Jaynen Rissling’s season started with pre-season camp in Milwaukee. He should make his AHL debut on Wednesday night when the Admirals play on the road against the Chicago Wolves. (Photo Credit: Cincinnati Cyclones)
Yesterday wasn’t very kind to this organization’s defensive group. Joe Piskula was injured in the third period and did not return for the Milwaukee Admirals. In addition, Mattias Ekholm took a nasty looking spill into the boards for the Nashville Predators. What happened today should be the first of a few roster moves that take place within the system. Jaynen Rissling has been recalled to the Admirals from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.
Rissling has played the entirety of his season to this point in the ECHL. He has logged 27 games, produced 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) of offense, has a plus/minus rating of -4, and 72 penalty minutes with a grand total of 10 fights to his name. He will wear #81 with the Admirals.
There should be a roster move coming up as far as the Predators are concerned as well. My natural assumption here would lead me to believe Anthony Bitetto should get his second call up of the season. Were Piskula healthy it might have been him instead. Rough thing for Milwaukee is that Johan Alm and Jimmy Oligny are both out to injury and, with Rissling now up, there are five defensemen in camp with no one else here to bring up from the ECHL.
I had asked Dean Evason last night about this current situation and it seems like a given that another defenseman will have to be brought on board. Whether it be a new PTO signing or perhaps working out a loan deal with someone. That will all have to be worked out quickly. The Predators play tomorrow and the Admirals play on Wednesday. The question of “who do we think about signing” needed to be answered with a pool of names last night to target the deals today. Could we see a new Admiral prior to Wednesday game? It might be cutting it close but the Admirals need to make it happen.
If that wasn’t enough, Colin Wilson was also dinged up for the Predators recently. It could be that Viktor Stålberg, Viktor Arvidsson, or Austin Watson get a look up top. Easiest transition of that group would be Stålberg. Should he go up I’d anticipate Joe Pendenza possibly making a return trip to Milwaukee just to keep the numbers the same.
Thoughts on the current defensive situation? Who should be called up to the NHL? Are there certain players available that could be added to the Admirals?
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Austin Watson not only leads the Milwaukee Admirals in goals with 18 this season. He leads the entire AHL in game-winning goals with 8. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
I would say that the last two games for the Admirals haven’t been the prototypical games we saw in January. That “play the right way, do the right things” gimmick has taken a backseat to some run and gun style “see goal, score goal” hockey. Not good for the Admirals goalies and defense. Thankfully, the offense has been up to the challenge and delivered.
In the last three-in-three of the Admirals 2014-15 season the went on and swept the entire weekend set. They outscored their opponents 17-11, went 37.5% (6/16) on the power-play, and had a 90.0% (9/10) on the penalty kill.
The offense has been good. No question. The defense and goaltending in the last two games has had some serious bad luck. Marek Mazanec had a puck flick up and in off of him in Rockford. Worst of the worst by a long shot though. Magnus Hellberg allowed three goals as a direct result of pucks deflecting off of his own teammates in front of him in net against Rochester.
It might not be too surprising then that head coach Dean Evason said, after the game, that they deleted the game footage immediately following Sunday’s game. I don’t see him joking about that one bit. And I can’t blame him if he did. It was a hot mess of a game that the Admirals were able to snag the win in overtime from.
After a lengthy post-game presser with Evason, I also had the chance to catch up with Austin Watson and Brendan Leipsic to hear their post-game reactions. Here is what everyone had to say after the Admirals 6-5 overtime win.
Celebrate, everyone! The Milwaukee Admirals gained sole possession of the Midwest Division last night and gained further ground this evening against Rochester. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Admirals won 6-5 in overtime against the Rochester Americans Sunday evening. Today’s story was about really bad bounces with Admiral leads coming and going. In the end, it was a clean sweep of the weekend three-in-three for the Admirals.
“That was a crazy game,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “I don’t even know where to begin. Our heads are still spinning. Bounce after bounce. It was just a really funky game.”
It took the Americans 4:40 before they registered their first shot on goal. Fortunately for them, the Mark Pysyk shot deflected off of Joe Piskula’s leg and fooled Magnus Hellberg in net to the near post. It was Pysyk’s third goal of the season.
The Admirals struck back with a pair of power-play goals in the first period. Ian White belted a slap shot through traffic for his fourth goal in the AHL this season, third since joining the Admirals, and first scored as an Admiral that wasn’t an empty netter. The second tally was a lightning fast series of passes that sent goaltender Andrey Makarov scrambling once the shot was put on net. Triston Grant buried the loose puck out in front for his seventh goal of the season.
