Author: Daniel Lavender

Scouting October 20, 2015

Wild: Scouting the Enemy

Rather than completely ignore the Milwaukee Admirals first two games (and losses) let’s focus back to the opponents they faced. The Chicago Wolves won at home, 5-1. The Charlotte Checkers won in Milwaukee, 7-2. What happens when those two forces run into one another? A combined total of 14 goals scored. Yes. There were 14 goals scored and the Wolves came out on top of the Checkers 9-5 (video highlights).

What I’m getting at with that introduction is that the Admirals faced two offensively potent teams that will capitalize on mistakes – BIG TIME. Lesson: stop making mistakes, don’t complicate matters, and keep things simple. And this is where our ol’ sparring buddies the Iowa Wild come in.

~Those Gosh Dern Wildlings~

It’s funny to think a team like the Iowa Wild are a team to be afraid of. Last season they were the worst team in the AHL and achieved that feat with ease with a record of 23-49-2-2 (50 points). The next closest team to them were the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Norfolk Admirals, and Rochester Americans who all finished with 14 points more than the Wild.

Where this all stops being funny is that of the Wild’s 23 wins last season they claimed 5 wins directly from 8 games against the Milwaukee Admirals. I could never exactly tell who was playing up to whose competition level, the Admirals or the Wild. Were the Wild playing that much better against the Ads or the complete opposite – were the Ads playing down to the competition and getting beat at the Wild’s own miserable game?

It’s now the 2015-16 season and the Wild have already played 4 games versus the Admirals 2 games. The Wild are 1-2-0-1 (3 points) on the season with the Admirals being blown apart in regulation both times out. About playing up or down to the competition… I think the cliche of a new season meaning slates are wiped clean applies here. Both teams have started off awful. This has less to do with matching up against an opponent and more to do with getting one’s own team playing correctly for a change.

I mentioned the Wild’s record. This is the rundown of there results to date: 4-1 loss vs. Charlotte… 5-4 shootout loss vs. Charlotte… 4-1 loss @ Lake Erie… 1-0 shootout loss @ Lake Erie.

If you’re still in awe of what the Checkers managed to do offensively at the hands of the Admirals and are looking at that high scoring game that the Wild managed to muster up with them – take a closer look. The Wild held a 4-1 lead in that game. As impressive as that is what is even more impressive was their ability to squander it. The Wild’s 4-1 lead vanished in the final nine-minutes of the third period. The comeback started with a hooking call against defenseman and alternate captain Tyson Strachan – who then went on to lose his composure and took a ten-minute misconduct for berating the officials in regards to the call. The Checkers cashed in on the power-play to get the ball rolling and would end up equalizing from another power-play that they’d receive forty-nine seconds after scoring to make it a 4-3 game.

On paper, the Admirals and Wild actually sound a bit alike minus the fact the Wild have a bit more going for them offensively. And when I say they’ve got something going for them offensively it’s a lot like saying myself and Emma Watson have a lot going for us as a couple. The Wild haven’t scored a goal in 101:32 of ice time and counting. That makes the Admirals gap between Vladislav Kamenev‘s shorthander to Miikka Salomäki‘s goal (slash own goal by Jake Chelios) of 55:14 of ice time look decent. So which Wild team will turn up? The current goalless drought version or the one that popped in 4 goals in a little over two periods of play against the Checkers?

~Who Is? Who What?~

There are several familiar names that return from last season’s Wild squad. Names that leap out are: Jordan Schroeder, Zack Mitchell, Marc Hagel, and Michael Keränen. Those four alone combined for 21 points (8 goals, 13 assists) against the Admirals last season.

New to the mix for the Wild this season are some veteran names: Maxime Fortunus and Ruslan Fedotenko. Fortunus has 702 games of AHL experience and has always been an outstanding on and off-ice leader. For those that remember, Fedotenko did actually join the Wild midway through last season and actually took part in a 4-2 Wild win in Milwaukee that saw the ol’ Ukrainian score a pair of goals. The two time Stanley Cup winner is back with Iowa for the full-season this time round and should provide veteran quality on the ice and a whole lot of knowledge and experience to an AHL locker room.

