Are the Rockford IceHogs playoff bound? Here's what you need to know
The Rockford IceHogs are in fifth place in the AHL Central Division headed into the final week of the season, with the top five teams from that division making it into the playoffs.
But it's the AHL's defending Calder Cup champion Chicago Wolves (31-28-4-3) trying to track them down. And the Hogs have lost four in a row to Chicago.
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Here is everything you need to know as the Hogs try and hang on to that AHL playoff berth.
Where do they stand?
Headed into the games on Friday (at Milwaukee) and Saturday (at home against Milwaukee), Rockford (31-26-5-4) was three points behind fourth-place Iowa Wild, and two points ahead of fifth-place Chicago.
What do the Hogs have left?
Here is the Hogs' remaining regular-season schedule: Rockford hosts Chicago on Tuesday; at Grand Rapids on Friday; hosts Manitoba on Saturday; and is at Milwaukee Sunday, April 16, at 5 p.m. for the regular-season finale.
When do the AHL playoffs start?
The entire AHL ends its regular season Sunday, April 16, and the playoffs will kick in on Monday or Tuesday for the play-in teams, and later for the top seeds.
If the playoffs started today...?
The Hogs would be in as the fifth seed in the Central, and would take on the fourth-seeded Iowa Wild in a first-round best-of-three series. The top-seeded Texas Stars would be waiting in the divisonal semifinals for a best-of-five series.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Are the Rockford IceHogs playoff bound? Here's what you need to know