In the second period the Admirals scored their third power-play goal through Brendan Leipsic. It was a tight to the cage effort for Leipsic as he hacked away twice on a loose puck while two defenders closed him down. His last swat had enough on it to go up and over Makarov for his sixth goal of the season.
Just as they did in the first period the Americans were able to score a goal off of a deflection off an Admirals defenseman. Zac Dalpe’s wrister off the right wing wall hit off Anthony Bitetto’s right leg and in past Hellberg on the glove side. It was Dalpe’s eleventh goal of the season.
The Amerks clawed back from the two goal deficit to draw level in the second period. Jerry D’Amigo passed over to Phil Varone who was all alone on the right wing faceoff circle. The 2015 AHL All Star was able to beat a fellow All Star in net as Hellberg wasn’t able to slide over fast enough to stop Varone’s twelfth goal of the season.
That level score wouldn’t be around for long though. Leipsic made a Play of the Year candidate. As the Amerks were looking to get back out of their zone Leipsic raced in and picked the puck clean off of Jake McCabe’s stick and controlled the puck with pace in on Makarov, threw some quick stickhandles in, and buried the goal for his second of the game and seventh of the season.
“I just tried to finish my hit and caught the defenseman being a little too casual and poked [the puck] through,” said Brendan Leipsic. “I was fortunate enough to beat the goalie.”
After the goal by Leipsic the Amerks swapped goalies. Makarov had stopped 15/19 shots before getting pulled. He was replaced by Matt Hackett.
Midway through the third period the Americans equalized once more. Dalpe flicked a backhander in on Hellberg that was coughed up into the air. As it was coming down Dalpe managed to bat the puck through the right arm of Hellberg and in for his second goal of the night and twelfth of the season.
Sick of hearing the Admirals gain a lead and then lose it? Well I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news. The two traded goals late in the third period en route to forcing overtime. Viktor Arvidsson unleashed the howitzer slap shot of his off the crossbar and down. Just to be sure it would count as a goal, Mark Van Guilder cleaned up the loose puck behind the back of Hackett to make it 5-4. It is recorded as Van Guilder’s sixth goal of the season. Only forty-eight seconds later the Amerks tied the game on their third goal scored off of a bank shot off an Admiral. McCabe’s shot hit clean off of Felix Girard and into an open net for his fourth goal of the season.
The moment the game shifted to three-on-three overtime was the decider. The Amerks had iced the puck and the Admirals had an attacking zone faceoff to work with. Austin Watson won the draw back to Taylor Aronson who fed right back to him. Watson delivered a powerful slap shot that blew past the glove of Hackett for his team leading eighteenth goal of the season to win it in overtime.
The Admirals swept the weekend three-in-three and now have a four point gap to the Rockford IceHogs who will be stationary until Friday. The Admirals play on the road against the Chicago Wolves on Wednesday. Good news for all is that this weekend was the last three-in-three of the Admirals season.
“Those two games, the back to back with Rockford, kind of felt like a mini playoff series,” said Leipsic. “Definitely a lot of energy and emotion goes into those but you have to find enough to get another game Sunday. Obviously, guys are spent right now.”
Ramblings: Rich Clune made his return from a lower body injury after missing the Admirals previous four games. The scratches were Miikka Salomaki (upper body), Pontus Aberg (healthy), Jimmy Oligny (right knee), and Johan Alm (left wrist). Joe Piskula was injured in this game and did not return. This comes with the additional news that Mattias Ekholm was injured for the Nashville Predators today as well. After the game, Evason said that the team will most likely call up Jaynen Rissling from the Cincinnati Cyclones, have a played called up, and the Admirals will need to look into bringing in more defensemen.
Thoughts on today’s game? As far as wacky games go where does this rank? How well has the Admirals offense played lately and has it masked defensive issues?
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WHY CAN”T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? (Photo Credit: Rochester Americans // Facebook)
First of all, website views from North Korea will be on the rise today thanks to this title. I could have called the Rochester Americans by their other name that they like using, Amerks, but that has always looked and sounded bad to me. … I digress.
~Last Night~
The Admirals 7-5 thrill ride win in Rockford last night put them into sole possession of first place in the Midwest Division. They are now 27-13-2-4 (60 points) on the season which also puts them in third place of the Western Conference. The IceHogs don’t play until Friday when they get us again. The Ads have today and Wednesday to get a bigger cushion built up.
