Tonight’s game just took a slight swerve. The AHL has announced that Triston Grant has been suspended one-game as consequence for his actions against the Oklahoma City Barons Sunday evening. Grant picked up an instigator in the final five minutes of the third period which results in an automatic one-game suspension under the provisions of AHL Rule 46.22.

Without Grant, the Admirals numbers on the forwards group just became an interesting storyline for tonight’s game. Sunday’s game was the Admirals forward corps stretched as far as they could go without calling up Josh Shalla from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL after Viktor Stålberg was recalled just prior to game time. If Shalla isn’t brought up with Grant being suspended for tonight they will either need to (1) hope that Mike Liambas has had his lacerated lower right leg heal up (2) likewise with Miikka Salomäki‘s upper-body injury that has had him on the shelf since mid-February (3) go the classic Scott Valentine route and dress a defenseman up as a forward for the night.

Interestingly enough, that final option also hinges on one of two things. The first option is that Jonathan Diaby returns to the lineup after missing the previous two games. He did participate in Sunday’s pre-game warm ups, mind you, so it’s certainly possible he’s back tonight. The latter option is that Garrett Noonan, the human yo-yo, returns for tonight after his third reassignment to Cincinnati only a few days ago.

My guess, barring a Shalla recall, is that Diaby returns tonight and that the Admirals for one game only “LIVE ON PAY PER VIEW” will play a defensemen up top with the fourth line against the Barons. Who would be the most likely candidate to step up into that capacity is the $64,000 question. Part of me would think that it would be someone like Anthony Bitetto as a player that is a bit rangy from the blueline as it is. I’d keep a small eye on the AHL Transactions‘ page just in case of a Shalla recall though.

~UPDATE~

Looks like you won’t need to do as much digging around as I did pure speculation. Aaron Sims reports that Ian White will in fact be the Admirals defenseman stepping up into a forward role tonight. Sims goes on to mention that White will play right wing and has actually played in that capacity for a short time as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs back in 2008-09.

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The last update we did on our ECHL pals the Cincinnati Cyclones was back at the start of December. Especially to some of you new readers to the Roundtable, you might think that this Cyclones team and ECHL business are something of an Island of Misfit Toys considering how often you would only see news updates of players coming and going from Cincinnati. That of course isn’t the case at all. So, let’s take a glimpse into how our ECHL affiliate has been trucking along through the 2014-15 season.

~Short & Sweet~

The Cyclones currently hold a record of 26-23-1-5 (58 points) this season. That record slots them in fourth place of the North Division and in tenth place of the Eastern Conference.

When looking at the various team figures you can see some of the struggles for Cincinnati this season. They have a goal differential of -9 (151 goals forced, 160 goals allowed). They have the twenty-fifth ranked power-play in the ECHL with a 14.6% conversion rate (29/199) while allowing three shorthanded goals against. Their penalty kill ranks twentieth in the league with an 81.9% kill rate (141/172) while scoring seven shorthanded goals on the season.

~The Moving Pieces~

We’ve already witnessed a few players come and go through Cincinnati this season. By that I literally mean go. They’re gone. Both Patrick Cehlin and Mikko Vainonen were with the Cyclones earlier this season but both have since been loaned out to European clubs in their native countries. Cehlin joined Leksands IF in Sweden while Vainonen was sent to SaiPa of the SM-Liiga in Finland.

The story of Cehlin is fairly well documented on our end this season. He had off-season surgery to repair three loose bone fragments in his hip. As he traveled back home for the summer a blood clot developed in his leg following the flight to Sweden. He subsequently missed the start of the 2014-15 season, began in Cincinnati, played four games with the Admirals, was sent back to the ECHL, and then was loaned back home in late-January. With his contract up at season’s end it effectively means the end of his time within the organization.

Vainonen was a far more curious case than Cehlin’s. This was to be the Finn’s first full-season of pro hockey in North America after finishing up his junior playing career with the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL. He joined the Admirals at the end of last season, made it into two games, and started this season with the Cyclones. He played in 31 games in the ECHL picking up 5 assists with a plus/minus rating of -8 and 16 penalty minutes before finding himself packing up for Finland with SaiPa in mid-January. Since returning home, he has played in 14 games, has an assist, is a +1 player, and also has 12 penalty minutes.

~Familiar Names~

There have been quite a few names that we’ve seen up with the Admirals for, honestly, the better majority of this season who have spent some time with the Cyclones. That list includes the likes of Jonathan Diaby, Joe Pendenza, Zach Budish, Frédérick Gaudreau, and Garrett Noonan (who is currently with the Cyclones right now).

With all the names mentioned above, I feel as if their ECHL playing time comes not from poor AHL performance but purely based on the overall depth and numbers game working against them this season. If you really think about it, the Admirals have been pretty fortunate as far as injuries are concerned this season and we’ve seen far more additions (Rich Clune, Viktor Stålberg, Ian White, and Kevin Fiala) than could have been anticipated at the start of the season. As a result it has meant some rather talented young players getting ECHL playing time as opposed to sitting on the outside looking in for playing time at the AHL level here in Milwaukee.

