Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
When the Rockford IceHogs look across the ice lately, they see opponents they can relate quite well to.
Last weekend it was the San Diego Gulls, a team that is sixth in the Pacific Division and trying to tighten its grip on a playoff berth out west. This weekend it was the Hershey Bears coming to town, in their own jam-up of teams over in the Atlantic.
And right there in the Central Division fight are the IceHogs, who are sixth in the Central Division and five points below the Calder Cup Playoff line going into Saturday’s action.
As the AHL’s playoff races take shape, another wrinkle is how front offices work to sort out their short- and long-term decisions at the NHL level while also working to set up their AHL prospects for March and April’s push to the Calder Cup Playoffs. The decisions that they make – or don’t make – must also fit with the goal of trying to get an AHL affiliate into the Calder Cup Playoffs.
And it can be even more interesting for clubs like Rockford’s NHL parent, the parent Chicago Blackhawks, that are trying to put a long-term foundation in place.
Where the next few weeks become revealing for the IceHogs is how the Blackhawks opt to proceed with both leagues’ trade deadlines approaching. The Hawks haven’t won a best-of-seven series since their Stanley Cup championship in 2015. Their last trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs came in the 2020 expanded postseason format.
They are in an ongoing rebuild, and that means that management has players to see and decisions to make. Who stays? Who goes? And who, if anyone, could come to the Chicago organization in return?
And where do the IceHogs fit into all of these decisions? An important part of that rebuild involves their Rockford prospects going through the stretch-drive pressure of trying to wrestle down a playoff berth. Even better for the organization would be to see that young talent push its way into the Calder Cup Playoffs, go on an extended run, and gather that much more high-stakes experience.
Blackhawks general manger Kyle Davidson and his staff have decisions to make both in Chicago and Rockford.
Coming out of their Olympic break, the Blackhawks summoned two-time AHL All-Star defenseman Kevin Korchinski to take the spot of an injured Wyatt Kaiser. It’s a move that fills an immediate NHL roster need, but also allows the 21-year-old Korchinski to show how his development has been progressing.
Rookie Nick Lardis, who leads the IceHogs with 16 goals in 32 games this season, has already played 21 games with Chicago. Is it better for his development to assume heavy minutes with the IceHogs? Or is better to stick with the NHL club? Maybe a blend of both?
The players, be they in Chicago or Rockford at any particular moment, know the stakes as well. And in Rockford, they know to expect the excitement that comes with a playoff race. Last season, the IceHogs got past the Chicago Wolves in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs before nearly upsetting Milwaukee in the division semifinals.
Korchinski came away with lessons from that experience.
“I think the Calder Cup is one of the hardest trophies to win in the world,” Korchinski said. “You want to build a moment. You’re never going to be the same [group of players twice]. You want to make those times last longer. You don’t want to go home. You want to enjoy the playoffs.”
Combine playoff excitement with these potential decisions that impact both the NHL and AHL sides of the operation, and it adds another key subplot to the fervor and fun that always surround the NHL trade deadline.
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
