IceHogs Sign Sam Jardine
On Wednesday, the Rockford IceHogs announced they have signed defenseman Sam Jardine to a one-year, AHL deal.
Jardine, 21, registered 32 points over three seasons at Ohio State and was expected to return to Columbus for his senior season. The Lacombe, Alberta native was originally selected by the Blackhawks in the sixth round (169th overall) in the 2011 NHL Draft.
Interesting. Guys like Jardine, Gotovets, Mattson and Fournier will be battling for minutes on the left side in Rockford.
This guy had a really good prospect camp, he’s physical and his game has improved quite a bit over the past two years. I would not be surprised to see him start at Indianapolis to get a lot of ice time and then move up to Rockford. Same with Mattson.
For what it’s worth, Jardine can really throw ’em. The last couple of years at prospect camp he had a couple of epic bouts with John Hayden, who’s not too bad himself with the dukes.
Restocking the d-prospects cupboard.
Jardin is probably the best college defensive prospect the Hawks have. He plays a hard nose style of hockey despite not being the biggest guy. Hopefully he can earn some meaningful minutes for the Hogs this year.
Jardin is probably not the best college defense prospect the Blackhawks have, and he does have good size, he’s 6’2 and about 205 these days.
The guy they’ve got at Univ. Nebraska-Omaha (Snuggerud) who is starting to draw some comparisons to Phil Housley is their best college D prospect in my eyes. He was running the power play as a freshman for a Frozen Four team – impressive.
They don’t have that many in college though. A few entering either this fall or next, like recent draftees Dennis Gilbert and Ryan Shea.
Looks like the three Swedes they brought over to Rockford will all be staying in Sweden this season (Dahlstrom, Norell, Press). Not an indictment of their play or potential but they need more seasoning and that’s a good place to get it.
great points, Hof. Which is why the Hawks now have 3 former college dmen – Jardine, Mattson & Gotovets – on AHL contracts w/ Rockford.
Just read Scott Powers article about the Jardine signing. Loved Jardine’s attitude in the interview. He realized that there is a window of opportunity this year due to the Hawks trading 4 d prospects in the last year so he decided to bet on himself and take a one year AHL contract rather than go back to Ohio State for his last season. Hope he has a great year that he can parlay into an entry level NHL deal.
Good stuff Hof & company,
Nice read from Scott Powers as well. Would love to see them add Russo and let the cream rise to the top.
Should be a key year for Snuggerud as well. I will get plenty of chances to see him in Omaha. He’s in that Minnesota mold much like – Leddy, Mike Reilly, and of course Phil Housley.
Those kids play so much pond hockey they just love to skate and push the puck.