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High On The Hog: On The Road

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The Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, have several short road jaunts this season. There is nothing resembling the two extended trips that is standard for the Hawks. In fact, the longest the Hogs will be away from the BMO Harris Bank Center is four games.

The IceHogs are in Charlotte today to begin the first of what will be four such stretches with two weekday tilts at Bojangles Coliseum. Let’s take a look at how the lads in Rockford are doing heading into the back-to-back down Carolina way…

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High On The Hog: The 2016-17 IceHogs

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With the NHL starting in mere days, remember that hockey is also gearing up for the Blackhawks affiliate in the American Hockey League, the Rockford IceHogs. I’m excited to begin my third season reporting on the IceHogs for TCI. I look forward to checking in weekly to fill you in on all Rockford shenanigans.

As would be expected, roster turnover is rampant in the Forest City. Depending on how Hawks brass decide to deal with the last few names on the depth chart, there could be more faces of both new and vintage variety skating at the BMO Harris Bank Center this season.

Unlike the NHL, there are no roster limits in the AHL. Still, the IceHogs usually don’t carry more than 24-25 players during the season. Some of the late moves by the Hawks may alter the makeup of the Hogs roster.

The situation at goalie and defense seem fairly stable for the time being. The most chaotic area roster wise is shaping up to be at forward, so let’s use that as our jumping off point.

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Notes On The Cycle

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Just a few quick notes on tonight’s what-have-ya, contested mostly by guys who will be running a rink in Medicine Hat or the like in five years.

-I was most interested in watching Forsling and Kempny. Both showed composure on the puck, especially Kempny. It’s hard to get a read on him in particular when he’s still not facing the quality of players he’s going to in a couple weeks, but at least he showed a willingness to skate himself out of trouble and try and find a pass. Unfortunately for him, there were like two forwards on his team who could receive said pass cleanly.

As for Forsling, same thing but man is he small. Even if he’s willing he’s going to get crushed by NHL bodies. This is probably what will send him back to Sweden this year. There are small d-men around the league. Jared Spurgeon comes to mind. Toby Enstrom is another. Spurgeon is quite sturdy though, something of a fire hydrant. Enstrom is just really smart with great hands. Forsling has maybe two or three games to show he has the latter.

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High On The Hog: Touring The Farm

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The Rockford IceHogs, Chicago’s affiliate in the American Hockey League, had their share of turnover this summer. Some familiar names depart for other opportunities, to be replaced by the hope of fresh prospects.

I will be sending weekly reports from the jewel of Winnebago County throughout the hockey season. Before the Hogs drop the puck on their regular season, I’ll be back with a more finite look at the roster once everything shakes out at Blackhawks training camp.

For now, though, I thought I’d get my mind back on hockey by taking a look at some of this summer’s activity and how the little piggies could look when things start to get serious here in a few weeks.

Jump on the tractor and let’s tour the old homestead, shall we?

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High On The Hog: Summer Changes

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The Rockford IceHogs are going to be a new-look bunch come fall. The departing faces on their parent club practically guarantees some changes.

Even in the offseason, the Blackhawks AHL affiliate has made the occasional headline. The Hawks and Hogs extended their union through 2021-22.. Rockford re-signed captain Jake Dowell for next season and said goodbye to goalie Michael Leighton in a couple of signings from earlier this month.

It came out yesterday via Scott Powers  that Chicago is not going to retain Leighton’s services. However, the writing was clearly on the wall based on how the organization addressed the net prior to this week.

In case you haven’t been in the loop, here’s the state of the Hogs heading into what could be a real period of roster turnover in the coming weeks. As there has been lots of recent changes in this area, let’s start in net.

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High On The Hog: Wrapping Up In Rockford

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The Rockford IceHogs had themselves a hell of a season. For four months, at least.

It was another year of development for the 45 players who spent time toiling on the farm in 2015-16. There was some big rookie impact to go with some surprising veteran production over the course of the campaign.

When all was said and done, the Hogs had earned a spot in the AHL postseason for the second year in a row. A host of players had spent time in Chicago, with some becoming quite familiar with Interstate 90 along the way.

Rockford finished with a record of 40-22-10-4, good enough for third place in the Central Division before being swept from the first round by Lake Erie. However, it has to be noted that there is a very definitive point in the season where the arrow veered sharply for this team.

As we take a look at the season that was, know that for four months Rockford was very, very good. And then…they weren’t.

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High On The Hog: First Round Exit

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The Rockford IceHogs exit from the Calder Cup Playoffs was certainly swift. The Hogs were fortunate enough to get to begin their first-round series with Lake Erie at home but made zero use of having home ice for the opening games.

Rockford dropped both games at the BMO Harris Bank Center, then traveled to Cleveland and had the Monsters complete the series sweep Saturday night. With little exception, Lake Erie was the better team and dominated play.

I’m not ready to forecast the state of the farm just yet, so I’ll focus this week’s gaze on the first-round debacle and how it came to be.

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High On The Hog: The Monsters Playoff Preview

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For the Rockford IceHogs, the postseason starts this week. The piggies of Winnebago County finished the season on a positive note and will be facing off with the Lake Erie Monsters in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

I’m going to eschew the normal recaps this week and concern myself with Rockford’s immediate future, which will commence Wednesday night at the BMO Harris Bank Center. Here’s a look at how the IceHogs arrived at this point of the season and what we might expect from this best-of-five series.

The Hogs slipped into third-place in the Central Division standings on the strength of three straight wins to close out the regular season. Rockford eked out a 2-1 decision in Iowa Wednesday before returning home and clobbering Grand Rapids and Milwaukee.

For Rockford, it all starts in goal…so let’s begin in net.

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High On The Hog: Who’s In Goal For The Playoffs?

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The Rockford IceHogs reserved their spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs this week. However, Chicago’s AHL affiliate continued to scuffle along as the regular season comes to a conclusion this week.

Rockford dropped three of four on the road this past week. Three points in Charlotte early in the week assured the Hogs of a postseason appearance for the second consecutive season. This team is not giving off the shine of a group that will get out of the first round, though.

It’s hard to expect much from this group the way the latter half of the season has progressed. There are lots of new faces and probably more coming before the regular season ends. There are also a lot of questions for this team to answer in the final week of action.

First and foremost, who starts in net for Ted Dent in the playoffs?