Hockey

High On The Hog: Opening The Season With Cle…uh…The Wolves

By Jon Fromi 1245

The Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, are opening the 2020-21 season. Just not the way we thought they would.

The young Hogs were supposed to raise the curtain against the Cleveland Monsters, who were set to visit Rockford this weekend. Unfortunately, the AHL’s COVID-19 protocols have prevented this from happening. The two games have been postponed. Stepping in as an opponent are the Chicago Wolves, who will take on the piglets Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

There are plenty of top-level prospects on the Chicago roster, along with a host of players who have multiple seasons of AHL experience. This is in stark contrast to the IceHogs roster.

Of the 30 players listed on the IceHogs roster heading into Saturday, 17 of them have yet to play an AHL game. Four players (Garrett Mitchell, Cody Franson, Gabriel Gagne, and John Quenneville) have combined for 974 of the 1281 AHL games played by this year’s team.

You could say “Well, everyone’s in the same boat this season.” However, the Hogs are dead last in the AHL in games played by almost 400 games. The Wolves have 17 players on their 30-man roster with at least 50 games of AHL experience. Rockford has just seven.

In his media session this week, head coach Derek King stressed patience with a young squad that will be making a lot of mistakes as they learn the professional game. Regarding the match-up with Cleveland, King was realistic about his young team, especially at forward, where he described the IceHogs as “young and naive”.

“I don’t think they know what’s going to hit them,” King said, “until that first game when the game is really on the line.”

Though King was referring to the scheduled first game with the Monsters, the same thoughts apply for Chicago, who beat Rockford 6-1 last week in the piglets sole preseason tilt.

Here’s what’s going to hit the Hogs at the BMO Harris Bank Center Saturday afternoon.

A Look At The Chicago Wolves

Chicago is drawing prospects from two NHL clubs; Carolina and Nashville.

Carolina just vacated Charlotte as its AHL affiliate, but not before the Checkers won the 2019 Calder Cup. Nashville’s affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, was the best team in the league when play stopped last spring. The Ads elected to sit out this shortened season and send their prospects to Chicago.

The result of this dual affiliation is that the Wolves are loaded.

Both of Carolina’s first-round picks from 2019 and 2020, Ryan Suzuki and Seth Jarvis, have turned pro and are on the Wolves roster. Suzuki played for Canada in this year’s World Junior Championships. Jarvis is coming off a 98-point season with Portland of the WHL.

Nashville’s first-rounder from 2019, Philip Tomasino, will also be entering his rookie season with the Wolves. He had six points (4 G, 2 A) for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships. Dominik Bokk is also a former number one selection, by St. Louis in the 2018 NHL Draft, making his league debut.

Drew Shore, who has AHL service time for the Panthers and Flames, spent the last four years in Europe. Orland Park native Dave Gust posted 31 points (11 G, 20 A) for Charlotte in 60 games last season. Anthony Richard comes over from the Admirals, where he’s been a reliable goal-scorer over the last four seasons.

All the Wolves defensemen have at least one year of AHL experience. The exception is rookie D.J. King, son of Hogs coach Derek King, who is on an amateur tryout.

Anchoring the blue line is Alexandre Carrier, a Predators prospect who had five goals and 32 helpers for the Admirals last season. Milwaukee teammate Jeremy Davies (4 G, 24 A) joins him in Chicago.

Joey Keane split his rookie season between Hartford and Charlotte. Combined, the Chicago native finished with 37 points (9 G, 28 A) in 58 games. Tyler Lewington has five years under his belt with the Hershey Bears and will add yet more experience to the Wolves defense. Cavan Fitzgerald spent the last three seasons with San Jose and Charlotte.

The Wolves Achilles Heel may be in the crease. Jeremy Helvig is a Hurricanes prospect who has just two AHL starts over the last two seasons. Beck Warm is on an AHL contract with the Wolves after a junior career in the WHL.

Veteran AHL goalie Antoine Bibeau was assigned to the Wolves from Carolina and does lend six seasons of work in net for Toronto and SanJose. He started just two games for the Colorado Eagles last season before undergoing hip surgery.

Chicago kicks off its 2020-21 season at home against Grand Rapids Friday night, so the Hogs will likely be the fresher team coming into the contest. Rockford probably has the advantage in net, but Saturday should prove to be a tough opening test for Rockford.

 

Roster Moves

Wednesday, the Blackhawks recalled defenseman Madison Bowey to the taxi squad, sending two rookies to Rockford. Forward Michal Teply and defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk are now available for coach Derek King to work into the lineup.

Matthew Thompson, one of the Hogs AHL contracts, was sent to the Indy Fuel of the ECHL on Wednesday.

I will be live-tweeting the game @JonFromi and will be up for discussing what transpires at the BMO as the Hogs begin the season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hockey

High On The Hog: Initial Thoughts

By Jon Fromi 1455 0

Lack of offense plagued the Rockford IceHogs a season ago. This year’s crop of prospects fell victim to a similar fate when they lost their 2019-20 season debut Friday night in Iowa 3-2. The IceHogs did lead twice in this game before the Wild scored three times in the final 20 minutes.

One game does not a season make, mind you. There were signs that the piglets could improve upon last year’s paltry offensive numbers. However, we’ll have to wait for this weekend’s  home stand at the BMO Harris Bank Center for signs of life.

Rockford coach Derek King was optimistic about his team’s performance. Despite the result, he praised a strong performance by goalie Kevin Lankinen and a strong compete level by his young squad.