Then there is the story of former Admirals goaltender, Jeremy Smith. After leaving the Nashville Predators system he joined the Columbus Blue Jackets organization for the 2013-14 season. On a fun sidenote, he signed the same day as current Admirals forward Cody Bass with the Blue Jackets. When his time in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization ended he moved to the Boston Bruins. Smith had a phenomenal 2014-15 season with the Providence Bruins in the AHL: 22-11-5-2 record, 2.05 goals against average, 0.933 save percentage, and 3 shutouts. He probably tops his 2011-12 season personal best for wins in a season of 31 if he saw the net more than just 39 times. Why didn’t he? Log jam effect with the Bruins pipeline. Behind Joonas Rask‘s lesser known brother there is Malcolm Subban, Zane McIntyre, Matt Ginn, and -laughing above them all- Jonas Gustavsson. That meant Smith was expendable. That doesn’t explain why the Bruins gave him and extension just to loan him to the Iowa Wild anyways but I’m sure that amongst other transactions the Bruins made this past off-season will work out just fine.

Smith is currently three games into his career with the Wild and in those three appearances he has probably felt a heck of a lot like this:

Smith has faced no less than 42 shots on goal per game – PER GAME: 43 shots on goal vs. Charlotte, 45 shots on goal against Charlotte, and 42 shots on goal against Lake Erie. He has no wins and a highly respectable 0.922 save percentage to show for it. I’m not sure whether this means good things for Smith or good things for the Admirals. After all, the Ads have only managed to put up 41 shots on goal in their first two games. Are the Admirals going to bust out the shots tonight or is Smith-y finally going to get an easier night of work in net?

Expectations? Are the Admirals going to notch their first win of the season tonight? If the Admirals lose by a big margin again tonight – is it time to panic only three-games into the season?

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News October 18, 2015

Jimmy Oligny Recalled to Milwaukee

Well, that didn’t take too long. The Milwaukee Admirals have recalled defenseman Jimmy Oligny from the Cincinnati Cyclones after loaning him to their ECHL affiliate prior to the start of the weekend.

Oligny did suit up for the Cyclones regular season opener last night. The Cyclones won 5-1 over the Toledo Walleye and Oligny was caught for three minor penalties in the contest: roughing and two seperate cross-checking minors.

With how a few Admirals defensemen have performed in the opening two-games it does make sense for the Admirals to have at least one optional player in camp to rotate and cause actual competition to earn their spot in the lineup. The Admirals played their last game with a bare bones six defensemen setup as opposed to opening night when both Oligny and Garrett Noonan were healthy scratches in Chicago. The next game is Tuesday on the road against the Iowa Wild. I wouldn’t be that surprised to see Oligny reintroduced to the lineup considering his recall.

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Chatterbox October 17, 2015October 17, 2015

Chatterbox, Vol. 86

The Milwaukee Admirals have opened up the regular season with two regulation losses while being outshot 71-41, outscored 12-3, while only technically scoring a single goal. So… where do we begin?

The finger pointing could go in enough places that Goro from Mortal Kombat wouldn’t be able to point to them all – nor would the Goddess Durga for that matter. Offense. Defense. If you’re angry enough you might even be wagging a finger between the pipes and questioning if some of this damage could have been less if not for some clutch saves. The bigger named scoring talent looks lost and confused. And, in general, the ability to connect passes to one another has seen better days in a lower tier pick-up hockey game. To put it simply, there is a whole lot of wrong that is on display and it isn’t entirely something we should be expecting to go away instantly.

What’s perhaps most troubling to me is the Admirals lack of detail in their play to start the season. The coaching staff with Dean Evason at the helm preaches sound fundamental hockey. “Play the right way. Do the right things.” To see such sloppy passing, players thinking they can take on and beat two or three defenders all by themselves with skill, or blow defensive assignments in transition is something that was rare to see… until late last season under Evason’s watch.

The single most glaring element of this team right now is the non-existent offense. Which is bizarre to think you could use such a term knowing the skill level in that department is so high. There are two first round draft picks, three second round draft picks, and last season’s top goal scorer in the KHL in the forward group alone. Yet, flashy abilities aside, the basics are what is getting screwed up. When a team is trying to build a head of steam to race from defense to offense but can’t pass up the ice cleanly it presents an opportunity to be counter attacked – and counter attacked with the opposition coming down your throat in numbers. The Chicago Wolves had 37 shots posted against Juuse Saros. The Charlotte Checkers had 34 shots on goal against Marek Mazanec. The goaltenders need a breather and the offense can’t connect passes to get these men a break. The inability to sustain attacking hockey means cycling around on defense. Getting grinded out on defense leads to sluggish minor penalty mistakes. And, would you look at that, the Admirals are trailing on the scoreboard as easy as you like.

