The Rockford IceHogs are preparing to finish up their longest road jaunt of 2014-15. So far it has been a productive one with the Hogs taking five of six points in their first three games of the trip. Rockford bested Adirondack and Hamilton on Thursday and Saturday before losing a shootout to Toronto Sunday afternoon.
The Rockford IceHogs got the 2014-15 season underway this past Saturday at the BMO Harris Bank Center. The Milwaukee Admirals cast a pall on the festivities for the 5,228 fans in attendance, besting Rockford by a score of 3-2.
With just one contest in the books, I’m putting this opening game under a bit of a microscope. Here’s how the puck bounced for the IceHogs as they threw open the doors on the new campaign.
Week 29 of the AHL schedule featured the IceHogs’ final 2 games. The IceHogs still had a slim shot at making the post season going into their final games of the regular season, but the first game of the weekend sealed their fate of being on the outside, looking in.
Week 28 of the AHL schedule was a week to forget for the IceHogs—and at this time of the year, that isn’t something that needs to happen. After falling to Milwaukee earlier in the week, the Hogs dropped 2 of their 3 contests over the weekend to set themselves very far back in the playoff race.
The 27th week of the AHL schedule brought the IceHogs to Canada for one last time during the 2013-14 regular season. Before heading back to the BMO Harris Bank Center for some home games, the IceHogs stopped at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee to kick off week 28.
Week 26 of the AHL schedule featured the IceHogs playing three games in three nights over the weekend. The IceHogs needed to win at least two of their three games, especially with the three contests all being against Midwest Division teams.
The IceHogs finished week 23 with two games against the Milwaukee Admirals. The games are a part of a three game set against Milwaukee that the teams will finish playing later this week.
The IceHogs finished week 21 and started week 22 of the AHL schedule with three match-ups against Midwest Division rivals. In terms of the Western Conference standings, the IceHogs needed to take the majority, if not all, of the points at stake to continue to put themselves in a good spot to make the postseason.
The IceHogs faced a three games in three days set this past weekend to wrap up week 20 of the AHL schedule. For that reason alone, it was a big weekend for Rockford as the team has the most games played in the Western Conference, so they needed to pick up as many points as possible. To add to the enormity of the weekend, all three games came against Midwest Division opponents.
The end of week 19 of the AHL schedule featured back-to-back home games for the Rockford IceHogs. After a big win against Hamilton earlier in the week, the Hogs needed to pick up another four points against Iowa and Utica to continue their playoff push.
