Viktor Stalberg looked every bit the NHL player that he is last night for the Milwaukee Admirals. The only thing lacking for him was a reward for his efforts. He had no points and four shots on goal in the Ads 4-2 defeat to the Iowa Wild. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Admirals have finally suffered a defeat. 4-2 at the hands of the Iowa Wild while playing on home ice. Going in, I was expecting to see a repeat of what we saw in Iowa two weeks ago. A match-up of the best team in the AHL against the worst team in the AHL by record. That’s the game of hockey for you, though. The Wild played a tough game against the Admirals and deserved that one.
Now comes the fun part that I’ve been waiting for. How does this young Admirals team respond to a little adversity? There is a away-home two-in-two coming up on Saturday and Sunday with the Chicago Wolves – who are in a two game losing skid as we speak.
The recent performances by the Admirals have been touch and go. And things weren’t as crisp as they should have been against the Wild last night. Something will need to give for the Admirals and Wolves. The Amtrak Rivalry games this weekend should prove to pack a punch or two.
After the defeat to Iowa I spoke with Dean Evason, Austin Watson, and Viktor Stalberg. Here is what they had to say following the Admirals first loss of the season.
The Milwaukee Admirals have lost for the first time this season. Dean Evason’s face can provide the rest of this caption. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Admirals lost 4-2 against the Iowa Wild Wednesday night. The defeat is the Admirals first of the year and saw the end of their franchise best six-game winning streak to start the season.
“That team wanted the game more here tonight,” said head coach Dean Evason of the Iowa Wild. “We didn’t figure it out until the end and we were close. But they took it out of us early with their drive and compete. They played hard.”
Iowa managed to get on the board first in this game and did so inside of three minutes. A one-timed shot by Jake Parenteau flew clean through Marek Mazanec like a hot knife through butter. The goal was credited to Michael Keranen for his second tally of the season. Perhaps the slightest of deflections was the reasoning behind Mazanec missing the save completely.
With the Admirals forward lines getting a shake-up tonight because of Viktor Stalberg’s inclusion. There was an opportunity to spread the wealth and link up Viktor Arvidsson with Miikka Salomaki. The rookie Swede’s rush into the zone started a rebound rodeo around Johan Gustafsson. Salomaki would be the man on the spot to deliver a first period equalizer for his first goal of the season.
After Mark Van Guilder was called for a holding penalty in the second period – the Wild went back out in front with a power-play goal. Former-Admiral Jonathon Blum picked out Marc Hagel in front of the net with a shot pass that was redirected past Mazanec for Hagel’s first goal of the season.
The Wild followed up with a second power-play goal in the second period. Tyler Graovac’s run to the net held all of Mazanec’s attention but the 21-year old forward dropped a pass off on the backhand to Zack Mitchell. With the Admirals netminder overcommitted to the left of goal – it was an easy take for Mitchell to score his second goal of the season and make it a 3-1 Wild lead. It was the first time this season that the Admirals trailed by two-goals.
In the third period there was a pair of teammate collisions. First up, the Wild’s captain Stephane Veilleux ran over defenseman Danny Syvret. Then the Admirals has a collision between Swedes. Stalberg bulldozed Pontus Aberg and left him down and out on the ice. The Admirals rookie went back to the locker room and didn’t return to the game.
“I think, at the last second, we thought the other guy was going to go,” said Viktor Stalberg. “It goes quick out there sometimes and we both kind of thought the same thing going below each other. Ended up on a pretty big collision there. Hopefully he’ll be alright here.”
Just at the halfway point in the third period the Admirals found the back of the net. After the Wild missed an opportunity to catch Mazanec out of position, Brendan Leipsic ran back the other way and started an attack that resulted in Austin Watson’s fifth goal of the season.
The Admirals pulled Mazanec and were surging with an extra attacker on. Yet, Wild defenseman Syvret scored the long range empty netter to seal the Ads first defeat of the 2014-15 season.
