three-in-three stretch of the campaign. However, the penalty kill gave up five goals in 11 opportunities for the opposition. The Hogs also surrendered a key shorthanded goal to Milwaukee Sunday that cost them a point in what became a shootout loss to the Admirals.

The youngsters have fared well in the first half of the 2017-18 season. Now comes a real gut-check of a second half…hop on the bus, Gus.

Rockford will be playing 24 of its final 39 games as the visiting team from now until the regular season ends. The Hogs are 6-7-0-1 on the road heading into action this week. For this team to nab a spot in the playoffs, they will have to be better than that.

The trip begins with a California swing that will see Rockford play three games in four days. First up is Ontario on Wednesday night. The IceHogs next visit San Jose and Bakersfield on Friday and Saturday.

Coincidentally, the Reign, Barracuda and Condors occupy the last three spots in the AHL’s Pacific Division right now. Battling cellar-dwellers isn’t all its cracked up to be; Rockford managed just one win in three games with Cleveland and Grand Rapids.

Next week, Rockford visits Cleveland on January 17 and 19 before wrapping up the trip in Grand Rapids. The boys will likely return to Rockford for a few days following the return from the coast, so it won’t be quite as demanding as it sounds.

However, Chicago (and Milwaukee to a lesser extent) is surging right now. Grand Rapids is starting to put together wins. The results of this jaunt could factor into playoff potential for the IceHogs in a few months.

 

Nay, Cap’n?

We are well into the fourth month of the season and Hogs coach Jeremy Colliton has yet to announce a captain for his club. Will Colliton find leadership out on the road?

At home, the “A”s have been on the sweaters of Laurent Dauphin, Ville Pokka and Luke Johnson.

On the road, the “A”s have been worn by Erik Gustafsson, Viktor Svedberg and Andreas Martinsen.

This week, the latter group wore the letters on Tuesday (home game), Friday (road game) and Saturday (home game). On Sunday (home game), the regular home group displayed letters.

Wrinkle: The red sweaters, usually worn on the road, were used on the aforementioned games Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday, Rockford wore the alternate sweaters. Maybe they just didn’t want to take the letters off.

Seems like the team leaders should have emerged by this point. Maybe someone upgrades to a “C” when the team returns to the BMO. Stay tuned.

 

All Stars Named

Two Rockford skaters were named to the Central Division squad for the 2018 All-Star Classic, to be held January 28-29. Well…one Rockford skater and one Blackhawks skater.

Erik Gustafsson will be making his first appearance in the event. Vinnie Hinostroza will likely need a substitute for his spot on the team, unless the Hawks send him back to Rockford before the end of the month. Hey…how about Matthew Highmore? The rookie leads Rockford in points (26) and goals (17).

 

Roster Happenings

No movement from the Hogs this past week. I’d think a recall might be in order this week, though.

Rockford has been skating with 12 forwards on the current roster since David Kampf was recalled to Chicago. Alexandre Fortin was a late scratch on Sunday; it might be beneficial to have an extra forward for the road trip.

Luc Snuggerud has still not returned to the lineup. He’s been out since December 8. Carl Dahlstrom was also a scratch Sunday. Rockford still has seven healthy defensemen if both Snuggerud and Dahlstrom are unavailable.

A return hasn’t been announced for injured goalie J.F. Berube; I’m guessing he will not be ready to play in California and sits out that half of the trip.

 

Recaps

Tuesday, January 2-Cleveland 4, Rockford 1

A pair of former IceHogs factored heavily in the Monsters coming to town and handing Rockford its third straight loss. Local products Alex and Terry Broadhurst have four of Cleveland’s seven goals against the IceHogs this season. Three of those came Tuesday for the last-place Monsters.

Cleveland got the scoring started when Terry Broadhurst got an open look in front of Hogs goalie Colin Delia in the opening minutes. Delia made the pad save, but the rebound came right back to Broadhurst and the second attempt got over that left pad an into the net at the 3:23 mark.

Rockford had several chances to even the score. Alexandre Fortin got a stretch pass and was way behind the defense. However, his backhand attempt was snuffed out by Cleveland rookie goalie Matiss Kivelnieks. The IceHogs had two power plays in the first 20 minutes but squandered both chances.The Monsters led 1-0 through the first period.

Rockford would whiff on another man advantage midway through the second before Laurent Dauphin was sent to the box. The Monsters power play, worst in the league headed into the contest, came up with a goal at 11: 14 of the second when Paul Bittner stuck back a rebound of Alex Broadhurst’s attempt.

The Hogs trailed 2-0 for most of the remainder of the game. With 3:44 left in the final period, Tomas Jurco tossed the puck toward Kivelnieks from the left corner of the offensive zone. The tough-angle shot struck the Cleveland goalie and settled into the net.

The hope of tying the game prompted Rockford coach Jeremy Colliton to pull Delia in the final minutes. Terry Broadhurst outraced Anthony Louis for a loose puck and poked it down the ice into the empty net to put Cleveland up 3-1 with 1:18 remaining.

Colliton brought Delia to the bench again; this time Alex Broadhurst was the recipient of an empty net after catching up to Brady Austin’s clearing pass. Broadhust guided the puck into the Hogs net with 15 seconds remaining.

Delia had his best night since being called up to the IceHogs. He wasn’t spectacular but turned in a solid effort, stopping 22 of the 24 shots he faced. Most nights, that would have been enough to earn a win. Just not on this night.

Kivelnieks’s 35-save performance earned him the game’s first star, followed by Terry (2 G) and Alex (1 G, 2 A) Broadhurst.

Lines (Starters in italics; Rockford went with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen)

Alexandre Fortin-Tyler Sikura-Andreas Martinsen (A)

Anthony Louis-Tanner Kero-Tomas Jurco

Matthew Highmore-Luke Johnson-William Pelletier

Graham Knott-Laurent Dauphin

Erik Gustafsson (A)-Darren Raddysh

Robin Norell-Ville Pokka

Carl Dahlstrom-Viktor Svedberg (A))

Brandon Anselmini

Colin Delia

Scratches-Luc Snuggerud, Robin Press, Matheson Iacopelli , Jordin Tootoo, J.F. Berube

Power Play (0-3)

Highmore-Kero-Jurco-Louis-Gustafsson

Fortin-Johnson-Raddysh-Dahlstrom-Pokka

Penalty Kill (Cleveland was 1-1)

Highmore-Kero-Dahlstrom-Svedberg

Johnson-Jurco-Gustafsson-Norell

Sikura-Martinsen-Dahlstrom-Svedberg

 

Friday, January 5-Grand Rapids 5, Rockford 3

Grand Rapids got the scoring started midway through the first with a wide open back door conversion on the power play. The fireworks came in the middle frame.

