Author: Daniel Lavender

News

Roundtable Offseason 101
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This is a Daniel Lavender in his natural habitat. (Photo Credit: Hannah Walters)

The Milwaukee Admirals 2013-14 season came to an end yesterday. I assume that you will all have some questions as to what comes next from our end of things here at the Roundtable and much more.

I have plans for a few “best of” material in the coming days. That will include a 2013-14 Best of Chatterbox, the 2013-14 Season in Pictures, and the Roundtable classic – Paper Plate Awards. All of that will come in the days ahead. No particular order. Just expect some end of the season goodies!

Outside of that, I still plan on providing news and coverage of the Nashville Predators, Milwaukee Admirals, and Cincinnati Cyclones when news crops up. As I mentioned yesterday – the Cyclones are still in the thick of the ECHL playoffs. It will be fun seeing how deep their run can go – and I’ll pay attention to that. Then you have the Stanley Cup playoffs on, the World Championships starting up in a week’s time, the end of the hockey season and subsequent roster moves, NHL Draft, and more!

There always seems to be something to write about. Early on during this Admirals season I dedicated myself to providing daily content up here at the Roundtable. While I don’t expect that to continue throughout the summer – I still can’t help myself! So, please expect more ramblings from me even though our season is at an end.

I’ve loved every bit of operating Admirals Roundtable this season. I wasn’t all that sure what to expect out of it when the role was offered to me. One season down and I could not be more happy with all that I have been able to experience from this website. The real highlight has been interacting with all of you brilliant fans this season. Whether it be online, or rinkside at the games, it has been so much fun being able to chat hockey with each and every one of you. The Roundtable is all about the fans, getting discussions going, and putting content up that allows us to put our “hockey nerd” caps on and banter. I hope that you have all enjoyed this season here at Admirals Roundtable. It has been a blast to provide you all with coverage of this great team.

My personal “thank you” list would be very long but…

Admirals VP of Communications Charlie Larson for always being there for me in regards to setting up interviews and various answers I needed throughout the season. Admirals play-by-play man Aaron Sims for being such a wonderful person – through and through. Ryan Miller for his guidance at the start of this season and his incredible work making the Roundtable be a thing in the first place. Admirals president Jon Greenberg and the entire front office staff – yes, even you Brian Martens. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Dave Boehler for putting up with my jokes and various doodles on his name tags on the press table. Fellow Roundtable contributor Jason Karnosky for his efforts and discussions throughout this season. The Milwaukee Admirals photographers -Scott Paulus, Sara Stathas, and Jeff Hanisch- whose work has made this website look thousands of times better thanks to their magnificence. Taylor and Taylor, aka Theresa and Geoff, for always being around the rink making me laugh. Many of the fellow media types I’ve been able to chat with throughout this season from Nashville and Cincinnati for all the fun discussions. And much much much more. Hard to find a single person around the entire organization, top to bottom, that is difficult to love. Honestly.

If you have any suggestions, comments, rambings, etc – I am always all ears! The Roundtable isn’t going anywhere. We’re open 24/7 for hockey nerds and aspiring hockey nerds. Let’s keep the dialogue running into the 2014-15 season!

Game Recaps

Admirals Shutout and Eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs
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Marek Mazanec stopped 21 of 22 shots on goal in tonight’s elimination game for the Milwaukee Admirals. And it just wasn’t enough against a dominant Toronto Marlies side playing on home ice. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

The Admirals season officially came to an end tonight with a 2-0 shutout defeat against the Toronto Marlies Thursday night.

“Obviously the best game that we played in the whole series,” said Milwaukee Admirals assistant coach Stan Drulia after the game on 1250 Sports Radio WSSP. “We had a couple of pretty good scoring chances. I thought the guys put it out there. There were some things that happened that were out of our hands tonight but, for the most part, we did a pretty good job today. We could have done some better things in games one and two that wouldn’t have put us in this position but, when you can’t score, they really shut us down.”

With their backs up against the wall it seemed as if the tight knit defense of the Marlies, combined with costly penalties from the Admirals, made tonight’s game three a grinder with little to no chance to score. It was the Admirals best performance of the playoffs when it needed to be. It still just wasn’t good enough to top the Marlies who will advance to the next round of the Calder Cup playoffs by completing tonight’s sweep.

