Author: Daniel Lavender

Chatterbox February 4, 2015

The Chatterbox, Vol. 63

An overtime four-on-three penalty kill or the Harlem Shake? (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

I don’t know about you guys, but last night’s 3-2 shootout loss for the Admirals was a really messy game to watch from start to finish. There’s been a few clunkers this season here and there but there was something really odd about watching them score twice in a period they were being outplayed in and then come out flat in the third period.

The start to the game was really good. Despite the first period ending scoreless I feel the Admirals did what they’ve been doing for the last month. They were tight and well structured defensively and allowed their defense to translate to offensive chances the other way. The result may not have impacted the scoreboard but they outshot the Lake Erie Monsters 13-10 and definitely outchanced them on high quality looks.

Where the game goes wrong is really from the second period to the conclusion. Sure, they scored twice in the second period but before they earned that first power-play they were lifeless and being outshot 8-1 in the period. You would think that generating those goals against the run of play would power through to the next period as far as momentum is concerned but the Monsters instantly snapped that by scoring a shorthanded goal – the second allowed by the Admirals all season. Then came a power-play tally to tie things up. And overtime ended with a penalty kill before a shootout decided things.

Not one of the best all around efforts of the season for the Admirals. Truth be told, I think it is actually a really good thing for the team. They still earned a point from a game and had enough positives to remain upbeat. There were negatives that need to be corrected and that will become a point of emphasis heading into the weekend three-in-three that starts with two blockbusters against the Midwest Division leading Rockford IceHogs. Motivation should be high. Kinks will be fixed. And the focus should be sharp for Friday night.

As for that “no goal” call that was made in overtime. I was able to sneak peek into the penalty box from my vantage point on press row to see what the referees were looking at. They were only focusing in on the over the top bird’s eye view camera. I saw finger pointing and some rewinds. From that look I don’t think you could even see the puck – which is black – as is our team’s shorts and partially our socks. In other words it was obscured from sight and I feel as if the no goal call was made because they had no legitimate sight of it. That is, unless they watched the replay shown on the jumbotron moments after the no goal call was made on the ice. That puck was so far across the goal line you could fit three of Rob Madore‘s rubber duckies between it and that goal line. Slight justice in the end then for the Monsters taking the shootout. As for them having that power-play late in overtime in the first place – that’s a whole different story that I’ll let our head coach talk about.

After the game I had the chance to speak with Dean Evason, Magnus Hellberg, Triston Grant, and Viktor Arvidsson. Here is what they all had to say following Tuesday night’s game.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 63” →

Game Recaps February 3, 2015February 4, 2015

Monsters Comeback to Haunt Admirals Again

The Admirals lost 3-2 in a shootout against the Lake Erie Monsters Tuesday night. The Monsters came back from a 2-0 deficit for the second time against the Admirals this season.

“We were happy with the way we played,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “We played hard. We played right. They wanted it as bad as we did.”

In the pre-game skate Mike Liambas and Daniel Maggio had a chat at center ice. I’m going to assume it wasn’t about the weather or tonight’s attendance. The first chance they shared the ice in the first period they dropped the gloves. That bout lasted a good while. The officials really let them go. All in all, I would score that even in the fight card. Maggio had the start and Liambas had the take-down finish.

The second period was cruising along with the Monsters enjoying the better part of attacking hockey. After the Admirals first power-play things did start to even out. Then came the breakthrough courtesy of Triston Grant’s fifth goal of the season. Taylor Aronson managed to skate all the way up to the lower left faceoff circle and throw a low shot on Calvin Pickard. The puck kicked off the pads and right to Grant who popped in the rebound.

It only took the Admirals 3:25 of ice time before capitalizing again. This time it was Colton Sissons who was in the right place at the right time. Karl Stollery fell over in the left wing pocket and gifted the puck right to Sissons who passed over to Viktor Arvidsson. The puck seemed to knuckle up on the Swede but bounced to Sissons with Pickard reading the play wrong big time. Sissons was free in space to the left wing circle and had a wide open net to lay a wrister off on for his fifteenth goal of the season.

