Iowa Chops @ Rockford IceHogs ... 12-29

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AHL/Game Stats -
http://stats.theahl.com/stats/text-game-re...game_id=1005250 (http://stats.theahl.com/stats/text-game-report.php?game_id=1005250)

Iowa Chops 6 at Rockford IceHogs 3 - Status: Final

Dec 29, 2008 - Rockford MetroCentre

1st Period:
Scoring - 1. Iowa, T. Trevelyan (10) (A. Veideman, M. Beleskey) 11:09 PP
2. Iowa, M. Caruana (1) (F. Wathier, E. Boguniecki) 11:27
3. Iowa, B. Salcido (3) 12:30 SH
4. Iowa, D. Miller (15) (B. Salcido, P. Wirtanen) 18:04 PP
Penalties - B. Evans Iow (hooking) 6:34, D. Groulx Rfd (hooking) 10:18, B. Mikkelson Iow (hooking) 11:44, A. Archer Rfd (interference) 16:06

2nd Period:
Scoring - 5. Iowa, F. Wathier (4) (E. Boguniecki, B. Salcido) 6:38
6. Iowa, M. Beleskey (4) (T. Trevelyan, J. Green) 13:39 PP
Penalties - D. Miller Iow (tripping) 0:58, N. Hjalmarsson Rfd (boarding) 3:26, T. Bodie Iow (hooking) 9:08, N. Hjalmarsson Rfd (hooking) 11:47, T. Bodie Iow (fighting) 13:42, B. Bickell Rfd (fighting) 13:42, P. MacArthur Rfd (hooking) 19:57

3rd Period:
Scoring - 7. Rockford, E. Brophey (7) (T. Brent, D. Groulx) 6:13 PP
8. Rockford, M. Blunden (3) (R. Klinkhammer, A. Archer) 8:18
9. Rockford, P. MacArthur (3) (P. Kontiola, M. Radja) 17:19
Penalties - B. Salcido Iow (interference) 5:17

IOW Shots: 9 9 8 TOTAL: 26
RFD Shots: 7 13 11 TOTAL: 31

Power Play Conversion:
Iowa Chops 3-5
Rockford IceHogs 1-5

Goaltenders:
Iowa Chops -
Levasseur 9-6-1 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 28 GA: 3 [W]
Rockford IceHogs -
Crawford 9-4-1 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 33:33 SV: 11 GA: 6 [L]
Niemi 7-9-2 Start: 2nd 13:39 Min: 26:21 SV: 9 GA: 0

Attendance: 5812

Referee I: Kyle Rehman (37)
LINESMAN I: Craig Kneale (86)
LINESMAN II: Chris Woodworth (17)

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IceHogs Website -
http://www.icehogs.com/news/index.html?article_id=936

CHOPS ROAST HOGS 6-3 AT METROCENTRE

IceHogs have given up 12 goals in last two games

12/29/2008

Rockford, Ill.- The Rockford IceHogs' late effort fell short in a 6-3 loss to the Iowa Chops on Monday at the Rockford MetroCentre. Four first period goals by the Chops were enough to bury the Hogs in front of a sell-out crowd of 5,812.

"I think everyone is upset and disappointed," Dowell said of giving up six goals in the first two periods. "But it's everyone's job here to get themselves mentally prepared. The mental part is the tough part. We have to bounce back and get over it."

The Chops manufactured a comfortable 3-0 lead during a span of 1:21 of game play in the first frame. The first goal came on an Iowa power play when T.J. Trevelyan chipped in a loose puck past Rockford goaltender Corey Crawford at 11:09. Adrian Veideman and Brian Salcido were credited with the assists.

Just 18 seconds later, Matt Caruana doubled the lead with assists from Francis Wathier and Eric Boguniecki. Salcido then drove in a shorthanded goal at 12:30 in the first stanza. The goal was unassisted.

