Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Options Author
The Chicago Blackhawks gained three Stanley Cup championships final decade, however they’ve since been mired in years of setbacks. Connor Bedard, the primary general draft decide in 2023, has given the Blackhawks a basis to construct on, however it takes extra than simply prime picks to construct a championship membership.
It’s a robust supporting solid that steers a group from regular-season success to an annual Stanley Cup contender, and that’s the place the Rockford IceHogs are available in.
Going the AHL growth route has labored for Chicago earlier than. Their Stanley Cup groups of 2010, 2013 and 2015 have been constructed closely from inside, as gamers like Duncan Keith, Corey Crawford, Troy Brouwer, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Dustin Byfuglien, Colin Fraser and Kris Versteeg got here out of the Blackhawks’ AHL system.
Now an identical constructing plan is in place as administration takes on one other long-term venture. Scouting and drafting properly are the primary steps. Then comes growth, the place all of that expertise will get refined. And that’s the place Rockford issues.
A lot of Chicago’s younger core – together with Frank Nazar, Colton Dach, Alex Vlasic, Wyatt Kaiser, Louis Crevier and Arvid Soderblom – have already come by way of Rockford. In the meantime, the IceHogs are being led by the subsequent wave in profitable 4 of their first 5 video games this season.
Ahead Oliver Moore, taken nineteenth general within the 2023 draft, is out of the College of Minnesota and has 4 objectives and 6 factors by way of his first 5 AHL video games. Nick Lardis, one other 20-year-old rookie, simply gained the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Participant of the Week award after posting seven factors in three video games final weekend; he put up 71 objectives within the Ontario Hockey League in 2024-25. Martin Misiak had a pair of 23-goal seasons for the OHL’s Erie Otters earlier than shifting on to Rockford this fall. Forwards Gavin Hayes and Samuel Savoie are a pair of third-round choices looking for their manner as execs.
Defensively, there may be 2021 first-round decide Nolan Allan, who performed 43 NHL video games a 12 months in the past, together with 2002 seventh-overall decide Kevin Korchinski. Rookie Taige Harding is coming off 4 years at Windfall Faculty, and Ethan Del Mastro is on the verge of breaking by way of to the NHL.
Goaltending prospect Drew Commesso’s third professional season is underway, and he’s joined by Stanislav Berezhnoy, a 22-year-old free agent signing out of Russia who’s off to a sizzling begin with Rockford; time might present that there’s something there to offer additional inner competitors for the Hawks group.
Not every thing goes to plan with this course of, after all. Chicago introduced this week {that a} knee damage signifies that second-year Rockford ahead Paul Ludwinski’s season is over after simply three video games.
There will probably be ups and downs in any growth plan. Introduced in to handle all of it is Jared Nightingale, Rockford’s new head coach. Nightingale, a former Rockford assistant and long-time AHL defenseman, got here again to the IceHogs to appreciable optimism. In his first season as head coach and director of hockey operations for the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, he set franchise information with 52 wins and 109 factors and gained ECHL coach of the 12 months honors.
The IceHogs’ 4-1-0-0 begin contains three time beyond regulation wins – yet one more than they’d all of final season. They dropped a 6-5 determination to Chicago on Sunday, however have allowed simply seven objectives of their 4 victories. The group is in Colorado for a two-game set with the Eagles this weekend earlier than returning to Rosemont to face the Wolves once more on Tuesday morning.
Final Sunday’s loss confirmed each the expertise and the inexperience that the IceHogs have. They fell behind 3-0 within the opening 6:40 of regulation earlier than pushing again to construct two separate leads, solely to lose ultimately.
“Pleased with the fellows, how we responded and type of slowly seeing the make-up of our group and our identification,” Nightingale mentioned this week.
“Heaps to love, heaps to work on nonetheless, however it was positively a constructive step.”
On the American Hockey League beat for 20 years, TheAHL.com options author Patrick Williams additionally at the moment covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a daily contributor on SiriusXM NHL Community Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent protection of the league in 2016.
