5 takeaways from Rockford exit interviews: Which Blackhawks prospects stood out?

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The American Hockey League officially announced Monday that it has canceled the rest of its 2019-20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time in its 83-year history, the Calder Cup will not be awarded.

Rockford IceHogs head coach Derek King and captain Tyler Sikura held an end-of-the-season conference call on Tuesday to discuss the league's decision, their assessment of the season, which prospects stood out and what's next for the organization.

Here are five takeaways from the conference call:

1. Reaction to cancellation of AHL season

The cancellation of the AHL season didn't come as much of a surprise to anyone. As time went on, it became more evident this would likely be the end result. But that didn't make the announcement any less disappointing.

"I just had a feeling that this wasn't going to work out, we wouldn't be able to finish the season," King said. "I liked where we were at coming in the stretch there. We still had our head above water. The playoff spot was in our reach and it was up to us on making that happen. Overall, I was upset, obviously, but I was happy with the way our guys performed."

Said Sikura: "To be honest, I kind of foresaw it as an inevitability with just how serious everything has gotten and what's transpired. There's definitely bigger things than hockey right now. At the same time, until that announcement is officially made you still kind of cling on to some sort of hope.

"Yesterday definitely had a lot of emotions that come over you. It definitely sucks in a lot of ways. I thought we had a team that could go on a good little run. We were starting to get healthy bodies and a little bit more continuity into our roster and it's unfortunate to not have a chance to see what we could've done."

2. Why it was a challenging season for IceHogs

The AHL transactions page is a fun way to keep up with the roster movement for each club and there might not have been a busier team that the IceHogs in that regard. There was constant shuffling, whether it was due to injuries, illnesses or call-ups, yet they continued to keep themselves in the playoff race.

And that can be difficult to navigate as a coaching staff, especially for King, who was in his first full season as head coach.

"It was challenging as a staff," King said. "You're preparing for a game and you've got all your special teams worked on the day before, you've worked on your power play and then all of a sudden a guy shows up sick or hurts himself in morning skate or there's a call-up and now you've got to juggle the lines. But it's good that I had that half a season under me already to deal with it.

"I thought as a staff and myself, I thought we handled it pretty well. It's not always fun ... but this is the American Hockey League, it happens. It just happened a lot this year and hopefully, touch wood, next year it's a little smoother."

3. Which prospects stood out?

There were four names King singled out when asked which prospects took the biggest strides this season: Lucas Carlsson, MacKenzie Entwistle, Brandon Hagel and Philipp Kurashev, whose season was cut short due to injuries.

On Carlsson: "I thought Lucas Carlsson had a huge, huge season. Big jump."

On Entwistle: "I really like the way Entwistle's season went. He's got some things to work on obviously, but I thought he should be happy with where he's at. I liked him."

On Hagel: "I was really surprised at how well he did. I think he could've easily been our MVP, unsung hero. He really stepped up. Did I expect that from him? To be honest with you, I thought he was going to struggle a little bit to find his way through his league, but he's a battler. I would keep an eye on this guy."

On Kurashev: "It's too bad he got hurt. I think you would've maybe seen him up earlier or you would've seen him higher in our points is Philipp Kurashev. I believe he's going to be an NHL hockey player. Whether it's a year or two down the road, that's going to be up to him, but I really liked the way he performed. He looks like a pro, he does everything like a pro, it's just getting comfortable and staying healthy."

4. What captaincy meant to Tyler Sikura

The IceHogs named two-time Stanley Cup champion Kris Versteeg their team captain at the beginning of the season after he signed an AHL contract with the organization in the summer. It was a no-brainer at the time given his accomplishments as a pro and the leadership he provides both on and off the ice.

But when Versteeg stepped away from the team in November, the captaincy opened up. The IceHogs didn't necessarily need to fill that void; they had spent the previous three years without a captain. But there was an obvious candidate in Sikura, who was named team MVP in 2017-18, Unsung Hero in 2018-19 and finished as the leading scorer in 2019-20.

"It was a massive honor," Sikura said. "It's one of those things that maybe I'll reflect on my career and think about how far personally that I've been able to come in starting in the ECHL and looking at guys that have played there that had AHL experience.

"Jared Nightingale was actually my first captain in pro hockey who was another former captain of Rockford and a guy who I had immense respect for. And then to take over for a guy like Kris Versteeg, who obviously everyone knows the kind of career he had. It just kind of puts you in some company of people I admired and respected so much. It was a fantastic honor for myself and I'm grateful to Coach King and [Anders] Sorensen for trusting me with that."

5. What's next for organization?

The IceHogs staff of King, Sorensen and GM Mark Bernard communicated via text on Tuesday morning to discuss what the next steps are. All three agreed it would be wise to conduct exit interviews via Zoom call to give players feedback before officially shutting it down for the summer.

But some players may have to stay ready. If or when the NHL does return, the rosters are expected to expand for safety and insurance purposes.

From an organizational standpoint, King was asked about John McDonough being released as president and CEO and whether he's thought about how this could potentially affect his status. He wasn't thinking too much about it.

"The communication has been great," King said. "We've had a couple staff meetings and there's no reason for anybody to be alarmed or nervous about anything. That was a decision they made, that's out of my league. I stay in my lane. But everything, as far as I know, is status quo and we're just moving on and kind of — obviously our season's over — waiting to see what happens with the NHL. I'm sure maybe or maybe not, after the season's officially over, there may be some more conference calls and we'll go from there, but as of now everything's good. It's just too bad the season ended the way it did." 

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