Rockford, Ill.- Three Rockford IceHogs alumni will be appearing in the 2009 Calder Cup Finals for the Manitoba Moose. Forwards Derek Nesbitt, Dusty Collins, and Greg Rallo are on the Manitoba roster as the Moose take on the Hershey Bears at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.
Manitoba beat the Houston Aeros 3-1 on Monday to earn their first ever Western Conference Championship.
Nesbitt skated in 46 games with the IceHogs, recording 35 points (17g-18a) as a mid-season call-up from the Gwinnett Gladiators in December 2007. The Egmondville, Ontario native signed his first National Hockey League contract with the Phoenix Coyotes over the summer and played in 49 games (6g-9a-15pts) with San Antonio before being reassigned to Manitoba as the Moose (0g-4a-4pts in five games) made a late-season playoff push. He has been held scoreless in one post season game with the Moose.
Collins was without a point in two games with the IceHogs in 2007-08, spending the majority of the season with the Arizona Sundogs (CHL). The Gilbert, Arizona native split time between the Ontario Reign (ECHL) and Manchester Monarchs in 2008-09 before finding a permanent spot on the Moose roster. Collins had 14 points (11g-3a) in 50 games combined between the Moose and Monarchs. In 16 postseason games, he has a goal and two assists.
Rallo appeared in two games with Rockford in 2007-08. He joined the Moose in March 2008 and made the 2008-09 squad out of training camp. The Gurnee, Illinois native had nine points (4g-5a) in 55 games with Manitoba in the regular season and has two goals and two assists in 16 games with the Moose in the Calder Cup playoffs.
Catch the games on AHL Live at theahl.com on your computer with live video webcasts and highlights. The game times are listed below.
2009 Calder Cup Finals (best-of-seven)
N1-Manitoba Moose vs. E1-Hershey Bears
Game 1 – Sat., May 30 – Hershey at Manitoba, 7:30 CT
Game 2 – Tue., June 2 – Hershey at Manitoba, 7:30 CT
Game 3 – Sat., June 6 – Manitoba at Hershey, 6:00 CT
Game 4 – Sun., June 7 – Manitoba at Hershey, 4:00 CT
*Game 5 – Tue., June 9 – Manitoba at Hershey, 6:00 CT
*Game 6 – Fri., June 12 – Hershey at Manitoba, 7:30 CT
*Game 7 – Sun., June 14 – Hershey at Manitoba, 7:30 CT
*if necessary