The Hogs and Griffins traded goals three times, starting two minutes into the second with a Dominik Shine tally. Just seconds later, Matheson Iacopelli  and Graham Knott played a little patty cake on a 2-on-1 rush, culminating in Iacopelli’s seventh goal of the season at 2:17.

IceHogs goalie Colin Delia misplayed a puck behind his own net following the center ice faceoff. As happens in these situations, it would up in the back of his net, courtesy of Ben Street at 2:28 of the second.

The Griffins committed their own gaffe a few minutes later, turning the puck over between the circles in their own zone. Iacopelli was there to collect the gift. The rookie victimized the stick side of Grand Rapids goalie Jaren Coreau for the second time of the night, cutting the Griffins lead to 3-2 at 5:01 of the second.

Another misplay by Delia, this time off a Street shot, slid to Eric Tangradi at the right post. The veteran Griffins forward slid the offering across the goal line at 7:13 for a 4-2 Grand Rapids advantage.

Rockford returned fire with a power play goal at the 14:05 mark. The score was set up by an Erik Gustafsson blast from the point that rebounded off Coreau. Matthew Highmore was on the scene in front of the Griffins net to knock the puck in to close the gap to 4-3. That score held up into the second intermission.

Street’s second goal of the evening, a power play tally at 12:01 of the third, proved to be the nail in the Hogs coffin. Rockford threw 17 shots at Coreau in the final 20 minutes, but no dice.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Anthony Louis-Tanner Kero-Tomas Jurco

Alexandre Fortin-Tyler Sikura-Andreas Martinsen (A)

Matthew Highmore-Luke Johnson-William Pelletier

Graham Knott-Laurent Dauphin-Matheson Iacopelli

Robin Norell-Ville Pokka

Erik Gustafsson (A)-Darren Raddysh

Carl Dahlstrom-Viktor Svedberg (A))

Colin Delia

Scratches-Luc Snuggerud, Robin Press, Jordin Tootoo, J.F. Berube

Power Play (1-2)

Highmore-Kero-Jurco-Louis-Gustafsson

Fortin-Johnson-Raddysh-Dahlstrom-Pokka

Penalty Kill (Monsters were 0-2)

Highmore-Kero-Dahlstrom-Svedberg

Johnson-Jurco-Gustafsson-Norell

Sikura-Martinsen-Dahlstrom-Svedberg

 

Saturday, January 6-Rockford 4, Cleveland 3 (SO)

Down two goals early, Rockford was able to rally to win the rematch with the Monsters at the BMO Harris Bank Center.

Sam Kurker and Zac Dalpe put Cleveland ahead 2-0 in the first period. Before the night got away from the Hogs, the Rockford power play got a puck behind Joonas Korpisalo. Erik Gustafsson sent a shot from the top of the right circle that the Monsters goalie stopped. Matthew Highmore and Tanner Kero took whacks at the loose puck until Tomas Jurco collected it at the extended goal line. His shot caught cord at 18:18 of the first period; Rockford skated into the locker room down 2-1.

The Hogs tied the game 15 seconds into the second when Highmore redirected a Gustafsson blast into the Griffins net. The 2-2 score held up until the midway point of the game. Cleveland forced a turnover in the IceHogs zone after Rockford had scored a clean faceoff win. Cameron Gaunce one-timed a Carter Camper set up past Colin Delia to put the Monsters up 3-2 at the 10:42 mark.

Rockford evened the score again five minutes later. Laurent Dauphin came in ahead of the Cleveland defense to get a puck on net. Korpisalo knocked it aside, but Tyler Sikura was on hand to collect the rebound in the right corner along the goal line. Sikura’s shot eluded Korpisalo and made it 3-3 at 15:51 of the second.

Neither team could manage a goal in the third period or overtime. In fact, the only shot that made it across a goal line came from the stick of Anthony Louis, who beat Korpisalo in the opening round of the shootout. Delia held off attempts from Dalpe and Terry and Alex Broadhurst to give Rockford the victory.

Highmore, Jurco and Alex Broadhurst were named the game’s three stars, but Delia deserves recognition in what may have been his strongest game to date in the IceHogs net. Delia stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced, including a couple of big stops late in the game to keep the score even.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Anthony Louis-Tanner Kero-Tomas Jurco

Alexandre Fortin-Tyler Sikura-Andreas Martinsen (A)

Matthew Highmore-Luke Johnson-William Pelletier

Graham Knott-Laurent Dauphin-Matheson Iacopelli

Robin Norell-Ville Pokka

Erik Gustafsson (A)-Darren Raddysh

Carl Dahlstrom-Viktor Svedberg (A))

Colin Delia

Scratches-Luc Snuggerud, Robin Press, Jordin Tootoo, J.F. Berube

Power Play (1-6)

Highmore-Kero-Jurco-Louis-Gustafsson

Fortin-Johnson-Raddysh-Dahlstrom-Pokka

Penalty Kill (Griffins were 2-4)

Highmore-Kero-Dahlstrom-Svedberg

Johnson-Jurco-Gustafsson-Norell

Sikura-Martinsen-Dahlstrom-Svedberg

 

Sunday, January 7-Milwaukee 5, Rockford 4 (SO)

Rockford failed to hold on to a late advantage, picking up a single point but falling to the Admirals in the shooting competition.

The power play got the Hogs started on the scoreboard midway through the opening period. As the clock wound down on the man advantage, Tomas Jurco took a pass from Anthony Louis at he top of the left circle. He worked his way toward the faceoff dot before snapping home a winner past Ads goalie Anders Lindback at 10:35 of the first.

Rockford started the second period up 1-0 and on a power play, nearly scoring early in the period. However, some sloppy play in the neutral zone allowed a shorthanded break the other way. Mark Zengerle had a free look in the slot, beating Hogs goalie Matt Tomkins high to tie the game 1-1 at 1:26 of the middle frame.

The IceHogs regained the lead 12:07 into the period. Viktor Svedberg skated the puck out of his zone and all the way to the Admirals goal line. His backhanded centering attempt was knocked into the Milwaukee net by Matthew Highmore for a 2-1 Rockford advantage at 12:07.

Former Hogs forward Cody Bass brought the Admirals back to even about four minutes later, when he batted in a floating puck off the crossbar and into the Rockford cage. The officials took a long look at the replay before upholding the goal call on the ice. That made it 2-2 at the 16:03 mark; the score held up as the buzzer ended the second period.

Milwaukee grabbed a 3-2 lead on a Bobby Butler power play goal 1:10 into the third. This time, it was Rockford’s turn to reply. They did at the 5:28 mark when William Pelletier jumped on a Milwaukee turnover and fired past Lindback in the slot. The puck hit the left post, but Tanner Kero was there to knock it into the net for a 3-3 tie.

