Rockford IceHogs at Cleveland Monsters
Wednesday, January 18th, 2017 – 7:00 pm EST
Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland, Ohio
Radio: 99x(99.1); 99x Online
Twitter: @goicehogs
@monstershockey , #CLEMonsters
Cleveland Monsters, 17-14-1-3, 38 points, 4th Central, 9th West
vs
Rockford IceHogs, 13-20-3-3, 32 points, 8th Central, 16th West
The last-place Rockford IceHogs skate into Cleveland tonight to take on the Monsters.
After dropping two games in Charlotte this past weekend, the Monsters are on a lose streak. The addition of Markus Hannikainen on the roster tonight should help the boys get back into their groove.
However, the IceHogs defeated their cross-town rival, the Chicago Wolves, on Monday giving them the boost they need to climb out of the bottom spot in the league.
Tonight’s game will be aggressive and both goalies will be putting on a show.
3 Keys
- Maintain the Lead
When the IceHogs are down they tend to finish on the losing end of things. When trailing after one their record is 2-11-2-1. When trailing after two periods the record is even worse, 1-18-2-1. However, when they take a lead at any point in the game the IceHogs tend to use the new momentum change to propel them towards the finish line.
In Saturday’s game against the Checkers, the Monsters had a substantial lead over their opponent until the final five minutes of the second period. Then the proverbial wheels came off the train and the Checkers scored five unanswered goals to take the win.
They have to keep their momentum going. The IceHogs are going to be watching every move on and off the ice the Monsters make. One false move and the IceHogs will take advantage of the mistake in a blink of an eye.
| IceHogs | Monsters | |
| 5-2-1-2 | Leading After 1 | 6-2-0-2 |
| 10-0-0-1 | Leading After 2 | 9-2-0-2 |
| 6-7-0-0 | Tied After 1 | 8-6-1-1 |
| 2-2-1-1 | Tied After 2 | 6-3-1-0 |
| 2-11-2-1 | Trailing After 1 | 3-6-0-0 |
| 1-18-2-1 | Trailing After 2 | 2-9-0-1 |
| 12-12-2-2 | Outshooting Opponent | 9-5-1-1 |
| 1-8-1-1 | Outshot by Opponent | 8-9-0-1 |
2. Continue to Trust the Goaltender
Blake Siebenaler is one the players need to look to for guidance right now. He has been Thiessen’s and Forsberg’s best friend in recent history.
One of Siebenaler’s greatest strengths is his ability to assess the situation surrounding the goalie.
Sometimes you need to back away and give your goalie the space to analyze the play coming towards them. Other times a defender needs to step in when a goalie is out of place or there is a rebound which needs to be picked up. Siebenaler knows how his goalie teammates work. He trusts them and at the same time understands mistakes happen. I’ve never seen him stare at them or shame them on the ice after making a mistake.
Trust the goalie.
3. Rebound, Rebound, Rebound
I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. Rebounds make or break the Monsters. They need to be ready to rebound both offensively and defensively.
Season Series
10/14/2016 – Rockford (1) at Monsters (2) = W
10/15/2016 – Rockford (1) at Monsters (3) = W
10/23/2016 – Monsters (2) at Rockford (5) = L
11/23/2016 – Monsters (5) at Rockford (4) = W
01/18/2017
01/20/2017
02/15/2017
02/15/2017
Stats Matchup
| IceHogs | Monsters | |
| 2.49 (26th) | GPG | 2.69 (21st) |
| 3.46 (29th) | GAPG | 2.86 (12th) |
| 15.8% (22nd) | PP% | 15.6% (24th) |
| 76.9% (27th) | PK% | 84.6% (6th) |
| Spencer Abbott; 8 | G Leader | Oliver Bjorkstrand; 11 |
| Abbott, Pokka; 16 | A Leader | TJ Tynan; 19 |
| Spencer Abbott; 24 | P Leader | TJ Tynan; 23 |
| Pieree-Cedric Labrie; 72 | PIM Leader | Brett Gallant; 53 |
| 3-13-1-1 | Road/Home | 10-6-1-1 |
| 3-6-1-0 | Last 10 | 5-3-0-2 |
| 1-0-0-0 | Streaks | 0-1-0-1 |