Lake Erie got on the board in the third period with a shorthanded goal. Ben Street and Colin Smith were off to the races with only Taylor Aronson between them. Street passed up to Smith in neutral ice before getting the puck right back once Aronson clamped down towards Smith. The pass hit Street clean and he tagged Magnus Hellberg for his third goal of the season. It ended a shutout streak for Hellberg of 137:19 over the last three games.

After a Zach Budish tripping call the Monsters were able to equalize with a power-play goal. Smith, who set up their first goal, repeated the feat on the second tally as he raced into the zone off the right wing before nailing a perfect pass to Paul Carey on the backdoor of Hellberg. It’s Carey’s twelfth goal of the season and his fourth scored against the Admirals in five games.

In overtime, the Admirals were in complete desperation mode with a power-play in three-on-three that gave an extra attacker to the Monsters. Hellberg made crazy stop after crazy stop including a play that needed to be reviewed before determining that it wasn’t an overtime game-winning goal.

After surviving on the penalty kill in overtime the Admirals ended up taking their chances in the shootout. Every skater missed their shootout attempt until the last man in the third round, Joey Hishon, beat Hellberg off a slow backhander that flicked up and over the Swede and into the back of the net to seal the Monsters’ comeback after trailing 2-0.

“I don’t think we should have even gone to overtime in the first place,” said Magnus Hellberg. “I thought we played really well. We dropped the 2-0 lead in the third and that shouldn’t happen.”

When the Admirals played in Lake Erie on December 18 they lost a 2-0 lead and allowed four straight goals to the Monsters. Tonight they lost their 2-0 in the third period through a pair of special teams plays. It might not be the best setup game for the Admirals with the Rockford IceHogs coming in this weekend. Devil’s advocate, perhaps this was just the sort of game the Ads needed before such a showdown.

“Coach liked how way we played,” said Triston Grant. “We played good before Saturday as well in Grand Rapids so I think we’re just playing the right way. Sometimes you find, when you’re making mistakes, it ends up in the back of your net. I think we have to tweak a couple of things and get ready for a big weekend.”

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were all due to injury: Miikka Salomaki (upper body), Rich Clune (lower body), Jimmy Oligny (lower body), and Johan Alm (upper body). The loss tonight was the first experienced for the Milwaukee Admirals when Zach Budish was in the lineup. The team had won all fourteen games he factored into prior to tonight.

Thoughts on tonight’s performance? What happened in the third period? Does the finish to this game worry you for the Admirals upcoming weekend three-in-three?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

News February 3, 2015February 3, 2015

Arvidsson Named CCM/AHL Rookie of the Month

This might probably mean a wee-bit more than our friendly award dished up here on Roundtable. Viktor Arvidsson has just been named the CCM/AHL Rookie of the Month for January.

Press Release via AHL:

Arvidsson, the CCM/AHL Rookie of the Month, scored six goals and added seven assists for 13 points in 12 games in January, helping the Admirals to a 10-2-0-0 record.

Arvidsson notched the game-winning goal and added an assist to help Milwaukee to a 4-1 win over Hamilton on Jan. 3, and tallied a pair of goals in a 5-0 win over Charlotte on Jan. 10. He assisted on the winning goal in the final minute of regulation on Jan. 16 at Utica, and his two-goal effort on Jan. 17 at Adirondack included scoring the winner in overtime. Arvidsson ran his point-scoring streak to six games (5g, 3a) with a goal in a 4-3 win vs. Iowa on Jan. 23, and closed out the month with an assist in Milwaukee’s 4-0 win at Grand Rapids on Jan. 31.

A fourth-round pick by Nashville in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Arvidsson ranks fourth among AHL rookies with 30 points (15 goals, 15 assists) in 43 games for Milwaukee this season. The 21-year-old Arvidsson played the last two seasons with his hometown Skelleftea AIK in the Swedish Hockey League, helping them to back-to-back league championships.

In recognition of his achievement, Arvidsson will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Admirals home game.

