Rockford, Ill.- The Rockford IceHogs will play their final preseason contest and visit the Milwaukee Admirals at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena at 7:00 p.m. The IceHogs were unable to play the entirety of their first preseason game against the Chicago Wolves due to an area-wide power outage Thursday afternoon. 

Three Things To Know:

Lights Out Commesso: Third-year goaltender Drew Commesso started between the pipes for Rockford Thursday morning against Chicago. The 2020 2nd-round Blackhawks selection stopped all 14 shots he faced in 27:07 of game time in the preseason opener. Commesso, 23, was assigned to Rockford earlier in the week after appearing in one preseason contest for the Blackhawks against the Minnesota Wild. Commesso went 28/29 helping the Blackhawks secure a 4-1 victory over the Wild for his first win of the preseason. The Norwell, MA native played a pivotal role in Rockford's playoff push last season, posting a .930 save percentage in his final 22 games of the 2024-25 campaign. 

Youth Movement Continues: The next wave of Blackhawks' prospects prepares to make their mark as training camp moves forward in Rockford. Aidan Thompson, Paul Ludwinski, Gavin Hayes, and Nick Lardis are among Chicago's prospects that have been assigned to Rockford during camp. Hayes and Ludwinski are both coming off of their rookie campaigns in 2024-25 while Thompson appeared in four regular season games and seven Calder Cup Playoff games at the tail end of last season. Last season, Lardis recorded a 71-goal season in the OHL, setting a new league record with 16 game winning goals. 

Familiar Face Behind Rockford Bench: Former IceHogs player and assistant coach Jared Nightingale made his debut as the IceHogs Head Coach yesterday against the Wolves. Nightingale, 42, returns to Rockford after posting a 52-15-5 record as head coach with the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays, winning the John Brophy Award as the ECHL Coach of the Year.  Nightingale returns to the IceHogs after serving as an assistant coach from 2021-24. During his playing career, Nightingale played in over 400 games over 12 seasons in the AHL and over 200 ECHL games during eight seasons. 

 Heard It Here First:

Jared Nightingale on youth within the organization:

At that age they're really hungry, talented and really excited. They will get some good experience with the preseason games this coming week. It's a young league and it's going to be our job to help the players develop. 

Cavan Fitzgerald on building off of last season:

We have a lot of returning guys which is nice, some new faces coming in and some guys still trickling down from up top. We still got that momentum from last year and a little sour taste in our mouth but it will be a good year

The IceHogs will open the regular season on Oct. 11 at the BMO Center against the Milwaukee Admirals at 7:00 p.m.

Watch and listen to every game this season on the IceHogs Broadcast Network presented by BMO! Fans can also watch every IceHogs game on AHLTV on FloHockey! AHLTV on FloHockey features live streaming of every AHL game in high definition on desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile devices by clicking here, as well as on over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. AHLTV is also available through the official AHL mobile app for iOS or Android.

Rockford IceHogs tickets are on sale now! Head to icehogs.com and secure your seat at the BMO Center this season.