It looked as if the IceHogs were going to come away with a win after Tyler Sikura’s terrific redirect effort of Matheson Iacopelli’s shot attempt. The score put Rockford up 4-3 at 17:08 of the third period. However, with 58 seconds remaining and Lindback on the bench, Butler stuck in a rebound to knot the game at four goals.

Milwaukee, shooting second after neither team could end the contest in overtime, got a first-round goal from Justin Kirkland. Jurco, Rockford’s third shooter, hit on a backhand attempt. Harry Zolnierczyk beat Tomkins on the Ads final shot to claim the win for the visitors.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Matthew Highmore-Luke Johnson-Tomas Jurco

Anthony Louis-Tanner Kero-William Pelletier

Laurent Dauphin-Tyler Sikura-Andreas Martinsen (A)

Graham Knott-Matheson Iacopelli

Erik Gustafsson (A)-Viktor Svedberg (A)

Robin Norell-Ville Pokka

Darren Raddysh-Brandon Anselmini

Robin Press

Matt Tomkins

Scratches-Luc Snuggerud, Alexandre Fortin, Jordin Tootoo, Carl Dahlstrom, J.F. Berube

Power Play (1-3)

Highmore-Kero-Jurco-Louis-Gustafsson

Penalty Kill (Admirals were 1-4)

Highmore-Kero-Pokka-Svedberg

Johnson-Jurco-Gustafsson-Norell

Sikura-Martinsen-Pokka-Svedberg

 

 

Everything Else

Game #41 – Oilers vs. Hawks Preview/Tire Rotation: You Ain’t Special, So Who You Foolin’?

By Sam Fels 2595 0

 vs. 

RECORDS: Oilers 18-21-3    Hawks 19-15-6

PUCK DROP: 2pm

TV: WGN

ED-WOOD-TON: OilersNation.com

I don’t know who sanctioned a 2pm start, but they’re going to pay. Neither of these teams wants to be out during daylight hours right now. Hell, neither probably wants to be in public. Two teams that had designs on being a lot higher in the standings than they are will make it a lunch today on Madison St. Considering how things have gone for each team recently, a loss today is going to feel closer to terminal than it probably should. Though for the Oilers, it very well might be.

We’ll start with the Oilers, who have had maybe the biggest balls-up of a season this side of the Penguins. Since we last saw them last Friday, they’ve lost to the Jets, Kings, and Stars by a combined score of 15-1, while sneaking in a shootout victory over the Ducks in there. They’re below .500, miles out of a playoff spot, and really looking at the guillotine on this season very soon. They may even already be sellers, or should be, if you could find anyone on an expiring contract that anyone would want. The Chiarelli Panic Trade Countdown is getting awfully low.

It’s not hard to identify where things have gone wrong. One, Cam Talbot just plainly hasn’t been very good, and he’s been especially woeful on the penalty kill. That’s fed into their historically bad PK, which the power play isn’t making up for, and you can’t win games if you have to win at even-strength by two or three goals. It’s not all on Talbot for the penalty kill, however. The Oilers have the worst xGA/60 on the kill of anyone in the league and it isn’t even close. It’s over two goals worse per 60 than the team in 30th. That’s the same gap between 30th and 22nd. They just give up way too many good looks on the kill, and Talbot would have to perform miracles (MIRACLES!) to get through. He’s been quite the opposite, and hence you have this kindergarten recess.

On top of that, the Oilers just don’t have the finish to make their still-exemplary metrics count, as strange as that sounds. Yes, with Draisaitl now playing in the middle they might have the best center-depth in the West. Certainly in the Pacific. And yet with no wingers that you’d piss on if they were on fire, other than maybe Puljujarvi, it’s almost rendered useless. Run CMD can spin all the golden yarn he wants but if he’s waiting five seconds for Milan Lucic to catch up, who the fuck cares? This is a team where a suspension of Pat Maroon actually matters. You don’t want to be that team. Peter Kriss doesn’t even want to be that team.

All this has masked the fact that the defense has actually improved, though still isn’t Final-contender worthy which is where the Oilers had their eyes set before the year. Darnell Nurse has ascended to the top pairing, and you could get away with Adam Larsson there too if you had a really solid second pairing. Andrej Sekera and Matt Benning do not that pair make. Kris Russell is still watching the puck all the time on the third with KLEFBOM KLEFBOM YOU’RE MY KLEFBOM.

For the Hawks, Anton Forsberg will put a pause on the Glass Jeff Experience for a day, and the Hawks really need him to resign that to a footnote on this season. Forsberg has had his moments both ways, but he needs to grab the brass ring with Corey Crawford still in the land of wind and ghosts. There was no other word on lineup changes today, but you could see Jan Rutta come back in because he isn’t doing anyone any good in the pressbox. Then again, that’s the story for Michal Kempny and you know how that goes.

The Stars got their ass rubbed in the moonshine yesterday in Dallas, and Cam And Magic Talbot was pulled early in the 2nd. Whether he turns around or Chicago Rat Hockey Ragdoll Al Montoya gets the start, the Hawks are playing a severely wounded and shaken team here. The Oilers are basically looking for an excuse to down tools, and the Hawks have basically run out of time to get their ass in gear. The game against the Rangers would see this outfit off. A start like Friday’s will give them life. So the choice is simple.

 

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Game #39 – Hawks vs. Rangers Preview/Track Mastering: You Can’t Get A Joint in Times Square So Who Cares?

By Sam Fels 2105 0

 vs. 

RECORDS: Hawks 18-14-6   Rangers 21-13-5

PUCK DROP: 7pm

TV: NBCSN – It’s Rivalry Night, don’t ya know?

NEW YORK MIGHT BE THE WORST ST. VINCENT SONG EVER: Blueshirt Banter, @HockeyRodent

It’s not officially cold until it gets cold in New York, which it has been now, and you can hear their bitching about it from Oregon. Meanwhile this is par for the course for us, but who gives a shit when we’re here in the middle, busy sending all of our creative talent there to do the work they take credit for? Exactly. Anyway, it’s rivalry night apparently and I guess this counts because it’s two Original Six teams, though you’re forgiven if you forgot that the Rangers were an O6 teams because really… what’s Rangers tradition?

BUT THAT’S NOT WHY YOU CALLED.

The Hawks wrap up this weird six-game trip that’s bounced from Texas to the East Coast, to Western Canada, back to the East Coast, rippin’ and rompin’, North Cak-a-laka and Compton (not actually Compton). It wrapped around Christmas so the Hawks didn’t have to do it all in one, but it also makes it seem like it’s gone on forever. The fact that the Hawks piled up only one win during it, three terrible losses and one credible point I guess in Cal And Gary only made it seem longer. Which leaves us in this state of ennui we currently find ourselves.