Always great to see the Admirals get a weekly or monthly honor from the AHL. For how well Arvidsson played in January it shouldn’t be a surprise that he got at least the rookie honors. Nick Cousins of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms ended up with the CCM/AHL Player of the Month by scoring 17 points (7 goals, 10 assists). Meanwhile, Rockford IceHogs’ Michael Leighton was tabbed as the CCM/AHL Goaltender of the Month.

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

Scouting February 3, 2015

Monsters: Scouting the Enemy

If the month of February could be anything close to as good as January then we should all be in for a treat. This week the Admirals have a chance to leap into first place in the Midwest Division with games set against the Rockford IceHogs on Friday and Saturday. Before they can think about that there is another divisional foe to handle tonight at home.

The Lake Erie Monsters enter tonight’s game with a record of 19-16-4-3 (45 points) and are currently in last place of the Midwest Division. They have earned points from their last five games – including three wins from their last four games.

Against the Admirals this season the Monsters are 2-1-0-1. The top scorers for both teams in the head-to-head are Pontus Åberg for the Admirals with 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) and Paul Carey for the Monsters with 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists).

An interesting thing about how these two teams match up is their power-play and how much better it performs away from home ice. The Admirals overall power-play percentage is 16.2% while the Monsters comes in at 15.6%. At home, both power-plays drop tremendously: Admirals, 9.5%, Monsters 9.9%. That means keeping an eye out for the Monsters’ road power-play tonight which has a 20.5% success rate.

The leading scorer for the Monsters this season is defenseman Maxim Noreau with 30 points (8 goals, 22 assists). It is currently the 27-year old’s fifth career season in the AHL. He spent the past three seasons playing professionally with HC Ambrì-Piotta in Switzerland.

Tonight the Monsters will have quality selection for who they want out in net as both Calvin Pickard and Sami Aittokallio are available. Regardless of which goalie gets the start a huge point of emphasis should be to get to the net and take their vision away.

Both netminders have done well against the Admirals in the past, statistically. Pickard has played against the Admirals eight times and won five with a 2.35 GAA and 0.906 SV%. Meanwhile, Aittokallio has won two out of three games against the Admirals in his career with a 1.37 GAA, 0.953 save percentage, shutout, and goalie fight.

As far as the injury bug goes for the Admirals we should know more about the what’s what closer to pre-game skate tonight. Miikka Salomäki has missed the last two games due to an upper body injury. Rich Clune injured his right leg on Friday night’s home game and didn’t play the next night. The lone guarantee should be that Jimmy Oligny shouldn’t be in the lineup after his lower-body injury on Saturday night triggering the call-up of Garrett Noonan from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL late Sunday night.

Expectations for tonight’s game? More of the same from what the Admirals produced on the road in Grand Rapids? Against the Lake Erie Monsters would you like to see Rob Madore get the start or rather keep Magnus Hellberg rolling en route to the weekend showdown with the IceHogs?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

Feature February 2, 2015

Admiral of the Month: January

In December it was a struggle to choose the top performing Admiral in the month almost due to the lack of performances. You absolutely can’t say that about January. The team went 10-2-0-0 on the month and there are so many players worthy of the nod. My choice? Actually, my choice was a quite simple one. The Admiral for the Month of January was Viktor Arvidsson.

In January the Swede erupted offensively by producing 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists) in twelve games. He had a scoring streak of six games on the back-end of the Admirals franchise record nine game winning streak.

To put his January performance into perspective think of this. In November he scored 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) in twelve games. The next month he tallied even less with 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in twelve games. He averaged more than a point per game in January. And, for all the winning that occurred, half of his goals scored in January were game-winners.

Arvidsson had his share of highlight reel goals in the past month but take a moment to appreciate his all around game as well. When you think about the times Pontus Åberg has been listed as a healthy scratch for doing too many individualistic plays on the puck, looking to make YouTube magic all over again, it isn’t something that has plagued his fellow countryman. Arvidsson makes the dazzling plays but he’s smart enough on and off the puck to make chances like that a little less high-effort. Play the right way? Do the right things? Arvidsson has been applying the Dean Evason philosophy and has been doing it at a high rate of speed.

