NEWSLETTER
This Friday, the Rockford IceHogs open up their season at the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, IL, embarking on a 30-game schedule starting with back-to-back games against the Cleveland Monsters. This season, the AHL Central Division will pit the IceHogs against the Monsters, Wolves, Wild, and Griffins. All games will be against divisional opponents and the Calder Cup Playoffs are set to only be divisional playoff matchups until the final.
Meanwhile, the IceHogs will be getting two players from the Chicago Blackhawks taxi squad, with Michal Teply and Wyatt Kalynuk joining Rockford and Madison Bowey heading to the taxi squad (Bowey signed a two-year contract with the Blackhawks a few days ago).
The move is clearly to get Kalynuk and Teply into the lineup for the IceHogs as the Blackhawks want those two playing games and getting their professional feet wet, rather than sitting on the taxi squad.
#IceHogs season starts on Friday. #Blackhawks want Teply and Kalynuk playing games, not sitting on Taxi Squad https://t.co/fUt1nRiWDH
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 3, 2021
Last week the IceHogs and Chicago Wolves came together for a preseason scrimmage and it did not go well for the IceHogs. A 6-1 loss to the Wolves left a bit to be desired from the young Rockford squad. Head coach Derek King spoke on Wednesday to the media, saying the scrimmage was a small wake up call for the new pros.
HC Derek King on last week's blowout scrimmage loss vs Wolves: "The thing I take away from it is that we have to teach these guys some good habits."#IceHogs #AHL
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) February 3, 2021
King also addressed just how much of a shock it might be for some players once they get their first taste of professional hockey. All told, the IceHogs have 13 players making their North American professional debuts this season.
King on young roster: "The back end is our strong point, but we have a lot of young forwards. It's going to be a process, and I think the first couple of games are going to be an eye-opener for some."#IceHogs #AHL
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) February 3, 2021
With the Taxi Squad aspect of NHL rosters, this season is going to take away some talent from AHL rosters. With the IceHogs being so inexperienced, there will be a heavy reliance on the veteran players to step up and take leadership roles. King mentioned three players that will likely make up the Rockford leadership group with Cody Franson, Garrett Mitchell, and John Quenneville in the mix.
King mentions Cody Franson, John Quenneville, and Garrett Mitchell as three players he is considering as a leadership group.#IceHogs #AHL
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) February 3, 2021
Of the young players making their way into the professional ranks this season, defensemen Alec Regula and Michael Krutil, as well as forwards Evan Barratt and Andrei Altybarmakyan have looked like they have what it takes to make it at the next level in the NHL (according to King).
King mentions Krutil, Altybarmakyan ("Andy") and Regula ("Rags") as young players he feels will translate into quality NHL players#Blackhawks #IceHogs #AHL
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) February 3, 2021
The IceHogs play their first game of the season on Friday against the Cleveland Monsters. They will play 30 games total this year, finishing up the regular season on May 15th, if all goes according to plan.
