Tag Archives: Ted Dent

IceHogs best effort can’t take the Heat

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Chris Block| 1 Comment

By Chris Block

Not even the IceHogs best collective effort of the season was enough to earn points before a crowd of 3,734 at BMO Harris Bank Center on Saturday night.

Twenty-four hours after getting recalled from ECHL Toledo, goaltender Carter Hutton was a minute and twenty seconds away from securing at least a point for his team when Abbotsford’s Ben Walter jabbed a rebound past Hutton to hand Rockford a heart-wrenching 2-1 defeat.

For the IceHogs, the loss ended a five-game home stand with a sour taste and 2-3-0-0 record to show for it.  The team managed just one goal in each of its last three games, all losses.  After starting the home stand with two wins – a 6-3 victory over San Antonio and another 7-3 clubbering of Peoria, Rockford’s home record now stands at a dismal 3-9-0-0.

Overall, Rockford is now four games below.500 at 8-12-1-0.

Losses on back-to-back nights at home certainly stings, but head coach Ted Dent wasn’t disappointed overall with his team’s performance against the Heat.

“Last night was a different game than tonight,” Dent explained.  “Tonight was a playoff-type atmosphere.  It was a fast game… hard-hitting.  The only area of improvement I think we could have had there was scoring on the power play.” Read more »

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IceHogs gear up for huge weekend; Kyle Beach update, Dylan Olsen itching, Toledo Hogs and Rockford attendance

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Chris Block| 2 Comments
IceHogs’ center Brandon Pirri – photo: Rockford IceHogs


By Chris Block

Rockford IceHogs (8-10-1-0) drop the puck on a three-game weekend tonight when the Lake Erie Monsters (9-10-1-1) visit the BMO Harris Bank Center at 7:05.  This will be the first time this season Rockford has had to play three games on consecutive days.  They’ll do so again next weekend.  In both cases, the first two games are at home, followed by a game day bus trip on Sunday.

Tonight’s game also marks the return of former Hogs Evan Brophey, Hugh Jessiman and defenseman Mike Brennan.

Brophey comes in on a 4-game point streak (2g, 2a).  He registered his first career hat trick on 11/11/11 against San Antonio.  Brophey turns 25 on Saturday.  His IceHogs/Blackhawks tenure ended in suspension last March when he stepped out of the penalty box and destroyed Hamilton Bulldogs forward Hunter Bishop with an open ice blind side hit.  Brophey received a season-ending 7-game suspension after playing in two subsequent games that weekend before the AHL got around to holding a hearing following the March 25th hit.

Hugh Jessiman had posted a goal in four consecutive games prior to Lake Erie’s 2-1 loss to Houston on Wednesday night.  In 17 games this season, Jessiman has 7 goals and 9 points.  Last season, prior to being sent to the Panthers in the Jack Skille-Michael Frolik/Alexander Salak swap, Jessiman had just 3 goals and 5 points in 25 games with Rockford.  Jessiman was struggling with groin issues while with the IceHogs. Read more »

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IceHogs drop 2 games below .500 at quarter-mark; Tough loss to West’s best Oklahoma City

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Chris Block| 2 Comments

By Chris Block

Arriving at the quarter-mark of the season (19th of 76 games) on Saturday night, the divisional last-place Rockford IceHogs were riding high as they welcomed the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Barons.

Rockford was looking to draw to an even .500 record and continue to build momentum off back-to-back home wins, 6-3 and 7-3, this week over San Antonio and Peoria.

The Barons rode the four hour bus ride in from Grand Rapids after holding on for a 5-4 win over the Griffins on Friday night.

In a tightly-checked and hard-fought affair, Oklahoma City prevailed in Rockford Saturday night by a 3-1 score and the IceHogs now find themselves two games under the .500 mark.

“I think they played a good defensive game against us,” alternate captain Brian Fahey said after the loss.

“We had a hard time getting to their net.  Its not that we didn’t have chances, we just had a tough time getting to the second and third chances.”

After an evenly matched opening twenty minutes, Oklahoma City got on the board at 1:06 of the second on controversial goal call by referee Dave Lewis.

