Author: Daniel Lavender

Scouting October 27, 2015

Stars: Scouting the Enemy

Kevin Fiala produced one of the best goals of last season against the Texas Stars in Milwaukee. Why not a repeat effort of that tonight? (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

Result from last game aside, I do really get the feeling that the way the Milwaukee Admirals have been playing is trending upwards. What can keep that going is by logging more games and to hopefully see the wins column start growing. Fortunately for the Admirals they now have a lot of games ahead of them which means less rest periods and more action.

~Shooting Stars~

The Texas Stars enter tonight’s game with a record of 5-2-0-0 (10 points) and are currently fourth in the Pacific Division thanks to a thing called points percentage and the Pacific Division in general.

When looking at a glaring difference between the Stars and Admirals all you need to do is look at the amount of goals the two have scored. The Stars have scored 30 goals in 7 games. The Admirals have scored 8 goals from 4 games. Needless to say whoever starts in net for the Admirals, Marek Mazanec or Juuse Saros, will be put to the test all while the offense is going to need to better or match the scoring pace set by the Stars.

~Q&A with Stephen Meserve~

Prior to tonight’s game I was fortunate enough to get in touch with Stephen Meserve of 100 Degree Hockey. He was able to answer up some of my questions on this year’s Texas Stars team and give us all some insight on tonight’s contest.

Admirals Roundtable: It’s still early days of this AHL season but the Texas Stars are 5-2-0-0 (10 points) to start the season. What are you making of this year’s Stars team?

Stephen Meserve: This team can score. There’s no doubt about it. When you took a look at this team over the summer though, that was pretty obvious. They’ve definitely been ahead of the curve on scoring, averaging 4.29 goals per game. That includes a 1-0 shutout loss as well, which pulled the numbers down quite a bit. Devin Shore is the bright spot so far, earning PotW honors last week. His eight goals on the season lead the league, but he’s only a rookie. His ATO time last season is probably a big part of the hot start.

The real question coming into the season though was defense and goaltending. Jack Campbell, the Stars’ 2010 first round pick, was slated to be the starter in Texas until he was injured in Dallas Stars training camp. In his absence, the AHL Stars had a question mark behind John Muse, who was a reliable if unspectacular AHL goalie. Maxime Lagace, who spent most of the last year shuttling around the ECHL, availed himself of the opportunity and has snagged the spot definitively. Despite a 2-2 record, he owns a 2.03 GAA and .931 SV% coming into Milwaukee. One of those losses was the aforementioned 1-0 goalie duel, which saw him stop 32 of 33. For now, that’s a solved problem.

On defense, Texas said goodbye to many veterans including Maxime Fortunus, Derek Meech and Cameron Gaunce. That made way for bigger roles for second-year Ds Julius Honka and Stephen Johns and newcomers Mattias Backman, Esa Lindell, and Ludwig Bystrom. It’s an offensively talented group, but the question of playing defense still remained for the squad. Texas ranks 7th in goals against with 2.29 per game. The penalty kill is midpack at 83.9% (14th). Time will tell if that’s timely goaltending, defensive skill or the lucky combo of them both.

AR: Who are some of the new Stars that Admirals fans should keep an eye out for in this game?

SM: As mentioned above, watch for F Devin Shore. He’s got an obvious nose for the net and scores most of his tallies in tight. He’s a big body and uses it to muscle past defenders to score.

D Esa Lindell is a quiet player whose been making noise on the stat sheet. He’s 1-6=7 and plus-8 on the season so far. If this were the Dallas Stars team of several years ago (lacking defensive prospects), Lindell would probably be in the NHL right now. However, the luxury of a well-stocked system means he gets time to ripen in the AHL.

AR: Maxime Fortunus is no longer on the team as acting captain. We’ve already had the chance to see him in his new outfit with the Iowa Wild. Stepping up as the new captain of the Stars is Travis Morin. Perfect replacement to wear the C, right?

SM: Morin is a great replacement, but he’s definitely going to bring his own style to being captain. He told me during the summer that he wasn’t planning on playing the game any differently just because of the letter. He has traditionally been a pretty quiet guy in the locker room, not the “rah-rah” guy, as he said. He prefers to lead by example. That’s a pretty good example, by the way, as he leads the Stars in basically every offensive category you can imagine.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Do you like the Admirals chances of winning an end-to-end goals-a-blazing game against the Texas Stars? Will Viktor Arvidsson‘s return be a boost to the Admirals offense? Is tonight the night that Kevin Fiala is finally on the ice at the same time that the Admirals produce a goal?