“I think we’ve got lots to learn,” King said to Hogs broadcaster Joseph Zakrzewski following the contest. “We’ve got some work to do.”

It can hardly be considered a surprise to hear that the Hogs were particularly sharp in their curtain-jerker. There was a definite feeling-out period in the first. Neither team seemed to have a lot of rhythm and the action was back and forth. Iowa and Rockford went to the first intermission barren of goals.

The first goal of the season came early in the middle frame on the penalty kill, with Nicolas Beaudin sitting two minutes for slashing. The play got started with Chad Krys digging a puck away from Iowa’s Nico Sturm, then sending a clearing pass out to MacKenzie Entwistle.

The rookie was held coming across the Wild blueline by Louis Belpedio; seconds after the delayed call, Entwistle slid the puck on net. Kappo Kahkonen got his left pad on the shot, but Matthew Highmore was at the right post to knock in the loose rubber at 3:28 of the second period.

The Wild tied the game 24 seconds into the third when Gabriel Dumont backhanded a shot off of Lankinen’s pad. The IceHogs response was swift. Phillip Kurashev dished to Dylan Sikura from the left halfboards. The subsequent laser from the slot beat Kahkonen for a 2-1 Rockford advantage at the 1:20 mark.

Back came Iowa with a Mayhew tally at 2:30 of the third. The goal came right off of a faceoff win in the Hogs zone, with Mayhew collecting the rebound of Delpedio’s blast from the point.

The score remained even until the final minute of action. With Jacob Nilsson in the box for a faceoff infraction, Sturm sent a shot toward the Rockford crease. The puck glanced off the elbow of J.T. Brown and tumbled past Lankinen for the game-winner with 15 seconds left.

Lankinen turned away a lot of Iowa scoring chances in the last 40 minutes. He made several outstanding plays, most notably on a puck that caromed off the shin pad of rookie defenseman Nicolas Beaudin and was inches away from crossing the goal line.

At the other end, Kahkonen was good, though Rockford didn’t keep him as busy as they needed to. The passing was not up to snuff. Real legit scoring opportunities were hard to come by. The power play yielded five shots in four chances. Several potential open looks were negated by off target passing.

“The biggest thing, and we brought it up earlier,” King pointed out, “was just managing the puck, not forcing plays.”

 

Line Combos

Here’s a look at King’s opening night lines. The starters are in italics.

Matthew Highmore (A)-Tyler Sikura (A)-MacKenzie Entwistle

Kris Versteeg (C)-Jacob Nilsson-Brandon Hagel

Aleksi Saarela-Phillipp Kurashev-Dylan Sikura

Mikeal Hakkarainen-Reese Johnson-Alexandre Fortin

Lucas Carlsson-Joni Tuulola

Philip Holm-Adam Boqvist

Chad Krys-Nicolas Beaudin

Kevin Lankinen

Power Play (0-4)

Versteeg-D. Sikura-Nilsson-Boqvist-Carlsson

Highmore-Saarela-Hagel-Beaudin-Holm

Penalty Kill (Iowa was 1-5)

Forwards: T. Sikura-Fortin-Highmore-Entwistle-Nilsson-Hagel

Defense: Holm-Tuulola-Carlsson-Beaudin

 

Roster Happenings

Rookie Mikael Hakkarainen left Friday’s game in the second period and did not return.

On Saturday, Chicago re-assigned defenseman Dennis Gilbert to the IceHogs, along with forward John Quenneville.

 

A Musing Or Two For You

One line that was dripping with scoring potential was the Saarela-Kurashev-Sikura combo, who delivered the second Rockford goal. Together, that line generated nine of the Hogs 26 shots in the contest. Both Saarela and Sikura are big-time scorers at the AHL level and should give Kurashev lots of options with distributing the puck.

Saarela, Adam Boqvist and Kris Versteeg paced Rockford with four shots apiece. Despite the last-second deflection, the penalty kill was pretty effective.

Tyler Sikura was sporting a new number after wearing #28 the last two seasons. Sikura the Elder requested #16 when it became available this season. Saarela was clad in the #28 sweater.

Versteeg is sporting the #10 he wore back in his first stint with Rockford in 2007-08. Of course, he now has a “C” on the front of his current sweater.

Former Hogs forward Luke Johnson was not in action against his old team due to an injury suffered last week at practice.

 

Coming Up

Rockford has a week of practice to prepare for Grand Rapids. The Griffins, who pounded the Chicago Wolves 8-5 Saturday night, come a-calling this Saturday at the BMO. I’ll be back Friday to preview that match up. Follow me on twitter @JonFromi for more thoughts on the Hogs this week.

 

 

Everything Else

High On The Hog: 2018-19 Season Review

By Jon Fromi 1803 0

To say that the Rockford IceHogs had a successful 2018-19 campaign would be overstating things by a goodly amount. This year’s crop of piglets certainly had its ups and downs. A youthful Rockford club had to deal with changes in the coaching staff as well as injuries.

The Hogs finished the season with a 35-31-4-6 mark. Their 80 points placed the team in seventh place in the eight-team Central Division. The playoffs were within reach, though ultimately Rockford fell seven points short of a postseason berth.

The IceHogs began the season with a 6-3-1-2 record before coach Jeremy Colliton was promoted to the head coaching position in Chicago. Assistant Derek King took over, guiding the team to a 29-28-3-4 mark the rest of the way.

In their brief stint with Colliton, Rockford averaged three goals a contest. King didn’t receive the same offensive production in his 64 games at the helm. The IceHogs finished dead last in the AHL in offense, averaging just 2.39 goals per game.