“They came out hard and had a bit of an edge in their compete level,” said Austin Watson. “It showed in the first two periods and we weren’t able to battle back from that.”
Ramblings: The Admirals roster tonight included the names Viktor Stalberg (#25) and Rich Clune (#36) as the pair were sent to Milwaukee from the Nashville Predators. Stalberg is on a conditioning assignment – meaning he will be with us no longer than fourteen days. Clune, however, cleared waivers from the Predators as he was sent down to make room for the return of Matt Cullen from IR.
Thoughts from tonight’s game? Where did it go wrong tonight? Was this more a case of the Wild winning the game than the Admirals losing it?
Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.
It is a tad overkill for a fully fledged scouting the enemy today when you consider we did that whole song and dance about two weeks ago on the Iowa Wild. So, let’s do some quick recapping and take a look into our own team in today’s scouting report.
~Be Kind, Rewind~
The Admirals played a so-so game in their first meeting of the season against the Wild. The game finished 4-3 and the Ads nearly coughed up a 4-1 lead. This was followed the next night by a game that wasn’t even remotely close. Marek Mazanec recorded his first career AHL shutout. Viktor Arvidsson scored a natural hat trick. And the Admirals won 4-0.
What has happened since for the Wild? They played two more home games and split them with the Charlotte Checkers. This past Friday the Wild lost 5-1. The next night they were finally able to earn their win of the season, 4-1. They sit at the bottom of the entire AHL with a record of 1-5-0-0 (2 points). In other words, they are the yin to our yang as far as this young season has developed so far. (Don’t take the Admirals hot start and win streak for granted!)
~The Great Gustafsson Mystery~
In his first start of the season, Johan Gustafsson may have allowed three goals but he had an impressive thirty-six saves in a 3-2 road loss against the San Antonio Rampage. Then came the Admirals and back-to-back rough nights in net. He was pulled the first night against the Ads after allowing four goals from eight shots in 21:50 of ice time. The next night he hung around for the distance but, again, conceded four goals.
The spark he, as well as the entire Iowa Wild team needed, was that first win of the season. Gustafsson was the man in net on Saturday night when the Wild took down the Checkers. He made thirty-four saves from thirty-five shots on goal. This includes being the fort in net when the Wild’s penalty kill went six-of-six on the night.
So, which Gustafsson do the Admirals get? The one that was stellar last time out or the one that requires an Iowa Wild team to produce more than four goals to win?
~Admirals Roster Shake-Up~
There’s no telling which line Viktor Stalberg will be injected into but there is no denying his inclusion, on a conditioning assignment, will make this team even better. The Admirals forward lines have stayed pretty consistent during this franchise best start to a season. Unfamiliar? It has looked as such:
I’m sure the top two lines listed there are sort of “1-A, 1-B” but that’s where things are about to get complex. There are a number of possibilities as to what Dean Evason could roll out with tonight.
With how well Mark Van Guilder and Austin Watson have been playing together – Stalberg is a similar style player that could fit in there. But, I question if taking Brendan Leipsic off that line is the best thing for how well he has worked in concert with his linemates. It could be that you see Miikka Salomaki or Pontus Aberg rotate down with the eventual choice of Joe Pendenza or Zach Budish getting healthy scratched with Triston Grant pulling fourth line duty. Shame, as well. Because that fourth-line has also been playing well.
All that and we haven’t even thought of what will happen to Mike Liambas, who is healthy and game ready, should Rich Clune clear waivers and reach Milwaukee. While that works itself out I’ll be enjoying the fact that we now have two players named Viktor and reciting “Smoke Signals” quotes.
UPDATE: Rich Clune has cleared waivers and will be assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals.
What do you expect out of tonight’s game? Scoreline prediction? Can the Admirals winning-streak continue? How would you re-work the Admirals forward lines to incorporate Viktor Stalberg?
Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.
Viktor Stalberg will be joining the already stacked Milwaukee Admirals on a conditioning assignment. What will his presence add to an already hot team? (Photo Credit: John Russell)
The Nashville Predators have made some roster moves this afternoon. Matt Cullen has been removed from the team’s injured reserved and will be active for the team’s upcoming six-game road trip. To make room for this, the team has placed Rich Clune on waivers in the hopes that he clears and is able to reach the Milwaukee Admirals. In addition, Viktor Stalberg will be coming to the Admirals as part of a conditioning assignment as he recovers from a lower-body injury.
The Nashville Predators will activate forward Matt Cullen off of injured reserve, making him available for the team’s upcoming road trip that begins Wednesday night in Edmonton.
Cullen skated on a regular forward line at Monday’s practice, setting him up for his first game action since suffering an upper-body injury Sept. 24 during a preseason game against Tampa Bay.
“We’re anxious to get Matt back in the lineup, as he is a veteran who can contribute in a number of situations,” General Manager David Poile said.
To make room for Cullen’s addition to the roster, the club has placed forward Rich Clune on waivers, with the intention of assigning him to Milwaukee of the American Hockey League.
“Rich is a character guy in our locker room,” Poile said. “We are hopeful that Rich will clear waivers and be available for recall in the future.”
The Predators have also assigned forward Viktor Stalberg to Milwaukee on a conditioning assignment. Stalberg suffered a lower-body injury during training camp, missing the entire preseason schedule and first three games of the regular season. He has skated in five games this season.
“Viktor has had some unfortunate injury trouble during his last two training camps,” Poile said. “We want Viktor to have some time in Milwaukee to fine tune his game and we look forward to having him back in Nashville.
“Both Rich and Viktor have seen limited playing time this season at the NHL level and we feel that they will benefit from the additional ice time that they will receive in Milwaukee.”
These moves leave the Predators with 22 skaters – 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders – in advance of Wednesday’s game at Edmonton, the first of a season-long, six-game, 12-day road trip. Nashville’s primary developmental affiliate, the AHL’s Admirals, receive a further influx of talent to a team that has already started with a franchise-record six consecutive wins to start the 2014-15 season.
“Having to send Viktor and Rich to Milwaukee exemplifies the depth we now possess in the organization,” Poile said. “We have a great deal of flexibility at the forward position, which should benefit us moving ahead.”
The question will be whether or not Clune clears waivers in the first place to reach Milwaukee. Should he do so, I’m doubting his ability to factor in all that much to the team’s current setup much the same way Mike Liambas didn’t factor into the team’s last two games whilst healthy.
With Stalberg also en route to Milwaukee, it pushes Liambas on the outside again to make it into upcoming games. The way the Admirals have been playing it seems as if the rich will be getting richer with another offensive minded talent, an NHL one at that, joining the team in the midst of a franchise record best start to a season.
So, what would this end up meaning for the likes of Clune and Liambas? Should we end up seeing the Nashville enforcer and Twitter extraordinaire – it could mean that Liambas would end up with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL purely from a “this role is now taken” standpoint.
UPDATE: Rich Clune has cleared waivers and will be assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals.
What do you make of today’s roster moves by the Nashville Predators? What happens to the forward lines with the inclusion of Viktor Stalberg? What becomes of Rich Clune and Mike Liambas? Are we seeing the end of the prototypical enforcer in hockey?
Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.
Garrett Noonan’s hesitation to shoot from the blue line gave him just the angle he needed to equalize for the Admirals and score his first professional goal on Saturday night against the Lake Erie Monsters. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Coming into Saturday night’s contest against the Lake Erie Monsters – the Milwaukee Admirals had only trailed an opponent for 1:48 of ice time in five games. That was pushed to the point where the Admirals were only seven some odd minutes shy of their first loss of the season – it would have been a regulation loss – and it would have been a shutout against an offense that registered no less than three goals a game.