When looking at those who have split time between Cincinnati and Milwaukee this season I think that there is no denying the upside to being able to play, work, contribute, and get the wheels going upon the next AHL stint takes place. Diaby’s small spell with Cincinnati really speaks volumes to this because the before and after of the player he was prior to his time with the Cyclones was a night and day difference. It really helped him get back on track from a slow start with the Admirals and has since looked every bit the part of an AHL caliber defenseman in his first pro-playing season.

Budish was another player that has really benefited from his work rate in Cincinnati this season. He looked good at the start of the season with the Admirals but was given the plane ticket down. His response from his time with the Cyclones has been massive: 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists), plus/minus rating of +11, 1 PPG, 1 SHG, and that call comes with 30 games of work.

Players like Pendenza and Gaudreau have also benefited from the exact same experience. Rather than be healthy scratched in Milwaukee both have been able to log minutes and contribute to Cincinnati in their time down this season. Pendenza has 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists) in 13 games. Gaudreau has 7 points (5 goals, 2 assists) in 14 games.

~The Other Guys~

There are then some of the ECHL regulars that we’ve not seen too much of this season in Milwaukee. That list includes Jaynen Rissling, Josh Shalla, and Rob Madore. We did get a brief look at both Rissling and Madore this season. Rissling managed to play 5 games for the Admirals during the injury bug time of February for defensemen in Nashville and Milwaukee. I felt he looked quite good all things considered. As for Madore, his brief time in Milwaukee has been all spent serving as a back up. Shame too. I may have the best tendy gear in the entire organization this season.

The name that does stand out here is Shalla. I hate to say it but I feel like it is just the same ol’ same ol’ from him. By that I mean, he is producing at a really fantastic rate. He has a team best 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) in 55 games. The next closest to him on the Cyclones in the scoring department is David Pacan with 28 points (9 goals, 19 assists). The age old problem here is that this is ECHL scoring that we’re talking about and not AHL production for Shalla. In his career his points per game at the ECHL level is a highly respectable 0.82 Pt/G. With Milwaukee? It falls off a cliff and drops down to 0.28 Pt/G. I’m sure he would like to be given the opportunity to prove otherwise but the talent pool above him mounted swiftly. That window to do so may have already come and gone.

Madore’s season in net has been largely split with Sam Brittain for the Cyclones. While the first half of the season may not have been what Madore would’ve hoped for, as follow up to his Kelly Cup MVP performance last season, he has started to get on a nice roll. This season he has a record of 11-12-1-4 from 29 appearances with a 2.69 goals against average, 0.903 save percentage, and 3 shutouts. In his last 4 starts he has been brilliant. His save percentage in that span is 0.959 (142/148) including a shutout. Think that’s a crazy amount of shots for such a small span? Well, in his last game he stopped an insane 53/55 shots on goal on the wrong side of a 3-2 shootout loss on the road against the Orlando Solar Bears.

~The Road To The Finish~

Including their game later tonight, Cincinnati has 17 games before the ECHL regular season comes to an end. They have 8 more home games to close out the season and they will be desperate to start digging back points in an effort to sneak back into the playoff picture. Last season, the Cyclones finished second in the North Division with a final points total of 90 to get the fifth seed out of the Eastern Conference. Between the current sixth seed and twelfth seed there are only 10 points of separation. The Cyclones are in that mix and so much can change in a matter of games and good form. If Cincinnati gets on a run at the late stages of the season who is to say that they can’t repeat the same playoff performances that they achieved last season? It’s all a matter of consistency and that will be the key to the Cyclones finish this year.

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Prior to tonight’s game the Nashville Predators recalled Viktor Stålberg from the Milwaukee Admirals. This comes after Eric Nystrom will miss the next few weeks due to injury.

Stålberg was the late game hero for the Admirals 3-2 (OT) win over the Grand Rapids Griffins. He scored the Admirals first goal of the night, the game-tying goal with 0.4 seconds remaining in regulation, and the overtime winner 15-seconds into the OT period. He has scored 17 points (11 goals, 6 assists) in 20 games with the Admirals this season. With the Predators he has 4 assists in 11 games this season.

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It looks as if the entire Milwaukee Admirals defensive corps is getting back to 100% healthy. Johan Alm and Jimmy Oligny returned not too long ago and, last night, Joe Piskula came back from injury as well. Jonathan Diaby missed last night’s game after being lit up in a bout with Daniel Maggio in Lake Erie on Wednesday night but seemed to be in good spirits after Friday’s game.

With all this in mind the Admirals have assigned Garrett Noonan to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. This season he has played 6 games at that level, only has an assist as far as offense is concerned, has a plus/minus rating of -2, 6 penalty minutes, and is averaging 2 shots on goal per game.

Noonan has actually played really well when given the opportunity with the Admirals. In 38 games of work at the AHL level he has 9 points (4 goals, 5 assists), a plus/minus rating of +5, and 15 penalty minutes. The downside to his reassignment will obviously be not maintaining an AHL role. The upside is that he’ll get to log far more minutes with Cincinnati than he ever would have in Milwaukee. Staying fresh, sharp, and ready in the off-chance another injury bug crops up again is the plus of having a guy like Noonan waiting in the wings while playing more in the ECHL.

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