That was pretty much the story of the season. If the Hogs put three or more goals up on the board, they were likely to win. Credit Mario Tirabassi of the-rink.com for this stat: Rockford was 30-2-2 when they hit the magic number.

They were involved in a league-high 43 one-goal games, going 23-10-4-6. Rockford had eight third-period comeback wins, tied for tops in the AHL. The Hogs played hard every night, kept things close, and

On the other hand, the IceHogs were shut out seven times this season. The power play hit at an anemic 14.5 percent. And when opposing teams scored three times in a game, Rockford was 11-29.

The high water mark for the piglets this season came in a two-month stretch from January 25 to March 20. Rockford went 14-5-1-1 in that time to claw its way into fourth place in the division. Three straight losses to Milwaukee put them back in seventh place; the Hogs went 4-4 to finish the campaign.

The IceHogs finished the season with the second-fewest penalty minutes in the league. Rockford skaters were tagged with 19 fighting majors this season, which was 28th in the 31-team AHL.

The goal tending really kept the Hogs afloat for the bulk of the season. Whether it was Collin Delia, Anton Forsberg or Kevin Lankinen, the play in net was outstanding. The pace was fast enough to keep a young defensive corps from feeling too much pressure in their own zone. Rockford simply couldn’t convert enough at the offensive end most nights.

 

Did The IceHogs Meet Expectations?

No.

With that question answered, let’s see if we can’t pinpoint why Rockford came up short this season.

I went back into time and pulled my forecast of the 2018-19 before this got underway this fall. Those thoughts are italicized, with my 20/20 hindsight included.

Before the Hawks organization sent veteran reinforcements in February, Rockford was a young, exciting team that was fun to watch but was probably going to finish a spot or two out of the playoff picture. Not a one of the veteran catalysts remains from the club that reached the Western Conference Final.

Veteran AHL goaltender Mike McKenna has recently retired after a long career in the professional ranks. He led Texas to a Western Conference Final win over the IceHogs in 2017-18. Back on Wednesday, he tweeted about some of his former teammates having an impact with Dallas this spring.

McKenna dropped this nugget of wisdom on the importance of winning at the AHL level:

“I’ve always felt winning is so important in the minors. Development is the key word, but that can’t truly be achieved without habitually winning and learning what it takes to do so. And if you want to win…you need vets to support those blue chip kids. Takes a balanced attack.”

Excluding last spring, that balance has largely been absent in Rockford. This spring, it equates to a seventh-place team that is watching the playoffs at home. This year’s team very closely resembled last year’s model, pre-fortification.

The only veteran add made this year was Peter Holland, who came aboard in February in a trade with the Rangers. Holland put up 16 points in 21 games. It was an erstwhile move by management, but in no way resembled the massive veteran wave that arrived the season before. As a result, this year’s Hogs wound up pretty much where last year’s team was headed before the big roster boost.

Where does that leave this season’s group? Well, it would be foolish to think that the roster will undergo its share of turnover over 76 games.

Players are going to slide in and out of town at various points in the campaign. A lot of skaters earned looks in Chicago last season and that figures to continue with a lot of youth in the Hawks lineup.

Nine IceHogs would up with some time in Chicago this season. Delia, Alexandre Fortin, Luke Johnson, Jacob Nilsson, Dylan Sikura, Dennis Gilbert and Lankinen were in Rockford when the season ended. Gustav Forsling and Carl Dahlstrom were recalled midseason and finished up with the Blackhawks.

As constructed, a lot of the load will have to be shouldered by returning players like (Matthew) Highmore, (Tyler) Sikura and (Anthony) Louis. (Terry) Broadhurst and (Jordan) Schroeder getting off to hot starts and being steady, point-producing vets would be more than welcome.

Highmore injured his shoulder October 28 and played in just a dozen games. Sikura missed two months with a broken thumb and saw his number drop as a result. Louis was healthy but didn’t match his production from his rookie season.

Schroeder had a career-high 45 points. No offense to Nilsson, but he was Rockford’s MVP this season. Broadhurst’s impact was less than his career number would have suggested, with a career-low 12 points (4 G, 8 A) in 40 games.

Ultimately, it could come down to how Rockford grows up on the defensive side of the puck that dictates team success. Last spring’s playoff lessons could pay dividends with what is still a very young team. Will it be enough to land the Hogs in the postseason? 

The play on the back end was sufficient. Ultimately, the Hogs couldn’t find a replacement for the extended loss of their two top goal scorers from the season before. There wasn’t enough veteran scoring added to replace what had departed last summer.

The result? A young, hard-working team that couldn’t score and was prone to streaky play. It was not enough to keep the piglets season going.

Next week, I will begin looking at the Hogs player by player. We’ll start with the forwards.

Follow me @JonFromi for thoughts on the IceHogs in and out of season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything Else

High On The Hog: One Goal, Win Or Lose

By Jon Fromi 1395 0

The Rockford IceHogs are currently riding a three-game winning streak for the first time this season. The piglets are 7-2-1 over their last ten games heading into the holidays. Of those ten games, eight were decided by a single goal, either in regulation or via overtime or a shootout.

Each of the IceHogs victories in the current streak are of the one-goal variety. After besting Grand Rapids 2-1 back on December 16, Rockford has defeated Milwaukee (4-3) and Chicago (5-4) with clutch overtime goals.

In fact, Rockford’s last nine wins this season, dating back to November 9, have all been by one goal. The last time the winning margin was more than one was in Iowa on November 4, when the Hogs posted a 4-2 victory.