Up stepped Garrett Noonan who smashed in his first professional goal to equalize for the Admirals. Then the wild and crazy speed game that is the new AHL overtime format. And then Magnus Hellberg, really needing a good result tonight in relation to how superb Marek Mazanec has been, delivered where he has so often – a shootout. Hellberg now has won 6 career AHL shootouts and has stopped 31/37 attempts in the process.
These last two games that have trickled into overtime haven’t been the best performances that the Admirals have laid down this season. Yet they are finding ways to win them. Six games. Six wins. Four road games. Four road wins. Two overtime games. One overtime win. One shootout win.
I think what excites me the most about this year’s Admirals team isn’t this performance that we are seeing now. It’s how it is going to respond to hitting its first big wall of the season. When that happens. If that happens. I believe this team really could be special this year with the talent and amount of young leaders that it possesses.
After the game, I joined the scrum for head coach Dean Evason. I also had the chance to speak to Magnus Hellberg, Triston Grant, and Garrett Noonan. Here is what everyone had to say following the shootout victory.
Magnus Hellberg made his 2014-15 season debut in typical Hellberg fashion – a shootout victory. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Admirals set a franchise record for wins to start a season with a 2-1 shootout win against the Lake Erie Monsters Saturday night. Magnus Hellberg won in his first start of the season, made 25-saves, and didn’t allow a goal in the shootout. Garrett Noonan’s first professional goal proved to be a streak-saver for the Admirals. He equalized with 7:21 left in regulation to give the Ads the opportunity that saw them win their sixth straight game to start the season.
“We’re going to ride it as long as we can,” said Triston Grant of the Admirals franchise best six-game winning streak to start a season. “We didn’t play up to our standards the last couple games but we have to take those wins because there’s going to be games that we play really well and we’re not going to win. That’s what happens in hockey.”
After a rather sluggish opening period – there were some real fireworks that spurted out of the second. The Monsters were awarded a penalty shot when Jimmy Oligny hauled down Andrew Agozzino. Magnus Hellberg, making his first start of the season, bailed out his rookie defenseman with a pad save on the penalty shot attempt to keep things scoreless.
Then some rough stuff. Joe Piskula and Colin Smith had a small scrap that only resulted in roughing calls for each. This was followed later in the second period by a fight of the year candidate between Triston Grant and Daniel Maggio. Both leveled one another to the point of patchwork. Grant, who I’d give the win to, had Quinten Tarantino level blood splatter on his helmet visor. His counterpart Maggio was handed a fresh jersey whilst in the penalty box.
After a puck was spilled by Hellberg in net, the Monsters broke the deadlock in the second period with a goal from Paul Carey. As soon as the puck left the clutches of Hellberg the battle in front of him became a mess. Carey picked up the loose puck, skated for a shot, and had the entire top shelf to hit for his second goal of the season.
Another scrum came in the third period as Austin Watson leapt to the defense of his linemate Brendan Leipsic after a solid check by Maxim Noreau. It wasn’t anything near the level or intensity of the previous Grant battle – but was a solid display of sticking up for your teammates from Watson nonetheless.
With 7:21 left in regulation, Garrett Noonan scored his first professional goal to level the game at 1-1. Noonan pump faked a slap shot and then zipped one towards traffic. Zach Budish jumped over the puck, Joe Pendenza set a screen in front of Calvin Pickard, and the Noonan shot flew past everyone and into the back of the net.
For the second consecutive night we were then treated to the new AHL overtime format. Prior to the three-on-three change over, the Admirals were awarded with a penalty shot as Viktor Arvidsson was chopped down by Stefan Elliott. Just like the previous penalty shot attempt. The five hole move wasn’t working. And this game lasted all the way into a shootout.
