IceHogs Series Preview: First Round vs. Iowa

The Rockford IceHogs collide with the Iowa Wild in the First Round of the 2023 Calder Cup Finals for a best-of-three series starting on Wednesday at the BMO Center. Each game in the First Round against Iowa will be broadcast live on the IceHogs Broadcast Network presented by BMO.

GAME 1: Wednesday, Apr. 19 at BMO Center, 7 p.m.

GAME 2: Friday, Apr. 21 at Wells Fargo Arena, 7 p.m.

GAME 3*: Sunday, Apr. 23 at Wells Fargo Arena, 3 p.m.

*if necessary

After the Chicago Wolves defeated the Manitoba Moose on Sunday afternoon, both Rockford and Iowa needed to win later that evening to secure a playoff berth. The IceHogs took down the Milwaukee Admirals 4-1 to clinch the Central Division’s fifth seed, and Iowa picked up a 5-2 win over the Texas Stars to secure the fourth seed.

The Hogs and Wild are plenty familiar with each other, having met 12 times over the course of the regular season. The dozen encounters tied Iowa with Chicago for Rockford’s most common opponent. Below is a look at how the two teams stacked up against each other.

IceHogs Profile

After bouncing back from a 4-6-1-0 month of March to turn in a 4-3-0-0 record in April, the IceHogs find themselves on the five line of the Central Division’s playoff bracket. Rockford has received key reinforcements in recent weeks with Lukas Reichel, Joey Anderson, and Buddy Robinson all returning from the NHL since Apr. 9. The Hogs have seemed to find their scoring touch once again and have posted four or more goals five times in the last 14 games after achieving that feat just five times in the previous 28 contests. David Gust, Brett Seney, Luke Philp, and Lukas Reichel have all passed the 50-point mark in a Rockford sweater this season, marking the first time ever that an IceHogs club has featured four 50-point scorers. That does not include Rocco Grimaldi who owns 73 points (33G, 40A) on the year, 56 of which were posted with the San Diego Gulls.

Defensively, the Hogs are led by two 21-year-old alternate captains: Alex Vlasic and Isaak Phillips. Vlasic leads all Rockford defensemen with a +12 rating this season to go along with 19 points (2G, 17A). Phillips leads the blue line with six goals this season. Jakub Galvas is the back end’s leading scorer with 29 points (3G, 26A).

Wild Profile

Iowa enters the series with just two wins in their last six games of the regular season. The Wild finished March with a strong 8-2-0-1 record, but then came back down to earth in April with a 3-3-1-0 record in the final month of the regular season. Star players like Marco Rossi, Sammy Walker, Nick Swaney, and Nick Petan bounced back and forth from the AHL to the NHL over the course of the last two months of the regular campaign, but all four returned to the Wild on Apr. 14 to join Iowa for the First Round.

The Wild were one of the streakiest teams in the AHL this season and pieced together a franchise record 14-game point streak from Jan. 7 to Feb. 4. The strong run of form was also tied for the longest point streak in the AHL this season. Along with the positive runs, the Wild were also susceptible to losing skids and experienced both a five-game losing streak and a nine-game losing streak this season.

Tim Army’s group likes to suffocate opponents defensively, and the Wild allow just the seventh fewest shots per game at 28.85. The Wild are tied for 10^th in defensive scoring by allowing just 2.93 goals against per game.

The Matchup

Rockford ended the season series with wins in four of the last five meetings with Iowa. The two teams last met on Feb. 25 at the BMO Center when Zane McIntyre shut out the IceHogs 2-0 in a 23-save effort. The majority of the matchups between Rockford and Iowa have been tight, low-scoring affairs. Seven of the 12 meetings have reached overtime, and only three of the 12 encounters have featured more than five total goals. The highest scoring game between the two teams came on Dec. 13 at Wells Fargo Arena when the Hogs outpaced the Wild in a 7-4 affair.

Rockford is 2-1-1-2 in games against Iowa played at the BMO Center this season, and only one of the six games in Winnebago county has been finished in regulation. At Wells Fargo Arena, Rockford is 3-1-2-0 this season and has won the last two matchups at the venue.

Luke Philp, David Gust, and Jakub Galvas are all tied for the lead amongst active IceHogs players with seven points against Iowa this season. For the Wild, Marco Rossi leads the way with 14 points against Rockford during the campaign. Steven Fogarty has also been extremely effective against the Hogs and leads all skaters in the regular season series with seven goals. Philp has come in clutch for the Hogs twice against Iowa and has two game-winners this season against the Wild.

