Today’s plan of attack was a simple one. Attend practice and then gather up some new Fifteen interviews in prep for all the road hockey that the Milwaukee Admirals have in front of them in the month of December. Today’s plan after seeing Miikka Salomäki on the ice for the Admirals at the MSOE Kern Center? A bit different.

There are a few notes then that need to be made. Salomäki has been assigned to the Admirals from the Nashville Predators on a two-week (fourteen consecutive days) conditioning assignment. He will be wearing his traditional #20 for the Admirals and will be back in action this weekend when the Admirals battle the Cleveland Monsters on the road Friday and Saturday.

The other news that came about while watching practice was that defenseman Adam Pardy was placed on waivers. The reason being has more to do with the following news. Pardy was signed to an NHL contract by the Nashville Predators this morning. Pardy was acquired by the Admirals earlier this season from the Springfield Falcons in exchange for Eric Robinson, Teddy Doherty, and Brandon Whitney. He was under an AHL contract. He is now contracted to the Predators.

As far as what I saw at practice for the Admirals today it was generally a split squad type of day with a mixture of special teams drills, some rush work, quick tempo clearing the zone, and a shootout drill. There wasn’t too much to note there then so let’s shift back to those notes once again.

Salomäki has been on the mend after blocking a shot with his hand topside with the Predators. He has in recent times been getting back to practicing with the team. This spurt with the Admirals should get his game sharpness back. With a hand injury you’d be able to do a fair amount of conditioning work but there is a difference between that and playing full-bore hockey the way that Salomäki does. Getting him back to match fitness is really all that the Predators will be looking for and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s back with the Predators following the Admirals two-game stint in Cleveland this weekend. They’re going to be grinding style games, Salomäki style games, and he should be ready after that. He can of course go for longer if required but I don’t see that happening.

Pardy’s news today is a good one. You really can never have too much veteran defensive depth in the system. Should the Predators get into a tougher spot they now have a veteran who has 338 games of NHL experience under his belt to come in, fill a role, and look the part if needed. He’s done a terrific job since arriving to the Admirals organization. His defensive partnership with first-year pro Alex Carrier has been outstanding. That relationship, on and off the ice, has also showed the character that Pardy is as a leader and someone there to help teach up a student such as Carrier. Pardy plugged into the Admirals quickly and him getting the NHL contract that alluded him with the Florida Panthers earlier in the year is just nice to see.

Speaking of Carrier. That’s the lone man I was able to grab for an upcoming edition of Fifteen that will run tomorrow as we welcome in December. There is a good story to this as well. My plans today obviously changed with all the news. I gave some tip-offs to guys that I wanted to chat with including Carrier who would be doing the feature interview. It just so happened that Carrier was bumped from doing it not just once (Pardy) not just twice (Salomäki) but three times (construction noise). Massive apologies to him -but- he’s a great sport and provided a great interview. You’ll hear it tomorrow. Hopefully it, such as the following, isn’t hindered too much by UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena construction background noise… it was as if they were unearthing dinosaur bones from deep beneath the North side of the Arena today.

The on-the-fly Chatterbox today includes Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason as well as Pardy and Salomäki. Here were today’s interviews following Wednesday’s practice.

Comments on the comments from today? What do you think about the Nashville Predators decision to sign Adam Pardy to an NHL contract?

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