I suppose what I’m getting at here is that the transition game of “defensive assignment first and then attack” is the specific problem plaguing the offense. That same inability to go from defense to offense is also what’s making the penalty kill such a nightmare at the moment. Pucks are going to the net and, if they’re not in off the shot, they’re still right there on the doorstep. Collecting, clearing, and getting out of the defensive zone isn’t happening anywhere near enough as it should be and it’s lead to a penalty kill unit that has allowed six power-play goals in two games from eleven chances.

When you get away from what’s beneath the surface to the more out in the open stuff that’s when you get a little more angry. Kevin Fiala just about sounded like a lock to make the Nashville Predators opening day roster heading into the pre-season camp. He gets cut, joins the Admirals, and has proceeded to look like a ghost of the player that delivered last season’s most thrilling moment. He looks slow. He looks uninterested. And he looks every bit the reason why he was sent to Milwaukee. The sooner he stops feeling sorry for himself the sooner the Admirals get a high powered winger that can spearhead an offense. An igniter if you will. Someone to set the table and make every other forward have to follow that shift up with work ethic that is up to par with what Fiala can muster up. Until that moment manifests itself the best forwards on the ice right now are the ones doing a lot of the simple things right. Vladislav Kamenev has looked very composed in each of the Admirals first two games and it’s leading to scoring chances. Pontus Åberg was the most lively and aggressive forwards on the ice against Checkers and probably deserved a goal for his work rate. Frédérick Gaudreau and Félix Girard both looked smart on and off the puck and their battle level on offense was great to see considering they are meant to be the fourth line.

All that said and the word “finishing” isn’t to be seen because the Admirals haven’t really had a proper finish. Kamenev’s shorthanded goal was really all there was and that will probably go down as the softest goal Jordan Binnington will allow all season. Miikka Salomäki and Taylor Aronson have Jake Chelios and Trevor Carrick respectively to thank for their goals against the Checkers. Drew MacIntyre stopped both Salomäki and Aronson cold. Oddly, for the first time in a good while, the Admirals received some of those favorable puck bounces they’re always banging on about. Remember the hopes for all of those last season? They finally turned up tonight. And they still lost 7-2.

So many kinks to iron out and so little time before taking to the ice once again. Speaking of iron, if iron sharpens iron I must say on a positive note I am very glad that this spell is happening instantly to start the season. Why? Because with so much youth and so much season still to play there is a lot of time to learn how to do things -quoting Evason- the right way. Adversity is an essential part of any team or individual learning process that I feel the best have to learn how to endure and overcome. Why not face it right away as to combat it when it turns its ugly head later in the season? The results are bad. There is no denying that. The benefits of being able to get over this hump and earn period-to-period, start-to-finish, back-to-back style results is the difference between the teams that make the playoffs and the ones who watch them instead.

After the game I had the chance to catch up with Evason, Mazanec, and team captain Colton Sissons. Here is what they had to say following the rough result at the home opener.

Comments on the comments? What are you initial impressions of this year’s team and its struggles? What concerns you the most about the Admirals through two games? What improvements do you think are needed to get on the winning track?

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Game Recaps October 16, 2015October 16, 2015

Sputtering In Place; Admirals lose 7-2 against Checkers

The Admirals lost by a profound 7-2 against the Charlotte Checkers Friday night. The home opener for the Ads never really manifested itself to be anything other than a Checkers victory. Even the goals scored tonight by the Admirals were last put in by Checkers players. The rough keeps getting rough and the Checkers remain unbeaten from their first three games.

“It’s probably top on the disappointment list,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason in regards to the result of the home opener. “It’s a big list but for sure it is the top of it.”

The opening goal came just past the midway point in the first period. After Conor Allen joined the attacking rush for the Admirals and rang iron from a close range shot – the Checkers were off on a counter attack. Phil Di Giuseppe carried the puck down from the left wing and fed the center lane drive of Derek Ryan who beat Marek Mazanec blocker side to make it a 1-0 Checkers lead. The goal for Ryan was his second of the season.

In the final minute of the first period there was a frenzy around the Checkers net that led to video review. A puck managed to skip in behind Drew MacIntyre and get cleared before any Admirals skater could finish the job. The officials waved it off on the ice, the goal light came on, and people were generally confused. The official call was that MacIntyre was interfered with and for good measure, after a look at the overhead replay, the puck didn’t cross anyway.

After a Miikka Salomäki interference call prematurely ended an Admirals power-play the Checkers were able to tally again. Jake Chelios’ shot from the blueline took a harsh deflection en route to goal thanks to the net front presence of Di Giuseppe. The power-play goal made it a 2-0 Checkers lead on Di Giuseppe’s first goal of the season.

