After spending most of last season in the NHL, Vinnie Hinostroza has been relegated to the Rockford IceHogs since the start of the 2017-18 season. He’s knocking down the door to get back to Chicago, though, as we were reminded of with this spectacular goal Sunday against the Wolves.
Vinnie Hinostroza is too good for the AHL pic.twitter.com/cHiMyBnJCO
— Satchel Price (@SatchelPrice) November 19, 2017
Hinostroza made the entire Wolves defense look brutal on this play. The first guy to try to stop him gets stood up, and the second one ends up flailing on his knees as the IceHogs forward wiggles by.
With that goal, Hinostroza continued an impressive point-per-game pace through 18 contests this season. He leads Rockford in both goals and assists with nine apiece, and would blow away the numbers from last season’s top IceHogs scorers if he stays in the AHL all season.
It seems hard to believe that will happen, however, given the way that Hinostroza is playing right now. The 23-year-old is showing that he’s too good to be stuck in the AHL for too long, so the Blackhawks will need to make room one way or another, whether that’s the result of an injury or biting the bullet to risk another player on waivers.