2019-20 Season in Review - October 2019

The 2019-20 season marked the 21st professional campaign for the Rockford IceHogs and their 13th in the American Hockey League.

With Head Coach Derek King officially behind the bench after the interim tag was removed after the completion of the 2018-19 season, the IceHogs celebrated the season’s beginning on Oct. 4 at Iowa and Opening Night at BMO Harris Bank Center on Oct. 12 vs. Grand Rapids. The matchup at Iowa marked the fifth consecutive season the IceHogs have started the season on the road and the team has not opened a campaign at home since the 2014-15 season.

Unfortunately, the club began the year with and 0-3-0 record with first victory arriving on Oct. 18 vs. Chicago. Forward Anton Wedin registered the first IceHogs game-winning goal in a 3-2 win to open the Illinois Lottery Cup Series.

In the month, the IceHogs went 3-5-0 with two of the three wins coming against their in-state rivals in the Wolves. The IceHogs also recorded their largest win (by goal differential) of the entire season in October, a 6-2 triumph over San Antonio on Oct. 30 at the BMO. The win is one of seven contests where the IceHogs scored five or more goals (6-0-0-1 record with 5+ goals in a game). The brotherly duo of Tyler and Dylan Sikura led the IceHogs with five points in October with Tyler leading the club with four goals.

Dach Joins IceHogs:

October also saw the highly-anticipated professional debut of Chicago Blackhawks prospect Kirby Dach. Dach was originally assigned to the IceHogs on a conditioning assignment on Oct 12 and the third-overall pick from the 2019 NHL Draft made his professional debut with Rockford that night, firing three shots on goal in the Hogs loss’ to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Overall, Dach skated in three games, combined for seven total shots and helped the IceHogs secure their first win of the season with a 3-2 triumph over the Chicago Wolves. Dach is tied with defenseman Cam Barker for the highest overall draft pick to play for the IceHogs in Rockford team history.