Leipsic was up first for the Admirals and beat Pickard with a barrage of moves. Mike Sgarbossa’s follow up for the Monsters belted the post and came right back out for a miss. Arvidsson stepped up next for the Ads and again failed on a five hole move. Smith was next for the Monsters and flipped his backhander high and wide. The game then fell on the stick of Pontus Aberg – who deked himself enough room to beat Pickard to the far post and in for the game-winner.
“For a lot of the weekend we didn’t play the way that we had in our first four,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “The league is going to get better, teams are going to get better, and we need to get better. We’ll continue to work at it.”
Ramblings: Patrick Cehlin was the lone player out with injury tonight for the Admirals as he recovers from a hip injury. Jonathan Diaby and Mike Liambas were both listed as healthy scratches. Tonight was Magnus Hellberg’s first competitive start since 4/13/14 with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL – he stopped 21/22 in a 4-1 win. The Admirals remain the final unbeaten AHL team remaining with a franchise record 6-0-0-0 start to a season.
Thoughts and observations from tonight? How did Magnus Hellberg fair in his first start of the season? What did you make of the Admirals offense being, for the most part, shutdown tonight? And will this new AHL overtime format give you heart problems throughout the season? …because I think it will for me in the best of ways.
Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.
When the Milwaukee Admirals and Lake Erie Monsters clashed last season we saw a goalie fight. Call me biased but I think Scott Darling bested Sami Aittokallio.
Before leaping ahead to the match-up we have tonight against the Lake Erie Monsters I feel like some recapping is in order from the 3-2 (OT) win in Chicago last night.
With the Texas Stars losing 5-3 to the Oklahoma City Barons last night – the Milwaukee Admirals became the last remaining unbeaten AHL team. This start, five wins in five games, ties the franchise record for the best start to a season (1988-89). The four-consecutive road wins to start a season is a new record for the Admirals. And, for good measure, they also became the first team in the AHL this season to reach double digit points.
The only other team with more goals than the Admirals this season are the Rochester Americans – who have 21 goals to the Admirals 20 goals. That same team is also on equal playing field with the Admirals for the best goal differential in the league with +10.
Brendan Leipsic, who recorded another primary assist last night on Austin Watson‘s goal, now leads in rookie scoring with 7 points – all of which are assists – a category in which he leads the entire league in. Viktor Arvidsson and Pontus Åberg are both tied for third place in rookie scoring with 5 points.
Plenty of superlatives to dish out from this start to the season. Positives all over the place. And you almost forget that Marek Mazanec, for the second consecutive season, has started his AHL season off with five straight wins.
~The New Divisional Foe~
With this season’s divisional realignment, the shuffle saw the Iowa Wild go from our division to the West Division and the Lake Erie Monsters step in from the North Division. Since their inception in 2007-08, they have gone 13-7-3-1 against the Milwaukee Admirals.
Previous seasons have only seen the two battling home and away in two-game sets for a total of four games in a season. The most recent edition, the 2013-14 season, saw a combined total of 212 penalty minutes between the two teams in four games. In addition, there were 31 goals scored – 10 goals from the power-play – 2 shorthanded (one by each team) – and a single empty netter.
The Monsters, the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, enter tonight’s game with a 2-3-0-0 record from their opening five games. They are at the bottom of the Midwest Division. They have scored 13 goals and have 18 goals against. Despite getting spanked by the Chicago Wolves last weekend they enter tonight’s game off of a stellar 5-4 road win against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Each and every goal scored in that game by the Monsters was with Petr Mrazek in net. Weirdly, they finished the night 0/5 on the power-play and still scored 5 goals.
~Prospect Watch~
According to the Fall Top 20 for Avalanche prospects on Hockey’s Future – the Monsters will boast half of that list on their current roster that will be rolling into Milwaukee from Grand Rapids.