Who’s Hot

RFD- Lukas Reichel rides a four-game point streak into the postseason after registering points in each of his last four games since returning from the NHL. Reichel has five points (3G, 2A) in that span.

RFD- David Gust has assists in three of his last four contests for the IceHogs. The former Calder Cup Champion with the Chicago Wolves ranks second on the team in scoring with 59 points (26G, 33A).

IA- Nic Petan had a nine-game point streak snapped just before the end of the regular season. From Mar. 17 at Coachella Valley to Apr. 8 at Chicago, Petan posted points in nine straight games and amassed 17 total points (6G, 11) in that span.

IA- Sammy Walker has points in each of his last three games for the Wild. The former Minnesota Golden Gopher finished sixth in rookie scoring with 48 points (27G, 21A) and ended the season ranked second in rookie points per game for players who had appeared in at least 15 contests.

Special Teams

After struggling in the second half of the season, Rockford’s power play came to life at the end of the regular circuit. The Hogs notched power-play goals in three of their last four games of the regular campaign and finished with the league’s 28^th best man-advantage unit at 16.3%. The power play has been productive against Iowa this season at 22% (11/50), and Rockford buried three power-play tallies against Iowa on two separate occasions this season (Nov. 6, Dec. 13). Luke Philp leads the IceHogs with 11 power-play goals this season, and Lukas Reichel leads the club with 21 power-play points (5G, 16A).

Iowa’s power play ranks 21^st in the AHL at 18.1%, and their penalty kill ranks towards the bottom of the charts at 30^th in the league and 76.0%. Seasoned defenseman Joe Hicketts has been the trigger man running the top man advantage unit for the Wild all season, and Hicketts is tied for fourth in the AHL with 24 power-play assists. Sammy Walker is Hicketts’ favorite target, and the rookie owns a team-best nine power-play goals on the season.

In the Crease

Between the pipes, this series is a battle between Rockford’s workhorse in Arvid Soderblom, and Iowa’s two-man tandem of Jesper Wallstedt and Zane McIntyre. Soderblom started the last seven games of the regular season for the IceHogs and has been the bona fide No. 1 since returning from a groin injury that he sustained on Dec. 28 against Grand Rapids. Soderblom owns a 15-12-3-2 record, 2.92 goals-against average, and a .905 save percentage in 33 appearances throughout the regular season with the Hogs. His return to form in early February gave the Hogs back-to-back wins against the Wild on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4. The backstop has not lost to Iowa in regulation this season, and through five appearances against Wild this season, Soderblom owns a 4-0-1-0 record, 1.93 goals-against average, and a .936 save percentage. The Swede has been magnificent in big moments all season and owns a .932 save percentage in overtime along with a .838 save percentage in shootouts- the second best in the AHL amongst goaltenders who have faced at least 16 attempts.

Ever since a pair of games against the Hogs on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25, the Wild have rotated Wallstedt and McIntyre in net. Both are capable netminders, but Wallstedt has a slight statistical edge on his counterpart. The former first-round pick holds a 18-15-2-3 record, 2.68 goals-against average, and a .908 save percentage compared to McIntyre who clocks in at 16-12-3-2, 2.87, and .899. Both own winning records against the IceHogs this season, and Wallstedt has earned a sparkling .922 save percentage in seven appearances against Rockford.

All the Overtimes

The IceHogs and Wild reached overtime in seven of the 12 meetings over the course of the regular season. Each of the first three, and seven of the first nine encounters all reached the extra frame. The Wild won each of the first five extra-time games, and it wasn’t until a shootout win by Rockford on Feb. 3 at the BMO Center that the Hogs topped the Wild beyond regulation. Rockford followed up the shootout win with an overtime victory the next night on Feb. 4 thanks to a Bobby Lynch goal late in the extra frame. For Iowa, Sammy Walker, Steven Fogarty, Dakota Mermis, and Nic Petan all scored overtime-winners against Rockford during the season.

Historical Perspective

Wednesday’s action will mark the first ever meeting between Rockford and Iowa in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Once the Hogs and Wild drop the puck, Rockford will have played all six Central Division opponents at least once in the postseason. This series marks the first playoff appearance for the Wild since they fell in the Division Finals to the Chicago Wolves in 2019. Rockford advanced past the First Round last season by sweeping the Texas Stars in two games before falling to the eventual champion Chicago Wolves in the Division Semifinals.