IceHogs look to rebound in week 16
Published on February 2, 2004 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Rockford IceHogs News Release
The short 15th Week of the 2003-04 United Hockey League season wasn't kind to the Rockford IceHogs, as they dropped a pair of games to set a new season low four-game losing streak. The Hogs will have plenty of opportunities to redeem themselves however during Week 16 with four games including the beginning of a six game home stand.
Friday, January 30th: Rockford 4 at Quad City 8: Trying to bounce back after dropping their previous two games, the Rockford IceHogs were trounced 8-4 at the MARK of the Quad Cities against the Mallards. The IceHogs gave up six special team goals, including the season's first two short-handed goals on the road. The IceHogs jumped out to the early 1-0 lead when Kelly Miller slapped one past Mallards goalie Jeff Reynaert. Quad City would respond, however, with the next four markers. Defenseman Tom Menicci knocked down a clear out pass at the blue line and blasted home a power play goal at 7:58 to tie the contest. Center Jeff Williams gave the Mallards their first lead also on the power play at 10:21. Rookie center Jon Fransisco completed the first period scoring at 17:54 walking in short-handed to beat Hogs puck stopper Ronnie Vogel. Defenseman Matt Libby would tack on another shortie at 2:45 of the second period to make it 4-1. Hogs leading scorer Donnie Margettie would pull the Hogs back within a pair just 33 seconds later. But Libby would knock in another power play goal to push lead back to three, 5-2, at 5:37 of the middle period. The Mallards opened up the lead to 6-2 just 20 seconds into the third when Hugo Proulx flipped one over Hogs new goalie Paul Schonfelder. The IceHogs would score a pair of goals from Dan Davies (1:38) and Jeremy Vokes (15:07), wrapped around two goals by Williams (6:07 and 8:30) to complete his hat-trick. The Mallards finished the game 4-10 on the power play while the Hogs were 1-6.
Saturday, January 31st: Rockford 3 at Kalamazoo 5: Looking to end a three-game road skid, the Rockford IceHogs dropped a 5-3 affair to the Kalamazoo Wings at Wings Stadium on Saturday. Rockford now has a season low, four-game losing streak. The Wings went up 1-0 at 6:53 in the first period on the power play after winger Pat O'Leary wrapped one behind the IceHogs net. Goaltender Ronnie Vogel went behind his net to play the puck, but the puck hit a stantion in between the glass and deflected out to Joe Ritson for the easy tally. Hogs winger Dale Junkin would tie the contest with a power play goal of his own at 8:35 of the first. Center Jeff Turner then gave the Wings the lead back at 12:08 of opening period. The score would remain 2-1 until 1:33 of the third period when Hogs winger Jeff Ewasko back handed a shot past Kalamazoo goalie Rob Anderson. Rockford center Steve Cygan then gave Rockford the lead at 2:27 on a two-on-one break away with defenseman Bob Nardella. The Wings however would score three unanswered goals to bury the IceHogs. Winger Marty Flichel tied the game at 6:20 before O'Leary would swing the lead back to K-zoo's side at 8:01. Ritson would then close out the scoring at 11:21 with a power play goal, sending the Hogs home with the fourth straight defeat.
Transactions
Defenseman Bob Nardella was activated from team suspension on Friday, January 30th. Winger Reggie Savage was placed on the 21-Day Injured Reserve on Monday, January 26th.
Bacon Bits:
The IceHogs have given up 25 goals in their last four games (6.25 goals per contest).
The IceHogs will play six straight home beginning Wednesday after a rare Tuesday game at Kalamazoo.
Rockford has only played four Tuesday games in their first four seasons.
Winger Dan Davies has a point in three straight games compiling 1g-3a-4pts and a plus/minus rating of +3.
After a season high three-game winning streak, the IceHogs have dropped four straight contests.
Winger Justin Cardwell has registered a point in 10 of his last 11 games racking up 9g-15a-14pts with a +4.
In the last three games, the Hogs opposition has gone 8-22 (36.4%) on the power play.
Prior to the previous three games, Rockford held their opponents to 1-21 (4.8%) on the man advantage in a five game stretch.
Rockford and Quad City combined for an IceHogs season high 12 combined goals in the Hogs 8-4 loss on Friday night.
Defenseman Bob Nardella set team season high with 27 penalty minutes against the Mallards on Friday, with all 27 coming in the first period.
January had been the second worst month for the IceHogs during the past four seasons (behind only December), but the '04 edition was 6-7-1, the top January record in the Hogs five seasons.
Hot Hogs: Week 15
Winger Dan Davies: The veteran winger has a three game point streak and during Week 15, Davies racked up 1g-2a-3pts with a plus/minus rating +3. Since joining Rockford just over three weeks ago, Davies has 2g-3a-5pts.
Monthly Nomination:
Winger Justin Cardwell: Cardwell completed his impressive month of January with 14 points in 13 games and had a plus/minus rating of +4. After recording back-to-back hat tricks on January 16th and 17th, Cardwell finished the month with 9g-5a-14pts.
Upcoming Games:
Tuesday, February 3rd at Kalamazoo Wings. Game time is 6:00 p.m. The IceHogs end their road trip with their third stop in Kalamazoo in 10 days.
Wednesday, February 4th vs. Quad City Mallards. Game time is 7:05 p.m. The IceHogs entertain the Mallards for the third straight time at home to begin a six game home stand. Wednesday at the MetroCentre means another WXRX $1 Beer Night.
Friday, February 6th vs. Missouri River Otters. The puck will drop at 7:05 p.m.The Otters return to the MetroCentre once again. The first 1,000 fans to the big orange box will receive IceHogs Poster #4 courtesy of Medicine Man, Rockford Register Star, Pepsi and Johnson Press
Saturday, February 7th vs. Kalamazoo Wings. Game time is 7:05 p.m. For the fourth time is 14 days, the Hogs match-up, but it's the first at the MetroCentre during the stretch. The first 1,000 fans to the contest will receive a pair of IceHogs Thunder Sticks from Metro Medical Services.
All 76 on Y95:
Catch all 76 Regular Season and all Playoff games on the official radio home for the Rockford IceHogs, Y95, 95.3 FM. The broadcast begins with the SBC Pregame Show and make sure to give your opinion during the post game call in show following each home game at (815) 874-3953.
Hog Talk
Join WXRX's Jim Stone and Double T every Monday from 5:00-7:00 for Budweiser Hog Talk. The show takes place at Hard Hats Bar and Grill and features IceHogs Head Coach Mark Bernard. Also appearing this week are IceHogs winger Donnie Margettie and defenseman Nathan Lutz.
International Hockey League 2 Stories from February 2, 2004
- Mallards in thick of three-team race - Quad City Mallards
- Beacons Rewind - Port Huron Flags
- Williams Earns Weekly Honors - Quad City Mallards
- K-Wings Week in Review - Kalamazoo Wings
- Jackals split weekend, finish 3-for-4 at home in January - Elmira Jackals
- First place RiverDogs play five in six this week - Richmond RiverDogs
- Quad City's Williams and Fort Wayne's St. Pierre earn weekly honors - IHL 2
- IceHogs look to rebound in week 16 - Rockford IceHogs
- St. Pierre snags UHL Goaltender of the Week - Fort Wayne Komets
- Komets' streak reaches 8 - Fort Wayne Komets
- IceHogs feature store specials - Rockford IceHogs
- Jackals Dinner at Horigans - Elmira Jackals
- Jackals sign Bournazakis - Elmira Jackals
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