Penalties were again an issue for the Admirals. After a good start to the first period they finished with two penalty kills that seemed to slow them down. The third penalty kill for the Admirals came late in the second period and resulted in the game’s opening goal. The Marlies passed themselves into space. When Jerry D’Amigo;s backdoor pass, post to post, hit the tape of Greg McKegg – it was going to be a power-play goal. Marek Mazanec was struggling to make the quick slide to his opposite post and the Marlies, for the third time in three games, had the first goal.

The penalties continued impacting the game for the Admirals. Miikka Salomaki took a high sticking call with 4:27 remaining in the game. With that penalty killed off and the final rush by the Ads being built up – Salomaki again went to the box. This time he went for boarding and it meant the rest of the game was going to be fought on the penalty kill.

Mazanec left his net with 1:09 remaining in the game to make it a five-on-five penalty killing situation for the Admirals. Trevor Smith was able to chase down a puck behind the empty net and cleared out to neutral ice. There he picked out T.J. Brennan who buried the puck into the empty net for a power-play goal that finished off the game, the series, and the 2013-14 Milwaukee Admirals season.

“We run into penalty trouble,” said Drulia. “When you’re killing back to back to back, have six minutes of kills in the last ten minutes of the hockey game, it’s a tough recipe for success. I thought the guys hung in there. They did a good job of battling.”

This was perhaps the best effort out of the Admirals in this series against Toronto. Despite all of the penalties they still outshot the Marlies 29-23 by the final horn. Credit to Drew MacIntyre who stopped all of those shots in tonight’s contest.

“I coached Drew a long time ago,” said Drulia. “He is a good goaltender. He battles. He doesn’t make the prettiest saves but he competes for every loose puck.”

The former-Admiral stopped 85/89 shots in this series for a 0.955 save percentage and a 1.33 goals against average. To the team that manages to figure out how to outbattle that Toronto defense in front of the net and the get pucks past MacIntyre – you’ll have earned yourself something as special as the 2014 Calder Cup.

Ramblings: There were some roster shuffling in regard to line combinations tonight for the Admirals forwards: Forsberg-Jarnkrok-Watson, Moser-Van Guilder-Beck, Salomaki-Sissons-Saponari, Liambas-Tousignant-Wathier. This meant Patrick Cehlin was a scratch in tonight’s contest. The defensive pairings remained the same as it was in the previous two games of the series. Scott Valentine, who has been out with an upper body injury, made his color commentary debut tonight alongside Aaron Sims on 1250 Sports Radio WSSP.

What are your thoughts from this series? Where did it all go wrong? Where did the Admirals composure go in this series?

News

Checking in on the Cincinnati Cyclones: Round II
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This is Magnus Hellberg. Do you miss him? Because he is currently sitting on the bench during the ECHL playoffs and could use the love. (Photo Credit: Tony Bailey)

The Nashville Predators didn’t make the playoffs. The Milwaukee Admirals are facing elimination in the first round of the AHL playoffs. Then you have the Cincinnati Cyclones who start the second round of the ECHL playoffs on Friday night.

In the first round the Cyclones knocked off the Orlando Solar Bears in six games. The Admirals group of Barry Almeida, Taylor Aronson, Zach Budish, and Josh Shalla combined for 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists). In fact, outside of Mr. Shalla, all had plus ratings from the opening round series: a combined +7 plus/minus.

One thing to take stock of, for Predators and Admirals fans alike, is that Magnus Hellberg is sitting on the bench for this ECHL playoff run. The man in net for the Cyclones has been Rob Madore who played all games so far in the playoffs, won four, has a brilliant 1.82 goals against average, and a 0.938 save percentage. They are going with the hot hand and it is paying off. Yet another downer on the 2013-14 season for Hellberg.

For the Cyclones second round match-up they’ll be playing against the Fort Wayne Komets who ousted the Reading Royals in five games. The Royals finished the regular season with the best record in the Eastern Conference and second best record in the entire ECHL. That makes the chances for the Cyclones to this year’s Kelly Cup all the more possible.

Do you feel our friends in Cincinnati have a shot at winning the Kelly Cup this year? What do you feel about Magnus Hellberg going forward? Was this year for Hellberg a wash?

