Is this the taste of things to come for these two teams, in sold out a arena of just over 6,000, 1,000 were Wolves fans that braved the weather forecast of an ice storm to see a regular season contest between two teams a mere hour by interstate. The rivalry is in full glorious bloom and making ready for the playoff run that one or both of these teams will make. The shooting is going to be great and the roller coaster ride for Chicago fans is going to be remarkable.
It is past time to come out of the closet so to speak. I have been a fan of the Rockford Ice Hogs for several years, I fell hard on St. Patrick's Night looking out on the ice and seeing Hammy in the spotlight shamrock in his hat, holding the flag for a local school choir singing the anthem. It was over, I became a total fan as they scored moments later and the crowd got up and danced, a hockey crowd dancing you say? Yes, I was hooked. My dual loyalties existed quite peacefully since the Hogs were a UHL team and the Wolves were AHL, when the Wolves were out of town we went to Rockford and had a great time, it helped that somehow Rockford seemed to bring out the best in me artistically. Then last spring the Hogs made the move to the AHL, would we be able to deal? I struggled, finally in the last month I decided to just give up, I still love both teams and yes, I know this set of "Hogs" are really from VA. The most important thing to me is that the "Hawg soul" is still there. The front office staff remains the same,the crowd spirt is still there. The faces on the ice may have changed but the intangibles that make going to games in Rockford such a good time have transitioned to the AHL nicely.
So there is, I deal, so now you can deal, I love two AHL teams within a few miles of each other. Life is good!
Now some images showing Wolves -vs-Hogs, great hockey, two good netties last night. IMHO the difference was the Wolves defense was far more consistant. No team will ever win a game unless there is someone waving his fanny in the goalies face,ready to score, Hogs are you listening?
Powderhornhockey
No comments:
Post a Comment