Brunhilde may have taken up residence in the area for she is starting her warm ups in Rockford.  Down three games to nothing the Rockford IceHogs have quite a hill to climb to stay in the playoffs. Higher still to progress to the next round.  That sound you hear at the Metro Center may well be a soprano warming up for her part on Tuesday night. Unfortunate but that's playoff hockey, Kris Gray sends us the sad tale from Rockford.

"Tempers were starting to spark in the Bradley Center Saturday night between the Rockford IceHogs and the Milwaukee Admirals. The Admirals started strong, dominating the IceHogs throughout the first frame. Cody Franson scored for Milwaukee at 18:49, assisted by Nick Spaling. While the Admirals seemed to relax a bit during the second frame, Rockford stepped up their game by taking control of the period. Evan Brophy tallied 7:52 in, with help from Rob Klinkhammer and Bryan Bickell. Milwaukee came back strong in the third, with goals by Hugh Jessiman and Patrik Hornqvist. Milwaukee goaltender, Drew McIntyre continued to be stellar in net. In the end,Rockford needs to remember that a hockey game consists of 60 minutes total and that playing any less time will guarantee you the loss.
 
Milwaukee fans...well, lets just say the majority of them treated the Rockford Fans very nicely. One Milwaukee fan made the mistake of inviting a cowbell ringing war, big mistake, Rockford fans are kings of the cowbell.  The was a nice young gentleman who had sat across the aisle for the game, he came up to my sister, introduced himself as the owner of the Admirals and thanked her from coming to the game. Home fans always need to remember that they are hosts in their own house and give the visiting team fans at least one decent memory to take home especially if they loose.
 Rockford needs to play for a full 60 minutes...they're not doing that at all."

Drew McIntyre & the top of Rob Klinkhammer's helmet/ ByKris Gray

Evan Brophy and Drew McIntyre/ ByKris Gray

 
Sunday night was a new game on our own ice, with our own fans, hopes were high that the series would be turned around, this was not to be.

"Very physical game tonight, lots of checking, scrums with tempers indeed flaring. Crowd reported on paper to be 2946. Referee Terry Koharski seemed to keep his whistle between his lips and blew it very frequently. He handed out a total of 28 min for 10 infractions to Rockford and a total of 22 min for 7 infractions to Milwaukee. MIlwaukee's Kelsey Wilson and Rockford's Logan Stephenson both retired to the locker room early last night, as both received Game Misconduct penalties at 10:00 into the 2nd frame. Milwaukee was well represented in the stands, quite a few Admirals' jerseys could be seen in the stands.
 
The score could have been more uneven, but Niemi did a good job holding to 3. Milwaukee goalie Drew McIntyre seems to be  wall that Rockford can't seem to get around. News flash, noticeably absent from last night's game was Blackhawks prospects Akim Aliu and Kyle Beach. Apparently both received disciplinary actions from the IceHogs front office. There is a code of conduct that is expected of the players by both the IceHogs and the Blackhawks. The IceHogs sent Beach & Aliu home for the remainder of the Milwaukee series. It is unknown if they will be returning this post season, should the IceHogs move on in the playoffs." 
 
So that is where things stand with the BlackHawks affiliate, the Hawks stand ready to keep rolling on the the next level while the farm team looks ready to fold. Still, this is the team that came back to force a seven game series last year against the Wolves the optimist in me still says that they are not going to roll over and let the Admirlals move on so easily. It always comes down to the basics at any level, 60 minutes of hockey, stay out of the penalty box, capitalize on the other guys mistakes that's the stuff that wins games or fancy silver cups.

Roc Klinkhammer & Mark Matheson/ ByKris Gray

Drew MacIntyre, with a pretty glove save!/ ByKris Gray

Roc Klinkhammer & Mark Matheson/ By Kris Gray