In that stretch, the IceHogs have also lost four games by one goal. Credit the play in goal for keeping Rockford competitive in the bulk of its games.

 

Points vs Points Percentage

Heading into post-Christmas action, Rockford is in sixth place in the Central Division with a .581 points percentage. The Hogs (15-10-2-4) have earned 36 points so far in 2018-19. So why not regale you with points as opposed to points percentage? Simple. The AHL standard is points percentage.

In part because the West Coast clubs play only 68 games, rather than the 76 everyone else plays, the four teams with the highest points percentage qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs. Of course, the silly AHL website lists the teams according to points when the standings are shown.

I like going by points percentage, which takes most of the games-in-hand calculations out of the mix. If the season ended today, the IceHogs would not be a playoff team. The good news for Rockford is that Texas (.586), along with Milwaukee and Grand Rapids (.594) are within reach, so upward mobility is achievable.

 

Derek King’s Punchout

Rockford, as I mentioned last week, is the least-penalized team in the league. It’s interesting, however, to take a look at the fighting side of that ledger. The Hogs aren’t the roughest bunch of wranglers in the AHL, but they certainly have been a little quicker to drop the gloves under coach Derek King.

Last season, the IceHogs drew just 11 fighting majors. This was an all-time franchise low by a wide margin (the previous low was 2017-17’s 39 FMs) and the lowest in the AHL. Through the first 12 games of this season, under Jeremy Colliton, Rockford skaters had been involved in three fights. In 96 regular season games and 13 playoff contests, Colliton’s team picked up 14 fights.

In the first 19 games of the King regime, the Hogs have been been in seven fights. That equates to a full season total of 28 fights, still a paltry number even by recent league standards. Compared to Colliton, however, King is helming the Rock’em Sock’em Robots.

As I’ve mentioned countless times, AHL fight totals are dropping and the IceHogs have not been built to scrap. As a matter of fact, Rockford is better off avoiding such activities, as they are largely inexperienced in this area. However, it does appear that this year’s club is sticking up for itself with more frequency. The Hogs are currently tied for 16th in the AHL (with five other clubs) with 10 FMs on the season.

Two of those fights involved Hunter Fejes, who is no longer with the team after a stint on a PTO. Dennis Gilbert, who has brought a physical element to the defense, leads Rockford with four fights.

 

Roster Moves

On Saturday, the Blackhawks recalled Jacob Nilsson and sent Luke Johnson back to Rockford.

 

Recap

Friday, December 21-Rockford 5, Chicago 4 (OT)

For the third time this season, the Hogs ventured into Allstate Arena and beat the Wolves. This time, it took a good portion of extra skating to do so.

The teams exchanged goals midway through the opening period. Chicago’s T.J. Tynan created a scoring opportunity with some nice skating with the puck, opening up space for Nic Hauge at the top of the right circle. Hauge sent a bullet past Hogs goalie Anton Forsberg to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead at the 10:40 mark.

Nathan Noel was held behind the Chicago net by Jake Bischoff soon after, sending the Hogs to the power play. Rockford won the subsequent faceoff, kept the puck in the offensive zone for over a minute and scored on a one-timer by Jacob Nilsson. The rookie center had misfired on a centering pass from Jordan Schroeder, who then regained possession and found Nilsson again for a successful attempt at 12:58 of the period.

Alexandre Fortin got his first two goals of the season for Rockford in the opening minutes of the second period. After Lucas Carlsson made a heads up play to keep a clearing attempt in the Wolves zone, he passed to William Pelletier, who found Fortin open skating toward the right dot. Fortin’s shot banked off of Chicago’s Zach Whitecloud and past Wolves goalie Maxim Lagace 36 seconds into the period.

Minutes later, Fortin skated into the slot and sent an offering to the Chicago net. The rebound rattled around the front of the net before Noel and Graham Knott knocked it toward the left post. Fortin, who was crashing the net after shooting, was on hand to guide the puck into the open net for a 3-1 Rockford advantage.

Chicago would rally with a pair of goals to tie the contest. Curtis McKenzie got open in the slot and fired past Forsberg at the 9:11 mark. Five minutes later, Daniel Carr jumped on a rebound of a Whitecloud blast to knot the game at three.

The score remained tied until the late stages of regulation. Lucas Carlsson took a feed from Nilsson, used a couple of nifty moves to get open in the slot and fired low past Lagace’s glove side with 3:31 to play. The Wolves pulled Lagace soon after.

Graham Knott had a prime chance to ice the game with the puck on his stick and an empty net in front of him. However, Chicago’s Dylan Coughlin closed the gap on Knott and forced an off-target attempt. The Wolves came down and got the equalizer from Gage Quinney with 1:26 left.

Gus Macker Time saw the Wolves with early momentum. Forsberg turned aside several attempts over the first four minutes. Late in the extra session, Louis brought the puck into the Chicago zone on a two-on-one rush. Louis hit Darren Raddysh with a pass at the right circle; the defenseman’s one-timer caught cord with 39 seconds remaining to finish off the Wolves.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Alexandre Fortin-Tyler Sikura (A)-William Pelletier

Nick Moutrey-Graham Knott-Nathan Noel

Anthony Louis-Jacob Nilsson-Jordan Schroeder (A)

Terry Broadhurst-Henrik Samuelsson

Lucas Carlsson-Jan Rutta

Joni Tuulola-Dennis Gilbert

Blake Hillman-Darren Raddysh

Andrew Campbell (A)

Anton Forsberg

Power Play (1-2)

Nilsson-Louis-Schroeder-Carlsson-Rutta

Broadhurst-Fortin-Sikura-Samuelsson-Raddysh

Penalty Kill (Chicago was 0-2)

Sikura-Fortin-Campbell-Gilbert

Nilsson-Moutrey-Hillman-Tuulola

Broadhurst-Pelletier-Rutta-Carlsson

 

This Week

The IceHogs will spend Boxing Day in DesMoines, taking on the Wild Wednesday night. On Friday, Rockford begins a home-and-home weekend against the Wolves at the BMO Harris Bank Center. The action moves to Rosemont on Saturday night.