Topping their list of current Monsters is defenseman Duncan Siemens. The 21-year old Alberta native was selected by the Avalanche with the 11th Overall Selection in the 2011 NHL Draft. Last year was his rookie season of professional hockey and it was tattered with injuries. He only played in 46 games for the Monsters, scored 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists), had 45 penalty minutes, and a plus/minus of -1. He is healthy to start this season off, has played in all five games so far, and has an assist with a -4 rating.
Joey Hishon is another name worth spying on tonight. You might remember that he scored a hat trick against the Admirals last season in a 6-5 defeat for the Monsters in Milwaukee. To boot, the main AHL website has given him a feature story worth looking at. He is also a former first round selection of the Avalanche (10th Overall). And, despite a great pre-season camp with Colorado, has no points in three games for the Monsters and is a -5 rating to boot. Look for him to potentially get off the mark tonight.
Expectations for tonight’s game? Will the Admirals set a franchise record for a best ever start to a season? Would you dare rotate Marek Mazanec out of the net in favor of giving Magnus Hellberg his first start of the season tonight?
Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.
Anthony Bitetto’s game-winning goal in OT, combined with the Texas Stars 5-3 loss to the Oklahoma City Barons, means that the Milwaukee Admirals are the last remaining unbeaten team in the AHL. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Admirals extended their unbeaten run to five games with a 3-2 overtime victory on the road against the Chicago Wolves on Friday night. Anthony Bitetto scored the game-winner as the Ads experienced the AHL’s three-on-three overtime format for the first time this season. Pontus Aberg and Austin Watson also tallied ahead of another fine performance in net, 26-saves, by Marek Mazanec.
The Admirals power-play unit continued doing damage by scoring tonight’s opening goal. After Petteri Lindbohm hauled down Brendan Leipsic – the Admirals were able to take advantage of the man-advantage and then some. Veteran Brent Sopel broke his stick on the Wolves penalty kill and allowed for even more space on the ice. Miikka Salomaki picked out Pontus Aberg for a one-timed effort that beat Matt Climie in net for the young Swede’s fourth goal of the season.
After the Admirals scored, the first period was heavily controlled by the Wolves both in puck possession and in shots. The first period ended with the Wolves outshooting the Admirals 9-3. As fast paced as the Ads have looked this season – the Amtrak Rivals were doing more than just step for step work. The Wolves, especially the combo of Ty Rattie and Terry Broadhurst, were by far the faster of the two teams through the opening twenty-minutes.
The Wolves found an equalizer off of a bad defensive change by the Admirals in the second period. Joe Piskula and Jonathan-Ismael Diaby were very slow to the bench. As they were coming off – the Wolves set Ty Rattie free on a breakaway. The man who tallied 31 goals as a rookie last season pulled a backhander to Marek Mazanec’s five hole to level the game up at 1-1. It was Rattie’s third goal of the season.
The Admirals reclaimed the lead in the third period after a great shift pulled by the line of Brendan Leipsic, Mark Van Guilder, and Austin Watson. Leipsic’s work around Climie’s net saw him pass out to the right side of the cage where Watson, draped by Jeremy Welsh, smacked home his fourth goal of the season to make it 2-1.
Welsh would factor back into the third period scoring with a goal of his own. After some quality defensive work by the Wolves behind their own net – they launched a counter attack on the right wing with Welsh. The 26-year old blazed past Diaby on the wing and whipped a shot past Mazanec to even things right back up at 2-2.
Then, what would an Amtrak Rivalry game be without some controversy? The Wolves had a late chance of a 4-3 power-play that would expand into a full forty-five seconds worth of 5-3 power-play time. Just as the two-man advantage expired – the Wolves had a goal disallowed by the officials. Pat Cannone rushed in on Mazanec, was tripped up by Felix Girard, and the puck kicked to Shane Harper who put it in the back of the net. There wasn’t a penalty for goaltender interference. The goal was waved off. And the Admirals would kill off a lengthy stay shorthanded.