Scouting

Round One, Game Three: Scouting the Enemy
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The pressure is on tonight in Toronto. The Milwaukee Admirals face elimination. It is time to flip the script and push those Marlies around. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

The Milwaukee Admirals backs are against the wall tonight in Toronto. They face a 2-0 deficit in the opening round best-of-five series against the Marlies and, having dropped the first two in Milwaukee, are left to rally on the road from here on out.

It’s bleak. It’s tough. BUT, it is only game three of five. Watch those Los Angeles Kings win last night’s opening round match-up against the San Jose Sharks? The Kings overcame the mountain. They trailed 3-0 in a best of seven and won it – becoming the fourth team ever to do it.

The Toronto Marlies finished the regular season with the exact same winning percentage at home as the Admirals: 0.697 percent. They have a +27 goal differential at home (119 goals forced, 92 goals allowed). And the Ads were actually better in that department: +35 goal differential (128 goals forced, 93 goals allowed).

We saw what the Marlies did in the first two games played in Milwaukee. So, simple question, why can’t the Admirals repeat the exact same feat in Toronto?

The Admirals road numbers during the regular season were so-so. They had a 0.500 winning percentage and a -19 goal differential (87 goals forced, 106 goals allowed). Yep, the Marlies were better in that respect – but, I’ll ask it again, why not?

At the start of the season the Admirals won three straight road games: 10/12/13 @ Abbotsford… 10/18/13 @ Grand Rapids… 11/3/13 @ Iowa. They have won two-in-a-row on the road on three separate occasions this season – two of which came from the final six road games of the campaign. Why not claim game three, four, and see what happens? Why not this team?

In my book the biggest task the Milwaukee Admirals are going to need to tackle is doubt. The first period tonight will speak so many volumes of how the night is going to go. If I see more of the same with the Marlies chewing out the Admirals and making life hard on the offense – the “here we go again” thought trickles into the mind. Should the Admirals play on the same page or come out firing on all cylinders, picking up a nice first period lead, they will finally have something to build on.

It is that opening twenty-minutes of game three that will decide whether the Admirals push back or come back home on Friday. If the Admirals can score that first goal – it could make all the difference in them tilting the ice in the same fashion the Marlies have the first two games.

What are you expecting from Game Three tonight? Will the Marlies sweep the Admirals? What do the Admirals need to do in order to rally on the road?

News

Roundtable Question of the Day
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Calle Jarnkrok has scored a point in every single game he has played in as a member of the Milwaukee Admirals. Certainly he can be considered NHL ready right? (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

I was asked to provide a quote for our friend Thomas Willis at Predlines last night in regards to “NHL Readiness” for Calle Jarnkrok and Filip Forsberg. You can read his story right here.

That topic does interest me. Not so much for guys such as Jarnkrok or Forsberg. I think we can all pretty much agree with them being NHL ready. I also think that Colton Sissons, Taylor Beck, Simon Moser, and Mark Van Guilder are players who could all play well at the NHL level were the spots open for them to perform.

Then you have the others guys. That of course meaning everyone else on the Milwaukee Admirals roster. Some I could see being bracketed in the NHL range. Some of the more recent additions I wonder if you would even consider them AHL ready. Here are who I want you all to consider.

Are these players NHL ready?

Miikka Salomaki, Austin Watson, Joonas Jarvinen, Marek Mazanec, Magnus Hellberg, or Scott Darling.

Are these players AHL ready?

Joe Pendenza, Braden Pimm, Jonathan Diaby, Jaynen Rissling, Mikko Vainonen, and Garrett Noonan.

A few of those players on the bottom list you may have had the chance to see play this season. Others you have have missed out on. All the more reason to question if those would be names you want to see in Milwaukee next season, right?

Discuss amongst yourselves. I would be really interested in hearing your thoughts on this. I also wonder what you make of certain players ceiling in regards to – can some even crack an NHL lineup or if time is passing by for them to maintain an NHL role.

News

Solving Drew MacIntyre and the Marlies Defense
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Remember when Drew MacIntyre was a member of the Milwaukee Admirals? Me too.

The Milwaukee Admirals currently trail the Toronto Marlies 2-0 in the opening round best of five playoff match-up. A staggering figure in the series comes in the scorelines: 6-2 and 5-2. In each game the Admirals threw 30 shots on goal and were struggling to get high quality scoring chances.