Following Rasmus Rissanen’s second minor penalty of the second period the Admirals hoped to get some momentum brewed up from their fourth power-play opportunity of the night. Patrick Brown was able to win a race down the right wing and wire in a shot off the back post of the net. Play continued on and it wasn’t until an official review that it was determined to be a shorthanded goal from Brown’s first of the season to make it 3-0 Checkers.

Brown would add a second goal for himself in the third period. Chelios did his best T.J. Brennan imitation by flying from defense all the way down the left wing wall before whipping a puck towards the goal mouth. Johnny on the spot was Mr. Brown who tapped home from close range to make it a 4-0 Checkers lead.

The Admirals would score thirty-eight seconds later to finally give the opening night fans something to cheer about. Salomäki skated behind a pack of four bodies before releasing a wrister from the left wing faceoff dot. MacIntyre made the initial save with the glove but the puck flew out to the net defending Chelios who botched his clearance attempt by scoring on his own goaltender. Salomäki, having last played the puck, was credited with the goal and ended a goal scoring drought of 55:14 dating back to Vladislav Kamenev’s shorthanded goal scored on the opener of the regular season in Chicago.

Past the midway point of the third period Cody Bass had a goal disallowed after a quick whistle bailed out MacIntyre in net. Bass scored five hole with ease but the whistle was ruled to have been blown prior to the goal. In the aftermath and confusion Kyle Hagel and Jonathan Diaby locked horns in a fight for the Admirals that might have come two periods too late. Decent enough noogie tilt but nothing more.

Following some jaw jacking, Bass and David Wohlberg were both sent to the box for two-minutes to open up the ice for four-on-four hockey. Similar to their first goal of the evening the Admirals had a Checkers defenseman to thank. Taylor Aronson’s shot from the right point was saved by MacIntyre but pushed aside into the path of Trevor Carrick and into his own net. Aronson’s first goal of the season cut the lead to 4-2.

The Admirals then decided to immediately go for the empty net and extra attacker. Danny Biega’s response to the move was a long range shot for the empty net goal. Going for absolute broke the Admirals emptied the net again – and Brendan Woods scored into the empty net. Captain Colton Sissons got into some rough stuff with seconds left in the game and worked himself up for a two-minute penalty for roughing and a misconduct. The Checkers decided to tag Mazanec for a last power-play goal with 1.5 seconds remaining after Erik Karlsson’s first goal of the season.

“I can’t say much more than it’s been very frustrating so far,” said Colton Sissons. “We’re not folding our cards yet. We’ve got a lot of time, we’re going to stay positive, stick together, get through this, and get better every day.”

Ramblings: Yesterday, defensemen Garrett Noonan and Jimmy Oligny were assigned to the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL). In news that will help Elite Prospects out – Dov Grumet-Morris was released from his PTO contract with the Admirals quite some time ago. Tonight’s lines were: Salomäki-Sissons-Fiala, Moses-Reinhart-Görtz, Åberg-Kamenev-Bass, Devane-Girard-Gaudreau, Allen-Näkyvä, Diaby-Aronson, and
Alm-Murphy.

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Scouting October 16, 2015

Checkers: Scouting the Enemy

The opener to the 2015-16 season wasn’t very good. Everything fell apart before it ever had a chance to get going all because of a lack of discipline by the Admirals in the opening period. It’s hard to get into a game offensively when you’re on the penalty kill for so long – and it doesn’t help when that penalty kill is also letting in goals.

The good news is that was the opening game. There are still a whopping 75-games left to play yet. That’s still more games to play this season that Californian AHL squads get to feature in! (I kid, I kid) In fact, as bad as that 5-1 loss looks as a result I’m certain that the Admirals will be on the flip-side of a scoreline such as that at some point this season. Actually, why not have one of those games tonight?

~Home Opening Energy~

There is something to be said about feeding off of the energy of a home opening crowd. This season alone there have been 16 home openers held and the home teams are 9-6-1-0 so far. How have the Admirals fared in home openers? Well, dating back to the 2005-06 season, the Admirals are 5-3-1-1 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on opening night.

Alright, so it’s not the most mind blowing thing in the world. There isn’t a guarantee of victory here by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, let’s look back only one season ago where both combatants of tonight’s home opener in Milwaukee paired up.