Next came our first look at the new AHL overtime format. It is a seven minute time frame in which the first three minutes are four-on-four. After the first whistle past the four minute mark in the overtime – it goes to three-on-three until the final horn. It’s all in an effort to avoid the dreaded shootout which has also gone under some tweaking: it is now a best of three format this season as opposed to years past in the AHL where it was a best of five.
The Amtrak Rivalry’s first game of the season would go all the way into the new three-on-three format. With twenty-nine seconds remaining before the game turned to a shootout – Anthony Bitetto was able to step up off the left wing side and snap a wrister past Climie for the overtime winner and his first goal of the season. The Admirals have remained unbeaten in their first five games of the season and have won four-straight road games.
Ramblings: The line combinations tonight were a continuation of what we saw in Iowa: Salomaki-Sissons-Aberg, Leipsic-Van Guilder-Watson, Arvidsson-Girard-Grant, Pendenza-Gaudreau-Budish, Diaby-Piskula, Bitetto-Noonan, and Alm-Aronson. Patrick Cehlin and Mike Liambas remained out due to injury. And Jimmy Oligny was a healthy scratch. As for the Wolves, the St. Louis Blues recalled Dmitrij Jaskin after placing Paul Stastny on injured reserved this afternoon. The Texas Stars loss tonight against the Oklahoma City Barons means that the Milwaukee Admirals are now the last remaining unbeaten team in the AHL. It is the second time in team history the the Admirals have won five straight games to open a season. It is a record for most consecutive road wins to start a season, with four.
Thoughts from tonight’s game? Was this the true test for the Admirals start to the season? What did you make of the brand new AHL overtime format? Is three-on-three overtime hockey any less laughable than ending the game in a shootout? Can the Admirals keep the winning streak going on home ice tomorrow night against the Lake Erie Monsters?
Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.
GOOD NEWS. Jake Allen isn’t in the AHL this season. (Photo Credit: Ross Bonander)
The start of the Amtrak Rivalry begins tonight in Chicago. The Milwaukee Admirals, who have won all four games they’ve played so far, are one of two teams in the AHL that are currently unbeaten. The other team that hasn’t taken a loss is last season’s Calder Cup winners the Texas Stars.
Quick refresher course. The Admirals have score no less than three goals per game heading into tonight. They’re coming off of their strongest win of the season – a 4-0 shutout on the road against the Iowa Wild.
As for the Wolves, they have played every single game (tonight included) on home ice. They enter with a record of 3-0-1-0 (7 points) and have allowed no more than two goals in their opening four games. And are coming off of a two games in two days thrashing of the Lake Erie Monsters… featuring an 18-save shutout by Matt Climie in a 4-0 win… and then seven different Wolves scored goals in the following night’s 7-2 beat down. To put it simply. Tonight. This is the test.
~Hooray For No More Jake Allen~
What should make everyone feel all the more excited with tonight’s game is that Jake Allen is no longer in net for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. The winner of last season’s Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award for the AHL’s best goaltender currently finds himself right where he belongs in the NHL.
Against the Admirals last season, Allen won 7 games from 9 starts and had a 1.51 GAA with a 0.939 SV%. He also shutout the Ads twice in the final month of the regular season.
Who carries the reigns then for the Wolves in net? It’s early days just yet but the 31-year old veteran Climie has shouldered the brunt of the opening slate. He has won all 3 games he has started, has a shutout, a 1.00 GAA, and a 0.945 SV%. Expect a match up tonight between him and Marek Mazanec as these two should be going with the hot hands.
Backing up Climie is 21-year old Jordan Binnington – who spent almost all of last season playing for the Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL: 23-13-3 record, 2.35 GAA, 0.922 SV%, and a shutout to his name. He did play in one game for the Wolves last season: allowing 3 goals but picking up a 4-3 win against Rockford. He is the goalie of record in the game in which the Wolves dropped their one and only point of this current season: a 2-1 (OT) loss against the Charlotte Checkers.