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

 

Everything Else

High On The Hog: Gone To Texas

By Jon Fromi 1405 0

The ‘Bago County Flying Piglets have business in Texas this weekend. Chicago’s AHL affiliate flew to the Lone Star State yesterday and are getting ready for a pair of Central Division contests.

Rockford begins the action in Cedar Park with the Texas Stars. The Hogs travel to San Antonio Saturday to face the Rampage in what will be the first of two games. That second game will be on Tuesday.

This is as good a time as any to visit the IceHogs two southern-most division opponents. Texas is siting at .500 right now and the Rampage are the worst team in the AHL right now. Still, it won’t be a cakewalk for Rockford, who have been missing some key players and are tossing a lot of players into the forward mix.

 

Morning Blues

The IceHogs had another morning game this week, losing 3-1 in Grand Rapids. Rookie Filip Zadina’s two goals were the difference; Jacob Nilsson potted his second of the campaign for Rockford. However, Zadina’s second of the night plus an empty netter by the Griffins in the third period did in the Hogs.

It has become an annual tradition that the IceHogs host a morning game and pack the BMO with school children. Hopefully, young fans are being cultivated due to this practice. It certainly isn’t producing winning hockey.

The IceHogs don’t fare well when playing earlier in the day. Going back to the 2011-12 season, Rockford is 3-9 when playing one of these morning games, whether at home or in another team’s barn. Since the Hogs began hosting a morning game in 2013-14, Rockford is 1-5, including a 3-0 loss to Iowa November 9.

The IceHogs have been a bit better when playing on Martin Luther King Day, splitting their last six games played at 1:00 p.m. in the BMO on that day.

 

Roster Moves

Head coach Derek King confirmed Tuesday that Anton Forsberg, who has been awesome for Rockford since being assigned to the AHL, is managing an illness that necessitated the recall of Kevin Lankinen Sunday night. It will be Lankinen and Collin Delia as the goalie tandem for the road trip.

With two games with the low-scoring Rampage this trip, it might be a good plan to go with Delia Friday against the Stars. Lankinen could face San Antonio the next night, with Delia getting the net Tuesday in the return match. Of course, Delia could well start all three of these games.

Monday, the IceHogs signed forward Nick Moutrey to a PTO. Between Cleveland and Belleville last season, the 6’3” Moutrey had five goals and six assists. He’s another big body to go with the others that have been collected in recent weeks by Rockford.

Connor Moynihan was re-assigned to the ECHL’s Indy Fuel Monday. King was hopeful that this weekend would see the return of forward Jordan Schroeder, who has been out the last nine games.

 

Texas-Friday, 7:00 p.m.

This will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams that faced off in last spring’s Western Conference Final. Rockford beat Texas 5-3 at the BMO Harris Bank Center back on October 13.

The Stars (6-6-1-1) are paced by Denis Gurianov, who has seven goals and seven helpers in 13 games. Rookie Joel L’Esperance also has seven goals for Texas. Forwards Eric Condra (5 G, 7 A), Justin Dowling (3 G, 9 A), Michael Mersch (5 G, 5 A) and Colton Hargrove (5 G, 5 A) also are double-digit point producers for Texas.

Defensemen Gavin Bayreuther and Joel Hanley are now skating for Dallas of the NHL. The Hogs will get their first look at veteran Taylor Fedun, who Dallas acquired in a trade with Buffalo last week. Fedun is a steady point-producer who has six assists so far in 11 games between Rochester and Texas. Rookie Benjamin Gleason is tops on the blueline for the Stars, with two goals and four assists for the season.

Landon Bow should get the call for the Stars Friday. The third-year goalie is coming off a loss to Manitoba in which he surrendered five goals. Bow has a 3.00 goals against average and a .893 save percentage.

 

San Antonio-Saturday, 7:00 p.m.

The Rampage are 4-12 thus far. That .250 points percentage is by far the lowest in the league. The problem for San Antonio has been getting pucks in the opposing net, though they did break a three-game skid with a 5-0 win over Manitoba Tuesday night. Jordan Nolan (3 G, 4 A) had a pair of goals in that game.

Rockford beat the Rampage 5-2 back on October 24 behind a 29-save performance by Delia. Four IceHogs poured in four goals in the second period to take control of the game.

Nolan shares the team lead in goals with Klim Kostlin (3 G, 4 A), Trevor Smith (3 G, 2 A) and Ryan Olsen (3 G, 1 A). Veterans Brian Flynn and Chris Butler each have a goal and seven assists to lead San Antonio in scoring.

Jordan Binnington (3-3-0-2, 2.13 GAA, .924 save percentage) shut out the Moose Tuesday and should get at least one start against Rockford. Ville Husso, who gave up four to the Hogs back in the October 24 contest, is scuffling with a 1-9 record, a 3.58 goals against average and an .879 save percentage.