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News October 26, 2015October 26, 2015

Miikka Salomäki Recalled by Nashville

The Nashville Predators have recalled Miikka Salomäki from the Milwaukee Admirals. The move comes a few days after Viktor Arvidsson was returned to Milwaukee, quickly brought back to Nashville following Calle Järnkrok suffering an illness, and returned to Milwaukee on Sunday. The recall for Salomäki is the second of his career.

Press Release via Nashville Predators:

Nashville, Tenn. (October 26, 2015) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Monday that the club has recalled forward Miikka Salomaki (MEE-kah SA-loh-MA-kee) from Milwaukee (AHL).

Salomaki, 22 (3/9/93), scored a goal in his lone NHL game to this point, a 3-2 overtime victory vs. the Dallas Stars on Jan. 8, 2015. This season, the Raahe, Finland, native has two points (1g-1a) in three games for the Admirals, bringing his career AHL total to 70 points (28g-42a) in 116 games since the 2013-14 season, when he tied for fifth among league rookies with 50 points (20g-30a). Prior to making the jump to the North American professional scene, the 5-11, 208-pound left wing played three seasons with Karpat Oulu of the Finnish Elite League (2010-13), the same club that produced Predators netminder Pekka Rinne.

Nashville’s second choice, 52nd overall (second round), in the 2011 Entry Draft, Salomaki helped Finland to a silver medal at the 2014 World Championship, and played in three consecutive World Junior Championships from 2011-13, as well as a pair of World Under-18 Championships in 2010 and 2011, earning a bronze medal in the latter.

The Nashville Predators will play their next four games on the road as the team’s home, Bridgestone Arena, hosts the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. Nashville starts the road trip on Tuesday in San Jose and continues on to visit Los Angeles, Anaheim and Minnesota. The Preds return to Bridgestone Arena on Saturday, Nov. 7 to take on the St. Louis Blues. Every Saturday this season, the team will have a promotional Golden Giveaway item as part of the club’s Golden Saturdays. For more information on all the promotional giveaway items, click here. To purchase tickets, visit NashvillePredators.com or call (615) 770-7800.

The Admirals play tomorrow night at home against the Texas Stars while the Predators do not play until Wednesday when they hit the West Coast. This is a slightly interesting move in the sense that Arvidsson went through the roster rodeo and is tasked with staying in Milwaukee while Salomäki goes up in his place.

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Chatterbox October 25, 2015

Chatterbox, Vol. 87

How do I put this. The home opener was a horror show to watch the Milwaukee Admirals play. Last night’s return to home ice after a 3-2 overtime winning comeback against the Iowa Wild? It wasn’t honestly that bad. The biggest problem of course comes with the following headline: Rockford IceHogs win 4-2.

If you were to dissect last night’s game I’m sure there would be a lot more errors to be found but I actually take the game as a positive step for the Admirals. I don’t take the result as a positive. No one wants to lose. But the game itself showed some good signs of life out of the Admirals in more ways than simply scoring goals.

In the second period I felt as if the checking and gritty style of play the Admirals were imposing on the IceHogs was very good. Especially when thinking about last season – the Admirals tend to be the ones getting battered around more than the other way around. While the scoreline of the second period read 2-0 Rockford make no mistakes that it was still a strong showing of a dimension the Admirals don’t typically display anywhere near as much as they should. Beat the other team up on the boards and make them actually have to work for puck control.

When Kevin Fiala was lit up by a boarding major penalty by Chris DeSousa there were also immediate signs by the Admirals of not letting their teammates be bossed around. The main picture tells enough of the story. I also found the spat that took place a minute after the DeSousa boarding major between Félix Girard and Pierre-Cédric Labrie, which was spoken in 100% unadulterated bonkers angry French by the way, to have also been yet another sign by the Admirals that they are willing to push back if the opponent is going to push.