The Admirals not only lit up Scott Darling last night but also rocked CCM/AHL Goalie of the Month Michael Leighton for the second consecutive night. I felt the IceHogs were pretty harsh to yank Darling so quickly into the game. He had allowed two goals on three shots but consider what those goals were: Brendan Leipsic power-play goal right off the bat and a Viktor Stålberg shorthanded breakaway.
The decision to put Leighton in must have purely been a “wake up, guys” sort of move on the bench. In the end, Leighton allowed four goals from thirteen shots on goal. It’s the first time he has allowed four goals since Dec. 16 in Iowa. And it is his worst save percentage in a game (0.692) since Nov. 4 at Lake Erie (0.714) in a game that saw him get pulled. Two games into his month of February, fresh off his AHL monthly honor, and the Admirals tagged Leighton for two losses, 7 goals allowed, 3.78 goals against average, and a 0.829 save percentage.
Stålberg has been with the Admirals for thirteen games this season. He has the best points per game average on the entire team with a 0.85. He has scored 11 points (7 goals, 4 assists). As far as his weekend is concerned he already has four goals from two games. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him right back after it again later this afternoon.
Marek Mazanec has won seven straight games in net for the Admirals. In those games he has a 0.931 save percentage, 2.40 goals against average, and one shutout. There is a strong chance that Magnus Hellberg will finish off the three-in-three set this afternoon. In his last five home games Hellberg has a 1-2-0-1 record, was pulled from net once, has a 0.821 save percentage, 4.39 goals against average, and one shutout. As rough as pulling all three games of a three-in-three might be. We could possibly see one today.
~Merica~
The Rochester Americans have a record of 20-26-2-0 (42 points) which sees them sitting in last place of the North Division and thirteenth in the Western Conference standings. In their last ten games they have gone 5-4-0-1 (11 points) and enter on a three point streak.
Some slight good news as far as today is concerned. The Admirals are on the last of a highly emotional and physically draining three-in-three. You would think that they should be on fumes for today’s game. Well, joy of joys, so too could be the Americans! They are also on the last of a three-in-three and both of their games were overtime games played against the Grand Rapids Griffins. We know full well how difficult those games can be. These two teams should be exhausted come the third period of this contest.
The other thing worth noting about Rochester as a team? Today will be their seventh straight road game and it isn’t even the last of their road trip. They’ll play today in Milwaukee and finish off an eight game road trip close to their home with a game in Utica.
In this road trip so far the Americans have been outscored 23-18 in six games. Their special teams have also come up poor on this road trip. They’ve gone 5.0% (1/20) from the power-play and 72.0% (18/25) on the penalty kill.
~When Last We Met~
Remember that awful month of December? One of the few bright spots from that time came from a four game road trip where the Admirals won three games. One of those games was in Rochester when they won 4-2 over the Americans.
In that game the Admirals fell behind 2-0 before scoring four unanswered goals to get the win. They were almost doubled up in shots by Rochester, 30-16, and really battled it out to get that result. Like last night, everything was made up and the shot disparity didn’t matter. They scored twice in the third period on three shots to seal the win.
The top scorer for the Americans is Phil Varone with 36 points (11 goals, 25 assists). He was a 2015 AHL All Star and notched a pair of assists in the game. Varone is followed in scoring for the Americans by Schaller who has 33 points (15 goals, 18 assists). During this current road trip they’ve both recorded a point per game average with 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists).
The goalie group right now in Rochester includes Matt Hackett and Nathan Lieuwen to the mix with the Russian youngster Makarov. Hackett was assigned to the AHL this past Wednesday and has played four games for the Americans this season going 2-2-0-0 with a 3.03 goals against average and 0.886 save percentage.
Lieuwen and Makarov have been the main battery for Rochester. Their combined work sees them have a 3.13 goals against average and 0.893 save percentage. Makarov has the team’s lone two shutouts this season. Considering Lieuwen is 23-years old and Makarov is 21-years old – it isn’t great but it also isn’t that bad.
Expectations for today’s game? Will there be anything left in the tank for these two teams? Would you start Mazanec or Hellberg? After the last two huge games against Rockford do you feel the sense of a dreaded let down game for this one?
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Viktor Stalberg might be having a rough time this season but it hasn’t managed to hinder his time with the Milwaukee Admirals at all. On his hat trick he scored shorthanded, even strength, and on the power-play. He did it all tonight in Rockford. (Photo Credit: Greg Hamil)
The roller coaster that was the Milwaukee Admirals against the Rockford IceHogs in Rockford has just come to an end. The Admirals won the track meet 7-5 to claim sole possession of the Midwest Division on the road Saturday night. Viktor Stålberg scored a hat trick, Triston Grant recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick, and Marek Mazanec picked up his seventh straight win in net for the Admirals.
