With the Rookie Tournament in Traverse City just around the corner and training camp beginning in less than a month, the Blackhawks community is getting geared up for the start of the 2018-19 season. While Chicago has many questions surrounding them after one of the most disappointing season of the last decade, the Rockford IceHogs are coming off of their best season in the last decade. To the surprise of some, it came in the first year under head coach Jeremy Colliton, making his North American head coaching debut.
In his first year behind the bench for the IceHogs, Colliton helped lead a young core of players to a 40-28-8 record in the 2017-18 season, finishing fourth in the AHL Central Division and reaching the Western Conference Finals in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
For the IceHogs, it was a return to the postseason after finishing last in the division in 2016-17 and ended in the deepest run in the Calder Cup Playoffs in the franchise’s history. A great amount of the success can be traced back to Colliton and his approach to the game with the young roster he was given to work with.
One-On-One With Jeremy Colliton
After such a successful season last year, the IceHogs have high expectations during the 20th Anniversary year of professional hockey in the Rockford community. Colliton will have a decent number of young players returning after last season’s success, along with a good amount of promising first-year pros joining the team as they try to replicate and improve upon last season’s finish.
Jeremy Colliton behind the bench for the Rockford IceHogs. (Courtesy: Manitoba Moose)
I was lucky enough to catch up with IceHogs Head Coach Jeremy Colliton as he prepares for the 2018-19 season and we talked about the short summer for the IceHogs, his outlook on developing players in the Blackhawks system, who he is excited to coach in his second year behind the Rockford bench, and which part of the hockey stick he would prefer to be.
Listen to the full interview here:
A few things stood out in my discussion with Colliton, here are some of the notable pieces:
On familiarity from year one to year two…
“We had a lot of first-year guys last year and a lot of those guys will be back. We’ll have a lot of first-year pros again this year. A lot of the guys we had last year will get a chance to pick up where we left off last year. For me, I want to be better every year. I’m looking forward to that challenge and we felt like last year as a group we had some success, but no one is satisfied.”
On players coming in this season who he is excited to see develop…
“One guy who jumped out (last year) was (Joni) Tuulola. I didn’t know him at all and he came in and forced his way in to the lineup where he could help us. He goes a couple of months without playing and jumps into the Conference Finals and did well for us. He’s played pro, been a pro in Finland, but it’ll be interesting to see how he adjusts to his first year in North America as a defenseman.”
Victor Ejdsell of the Rockford IceHogs. (Courtesy: Todd Reicher)
“Some other guys in excited to see are our second-year guys like, we had (Anthony) Louis who had an excellent rookie season. (Matthew) Highmore had an excellent rookie season. (Victor) Ejdsell, he came over late, but they all had one good year. The challenge for them is to not step back, and continue to build.”
On potential three-goalie situation in Rockford…
“It’s important to go in without any pre-conceived decisions made. We got to let it play out during training camp and the preseason. That is going to give us a lot of information to make our decision. The best guys are going to play. I like the idea of spreading out the work, but the guys who earn the opportunity will get more. We want to have competition, but they will kind of make the decisions for us. We have really good prospects at that position and our job is to develop them. I think the competition and urgency every night will be a big part of their development.”
Collin Delia of the Rockford IceHogs. (Courtesy: Greg Hamil)
On balancing player development with finding team success…
“I think the importance is on both aspects. Our main goal is to develop players to help the Blackhawks win a Stanley Cup. How we do that is by teaching them how to win here. If they can help us win in Rockford, the more likely they can contribute at the NHL level. The lessons and what is important and how we hold guys accountable, hopefully how they hold each other accountable, that’s what is going to help them when they get to Chicago. … In my view, development and winning go hand-in-hand.”
I ended the interview with a few hypotheticals, which are always fun.
Would you rather be the handle of a hockey stick or the blade of the stick?
“I honestly have never been asked that before, but I think you want to be the blade. That’s where the action is.”
Would you rather have total control of the weather or $10 million?
“Total control of the weather. If you can control the weather, everything else will take care of itself. Coming from a farming background, if you can control the weather, you’ll be alright.”
It was great to talk with IceHogs Head Coach Jeremy Colliton as he gets ready for the NHL and AHL season to begin. Rockford will once again be an exciting team to watch with the roster of young players slated to be in the mix this season. Along with an expanded AHL Central Division in 2018-19, the 20th Anniversary season for the IceHogs is already shaping up to be can’t miss hockey.
But, when isn’t it?