That game-winning goal scored by Marko Dano did have eerily similar feelings of how things were at the end of last season. It was such a bizarre and flukey play that broke down around Vladislav Kamenev and led to a breakaway. Juuse Saros made the dazzling breakaway save but the puck was still on the doorstep awaiting to be put away. Also like last year’s struggles was the idea of this odd goal being scored only a minute after the Admirals broke through with a power-play goal to equalize at 2-2. All that work, that momentum, the crowd getting back into it, gone in a flash off a wacky play. It’s easy to just call it unfortunate but it happened -so often- late last season that it is almost worth considering bringing a witch doctor in to bless the ice or something.

Final thoughts? This Admirals team is slowly starting to get pointed in the right direction and I feel the best thing that is about to happen is the schedule finally providing multiple games. Practice is good and everything but as Admirals head coach Dean Evason said after the game last night:

“Playing hockey games is good,” smiled Evason. “You can practice your systems, you can practice everything, your pace, all that kind of stuff – but you’re not doing it for real. It looks great in practice because we’re really pushing the pace, or we’re tight with our system, but we’re not playing anybody. So there is no question you can play hockey games, you get into a groove, you get your lines going, you can roll everything, and your systems you can teach with film. We’re looking forward to playing more games for sure.”

Frequent games. Better rythme. Sharpening up details. And getting consistency out of the group individual by individual. I believe this is a really solid team that will and should go through poor stretches like this here and there with such a young team. Once things start to gel at game speed, and those more skilled forwards start strutting their stuff, things will be on the up-and-up.

Not only was I able to chat with Evason after the game but I also managed to talk to Anthony Bitetto, assistant coach Scott Ford, and Cody Bass. Here is what they had to say after last night’s game.

Also, for those who missed it, I also interviewed Evason and Bitetto prior to the start of last night’s game on uploaded those interviews to SoundCloud as well. The upload process on there is so quick that I feel I might try to do more pre-game interviews this season as a result. Thoughts? Yes? OK.

Comments on the comments by the coaches and players? Any more reflections you have on last night’s game? Do you think that a string of games is really the best medicine for the Admirals to get going at the moment?

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Game Recaps October 24, 2015October 25, 2015

IceHogs Edge Admirals 4-2

The Admirals lost 4-2 at home to the Rockford IceHogs Saturday night. Despite putting in a much better effort than the previous outing at the BMO Harris Bradley Center the Admirals just weren’t enough to get the better of the rival IceHogs.

“We’re not happy with the end result,” said Milwaukee Admirals forward Cody Bass. “I thought we played well enough to win but attention to details I think, a couple of turnovers, cost us.”

For the first time this season the Admirals were able to get a regulation lead. A crafty piece of stickhandling by Pontus Åberg to avoid the sprawling Kirill Gotovets led to a pass back to the right wing rushing Stevie Moses. The finish by Moses was taken on the backhand with a swat that hopped up and over the right pad of Michael Leighton and in. The goal is Moses first of the season and first in North America since 4/13/12 when he was a member of the Connecticut Whale in the AHL.

Just before the midway point in the game Brandon Mashinter leveled the score at 1-1. Kirill Gotovets threw a shot towards the net and the IceHogs captain managed to flail a stick on the puck in front of Juuse Saros to score his second goal of the season courtesy of the deflection.

Three minutes later the IceHogs were able to take a 2-1 lead after a crazy skipping puck alluded everyone but Tanner Kero. Jake Dowell’s initial shot was blocked by Kristian Näkyvä and the puck carried on bouncing towards the goal crease where Kero was able to pop home his team-best sixth goal of the season.

It was forty-seconds after the IceHogs took the lead that the game hit a flashpoint. Kevin Fiala was taking a shot from the left wing blue line as he entered the zone and was hammered violently off his feet and into the boards by AHL debutant Chris DeSousa. The IceHogs forward was handed a five-minute major for boarding. Fortunately for Fiala he would return a mere two minutes into the five-minute major power-play opportunity for the Admirals and looked very lively following the heavy collision.

In the third period the Admirals were the recipient of a tic-tac call that put them on the power-play for a fourth time. Ryan Hartman was caught offside and just as the whistle was blowing against him for that he clipped Conor Allen head high with a hit and was called for roughing. This set the stage for Max Reinhart’s first goal as a member of the Admirals as his one-timed slap shot on the right wing faceoff circle blazed past Leighton and in for a power-play goal to make it 2-2.

