Rockford IceHogs | Toews, Makarov Shine at Red/White Event
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Toews, Makarov Shine at Red/White Event

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From chicagoblackhawks.com; (link)

The Blackhawks were met with passionate fans at the team's inaugural Red/White Event at Rockford's MetroCentre, home of the IceHogs, and White made itself right at home, defeating Black 3-2 in the first scrimmage of the day, and Red 3-1 in the second.

"Yesterday I felt the White team did not have a good day and let them know they had to have a better day today, and they were [better]," says Head Coach Denis Savard. "They played with better structure and a little more of a bite. It showed."

That bite showed in a big way in the first game, which featured two fights; Brent Seabrook and Black's Kyle Beach dropped the gloves early in the game, and Craig Adams and Colin Fraser fought later on.

"We have a lot to play for," said defenseman Nicklas Hjalmarsson. "We're all trying to get a spot on the Blackhawks."

The second game featured defense and goaltending, as White carried a 2-1 lead late into the game behind great efforts from Josh Unice, who didn't surrender a goal in either scrimmage of the day, and Cristobal Huet. But it was another goaltender who got the lion's share of applause from the crowd: Corey Crawford, who was the only '07-08 IceHogs goalie to return to Rockford for the day.

"It feels nice. They backed us all last year," said Crawford. "The fans are great here. It was really nice to have them out here and hear them cheering for me."

Game Notes:
Forwards Dan Bertram and Martin Havlat both left the game early. Bertram was hit in the mouth early in the first game, according to Savard, and chipped several teeth, and Havlat left the second game with a chipped tooth, as well.

Game 1 Box Score

TEAM GOAL ASSIST GOALIE TIME
White 55 Eager 2 Keith, 19 Toews 39 Khabibulin :53
White 15 Boularice 17 K. Adams, 62 MacArthur 39 Khabibulin 5:18
White 56 Brent 29 Bickell 30 Fallon 27:14
Black 64 Labelle 61 Tanguay, 60 Zahn 38 Huet 28:30
Black 36 Bolland 16 Ladd, 4 Hjalmarsson 38 Huet 44:16

Game 2 Box Score

TEAM GOAL ASSIST GOALIE TIME
Red 63 Radja 25 Barker, 51 Campbell 38 Huet 13:35
White 26 Makarov 24 Havlat, 19 Toews 31 Niemi 16:15
White 19 Toews* -- 50 Crawford 37:00
White 26 Makarov -- ENG 44:00
*Penalty Shot