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The “Irreplaceable Shaw,” Pens-Caps, Boudreau, And Other Argle Bargle

By 1724

Lotta strands floating in Ol’ Duder’s head today. Let’s see if we can’t get through it all.

-So it took me a day or two to get around to commenting on Joel Quenneville’s assertion that Andrew Shaw is “irreplaceable.” We know that Q has a loose grip on what a salary cap actually is, considering the way he spent the first month or two of the season in a strop (not Pedro, #HatToTheLeft) that Brandon Saad wasn’t around even though there was no way the Hawks could sign him for what he got. That’s unfortunate, given how much sway we’re pretty sure Q gets over personnel decisions. Or maybe he doesn’t get enough say and that’s why he shits on the ones Stan makes. But that’s not why you called.

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High On The Hog: First Round Exit

By 1517

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: No Cure Like Travel?

By 1420

The Rockford IceHogs have put in a lot of travel miles on the road this season. What’s two thousand more this week?

After dropping two of three games this past week, Rockford is embarking on its last road trip of the regular season. For their sake, I hope their mode of travel will be airplane. This is a frustrated bunch of Hogs. I’d hate to think of Ted Dent threatening to turn the bus around.

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High On The Hog: First Round Fortunes

By 1490

The goal of the Rockford IceHogs as the Blackhawks AHL affiliate is pretty clear cut. Winning is secondary to pushing talent through the I-90 pipeline. Success means that Stan Bowman can stock his roster with quality players (or offer that talent around the league for annual cup runs, take your pick).

Obviously, Chicago’s run at the top of the NHL has prevented Bowman from selecting an franchise-type skater in the first-round the last several seasons. There are plenty of difference-makers on the current Hawks roster that honed their games in the Forest City. Corey Crawford. Niklas Hjalmarsson. Andrew Shaw. Bryan Bickell (oops).

By the way, Rockford apparently beat Milwaukee 5-2 Tuesday and then dropped a pair in Charlotte over the weekend. Didn’t catch a second of one game; I was behind a sound board making sure an audience could hear a tale as old as time this week.

I promise that you’ll get the usual breakdowns starting with next week’s post. Until then, I thought I’d shine a beam of light on some of the fortunes of Chicago’s recent picks toiling in Rockford and…well…other places.

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High On The Hog: IceHogs Enter March Like A Lamb

By 1778

The Rockford IceHogs, Chicago’s AHL affiliate, finished this week’s action as the leader in the Central Division standings. However, this team is definitely entering March like a lamb.

Rockford has dropped seven of its last ten. Three of those losses have come in overtime, which has kept them on top of the division for the time being. Finishing February at 3-4-3-0 suggests that this group could use a jolt of…well…something as they enter the stretch run of the 2015-16 season.

Where might that jolt come from? Allow me to grasp at a few straws…

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High On The Hog: Spreading Out The Scoring

By 1887

The Rockford IceHogs have an offense by committee this season. It’s a familiar situation for the Blackhawks AHL affiliate-as well as a successful one.

The Hogs split this weekend’s two games, breaking a four-game skid on Sunday and remaining on top of the AHL’s Central Division standings. As of Monday morning, Rockford could also boast the highest point percentage (.677) in the Western Conference.

The IceHogs are doing this without a top-ten point scorer…or a top-forty point scorer…Or a top-100 point scorer…

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High On The Hog: A Look At The Numbers

By 1636

The lads west on I-90, the Rockford IceHogs, finished up a stretch of home cooking that saw the team go 7-1-0-1. As for myself, I was on a road trip and wasn’t around to catch the action.

I’ll provide some condensed recaps in a bit, as I did go back and check out what was another successful week for Rockford. As the AHL takes a quick breather for their All-Star festivities, I thought it would be fun to delve into some numbers this go-round.

Why wasn’t I at the BMO this week, celebrating a couple of big Central Division wins and Michael Leighton reaching a big milestone in net?

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High On The Hog: Visentin, Vinnie and the (Goto)vets

By 1734

The Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate to the Chicago Blackhawks, are nearing the end of an eight-game home stand. The team has continued to pace the Central Division, going 4-1-0-1 in this current stretch and gaining points in each of its past three games.

An otherwise satisfying week was marred with an injury to backup goaltender Mark Visentin, who went down in the first period of Rockford’s game with Iowa Friday night.

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High On The Hog: The Not Quite Midseason Review

By 1525

The IceHogs of Rockford are approaching midseason. Well, not quite. The farmer boys will reach that milestone following this week’s home slate. However, the Hogs had a whole week off from game action and that gave me time to think.

As the Hogs only action this week was a victory in DesMoines Sunday, this is as good a time as any to offer some midseason thoughts on the team. The Blackhawks AHL affiliate, despite injuries and some pretty frequent roster movement, have remained near the top of the Western Conference.

Ready or not, here’s how the winds have blown down Rockford way.

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High On The Hog: Holiday Blahs

By 1740

It was a rough holiday stretch for the Rockford IceHogs. The Blackhawks AHL affiliate dropped three games this past week.

Goals were hard to come by, with Rockford finding twine just four times in the three losses. Two of those defeats came at the hands of Milwaukee, who supplanted the Hogs at the top of the Central Division. Rockford also dropped its first game to the Iowa Wild in just over a year.

All of a sudden, the IceHogs are on a four-game losing streak as they prepare to enter the new year. In addition, the Hogs lost the services of one of their leading scorers for a few games.