Moments later the IceHogs were on the receiving end of some luck of their own. Vladislav Kamenev was carrying the puck with pace through the attacking zone when the puck hit off Hartman’s knee hard and flew out into the neutral zone. Marko Dano was the first man to react to the play and beat Anthony Bitetto to the punch to head off on a breakaway. Saros stopped the initial chance but Dano swept in the follow up to score his first goal of the season at make it a 3-2 IceHogs lead.

The game was put away in the final minute with Saros on the bench and the extra attacker on. Despite some decent enough setups on shots to the net the IceHogs blocked most of them and wound up with the long range empty netter by Hartman that closed the game out at the 4-2 final on his second goal of the season.

“We definitely haven’t yet put it all together,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “We’re still waiting for that.”

The Admirals, who have played half the amount of games as the IceHogs have, will look to start hitting better stride with a good chunk of games now on the calendar. Including tonight’s game, the next two weeks the Admirals will have played a total of seven games after a cold opening of only three games prior. Practice, while good for rebounding from games such as this, only allow for so much to be done. The real work needs to happen in-game. With a rapid succession of games the hope is for the Admirals to get on a run.

Ramblings: Since the Admirals last played there were a number of roster moves made. Viktor Arvidsson was assigned to the Admirals from the Nashville Predators but did not factor in tonight’s game because he was recalled due to Calle Jarnkrok getting ill. Anthony Bitetto joined the Admirals from the Predators via a conditioning assignment that will see him back with the team for the next two weeks (injuries pending). Subsequently the Admirals sent Max Görtz, Joe Pendenza, and Jonathan Diaby to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL to take on the added load from Nashville.

What is your reaction to tonight’s game: positive minus the result or is it all a negative? What was your reaction to the hit Kevin Fiala received from Chris DeSousa? How well do you think Juuse Saros has performed for the Admirals so far?

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News October 24, 2015

Bitetto Returning to Milwaukee on Conditioning Assignment

As if getting Viktor Arvidsson back wasn’t enough. How about this piece of news ahead of tonight’s game against the Rockford IceHogs? The Nashville Predators have assigned Anthony Bitetto to the Milwaukee Admirals on a conditioning assignment. Perhaps that explains yesterday’s other news that saw three players head to the ECHL.

Press Release via Nashville Predators:

Nashville, Tenn. (October 24, 2015) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Saturday that the club has sent defenseman Anthony Bitetto to Milwaukee (AHL) on a conditioning assignment.

Bitetto, 25 (7/15/90), has suited up for one game with the Predators this season – his eighth career NHL contest (all with Nashville). A season ago, the 2010 sixth-round selection ranked second among Admirals defensemen in points (4g-26a-30pts) while appearing in 70 of the team’s 76 games.

The Nashville Predators take on the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday for their final home game before embarking on a four-game road trip (7 p.m., FOX Sports Tennessee, 102.5 The Game). The first 16,000 fans wearing Gold on Saturday will receive a Terry Crisp Halloween Mask as part of the club’s “Golden Saturdays” campaign. Saturday nights are also McDonald’s Family Four nights in Smashville. Fans who purchase a McDonald’s Family Four Pack receive four upper-level tickets, four hot dogs, four Pepsi products and four McDonald’s specialty items starting at just $129. Limited tickets are still available by calling 615-770-7800.

How long is a conditioning assignment you ask? Well, courtesy of our ol’ friends at On The Forecheck from two-years ago, here is an answer:

13.8 Conditioning Loan. Unless a Player consents, he shall not be Loaned on a Conditioning Loan to a minor league club. Such Conditioning Loan shall not extend for more than fourteen (14) consecutive days. The Commissioner may take whatever steps he deems necessary to investigate the circumstances under which a Player is Loaned on a Conditioning Loan. If the Commissioner has reason to believe or determines that the Club has used the Conditioning Loan to evade the Re-Entry Waivers, or otherwise Circumvent any provision of this Agreement, he may take such disciplinary action against the Club, as he deems appropriate. The Player shall continue, during the period of such Conditioning Loan, to receive the same Paragraph 1 NHL Salary, and be entitled to the same benefits, that he would have received had he continued to play with the Club.

