IceHogs and Admirals Open Central Division Semifinal Series
May 1, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rockford IceHogs News Release
Rockford, IL. - The Rockford IceHogs begin their second round series with the Milwaukee Admirals tonight at 7 p.m. at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. The IceHogs enter the best-of-five series with the division champion Admirals after sweeping the Chicago Wolves in the opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Tale Of The Tape:
The Admirals won the season series over the IceHogs as Rockford posted a 3-5-2 record in ten meetings this year. The Hogs' struggled on the road with a 0-3-2 record in Milwaukee with four of the five losses being just a one-goal difference. Six of the ten meetings between the two teams were decided by one goal. The IceHogs' biggest win over the Ad's game back on Jan 12 where they took a 5-0 win over Milwaukee at the BMO Center. The Rockford power-play struggled against the division-winning Admirals, scoring on just 9.8% of their of their chances. The penalty-kill excelled, operating at 87.9% in the season series.
2025 Calder Cup Playoff Records:
(5) Rockford: 2-0
(1) Milwaukee: 0-0
Ace In The Cole:
Cole Guttman led the IceHogs in scoring in the opening round against the Wolves. Guttman, who skated in his first postseason game in game one in Rosemont, tallied three assists in the two games against Chicago. Guttman led the IceHogs in scoring all season with 57 points (23G, 34A) in 70 games. The California native also led the Hogs in scoring against Milwaukee with seven points in ten games.
"I think we want to know what we did [against Chicago] but also turn the page to a new opponent. That was just a new standard for us, we know our ceiling is high so we want to have a good week of practice and reset it," Guttman said.
Into The Drew:
Drew Commesso carried the IceHogs to a 2-0 series win over the Chicago Wolves to advance to the Central Division Semifinal. Commesso went 66/67 in the two game set with Chicago. The Blackhawks 46th overall pick in 2020 has the second best goals against average in the post season with a 0.46 GAA. Commesso trails only Texas goalie Remi Poirier who shut out the Grand Rapids Griffins in the first game of their division semifinal series. Despite earning the 34 save shutout to eliminate Chicago, Commesso immediately turned his attention to the next challenge at hand.
"I always have the same confidence and just try to play my game every game. It's nice to get a win I don't really care about the shutout this time of year, I just care that we won and are moving on, " Commesso said.
Scouting The Admirals:
The Admirals last played on April 18 to close out the regular season with a 5-0 win over Chicago. Tonight's game will be the first time in 13 days that the Admirals will take the ice after securing the division title for a second consecutive season. Forward Cal O'Reilly reached 1,000 AHL games earlier this season and led the Admirals in scoring with 49 points (11G, 38A). O'Reilly had seven points in the regular season against Rockford. Goaltender Matthew Murray started six games against the IceHogs, posting a 4-1-1 record. Murray had 28 wins in 43 starts in the regular season and had the 4th lowest goals against average with a 2.07 GAA. Milwaukee went 23-8-3-2 inside UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena throughout the regular season.
Division Semifinal Round Schedule:
Game 1 - Thu., May 1 at Milwaukee, 7 CT
Game 2 - Sat., May 3 at Milwaukee, 6 CT
Game 3 - Wed., May 7 vs Milwaukee 7 CT
Game 4 - Fri., May 9 vs Milwaukee 7 CT*
Game 5 - Sun., May 11 at Milwaukee, 4 CT*
* - if necessary
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