Author: Daniel Lavender

Feature December 19, 2014December 19, 2014

The Then & Now Report

Jarvinen-1314-1 — This is Joonas Jarvinen. He’s an intense fella on the ice. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

There certainly could be a rant in regards to last night’s 4-3 defeat to the Lake Erie Monsters. It was an ugly looking game that seemed to sucker punch the Admirals after their 4-0 shutout on Tuesday that appeared to be a return to form. Sadly that wasn’t that case.

As optimistically as I can put it. This spell is still a good thing as far as the learning process is concerned for so many of the prospects on the Admirals roster. The good start was just that. But it is seeing these players overcoming adversity, time and time again, that will help long term. The rest of the teams in the AHL have gotten better since the start of the season. So must the Admirals. The answer as to “how” they get out of this funk may just define their season.

~The Then & Now Report~

In another effort to get all of our minds off of last night’s game I thought it would be fun to look at some recent and (possibly) future Admirals. Plenty of names worth discussing and worth giving a look. Let’s start with some former Admirals to start things out.

Then

Scott Ford. What better place to start than with The Sheriff? Since joining the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL he has played 6 games, tallied an assist, has a plus/minus rating of +1, has 12 penalty minutes, and 2 fights.

Braden Pimm. Why talk about him? Because, fun fact, he remains teammates with fellow Fort St. John, BC native Ford with those very same South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL. Pimm has played in 20 games, is fourth on the Stingrays in scoring with 12 points (7 goals, 5 assists), and has 8 penalty minutes.

Michael Young. Hey! Remember this guy? He made his professional playing debut with the Milwaukee Admirals last season and was injured in that debut, never to be seen again. At least not until this season where he, you guessed it, joined the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL. How trendy? He was actually a roster camp invitee of the Boston Bruins in pre-season. Thus far with the Stingrays he has played 9 games, hasn’t produced offensively, and is a -7 player.

Kirill Gotovets. Hey! Another “remember this guy?” player. He wasn’t really sure how he even became an Admiral last season but, like Young, made his professional playing debut as a member of the Admirals. This season he has been a member of the Indy Fuel of the ECHL and has 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) and 12 penalty minutes in 12 games.

Joonas Järvinen. I was always a fan of Järvinen. He was a no nonsense stay at home style defenseman that could hit like a hammer and just seemed to be getting better. He joined the newly formed HK Sochi of the KHL in the off-season and… well, I wonder if he is dreaming of Milwaukee. In 29 games he has an assist, 20 penalty minutes, and a plus/minus rating of -11… which is a 25 point drop off compared to his last season as an Admiral… oof..

Bryan Rodney. The man I nicknamed “Thunderdome” due to his hit and miss, hot and cold, fan reception joined HC Bolzano in Austria in October. He has played 19 games, scored 9 points (3 goals, 6 assists), and has 14 penalty minutes.

Charles-Olivier Roussel. Another likable guy on this list – it has actually proved to be a busy year for Rouss on the loose. He had signed an ECHL deal with the Utah Grizzlies in late September but found himself traded in November to another ECHL squad in the Greenville Road Warriors. In total, his ECHL numbers this season read as such: 21 games, 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists), 8 penalty minutes, and a -2 rating.

Vinny Saponari. He signed a deal with the Hartford Wolf Pack in September and has spent the majority of this season in the ECHL with Roussel and the Greenville Road Warriors. He did get a quick AHL stint where he picked up an assist in 3 games. Yet, it’s been mainly ECHL duty to this point: 17 points (7 goals, 10 assists) in 22 games.

Scott Valentine. Last season ended on a sad note for Valentine. He had a shoulder injury that required surgery and he ended up missing the playoffs. He healed up and signed with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL before getting signed to an AHL contract by the Texas Stars exactly one month later. He has played 10 games for the Stars and has himself 29 penalty minutes so far.

Kevin Henderson. Similar to Ford and Pimm. Let’s stay on the same team! Henderson remains with the Texas Stars, who he won last year’s Calder Cup with, after Nashville shipped him off at the start of the season. He has a single assist from 16 games. 4 penalty minutes, and a -4 rating. In his 15 game stint with the Stars last season he had 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists).