In short, Bitetto gets two-weeks (fourteen consecutive days) to be a member of the Admirals. By waiting until today to make this move it ensures that Bitetto can be with the Admirals on conditioning assignment until November 7th. That means Bitetto is eligible to play the next 7 games of the Admirals season. Were this move made yesterday? He’d be a game less off here at the AHL level.

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Scouting October 24, 2015

IceHogs: Scouting the Enemy

Mike Liambas was a member of the Milwaukee Admirals. Cody Bass was a member of the Rockford IceHogs. You get the idea. (Photo Credit: Greg Hamil)

Happy Foreigner Concert Night, everyone. Remember last season when they were forced to cancel due to the lead singer getting ill prior to showtime? Yeah. That was a fun few hours prior to the gates opening in the BMO Harris Bradley Center as the stage went from being built for sound check and then torn down all while fans weren’t completely aware until shortly before arriving. Hopefully -fingers crossed- all goes well and there is a great game and concert tonight.

As for the hockey side of this story there is a guarantee. There will be a game. And it should be a good one. I’m probably in the minority when I say this but I feel like the Rockford IceHogs are the biggest rivals to the Milwaukee Admirals. Whether it dates back to the bench clearing brawl or so many physically demanding games after – these two always lock up hard and make for an exciting watch. What do the 2015-16 IceHogs have to offer this season? Let’s take a look.

~Oink Oink~

The IceHogs enter tonight’s game with a record of 3-3-0-0 (6 points) from their first six-games. They played last night at home against the Chicago Wolves and won by a 4-3 shootout. As I said, the IceHogs have played six-games this season. The Admirals have only played three-games so far. Take that, and the fact that Rockford played last night, and expect for the visitors to be the ones coming out with speed and precision early tonight. The slight bit of good news could be that due to last night’s game going the distance and through overtime: the longer the game gets the slower the IceHogs might play. It’d be smart for the Admirals to spend the early part of this game grinding down the IceHogs on the boards to wear them out by game’s end.

When looking at the roster – all the names you know and probably don’t love are all still there. Many high level offensive pieces from previous installments of this rivalry remain as well as some new additions. Jeremy Morin is still there. Mark McNeill is still there. Garret Ross, Brandon Mashinter, Dennis Rasmussen, Ryan Hartman, Phillip Danault, Pierre-Cédric Labrie, and Ville Pokka are all back. In total, 33 points of 75 points worth of offense produced by the IceHogs against the Admirals last season is back.

New to the mix or up full-time for this season are: Daniel Paille, Jake Dowell, Mike Liambas, Chris DeSousa, Kyle Baun, Tanner Kero, Ryan Haggerty, and Marko Dano. It’s a really great blend of veteran leadership and young skilled skaters. I particularily like the addition of a player such as Dowell for the leadership qualities he has always brought to the teams he has played for. And it leaves me saying, “As if having 34-year old goaltender Michael Leighton back isn’t enough of a calming effect for a locker room.”

Out of the new names I would specifically like to point out Mr. Kero as one to watch. He already has 7 points (5 goals, 2 assists) in 6 games this season which leads the IceHogs in scoring. He also is tied for the team lead with Morin for shots on goal with 15. This is his first full-season of pro hockey since finishing up his collegiate career at Michigan Tech. He got any sort of those early bird jitters out of his system by playing 6 games with the IceHogs at the end of last season and 6 games in their playoff run. He’s taken that brief experience and entered this season hot offensively. Keep tabs on #10 in red tonight.

Then we have the story of Liambas playing against the Admirals for the first time in his career tonight. I suspect fans will give him a respectful cheer for the first mention or shift or two but, with game time, it will turn to groans. You love players like Liambas when they’re on your team. You hate playing against them. Luckily, I think any sort of tensions should be mute because there is such a good bond between Liambas and the Admirals. Friendships might go out the window when the first puck drops but I’d be surprised if Liambas actually ended up in a fight with a former teammate tonight.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Will the re-introduction of Viktor Arvidsson to the Milwaukee Admirals offense be a big boost? If the Admirals hit a wall and lose big again tonight after their comeback win in Iowa – are they right back into panic mode?