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for game updates and thoughts on the goings-on in Rockford all season long.

 

 

Everything Else

High On The Hog: New Faces Impact The Weekend

By Jon Fromi 1418 0

The Rockford IceHogs had a pleasant weekend away from the BMO. New head man Derek King put some new faces in the lineup; it paid off with a pair of victories for Chicago’s AHL affiliate.

The Hogs got some excellent play in net from both Anton Forsberg and Collin Delia to knock off two of the Central Division’s better clubs. Friday saw Rockford beat Milwaukee 2-1 before King and company went into Rosemont and bested the Chicago Wolves. The IceHogs won the first meeting of the Illinois rivals this season 4-3 on Saturday night.

King has a lot of skaters nursing injuries and wasn’t afraid to get some recently acquired players into action. One that made an immediate impact was forward Justin Auger, who opened the scoring in both contests this weekend.

The 6’6″ Auger was on a power play unit this weekend, as was Hunter Fejes, another player who was signed to a PTO by the Hogs. AHL signing Connor Moynihan appeared in both games for Rockford. Saturday, with Tyler Sikura feeling ill and being a late scratch, Brett Welychka was back in the lineup.

Rockford has added several players to the roster, which should promote a sense of competition among a team of prospects. With Terry Broadhurst inactive for the weekend set and Sikura sitting on Sunday to go with injuries to Jordan Schroeder and Matthew Highmore, it was great to see players stepping up to beat a couple of quality division foes.

 

Lankinen Recalled

On Sunday, goalie Kevin Lankinen was recalled to Rockford. I can only speculate as to why this is, but here goes:

  • The Blackhawks want Lankinen to spend a few days under the watchful eye of their coaching staff. It is possible that he could start the Hogs Wednesday morning game in Grand Rapids.
  • Collin Delia took a lot of contact in Saturday’s win in Chicago. He did not seem to have suffered ill effects, but an issue may have been revealed post-game. Delia (5-2-2, 2.41, .931) was terrific at Allstate Arena, stopping 37 of 40 shots in what turned out to be a very physical game around the net.
  • Forsberg tweaked something in his appearance Friday night in Milwaukee. Forsberg was outstanding for the Hogs, especially early when Rockford was out of sorts. In four games with the IceHogs, Forsberg sports a 3-1 record, a 1.75 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. Both Forsberg and Delia are among the top-performing goalies in the AHL at the present time.
  • Someone’s getting dealt. Who that could be is anyone’s guess.

 

The Perch

With fifteen games in the books for the 2018-19 season, Rockford is 8-4-1-2. With a .633 point percentage, the piglets are in third place in the Central Division. Milwaukee and Iowa are the two teams ahead of the Hogs.

Rockford has points in their last six road games (5-0-1). They have three games in opposing barns this week, starting with a morning game in Grand Rapids on Wendesday. The IceHogs will fly to Texas for a Friday date the Stars. Games in San Antonio await the Hogs Saturday and the following Tuesday.

Dylan Sikura (5 G, 7 A) and Darren Raddysh (4 G, 8 A) pace Rockford with 12 points. Sikura has fired 56 shots on goal, by far the most active on the team through 15 games.

 

Recaps

Friday, November 9-Rockford 2 , Milwaukee 1

Rockford started very slowly, picked up the play as the game progressed and found a way to knock off the Admirals for the second time in a week. Interim head coach Derek King got his first win behind the bench.

The IceHogs got some outstanding play in net from Anton Forsberg, allowing them to stay in the game throughout an uneven first period. The teams went into the first intermission in a scoreless tie.

Rockford built momentum as the second period wore on, taking a 1-0 lead at the 14:42 mark. Darren Raddysh got the play started by forcing a turnover in neutral ice. Lucas Carlsson chased down a loose puck in his own zone and skated along the left half boards across the Admirals blue line.

Carlsson slid the puck over to Justin Auger, in his first appearance for the IceHogs. Auger settled the puck in the high slot before shooting low on Milwaukee goalie Tom McCullom. The shot reached nirvana to end a four-period scoring drought for Rockford.

The Hogs lead was short-lived. Colin Blackwell collected a loose puck in neutral ice, skated to the bottom of the right circle and sent a shot past Forsberg that caught the crossbar and entered the net. The game was tied at one at 15:28 of the second and stayed that way when the teams went to the locker rooms.

After coming up empty on a couple of strong power plays, the IceHogs got the go-ahead goal 15:59 into the third period. The play got started with a Darren Raddysh point shot that was wide of the mark. The puck nearly came out of the Ads zone but was held in by Graham Knott just inside the blue line.

Joni Tuulola took in a pass from Knott, skated to the top of the left circle and fired to McCullom’s stick side. Rubber and twine united as one, with the IceHogs taking a 2-1 lead. Milwaukee pulled McCullom in the final minutes but Forsberg made the required stops to preserve a hard-fought victory.