Before this game even started there was a standoff between the Admirals and IceHogs during pre-game skate. There are no officials on the ice for warm ups and shoving got started a half-hour before game time. They then piled up near the penalty box area in neutral ice before dispersing.
T.J. Brennan crushed Kevin Fiala in the game’s opening minute to put the Admirals on a very early power-play. The result saw Taylor Aronson pass over to Brendan Leipsic who hit a wicked one-timer through Scott Darling for his fifth goal of the season.
One of the major instigators in last night’s chippy instances on the ice, Pierre-Cedric Labrie, got his wish shortly after the opening goal. He engaged a fight with Triston Grant and the two hardly landed a blow to each other. They went down on the ice quick and it almost felt like they could have been given roughing calls over the fighting majors that they received.
Fiala and Brennan met yet again but this time the circumstances were flipped as it appeared the 18-year old was looking for a revenge hit of his own. The IceHogs were put to the power-play and Viktor Stålberg pounced on a fumbled puck by Ryan Hartman. The Swede was all alone for the shorthanded breakaway and buried a forehand to backhand deke past Darling for his fifth goal of the season.
Just like that, the Admirals were up 2-0 on the IceHogs off of two special teams play and the IceHogs decided to pull Darling from the net in favor of Michael Leighton. Darling was only in net for 4:11 of ice time in the game and made one save from three shots.
The first period would have another bout on the ice and it was one that almost started the night prior. Mike Liambas and Cody Bass locked up and they landed plenty of punches. This scrap was triggered in last night’s game when Liambas had a huge check along the penalty box boards to Mark McNeill. As Bass came over the boards for a change he went right after Liambas. It didn’t happen then and there. But it did take place in Rockford tonight.
Weirdly, Liambas was given an additional roughing call on his fight with Bass and it ended up biting the Admirals. A great tic-tac-toe passing play set up McNeill all alone in front of Marek Mazanec for an easy finish. The passes started with Matt Carey and Garret Ross along the right wing before setting up McNeill directly in front of goal to score his fourteenth goal of the season.
It seemed for a moment that the IceHogs had leveled the game up at 2-2. Ross faked a slap shot to turn Ian White inside out and cranked a wrister off the crossbar and down. The goal light went on, the players celebrated, but the video review went against all the commotion and it was ruled no goal.
Before you knew it the Admirals turned around and made it 3-1. Stålberg made an incredible play to fly past Dillon Fournier with speed, cut in front of Leighton with power, and finish it all off with a backhander top shelf for his second of the night and sixth goal scored with the Admirals this season.
In the second period the IceHogs scored a shorthanded goal of their own on an “Ugliest Goal of the Year” candidate. Mazanec didn’t catch that Phillip Danault was racing in down the left wing side. When Mazanec left the puck behind his net Danault was able to swoop in, swat at the puck before Aronson could get to it, and then the bounces came. The puck hit off Danault’s stick, Aronson’s leg, Mazanec’s back, and then the ice inside the net for Danault’s seventh goal of the season.
With 3:59 remaining in the second, Hartman was called for a roughing minor that sent the Admirals to the power-play and the IceHogs’ Ross to a temper tantrum. The forward was ejected after exchanging words with the officials following the call on the ice.
From that power-play Stålberg capped off his hat trick by scoring his seventh goal of the season. The Admirals power-play goal was almost identical to that of the IceHogs earlier in the game. It was a tic-tac-toe play between Viktor Arvidsson and Colton Sissons before laying off to the front of the net for Stålberg for the hat trick. Not a bad way to celebrate Swedish Heritage Night in Rockford if I do say so myself.
The third period brought about the third fight of the night. After a hit along the boards Brennan dropped his gloves and attempted to engage Liambas. It would have been Liambas’ second fight of the night and a game penalty as a result so he smartly declined and actually drew a penalty against Brennan for delay of game. Meanwhile, Hartman grappled Félix Girard and those two tussled themselves into the ice.
As Brennan’s penalty expired the Anthony Bitetto hit Grant with a picture perfect stretch pass that sent him loose on a breakaway. The veteran torched Leighton on a snapshot high glove side for his sixth goal of the season.
Less than a minute later the IceHogs got that goal right back. Some really solid work in front of the net by Ryan Schnell jarred a puck loose to the side of the net. Jamie Wise was quick to react, and picked up the puck behind the net and was able to bank a shot off of Mazanec and in for his third goal of the season.