Paul Crowder. The man with the longest neck in the entire world, probably, joined the Lake Erie Monsters (AHL) and Fort Wayne Komets (ECHL) ahead of the 2014-15 season. His season, like most, has been spent at the ECHL level where he has played 17 games for the Komets, scored 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists), and has 4 penalty minutes

Simon Moser. He wasn’t happy that he wasn’t guaranteed his place on the Nashville Predators NHL roster. So he said, “something something I’m going home.” It’s proving to be a very poor decision on his part because a combination of injuries and bad form has seen him play 9 games for Bern in his native Switzerland and register no points of offense and 4 penalty minutes.

Joonas Rask. Meanwhile, in another tale of going home, Tuukka’s brother is finding some success in his return to Liiga in Finland. He joined fellow former-Admiral Juuso Puustinen at HIFK and has produced 14 points (7 goals, 7 assists), 2 penalty minutes, and is a +12 player in 23 league games. His team is also in the Champion’s Hockey League and Rask has 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in 4 games.

Francis Wathier. The man we saw effectively get swapped for with Henderson and the Texas Stars last season was a nice addition in the late goings of last season’s playoff push. He joined the Portland Pirates in October on a PTO contract before making the deal an official contract to last the rest of this season. He has played 20 games for the Pirates and has 3 assists and 10 penalty minutes.

That’s last year’s group. Certainly worth looking at many more. Whether it is looking at someone such as Michael Latta who has been up with the Washington Capitals all season. Alexander Radulov getting sent airborne. There’s been some pretty good stuff going on.

There are a certain few players worth keeping a major eye out for. The recent draft class for the Nashville Predators was a solid one. To boot, there is another outstanding Finnish goaltending making major strides in the pipeline.

Now

Kevin Fiala. The 11th overall selection in the 2014 NHL Draft has 14 points (5 goals, 9 assists) in 20 games for HV71 in the SHL this season. He certainly looked impressive in the Predators pre-season. At 18-years old he’s probably playing his final season of hockey in Europe.

Vladislav Kamenev. This was the first of two second round draft selections in the 2014 NHL Draft for the Preds. Kamenev, another 18-year old forward prospect, has produced 8 points (5 goals, 3 assists) in 31 games for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL.

Jack Dougherty. This would of course be the second of those second round picks by the Preds. For all you Wisconsin based readers, you could skip this section and cheer this defenseman on the flip-side of the calendar when the Wisconsin Badgers season gets back and running. (side note. You think the Admirals run is bad? Look at the Badgers record this season.) Dougherty has played in 10 games, is a -11 player, and has 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist).

Justin Kirkland. Another one of the forwards selected by the Predators in the 2014 NHL Draft, Kirkland has tallied 21 points (9 goals, 12 assists) in 24 games for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL. He has some work to do if he wants to match Colton Sissons numbers for the Rockets, though.

Juuse Saros. This Finnish netminder is in his second full season of professional hockey for HPK in Liiga… at 19-years old. This season he has a 2.30 goals against average and a 0.924 save percentage in 24 games. Last season he had a ridiculous 1.76 goals against average in 44 games. Just another quality European goalie in the Predators system.

What players are you most excited to see coming through the ranks in the Nashville Predators prospect pipeline? Any former Admirals you still following? Are there any names listed above, who played last season in Milwaukee, that you wish we kept?

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Game Recaps December 18, 2014December 18, 2014

The Return of Anguish; Admirals lose 4-3

“But why don’t the Admirals shoot the puck,” Roman Will pondered to himself. (Photo Credit: Lake Erie Monsters // flickr)

The Admirals lost 4-3 on the road against the Lake Erie Monsters Thursday night. This game saw the Admirals lose a two-goal lead that they established in the first period before withering under relentless pressure from the home-side Lake Erie.

This game may have started with a good minute of in-zone pressure and a power-play for the Admirals but the Monsters quickly found themselves up in faceoff wins and shots. Against the run of play, Taylor Aronson threw a puck from the blue line and into traffic standing in front of Roman Will’s net. The puck was redirected by Felix Girard and put the Admirals up 1-0 on his third goal of the season.

