Last night I made the 2 hour drive down I-90 out to Rock Vegas to take in the Rockford IceHogs vs. Milwaukee Admirals game. While I was looking forward to seeing Marko Dano when I first bought the tickets, I was thrown a curve ball earlier in the week and was instead treated Bryan Bickell making an appearance for the Hogs. Nevertheless, there was still hockey to be played, and some prospects to keep an eye on. Instead of a traditional Puckin' Hostile recap, I'm going to do brief summaries on the players I had an eye on. And if you guessed Bickell would be one, you win.
Brian Bickell - Without a doubt, Bickell was the one I had my eye on the most last night. Bickell had a superb shift in the first period which included; a missed check that sent him into the boards at 100mph, a swing and a miss on a slap shot attempt (I felt the breeze all the way up in the last row), and a lazy backcheck in which his guy beat him up the ice, and you guessed it, ended up scoring. Bickell did have a nice assist on Pokka's goal in the third period, but overall I wasn't impressed. He looked completely lost out there. If its true that there were NHL scouts looking at him in Rockford last night, then good luck convincing them that he's worthy of making a deal right now. I don't know if its his knee or the vertigo, but whatever it is, something isn't right with Bickell.
Kyle Baun - This is the first time I got to see Baun play in person and all I have to say is, "how the hell did this guy make the Blackhawks roster coming out of camp?" Baun had a wide open shot in the slot, and missed the net by 10 feet. Even Viktor Stalberg was laughing at that "attempt." In addition to that, Baun spent the majority of the game skating around like a chicken with his head cut off. What Quenneville saw in his game that he liked so much is beyond me.
Brandon Mashinter -The Manshitter opened up the scoring for the IceHogs with a goal scored right in front of the crease. Are you paying attention Bryan Bickell? Mashinter had a solid game overall. In addition to the goal, he had another good opportunity to score and a few good, quality hits, that actually caused separation of the puck and created turnovers. I'll gladly take those kinds of hits.
Vinnie Hinostroza - As was the case with Baun, this was the first time I got to see Hinostroza play in person. Overall, not bad, but nothing spectacular as well. He generated some chances, and actually looked like he was trying to improve his 200 foot game. That will go over well with Quenneville. He kind of reminded me of a Martin St. Pierre type of player. The good news for Hinostroza is, he's young and will hopefully continue to improve.
Ville Pokka - Pokka had an up and down game. His goal in the third period tied the game, but he also took two bad penalties. Not to mention, I also counted two times where he made a bad pinch at the blue line and nearly got bitten by them as a result. Clean some of the mistakes, fine tune the offense, and Pokka might be ready to challenge for a roster spot next season. How's that @Hostile_Derek?
Cameron Schilling - I liked what I saw out of Schilling last night. He kept his game simple, and aside from a late first period penalty had a solid night overall. He and Pokka were the only IceHogs that were a +2 on the night. Depending on the situation with the Hawk blue line, it wouldn't surprise me if Schilling gets a call up once during the season. But as for now, I don't have a problem with him playing in Rockford getting regular ice time.
Other notables
Jake Dowell - I liked Dowell when he was with the Hawks, but at this point in his career, he's a career AHLer. There's nothing wrong with that.
Ryan Hartman - Hartman had a great chance on a breakaway, but couldn't convert. Other than that, I thought I was watching Andrew Shaw last night.
Kyle Cumiskey - Much like the Blackhawks Stanley Cup championship ring photo, I didn't notice Cumiskey at all last night. I'm sure Quenneville saw something he liked though.
Dennis Rasmussen - Not bad last night. Got a bullshit goalie interference call against him the second period, but I liked what I saw. Definitely a work in progress.
Jeremy Morin - Apparently he played last night.
Power Play - The trick to seeing an effective power play involving the Blackhawks is traveling to Rockford. I haven't seen a power play with this much sustained pressured in years. It was a joy to see.
3 on 3 OT - I'm glad the AHL stopped with the horrendous 7 min OT, which had 4 on 4 to start, then revert to 3 on 3 after the first whistle past the 4 minute mark. That was a joke. 3 on 3 OT in person is like watching a bad game of NHL 95.
Perhaps though the highlight of the night belonged to @UncleRozsival who dropped this line after seeing Ville Pokka wearing #29 and Bryan Bickell wearing #44; "Jeez, how bad is it when you get sent down and you can't even have your number?"
That will conclude this Rockford report. As I said before on the Shoutcast, I plan on making more trips out to Rockford when I can this season, in addition to a couple of times they play the Wolves at the Allstate Arena. If you have any prospects you'd like to get reports on when I'm at a game, drop us a line @PuckinHostile or @Patrick_Stankus. Finally, if you haven't been to a game in Rockford, I suggest you go. Its a great time. Its almost as fun as a trip to Lumbus.