Other Admirals who had a great January: Brendan Leipsic, 10 assists (AHL All Star hat trick)… Anthony Bitetto, 11 points (1 goal, 10 assists)… Colton Sissons, 8 points (6 goals, 2 assists)… Austin Watson, 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists)… Magnus Hellberg, 6-2-0-0 record (1.80 goals against average, 0.933 save percentage, 2 shutouts)… Marek Mazanec, 5-0-0-0 record (1.22 goals against average, 0.947 save percentage, 1 shutout).

~Admiral of the Month Award~

October: Brendan Leipsic
November: Magnus Hellberg
December: Marek Mazanec
January: Viktor Arvidsson

Who was your pick for the top performing Admiral in the month of January? Please write a comment down below as to who and why.

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

News February 1, 2015

Garrett Noonan Recalled From Cincinnati

Tonight the Milwaukee Admirals have recalled defenseman Garrett Noonan from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. This move shouldn’t come as much of a shock for those that saw Jimmy Oligny‘s injury in yesterday’s 4-0 win in Grand Rapids.

Noonan has played in 27 games this season for the Admirals and produced 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists), with a plus/minus rating of +2, and 13 penalty minutes. Down in the ECHL he has logged only 6 games and has only managed to record an assist – which came in last night’s Pink the Rink game. He has a -2 rating in the ECHL, 6 penalty minutes, and has averaged 2 shots on goal per game.

As for Oligny, he lost an edge in the second period of last night’s shutout victory and collided skates first into the end-boards. As his body caught up with him he went upright and bent his right knee at an awkward angle. I’m no doctor, but I would speculate that at best he sprained his MCL and at the absolute worst it could be a complete tear. Totally speculation on my part but it was obvious that this injury would be sidelining him long enough to where a Noonan recall would be required.

Thoughts on the move? Should the Milwaukee Admirals lock up Ian White for the rest of the season to sure-up their defense? Do the Admirals need more defensemen in camp?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

Game Recaps January 31, 2015February 1, 2015

Returning The Favor; Admirals shutout Griffins 4-0

Magnus Hellberg rebounded with the Admirals tonight by recording the tenth shutout of his AHL career. (Photo Credit: Mark Newman)

The Admirals won 4-0 on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins Saturday night. Magnus Hellberg picked up his tenth career AHL shutout for the Admirals as the team successfully dusted themselves off and returned the favor to the Griffins who earned the shutout against them not even twenty-four hours earlier.

It only took the Admirals 1:24 of this game to accomplish what was so painfully difficult the night before, score. Nathan Paetsch was called for a slash forty-seven seconds into the game and the Admirals capitalized. Colton Sissons won a draw that fell back to Brendan Leipsic who set up Taylor Aronson for a point shot. As the puck flew in on Jonas Gustavsson it deflected off of Sissons stick blade and in for his thirteenth goal of the season. The goal by the Admirals ended a shutout streak for the Griffins that lasted 141:56 of ice time over the course of four games.

Last night there was an unfortunate injury to Rich Clune after an awkward collision into the boards. Tonight, the same story could be said for defenseman Jimmy Oligny. In the second period he lost an edge on a play back to his own net and hit the end boards skates first. As Oligny’s body went upright it appeared that his right knee bent in on itself at a bad angle. He was helped off the ice and did not return to the game.

While the injury to Oligny was a sad sight it seemed to spark the Admirals. They immediately scored following the injury stoppage on Pontus Åberg’s fifteenth goal of the season. Austin Watson was set up behind the Griffins net and caught Gustavsson focusing a bit too much on the left wing. Watson passed over to Åberg on the right wing and the Swede scored on a tight angle shot into a nearly wide open net.

There was also a very wild shift in the second period for Kevin Fiala that turned him into a targeted man for the rest of the frame. After exchanging crosschecks with the much larger Brennan Evans, Fiala skated down to neutral ice and attempted to deliver an elbow to the head of Andy Miele right in front of the penalty box. Thankfully for Miele the elbow missed, but it was a bizarre shift for Nashville top selection in the 2014 NHL Draft.