For a second consecutive game the Admirals tallied a power-play goal. Pontus Åberg was the last man at the end of a great series of quick passes to put away his team leading eleventh goal of the season. Brendan Leipsic’s primary assist was a quick one-touch pass to Åberg on the opposite wing after getting a puck from Miikka Salomaki.

Åberg was then on the receiving end of something else. Mitchell Heard hit the Swede from behind and sent him head first into the boards. This triggered Jimmy Oligny to drop the gloves with Heard and, fight card-wise, it was an even bout. Oligny fell down initially but regained his balance and both put in some decent work on each other. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the AHL reviews the hit Heard dished out on Åberg.

With under three minutes remaining in the second period the Monsters finally put a puck past Marek Mazanec. Sam Henley’s rush into the zone was disrupted when he lost control of the puck which proceeded to skip around the skates of Aronson and Oligny. Heard was in the right place at the right time to control and fire a wrist shot to the glove side of Mazanec to score his second goal of the season to tighten the Admirals lead to 2-1.

In the third period Salomaki was caught in the face by Stefan Elliott’s stick. He went down hard and left the ice with his blood on it and in quite distress. The resulting four minute power-play came and went with an added four-on-four section following a slashing call against Rich Clune.

Then the second fight of the game broke out after a drive to the Monsters net between Girard and Maxim Noreau. The two grappled and didn’t seem to quite land anything. Girard gets bonus points for the firm take down. As far as fights go. There wasn’t too much in this one.

After wave upon wave upon wave of Monsters offensive pressure they finally equalized. The Admirals had iced the puck and the resulting faceoff was won, spun, and fired in on Mazanec by the Monsters. Heard’s shot to the net was deflected by Paul Carey for his seventh goal of the season to make it 2-2.

The countless waves of attack by the Monsters were then met with some serious mental errors on the part of the Admirals. Salomaki, in his own attacking zone, was called for a slash after knocking a stick out of the hands on a backcheck. It took forty-four second into that power-play but the rifle shot of Elliot put the Monsters up 3-2 with only 1:56 left in regulation. The goal for Elliot goes down as his seventh of the season.

It was then very apparent that the Admirals brains had switched off entirely. Only twenty-four seconds after allowing the go-ahead goal the Admirals went from trailing by one-goal to two-goals. Mazanec hadn’t even had the chance to get out of his net for the last ditch push before Andrew Agozzino zipped his fourth goal of the season in to make it 4-2 in a matter of seconds.

Despite this deflated third period, that only saw four shots on goal, the Admirals managed to claw one back with fifty-five seconds remaining. Åberg hammered a shot from the point and found a deflection from Austin Watson to make it a 4-3 game on the strength of the Michigan native’s tenth goal of the season.

In the end, the Admirals dropped their tenth decision in twelve games. They have only seven points from their last twelve games and continue to sputter in form. From the highs of Tuesday. To the lows of tonight. It is getting to the point when you just do not know which Admirals team is going to show up anymore.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals included the likes of Joe Pendenza, Garrett Noonan, and Johan Alm. Ian White made his Admirals debut tonight. He was paired with Anthony Bitetto at the start of the game and appeared to hop around quite a bit.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? How deflating is this result given last game’s performance and the Admirals first period effort? Who is to blame for the lack of energy and creativity in tonight’s contest? What could have been done to slow down the Lake Erie Monsters pressure?

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News December 17, 2014

Admirals Sign Ian White to PTO Contract

The Milwaukee Admirals have officially added veteran defenseman Ian White on a PTO contract. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

After some ramblings on Twitter in regards to this roster move taking place it is now official. The Milwaukee Admirals have signed veteran defenseman Ian White to a professional try-out contract (PTO).

Press Release via Milwaukee Admirals:

The Admirals have announced today that they have signed veteran defenceman Ian White to a Professional Tryout Contract (PTO).

Ian White is an NHL veteran with over 500 games and (45-134) 179 points. He was drafted in 2002 by the Toronto Maple Leafs and made his NHL debut in 2005. He has also played for the Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, San Jose Sharks, and most recently the Detroit Red Wings during the 2012-2013 season.This season he has one goal and two assists with the Providence Bruins.