Entering this series the strong point for the Admirals was their depth at the forward spot. They could roll-out all four lines feeling confident that they will have skilled two-way hockey shift after shift. After two games, the Marlies have out-muscled those lines and made life easy for former-Admiral netminder Drew MacIntyre.

In the regular season the Admirals didn’t face MacIntyre. There wasn’t a real feel for how he played against the Admirals or, more importantly, how the team rallied around him in net. During the regular season he won 29 games, had a 2.53 goals against average, a 0.917 save percentage, and one shutout.

I’m sure the question has been brought up. I’m sure the film has been dissected. How do you break down the Marlies defense and get pucks past MacIntyre? Other teams have this season. Let’s take a look.

(Date – Video Highlights // Score – Gamesheet)

Nov. 23, 2013 @ Texas: L, 5-3
Dec. 27. 2013 @Hamilton: L, 4-2
Jan. 3, 2014 vs. Syracuse: L, 6-3
Jan. 11, 2014 @ St. John’s: L, 5-4 (SO)
Jan. 30, 2014 @ Oklahoma City: L, 5-3
Feb. 1, 2014 @Texas: L, 6-0
Feb. 9, 2014 vs. Hamilton: L, 4-3
March 1, 2014 vs. Hamilton: L, 5-2
Mar. 30, 2014 vs. Abbotsford: W, 6-4
Apr. 16, 2014 @ Binghamton: W, 5-4

If I had any sort of “book” from these games it is this. (1) MacIntyre is always positioning himself to be low to the ice and compact (2) teams make the adjustment and aim high to the shoulders of MacIntyre (3) opponents utilize the slot area off the puck to create traffic for deflections or screens (4) speed cutting in or across the slot can cause MacIntyre to lose his angle and leave space against the grain.

All of those bullet points have been nearly impossible for the Admirals forwards to create because the Marlies have boxed out the shot and forced them to play the walls and far points. As I said above – they are getting completely out-muscled – and the are expecially getting beaten up when it comes to earning the dirty area in front of the net. The Marlies defensive structure, right in and around MacIntyre’s cage, has been next to unbreakable in this playoff series.

For the Admirals to head up to Toronto and pull off a little playoff magic they’re going to have to earn the areas around the net. They need to get MacIntyre’s vision disrupted so he goes to his “safe mode” and hits a low and square stance in net. The net can be opened up and the Admirals can get those quality scoring chances if they out-battle Toronto in front of the net. It’s where this series has been lost so far – but it is also where it can be changed on its head should the Admirals flip the script in the dirty areas.

How do you think the Admirals offense has looked in this series? In your opinion – what needs to be done to get the offense back in gear? Is it possible for them to rally on the road in Toronto?

News

Shea Weber named finalist for Norris Trophy
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Shea Weber played with the Milwaukee Admirals during the 2005-06 season.

Former Milwaukee Admiral and captain of the Nashville Predators Shea Weber has been announced as a finalist for this season’s Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman. Other finalists include Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins and Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks.

For anyone who has had the opportunity to watch a few Predators games this season – you’ll know full well just how brilliant Weber has been this season. With no Pekka Rinne, an offense that was hit and miss, and a very youthful defensive core around him – the Preds captain has been consistently the top player on the team from start to finish.

Weber played in 79 games, scored 56 points (23 goals, 33 assists), had a plus/minus rating of -2, and 52 penalty minutes. The scoring output is a career best for him. It is a new career high in assists and the goal total matches his previous best from the 2008-09 season.

Do you think that Shea Weber will take home this year’s Norris? Will the fact that his team isn’t in the playoffs lessen his case? 

Chatterbox

The Chatterbox, Vol. 35
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There haven’t been too many things to smile about from this opening playoff series so far. Here. Have a snow shower from the Sheriff. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

Last night’s 5-2 defeat to the Toronto Marlies made things rather grim for the Milwaukee Admirals. They now need to win all three games in Toronto to overcome a 2-0 series deficit in a best of five scenario.

Nevermind the playoff series implications of over coming those odds. The Admirals have only managed to win three consecutive road games once this season.