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News October 23, 2015

Görtz, Pendenza, and Diaby All Cincinnati Bound

If you’re like me you probably have been keeping tabs on the AHL’s transactions wire following today’s news that Viktor Arvidsson was reassigned to the Milwaukee Admirals from the Nashville Predators. What you might have been expecting was for at least one forward to go down to the Cincinnati Cyclones. What has actually happened is that Max Görtz, Joe Pendenza, and Jonathan Diaby have all been sent to the Admirals’ ECHL affiliate.

Görtz is making his professional playing debut this season in North American after signing his entry level contract last summer. He played in the Admirals opening two games of the season, registering an assist, but was withheld from traveling with the team for the most recent game in Iowa on Tuesday due to a team violation – as was fellow Swede Pontus Åberg.

Pendenza has sandwiched the Admirals opening games of the season by playing all but the home opener last Friday. This won’t be his first rodeo with the Cyclones as he played for 13 games last season picking up 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists) and 14 penalty minutes.

Diaby only played 2 games at the ECHL level last season and should probably register far more than that this season. I’ve felt very strongly in watching him perform in pre-season and the pair of games he has played this season that he has easily been the weakest defenseman the Admirals have. His skating ability is sluggish, he offers next to no offensive help what so ever, and his coverage in the defensive zone has seen lapses that directly result in either goals or odd man breaks with pucks getting behind him. Cincinnati has been a great training ground that has helped boost players such as Anthony Bitetto and Taylor Aronson in the past. Being able to play a lot more minutes and be trusted in more situations could provide Diaby with valuable experience that sees him return to Milwaukee down the road with a sharper skill set provided he gets enough games under his belt to do so.

I’m slightly surprised by the two forwards sent down but someone was in need of going to Cincinnati once Arvidsson turned back up. Frédérick Gaudreau has looked great. The coaches seem to really like what they’re getting out of Adam Payerl on his PTO contract. Someone good was going to have to go and, in turn, it ends up being multiple forwards. Perhaps the move for Görtz has less to do with his team violation and more to do with igniting him offensively – because he hasn’t looked all that sharp in that respect in the two games he’s played. I always thought this season was going to be a fun one due to the depth. I’m assuming Cincinnati fans weren’t expecting to get a guy like Görtz so early into the year.

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News October 23, 2015October 24, 2015

Viktor Arvidsson Reassigned to Milwaukee

The Nashville Predators have reassigned winger Viktor Arvidsson to the Milwaukee Admirals this morning. The move comes without any corresponding move up and one day before the Admirals host the Rockford IceHogs.

Press Release via Milwaukee Admirals:

Milwaukee, WI— Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Friday that the club has assigned forward Viktor Arvidsson to Milwaukee.

Arvidsson has appeared in three games for the Predators this season – with the club winning all three games – while scoring his first career goal in the season opener vs. Carolina on Oct. 8. A season ago, he was named to the 2015 AHL All-Rookie Team in his first season in North America after ranking third among league rookies and first on the Milwaukee Admirals in points (22g-33a-55pts).

Arvidsson and the Admirals return to action on Saturday night when they play host to the Rockford IceHogs at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, followed by a post-game concert with Foreigner.

Fans can purchase tickets for Saturday’s game, on-ice concert passes or any other Ads game this season at the Admirals office (510 W. Kilbourn Ave.), the BMO Harris Bradley Center Box Office, Ticketmaster, or by phone at (414) 227-0550. Use the promo code ICEPASS when purchasing on-ice passes on Ticketmaster.

Arvidsson’s season started by beating out both Kevin Fiala and Stevie Moses in Nashville’s pre-season camp to earn a place on the Predators opening day roster. His first career NHL point and goal would prove to be the game-winner on opening night for Nashville in their 2-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Since, Arvidsson has only played two more times and it appears as though Austin Watson has cemented himself in a line combination with Paul Gaustad and Eric Nystrom. Rather than see Arvidsson sit on the sidelines as a healhy scratch every night it looks as if Nashville as elected to send him to Milwaukee where he can factor in for top line minutes and be sharp when the time comes for a recall back to the NHL. This such action, of course, only happens with thanks to the fact everyone in the system is 100% healthy at the moment. *knocks on wood so hard that he breaks wood*

Happy to have Viktor Arvidsson back with the Admirals? Can his presence, combined with the last result, reignite the team and get them on a winning run?

