The Blackhawks AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, are breaking camp and winging it to the West Coast to begin the 2015-16 campaign. Rockford is coming off of a strong season that saw them reach the Western Conference Semifinal.
Coach Ted Dent is back at the helm of another group of Hawks prospects peppered with skaters who’ve been around the AHL block. How’s this group gonna fare over the next seven or eight months? Let’s take a look…
The Rockford IceHogs 2014-15 season came to an end Sunday afternoon, when they were eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs by Midwest Division rival Grand Rapids. The Griffins halted Rockford’s postseason in the conference semifinal in five games with a 5-3 win.
In reality, the Hogs were pretty much done in the previous Thursday.
That’s when Grand Rapids took command of the series with a 2-1 overtime victory. Tyler Bertuzzi’s second goal of the contest came 13 seconds into extra time and proved to be the backbreaker in what had been a pretty evenly played series.
Rockford had itself a nice run this season. Ultimately, however, it culminated in the IceHogs losing to a team that was superior at this stage of the spring. Why is Grand Rapids still playing hockey while the Hogs start cleaning out their lockers? Let’s explain.
The Rockford IceHogs have hit a postseason roadbump in the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Rockford dropped the first two games of their Western Conference Semifinal in Grand Rapids last week.
Red Wings forward prospect Teemu Pulkkinen was the harvester of sorrow in Games 1 and 2, torching the Hogs for five goals and six points in the two Griffins victories. A strong Grand Rapids showing at home was not unexpected. However, the IceHogs have their work cut out for them as the series shifts to Winnebago County.
Here’s my take on the way the postseason is developing for the IceHogs as they look to hold serve at the BMO, starting with Game 3 Wednesday night.
The Rockford IceHogs got their quest for the 2015 Calder Cup off to a bang-beat, bell-ringing start down in Texas over the weekend. The Hogs took the first two games of their AHL Western Conference Quarterfinal from the Stars in games on Friday and Saturday.
As a result, I’ll be heading to the BMO Harris Bank Center Wednesday night to watch the IceHogs try and wrap up the best-of-five series. Now…who’s coming with me?
Well…maybe not as many as management would like. I’m sure the Rockford brass isn’t completely happy with the league schedule makers.
Texas, who averaged just over 5,000 fans this season in their building in Cedar Park, drew 4,375 Friday and 4,978 Saturday. The IceHogs, who set an attendance record this season by packing an average of 4,834 into the BMO and have “home ice” in the series, get to host a weeknight game. The challenge for the Rockford area is clear; can they fill the house without dollar hot dogs?
Explaining the Rockford IceHogs current funk is pretty simple. The kids just aren’t getting the puck in opposing nets. The IceHogs still maintain the top spot in the AHL’s Midwest Division with 42 points in 34 games. The holidays have not been kind to the young Blackhawks prospects, though.
Rockford has dropped five of its last six games over the last two weeks. In four of those losses, the Hogs have been held to one goal. Coach Ted Dent has scrambled some of his forward lines as well as his defensive pairings to little avail.
Let me offer some opinion at this point.
The Rockford IceHogs had a week of highs and lows against division opponents. The Hogs turned in an impressive performance in Milwaukee before dropping less than stellar efforts at home against Grand Rapids and Lake Erie, the two bottom teams of the AHL’s Midwest Division.
If Rockford is content to do its best work on the road for the time being, this is a good stretch for them. The IceHogs play their next six games away from the BMO, starting Wednesday night in Milwaukee.
The Hogs are now 16-6-2-1 and lead the Midwest Divison with 35 points. That total also puts Rockford in a tie for the top seed in the Western Conference.
The Rockford IceHogs were left a bit shorthanded for last weekend’s action. Adam Clendening, Joakim Nordstrom and Phillip Danault are all traveling with the Blackhawks. Mark McNeill and Michael Leighton are recovering from injuries. It wasn’t a stretch for you to believe the Hogs might take some lumps with three Midwest Division games in three days.
In this case, you’d be wrong.
Rockford ran the table this weekend, winning home games with Iowa and Milwaukee at the BMO Friday and Saturday before shutting out the Wolves in Chicago Sunday afternoon. With 29 points through 19 games, Rockford (14-4-0-1) is currently on top of the AHL.
The kids down Rockford way have been red-hot in their last week of action. The IceHogs return to the BMO Harris Bank Center Tuesday with a five-game winning streak in tow.
Rockford won in Grand Rapids Wednesday and followed that up with back-to-back pastings of the San Antonio Rampage this weekend. The IceHogs are 7-2-0-1 through their first ten games and sit atop the AHL’s Midwest Division as of Monday.
With 15 points on the 2014-15 campaign, Rockford is currently in second place in the AHL’s Western Conference. The Hogs also have a new captain in place and an offense that has scored 18 times in the last four games. Here are some notes on a very successful road trip.