The Admirals took down the Checkers 6-3 in last season’s home opener. And, when looking at the game sheet of last year’s box score, you will find 21 returning faces (Checkers, 12… Admirals, 9). All the ingredients are there for the Admirals to recapture some of that electricity from last season’s home opener. And if that isn’t enough perhaps some of last season’s toxicity against the Checkers could manifest itself again.

If it were to get dodgy out on the ice it could center around Rasmus Rissanen. The 24-year old Checkers defenseman always seemed to be on the ice when tensions spiked last season. I’m sure there was a reason for that. No matter, I’d keep an eye out for #2 in red tonight just in case.

~Checking In On Those Checkers~

As mentioned, there are twelve returning names from last season’s opening night roster alone for the Charlotte Checkers. Not too much has really changed in terms of the roster. Last season, the Checkers -like the Admirals- did not make the playoffs. Unlike the Admirals they finished with a sub-500 record: 31-38-6-1 (69 points).

Thanks to the new AHL realignment they move out of the rowdy and high scoring West Division and into the new Central Division. Two games in and they’ve come up trumps both times… on the road… against the Iowa Wild. The first game was a smooth 4-1 win. The second game was far more impressive that saw the Checkers rally for three unanswered goals in the third period to force overtime where they’d go on to win it in a shootout.

In both games former Admirals goaltender Drew MacIntyre started in net for the Checkers. Opening night he went 22/23 on save opportunities while picking up the win. His second night out against the Wild he stopped 12/16 before getting pulled in favor of Rasmus Tirronen. The Finnish netminder stopped all seven shots he faced in relief and both shootout chances en route to picking up the win in relief of MacIntyre. Will the Admirals get the familiar veteran tonight or the young product of Merrimack College? It’s not as sure a bet as you’d think. I’d be interested to see if they rolled out Tirronen over MacIntyre.

~The Perennials~

Zach Boychuk.. Kyle Hagel.. Justin Shugg.. we meet again. Of these three I think I feel for Boychuk the most. He is an 0.86 points per game player in the AHL but that has never really manifested itself in his 127 career NHL games. Hagel on the other hand is the oldest player on the Checkers roster who isn’t named MacIntyre. Hagel has yet to play an NHL game in his seven-year professional career and is now entering his eighth season. That probably has to do with his most eye-popping numbers in the stat sheet coming under the penalty minute column. Shugg has a really great shot. Much like Boychuk he has great AHL numbers, as well: 118 points (50 goals, 68 assists) in 214 AHL games – 0.55 points per game. Shugg is coming off of a career year that saw him reach new bests in AHL scoring numbers and even earned some games at the NHL level. If there are big time threats on the ice tonight, be it scoring or a scrap, it’s these three.

Expectations on tonight’s home opener? Will the Admirals be able to rebound from a disappointing effort in Chicago?

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News October 15, 2015October 15, 2015

Noonan and Oligny Cincinnati Bound

The Nashville Predators have reassigned defenseman Garrett Noonan from the Milwaukee Admirals to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. In addition, defenseman Jimmy Oligny has been loaned by the Admirals to the Cyclones.

Noonan split last season between the AHL (40 games) and ECHL (23 games). As for Oligny, he managed to avoid any sort of ECHL stint in his first full-pro season last year. He played 53 games for the Admirals in the 2014-15 season while tallying 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists).

The two defensemen exit the Admirals just prior to the team’s home opener and leave the defensive numbers at six. Both Noonan and Oligny were healthy scratched for the season opening 5-1 defeat at Chicago on Saturday.

Surprised to see these two get sent down to the ECHL? Do you feel that Jonathan Diaby is being preferred regardless of performance to Noonan?

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Feature, News October 15, 2015October 15, 2015

2015-16 Goaltending Masks

This post took awhile to complete because, well, Marek Mazanec’s latest mask didn’t officially get unveiled by its artist until yesterday. Mazanec’s artist is the same man behind Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros masks, David Gunnarsson of DaveART. Not joining the DaveART group in the ye olde Admirals mix is current Cincinnati Cyclones goaltender Brandon Whitney whose mask is styled by Sylvie Marsolais of Sylabrush.

~Juuse Saros~

This is probably my favorite of the Admirals designs this season. I think the photo up top taken by Scott Paulus shows why. The new colors and logos really blend well into the uniform. Plus, my favorite element of the new Admirals logos uniforms is the bone “A” that is on Skeletor‘s hat and it bursts off each side. Also a nice added motif is the Nashville Predators logo appearing in Admirals navy along the lower end of the mask – flowing into the chin where another Admirals logo is placed. And I think what makes it all come together is the white areas around the cage – which, if you look closely enough, feature a hidden Suomi detail in chrome.