As far as on the ice. there will be more changes. Because of course there will. Once again, Richard Panik goes from top line to pressbox in Q’s Rotation Of Confusion, with Vinnie Smalls getting a chance to do whatever it is he does with Toews and Saad. Patrick Sharp comes back from exile (handsome exile!) to be on the other side of David Kampf from Top Cat, forcing Top Cat back to the right side because whatever Baby Sharp wants Baby Sharp gets, I guess.

It spreads to the defense as well, where Gustav Forsling will slot back in to pair with Cody Franson, which won’t have the Rangers forwards giggling until they foam up at the mouth or anything. Personally, I can’t wait for Forsling to get horsed in the corner, the puck making its way to the slot and Franson kind of staring at it with a bemused expression as one might a squirrel dragging a too big piece of food up a tree. After starting the shift in their own end, of course.

Jeff Glass gets his third straight start, as horse-player Q thinks this is finally the Pick 3 he’s going to hit. This is simply asking for trouble, as the “spark” Q was looking for by starting this good story has not materialized, and has in fact has had his skaters playing terrified and panicked in their own zone as Glass spits up another rebound. It has the double effect of fucking with Anton Forsberg’s head, and with Corey Crawford nowhere on the horizon that seems a real problem. Glass is going to give up a touchdown somewhere around here, because he’s not Tim Thomas, and it’s going to be in a game the Hawks can’t really afford to just punt. Forsberg has had his spotty games for sure, but also has the better chance of holding a team below two which he’s done as well. But Q gets to play his hunches because fuck you.

To the Rangers, who are one of the weirder statistical teams you can find. They’ve fallen six points behind the division leading Caps, but have two games in hand. What’s bewildering about the Rangers is that they’re one of the worst possession teams in the league, and yet they create the best chances out of the limited attempts they take. They’re #1 in expected goals at evens per 60 minutes, even though you’d be hard pressed to find a genuine first-liner anywhere on this team. They give up a lot of attempts as well, but not that many great chances.

It also helps that Henrik Lundqvist went a bit bonkers in December, with a .936 SV%. So that talk of him being finished in October seems to have dried up a bit. That helped the Rags to a 7-3-3 record in the month, and they’ll be coming off a truly inspiring OT win in the Winter Classic against the modern day irresistible force that is the Buffalo Sabres.

The Rangers are a little beat up at the moment, as Chris “I Still Give Guys Swirlies” Kreider is out indefinitely with a blood clot in his arm, and so is Jesper Fast. The Rangers weren’t blessed with a huge amount of depth, so it’s kind of stripped their second line. Unless a troika of Buchnevich-Desharnais-Vesey scares you. The top unit of Alleged Wiener Tucker and The Two Z’s has been dynamite possession-wise but not a whole lot of end product yet. It’s the bottom six where the real threat lies, with Michael Grabner and 18 goals, Captain Stairwell, and J.T. Miller always possible to pop up with a goal. There are no big names–Nash really isn’t a top line player any more–but the foot soldiers have gotten enough done.

They’ve had problems getting Kirk ShattenKevin to fit in all season, and he’s currently on a third-pairing with worst player in the world Brendan Smith. Most of their push comes from Chance-Made-Me-Famous Brady Skjei (and the funny thing about that sketch is that Skjei is American). McDonagh and Holden take the human shield assignments, and expect Schmaltz and Kane to see them every shift.

Feels like every time I show up here and say the Hawks need to kick it into gear and blah blah blah, Kesha. Perhaps it’s just not going to happen and this is what they are. The Hawks are going to pack in the games now before their bye week, with seven games in the next 12 days. It is likely that when we get to the end of that stretch, we’ll know if the rest of the season is worth any give-a-shit or not.

 

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High On The Hog: Fights And Attendance Down…Coincidence?

By Jon Fromi 3316 0

The Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, have an attendance problem. This, despite having a young, exciting group of prospects that sit in second place in the league’s Central Division through 33 games.

Through this point in the calendar a year ago, Rockford was averaging 3905 fans a night for 17 home games. In 20 home dates this season, the Hogs are averaging 3515. For the second straight season, the franchise is facing a big drop in attendance.

Why are fewer people congregating at the BMO Harris Bank Center to cheer on the ‘Bago County Flying Piglets? Apparently because they’re not the ‘Bago County Fighting Piglets.

Some of you might find that statement ridiculous. Others may be nodding pensively. How would the absence of fisticuffs be keeping hockey fans from checking out the quality product showcased in the Forest City? Something else has to be the culprit.

The IceHogs are a much better team this season, both in terms of quality of play and win-loss record. They play a fast-paced style for 60 minutes a night. What’s not to like?

Still, let’s speculate. What could be vastly different about this season that the attendance has dropped the way it has?

Is it the power play? Its still abysmal, though Rockford managed a pair of goals on the man advantage this week. Their success rate of 13.3 percent in the last three games actually raised the Hogs overall total for the season. Regardless, that doesn’t seem to be a factor in attendance.

Could it be bad public relations? This is a young, talented and pretty likable team. No scandalous happenings to the best of my knowledge.

How about turnover in the broadcast booth? Rockford is on its third play-by-play man in the last three months. Bob Mills resigned back in October; Mike Peck handled the mic on an interim basis before the club hired Joe Zakzewski. I’ve enjoyed listening to Joey Z and feel like his open style on social media is a big plus to drawing in fans.

Underwhelming giveaway promotions? 4,296 fans showed up to nab free blankets Friday night, down about 1,200 for a similar promotion last December. Seems like the swag is of similar quality as other years.

Sunspots? I guess that’s for the scientists to decide.

Lack of fighting? Hmmmm…could be…

I would guess that its not just the lack of fighting, but the substantial drop in this category over the past three months of action. Here’s how that three-month total has looked over the past few seasons:

2013-14: 15 FM

2014-15: 30 FM

2015-16: 20 FM

2016-17: 17 FM

2017-18: 5 FM

Through 33 games this season, Rockford has been assessed five fighting majors.

Five.

Not fifteen, five. You can literally count them on one hand.

Last year, the IceHogs set a franchise-low in the category with just 39 fighting majors assessed. Keep in mind, that figure was still good for eighth-highest in the AHL. Rockford is last in the league in fights, which is unprecedented.

It’s simple to explain this prodigious drop in glove dropping. Rockford doesn’t have anyone remotely counting as a fighter on its roster (though Matt Tomkins was in a goalie fight last week before being promoted from Indy). Its probably fortunate that more Hogs aren’t getting into scraps…because they’re not good at it.