The Milwaukee Admirals next game is against the Lake Erie Monsters on Thursday night in Cleveland and the Admirals return to play their next home game on Friday December 26th against Chicago at 7pm.

This move not only adds a veteran presence to the team but a well-needed right handed shot to the Admirals defense. Keep in mind, of all that has been rolled out this season, only Taylor Aronson has a right shot from the Admirals blue line.

White hasn’t played too many games these last few seasons. During the lockout season of 2012-13 he played 25 games for the Detroit Red Wings and then only 10 games for Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL last season. He is coming fresh off of a nice PTO stint with the Providence Bruins though: 9 games, 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists), 4 penalty minutes, and a plus/minus of -3.

He should be taking part in tomorrow night’s contest when the Admirals scrap with the Lake Erie Monsters. By doing so it would be his 155th career appearance in the AHL. White already has 503 career games of NHL playing experience.

Thoughts on the addition of Ian White? What are your impressions of the Admirals signing a veteran defenseman? What impact can he have and what does it mean for the younger defenseman that will be losing a spot in his place?

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News December 17, 2014December 17, 2014

Question of the Day

T.J. Brennan wears the number 7. That number is the same number of shots on goal himself and fellow defensemen, Adam Clendening and Ville Pokka, both registered on target last night against the Iowa Wild. (Photo Credit: Rockford IceHogs // flickr)

This is going to be a rare non-Admirals post here at the Roundtable because some pretty rare feats happened in hockey last night that were -so good- it has to be talked about.

~Shoot, Shoot, Shoot Some More~

In the AHL last night there was a game between the Midwest Division leading Rockford IceHogs against the Iowa Wild. Hardly thrilling on paper, right? Think again.

The IceHogs popped in the game’s first goal from Matt Carey midway through the first period. They then proceeded to allow five unanswered goals to give the Wild a big time 5-1 win over the IceHogs.

What makes that so special? The IceHogs totaled 59-shots on goal in regulation… 15 shots in the first period, 19 shots in the second period, and 25 shots in the third period.

Iowa switched goalies prior to the start of the third period. John Curry stopped 33/34 shots before giving way. In his place, Johan Gustafsson stopped all 25 shots on goal during the third period. Both goalies for the Wild were voted the game’s top two stars.

~The Never Ending Shootout~

I was always a fan of how the AHL worked a best of five format to the shootout formula versus the NHL’s best of three. It felt like it changed the dynamic a touch and meant different players had to get involved rather than the flashy skill guys on the team. That of course changed this season with the AHL adopting a new overtime format entirely and then switching to the best of three shootout format. There’s some wondering on my part on if the NHL takes on the AHL’s new and improved overtime format come next season. However, if it was applied this season we may not have seen what we did last night.

The Washington Capitals were visiting the Florida Panthers and both sides endured the game’s 1-1 deadlock all the way to the shootout. Then NHL history happened. 20 rounds. This shootout lasted 20 rounds. You can watch it in it’s full and hilarious 18-minutes via the NHL VideoCenter.

Florida ended up picking up the 2-1 (SO) win when all was said, done, and repeated. Their shootout marathon trumped the previous long shootout between the Rangers and Capitals on 11/26/2005 by a full 5 rounds. Just as was the case then… the Capitals lost… ouch.

~Question of the Day~

Which feat is more impressive: what happened in Iowa or what happened in Florida? Because, either way, it could be awhile before we see something as wacky as that all taking place on the same night.

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Game Recaps December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

Slump Busters! Mazanec and Admirals Shutout Monsters 4-0

The Admirals won 4-0 on the road against the Lake Erie Monsters Tuesday night. Marek Mazanec stopped all twenty-nine shots on goal and Brendan Leipsic tagged the Monsters twice to end the Admirals seven game losing streak with an exclamation point.

In the first period the Admirals power-play struggles from the recent homestand continued. They earned two in the opening frame and failed to convert. Fortunately for the Admirals Viktor Arvidsson would get them on the board at even strength with three minutes remaining in the opening period. The Swede made a hard play from the left wing pocket, fending off Cody Corbett, swooping in across Roman Will in net on the backhand, and depositing his seventh goal of the season with a forehanded shot. It was Arvidsson’s first goal in eleven games.

