Plenty to Celebrate in 20th IceHogs Year

Plenty to Celebrate in 20 th IceHogs Year

By Peggy Werner

The Rockford IceHogs season is drawing to a close and excitement is at a record level, with the team in a close race to make it to the playoffs. The team is finishing out the year with a new coach, welcoming new players and continuing a celebration of its 20 th year.

IceHogs Director of Business Operations Mike Peck says it’s a close battle, with four teams fighting for one spot and all separated by one point.

“We’ll go down to the wire and if we win the next few games, we’ll be in good shape, but anything can happen. At this point, every game is important,” he says.

Meanwhile, the 20 th year is its own milestone to celebrate, since the Ice- Hogs organization has established itself as the city’s longest running sports team. It has also accomplished a great deal of good through the IceHogs Charitable Foundation and has been able to grow its loyal fan base. This year is a good opportunity to remember the road to greatness.

“It’s been a great season reflecting back, reaching out to our former players for Alumni Night, and doing lot of reminiscing,” says Peck. “A lot has changed, for sure, but one thing that doesn’t change is our strong and supportive fan base.”

Peck points to two major turning points in the team’s history, including the first championship win in May, 2007, when the IceHogs, led by Coach Steve Martinson, topped the Kalamazoo Wings in seven games with the series clincher at the (then) MetroCentre to take home the Colonial Cup.

Following that win, a new era began as the IceHogs made the jump to the American Hockey League (AHL), as the top affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. In March, 2007, the AHL Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale and relocation of the inactive AHL franchise in Cincinnati to Rockford and the team began to play in its new league in October 2007.

One of the 20 th anniversary promotions still in the works is bringing Coach Martinson back to Rockford for a visit. Now coaching in Allen, Texas, he’s one of three coaches in professional hockey to win 1,000 games, Peck says.

Peck credits Coach Derek King with doing a great job with the team this year. Just one month into the season, he moved up from assistant coach to interim coach after Jeremy Colliton was named the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks.

“We’re used to change, but that was a big change and Derek has really done a great job of keeping the team together and helping players get a taste of what it means to be a professional hockey player,” Peck says.

The AHL is made up of teams from the U.S. and Canada. The National Hockey League (NHL) has teams around the world. Early in the season, the AHL welcomed a new team, The Colorado Eagles.

About 86 percent of NHL players played in the AHL at some time, Peck says. The average length of stay for an IceHogs player is about two years.

This season saw several players transfer to Chicago, including Defenseman Carl Dahlstrom and Goalie Collin Delia.

A new player who generated excitement on the team this season is forward Fredrik Olofsson, 22, who just completed his senior season at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he tallied a career high of 34 points in 36 games as an alternate captain. The six-foot-two-inch 197-pound forward led the Mavericks in assists, finished second in overall scoring last season and capped the year with nine multi-point efforts. A native of Helsingborg, Sweden, Olofsson logged 20-plus points during each of his last three seasons at Omaha, including scoring doubledigit goals as both a sophomore and senior. Overall, he totaled 95 points (35g, 60a) in 137 collegiate games during his four-year tenure with the Mavericks.

The IceHogs have also agreed to terms with Defenseman Chad Krys, 20, who played his first game with the Ice- Hogs March 27. He recently completed his junior season at Boston University, where he posted 20 points with 12 assists and a career-high eight goals. He served as an alternate captain and became the first defenseman for the team in 47 years to register two goals and three assists in a single game.

Overall, Krys, a Ridgefield, Conn. native, totaled 58 points (20g, 38a) in 105 career collegiate contests from 2016-19. He logged double-digit points in each of his three campaigns with Boston and totaled 20-plus points during both his sophomore and junior seasons. Krys also spent two seasons with the United States National Team Development Program prior to beginning his collegiate career.

“We always get a handful of guys who join late in the season,” says Peck. “They bring a lot of energy to the game and are one step closer to their dreams of being fulltime professional hockey players.” ❚