Drew Miller solved Crawford yet again at 18:04, netting his 15th marker of the season. The power-play goal was assisted by Salcido and Petteri Wirtanen.

In the second, Iowa winger Francis Wathier lit the lamps at 6:38. Then Belesky made it 6-0 at 13:39, chasing Crawford from the game. Crawford ended the night with 11 saves on 17 shots.

"On the power play, we're obviously not scoring," Dowell said. "And on the penalty kill, we're not doing the job. We obviously need to do some soul searching and go back to the basics. We maybe got a little ahead of ourselves and maybe thought we were a little better than we are."

The Hogs finally found the back of the net thanks to a blue line blast from Evan Brophey on a Rockford power play. The Brophey drive was set up by Tim Brent and Danny Groulx at 6:13 in the third.

Moments later Mike Blunden flipped in a rebound off of a Rob Klinkhammer shot at 8:18 in the third. Andrew Archer was also credited with an assist.

A final goal from Pete MacArthur cut the lead to three for the IceHogs. MacArthur knocked in a Mike Radja pass at 17:19 in the final period. Petri Kontiola also helped on the goal as well.

"We showed that we had some character, but it was too little too late," Dowell said. "We need to find a way to get ourselves into the game early. I thought we were ready, but they got three quick goals. We tried hard in the third, but that's not going to win many games."

The Hogs finished the night 1-for-5 on the power play while the Chops took advantage of three of five advantages and have scored six goals on the power play against the Hogs in their last two games.

Niemi turned away nine shots in relief of Crawford. Iowa's Jean Phillipe Levasseur stopped 28 shots for Iowa.

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Chops Website -
http://www.iowachops.com/news/index.html?article_id=133

Hog tied! Chops score early and often in 6-3 win

12/29/2008

Led by three points by Brian Salcido and goals from six different players, the Iowa Chops jumped out to a 6-0 lead at Rockford Monday night and never looked back in a 6-3 win against the IceHogs.

Monday's game opened very evenly, with the Iowa Chops killing off an early penalty. The Chops wasted no time in earning the lead on their first power play of the night as TJ Trevelyan scored his 10th goal of the season after a scramble in front that left IceHogs goaltender Corey Crawford helpless in goal after trying to make stops first on Brian Salcido and then Adrian Veideman.

It only took :18 more seconds after Trevelyan's goal for the Chops to make it 2-0 as a 2 on 1 saw Francis Wathier lay a beautiful pass across the ice to Matt Caruana, who tipped the pass in off the crossbar for his first-ever AHL and Iowa Chops goal.

Adrian Veideman added the second assist on the goal. Just a minute later while killing a penalty, the Chops got a break as Salcido took the puck away at his own blueline and raced in on a one on one and beat Crawford with a wrist shot to give the Chops a 3-0 lead their 5th shorthanded goal of the season.

The IceHogs tried to respond, but some strong defensive play and goaltending by JP Levasseur kept Rockford at bay. The Chops power play continued to shine late in the period, as with :02 seconds remaining in their second power play, the Chops took a 4-0 lead thanks to a power play goal from Drew Miller who tipped in a shot from the point off the stick of Brian Salcido and another assist to Petteri Wirtanen.

The four goals in the 1st period set a season-high mark for goals in a period by the Chops this season. The Chops did not let off the gas pedal in the 2nd period as they scored two more goals to make it 6-0.

After some more saves and stingy defense by Levasseur and company, the Chops went up 5-0 on an even strength goal by Francis Wathier, who was the recipient of a beautiful pass from behind the net by Eric Boguniecki and smashed home a puck from the low slot through the legs of Crawford. Brian Salcido picked up yet another assist on the play.

The Chops made it 6-0 thanks to some more power play magic as on their 4th power play of the night the Chops got their 3rd power play goal of the game thanks to a roof shot from Matt Beleskey, who took a pass from linemate TJ Trevelyan and roofed a shoot down on the right post over a helpless Crawford. Josh Green got the second assist and Crawford was pulled in favor of Antti Niemi after the Chops 6th marker.