The Admirals tallied their sixth goal of the night off of their third breakaway goal of the game. Grant was able to set Austin Watson free down the right wing and, after a faked slap shot, he cut in on Leighton and deposited his seventeenth goal of the season as a pair of IceHogs defensemen crashed him into the net. The assist on the play for Grant gave him a hat trick of his own – the Gordie Howe variety.
Rockford had their net emptied and the extra attacker on when Schnell scored his second goal of the season with fourteen seconds remaining in the game. Thankfully, the scoring wasn’t done there because Ian White decided to score his second empty netter with the Admirals this season to reach the game at its mind blowing 7-5 final.
Massive credit for this game must be given to Mazanec in net. The Admirals, especially in the second period, were actually quite over-matched on offense and resorted to quick-strike counter attacks to catch out the aggressive IceHogs. Mazanec made thirty-nine saves tonight in a thrill ride of a game that saw his counterparts on the opposite side get lit up like they haven’t in ages. The Admirals scored seven goals from only eighteen shots. That is simply scary when you consider the goalies they just did that to.
The game’s video highlights are broken up into three parts. You can watch them period by period: 1st Period, 2nd Period, and 3rd Period.
Ramblings: The Admirals lineup and line combinations were exactly the same as they were last night against the IceHogs. The difference though was that Rich Clune actually participated in pre-game skate today. I imagine that means he is cleared to play but was a game time decision and the team elected to roll the same group out as the night before and make sure Clune is 100% before going back at it. Perhaps he’ll return tomorrow afternoon? We’ll see. This game had a combined seventy-two penalty minutes. It’s the most goals that the IceHogs have allowed in a single game this season – the previous high was five goals allowed and came against the Iowa Wild.
Thoughts on this game? Putting aside technical aspects and thinking purely on entertainment – was this the game of the year so far? Will the Admirals have anything left in the tank for tomorrow?
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Marek Mazanec was cool and calm as the Rockford IceHogs threw their best at him last night. He now as six straight wins in net for the Milwaukee Admirals. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
This season started with a bang for the Milwaukee Admirals. They sat atop the Midwest Division ahead of the Rockford IceHogs before plummeting as far as fourth during their rough patch in December. Well, happy Saturday morning everybody, the Admirals are back in first place with the tie-break putting the team ahead of the IceHogs.
Tonight, tomorrow, and even Wednesday night are all key games for the Admirals as a way to not only break that tie with the IceHogs but start building a gap in the standings. Rockford will be stationary after tonight’s clash in their own barn and won’t play again until visiting Milwaukee next Friday. The time is now to strike and head-to-head results such as last night are huge. Build now. Take the pressure off when the playoff crunch really takes hold.
~About Last Night~
Before going into the audio portion let’s take a look into last night’s game to set the stage for tonight.
Michael Leighton allowed three goals to the Admirals last night. It was the most goals that he had allowed since Dec. 16th against the Iowa Wild when he allowed four goals. Ever since was clicking at a pace of two goals allowed or less.
While the Admirals power-play may have only gone one-of-six from the game… they still generated six power-plays in the first place. Rockford took plenty of poor penalties that, even though their penalty kill bailed them out, really stunted their ability to get their game rolling.
As the frustration started to boil over the IceHogs began engaging post-whistle scrums late in the game – including after the final horn. Whether or not that means haymakers will be thrown early tonight is beyond me. Last night was the second successive game played between the Admirals and IceHogs to not have any fighting majors. Perhaps this feud has turned a new leaf? … That was written with sarcastic intent, believe me.
Speaking of chippy things that went on last night. My gut tells me that the AHL will probably be reviewing Garret Ross for his boarding incident. You always know that a hit is bad when the player that delivered it even displays instant grief that he did it. What Ross did was dangerous and could have easily been more than a two-minute minor for boarding. He clubbed Viktor Stålberg from behind and the Swede’s jaw nearly pelted off of the dasher boards in front of the Admirals bench. Should Ross survive with only the minor penalty he should consider himself lucky that Stalberg missed that dasher and therefore wasn’t injured on the play. If he did, he probably would have been tossed right then and there and be joining Brandon Mashinter on the IceHogs suspension list.
The Zach Budish effect continued last night. Sure, the Admirals lost the previous game he was involved in but it was a shootout loss. He still have earned a point in every game he has factored into this season and last night might have been his best all-around game that I’ve watched him play. He was moving really quick, took charge offensively, scored a goal, almost scored a shorthanded goal off of an Austin Watson lead saucer pass, and was among three other players who registered a game-high four shots on goal. #BelieveInBudish
After the game I had the pleasure to speak with an upbeat Admirals locker room. Inside the Chatterbox this time: Dean Evason, Kevin Fiala, Marek Mazanec, and Joe Piskula. Here is what they had to say following the win at home against the IceHogs.