IceHogs goaltender Alexander Salak fiercely disputed the call, feeling the puck had not crossed the line.  However, further review proved the puck did and the Barons’ Philippe Cornet, the AHL’s leading goal scorer, had his 14th of the season.

“I thought we had a great first period,” said defenseman Dylan Olsen.

“Second period we were a little off.”

The scored stayed 1-0 until 2:41 of the third period when Cornet netted his 15th goal, set up brilliantly by winger Ryan Keller for the easy put-home to give the Barons the 2-0 advantage.

This tally came seconds after the IceHogs’ Brandon Bollig squandered a golden opportunity to tie the game at the other end when he missed an open side by shooting a puck through Oklahoma City goaltender David LeNeveu’s crease, missing the net entirely.

Brian Connelly gave Rockford life late on a power play when he unleashed a slap shot from the right point through traffic to trim the Barons’ lead to 2-1 with 7:23 to go.  Wingers Jeremy Morin and Brandon Segal obstructed LeNeveu’s vision as Brett McLean set Connelly up for the shot.

With his team down 2-1, Ted Dent pulled Alexander Salak from his net for the extra attacker with a minute and a half to go in regulation.  Twenty seconds later, Ryan O’Marra was the benefactor of a Rockford turnover and sealed the Barons’ win emphatically with an empty-net tally at 18:57 of the period. Read more »

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Hawks’ prospect Brian Connelly thriving in 3rd year

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Chris Block| 4 Comments
Brian Connelly

By Chris Block

Third year pro, and IceHogs defenseman, Brian Connelly is emerging as one of the AHL’s best defenseman.

Not best young defenseman, the Bloomington, Minnesota native is one of the top blue liners in the AHL, period.

A player head coach Ted Dent described as “our Duncan Keith,” Connelly is handling a heavy workload given to him by his boss, and thriving in doing so.

“He’s playing at a high level, the highest I’ve seen since he’s been in Rockford,” Dent told us.  “[Connelly] is just controlling the game, shooting the puck well, making good decisions and he’s playing good defense too away from the puck.”

Dent was an assistant for the previous four seasons in Rockford prior to being promoted to head coach in July after Bill Peters took a job as an assistant under Mike Babcock in Detroit.  So, Dent has seen Connelly up close and helped guide the undersized blue liner’s pro career.

Connelly (5-10, 185) has always been a good puck mover, but his ability to lead and hit a teammate in stride and control the flow of his team’s attack has never been better. Read more »

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Hogs lose 5th straight at home, blanked by Peoria

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Chris Block| 2 Comments

It’s a little early to panic, but the IceHogs are off to an auspicious start to the season on their home ice.

On Saturday, a crowd of 4,715 witnessed the IceHogs’ fifth-consecutive home ice loss, a 3-0 shutout to the Peoria Rivermen.  The defeat drops Rockford’s record to 1-5-0-0 at home and 5-7-1-0 overall.

Rockford now sits firmly in 5th and last place in the Midwest division, three points behind the Chicago Wolves, who have played just four of their thirteen games at Allstate Arena so far.  The IceHogs are also four points behind 3rd place Milwaukee, who have two games in hand on Rockford.

“When we’re on the road, we’re just relaxed. We just go out and play our game.  We’re tight and a little unsure of ourselves at home,” IceHogs captain Brandon Segal said after Saturday’s loss.

“It’s kind of frustrating because obviously these are the points we need right now and we’re not getting them.”

The IceHogs came into Saturday’s contest off a stunning 7-6 loss at Peoria on Friday.  Stunning, because Rockford led that game 6-4 with a minute and change left in regulation only allow two quick Phil McRae goals and then to lose the game in overtime on a questionable goaltender interference non-call that left the IceHogs incensed.

Peoria’s offense picked up where it left off Friday night and got going early when T.J. Hensick gave the Rivermen an early 1-0 lead.  Brett Sterling skating down the far half wall found Hensick streaking to along the goal line to the net, stringing a pass through two IceHogs defenders.  Hensick held the pass and skated around a weak stick-check attempt by Alexander Salak and roofed an easy nonchalant backhander far right corner 2:54 into the game. Read more »

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Kyle Beach could miss significant time

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Chris Block| 7 Comments

Kyle Beach, the Chicago Blackhawks 1st round pick (11th overall) in 2008, is potentially facing some considerable downtime.

