From Center Ice: The Finnish Edition
Welcome to From Center Ice, a new article series all about the Rockford IceHogs. I’ll try to keep this stuff as civilized as possible. . . but I’m not going to make any promises. If there’s anything I’m passionate about, it’s the Piggies. But, I will do my best.
Because I was starting this series, I contacted the Blackhawks and asked them to send down Henri Jokiharju. I figured it would make for an interesting piece to kick this thing off!
Okay, maybe I don’t have that kind of influence, but a girl can dream, right? They must have at least known this was coming because the IceHogs were gifted with the young and super-talented blue-liner AND it just so happened that there was a firework show ON THE ICE after the game. There’s so much to talk about, so let’s just get into it.
Friday night, the IceHogs took on their bitter rival The Chicago Wolves. It’s been an up and down season series this year after the IceHogs swept them in the 2018 post season. Games against the Wolves are always hard fought and they get the crowd riled up.
Henri Jokiharju lit the place up by scoring his first professional goal to tie the game at 1. That goal sparked the young Fin, the crowd, and the team. They didn’t look back and held up their strong play to beat the Wolves 5-2! Alexandre Fortin, William Pelletier, and Victor Edjsell also got on the score sheet betting goals of their own.
We can’t possibly overlook the performance of Finnish goaltender Kevin Lankinen. He was owning his crease Friday night coming up with some absolutely huge saves to keep the Hogs ahead of their Illinois Lottery Cup rivals, the Wolves. Lankinen is a promising prospect in net, so it’s good to see him consistently post games with big saves to keep his team in it. The 23 year-old goaltender has appeared in 12 games with the IceHogs this season and sports a .910 sv%.
This was the IceHogs 3rd consecutive win. They picked up another victory in overtime Saturday night in Milwaukee. The Hogs went on a slide in the standings after losing Head Coach Jeremy Colliton and young stud goaltender Collin Delia to the Chicago Blackhawks. Now that Rockford has been gifted with Jokiharju, they can turn this thing around and get back to the playoffs where anything can happen.
In 37 games with the Blackhawks, Jokiharju notched 12 assists and a -6 rating. He spent a lot of time on the top defensive pair with Duncan Keith which is an awesome opportunity for a young player coming out of Juniors. He didn't look out of place at all, but the organization wanted to get him playing top minutes in every situation, so Rockford is blessed with his presence until they pluck him back from us.
Henri also participated in the 2019 World Junior Championship and was on the gold-medal winning Finland squad. He scored 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points in the tournament.
The next home game is Wednesday, February 6 at 7:00 pm vs Wilkes-Barre Scranton. They’ll also be home at the BMO Harris Bank Center on Friday and Saturday taking on the Tuscon Roadrunners.
The IceHogs have a home-heavy schedule this month. They’ll look to take advantage of home ice and pick up as many points as possible. Grab your tickets and come cheer on the boys. Tickets are available online at Ticketmaster or at the BMO Harris Bank Center Box Office.