With a power-play expiring, and 1:32 remaining in the second period, Sissons was able to secure a second deflection goal on the night for his fourteenth goal of the season. Aronson’s shot from close to the right point appeared to take a deflection off of Landon Ferraro before bouncing in off the leg of Sissons in front of the net.

Trailing 3-0 with a power-play at hand, the Griffins made an aggressive decision empty their net with more than seven minutes left in regulation. The Admirals first killed off the penalty and then secured a long range empty net tally by Ian White for the dagger. It’s White’s second goal on the AHL this season but first scored since joining the Admirals.

Magnus Hellberg’s stellar form this season showed up yet again tonight. He stopped all twenty-six of shots he faced and punched in his tenth career AHL shutout. Those league best goaltending numbers for Hellberg continue to get better and better.

This game capped off a white hot month of January for the Admirals. Remember how frustrating December was? The Ads managed to go 2-6-3-1 that month and following it up by going 10-2-0-0 in January. Outstanding, if I do say so myself.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Miikka Salomaki (upper body), Rich Clune (lower body), and Johan Alm (upper body). It was also a scratch heavy lineup for the Griffins who had players getting sick on the overnight bus trip back to Grand Rapids: Czarnowczan, Pulkkinen, Chouinard, Nosek, Aubry, Athanasiou, and Nagle were all out tonight.

Thoughts on tonight’s response? Shall we mark up yesterday’s dud as an All Star break hangover? How important has Hellberg been to the Admirals this season? Could he possibly get an NHL call up soon?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

Chatterbox January 31, 2015

The Chatterbox, Vol. 62

The Milwaukee Admirals franchise record nine-game winning streak came to a crashing halt last night at the hands of the Grand Rapids Griffins. It was a 3-0 shutout and a performance that lacked the level of quality that the Admirals were producing during their run. Was it all bad? No, not really. Still there were too many moments from the game that could have been avoided.

On the first goal that the Griffins scored Teemu Pulkkinen was in the penalty box waiting to be unleashed. He was. And the Admirals were far to passive with their puck control at the end of the power-play. Rather than keep the offensive cycle going the puck got jarred loose, sent up ice, and sent the Griffins off on a two-on-one. Pulkkinen threaded his pass by Taylor Aronson to Mitch Callahan, goal.

While the second tally might be off a rebound. It’s still something that could have been avoided. Colton Sissons, Viktor Stålberg, and Aronson were both playing to the puck along the left wing wall too tight and exposed Landon Ferraro between the hashmarks. Nathan Paetsch‘s point shot may have kicked out to Ferraro but, with no one to close him down, he had no pressure on him to whack in the rebound chance that he had. He was all alone.

The third goal was an all-around mess highlighted by a good individual effort by Tomas Nosek. Joe Piskula‘s pass out of the defensive zone was batted down by Mark Zengerle and trickled to Nosek who made a hard skate in off the right wing across the mouth of goal before pushing a shot on net to the blocker side of Magnus Hellberg. The puck found a way underneath him and was screaming to be put out of its misery – to which Zengerle obliged. A breakout play. A clearing attempt. Whatever you could call it. Piskula wasn’t able to direct the puck up ice in a way that took pressure off. Instead, he invited it right back in.

That was all the bad. I feel lost in the result there were some good things done it’s just that they didn’t impact the scoreboard. Brendan Leipsic, Viktor Arvidsson, Sissons, and even Hellberg in net all had really good performances. There were lots of scoring chances that were wired together but they never had the quality finish to beat a white hot Jared Coreau in net.

Consider it a bit of a lull on the Admirals part if you want to contributed by the All Star break. If even half the chances created by the Ads get converted in last night’s game it probably turns things into a dead heat to the finish. Hopefully the quick change over helps the team get right back in the win column with a result in Grand Rapids later tonight. It would be slightly fitting considering the last Admirals loss prior to last night was at the start of this month in Grand Rapids, after all.