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Ramblings October 21, 2015

Ramblings, Vol. 35

(Photo Credit: Reese Strickland // USA TODAY Sports)

Take a breather, everyone. The Milwaukee Admirals earned their first win of the season last night and did it in impressive fashion. In fact, of the possible outcomes, I feel like the Admirals clawing back from 2-0 down at the start of the third period to win it 3-2 in overtime is as good as it gets. If the Admirals won a 4-1 cruise mode you’re left saying, “Well that’s nice but it was just the Iowa Wild.” If the Admirals lost via beatdown in regulation once again… you, like me, would have resorted to a toddler level temper tantrum.

~Teamwork~

What I appreciate the most about the performance last night was that it looked like a team. The Admirals performance against the Charlotte Checkers, much more than the one against the Chicago Wolves, looked like a veritable hodgepodge of individuals playing their own games. How often will a single player blitz through three defending opponents with skill to score a goal? Not often. The game requires flashes of that skill level crafted with chemistry that complements the structure of a team. When players decide to punch themselves out of the game plan and try to single-handedly win a game on their own you get the 7-2 loss that the Admirals earned for themselves last Friday.

If the Chicago game wasn’t a wake up call the Charlotte one needed to be. The Admirals needed to get back to having a team first mentality. Whatever was said, instructed by the coaching staff, or worked out on the ice appeared to bring out our first legitimate glimpse of what this Admirals team could be when it plays like an actual team. There was solid structure to the way the defense operated. Passing, while still not perfect, was an improvement. The offense that generated 41 shots on goal in the first two games put up 35 shots on goal last night. It’s all hopefully the start of better and more consistent things to come.

~Fiala Watch~

I made a point to say as much during the game but I will say it again here. I don’t know if Kevin Fiala is playing injured, if he is still beating himself up over getting cut from Nashville Predators pre-season camp, or if he is struggling to gel with his particular linemates here in Milwaukee – but he looks incredibly off right now. It’s as if he doesn’t have a fully functional motor running at the moment.

He was able to produce six shots on goal last night, which was equaled by Adam Payerl for the most in the game, but only a single shot that rang iron felt threatening… and, in writing that out, that probably doesn’t even get registered as a shot on goal. He has been moving very slowly. He doesn’t look like he is attempting to take anyone on with skill. He has every bit the ability to be an igniter on the Admirals offense but he’s not even been on the ice for a single goal scored by the team this season. Think about that for a moment. When the chips were down last night, when head coach Dean Evason called a timeout with less than two minutes remaining to pull the goalie and bring on an extra attacker, Fiala was still on the bench. The man that did it all but actually score the goal against the Grand Rapids Griffins last season isn’t trusted as much as Vladislav Kamenev, Stevie Moses, and Cody Bass to be on the ice to go for broke to win a game. Not only that, but fourth line winger Frédérick Gaudreau has by far looked better than Fiala on a shift after shift basis in two games than Fiala has in three games.

I don’t know what the issue is. Is Fiala hurt physically? Is Fiala hurt emotionally? Is he struggling to assimilate all the new faces and playing styles or is he overthinking his own game and hindering it by doing so? These are questions that need to be answered rather quick for Fiala if he is to really push for any sort of NHL time this season.

~Suspended Swedes~

I’d be foolish to not hit on this subject. Aaron Sims is always kind enough to tweet out the Admirals line combinations before each game. Last night I was surprised to see two names missing in action: Pontus Åberg and Max Görtz. This was a surprise especially in the case of Åberg who I thought was one of the few in blue that played a really good game against Charlotte. As it turned out, the two Swedes were actually withheld from last night’s game in Iowa due to committing undisclosed team violations. One more than that, both players didn’t even travel with the team to Iowa.

As I cleverly wrote: the team violations were undisclosed. This could mean not knowing what happened until I next talk with Evason or the players – or more likely not knowing what happened at all. I could sit here and speculate from anything to sleeping in and missing practice to something potentially worse -but- I don’t have a single clue what the two could have done to merit not even traveling with the team to still support their teammates. I’ll say this much, no matter what they did, that’s a proper slamming of the foot by a coaching staff laying down the ground rules. No one ever wants to be made an example of but, for all we know, Åberg and Görtz were made an example of for the benefit of clamping down on behavioral issues before they ever begin this season.

