On Tuesday night the Rockford IceHogs needed at least one point against the Iowa Wild, or a Milwaukee Admirals regulation loss to clinch a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs. They took matters into their own hands and came away with a 5-3 win in Iowa to clinch the fourth and final spot in the Central Division.
Last season, the IceHogs finished last in the Division and missed out on the Calder Cup Playoffs, resulting in major staff and roster changes. The hard work all season by Rockford and first-year head coach Jeremy Colliton has paid off with a postseason berth and potential home-ice advantage still up for grabs.
Tuesday: Rockford IceHogs def. Iowa Wild, 5-3
Tuesday night saw Rockford roll into Des Moines, Iowa, to take on the Wild in the fourth game of a four-game road trip. Rockford needed just 1 point to clinch a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs and turned to red-hot goaltender Collin Delia to backstop them against Iowa. Delia came into Tuesday’s game with a 9-0-2 record over his last 11 appearances and is 16-6-4 on the season.
Rockford got on the board early with a deflection goal from Henrik Samulesson just over three minutes into the game. Samuelsson’s ninth of the year put Rockford in the driver seat early, but it would not last long as the Wild would tie the game 1-1 just under six minutes later. Kyle Rau would add a second goal for the Wild in the first period four minutes later and Iowa would take a 2-1 lead into the second period over the IceHogs.
In the second period, Rockford would yet again score within the opening five minutes as Anthony Louis notched his 13th goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2. Louis’ tally would put him into a tie for the team-lead in points (42) with Matthew Highmore. With momentum on their side, the IceHogs re-took the lead just four minutes later as Cody Franson put the puck on net and it deflected off of a Wild defenseman and in for the 3-2 goal. Franson’s seventh goal of the season was enough to give the IceHogs the one-goal advantage heading into the final frame.
In the third period, the Wild would pull out all the stops to play the roll of spoiler to Rockford as they took just three and a half minutes to tie the game 3-3 on Rau’s second goal of the game. Collin Delia would make a number of high-level saves throughout the third period to keep the game knotted up late into the period. Finally, with under five minutes to go, Lance Bouma would bury his seventh goal of the season to give the IceHogs the 4-3 lead. The Wild would pull Niklas Svedberg with just over two minutes to play, and Rockford would get an insurance empty net goal from Franson with under a minute to play to seal the deal, 5-3 over the Wild and clinch the fourth and final Calder Cup Playoff spot in the Central Division.
Hear from head coach Jeremy Colltion after the IceHogs clinched a Calder Cup Playoff spot:
Delia made 20 saves on 23 shots faced and improved his undefeated in regulation streak to 12 games at 10-0-2, with wins in the last five contests in a row. Delia’s record improves to 17-6-4 with a 2.64 GAA and a .904 save-percentage. Riding the hot-hand in net may turn out to be the best bet for head coach Jeremy Colliton to make, but it will be difficult with three more than capable AHL level goalies on the roster along with Jeff Glass and J.F. Berube.
Rockford Back In The Postseason
This time last season, the IceHogs were welcoming in a number of players on PTO’s and ATO’s trying to see what the Chicago Blackhawks had deep in their organization as the NHL club began preparations for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the AHL club was packing their bags ahead of a long off-season. With the last-place finish in the Central Division, the Blackhawks organization made a change in the IceHogs’ coaching staff, Relieving Ted Dent of his duties and bringing in a young head coach from the Swedish League in Jeremy Colliton. Not to mention, giving him a roster that would see more than a dozen players make their professional debuts.
Leading the IceHogs in net is a rookie in Collin Delia. Leading Rockford in scoring are two rookies in Matthew Highmore and Anthony Louis, both with 42 points on the year. Goal leaders are again two rookies in Highmore (23) and Tyler Sikura (22), making his mark in his first full season in the AHL. On the blue-line, rookies like Darren Raddysh and Luc Snuggerud have made impacts all season.
Although the roster began very, very young, over the course of the season the IceHogs would make a number of additions through trades and through call-ups and assignments that would add a major amount of veteran leadership. Players like Cody Franson, Lance Bouma, Andreas Martinsen, Chris DiDomenico, and Adam Clendening all joined Rockford at different points in the season, but have all been major players in the success of the club late in the year. Add in players like Henrik Samuelsson and John Hayden and the IceHogs roster has the right mix of veteran presence with rookies finding their way, and size and speed to go along with the vision of Colliton to be difficult to play against based on speed, skill, size, and work ethic. Rockford looks to be peaking at the right time as they charge into the Calder Cup Playoffs.
What’s Next?
The IceHogs are back in action on Friday night as they begin a home-and-home two-game series to end the regular season against the Chicago Wolves. The final two games of the season have major implications on the final seeding in the Central Division and could have a big impact on who Rockford will face in the opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Friday night’s game is scheduled for a 7pm Central Time puck drop at the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, while Saturday is set to go down at 7pm Central Time at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont. For the IceHogs, the Calder Cup Playoffs are clinched, but there is still work to be done