Brendan Leipsic scored his second goal of the season in the second period to give the Admirals a 2-0 lead. He was breaking in off the left wing, eyed up Will in net, and absolutely hammered a slap shot top shelf. Who was the man that fed the puck to Leipsic on the goal? None other than Colton Sissons to record his first assist of the season.

The Admirals finally managed to break their power-play drought in the third period. It was a well sustained attack that finally saw Taylor Aronson pass off from the point to Leipsic on the right wing. The rookie forward faked Karl Stollery almost out of his skates before snapping off a wrister to the stick side of Will for his second goal of the game and third of the season. The power-play goal for the Admirals was their first in twenty-five previous chances.

Trailing 3-0 and looking to claw back – the Monsters emptied their net with under three minutes in regulation. Austin Watson was able to skate up through neutral ice and pop in the empty net tally to record his ninth goal of the season.

Then what better way to set up the rematch tilt between these two side on Thursday than with a bout? Rich Clune and Duncan Siemens locked horns after jawing with each other earlier in the third period. Both had a strong fight. Give the edge in your fight cards to Clune for drawing blood, though. They had to do a quick scrape job of the ice after this tilt.

Marek Mazanec was as calm and confident in net as I’ve personally ever seen. He capped off the Admirals bounce back performance tonight with a twenty-nine save shutout. It is his second shutout of the season. And, everyone exhale, the Admirals seven game losing streak is no more.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals included Joe Pendenza (healthy) and Johan Alm (upper-body). This game marked the return of Mike Liambas to the Admirals lineup after he missed four-games due to a shoulder injury. This was the first time since 10/29/14 vs. Iowa and 11/1/14 @ Chicago that Marek Mazanec made consecutive starts for the Admirals. With the win over the Monsters the Admirals leap back to third place in the Midwest Division.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What changed in tonight’s efforts over the previous run of games? Has Marek Mazanec played his way into a third successive start come Thursday night?

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Scouting December 16, 2014December 15, 2014

Monsters: Scouting the Enemy

Piskula-102514-1 — When last we met, the Lake Erie Monsters Colin Smith made Joe Piskula angry. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

There are a few ways you can look at this match-up. The last time the Admirals played two-games in Lake Erie they lost 4-2 and 6-1. But, hey, that was last season. This season the Admirals won their lone contest against the Monsters in a 2-1 shootout. I prefer to hope for the latter. We are on a seven game losing streak after all. Not sure any of us could handle results similar to those of last season.

~Monsters Rewind~

It has been a long time since we’ve seen these divisional foes. With an extra game played, and the current losing streak plaguing the Admirals, the Lake Erie Monsters moved ahead of the Ads in the Midwest Standings on the weekend: 12-9-2-2 (28 points), 3rd in the Midwest, 8th in the Western Conference.

The current run of form that the Monsters are in has seen them go 7-2-1-0 (15 points) in their last 10 games. They lost 5-2 on home ice to the Rockford IceHogs in their last game. Prior to that they were on a six-game winning streak in which they outscored opponents 20-11.

~Who What Now?~

The Monsters are currently being lead in scoring by Colin Smith and Stefan Elliott with 17 points. Smith leads the team with 7 goals but there are 5 other players that have 6 goals for the Monsters this season: Kenny Ryan, Joey Hishon, Paul Carey, Maxim Noreau, and the aforementioned Elliott.

In net, the Monsters are currently rolling Sami Aittokallio and Roman Will since Calvin Pickard was called up to the Colorado Avalanche a week ago. Aittokallio lost his last outing but and has a 2.65 goals against average with a 0.918 save percentage in December. The last time Will started was on 11/30/14 when he picked up a win in Toronto by stopping 28/29 shots on goal.

~Random Stat~

As a team the Monsters have scored 10 more goals than the Admirals have this season. While that sounds great. They have a goal differential of -11 on the season: 73 goals forced, 82 goals allowed.

~Admirals Rumor Mill~

Patrick Cehlin was assigned to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL on Sunday. Where does the roster move come from? Does it come from within? Perhaps not. Daren Millard of Sportsnet tweeted out last night that the Admirals have signed Ian White to a professional try-out contract.