What did you think of last night’s performance from the Admirals? How important could a comeback win like that be in getting the Admirals to start playing better hockey as a team? What have you seen out of Kevin Fiala in the first three games? Is it less to do with Fiala and more an all-around offensive/scoring problem for the Ads?

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Game Recaps October 20, 2015November 4, 2015

The Wild Comeback; Ads Win 3-2 in OT

The Admirals won 3-2 in overtime on the road against the Iowa Wild Tuesday night. The Admirals trailed 2-0 all the way until the third period and scored with the extra attacker to force overtime. Adam Payerl had the puck on his stick on an odd-man rush in three-on-three overtime and buried his own rebound to provide the Admirals their first win of the 2015-16 season.

“We thought we deserved to win,” said assistant coach Stan Drulia after the game on 105.7 FM The Fan. “I thought the way we came out today was what we expected out of our group. We spent a lot of time in the offensive zone. Juuse [Saros] was really good in net. Excited for him we were able to battle back. He made a big save close to the buzzer to keep it 2-2 to allow us to go into overtime. But, we had a lot of contributions from the entire group today.”

The scoring in this game didn’t take place until the midway point in the second period. After a puck eluded Stevie Moses on the blueline during an Admirals power-play – Zack Mitchell was able to skate up ice past him for a shorthanded breakaway. Moses tried his best to defend on the backcheck but was called for a penalty when his stick got into the ribs of Mitchell. The shorthanded penalty shot was a clean shot that beat Juuse Saros straight through the five hole for Mitchell’s first goal of the season.

Then there was a disastrous moment in net for Admirals rookie goaltender Saros which made it a 2-0 Wild lead less than five-minutes after the game’s opening goal. A shot by Brett Bulmer banked violently off the end-boards and right back into the goal mouth area. Saros appeared to be avoiding the puck clipping off his left skate as he held the post but was out of position when the puck continued to roll and fall in-line with Matt Carey for an easy goal and his first as a member of the Wild.

In the opening minutes of the third period the Admirals finally had their breakthrough on offense. After Brett Bulmer roughed up Joe Pendenza along the benches the Admirals were given their fifth power-play opportunity of the game. Directly off of a faceoff win Frédérick Gaudreau hammered a slap shot above the right wing faceoff circle for his first goal of the season and the Admirals first power-play goal from twelve chances.

The pressure was getting poured on at both ends of the rink in the closing stages of the third period. Saros was coming up very big in net while the Admirals continued to create chances and earn faceoffs in the attacking zone. With 1:53 remaining in regulation, and an in-zone faceoff, Admirals head coach Dean Evason used the team’s timeout and opted to pull Saros in favor of bringing the extra attacker on. The Wild had never defeated the Admirals in Iowa in regulation in the team’s three-year history. That’s going to prove to up hold up for at least one more game. The Ads won the initial faceoff draw, held the zone, and when Trevor Murphy’s shot from the point stopped in front of the net it allowed for Vladislav Kamenev to score his second goal of the season and force overtime.

In the Admirals first taste of the new AHL overtime format for this season, full five-minute three-on-three hockey, they were able to complete their comeback. Adam Payerl controlled the puck on a two-on-one rush breaking into the offensive zone. Payerl glided in from the left wing, pump faked a shot, whipped a shot on Leland Irving who made the initial save, but Payerl snapped up the rebound and forced it across for the overtime-winner. The Admirals came from 2-0 down in the third period to win their first game of the season. How about that?

“He loved [Adam Payerl] in the exhibition season,” said Drulia. “He practiced like that and he played like that.”

Ramblings: Since last game, the Milwaukee Admirals recalled defenseman Jimmy Oligny from his loan assignment with the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL). Tonight’s line combinations were: Pendenza-Sissons-Moses, Salomäki-Reinhart-Bass, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, Devane-Girard-Gaudreau, Oligny-Allen, Murphy-Aronson, Alm-Näkyvä. That meant tonight’s scratches were: Max Görtz (team violation), Pontus Åberg (team violation), Jonathan Diaby (healthy). Per Aaron Sims, both Görtz and Åberg were out of tonight’s game due to a team violation and didn’t even travel with the team to Iowa. The win for Juuse Saros was his first career pro win in North America and he took home first star honors tonight by stopping 23/25 shots on goal.

How do we all feel after this game? What is more important: the result itself or the way the Admirals achieved the result?

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