The Rockford IceHogs 20th Professional season kicked off on Friday night with their Fan Fest and inter-squad scrimmage. This season starts with a huge amount of optimism surrounding the IceHogs after the success of the 2017-18 season. Coming off a Calder Cup Western Conference Finals appearance, Rockford looks to live up to the expectations that Jeremy Colliton and crew have built for themselves in 2018-19.
Rockford IceHogs Host Fan Fest And Red vs. White Scrimmage
The IceHogs treated fans to a spirited inter-squad scrimmage that ultimately ended in overtime with Team White topping Team Red, 3-2, thanks to Darren Raddysh’s game-winner. The winning Team White was headlined by goalie Matt Tomkins, Tyler Sikura, Alexandre Fortin, Darren Raddysh, and Carl Dahlstrom while Team Red saw players such as Kevin Lankinen in net, Matthew Highmore, Anthony Louis, Luc Snuggerud, Victor Ejdsell, and Jacob Nilsson.
Team Red was able to get out to the 1-0 lead after 19:59 minutes of the first period as Henrik Samuelsson raced behind the Team White net, stole the puck from goaltender Matt Tomkins, and scored on the powerplay just as the horn sounded to end the first period.
Trailing into the second period, Team White would knot the game up at 1-1 just under four minutes into the frame. Brett Welychka and Connor Moynihan worked a two-on-one between them with Moynihan potting the game-tying goal. Team Red would respond just under three minutes later as Matthew Highmore drove through the Team White defense and right to the front of the net. Tomkins made the initial save. but it was Jacob Nilsson at the right place at the right time to put home the goal to give Team Red the lead again, 2-1.
The 2-1 lead would carry into the third period for Team Red, but with just over eight minutes to play in the final period, Terry Broadhurt would score on a two-on-one feed from Tyler Sikura to square the game at 2-2. There would be no breakthrough after that from either team and the scrimmage would head to overtime. In the extra frame, Darren Raddysh was able to find and corral a rebound chance into the back of the net and end the game for Team White as 3-2 winners in overtime.
Hear From The Hogs
Head Coach Jeremy Colliton:
Matthew Highmore:
What’s Next?
Rockford opens their 20th professional regular season on the road against the Cleveland Monsters on Friday, October 5.
The home-opener is slated for Saturday, October 13 as they host the team that ended their season last year in the Calder Cup Western Conference Finals, the Texas Stars.