~Marek Mazanec~

Let’s not beat around the bush. This is Mazanec’s brand new 2015-16 challenger. It’s not an old mask. It just looks like one. Why did Mazanec decide to use the old Admirals logos? Welp, I look forward to asking him because my guess is he either (1) had no idea that the Admirals got new logos or (2) preferred the old logos. I sort of get the feeling it’s one or the other there. As far as Maz’s mask history with the Admirals goes. I still love his original design the most because of it’s simplicity and coordination with -especially- the home uniform of the time. This being much more baby blue I think will work well enough all-around with the new uniforms. I just think it’s funny seeing the old logo back as a photo negative. It’s like the ghost of the logo that was just killed off that’s begging to be exorcised.

~Brandon Whitney~

Firstly, massive thanks to Whitney’s artist Sylvie Marsolais for reaching out and sending in these close up shots of the mask. Considering there’s no guarantee he wears this Milwaukee mask in Milwaukee this season, I must say, it’s still a pretty gnarly mask. It also reminds me of Mr. Tendy Swag himself, Rob Madore, last season who probably had the best Admirals mask despite never logging a minute in net. There’s a lot of real cool little things going on in this mask – best of all is that hidden Predators logo behind Skeletor’s hat. In addition, the backplate features a tractor as an homage to Whitney’s family being big into farming (probably my favorite part of the mask because it’s completely individual and different). I’m not all too sure of the realistic looking skull on the side of the mask but hey Skeletor.

~Pekka Rinne~

Alright, he isn’t on the Admirals and (for his and the Predators sake) I hope that stays that way this season. Still, just look at it. I always like his faux-mask with a monster behind it design. Adding to it this season is the Immortan Joe look from Mad Mad: Fury Road with design elements that glow in the dark. Yes. 100% yes.

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Game Recaps October 10, 2015October 10, 2015

Undisciplined Admirals fall 5-1 in Chicago

The Admirals lost 5-1 on the road against the Chicago Wolves Saturday night. The Amtrak Rivals buried four power-play goals tonight including three in the first period alone.

“Obviously it’s an area we have to clean up for sure,” said Milwaukee Admirals assistant coach Stan Drulia after the game on 105.7 The Fan. “Penalty kill is the one thing that’s hard to work on at training camp but we have a lot of video right now. We have a lot of things that we can look at and discuss. Discipline was our number one key today. We didn’t have that anywhere on the ice.”

The Wolves power-play got off and running in the first period after Kristian Näkyvä was called for a trip. Magnus Pääjärvi scored the power-play goal off of a redirect after a shot fake and pass by André Benoît.

The next Wolves power-play featured a goal but one scored at the other end of the ice. Vladislav Kamenev spearheaded a shorthanded rush down the ice, glided out ever so slightly to the right wing to open up a forehanded shot, and he somehow found daylight in Jordan Binnington to record his first pro goal in North America.

Struggles of composure continued for the Admirals as a Pontus Åberg slash was followed by a delay of game by Félix Girard in a matter of fifteen seconds. The five-on-three power-play was a bang bang wing-to-wing tally for Pat Cannone. Pääjärvi was able to zip a puck across the goal mouth to set up the Wolves captain on the left wing side of Juuse Saros for a tap in.

After Trevor Murphy was called for hooking, a poor clearance by Taylor Aronson on the penalty kill was blown right back in his face by the Wolves for their third power-play goal of the first period. The clearance by Aronson went straight to the Wolves who finished the second chance opportunity with Ty Rattie firing in a quick shot blocker side of Saros.

It was only a matter of time before frustrations and post whistle scrums developed into something a bit more legitimate. Cody Bass partnered up with Jacob Doty and the two threw some bombs at one another at the start of the tilt. Bass certainly walked away the winner of the fight but also appeared to injure his right hand in the process. He did return to the game later on.

In the second period, a little Russian on Russian crime led to a fourth power-play goal scored by the Wolves. Kamenev collided with fellow Russian forward Ivan Barbashyov which resulted in a tripping penalty. Rattie would score his second power-play goal of the night after Jonthan Diaby and his defensive partner Murphy both fell asleep on the penalty kill and let the sniper drift behind them. It was a smooth finish by Rattie to best Saros to the glove side.

With only 0.5 seconds remaining in the second period the Wolves tallied their fifth goal of the game and the first goal scored at even-strength. Benoît’s shot from the left point took a net front redirect by Doty that snuck through Saros to make it a 5-1 game.