After the game I spoke with Dean Evason as well as Sissons, Leipsic, Hellberg, and Mr. BobbleFists himself Mike Liambas. Here is what they all had to say following the Admirals shutout loss to the Griffins.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 62” →

Game Recaps January 30, 2015January 31, 2015

The Winning Streak Is Over; Admirals shutout 3-0

The Admirals were shutout 3-0 by the Grand Rapids Griffins Friday night. It ends the Ads franchise record nine-game winning streak in rather painful fashion. This was pretty much a game that the Griffins had in cruise control from start to finish.

“Very disappointing regardless of what has happened of in the past,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “Tonight’s game was disappointing. We played a good hockey game but we turned the puck over first goal, we make a mistake on the second, we turn the puck over on the third goal. I honestly think we out-chanced that hockey team tonight. Their goalie was great. I thought we had our chances to score. We just made some, for the lack of a better term, bonehead plays to hurt our hockey team.”

The game’s first power-play sent Temmu Pulkkinen to the penalty box for a trip to Brendan Leipsic. The problem with that is, if the power-play goes bust, the AHL’s top scorer is ready to break out of the box the other way. The Griffins worked their kill and exit to tee up Pulkkinen out of their PK and get a two-on-one. Pulkkinen passed over to Mitch Callahan who scored five hole on a first timed shot for his sixteenth goal of the season.

After the Admirals had a goal disallowed at one end the Griffins bashed in their second of the first period down at the other. Nathan Paetsh’s shot from the left point took a deflection through the net front traffic and hit off of Magnus Hellberg’s left pad. The puck fell kindly for Landon Ferraro who put in the rebound for his nineteenth goal of the season.

In the second period the Griffins extended their lead to 3-0. Tomas Nosek made a spectacular cut across the mouth of goal, right to left, and pushed a puck underneath Hellberg. The puck squirted loosed behind the big Swede who had no clue where the shot by Nosek had gone. It had fallen free behind him in the crease and was easy pickings for Mark Zengerle to score his sixth goal of the season. He probably won’t score an easier goal than that in his career.

The scoring would end right there on the night. That means back-to-back shutouts for Griffins netminder Jared Coreau on consecutive nights. He stopped all thirty-eight shots he faced against the Iowa Wild last night and all twenty-eight the Admirals threw at him tonight.

“Some guys got to look individually at some mistakes that we made,” said Evason. “After that we’ve got to bounce back. We play a hockey game tomorrow. We play a hockey team tomorrow that hasn’t given up a goal in two games and scored nine. We’re going into a real tough situation but going to enjoy the challenge.”

Ramblings: Prior to tonight’s game the Admirals recalled Zach Budish from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. It was the second such move this week as Rob Madore was also brought up in a corresponding move to Marek Mazanec’s call to the Nashville Predators. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Miikka Salomaki (upper-body), Zach Budish (healthy) and Johan Alm (upper-body). Rich Clune took an awkward hit into the end boards in the first period and did not return to the game following the incident.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What went wrong? Can you push this aside as just a controlled game for Grand Rapids with a hot goaltender in net?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

News January 30, 2015

The Undefeated Human Being Has Been Summoned

Budish-12514-1 — Zach Budish doesn’t know the meaning of the word defeat. Well, he’s smart so he does but let’s just assume he doesn’t to better understand his mysterious undefeated run in the AHL this season. (Photo Credit: Rockford IceHogs // flickr)

Prior to tonight’s game there is a roster move to announce. The Milwaukee Admirals have recalled Zach Budish from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. In addition, Frédérick Gaudreau has been activated from reserve for the Cyclones.

Budish has played in only 13 games for the Admirals this season while scoring 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists). Interestingly, or entertainingly enough, the Admirals have yet to lose a single game that Budish has played in this season. Flukey stat, yes, but credit to him because this has been a good season for him. With the Cyclones he has 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists) in 30 games at the ECHL level.

This is the second move for the Admirals before finishing off the All Star break with tonight’s game against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Marek Mazanec was recalled to Nashville earlier in the week and placed Rob Madore back up to Milwaukee. He should be serving on the bench with Magnus Hellberg starting tonight.

Thoughts on the addition of Budish? Should he be getting playing time at the AHL level over other lower-line wingers? Will Madore get an AHL start tomorrow night?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

News & Discussion Site For Your Milwaukee Admirals