Kevin Fiala recorded North American pro goals one and two tonight as the Milwaukee Admirals moved into a first place tie for the Midwest Division. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Admirals won 4-1 against the Rockford IceHogs Friday night to move into a first place tie in the Midwest Division. Kevin Fiala scored his first two professional goals on North American ice as Marek Mazanec earned his sixth consecutive win in net for the Admirals.
“It’s a huge game for us,” said Joe Piskula. “We were playing for first place and we knew it was going to be a battle. Both teams played well I thought. They’re fast, they played fast and sometimes that is going to work in their favor. Tonight we just got the job done.”
When the Admirals second power-play in the first period ended they were caught tired and flatfooted. Cody Bass, fresh out of the box, received a clearance from Klas Dahlbeck and was off to the races. Ian White was the last man back for the Ads but was gassed and allowed Bass to get inside position to whip his backhander in on goal. Marek Mazanec threw a blocker to the puck but it got through for Bass’ first goal of the season.
In the second period the Admirals equalized on Kevin Fiala’s first pro goal in North America. The native of Switzerland snuck behind the IceHogs defense and Mark Van Guilder hit him on a stretch pass that sent him in on goal all alone. Fiala pulled a backhander that flew over the glove of Michael Leighton and in, top shelf, for the goal. Jonathan Diaby was credited with the secondary assist on the marker to notch his first career point in pro hockey, as well.
Zach Budish’s fifth goal of the season came moments after Fiala’s tally to give the Admirals their first lead of the night. Joe Piskula made a great pass as he was smothered by Matt Carey and Ville Pokka that fell over to Budish breaking down the middle of the faceoff circles. The shot torched through Leighton to make it 2-1 after two period of play.
Fiala would tag the IceHogs again in the third period. Ian White’s point shot on the power-play deflected off of Fiala’s stick before ricocheting in front of Leighton. Fiala was quick enough and free enough in space to stab the puck into the open net to score his second of the night before the veteran netminder could react.
“His two goals are really his game right now,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “He’s a little bit behind. The game is quick for him and today was a really heavy game. He’s not used to playing that. That’s why he’s here playing for us preparing him to play for the Nashville Predators.”
Rockford decided to pull Leighton for the extra attacker with 3:09 remaining. Fiala was fighting for his hat trick big but missed out – as did Mazanec on a goalie goal that was knifed down by a high stick in neutral ice. The tally would eventually fall to Viktor Stalberg on the empty netter for his fourth goal with the Admirals this season.
“I was sure it’s in,” smiled Marek Mazanec after the game as he described his empty net bid. “Because it was a perfect shot and when the guy hit it I was like no way. It’s so lucky, but we won the game and it’s another assist so it’s good.”
How about a shoutout to Mazanec’s overall night in net? His only goal allowed came on a bad break at the end of an Admiral penalty kill and from that point out he was lights out. He stopped twenty-three shots to pick up his sixth straight win for the Admirals. He also picked up his fourth assist of the season on the empty net tally.
Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Miikka Salomaki (upper body), Rich Clune (right leg), Jimmy Oligny (right knee), and Johan Alm (left wrist). All are expected to miss the weekend’s next two games. The Admirals and IceHogs are now tied for the Midwest Division lead at 58 points each but the tie-break sees the Admirals currently atop the division and third in conference.
Thoughts on tonight’s game? Is this a statement win for the Admirals? Will the first goals for Fiala take some weight off his shoulders? More of the same tomorrow?
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Michael Leighton has been dominant in net for the Rockford IceHogs. Having players such as Mark Van Guilder taking his vision away will be key. (Photo Credit: Rockford IceHogs // flickr)
Buckle up, folks. This is the Milwaukee Admirals last three-in-three of the season and it starts with two games against the Rockford IceHogs. If things fall into place correctly the Admirals could be in charge of the Midwest Division by supper time Sunday.
~The Showdown~
The IceHogs enter tonight’s game with a record of 26-14-4-2 (58 points). They hold a two point lead over the Admirals for the division lead and have played two games more than the Admirals have.
The way the schedule works out, the IceHogs only have tonight and tomorrow’s tilt against the Admirals this weekend before playing in Milwaukee next Friday. They’ll be more than familiar with us as the games storm ahead. Meanwhile, the Admirals have the Rochester Americans on Sunday and a road game against the Chicago Wolves on Wednesday before squaring back up against Rockford.