The third period would prove to cruise by. No more damage was created by the Wolves and no damage was really attempted to be created by the Admirals. In the end, it is the Wolves eighth consecutive win over the Admirals and wound up being the Amtrak Rivals’ largest home opener win, in terms of goals scored, since the 2002-03 season.

The Admirals composure and inability to stay out of the box early, and kill off those penalties, put them in a hole they could never get out of. With so many penalty kills early in a game it is hard for a team, especially offense, to settle and get into a groove. That never happened and the result pretty much speaks for itself. Saros ends up getting hard done in his North American debut allowing five goals – four of which were scored on the power-play – from thirty-seven shots.

“I thought Saros was good, real good,” said Drulia. “Kind of felt bad that we left him hanging out there to dry at times. He’s a real good goaltender and hopefully he can put this one behind him. He’s going to have a real good year for us.”

The team will look to rebound this coming Friday night on their home opener where the Admirals will face the Charlotte Checkers. Hopefully being able to recapture some of the magic of last season’s home opener where the Admirals beat the Checkers 6-3 could be in the cards with a solid week of practice. One game down. Seventy-five games left to play.

Ramblings: Tonight’s line combinations were: Salomäki-Sissons-Moses, Pendenza-Reinhart-Fiala, Åberg-Kamenev-Bass, Devane-Girard-Görtz // Allen-Näkyvä, Alm-Aronson, Diaby-Murphy. This meant the scratches were: Frédérick Gaudreau, Garrett Noonan, and Jimmy Oligny. Jordan Binnington is now a perfect eight for eight against the Admirals: 8 wins from 8 starts with a 0.936 save percentage. The Admirals were outshot by the Wolves tonight by a final of 37-17.

Obviously not the best way to open the season up. What is your reaction to tonight’s result? Did the Admirals simply shoot themselves in the first period with penalties and never recover? Do you look at Saros in net and have questions about his performance or more so the team in front of him?

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Scouting October 10, 2015

Wolves: Scouting the Enemy

Holy Moses! It’s Hockey Night! (Photo Credit: Nashville Predators)

Welcome back, Milwaukee. The long off-season done. The pre-season camps are all over. It is the start of the regular season. The Milwaukee Admirals open up the 2015-16 calendar with a road game tonight against the Chicago Wolves. Let’s check in on what’s new with the Amtrak Rivals to set the stage for tonight’s season opener.

~Recapping the Wolves~

Last season the Wolves finished the regular season with a record of 40-29-6-1 (87 points). They were third in the Midwest Division behind the Grand Rapids Griffins and Rockford IceHogs and were 6 points clear of the Admirals.

There is no escaping how painful last season was for the Admirals and the Amtrak Rivalry really reflects that. The Wolves went 8-2-2-0 head-to-head with the Admirals and outscored them 42-30 (sans shootout). This hasn’t been the kindest of series in general for the Admirals. The last five seasons the Wolves lead the Amtrak Rivalry with an overall record of 30-18-4-6.

The Wolves bowed out of the playoffs in the dreaded eight seed versus first seed match up against the Utica Comets but went down swinging hard. The best of five series went the distance with three of the five games needing overtime – including game four in which the Wolves won to force game five. It might have been a tough exit to lose the very next night -but- the Wolves pushed the Comets big time before Utica would go all the way to represent the Western Conference in the 2015 Calder Cup Finals.

~Who What Now?~

Who returns from that tough 2014-15 Wolves roster then? Plenty of highly skilled and successful players: Jordan Binnington, Ty Rattie, Magnus Pääjärvi, Pat Cannone, Yannick Veilleux, Jeremy Welsh, Cody Beach, and Petteri Lindbohm. There are of course several new names and -of them- I look immediately at proven veteran experience that will be stationed on the Wolves defense: Peter Harrold and André Benoît. Who could be some of the younger names that step up big for the Wolves this season? Pheonix Copley, Ivan Barbashyov, Thomas Vannelli, and Jordan Schmaltz all come to mind. Plus, additions such as Zach O’Brien and Danny Kristo, both of whom had strong seasons in the AHL last year, will strengthen the scoring attack at forward.

