IceHogs Announce Season-Opening Roster

ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Rockford IceHogs today announced their Season-Opening Roster for the 2019-20 campaign. The IceHogs will begin the season with 27 players when they officially kick off the season on the road against the Iowa Wild tomorrow (Oct. 4) at 7 p.m.

The IceHogs' 27-player roster is comprised of 16 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders. Of the 27 players, 17 suited up for Rockford during the 2018-19 season while 10 will be making their IceHogs debut. Additionally, the roster contains two veterans in Kris Versteeg and Philip Holm and 13 skaters holding rookie status.

The 16 forwards include MacKenzie Entwistle, Alexandre Fortin, Brandon Hagel, Mikael Hakkarainen, Matthew Highmore, Reese Johnson, Philipp Kurashev, Dylan McLaughlin, Nick Moutrey, Jacob Nilsson, Aleksi Saarela, Dylan Sikura, Tyler Sikura, Tim Soderlund, Versteeg and Anton Wedin.

Rockford also begins the campaign with eight defensemen in Nicolas Beaudin, Adam Boqvist, Lucas Carlsson, Dennis Gilbert, Holm, Chad Krys, Jack Ramsey and Joni Tuulola.

Between the pipes, the IceHogs feature Collin Delia, Kevin Lankinen and Matt Tomkins. Last season, Delia and Lankinen helped back the IceHogs to the second-best save percentage in the AHL.

Four different nations are represented on the IceHogs roster. Those include Canada (11 players), Finland (four players), Sweden (six players), Switzerland (one player) and the United States (five players).

The IceHogs boast 17 players who were selected in the NHL Draft, including two first-round picks in Beaudin and Boqvist. Of the 17, 12 were originally drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks.

In addition, Rockford also announced its captains entering tonight's season opener in Iowa. The team honored Versteeg as captain and named Highmore, Nilsson and Tyler Sikura as alternate captains.

NEXT HOME GAME: Saturday, Oct. 12 vs. Grand Rapids Griffins | 6 p.m.
The Rockford IceHogs will host their home opener for the 2019-20 season on Saturday, Oct. 12 against the Grand Rapids Griffins at 6 p.m. at the BMO Harris Bank Center. The first 4,000 fans in attendance to Rockford’s first home game of the campaign will receive a free IceHogs calendar, courtesy of Impact Networking. Call the IceHogs front office at (815) 968-5222 or visit icehogs.com to purchase tickets.