The lone December fracas saw Laurent Dauphin square off with Duncan Siemens of the Rampage on the 15th. The Hogs center has been wearing a full face shield ever since; a bit ironic as his bout was the least one-sided of any Rockford has been a part of this season…by far.

If Rockford players are going to get into fights and continue to take damage that could lead to missed time, I’d rather they keep their gloves on. The team does not appear to be bringing in someone with pugilistic tendencies anytime soon, so I would expect more of the status quo.

As I have said repeatedly here, the lack of fighting has not diminished my enjoyment of the games or kept me from showing up. I suspect that I am in the minority when it comes to this issue, though.

Maybe that’s assuming too much. However, it wouldn’t shock me if that drop of 400 fans a night consists in some part of folks who want blood every night and don’t feel its worth the drive downtown if they aren’t going to see it.

Based on the advertising I’ve seen this fall, the emphasis on fighting is as non-existent as it is on the ice. Again, that doesn’t bother me a bit.

I could understand a drop in attendance last season. The team was terrible and going nowhere in an awful hurry. This season, I can’t figure it out. The team has been fun to watch even when they don’t win, and they are in great position in terms of the standings right now.

The Rockford fan base has always supported this team going back to the UHL days, good or bad. Why not now? Hopefully the new year brings in some bigger gates as the season rolls on.

Piglets In Net

Rockford completed a three-games-in-three-nights stretch Saturday, showcasing the style of play that we’ve come to expect from this group. The difference lay in the crease, where the Hogs have two very green goalies to choose from for the foreseeable future.

Due to injuries in Chicago (Corey Crawford) and Rockford (J.F. Berube), both of the organization’s veteran net minders are up with the Blackhawks. This leaves the less than seasoned tandem of Colin Delia and Matt Tomkins to backstop the IceHogs.

Delia, signed to an entry deal by the Blackhawks this summer, made his second and third AHL starts against Iowa this week, having just ten ECHL games under his belt with the Indy Fuel. Tomkins, who made his AHL debut Saturday night, had just eight games played with the Fuel. An AHL contract signing by Rockford, the former Chicago draft pick is now in his first stint in Rockford.

Neither rookie is making anyone forget Berube or Jeff Glass, who were adept at keeping some of Rockford’s more aggressive mistakes from showing up on the scoreboard. Delia seemed to spend quite a bit of time off his skates; there may have been reason that he sat in favor of Glass until their was no other recourse but to give him a start this week.

Tomkins showed some smart rebound control but was still torched for six goals in his start against the Wolves. He let a puck drop and roll into his net on Chicago’s first power play goal Saturday, then failed to cover a loose puck in front of him that resulted in a shorthanded tally for the Wolves.

With Berube not available for possibly a couple more weeks, Rockford will have to stay afloat with Delia and Tomkins for the immediate future. The IceHogs have four games this week against division foes. Limiting shots on goal and staying out of the penalty box are going to be keys in each of those contests.

I think Rockford can tread water with the current goalie situation for another week or so. Any further and they may have to find an experienced AHL veteran and sign him to a PTO to sure things up.

 

Hot Line

The grouping of Alexandre Fortin, Tyler Sikura and Andreas Martinsen has been a very effective line for Rockford. This week, that line accounted for four goals.

Sikura, in particular, was excellent. He found the net in all three games and had four points this past week. Fortin put up a goal and two helpers while Martinsen chipped in with an assist and freed up some pucks with his physical presence.

With the Hogs power play as bad as it is, Sikura and his knack for getting to the front of the net sure wouldn’t do any harm. He continues to be a quality signing for Rockford. Sikura has six goals and four assists on the season and carries the second highest skater rating on the club (plus-11).

Rookie Matthew Highmore continues to lead the IceHogs in goals; his hat trick Thursday night puts him at 14 for the season. His 22 points is tied with Tomas Jurco (10 G, 12 A) for the team lead among the active roster.

Defenseman Erik Gustafsson made his return from an upper body injury this week. He had an assist in both Thursday and Friday’s games with Iowa. Luke Johnson broke a six-game pointless streak with a goal and two helpers this week.

 

Recaps

Thursday, December 27-Rockford 6, Iowa 3

Rockford picked up a third straight win, paced by a Matthew Highmore hat trick, some solid defensive play and a bit of puck luck.

The IceHogs got on the board 3:02 into the contest. The opening goal was set up by Andreas Martinsen, who separated a Wild skater from the puck in the corner of the Iowa zone. Tyler Sikura grabbed the turnover, skated toward the right post and hit Alexandre Fortin in the slot for the lamp-lighter.

That 1-0 lead was short-lived, as the Wild returned fire just 12 seconds later. Cal O’Reilly got a pass through Anthony Louis and Erik Gustafsson to Zach Parise. The rehabbing Parise easily found Luke Kunin in the high slot. Kunin’s shot got over the blocker of Hogs goalie Colin Delia to tie the score at a goal apiece.

Rockford took a 2-1 advantage thanks to some hard work by Luke Johnson and Matthew Highmore. Johnson fought for and won a puck battle along the left half boards of the Wild zone. Highmore took a pass from Johnson and wove his way to the left post. The initial shot was stopped by the pad of Steve Michalek. Highmore, however, collected the rebound and flung it home at the 8:47 mark.

Iowa drew even again on a Justin Kloos power play goal 11:30 into the first, then went up 3-2 a couple of minutes later when Johnson whiffed on a pass attempt in the neutral zone. AHL veteran Pat Cannone maneuvered around Viktor Svedberg to the right dot, where he beat Delia’s glove with a wrister at the 14:10 mark. The Wild held that advantage into the first intermission.

The Hogs outshot Iowa 11-3 in the second period. Delia wasn’t real busy in that time, but did make a couple of big stops. It was soon after a point-blank stop on a Kunin attempt from the slot that Rockford evened the score.

Fortin got to a loose puck in the neutral zone and hit Tyler Sikura just short of the red line. Sikura skated hard into Wild territory and fired from the top of the left circle. The shot befuddled Michalek and settled into the basket at 16:59 of the period.

A Nick Seeler holding infraction gave Rockford a man advantage late in the middle frame. For the first time in several games, the IceHogs took advantage. Erik Gustafsson, returning to the lineup for the first time since November 25, hit Tomas Jurco at the top of the left circle. Jurco’s shot ricocheted off of the shin pads of Highmore and into the cage at the 19:29 mark. The Hogs led 4-3 after 40 minutes.

A clearing attempt by Svedberg early in the third period resulted in some insurance for the IceHogs. William Pelletier chased down the puck ahead of his Iowa counterparts to negate icing, then took advantage of a odd bounce off of the end boards to snipe one past Michalek’s stick side. That made the score 5-3 just 2:08 into the third.

