The Rockford IceHogs have been on fire to start the 2014-15 AHL season. Win or lose, this is going to be a fun team to watch. Heading West on I-90, it’s mostly win for the Hogs.
Rockford has won a franchise-record eight straight and is 10-2-0-1 in a baker’s dozen of games. The IceHogs are on top of the Midwest Division and hold the second spot in the AHL’s Western Conference standings. Mark McNeill’s goal explosion has been a big part of the current surge.
Time again to spin around the continent to find out how the Hawks deeper in the pipeline got along this past week.
Let’s start with the apple of pretty much everyone’s eye, Phillip Danault. Apparently, this trade to Moncton has gone down quite well with him, as he’s racked up 15 points in eight games since joining up. In three games this past weekend he collected five assists. That helped Moncton go 3-0. Though it won’t help them catch Halifax in their division, who are a silly 39-5-2, but it helps when you have Nathan McKinnon, Jonathan Drouin, and Stefan Fournier.
Time again to spin around the continent to find out how the Hawks deeper in the pipeline got along this past week.
Let’s start with the apple of pretty much everyone’s eye, Phillip Danault. Apparently, this trade to Moncton has gone down quite well with him, as he’s racked up 15 points in eight games since joining up. In three games this past weekend he collected five assists. That helped Moncton go 3-0. Though it won’t help them catch Halifax in their division, who are a silly 39-5-2, but it helps when you have Nathan McKinnon, Jonathan Drouin, and Stefan Fournier.
Time to check in on the Hawks prospects.
Let’s start in the OHL, where Garrett Ross was named OHL player of the week. Seven points in three games will do that for a player. He currently stands at 49 points in 38 games, which is good enough to be in the top 20 in the league. That actually puts him right behind Boone Jenner, who very well may be a Jacket this time on Saturday. Though Jenner is a couple years younger. While Ross shouldn’t be pegged as a future star or anything anytime soon, he assuredly should be watched when he gets to Rockford next year. Though all of it comes with the caveat that he is playing against kids he is older than.
Tuesdays have become our organizational endoscopy, so we have to do the other half and check out the kids in juniors and college.
For a new wrinkle, let’s start in the college ranks and then make our way to the Great White North. And like I made the mistake of doing, we’ll start in the Northeast. Braden Birch was part of the Cornell team that clocked Michigan at MSG. Watched a lot of that game and he was a lot more noticeable than he was in NBCSN’s coverage of the tilt against Harvard.
Tuesdays have become our organizational endoscopy, so we have to do the other half and check out the kids in juniors and college.
For a new wrinkle, let’s start in the college ranks and then make our way to the Great White North. And like I made the mistake of doing, we’ll start in the Northeast. Braden Birch was part of the Cornell team that clocked Michigan at MSG. Watched a lot of that game and he was a lot more noticeable than he was in NBCSN’s coverage of the tilt against Harvard.
Time for our spin around the Canadian backwaters and American college towns to find out what’s up with the Hawks kids this past weekend. Are you ready to fly? Let’s go!
Let’s do the normal snake pattern from the Quebecois to the cowboys and then back down through the US. That means the QMJHL to kick it off. Phillip Danault had two assists in tw games for Victoriaville against Chicoutimi and Quebec. I think I had some Chicoutimi on my burger last week, utterly delicious. Danualt now has 33 points in 22 games, both equally divisible by 11 which is awesome. Something great about the multiples of 11. I think it’s the symmetry. His teammate Brandon Whitney continues to see pucks whiz by him a little too consistently. He gave up five goals on 19 Chimchurri shots. But he backed that up with a 31-save performance on 33 shots against Quebec. Victoriaville is 4th in their division.