The biggest name to me on the Wolves roster is Binnington. The 22-year old goaltender is a stud and he proved as much in his first full-season at the AHL level last season. In 45 appearances in 2014-15 he had a record of 25-15-4-1, 3 shutouts, 2.35 goals against average, and a 0.916 save percentage. If the added year under his belt isn’t enough to make him better than the competition in net he’ll face from Copley should be. Copley was part of the package back to the Blues in the T.J. Oshie to the Washington Capitals trade. Copley made his AHL debut last season with the Hershey Bears and was just as -if not better- than Binnington: 26 appearances, 17-4-3-1 record, 3 shutouts, 2.17 goals against average, and a 0.925 save percentage. If these two push each other to a higher level it means bad things for all who face the Wolves this season.

When it comes to the forward to watch out for tonight you’re safe bet might be Rattie. Why not? He has 90 points (52 goals, 38 assists) in 131 games for the Wolves. That’s your safe bet. The smarter bet would be Welsh. He terrorized the Admirals last season with the most points produced by anyone in the match-up by a comfortable margin, 13 points (8 goals, 5 assists) in 11 games. What’s scarier than that might actually be that of those 8 goals that Welsh scored against the Admirals last season is that 3 goals were scored shorthanded. Heck, basically one-fourth of his points production in 75 AHL games last season came from his work against the Admirals. He’s the sneaky threat to watch out for tonight just as he was all of last season.

~Yesterday’s AHL Scoreboard~

Toronto win 5-3 vs. Manitoba… Wilkes-Barre/Scranton win 2-1 (OT) @ Providence… Rochester win 6-3 vs. Lake Erie… Bakersfield win 1-0 vs. Grand Rapids… Rockford win 4-2 @ San Jose…

Expectations for tonight’s regular season opener? Is it important for the Admirals to get off to a fast start this season like last? What do you think will be the key to the Admirals having success against the Wolves this season?

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News October 9, 2015

AHL and PHPA Ratify New Collective Bargaining Agreement

Sorry David Andrews but this is the only photo of you I have on file. (Photo Credit: LiPo Ching // Bay Area News Group)

The American Hockey League and Professional Hockey Players’ Association have come to terms on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The new four-year agreement will be in place until August 31, 2019.

Press Release via AHL:

SPRINGFIELD, Mass./NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. … The American Hockey League and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association today announced the ratification of a new four-year Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The new CBA, which is effective through August 31, 2019, has been ratified by both the AHL’s Board of Governors and the overwhelming majority of AHL players.

The CBA has been modified to include enhancements to the health and welfare plan currently offered to AHL players and their families, and to provide significantly better playoff compensation to players while allowing more flexibility to the AHL in Calder Cup Playoff scheduling and financing. The new Agreement also provides for increases in per-diem and minimum salary as well as modifications to housing and travel provisions.

“The American Hockey League remains fortunate to have an extremely positive and open relationship with our players and with the PHPA,” said David Andrews, AHL President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our previous CBA included several significant elements which have been beneficial to our players, our owners, and ultimately our fans, and this new agreement continues in that same spirit of cooperation.”

“The players advised us of the areas within the CBA most important to them, and we feel this deal addresses those issues, adding significant monetary and non-monetary value for present and future AHL players,” said PHPA Executive Director Larry Landon. “A number of players sacrificed family time to assist us with these negotiations, and I, along with all current and future AHL players thank them for their unwavering commitment.”

As it begins its historic 80th-anniversary season this weekend, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 88 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Since its inception in 1967, the Professional Hockey Players’ Association (PHPA) has continued to serve as an advocate of player interests. Currently, the PHPA is the certified, U.S. National Labor Relations Board collective bargaining representative for over 1,600 players on 68 teams in the American Hockey League and ECHL.

This news comes on the day in which the 2015-16 AHL regular season starts. I’m sure more detailed information related to the CBA will be released later on. As of now all I have to go on is this paragraph of the Press Release:

The CBA has been modified to include enhancements to the health and welfare plan currently offered to AHL players and their families, and to provide significantly better playoff compensation to players while allowing more flexibility to the AHL in Calder Cup Playoff scheduling and financing. The new Agreement also provides for increases in per-diem and minimum salary as well as modifications to housing and travel provisions.

That to me sounds really good. The increase in minimum salary is an interesting addition and I also wonder if this CBA addresses how contracts for the Pacific Division teams (who play less games) divvy up money as opposed to the rest of the league. All sorts of minor questions of that nature related to the California based teams and AHL players living conditions on the West Coast intrigue me a bit – so I’d love to get a bit more concrete reading on the new CBA. Not to end on a Pacific Division hate fest: any health and welfare enhancements for the players and their families is great by me.

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News & Discussion Site For Your Milwaukee Admirals