That was quick.
It might have been a surprise that forward Oliver Moore started his season with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs instead of the Chicago Blackhawks. It wasn’t a sign of disbelief from general manager Kyle Davidson, but rather the opposite.
“There’s a difference between surviving and thriving, and we want these players to thrive. In most cases, that’s some time in the AHL,” Davidson said before the Hawks’ season opener in Florida. “They’re there to grow their skill set and their understanding of pro hockey, whether it be getting up to speed with the pace of the game, the physicality (or) the schedule.
“There’s a lot of things they can learn from time in Rockford and I think that’s going to be really beneficial to him. When he does come back, I think he’d be even more prepared to succeed and thrive at the NHL level.”
That was on Oct. 7. Less than a month later, Moore arrived for his season debut.
The center from the University of Minnesota, who played in nine games for the Hawks last season, was recalled from the IceHogs prior to Monday’s game against the Seattle Kraken. It was a whiplash for Moore: One second, he was lacing up his skates for a game against the Grand Rapids Griffins, the next, he was on a flight to Seattle.
“It was definitely a whirlwind, we bused out to Grand Rapids as a team, getting ready to go play a game,” Moore said. “(IceHogs assistant general manager) Nick Anderson pulled me into the coach’s office and was just like, ‘Yeah, you’re going up.’
“I didn’t get a ton of sleep last night, but I don’t think that matters. (I) got a lot of energy, I’m ready to go.”
He sure was. The Hawks (5-5-3) lost 3-1 to the Kraken (6-2-4) — their third defeat in as many games — but it didn’t take long for Moore to make an impact.
His hustle was clear in the first period where he had four shot attempts, two on goal. There were two plays that could have turned into goals before the first intermission — a Moore pass on Ryan Donato’s one-timer miss and when Moore missed a shot after collecting an Ilya Mikheyev pass.
He zoomed past the Kraken defensemen to the puck and took advantage of the Hawks’ offensive zone time. He didn’t score a point in his season debut, but his 16:29 of ice time was worthwhile.
“I felt like I was hard on pucks,” Moore said. “It’s kind of hard right after the game to evaluate, but tough loss for sure.”
Moore was recalled after a terrific start to the IceHogs’ season. In nine games, he scored nine points (six goals, three assists) and had two multi-goal games. He had a plus-8 rating in Rockford.
The move to the main roster didn’t faze him, to the benefit of coach Jeff Blashill.
“He did (look confident), I thought he made some stuff happen. He made a great pass to Donato, just didn’t connect, that (was) a big-time scoring chance,” Blashill said. “(He) played with energy and overall I thought he did a really good job.
“It’s an every-night league, and he’ll have to come back and play a really good game in Vancouver and keep building on it.”
It remains to be seen whether Moore’s recall is permanent or to fill in the gap from Jason Dickinson’s move to injured reserve, but he will look to take advantage of his opportunity. Ryan Greene is a rookie who made the most of his chance and has skated on the top line with Connor Bedard and André Burakovsky (who scored a goal in his return to Seattle) after filling in for Mikheyev and Tyler Bertuzzi.
Forward Landon Slaggert was assigned to Rockford to accommodate Moore’s departure. Forward Nick Lardis is a name to look for as the next call-up after being named AHL rookie of the month.
The roster move aligns with the Hawks’ current goal to be more competitive. Call-ups in previous seasons were made to develop young talent to see what the team has in store. As three more road games await the Hawks, the Moore move was made for winning purposes.
“When he’s at his best, he makes an impact on the game with his tenacity and his speed. He’s got good skill to go along with that,” Blashill said pregame. “He comes back at a point where his confidence is really high, so hopefully he can add to our forward depth and make an impact.”
While he’s here, Moore won’t let the moment pass him by. There aren’t many people who can say they play in the NHL.
“Any chance you get to play in the NHL, it’s pretty (great),” Moore said. “It’s the best league in the world.”