Twice in the final frame, Iowa skaters were taken down on the way to breakaway attempts. Both Mario Lucia and Sam Anas were awarded penalty shots and had Delia beaten with an open net in front of them. Lucia’s backhand attempt sailed wide of the cage. Anas had his offering denied by the left post.

The pressure was on for most of the last three minutes, as Iowa pulled Michalek and camped out in the Rockford zone. Ville Pokka was finally able to clear the defensive zone with 48 seconds remaining. Pelletier slid the puck into the Wild zone and Highmore helpfully guided it into the empty net with 43 seconds left.

Delia stopped 15 of the 18 shots he faced to pick up his first AHL victory. Highmore and Sikura were awarded the game’s first and second stars, respectively.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Alexandre Fortin-Tyler Sikura-Andreas Martinsen

Anthony Louis-Tanner Kero-Tomas Jurco

Matthew Highmore-Luke Johnson (A)-William Pelletier

Graham Knott-Laurent Dauphin (A)-Matheson Iacopelli

Robin Norell-Ville Pokka (A)

Erik Gustafsson-Darren Raddysh

Carl Dahlstrom-Viktor Svedberg

Colin Delia

Scratches-Luc Snuggerud, Robin Press, Brandon Anselmini, Jordin Tootoo, J.F. Berube

Power Play (1-3)

Highmore-Kero-Jurco-Louis-Gustafsson

Fortin-Johnson-Raddysh-Dahlstrom-Pokka

Penalty Kill (Iowa was 1-4)

Highmore-Kero-Dahlstrom-Svedberg

Johnson-Jurco-Gustafsson-Norell

Sikura-Martinsen-Dahlstrom-Svedberg

 

Friday, December 29-Iowa 5, Rockford 3

Some third-period fireworks created a bit of excitement, but the Hogs couldn’t complete a three-goal comeback despite out shooting the Wild 48-30.

Rockford got on the board quickly. Iowa goalie Steve Michalek fought off a Laurent Dauphin put-back attempt after Erik Gustafsson put a shot on net. The puck made its way out to the waiting stick of Matheson Iacopelli. With a wide-open net to aim for, Iacopelli drove home his sixth of the season at 2:51 of the first period.

Iowa scored the next four goals of the contest, starting late in the first when Mario Lucia stuck in a rebound past Hogs goalie Colin Delia to tie the game on the power play. Iowa’s man advantage struck again when Luke Kunin one-timed a Ryan Murphy pass into Delia’s net 1:34 into the second.

At the 8:31 mark, Delia was left to defend a three-on-one rush that ended with an easy tap-in for Lucia. A little over two minutes later, a turnover by Rockford’s Darren Raddysh wound up in the back of the Hogs cage, courtesy of Landon Ferraro.

Down 4-1, it appeared that 4,296 folks who braved the elements to catch the action at the BMO would be able to get a head start home. That’s certainly how it looked for the first ten minutes of the final frame. However, in a span of 25 seconds, the IceHogs suddenly made it a hockey game.

It started off an offensive zone draw midway through the period. Tanner Kero flipped a backhand past Michalek, set up by Anthony Louis, for his first goal this season with Rockford at 10:41. On the subsequent shift, Tyler Sikura deftly redirected a Ville Pokka blast from the point. The puck eluded the Iowa net-minder and the Hogs had cut the lead to 4-3 at 11:06.

Rockford gained a power play with 2:25 remaining for a last shot at the equalizer. Once they established control in the Wild zone, Hogs coach Jeremy Colliton brought Delia to the bench for the extra skater. Soon after, Pokka had his shot attempt blocked by Kyle Rau. The two skaters raced to the loose puck. Rau got enough stick on it to get it into the empty net to close out the scoring at 18:58.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Alexandre Fortin-Tyler Sikura-Andreas Martinsen

Anthony Louis-Tanner Kero-Tomas Jurco

Matthew Highmore-Luke Johnson (A)-William Pelletier

Graham Knott-Laurent Dauphin (A)-Matheson Iacopelli

Robin Norell-Ville Pokka (A)

Erik Gustafsson-Darren Raddysh

Carl Dahlstrom-Viktor Svedberg

Colin Delia

Scratches-Luc Snuggerud, Robin Press, Brandon Anselmini, Jordin Tootoo, J.F. Berube

Power Play (0-6)

Highmore-Kero-Jurco-Louis-Gustafsson

Fortin-Johnson-Raddysh-Dahlstrom-Pokka

Penalty Kill (Iowa was 2-7)

Highmore-Kero-Dahlstrom-Svedberg

Johnson-Jurco-Gustafsson-Norell

Sikura-Martinsen-Dahlstrom-Svedberg

 

Saturday, December 30-Chicago 6, Rockford 2 

The Wolves took a 1-0 lead at the 7:29 mark. Brandon Pirri’s power play tally came right off of a Wade Megan faceoff win. Pirri sent a screamer to goal from the high slot that rookie Matt Tomkins appeared to absorb. However, the puck got away from the Hogs goalie, struck his left leg, and rolled across the goal line to give Chicago an advantage they would hold into the first intermission.

Rockford had an early power play opportunity in the sandwich stanza. However, it was the Wolves who wound up taking advantage. Mackenzie Meachern was stopped by Tomkins, who failed to get his glove over the puck in front of him to gain a stoppage. Before he could make a second attempt at covering, Anthony Louis tried to clear the puck into the corner. The attempt banked off the skate of T.J. Tynan and slid past Tomkins for a 2-0 Chicago lead at the 3:24 mark.

Back came the IceHogs. Capitalizing on a sloppy line change by the Wolves, Tyler Sikua scooped up a loose puck between the benches and struck out for the Chicago zone with Alexandre Fortin on his left side. Wolves goalie Kazimir Kaskisuo was forced to hold his ground; Sikura zipped his shot to the far side to cut the lead to 2-1 4:25 into the second.

The Wolves got another power play goal midway through the period when Tomas Hyka was left open at the doorstep. However, late in the period, Rockford responded with a power play strike of its own.

Luke Johnson started and finished the play, gaining possesion in the neutral zone and hitting Darren Raddysh crossing the Wolves blueline along the right side. Johnson made a beeline for the slot, completing the give-and-go at 18:26 to get Rockford back to within a goal entering the final period.