Raddysh, Blackwell and Tuulola were the games Three Stars. However, the only reason Rockford was in a position to win this game was Forsberg, who made 19 saves and prevented an early Admirals lead with several high-quality saves in the first two periods.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Dylan Sikura-Jacob Nilsson-Viktor Ejdsell

Tyler Sikura (A)-Anthony Louis-Justin Auger

Hunter Fejes-Graham Knott-Henrik Samuelsson

Matheson Iacopelli-Nathan Noel-Connor Moynihan

Lucas Carlsson-Carl Dahlstrom (A)

Darren Raddysh-Joni Tuulola

Blake Hillman-Gustav Forsling

Anton Forsberg

Power Play (0-3)

Sikura-Sikura-Samuelsson-Raddysh-Forsling

Louis-Ejdsell-Fejes-Auger-Dahlstrom

Penalty Kill (Admirals were 0-2)

Nilsson-Noel-Tuulola-Carlsson

T. Sikura-Knott-Forsling-Dahlstrom

Louis-Auger-Raddysh-Hillman

 

Saturday, November 10-Rockford 4, Chicago 3

A big second period and 37 Collin Delia saves propelled the Hogs to the win in the first meeting of the season between two Central Division rivals.

Rockford withstood several early chances by the Wolves before Justin Auger won control of a puck in the corner of the IceHogs zone. He guided the biscuit to Anthony Louis, who sent it along the left half boards and across the Chicago blue line.

Graham Knott won a race to the puck and drove to the front of the net. The play was broken up, but Auger was on hand to pressure the Wolves and found the loose puck on his stick. Auger slid it behind Chicago goalie Oscar Dansk at 15:15 of the opening period for a 1-0 Rockford advantage.

The Wolves countered in the waning seconds of the first with a power play goal by Brooks Macek, who slammed home a Daniel Carr rebound with 3.9 seconds remaining. The teams went to the locker room even at one goal apiece.

The key stretch of the game came early in the middle frame. With the teams skating four to a side, Lucas Carlsson uncorked a one-timer off of Viktor Ejdsell’s faceoff win from the right point. Dansk was unable to detain the puck and Rockford was back on top 2-1 at the 1:35 mark.

The Wolves were down two players due to penalties soon after, setting up another long-range bomb. This one came from the stick of Darren Raddysh, who one-timed a pass from Gustav Forsling at the top of the left circle past the blocker of Dansk. The Hogs led 3-1 at 2:58 of the second.

Halfway into the second period, the Rockford power play struck again. Forsling sent a slap shot toward the Chicago goal that rebounded off Dansk and into the slot. Ejdsell was on hand to collect the puck and pass to Dylan Sikura at the bottom of the right circle. The resulting shot caught twine at 10:55 to make it 4-1 Rockford.

The Hogs needed each of those tallies to outlast the Wolves, who had their offensive prowess on display. Keegan Kolesar batted in a rebound of a Brandon Pirri shot on a delayed penalty call to cut the lead to 4-2 at 13:31 of the second. Chicago then turned up the heat in the final 20 minutes.

Delia found himself fending off an onslaught of rubber throughout the third period. The IceHogs penalty kill stopped two Wolves chances; after Raddysh was called for interference with 7:40 remaining, Chicago brought Dansk to the bench for a two-man advantage that Rockford stopped. Dansk spent most of the remainder of the contest behind the boards as the Wolves slammed away at the Rockford goalie.

Macek eventually got his second goal of the game to make it 4-3, but that came with just 22 seconds to go in regulation. The piglets held on despite 20 Chicago shots on goal in the third to post their second win in as many days.

Sikura, Macek and Ejdsell were voted the game’s three stars, though Delia certainly deserves a mention for stopping 37 of 40 shots. Most of those shots came with heavy traffic in front of his net.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Hunter Fejes-Nathan Noel-Henrik Samuelsson

Anthony Louis-Graham Knott-Justin Auger

Dylan Sikura-Jacob Nilsson-Viktor Ejdsell

Connor Moynihan-Brett Welychka-Matheson Iacopelli

Gustav Forsling (A)-Dennis Gilbert

Carl Dahlstrom (A)-Lucas Carlsson

Darren Raddysh-Joni Tuulola

Collin Delia

Power Play (2-7)

Sikura-Samuelsson-Knott-Raddysh-Forsling

Fejes-Ejdsell-Auger-Louis-Dahlstrom

Penalty Kill (Wolves were 1-6)

Nilsson-Noel-Tuulola-Carlsson

Samuelsson-Knott-Forsling-Dahlstrom

Louis-Auger-Raddysh-Gilbert

 

Waking Up With The Griffins

Grand Rapids, who hosts the IceHogs Wednesday morning, are 6-6-0-1 on the season. They have, however, played well at Van Andel Arena (3-1-0-1).

The Griffins are led in scoring by a pair of long-time AHL veterans, Chris Terry (8 G, 3 A) and Camper Carter (2 G, 9 A). Matt Peumpel, who notched 22 goals for Grand Rapids last season, has five goals and five helpers this season.

There’s a lot of veteran presence on the Griffins. Returning faces include forwards Martin Ford (3 G, 4 A) and Turner Elson (3 G, 5 A). Defenseman Dylan McIlrath is a nine-year AHL vet. Fellow blueliner Brian Lashoff is starting his tenth year with Grand Rapids. Both are big, physical players who have been dishing it out against Rockford for years.

Former Sharks prospect Harri Sateri spent several seasons in the KHL and now patrols the net for the Griffins. In nine games, he’s 4-5 with a 3.71 goals against average and an .867 save percentage. Patrik Rybar (2-1-1, 2.21, .905) comes from several seasons playing in his native Slovakia. He had a rough debut against the Wolves but has played well in three other starts for the Griffins.

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

 

 

Everything Else

High On The Hog: Meet The New Boss

By Jon Fromi 1496 0

The Rockford IceHogs are opening up their longest road trip of the 2018-19 campaign this weekend. The piglets are currently 6-4-1-2, good for a .577 points percentage and fourth place in the AHL’s Central Division. Of course, the big news out of Winnebago County is that Rockford has a new head coach.