~Head to Head~
This season’s head-to-head currently favors the Admirals through eight previous games: 5-3-0-0. Only one of those games went past regulation and that happened the last time they met – a 1-0 shutout win for the Admirals in Rockford. That game also took place in a similar scenario as we see this weekend with a home-and-home battle. In fact, this will be the third time this season that it’s happened. The Admirals split the first set Nov. 14-15 and swept the IceHogs Jan. 8-9.
As far as scoring goes, the Admirals have managed to outscore the IceHogs 17-15 head-to-head. The power-play numbers head-to-head are: 8.6% (3/35) Admirals, 12.0% (3/25) IceHogs. The top scorers for each team head-to-head: Taylor Aronson, 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists)… T.J. Brennan, 6 points (4 goals, 2 assists) and Phillip Danault, 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists).
I almost didn’t realize how often we’ve really gone to blows against Rockford this season. So, yeah, I think we’ll be in for a scrap or three this weekend.
~Notable Absentees Tonight~
Rockford will be short a few bodies tonight. Remember Adam Clendening? He was traded by the Chicago Blackhawks in a like-for-like trade with the Vancouver Canucks for Gustav Forsling. The Swedish defenseman remains with Linköping of the SHL and probably won’t join the IceHogs until next season. That mean an ECHL move needed to be made and the man called up from the Indy Fuel was Dillon Fournier.
The IceHogs will also be without the flashy Finn Teuvo Teräväinen who remains up with the Blackhawks. He had scored 23 points (6 goals, 17 assists) for the IceHogs prior to his move up. He has since scored 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in the NHL.
Another player who we won’t have to worry about for both games this weekend is Mashinter. Why you ask? Because he was suspended by the AHL for two games after an elbowing incident against the Wolves. He wasn’t called for elbowing or a game misconduct during the game but you can watch and judge for yourself on the Wolves video highlights from that tilt.
Both netminders in Rockford have been putting in solid campaigns this year. Darling has a record of 11-7-2-0, 2.18 goals against average, 0.929 save percentage, and 2 shutouts. The veteran Leighton has had more games in net this season and, per the Chicago Sun Times, has been a calming force for the young team. He has a 12-7-4-2 record, 2.01 goals against average, 0.931 save percentage, and 4 shutouts this season.
Leighton has had the better numbers this season against the Admirals. He has 2 wins from 5 appearances with a 1.14 goals against average, 0.955 save percentage, and a shutout. In addition, his month of January was sensational: 4-0-2-0 record in 7 games with a 1.05 goals against average, 0.969 save percentage, and 2 shutouts.
Darling has actually been beaten up a bit by his former team in the 4 games he’s played this season: 1-3-0-0 record, 11 goals allowed, 3.10 goals against average, 0.904 save percentage. His January was also pretty solid but the results went against him: 2-3-0-0 record in 5 games, 2.22 goals against average, 0.928 save percentage, and 2 shutouts.
In the Milwaukee camp, both Hellberg and Mazanec have split the 8 games against Rockford this season and have looked great. Mazanec has 3 wins, 1.75 goals against average, 0.938 save percentage, and a 27-save shutout to his name over the IceHogs this season – that shutout happened the last time we met. Hellberg has a 2-2-0-0 record against the IceHogs this season with a 2.02 goals against average and 0.924 save percentage.
Expectations for tonight and tomorrow’s games against the Rockford IceHogs? Is it an advantage for the IceHogs to focus in on the Admirals for their next three games? Will the Admirals be in first place of the Midwest Division before Sunday’s final of the three-in-three weekend?
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Rob Madore has customized Milwaukee Admirals goaltending gear and a mask. Sadly, it’s really not seen much time in the AHL this season. (Photo Credit: Cincinnati Cyclones // Facebook)
Pekka Rinne is expected to start in net tonight for the Nashville Predators when they take on the Anaheim Ducks. That meant sending Marek Mazanec back down yesterday and, as you’d expect, today’s roster move. Rob Madore has been reassigned to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.
Madore has served as Magnus Hellberg‘s back up for 6 games this season but has yet to log any minutes in net. This season for the Cyclones Madore has played 20 games, holds a record of 8-8-0-3, a 2.71 goals against average, 0.900 save percentage, and has a pair of shutouts.
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Jonathan Diaby might not have recorded any points on offense yet this season but his defense is starting to really shine. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The forward group of the Milwaukee Admirals has been talked about plenty this season and for good reason. We currently have a talent pool, courtesy of the Nashville Predators, that’s about as deep as I can remember. Viktor Arvidsson, Brendan Leipsic, Pontus Åberg, and Kevin Fiala were all brought on this season. The play of Arvidsson and Leipsic is actually pretty reminiscent of last year’s rookies Colton Sissons and Miikka Salomäki – who remain bright spots on the team in their sophomore seasons.