Beach sustained a serious injury Friday night during a third period fight with Peoria forward Stefan Della Rovere.

Officially, the word is Beach suffered an “upper-body” injury.  Beach was in Rockford on Saturday and is expected to be evaluated by Blackhawks’ doctors in the next day or so to determine the next course of action.

“[Beach] is still be evaluating with our doctors here in Rockford and hopefully we’ll know what’s going on in the next few days,” IceHogs’ head coach Ted Dent said on Saturday night.

While team and organizational policy does not allow anyone to speak about player injuries specifically, it was clear while watching the fight Beach injured his shoulder.

Upon seeing the incident, it is apparent Beach dislocated, or suffered some degree of injury to his right shoulder and was in a lot of pain.  If the damage is substantial, surgery could force Beach out for most, if not all, of this season.  If team doctors decide surgery is not necessary, Beach would still miss several weeks minimum.

Though slower to progress as compared to other recent Blackhawks’ first round picks, Beach is still considered a top prospect by many, both in the organization and around the league.

At 21, Beach is off to a strong start in his second year as a pro.  Through eight games, he had posted 3 goals and 6 points, in addition to 18 penalty minutes (including two fights).

Any missed time will be an unfortunate setback for the feisty sniper.

It appears his time out will be substantial, however.

Coincidentally, Beach’s counterpart in Friday’s fisticuffs, Stefan Della Rovere, suffered an “upper body” injury himself during the same altercation.  Della Rovere was not in the Rivermen lineup on Saturday night and currently there is no timetable for his return.  The Peoria Journal Star is reporting Della Rovere suffered a hand injury.

Video of the fight is now up here.

ChrisBlock@TheThirdManIn.com
PuckChatter@gmail.com

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Wolves kick IceHogs 4-1, Sweep weekend home and home series

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Chris Block| 2 Comments

A bad non-call in favor of the Chicago Wolves and an anemic Rockford IceHogs’ power play told the story Saturday night in a 4-1 Wolves’ victory at the BMO Harris Bank Center.

The crowd of 4,279, on hand for the IceHogs’ second home tilt of the season, witnessed Billy Sweatt clearly redirecting Chicago’s second goal in with his skate and past Alexander Salak early in the middle frame to give the visitor’s a 2-0 lead.  However, veteran AHL referee Terry Koharski did not see it that way and allowed the goal to stand.  The IceHogs blew a lot of smoke, but never truly recovered.

While they were on their heels most of the night, the Wolves withstood a barrage of IceHogs’ shots.  Goaltender Matt Climie made 47 saves in all.   One night after his teammate Eddie Lack stopped all 35 Rockford shots in a 2-0 Wolves victory down the road in Rosemont, Illinois.

The shot board tells a story of one-sided dominance for Rockford on Saturday night, but the truth is the IceHogs were not at their best in this game. Read more »

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Crawford’s groin, Salak’s mental break, IceHogs open 2-0, notes on Beach, Klink, DiDom, Segal and Campbell’s Panthers

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Chris Block| 8 Comments

Corey Crawford was given Monday’s practice off (Sunday was an off day for the entire team) to heal a slight groin pull, as reported by CSNChicago’s Tracey Myers.

More on that, as well as an update on Ben Smith with quotes from Myers here.

Jesse Rogers talks to Dan “Car Bomb” Carcillo about his Chicago debut this Thursday versus the Winnipeg Jets:

Carcillo on his nickname: “Everyone has nicknames. It just so happens mine is better than everyone else’s.”

Ben Smith (concussion) skated Monday but is not cleared for contact.

Viktor Stalberg (knee) skated on his own and Joel Quenneville intimated he could start skating with teammates in practice again later this week.

Carcillo practiced on a line with Kane and Hossa.

Jonathan Toews talks about getting that first goal out of the way… wanting to be a great offensive player. [Chris Kuc, Tribune]

–For those wanting to catch a glimpse of Brian Campbell, Kris Versteeg, Tomas Kopecky and their new crew before the Hawks travel to South Florida on November 2, tonight is your chance.  Campbell skated just over 30 minutes and had the primary assist on both Panthers’ goals in a 2-0 win on Long Island in Florida’s only game so far.  Jose Theodore was in net for the shutout.

