The IceHogs faced a 3-games-in-3-nights set this past weekend as they took on the Oklahoma City Barons in 2 contests at BMO Harris Bank Center then traveled to Iowa to take on the Wild.
The IceHogs played in 3 games during the extended holiday weekend. 2 of the games were well played by the boys from RockVegas, while the other was one they would love to forget ever happened.
Week 8 brought 3 more games for the IceHogs with one coming at home against Abbotsford and two coming on the road against Charlotte. Unfortunately—or fortunately depending on how you look at it–for Rockford, they were only able to pick up one win.
The IceHogs had 2 more games in week 4 of the AHL schedule and they both came on home ice as they welcomed the Charlotte Checkers and Texas Stars into town. These games came after a successful road trip to Ontario, Canada earlier in the week where they took 3 of 4 points from Hamilton and Toronto.
The IceHogs’ road swing continued in week 2 of the AHL schedule with back-to-back games in Lake Erie against the Monsters this past weekend. After splitting their opening weekend set in the Lone Star State, the Hogs were looking to add to their win total for this season and to continue their streak of sweeping the Monsters; they went 4-0 against them in 2012-13.
The IceHogs’ 2013 preseason schedule only featured two contests. Both games were on the road as the BMO Harris Bank Center is undergoing seat renovations. First up for the Hogs was a trip to West Meadows Ice Arena in Rolling Meadows for a tilt against the Wolves, and then it was up to the Kern Center in Milwaukee to take on the Admirals.
It’s been a long summer for the IceHogs and their fans after the team missed the playoffs by a mere 2 points to the Milwaukee Admirals in 2012-13. The Hogs finished 9th in the Western Conference with a record of 42-31-2-1 (87 points). The roster turnover will be noticeable this year for Rockford, which is different from last season where the majority of the team was the same from the year before.
After last night’s pretend game against a very real Penguins roster wherein the Hawks’ B-cast relatively held their own, more cuts came down today from on high.
The following players won an all-expenses paid trip to lovely Rock Vegas:
The #Blackhawks have assigned eight players: D. LeBlanc, T. Broadhurst, P. Danault, B. Froese, K. Beach, A. Raanta, B. Mills, M. Shalunov.
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 24, 2013
Additionally, veteran meatbags Brad Winchester and Theo Peckham were put on waivers, for the purpose of being sent to the Swine.
So what does this mean moving forward?
Two preseason games left, and two at the disposal of our throbbing brains Friday and Sunday. Did we learn anything? Do we ever? Let’s try anyway….
-Let’s get to the biggest debate or competition coming into camp first. And we really haven’t cleared anything up at all. Thanks to Brandon Pirri’s injury (though he’ll play tonight and I bet he sticks around long enough to get a look in the last preseason game, too), Drew LeBlaahhhhhh had a chance to seize the #2 center derby by the throat. I can’t really say he did. He hasn’t been good on draws, and other than his assist to Sharp against Pittsburgh, I haven’t really seen him do much in the two away games. He’s tidy if nothing else, but it’s been far from inspirational.
And it might be that the Saad Experiment is over, because yesterday he was playing on a wing with Toews. If they really wanted to push it they would give him all the game time at center they could. Maybe jumping to conclusions, but that’s just the way it looks. Which is fine, because Saad didn’t show much other than confusion at the pivot anyway, and I want my Rick Tocchet back.
All of which leads me to believe that either Handzus or Kruger is going to be centering Sharp and Hossa (if he can stand up) on Oct. 1. The only way that doesn’t happen is if Pirri blows them away in the next week. But I would bet some combo of Smith, Handzus, Kruger, and Shaw fill out the three spots behind the captain. I’m rooting for Pirri, though. Just cuz.
Two preseason games left, and two at the disposal of our throbbing brains Friday and Sunday. Did we learn anything? Do we ever? Let’s try anyway….
-Let’s get to the biggest debate or competition coming into camp first. And we really haven’t cleared anything up at all. Thanks to Brandon Pirri’s injury (though he’ll play tonight and I bet he sticks around long enough to get a look in the last preseason game, too), Drew LeBlaahhhhhh had a chance to seize the #2 center derby by the throat. I can’t really say he did. He hasn’t been good on draws, and other than his assist to Sharp against Pittsburgh, I haven’t really seen him do much in the two away games. He’s tidy if nothing else, but it’s been far from inspirational.
And it might be that the Saad Experiment is over, because yesterday he was playing on a wing with Toews. If they really wanted to push it they would give him all the game time at center they could. Maybe jumping to conclusions, but that’s just the way it looks. Which is fine, because Saad didn’t show much other than confusion at the pivot anyway, and I want my Rick Tocchet back.
All of which leads me to believe that either Handzus or Kruger is going to be centering Sharp and Hossa (if he can stand up) on Oct. 1. The only way that doesn’t happen is if Pirri blows them away in the next week. But I would bet some combo of Smith, Handzus, Kruger, and Shaw fill out the three spots behind the captain. I’m rooting for Pirri, though. Just cuz.
