IHL 2 Rockford IceHogs

Everything comes together for Rockford on Jersey Auction Night

Published on March 4, 2007 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Rockford IceHogs News Release


Rockford, Ill.- Sometimes things just go your way. That certainly has been the case for the Rockford IceHogs in the past month, but it was especially the case on Saturday night. The IceHogs beat its biggest rival, the Quad City Mallards, 4-3 in the final round of the shootout in front of 6,664 at the Rockford MetroCentre, its largest crowd of the year. The team its chasing in the Western Division, the Fort Wayne Komets, lost, giving the Hogs sole possession of first place. ?The team Rockford is trying to overtake for the first overall seed in the playoffs, the Muskegon Fury, lost, allowing the Hogs to gain a game on them. Heck, a lucky fan even won a free furnace in a contest by shooting a puck into a furnace from center ice. It was just one of those nights where the puck bounces your way. But best of all, the Rockford IceHogs raised nearly $64,000 for local charities through its jersey auction, a club-record.

As for the game itself, it certainly didn't disapoint the large crowd. Quad City took an early lead at 8:32 in the first period when forward Sean Starke put one in top-shelf while falling down. Rockford argued for goalie interference because they felt that goalie Frederic Cloutier was knocked down, but the officials disagreed. A series of minor scrums ensued and the bad blood between the two clubs permeated until 13:55 when Rockford winger Kaleb Betts intercepted a pass and fed it to winger Paul Brown who put in a nifty wrister to tie the match at 1-1.

Rockford took the lead early in the second period when the Hogs leading goal scorer, center Kevin Ulanski, put back a rebound for the tally. Quad City drew even on a Dale Lupul point-blanker at 9:08, assisted by center Luke Stauffacher. The Hogs answered, going up 3-2 when Jason Notermann hit the puck in from mid-air as Mallards goalie Brad Smith struggled to make a clean glove save. Rockford recorded 28 shots in the second period, a new all-time high-water mark for the club.

Quad City notched the only lamp lighter of the third frame at 1:23 to tie the tilt at three when Sean Starke slid it through traffic on a 2-on-2. That's how regulation ended, tied 3-3, forcing a shootout.

In the extra frame, the Mallards Lupul bested Cloutier in the second round. Just when things looked bleak for Rockford, they relied on the good fortune they've enjoyed for the past month or two to kick in, which luckily for them, it did. In the third round, winger Nicolas Corbeil beat Smith to even it up at 1-1. That remained the tally until the bottom half of the fifth round when Ulanski fooled Smith short-side, giving the Hogs the thrilling victory.

Rockford outshot Quad City 50-34 and went 1-8 on the power play. The Mallards finished the night 0-3 with the man advantage.

Next Homestand: Friday, March 16 vs. Kalamazoo Wings. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m. Doors to the MetroCentre will open at 6 p.m. The Hogs are celebrating St. Patrick's Day by giving the first 1,000 fans a Special-Edition IceHogs St. Patty's Day Pint Glass brought to you by Bud Light and BOB-FM, 95.3.

Sunday, March 18 vs. Flint Generals. It's another $Dollar Days$ sponsored by WZOK, 97.5 FM which means all regular size hot dogs, sodas, peanuts and selected candy are only $1. After the game, stick around for a CoCo Key Skate With The Hogs.

Check out the Rockford IceHogs Statistics

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 4, 2007


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