Following Jeremy Colliton’s ascension to the head post in Chicago, The IceHogs named assistant Derek King Rockford’s interim head coach. King has been in the organization for two years prior to this one. He served on Ted Dent’s staff in 2016-17 as well on Colliton’s staff last season.

A more than capable offensive forward with a 14-year NHL career as a player, King was an assistant for the Toronto Marlies for six seasons before coming to Rockford. This is his first shot at helming an AHL club.

How will King fare with the piglets for the remainder of the season? At the moment, he inherits a banged-up group that may be getting some key players back in the coming days. There are several new faces coming in, with Rockford signing a couple of skaters to tryouts this week.

If Hawks GM Stan Bowman fortifies his squad like he did for Colliton in the second half last season, he should do just fine. If they don’t, the organization will have to assess how far King has progressed a young team before talk of a permanent position can commence.

For all the talk of Colliton’s magic touch with Chicago’s prospects, one must not forget that it was the influx of veterans and NHL players late in the season that propelled the IceHogs to the Western Conference Final. Without the nudge from management, Rockford is a fifth or sixth-place team in the Central last season.

This isn’t a knock on Colliton, who had the youngsters playing hard. However, don’t expect King to get this current roster deep into the playoffs without similar help from above. Check out last season’s year in review to see how the roster transformation affected Rockford’s fortunes.

 

Roster Moves

The IceHogs brought up forward Connor Moynihan on Wednesday. They also signed Hunter Fejes to a Player Try Out agreement. Thursday, the Hogs inked former Kings farmhand Justin Auger to a similar pact, then sent Radovan Bondra, Josh McArdle and Neil Manning back to Indy Thursday afternoon.

It appears that King wants to foster an atmosphere of competition among his players. Even with several injuries throughout the lineup, there are plenty of options for the new boss.

McArdle and Manning returning to the Fuel likely means that some of the injured defensemen are ready to come back. Andrew Campbell, Carl Dahlstrom, Gustav Forsling and Luc Snuggerud all have missed time of late. I’d guess one or two of those players crack the lineup this weekend.

 

School’s Out Recap

Wednesday, November 7-Iowa 3, Rockford 0

A school-aged audience came out to the BMO Harris Bank Center for a 10:30 puck drop. Unfortunately, the Hogs were blanked in Derek King’s debut as top man on the Rockford bench.

The Wild power play struck late in the opening period, with Cal O’Reilly finding Sam Anas skating to the right post. Hogs goalie Collin Delia left the back door open and Anas gave Iowa a 1-0 lead at 17:17 of the first.

Colton Beck used a second, and then a third effort, to knock a puck past Delia 2:47 into the middle frame for a two-goal Wild advantage. O’Reilly converted on an empty net late in the game to complete the scoring for Iowa.

The IceHogs had no solution for Kappo Kahkonen, who made 28 saves while picking up his second win over Rockford in five days. Kahkonen was voted the game’s first star.

 

Weekend Preview-Hitting The Road

Milwaukee Admirals-Friday, 7:00 p.m.

The IceHogs pulled out an overtime decision over the Admirals in Milwaukee just last Friday. Darren Raddysh was good for a pair of goals in Rockford’s 3-2 win at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Milwaukee is now in third place in the Central Division. The Ads dropped games in Grand Rapids and at home to the Wolves since falling to the IceHogs.

Zach Magwood accounted for both Admirals goals last week against Rockford. The rookie has four points (2 G, 2 A) in six appearances.

 

Chicago Wolves-Saturday, 7:00 p.m.

In a far-away land of magic, rainbows and quality deep-dish pizza, a grail was forged from the fires of vulcanized rubber. An ethereal chalice to be sought after by those that glide on ice in search of excellence. Unfortunately, no one knows where this emblem of pure victory is currently located. In its stead, these Interstate 90 rivals will be battling for the Illinois Lottery Cup.

I’m pretty sure the Wolves are in possession of the ILC at the moment, having won the tie-breaker in last season’s series with the IceHogs. As a small measure of vengance, the Hogs swept Chicago in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs last spring.

The Wolves are tied with Iowa for the Central Division lead. They’re 8-3-0-1, on a two-game win steak and the Western Conference’s most potent offensive team. Chicago is putting up 4.17 goals per contest and are doing a lot of that damage at even strength.

European import Brooks Macek is tied with Cleveland’s Zac Dalpe for the AHL lead in goals (12) and points (19). Bolstered by five power-play goals, Daniel Carr (8 G, 10 A) is right behind Macek and Dalpe in scoring. Both Macek and Carr are plus-18 just 12 games into the season, which also tops the AHL. Center Gage Quinney (7 G, 5 A) is merely a plus-16 so far.

As if the Wolves didn’t have enough offensive firepower, they return Brandon Pirri (4 G, 9 A) and T.J. Tynan (4 G, 8 A) from last year’s club. Curtis McKenzie (2 G, 9 A), captain of the Texas Stars last season, comes to Chicago to add to the veteran talent.

The Wolves picked up former Milwaukee defenseman Jimmy Oligny this summer. Zac Leslie came over last season from Ontario and adds experience. Rookie Erik Brannstrom leads the blueline with three goals and seven apples.

The goal tending is in the capable hands of Max Legace (2.26 GAA, .919 save percentage) and Oscar Dansk, who is 5-1-1 so far this season despite a 3.14 goals against average and an .896 save percentage.

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for updates on this weekend’s action, as well as Hogs-related thought all season long.