It was announced today that the Admirals signed a pair of players to AHL deals.
Forward Paul Crowder was one of them. You may remember him from suiting up in 5 games for the Admirals in the second half of last season when everybody and their mom were called up to the Preds. Back when Coach Drulia was the boss in Wheeling, Crowder was his captain. So there’s history with the guy. And he made a nice enough impression last season to get a two-way (AHL-ECHL) deal this year.
And then there’s Mathieu Tousignant.
A forward who we last saw as a member of the Texas Stars. And one of those guys that might be described as a rat, a pest, and a nuisance if you’re playing against him.
We got our fill of him in the playoff series against the Stars in 2011 Calder Cup playoffs. And then according to Stephen from the 100 Degree Hockey blog, things didn’t seem to work out with the Stars.
” ‘Tousi’ had one really good year with Texas, 10-11. He was effective that year in using speed to get to pucks and make things happen. For the most part, his role was 3rd line at best, 4th line more likely. Pest more than enforcer. Did have some fights, mostly forgettable.
“He spent a lot of time (last season) in ECHL Idaho and then was deemed expendable and sent to St John’s for nothing.” Not even a bag of pucks. He was loaned to the IceCaps, similar to the way Zach Hamill was loaned to Milwaukee at the end of the year.
And that’s how he completed his entry-level contract. So he’s got a change of scenery now.
If he still has some nastiness to his game, or if the coaches can get him back to being the pest that he was in 2011….imagine him on a line with Mike Liambas. That might be fun to watch.
So Roundtable — what do you remember about Tousignant from that playoff series? Are you happy with these depth moves in general?
Admirals Roundtable 
Wow. Tousi’s an Admiral. Well I’m glad he’s got a job but I wish it were at least in the east. He was easily one of the fan favorites here in Austin. He was so despised by Houston that they allegedly named a hideous skating drill ‘the tousi.’
Honestly do not know what to think about these two. Overall I am looking forward to this coming season. Excited by the players in Milwaukee, much because Nashville signed much mid-level talent.
Bonander — Glad to hear he was a fan favorite. Was he one of the guys that would be able to get retaliation penalties from opponents, but rarely get called himself?
I remember the name Paul Crowder. I don’t remember anything else. Perhaps he will make a better impression with more time. He was a -15 for Wheeling, a team that had a 0.514 winning percentage last season. While he was the leading scorer with 62 points in 68 games (of 72 games played by the Nailers), that -15 tells me that he is a center that can’t or won’t play defense. His +/- was also the second worst on his team. Definitely not Nashville material! He needs to fix his game to be successful in Milwaukee. The 40 PIMs is fairly low for a man that must have played a lot of even strength time. I have hope for improvement.
Tousi had 77 PIMs in 28 games for Idaho with 4 goals and 15 assists with a +5 last season at center. If he was a 3rd / 4th liner, he was good at it. He should play with Liambas on the wing!
In case anyone missed it, Jon Greenberg said on Facebook the schedule should be released Thursday.
Hey, sorry I missed your question Ryan. Answer is yes. This is no joke, we actually had T-shirts made of Tousi with the caption WWTS, or what would Tousi say? because whatever he says out on the ice just infuriates the opposition. He’s too nice a guy to cop to anything, but he’s practically toothless- thanks in part to a Carson McMillan sucker-punch- has a heavy French accent, and he KNOWS that when he smiles, he looks like the kind of guy you WANT to punch. McMilan, Mark Olver and Andre Deveaux all earned suspensions from retaliating on him (Deveaux’s not saying much but you get the point). All told, he’s an excellent role player, but he’s actually more than a pest. He’s got outstanding hockey sense and plays center well. Good hands too, but he was never given quality linemates here. Typically he’d center the 4th line between Luke Gazdic and Ray Sawada. And finally- one of his best qualities- he can’t fight. He sucks at fighting. It’s one thing to have a big mouth and know you can back it up, it’s another to have a big mouth and know you can’t– and still have a big mouth. He’s not gonna carry the Ads to the Calder Cup but he’ll give them depth down the middle, he’ll get speared for the team and smile about it, and make a lot of Ads fans happy.