Game Delayed By Missing Gear

After a long morning of traveling, Rockford's starting goaltender Antti Niemi was faced with the major dilemma. As the fans were starting to arrive at the MetroCentre, Niemi, along with two other IceHogs players, were anxiously awaiting the arrival of their missing gear. It seems several bags of gear didn't arrive from San Antonio with the team. Niemi participated in warm ups wearing an old set of pads and a mask borrowed from teammate Corey Crawford. With the AHL's consent, game time was pushed back by 30 minutes to allow the missing gear to arrive for the players. The missing bags were delivered during warm ups and Niemi was able to start the game wearing his own gear.

Despite the baggage snafu, it was another stellar night in goal for Niemi, stopping 29 of 30 shots. Niemi seems to have found that much needed confidence that has been missing for many games. It looked like he was headed for a shutout until Houston's Morten Madsen found the back of the net at 17:35 of the 3rd frame. Rockford's Jack Skille left the game during the 1st period with a upper body injury. Word is he may be out possibly 4-6 weeks, if the initial diagnosis holds true.

Houston pulled goaltender Nolan Schaefer late in the 3rd to give them the extra skater advantage, but it wasn't enough. Rockford takes the win, 2-1. This puts Rockford in 3rd place with 80 points in the West, right behind Houston and Peoria who are tied for 2nd place with 82 points each. According to the AHL website, the Milwaukee Admirals have clinched the West Division title. With just 2 weeks left in the regular season, it's going to be a tight race to secure those remaining playoff spots within the west division.