Week 16 was not stellar by any means for the IceHogs on the scoreboard. Despite cleaning up their defensive game and amount of penalties taken–only nine minors were assessed to the team in two contests–they dropped both games on their schedule and find themselves with a record below .500 for the first time since November 21st.
Now that the three of us have returned to our normal, NHL-watching ways, we needed to find someone else to chime in with our Rockford Icehogs update. Luckily, we found one Kim Wrona, from Runs On Duncan.com to help us out with that. So this will be the first installment of Pigs In Zen, Kim’s Hogs update. Now let’s show how adult we can all be by giving here a warm welcome. -Sam
After winning three games at the end of December, the IceHogs went on to lose four straight to kick off the new year. They rebounded at the end of Week 14 in the AHL as they defeated Grand Rapids and Milwaukee on back-to-back nights.
Well, we thought — or maybe we just hoped — that at this point we’d be paying attention to a first place team. If you squint real hard, we are. This weekend, with two wins in Charlotte over what was supposed to be a pretty fierce AHL squad, the Rockford Icehogs are in 1st place in the Midwest Division. Yes, they’ve played at least two more games than their immediate chasers, and their point total would only land them sixth or seventh in the conference if they weren’t leading the division. But considering how bad the Hogs have been in the past few years, this is clearly a step forward. Of course, if the top club ever deigns to give us hockey again, the engine on this little revival will probably be ripped out. But hey, it’s more fun to talk about a winning team, no matter what level you’re referring to.
So, to the recaps then.
It was not the best of weekends for The Winnebago County Bacon Bits. It wasn’t that busy, as they only had a divisional double-header against Grand Rapids and Milwaukee. But that didn’t stop them from continuing their idiotic ways and losing both of them under an avalanche of penalties and some Funhouse defending.
Friday night saw the Hogs’ second trip to Grand Rapids, which is probably two more than anyone should make. Another habit the Hogs have gotten into is surrendering a goal early, and they did so again here. Riley Sheahan, which sounds like a name that should be on some terrible Fox show that I wouldn’t watch,, banged home one from the crease merely two minutes in.
Let’s talk about some things that actually took place over frozen water today. It’ll be a nice break. We’ll start with the Winnebago County Bacon Bits, and then later this afternoon we’ll check up on all the kiddies around the world. Then we’ll realize it’s not really the hockey we want to be talking about, and then I’ll resign myself to watching the fucking Lakers tonight and that I won’t be able to pretend that Steve Nash in Purple and Gold is ok! Sorry, that got away from me there a bit. Anyway…
The IceHogs had one of those lovely three games in three days weekends this past one, with a trip to Grand Rapids sandwiched between two home dates with Florida’s affiliate San Antonio. Sounds brutal, but they got through it with three wins, so you can’t complain too much, can you?