If true, it is quite the interesting move for the Admirals when you consider that we saw the exodus of Scott Ford, Scott Valentine, Joonas Järvinen, Charles-Olivier Roussel, and Bryan Rodney after last season. Different situation from the off-season to today, sure. Still curious if the veteran defenseman White is brought on-board.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Can the Admirals snap the losing streak tonight? What would the addition of a veteran defenseman change for this team?

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News December 14, 2014December 14, 2014

Patrick Cehlin Assigned to Cincinnati

Cehlin-11314-1 — Patrick Cehlin hasn’t scored a point since rejoining the Admirals for the 2014-15 season. In fairness to him – he’s not alone in not scoring much lately. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

Before the Milwaukee Admirals hit the road they’ve decided to make a roster move. Patrick Cehlin has been assigned to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. There has yet to be any announcement of a counter move.

Cehlin missed the start of this season due to a blood clot that formed following his hip surgery in the off-season. He started the 2014-15 season with 3 games played in Cincinnati where he scored a goal in his last outing prior to being brought back up to the Admirals. Since, he has played 4 games and recorded no points with 2 penalty minutes.

With the Cyclones next game being played on Wednesday in Cincinnati and the Admirals playing twice in ~~Cleveland~~ Lake Erie on Tuesday and then Thursday – it is possible that Cehlin could be getting a quick run before being brought back to the Admirals before they leave the state of Ohio. My hope? I would very much like to see Zach Budish get recalled in place of Cehlin. He is a bigger bodied player that offers the Admirals lower-lines a different look and, since joining the Cyclones in late October, Budish has scored 17 points (4 goals, 13 assists) in 19 games.

Thoughts on this roster move? What does this move mean for Patrick Cehlin? Who should fill his spot for Tuesday’s game?

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Chatterbox December 13, 2014

The Chatterbox, Vol. 53

Leipsic-111514-1 — Yeah. At least that’s how it has felt lately. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. At least that’s what the feeling was for the Milwaukee Admirals in the first period of their 3-1 loss to the Adirondack Flames Friday night. We saw lots of solid hits and hard plays from the Admirals and a speed level reminiscent of the hockey they played during their successful start to the season.

Then it happened. The Admirals power-play hit the ice, controlled and sustained the attacking zone for 1:54 of the man-advantage, and didn’t just not score a goal – but took a penalty of their own immediately after. What did the Flames do with the follow up power-play? They scored.

The Admirals scored a dirty, junky, garbage style goal working a loose puck in front of the net. That basically ended the second period with a high note to equalize things at 1-1. What did the Flames do in response? They scored. 2:25 into the third period. And kept the Admirals at a distance before striking with the killshot with 2:03 left in regulation.

After the Admirals last win, which was over two weeks ago, we as fans were celebrating the performance and words of Rich Clune who said that the Chicago Wolves were a “soft” hockey team. In fact, he said plenty more than that.

“I would be nice to them if they just shut their mouths and took what was coming to them,” said Clune of the Wolves. “But they seemed to like to throw personal comments out toward me. None of them are really tough enough to really deal with me in a fight. They just don’t match up with us at all, toughness and speed. I love running them over every night.”

Since those comments the Admirals have gone on a winless stretch of seven games for a 0-5-0-2 (2 points) record. It’s the worst losing streak in the AHL history of the Admirals and they have now fallen down to fourth place in the Midwest Division standings. If the season ended today – the Admirals, ninth in the Western Conference, wouldn’t be in the playoff picture despite a franchise best start to a hockey season.

While those words alone act as the bookmark to the start of this losing streak – it has been our offense that has been getting “run over” every night. I feel as if the team is being manhandled to the walls and are forced to wide shots from the boards that either get blocked en route to goal by traffic or the goaltender sees it the entire way. The Admirals are not the biggest team in the league. They are not the strongest team in the league. And they’re playing like it.

The Admirals have been outscored 22-12 in regulation during this losing streak. 7 goals from the 12 goals the Admirals posted during this losing streak came from 2 games. I said it last time in Chatterbox. It’s not good enough. Nowhere near good enough. With the goaltending performances of Magnus Hellberg and Marek Mazanec of late – both netminders have been given nothing to work with in front of them.

