Central Division Semifinal Preview

The Rockford IceHogs face the Grand Rapids Griffins in the Central Division Semifinals of the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs in a best-of-five series starting on Saturday at the BMO Center.

• Game #1 – Saturday, Apr. 27 at RFD (7 p.m. CT)
• Game #2 – Wednesday, May 1 at GR (6 p.m. CT)
• Game #3 – Friday, May 3 at GR (6 p.m. CT)
• Game #4* – Sunday, May 5 at RFD (4 p.m. CT)
• Game #5* – Friday, May 10 at GR (6 p.m. CT)

*If necessary...*Bold & Italics- Rockford home game

Rockford-Grand Rapids Matchup
Through 12 meetings in the 2023-24 regular season, Rockford and Grand Rapids each claimed six wins in the season series. The Hogs were 2-3-0-1 against the Griffins at the BMO Center and 4-2-0-0 at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Through 12 matchups, each side has six wins, and Rockford has outscored Grand Rapids by just one goal (25-24, RFD: 2.08 GF/GM...GR: 2.00 GF/GM). There have been four shutouts so far in the season series- the Hogs have shut out the Griffins three times and been shut out once. Five of the 12 encounters have been separated by one goal, and nine have been decided by two or less. In 24 opportunities (12 for both sides), only four times has a team scored four or more goals. Rockford and Grand Rapids have met only once before in the postseason, and the Griffins claimed a 4-1 series win in the 2015 West Division Semifinals.

Home-Ice Advantage
While the IceHogs were unable to steal Second Place in the Central Division standings from the Griffins, Rockford snagged home-ice advantage in Game 1 of the Central Division Semifinals due to a scheduling issue at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. The Hogs went 20-13-2-1 on the road, and the Griffins finished 14-16-4-2 away from Van Andel Arena.

IceHogs Profile
Despite a slow start and middle of the 2023-24 season that included a pair of seven-game losing streaks from November 25 to December 15 and January 24 to February 9, the IceHogs were red-hot late in the campaign after winning seven-straight games from February 21 to March 12 and 13 of their last 17 games from March 16 to April 21.

The IceHogs' third place finish in the Central Division is the team's best regular season result since the 2015-16 club finished third. Rockford ends the campaign with 39 wins—the most for the club since the 2017-18 side won 40 and reached the Western Conference Finals. Rockford ranked eighth in the Western Conference, and the Hogs’ penalty kill ranked seventh in the league at 84% in the regular season.

Griffins Profile
Grand Rapids finished the regular season with 86 points to rank second in the Central Division. The Griffins boasted a 19-game home point streak, but Jaxson Stauber and the IceHogs shutout Grand Rapids 2-0 at Van Andel Arena on April 12 and cost Sebastian Cossa his 19-game unbeaten streak.

Postseason History

• Hogs have now reached the Calder Cup Playoffs in each of the last three seasons and has reached the Central Division Semifinals for the third consecutive time since 2018
• Rockford is 24-30 in postseason games and have a 6-8 division semifinals series record
• Hogs have now appeared in the postseason nine times
• The IceHogs and Griffins have met only one time before in the postseason (2015)
• Rockford is 1-2 at the BMO Center and 0-2 on the road against the Griffins in the Calder Cup Playoffs
• The Griffins have now reached the postseason 18 times and are the 2013 and 2017 Calder Cup Champions

Trending Tendies
Rockford’s two rookie goaltenders rotated starts in the net this season. Jaxson Stauber finished the regular season with an 18-8-3 record including a .902% save percentage and a 2.85 goals against average. On top of recording 794 saves in 31 games, Stauber marked five points (1G, 4A) this season (the most for a goaltender in a single season in IceHogs AHL history) and went on a 13-game win streak from February 10 to April 14. Stauber made AHL history this season when he made 24 saves and became the first netminder to score a goal and record a shutout in the same game on February 16 against the Chicago Wolves.

Drew Commesso ended the regular season with an 18-16-4 record, a .906% save percentage, and a 2.65 goals against average. Commesso made 947 saves in 38 games and recorded an assist. In one of the odd statistical quirks of the season so far, all three goaltenders have recorded an assist this season. After Mitchell Weeks picked up an assist on David Gust’s game-winner on Dec. 31 against Milwaukee, the IceHogs became the only team in the AHL to have three goaltenders who have recorded a point.

Series Leaders
RFD: Brett Seney led the Hogs this season with 63 points, including 13 points (5G, 8A) in 12 games against GR.

RFD: David Gust totaled seven points (1G, 6A) in 11 games against the Griffins this season and has recorded 18 points (7G, 11A) in 33 career Calder Cup Playoff games.

GR: Zach-Aston Reese notched seven points (3G, 4A) against the Hogs this season and ranked sixth for the Griffins with 30 points (14G, 16A).

GR: Carter Mazur finished his second career AHL season with 37 points (17G, 20A), including five points (3G, 2A) in 10 games against the IceHogs.