Unfortunately, things got kind of ugly in the final 20 minutes of the contest. Chris Casto and Hyka scored within 71 seconds of each other in the early part of the third to go up 5-2. Rockford continued to skate hard, but the game was effectively over at that point. Wade Megan closed out the scoring for Chicago late in the game on a 3-on-2 rush.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Matthew Highmore-Luke Johnson (A)-William Pelletier

Alexandre Fortin-Tyler Sikura-Andreas Martinsen

Anthony Louis-Tanner Kero-Tomas Jurco

Graham Knott-Laurent Dauphin (A)-Matheson Iacopelli

Carl Dahlstrom-Viktor Svedberg

Robin Norell-Ville Pokka (A)

Erik Gustafsson-Darren Raddysh

Matt Tomkins

Scratches-Luc Snuggerud, Robin Press, Brandon Anselmini, Jordin Tootoo, J.F. Berube

Power Play (1-5)

Highmore-Kero-Jurco-Louis-Gustafsson

Fortin-Johnson-Raddysh-Dahlstrom-Pokka

Penalty Kill (Wolves were 2-5)

Highmore-Kero-Dahlstrom-Svedberg

Johnson-Jurco-Gustafsson-Norell

Sikura-Martinsen-Dahlstrom-Svedberg

 

A Little Four-Play: Previewing This Week

Rockford hits 2018 running, with four games this week. It gets started Tuesday when Cleveland comes to the BMO. Friday, the Hogs visit Grand Rapids, who has yet to defeat Rockford in six tries this season. Rockford hosts Cleveland again Saturday night, then takes on Milwaukee at the BMO Sunday afternoon.

Currently, the Monsters are a good team to be facing twice in a five-day span. Cleveland is scuffling right now, having won just twice in its last ten games. They’ve lost four straight going into Tuesday’s game.

The Monsters are limping along offensively, scoring just 2.24 goals per contest (that’s last in the AHL). Their power play is keeping Rockford’s unit out of last place in efficiency, though not by much.

With just two road wins this season, Cleveland is a optimal club to come to your building while you’re nursing a pair of young goalies. Center Carter Campner leads the club in goals and scoring (7 G, 13 A); rookies Mike Koules (7 G, 6 A) and Sam Vignault (6 G, 6 A) are the only other current Monsters with double digit points.

Cleveland also is using a rookie duo in net.  Matiss Kivlenicks (3.38 GAA, .874 save percentage) and Ivan Kulbakov (4.17 GAA, .869 save percentage) have been the Monsters tandem for the past month.

The IceHogs are 12-1-1 at the BMO against the Monsters over the last five seasons. This Cleveland team is ripe for the picking right now. Rockford needs to take advantage and get all four points.

Rockford hasn’t seen the Admirals since November 11, when they won 5-2 in Milwaukee. The Ads hold a 3-2 edge in head-to-head match ups this season, including both games played at the BMO Harris Bank Center.

Leading the way offensively for the Ads is Bobby Butler (13 G, 12 A). Emil Petterssen (8 G, 16 A) has two goals and four apples against the Hogs this season. Anders Lindback has been very good for Milwaukee this season and will likely be the man in the cage Sunday.

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for updates and thoughts on the IceHogs all season long.

 

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Game #38 – Hawks vs. Flames Preview/Seaweed Facial: Goodbye ’17, You Know What I Mean

By Sam Fels 2380 0

 vs. 

RECORDS: Hawks 18-14-5   Flames 18-16-4

PUCK DROP: 8pm

TV: WGN

FRIENDS OF CAL AND GARY: Flames Nation

The Hawks will close out 2017 in southern Alberta, because honestly where would you rather be, and for the most part 2017 has been a year the Hawks and their fans won’t shed any tears over. It started back with some brilliant hockey in the middle of last season, but ended with a humbling, if not downright humiliating, playoff defeat and a stop-start half season to this one. Things have to get better when the calendar turns, that’s for sure.

What they’ll find is a Flames team that is just about as weird and stop-start as they have been. Before the season, looking at the Flames top four and at least their top two lines, you thought if Mike Smith could at least be competent (a big ask) they should challenge for the top of the Pacific. And the thing is, Mike Smith has mostly been competent. His backups have been anything but, but Smith has been ok. And yet the Flames still find themselves complaining that the goggles do nothing.

It’s been more than one problem for them. For one, that top four hasn’t been THE TOP FOUR you would have expected, at least not until of late. Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton (a grown man named “Dougie”) have been beyond excellent, but for the first two months T.J. Brodie and newly-acquired Travis Hamonic couldn’t find the A-button on a Nintendo controller. They’ve somewhat regulated of late, but it hasn’t been the bread and roses Flames fans hoped for.

Secondly, the Flames have been especially agoraphobic in front of the net — i.e. terrified of putting the puck in an open space. They can’t score. Both on the power play and at evens, they have some of the lowest shooting percentages in the league. Their underlying numbers are where you want them to be, they should be scoring more, and yet they’re putting it everywhere except where it should go like it was post-prom.

Combine that with Jaromir Jagr being hurt and old and thus unable to give the Flames a representative third line, and you see the problems. He’s moved to replace Michael Frolik on the 3M line now that our beloved Fro’s bottom jaw is currently a jigsaw puzzle. A couple promising kids in Jankowski and Bennett are trying to give the Flames a third option at the moment.

Still, with Gaudreau-Monahan-Ferland and the 3M line that’s more than a lot of teams have. And the Flames are going to have to find another option because Smith’s numbers have declined as the season has gone on. Odd for a goalie who is 35, I know. And we still aren’t really sure if head coach Glen Gulutzan Glenross is a Moron or Not A Moron.

As for the Hawks, the lineup will remain the same as it was on Friday, including Jeff Glass in hs hometown. Again, this is a great story but asking for more than what you’ve already got from him seems an awfully big risk. On another night, with that rebound control, Glass could have given up a touchdown. He might not be so lucky tonight, and Anton Forsberg has not been bad outside of a couple of ugly outings. Vancouver certainly had nothing to do with him, so what are you doing to his confidence? He’s clearly the more important of the two going forward.

But hey, we get more Kempny and we get more of that intriguing third line with the three kids. So let’s not head into the new year bitching that much.

The Flames and Hawks are going to be competing for the same wild card spots, or at least that’s how it looks. So these two points are going to matter when we total it all up in April. After biffing Vancouver hardcore, the Hawks simply can’t here.

 

 

Game #38 Preview

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Game #37 – Hawks 3 – Oilers 3 (Hawks win Quarters): They Don’t All Have To Hang In The Louvre

By Sam Fels 1965 0

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

So no need to intro this. Shared a few thoughts on Twitter last night so a couple new ones and expounding on what we talked about before. Sorry for the delay. Technology is not my friend.

-We bitched about Duncan Keith’s lackluster effort on Thursday in Vancouver. And apparently he wasn’t pleased with it either, or got the message that his coaches weren’t. However, Duncan Keith trying to do everything is only slightly better than Duncan Keith doing nothing. He makes things happen, like Top Cat’s power play goal by standing up at the blue line that was vintage Keith. He also leaves his partner out to dry a few times. Or he doesn’t make the simple play like in the last minute when he was a foot from the red line and could have just dumped the puck into the Oilers’ zone.