~Prospect Power~
When you check out this year’s Midwest Conference, the talent pool all across the board is pretty well loaded for all teams this season. Looking at the Wolves roster is just a reminder or the depth that the St. Louis Blues organization has at its disposal.
Ty Rattie and Dmitrij Jaškin are on the Wolves again this season. The two combined for 77 points (46 goals, 31 assists) last season. Both were in their first full-season of professional hockey. And both have hit the ground running this season with each having 4 points in the Wolves opening 4 games of the season.
Elsewhere, defensemen Jani Hakanpää and Joel Edmundson are back after completing their rookie seasons. The good news in terms of tonight. Both have missed the opening games of the Wolves season due to injury: Hakanpää (thumb) and Edmundson (back). No word on their status ahead of this game. Fact of the matter remains that, when they get back, they only make this Wolves roster that much better.
~Austin, Son of Wat~
Shifting gears to our side of things. If you are looking for someone to step up tonight for the Admirals in the Amtrak Rivalry. Look no further than Austin Watson. He was the joint top scorer in this match up last season with Taylor Beck with 6 points from 12 games. And, in his career against the St. Louis Blues AHL affiliates, Watson has 14 points (9 goals, 5 assists) in 24 games.
Playing as a right winger this season and last season has proved to be a boost for Watson. He has 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in the Admirals opening 4 games and has seemed to have developed a great on ice chemistry with Mark Van Guilder. Barring an injury, call up, or trade – I just don’t see these two moving around this season. The combo of 29-51 works and it should continue working well tonight in Chicago.
Thoughts for tonight’s first Amtrak Rivalry game? What are your expectations? Can the Admirals escape Chicago tonight still unbeaten? What is your scoreline prediction?
Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.
Marek Mazanec hasn’t just played two games in two days here at the AHL level. He’s also pulled the feat three times for the Nashville Predators. (Photo Credit: Frederick Breedon)
With the Milwaukee Admirals four games and four wins into the season there is plenty of positives worth pointing at. Brendan Leipsic has fit right into the team’s top two lines and leads the team in scoring with his six assists – four of which are primaries. Austin Watson, who had great success on the right wing late last season, has continued playing well in a wing capacity: 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists). Of the thirteen new faces into the team this season – eight of them have scored a point already.
Yet, for all that, what has intrigued me the most is the role of Marek Mazanec in the team’s opening four games. The Admirals played a two-in-two in each of the two weeks of AHL hockey so far. Rather than rotate the goalies in either of the fixtures the team has remained confident in the 23-year old Czech. This has left Magnus Hellberg in a position he became quite familiar with at the end of last season with the Cincinnati Cyclones: the bench.
When you look at the progress of Mazanec as the Admirals #1 choice goaltender it’s worth looking into scenarios such as the two-in-twos that the AHL delivers so often. To this point in his North American professional playing career he has played in twelve of these situations – one of which actually being a fully fledged AHL three-in-three. Here is how he has performed in those situations so far in his career when his named is called upon to handle back-to-back nights of netminding duty.
10/30/13, @ Charlotte Checkers
11/1/13, @ Charlotte Checkers
These figures of course also include his stint last season in the NHL with the Nashville Predators as well as with the Milwaukee Admirals in the AHL. Here is what the grand total ends up with for his Game 1 and Game 2 split.
What does that all add up to? For me, I think the numbers show that Mazanec performs even better in the second half of a two-in-two and he really has to. You would figure on the second game that a team and -specifically- defense would start getting tired. That means more chances in attack and more saves needing to be made. With pressure on him, as well as the back-to-back fatigue going against himself as well, Mazanec has delivered when called upon for a second consecutive night of action between the pipes.
What have you made of Marek Mazanec since his introduction to North America last season? How has he progressed? How do you compare his game to that of Magnus Hellberg’s? Would you expect Hellberg to be given the same chance as Mazanec to perform in a string of games for the Admirals this season?
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
Admirals Roundtable 