The Panthers will make their only national television appearance of the 2011-12 season, and just their third in four years tonight on VERSUS when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins.

–For those who missed it, I uploaded Saturday night’s Committed Indian column here.

–No podcast this week.  Check out HockeeNight’s latest from Sunday night. Read more »

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Mikita talks cancer, Bergevin on new Personalities, Dent on IceHogs, 3rd jersey axed, notes on Berard, Campoli and a Sutter

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Chris Block| 27 Comments


Stan Mikita feeling good in spite of cancer battle  [Brian Hedger, NHL.com]

Mikita meets his doctors in ten days to find out where he’s at with his Stage 1 oral cancer.

“I’m looking for very favorable comments from him (the doctor),” Mikita told Hedger.  “The treatments went well.  It wasn’t really bad for me.  It’s been coming along real well.”

–More from Hedger’s Blackhawks’ notebook – Stuff on Marian Hossa’s math, Patrick Kane’s on-time wrist recovery and David Bolland loving Daniel Carcillo.

Video of Mikita speaking to media at Monday’s Blackhawks Alumni golf event at Medinah Country Club.  [CSN Chicago]  Comments from an antsy Bolland and Stan Bowman as well in that clip.

–Assistant general manager Marc Bergevin in an interview on a Toronto radio station Monday, talked about this summer’s roster shakeup, the addition of what Bergevin termed, “personality” to the team’s core roster.

“We felt we are skilled enough to get us into the playoffs.  We just need the character to get us through the playoffs,” Bergevin explained.

“And that’s what we had when we did win.  Then we lost guys like Ladd, Byfuglien, and Versteeg and Sopel.   Guys who were warriors, that did the little things to make the other team accountable.  They made the other team realize ‘this is going to be a battle tonight.’   That’s what it takes to win a Stanley Cup.

“You can’t win with twelve skilled forwards and six skilled defensemen, because there is dirty work that needs to be done and there are only certain players that are willing to do that.” he concluded. Read more »

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Haviland job interview, Rockford news, IceHogs season tickets, 92 Chicago Riots, Campoli, more

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Chris Block| Leave a comment

Blackhawks assistant coach Mike Haviland is interviewing for the Winnipeg head coaching job on Friday, per the Winnipeg Free Press. Others known to be interviewing are Craig MacTavish, Manitoba Moose head coach Claude Noel and technically the current Winnipeg coach, Craig Ramsey.  It had appeared this would essentially come down to Noel and Haviland unless another candidate steps up.  However, MacTavish, who was heavily rumored to be the new Wild coach, is back in the mix as word tonight is that Minnesota hired Mike Yeo, who is the head coach of their AHL affiliate Houston Aeros.  I think the linked article’s phrasing – “Ramsey has also been granted an interview,” tells you Ramsey is heading into this process a heavy underdog.

– Chris Campoli was named to the NHLPA Competition Committee on Monday.  Montreal’s Mike Cammalleri is the other new member of the committee.  Campoli and Cammalleri replace Mike Commodore and Mathieu Schneider as voting members.  Schneider will stay on as an advisor.  The committee now consists of Campoli, Cammalleri, David Backes, Chris Clark and Ryan Miller.

In Boston on Monday, the committee voted to approve the broadening of Rule 48 (originally known as the blindside headshot rule) to cover a hit to the head from any angle.  Alterations were needed because when the league put together Rule 48 and called it the “Illegal Check to the head” rule (contrary to legal checks to the head, you see) the rule didn’t cover all checks to the head of an opponent.

Campoli (right knee surgery) should be cleared for full workouts in 2-3 weeks.  He’s a restricted free agent on July 1 as long as he gets his qualifying offer a few days before then.

Haven’t read or heard an update on Troy Brouwer (right labral (shoulder) tear) since his May 10th surgery.  He’s expected to be fine by training camp.  Brouwer is also a restricted free agent in need of a new deal.

– This is old news but again, we’re catching up. Read more »

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