After three games with Mark Eaton the IceHogs are in a state of flux. They're also 0-2-1, Outscored 11-1.
By Jack Masters, Icehogs Analyst, @hogthought on X
ROCKFORD-- Let me lead this off with this: clearly this is an intentional over-reaction article. This team could go on a hot streak just as easily as they’ve slipped the last three games. But I’ve got numbers to get on this site so here goes nothing….
Rarely do I break out the laptop and start up on a story on a weekday night. But it's red-alert in Icehogs-land. After Anders Sorensen was named Interim Head Coach of the Blackhawks, Kyle Davidson tabbed Mark Eaton as Interim HC in Rockford. Mark Eaton, the Assistant GM who yes does have TONS of NHL playing experience, but no coaching experience. He said himself in an interview with Icehogs broadcaster Dana Grey he was preparing for something that was totally different from playing.
Before I begin, let me preface here: this is not Mark Eaton's fault. He seems to be a good dude. Seemingly has done a solid job in the scouting department for the Hawks. But he has no coaching experience. Throwing him in behind a bench as a HC halfway through an AHL season is a recipe for failure and a disservice to him, no matter how low the expectations are from the Hawks front office. Keep him in the front office where he has succeeded. Put Klinkhammer or MacNevin in charge.
Now, let's begin. Through Eaton's first 3 games, the IceHogs are 0-2-1, nothing crazy for a 3 game stretch in the AHL. They even played solid and got a point in Springfield, losing in OT. But dear god was the 5-0 loss at Iowa bad. Like slam the laptop closed or throw the TV remote and go to bed bad. 2-0 Iowa on the first two shots bad. Iowa got a hat trick from Brendan Gaunce not even halfway through the second period and oh boy was his third goal a doozy:
Yeah that's bad. Looking at this from the outside in to Rockford's POV, it's easy to say, "well it's AHL hockey, win's and losses don't matter." True, but from what I saw in the game @ Iowa, it's not just the loss that was worrying, it was the way it looked in general. I won't sit here and pretend to be a hockey-savant and breakdown their systems and structure, but from the eye-test, it looked sloppy. Minimal defensive-structure, bad zone entries, really no pucks deep for a team that see's a ton of it's success come from a fore-check heavy system. It was ugly hockey. Like late night pond hockey everybody for themselves hockey.
All this leads to a 5-0 loss, but the real issue for me is how this affects the prospects. Kyle Davidson said himself the only hindrance they had to promoting Anders Sorensen was they did not want to disturb the "progress Sorensen has made" with the Hawks prospects. Well, judging off the mess that occurred against Iowa and the way Sorensen's last game with Rockford looked, (a 7-3 win @Lehigh Valley). I'm not too sure this is an ideal environment for the prospects right now.
Post-Anders Sorensen, the only players with points are Cole Guttman, Brett Seney and Gerry Mayhew. 1 point each. Nazar, Dach, Levshunov, Slaggert, Del Mastro all held off the box score. Sure it’s only three games, but we haven’t seen a player like Nazar go scoreless for more than two games at any point this season, until Sorensen was promoted. Could be a coincidence of course, but I’m observing.
Again, I'm not blaming Eaton here. I'm just saying if Sorensen was the guy they were dead-set on giving the promotion, why not give Klinkhammer or MacNevin the nod for the rest of the way in Rockford? No need to disturb the front office and those two have coaching experience to fall back on. Especially Rob Klinkhammer, who’s been with the Icehogs since 2022 as an Assistant and has a huge hand in Rockford’s special teams.
Of course all this could turn around and I'll gladly look like an idiot, but until then I'll continue attempting to entertain Icehogs fans with similar way-over-the-top reaction articles that are sure to ruffle a few feathers as we ride the train that is a young and developing Icehogs roster.
Looking ahead, the Icehogs return home for a Saturday-Sunday slate against Iowa and Milwaukee, respectively. Let’s hope they turn it around, for the prospects sake.
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