Brendan Leipsic hasn’t scored a point in 5 games. Mark Van Guilder, ditto. Austin Watson hasn’t scored a point in 6 games. Viktor Arvidsson has a solitary assist in 10 games. Our entire defensive unit during this losing streak has a combined 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists) in 7 games… anyone not named Anthony Bitetto or Joe Piskula haven’t registered a point of offensive contributions from the blue line in the month of December.

I’m not sure where the offensive accountability is but those meant to be producing have just shut down.

The stat that still baffles me those most this season is that Colton Sissons has no assists in 24 games. Through as many games last season he had 8 assists. Is this an in-between the ears problem? Has what went on in Nashville during the off-season, signing veteran centers and not handing the reigns off to the youth movement instead, gotten in his head? He started his season off here in Milwaukee out of pre-season with the hopes he could build an explosive offensive game rather than play things safe and defensively. Right now he isn’t doing either. Sissons has taken a plus/minus rating hit of -1 with each game played in December. He doesn’t look like the player he was last season and I can’t do anything other than theorize as to why that is. As I said. It baffles me.

I would talk about the Admirals going 0/20 on the power-play during the five-game homestand but I think we all get it at this point. Our 6.4% power-play conversion rate is second worst in the league to the Charlotte Checkers mark of 6.2% in 2 less games played than the Admirals.

Now comes the good part. The Admirals are 6.4% on the power-play on home ice this season. Their parent club, the Nashville Predators, are an NHL worst 2.3% and they have played an equal amount of games as the Admirals. It’s an in-system powerless-play epidemic. Between the NHL/AHL clubs the Predators and Admirals have a home power-play of 4/91 chances for a 4.4% conversion rate.

I don’t know what to say anymore at this point other than this road trip could be the reboot the entire team needs. The Admirals are coming off of what is their longest homestand of the entire season and they didn’t win a single game. That means getting into a routine and a possible cycle of same ol’ same ol’ while festering over the recent bad run of form. It’s in this moment that I think back to the comments made by Bitetto during the Admirals worst losing streak last season.

“Our hardest win right now is getting that first one back under our belt,” said Anthony Bitetto in the Chatterbox last season. “That’s where we have to bear down and get that first win. We have a good team here. If every guy believes in that we will be fine.”

The Admirals are incredibly talented. That start to the season was proof of just that. The rest of the AHL got better as the season started and so to must the Admirals. It might not click on Tuesday night when they face off on the road against the Lake Erie Monsters but I have a hard time thinking that the team we saw playing against the Flames will be the same one turning up for Boxing Day hockey against the Chicago Wolves… that team that is soft that doesn’t match up with us at all according to Clune.

Following the most recent defeat I spoke with Dean Evason, Joe Pendenza, and Austin Watson. I made efforts to try and speak with former-Admirals Mathieu Tousignant and Nolan Yonkman but, by the time I was finished with interviews in the Admiral locker room, both were out towards the Flames bus. Sounded as if Yonkman did amazing fan service after the game – signing autographs and taking pictures. Incredibly classy from both the fans that remain fans of his and the man himself by giving the love right back. Here is what our team had to say post-game.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 53” →

Game Recaps December 12, 2014December 13, 2014

Want To Get Away? Admirals Drop Seventh Straight Game

Maz-12614-1 — Sad. So sad. It’s a sad, sad situation. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

The Admirals lost 3-1 against the Adirondack Flames Friday night to extend their losing streak to seven games. That mark is a franchise record for the Admirals during the AHL era of the team.

“It’s just frustrating,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “Different ways we’re losing hockey games. I guess we have to be better. We can talk about our group being young and learning but we’re deep enough into the season that we should know what we’re doing.”

The Admirals first power-play chance on the night came in the second period and saw them spend 1:54 of the man-advantage in attack. Nothing came of that chance and they immediately paid for it with a power-play goal against. Ryan Culkin’s point shot took a deflection by Ben Hanowski en route to Marek Mazanec in goal. That goes down as Hanowski’s eleventh goal of the season.