You can see the thinking. If Keith can successfully cycle back into his own zone and hold onto the puck they kill more time. But it could also lead to what it did, which is a scramble, a turnover, and then a goal you can’t give up.

Keith has been put in a tough spot all year, as the only player that can play with him and allow him to do all the things he’s done is Connor Murphy, and that would frontload the defense too much. So he’s having to make up for all sorts of deficiencies. And I guess we’d rather have the super locked in and super hyper Keith than the one that’s just kind of there.

-I guess I could warm up to Jordan Oesterle’s “KEEP FIRING, ASSHOLES!” approach to the game in the offensive end. The Hawks lack any sort of threat from back there now that Seabrook can’t move and Forsling is usually in quicksand in his own end. And Oesterle usually gets his shot through. It would be better served on a third pairing. But then again, we can say that of six of the eight d-men on the Hawks right now.

-Michal Kempny once again had a 60+% Corsi. I’m sure he’ll sit on Sunday so we can see more of Cody Franson pinching in the neutral zone to a puck he won’t get within five feet of.

-As I said last night, I’m sure a lot of people expect me to point out that Jeff Glass’s rebound control was awful. Or that he lost his net too many times. Or that his glove seemed to be made of superballs. But let’s leave that aside. At the age of 32, he won his first NHL start. He spent seven years in Russia for this. Sometimes, it’s just a good story.And this one is. There’s certainly a place for it, and it’s one of the big reasons we love sports. Let’s just hope the coach doesn’t fall in love with it.

-That said, in the pregame they had a clip of Q’s pregame presser where he said he hoped that it would cause a spark and the team to rally. Clearly he wasn’t thrilled with the team’s effort in games this year. But I don’t think he’s talking to the kids. Forsling’s problem isn’t he isn’t playing hard enough. Neither is it Rutta’s. Certainly not Schmaltz’s or Top Cat’s. So where do you think that was aimed?

-Still, Q didn’t do Glass or his team any favors again. Three times in just the 1st period, he sent Schmaltz out for a defensive zone draw. You know McDavid is coming out for those. Yeah, sometimes the rotations don’t leave you much choice. But two of these were after TV timeouts. Is that a matchup you really want? Thankfully it didn’t result in any goals.

Anyway, onwards…

Everything Else

Game #36 How Far Will We Fall If There’s Nothing Below – Hawks 2, Canucks 5

By Rose Rankin 2415 0

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

Corsica

A few days off, some time away with family members, a little breathing space—all of these things should have helped the Blackhawks to bounce back from two crappy losses, right? Wrong. The break clearly did little to cure what ails the Hawks right now. To the bullets:

– Anisimov went down with an injury early in the game, but I gotta tell you, I didn’t even see it. Suddenly, he was just gone. Maybe he tripped over his own wide dick and needed to ice it for a while. Who can say in this league where they tell you nothing? But what it led to was Q hitting the blender extra hard tonight. Unfortunately, it was mostly a shit smoothie that he got out of it. And should anyone be surprised? Throwing combinations of guys who haven’t played together and not even giving them three shifts to figure stuff out? I, for one, am shocked this isn’t working.

At first, we saw Kane-Schmaltz-DeBrincat, and I thought I might weep with joy. But nope, that didn’t last, although they did make a brief reappearance in the third. Next up was Kane-Toews-Saad (nothing doing). Then it was Kane-Schmaltz-Kampf (huh?). And in case you didn’t notice a pattern there, Garbage Dick led the team in ice time through two periods, and he finished second only to Keith by the end of the game. So clearly, Q has a lot of confidence in his supporting cast and it’s definitely sustainable to quadruple-shift Kane.

– The Gustav Forsling Experience needs to draw to a close. Seriously, he’s lost in his own zone, useless on special teams apparently, and thus generally worthless at this point. It’s especially poignant against the team from whence he came. Pairing him with Jan Rutta is aggravating the situation, as we saw for example on Vanek’s second goal where the two of them couldn’t find either one of their asses with any of their hands. I’m tired of sounding like the president of the Michal Kempny Fan Club over here, but this is getting ridiculous. And if Connor Murphy turns out to have a case of brown brain after Biega flattened him into the glass, we’d better not see Cody fucking Franson in his place.

– Continuing his run of worst luck in the NHL, Anton Forsberg played decently through much of the game until the wheels really fell off in the third. He could have stopped the first goal, but a bunch of the ones in the middle were due to his defense crapping the bed yet again. The second goal was the aforementioned Foreskin-Rutta defensive breakdown, and the third goal he was screened by Seabrook’s nacho-laden ass. Forsberg isn’t blameless in all this, don’t get me wrong, but he got little help defensively or offensively. Because also of note, the Hawks had five power plays and only converted on one.

– Ah, the power play. Still as shitty as before Christmas. For a moment it seemed like they got things figured out as Schmaltz and Kane’s positioning took advantage of their right hand/left hand combo. But the man advantage quickly returned to form as they couldn’t manage a zone entry on their next four power plays.

– I was interested to see wunderkid Brock Boeser in action, and lo and behold he had a goal and three assists. He and Thomas Vanek connected for three goals between them, and they both assisted on Gagner’s goal. Gee, it must be nice for a rookie with a hot hand to play with teammates that complement his skills while he also has the confidence of his coach.

– Despite one dumbass move on a power play, Ryan Hartman was pretty much the Hawks’ best player tonight (Nick Schmaltz and Patrick Kane could also make a case, I know). He was all over the ice, either repeatedly getting shoved into Markstrom, or more importantly keeping the puck in the zone while his linemates did everything they could to cough up control of it. He finished with a 77.8 CF%, which led the team, plus a pyrrhic goal at the end to make things look a little less pathetic.

– OK, so this isn’t directly game-related, but the Hawks have been running some promotion or attempt at a social media campaign called “Blackhawks Authentic Fan” which cracks me up because 1. we’re called Real Fans Program here so nice try, and 2. they’re using “BlackhawksAF” as the hashtag. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think of “authentic fan” when I see something as “af.” However, it’s actually perfect—we should take advantage of the description “Blackhaws as fuck.” To wit: That zone entry where they fell over the blue line and Saad and Hartman ran into each other? That was Blackhawks as fuck. Or: That power play where everyone stood in place doing jack shit? That was Blackhawks as fuck. So thank you, Hawks, for giving a description to the frustrating shit you pull night in and night out.

It’s obvious that every point counts, and that winning these games against the rest of the western dregs with whom we’re fighting for a wild card spot is damn near crucial. And yet, we’re picking up right where things left off. If a shitty Canucks team on a 3-game losing streak isn’t the antidote right now, then what is? Maybe the Oilers? We’ll find out soon enough.