Three 3rd period goals for the IceHogs spoiled Levasseur's shutout bid six minutes into the final frame, but the damage had been done by the Chops who scored six goals for the second straight game. All three stars of the night (Salcido, Treleyan and Wathier) were from the Iowa Chops as they moved into 3rd place with the win, only four points behind Tuesday's opponent the Milwaukee Admirals.

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Rockford Newspaper -
http://www.rrstar.com/sports/pros/x1060491...in-loss-to-Iowa (http://www.rrstar.com/sports/pros/x1060491047/Early-barrage-dooms-IceHogs-in-loss-to-Iowa)

Early Barrage Dooms IceHogs In Loss To Iowa

By Jay Taft-RRSTAR.COM

Posted Dec 29, 2008

ROCKFORD —
By the end of Monday’s AHL game, the only thing the Rockford IceHogs won was the evening’s lone fight.

“It was embarrassing,” defenseman Danny Groulx said after the IceHogs’ 6-3 loss to Iowa. “Just ridiculous and embarrassing.”

Rockford’s Bryan Bickell got the better of Iowa’s Troy Bodie in crowd-pleasing, second-period fisticuffs, but the Chops got the better of the IceHogs in every other way during the blowout in front of the largest crowd of the season (5,812) at the Rockford MetroCentre.

Iowa put the pressure on with four first-period goals, and the IceHogs were unable to mount a big enough comeback. They were able to avoid their worst loss of the season with three third-period goals, but they still absorbed their fifth loss in the past six games.

“We embarrassed ourselves to the point where we knew we had to do something in that final 20 minutes to salvage our pride,” Rockford’s first-year head coach Bill Peters said. “It was definitely an effort and a competing thing. We’ve seen some quality play from this team in spurts this year, so we know it’s there. Tonight we just didn’t show up for the whole 60 minutes.”

Iowa scored three goals in a span of 1:21 midway through the first period — the first on a power play and the last on short-handed attack — and Rockford quickly was thrown into catch-up mode. It got worse when Drew Miller’s slap shot (complete with a slow-mo and exaggerated windup) from the blue line found the net to up the score to 4-0 by the end of the first period.

Goalie Corey Crawford — who needed just one more win to reach the 100-victory plateau headed into Monday’s game, and still does — made sprawling saves on three point-blank shots on goal early in the second period to try to make up for his rough start. But Iowa kept up the pace throughout, and Francis Wathier slid one in from behind the net 6:38 into the second period to put the IceHogs deficit at 5-0.

By the time Matt Beleskey went top-shelf to give the Chops a 6-0 lead with 6:21 left in the second, it was time for Crawford to go, and the crowd showed its unappreciation for all his hard work with a cascade of boos.

“This wasn’t my best night by any means, but it wasn’t my worst, either. The crowd doesn’t really understand that we weren’t playing good anywhere,” said Crawford, who had 30 saves in the IceHogs’ 6-2 victory Saturday. “That’s sports. Things like this happen. You’ll have a great game, then a not-so-great game, and you just have to deal with it. It’s no fun hearing the crowd do that, though.”

Rockford and Iowa were tied with 31 points headed into the game, but the IceHogs slipped further back into sixth place in the Western Conference’s West Division with the loss. The IceHogs are 0-6-0-1 when trailing after the first period and 2-10-0-2 when their opponent scores first.

Evan Brophey finally got an IceHogs shot through the pads of Iowa’s goalie Jean-Phillipe Levasseur in the third period, getting an assist from Tim Brent and Groulx and powering one in with a little more than 13 minutes left to play. Mike Blunden punched in a rebound off Rob Klinkhammer’s shot just over two minutes later to get what crowd remained back into it. Then, with 2:41 left to play, Pete MacArthur banged the puck back in off a missed Mike Radja shot to cut the Chops’ lead to three.