With 1:31 remaining in the second period the Admirals leveled things up at 1-1. Felix Girard poked a puck from the side of the net and skipping around in front of Joni Ortio in net. Joe Pendenza managed to land a backhanded swipe at the hopping puck to tally his fourth goal of the season.

“It was just kind of a scramble out in front of the net,” said Joe Pendenza. “When you get into those situations you kind of start swinging and hope for the best. It was a little flutter shot that went in. We’ll take it.”

The Flames scored 2:25 into the third period to halt the Admirals momentum on the other side of the second intermission. It was nearly the exact same goal that was scored from their power-play. Corey Potter threw a puck on net from the right point and, between the circles, Turner Elson caught a big piece of the puck to score his third goal of the season on the redirected shot.

From that point forward the third period really flew by. With 2:03 remaining in regulation another kick in the gut play cost the Admirals a goal to make it 3-1. Garrett Noonan fumbled the puck and allowed Elson to pounce on him and score a breakaway with a backhander. He scored as many goals in the third period tonight as he had all season entering tonight’s game.

The Admirals dropped all five games and failed on all twenty power-play chances during this homestand. While the defense was hit and miss in front of good goaltending it’s the offense that has been stinging the hardest during this spell. This five game homestand saw four players score goals: Pendenza tonight, Pontus Aberg twice, Gaudreau twice, and Colton Sissons once. Six goals in five home games. Here’s hoping the upcoming four game road trip acts as the proverbial, “want to get away?”

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Patrick Cehlin (healthy), Mike Liambas (shoulder), and Johan Alm (upper-body). This was Marek Mazanec’s first start in net in two games. Mazanec has lost his last three appearances.

Thoughts on tonight’s performance? Is this upcoming road trip the answer to all our problems? Is the problem with our offense that we’re being out-muscled and forced to outside shooting that gets blocked before the goalie even has to make a save? Can we start a therapy Admirals losing streak support group… because I need it.

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Scouting December 12, 2014

Flames: Scouting the Enemy

CFC-Tousi-2 — Mathieu Tousignant was a Chatterbox favorite last season as a member of the Milwaukee Admirals. Hopefully he can show up again after tonight’s game. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

The last time we saw these guys they were called the Abbotsford Heat and the Admirals lost 4-2 at home despite hammering twenty shots on goal in the first period. It was during that span when the Admirals were in the middle of a five-game winless stretch.

With the summer move away from Abbotsford, the Calgary Flames AHL affiliate was branded the Adirondack Flames after shipping out to Glens Falls, New York. They presented a firefighter killing mascot named Scorch who was shortly after murdered by the team themselves.

As for the actual team this season. They are doing far better than the PR team that cooked up the mascot fiasco. They are currently seated second in the North Division with a record of 15-10-1-0 (31 points) which has them fourth in the Western Conference standings. They have gone 6-4-0-0 (12 points) in their last 10 games including consecutive wins entering tonight’s contest.

~Odd Stat~

Despite a really successful start to the season the Flames have actually allowed more goals than they have scored… 75 goals forced, 79 goals allowed for a goal differential of -4. They’ve played in a game where either they or their opponent has scored five or more goals eight times this season. That includes a game that saw them come out on the better end of a 7-6 goal fest against the San Antonio Rampage.

~Returning Faces~

In tonight’s game we have two former Admirals and a Badgers product. Nolan Yonkman was the Ads captain from 2007-10. He played a career 283 games, produced 39 points (8 goals, 31 assists), and recorded 466 penalty minutes over his Admirals tenure. Mathieu Tousignant will be a familiar sight to those on the squad last season. He played 76 games, posted 21 points (8 goals, 13 assists), and had 158 penalty minutes. John Ramage played for the Badgers from 2009-13. Ramage was their captain for the final two years of his collegiate career which saw him play 157 games, score 53 points (14 goals, 39 assists), and tally 237 penalty minutes.

Yonkman is the Flames team captain and has 4 assists as well as 2 fights this season. Tousignant has 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists) for the Flames this season and has 6 fights already. Ramage is in his second full season of professional hockey and has 4 assists.

Thoughts for this game? Can the Admirals return to the win column tonight? What needs to happen to ignite the Admirals offense?

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