With all that talk being such a focus I feel it would be a good time to switch things back a little bit and point at our defensemen this season. There have been some pretty great turn-around performances out of the defense that, while not as flashy on the highlight reel, deserve the same level of appreciation – specifically two players.
~The Replacement~
When you think about how the Admirals defense looked at the start of the season it felt as if Johan Alm was going to be a massive piece to the team’s puzzle. He was one of the last two players to be cut ahead of the Predators regular season and paired with the man he was sent back to Milwaukee with, Joe Piskula. It’s sad to think that, after Tuesday’s game, Alm has now missed 23 games due to injury. It has been almost two months to the day since he last played.
With the absence of Alm the man who ended up stepping up into his role alongside Piskula would be none other than 20-year old Jonathan Diaby. While you might think the age difference between the two isn’t too harsh it was the professional playing experience that set Alm apart. The Swede had played 135 games in the Swedish Hockey League with Skelleftå and Frölunda. Diaby? He was fresh out of his time with the Victoriaville Tigres of the QMJHL. How has the native of Quebec fared since stepping into the top defensive line? Better with each and every game.
There could be some fun to be had poking at Diaby’s current offensive numbers delivered from the blue line. He has zero points, none, ziltch, goose egg, doughnut. The only other Admiral without a point of offense this season? Patrick Cehlin who had played 4 games with the team after a lengthy recovery period from hip surgery and a blood clot. While Cehlin would be sent to Cincinnati before being given the return to sender label – Diaby has played 32 games without a point of offense in the AHL this season. Even Marek Mazanec (3 assists) and Magnus Hellberg (2 assists) have lucked into a point somewhere along the way.
At the first few games of the season I felt Diaby looked really uncoordinated on the ice. He didn’t look comfortable and would make some down-right confusing decisions on the ice. In his third game of the season he slowly skated to the bench as a Chicago Wolves odd man rush was coming right back into his face which turned into a goal. He was benched for two games. Ever since he has slowly built himself into a very reliable shutdown defenseman and occasional on-ice enforcer. Sound familiar? It does to me. Sounds like a guy we had by the name of Joonas Järvinen – a no nonsense, in your face, physically imposing defenseman.
Diaby is still learning the pro game and, in part, his stat line speaks to that. He is the only current active Admiral who doesn’t have a positive plus/minus rating and the lone man with a negative is the one he replaced who is currently out with injury. He’s trending upward in my book. I’d expect that number to change for the better. Regardless, his season has to be quite the education. He’s playing alongside Piskula and matching up most nights against the upper-end forward lines of the opposition. This year should be a great foundation for him to build off of.
~Earning A Spot~
I want to come clean and admit that when this season started, and Taylor Aronson was on the roster, I had serious doubts about how he would do. In his first two seasons of pro hockey he was split between the AHL and ECHL but more often then not found himself with the Cincinnati Cyclones. Last season he never even made it to Milwaukee. His entire season was spent at the ECHL to push his career numbers to 143 games at that level as opposed to the 26 games he had played in the AHL prior to this season.
How much of last season, spending an entire season at one-level, with the same team, same coaches, and one focus the true factor in Aronson’s turn-around? It may have gone under my radar last season but this year I think it has proved to be the best thing to have happened for him. In 2013-14 he played 65 games for the Cyclones in the ECHL and scored 38 points (6 goals, 32 assists) while having a plus/minus rating of +28. In addition to that he was part of the Cyclones tremendous Kelly Cup run where he had 7 assists and was a +6 en route to defeat for Cincinnati in the final.
Aronson showed up to Admirals camp this season in his best shape and with his mind firmly focused on maintaining an AHL role. His advantage that other defensive competition didn’t have? He was the only right handed shot. While it’s a plus to have that left-right parody on the blue line I don’t think that’s matter much as far as Aronson earning his spot this season. He has played like he has belonged from game one.
This season Aronson has scored 24 points (3 goals, 21 assists) in 41 games. He is tied with Austin Watson for third on the Admirals in scoring and is the highest scoring defenseman by a goal over Anthony Bitetto. Aronson’s points per game in the ECHL last season was 0.58. In the AHL this season it’s 0.59. The work he put in last season in Cincinnati has translated into AHL success in Milwaukee this season.
What have you thought about the Milwaukee Admirals defensemen this season? Who has been the best d-man? Have Diaby and Aronson impressed you this season?
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