The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the BMO Center, and they serve as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Chicago Blackhawks.

History

The current Rockford IceHogs were founded in 1995 as the Baltimore Bandits and then relocated in 1997 to Cincinnati to become the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks suspended operations for the 2005–06 season due to the lack of an NHL affiliate after their previous affiliates, the Detroit Red Wings and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, signed new agreements with the Grand Rapids Griffins and the Portland Pirates, respectively. The franchise was later renamed the Cincinnati RailRaiders, but failed to reach a goal of 2,000 season tickets to re-enter the AHL for the 2006–07 season. On March 19, 2007, the AHL announced that the team had been purchased and relocated to Rockford to become the present-day Rockford IceHogs.

On April 7, 2021, the Blackhawks formally purchased the IceHogs. The Blackhawks also unveiled a $23 million multi-year project to renovate and modernize the BMO Harris Bank Center, which would keep the IceHogs in Rockford through 2036.

Timeline The franchise was previously known as: Baltimore Bandits (1995–1997) Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (1997–2005) (an affiliate of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Detroit Red Wings)

The market was previously served by: Rockford IceHogs (1999–2007) UHL

Season-by-season results

+Rockford IceHogs season resultsRegular seasonPlayoffsSeasonGamesWonLostPointsGoalsforGoalsagainstStandingYearPrelims1stround2ndround3rdroundFinals2007–08 80 44 26 4 6 98 .613 247 231 2nd, West 2008 — W, 4–1, HOU L, 3–4, CHI ——2008–09 80 40 34 0 6 86 .538 229 220 4th, West 2009 — L, 0–4, MIL ———2009–10 80 44 30 3 3 94 .588 226 226 3rd, West 2010 — L, 0–4, TEX ———2010–11 80 38 33 4 5 85 .531 216 245 8th, West 2011 Did not qualify2011–12 76 35 32 2 7 79 .520 207 228 5th, Midwest 2012 Did not qualify2012–13 76 42 31 2 1 87 .572 246 225 3rd, Midwest 2013 Did not qualify2013–14 76 35 32 5 4 79 .520 234 262 4th, Midwest 2014 Did not qualify2014–15 76 46 23 5 2 99 .651 222 180 2nd, Midwest 2015 — W, 3–0, TEX L, 1–4. GR ——2015–16 76 40 22 10 4 94 .618 214 205 3rd, Central 2016 — L, 0–3, LE — — —2016–17 76 25 39 9 3 62 .408 175 246 8th, Central 2017 Did not qualify2017–18 76 40 28 4 4 88 .579 239 234 4th, Central 2018 — W, 3–0, CHI W, 4–0, MB L, 2–4, TEX —2018–19 76 35 31 4 6 80 .526 184 214 7th, Central 2019 Did not qualify2019–20 63 29 30 2 2 62 .492 156 187 5th, Central 2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic2020–21 32 12 19 1 0 25 .391 89 115 6th, Central 2021 No playoffs were held2021–22 72 37 30 4 1 79 .549 223 221 4th, Central 2022 W, 2–0, TEX L, 0–3, CHI — — —2022–23 72 35 28 5 4 79 .549 214 232 5th, Central 2023 W, 2–0, IA L, 0–3, TEX — — —2023–24 72 39 26 5 2 85 .590 215 208 3rd, Central 2024 BYE L, 1–3, GR — — — 2024–25 72 31 33 6 2 70 .486 206 220 5th, Central 2025 W, 2–0, CHI L, 2–3, MIL — — — 2025–26 72 28 39 3 2 61 .424 196 245 7th, Central 2026 Did not qualify

Players

Current roster Updated October 4, 2026.

Team captains

Jim Fahey, 2007–2008 Tim Brent, 2008–2009 Jake Dowell, 2009–2010 Garnet Exelby, 2010–2011 Brandon Segal and Brian Fahey, 2011–2012 Martin St. Pierre, 2012–2013 Jared Nightingale, 2013–2014 Joakim Nordstrom, 2014–2015 Brandon Mashinter, 2015–2016 Jake Dowell, 2016–2017 Kris Versteeg, 2019 Tyler Sikura, 2019–2020 Garrett Mitchell, 2021–2023 Brett Seney, 2024–present

American Hockey League Hall of Famers AHL Hall of Fame Honored Members Name Seasons Induction Year Michael Leighton 2014-16 (player) 2025

Notable alumni

Bryan Bickell, 2007–2010, 2015–2016 Dave Bolland, 2007–2008 Brandon Bollig, 2010–2013 Troy Brouwer, 2007–2009 Corey Crawford, 2007–2010 Phillip Danault, 2011–2016 Scott Darling, 2014–2015 Niklas Hjalmarsson, 2007–2009 Carter Hutton, 2011–2013 Marcus Kruger, 2012–2013 Nick Leddy, 2010–2011, 2012–2013 Jeremy Morin, 2010–2014 Antti Niemi, 2008–2009 Brandon Pirri, 2010–2014 Brandon Saad, 2012–2013 Andrew Shaw, 2011–2013 Jack Skille, 2008–2010 Ben Smith, 2009–2013 Trevor van Riemsdyk, 2014–2015 Kris Versteeg, 2007–2008, 2019

References

External links