Oct. 12 @ Abbotsford: W, 2-1 (SO)
Oct. 18 @ Grand Rapids: W, 3-2
Nov. 3 @ Iowa: W, 5-2

Yeah. That was a long time ago in a season far, far away. Something else to consider and feel depressed about? The Marlies have not lost three straight games in Toronto this season. In fact, they’ve only lost consecutive games on home ice on three separate occasions this season.

Things are grim. It is going to take a massive surge the likes of which the Admirals had during PekkaMania. We all know the bad news, here. The good news is that the coaching staff and players on the Admirals end of things sure have plenty of film to dissect and solve their problems. They have until Thursday night to prepare for the start of what, if they pulled it off, would be nothing short of miraculous.

This still feels like a special Admirals team to me. The forwards have been out-muscled but they have the same capacity to wear down an opponent. To get the forward lines rolling means getting major pressure off Admirals defensemen and, therefore, Marek Mazanec – who has been brilliant in this series despite some blown assignments in front of him and a barrage of penalty kills to survive.

Including the regular season finale the Admirals have lost three-straight games. The last time they recorded successive defeats came in the poor run prior to Pekka Rinne‘s return when they lost five games in a row. I’m not saying they’ll come out and score nine goals to break out of it as they did that string of bad results – but they have the capacity to explode just as easily.

If there is anything more frustrating than the idea of this team being swept out of the opening round of the playoffs it is that they have the exact same abilities as Toronto to equally deliver games like the Marlies have in Milwaukee. For the Admirals to enter the playoffs and not show a touch of that… that would be the most frustrating thing you would take from this entire series.

After the game I spoke with Dean Evason and Mark Van Guilder. For those wondering about a general tone felt around the locker room – they were still upbeat after game one – they were angry and disappointed after game two. I think you’ll hear a bit of that out of these interviews. Here’s what both said following the game.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 35” →

Game Recaps

Damage Done, Admirals fall 5-2 to Toronto
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Calle Jarnkrok and the Admirals deep forward group have been out-muscled by the Toronto Marlies. They now must win three-straight games in Toronto to make it into the next round. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

The Admirals lost 5-2 against the Toronto Marlies Saturday night. This defeat puts them in a 2-0 series deficit heading off to Toronto for the last, if necessary, three games in the best of five series.

After a very strong start to this game by the Admirals – the Marlies scored with 1:09 remaining in the first period to make it a 1-0 game. Despite a shots advantage of 15-7 favoring the Admirals a left wing rip by Brandon Kozun took deflection en route to Marek Mazanec. It may have been the only real sustained attack Toronto had the entire period and they found the back of the net.

The second period became a penalty fest for the Admirals. First Joonas Jarvinen and David Broll engaged each other to get minors for roughing. Then Calle Jarnkrok took a trip. And Joe Piskula was called for boarding.

All things in order, that gave the Marlies a lengthy stint of five-on-three power-play. With five seconds left from that opportunity Toronto worked the puck low around Mazanec, went post to post with a pass by Trevor Smith, and Sam Carrick had a tap in for a 2-0 lead.

It’s worth mentioning the lack of penalty calls for the Admirals in the closing stages of the second period. Mathieu Tousignant and Filip Forsberg were hit in the mouth with high sticks but each weren’t granted under the pretense that they Marlies were following through on shots. Francis Wathier was also barreled over near the Admirals bench – all of whom were livid by the absence of calls going their way in the frame.

Milwaukee finally found the back of the net in the opening minutes of the third period. Jarnkrok took a pass from Forsberg and hammered a one-timer past Drew MacIntyre to the blocker side. Including the playoffs, Jarnkrok has now scored in eight straight games as an Admiral.

The penalty fest continued in the third period with an Austin Watson double-minor dor high sticking, Mike Liambas interference, and a Wathier slashing call. The Marlies failed to convert two five-on-three chances in that spell but converted in the last push of the power-play. A puck popped up above Mazanec, fell at his skates, kicked inbetween his legs, and Brandon Kozun shoved the loose puck across the line for a 3-1 Marlies lead.

Just for good measure, Wathier was called for another penalty as he raced in on the forecheck and was given a minor for boarding. The Marlies won the faceoff and scored seconds into that power-play. A long range wrist shot from the right point by Korbinian Holzer goes went against the grain of Mazanec’s glove to extend the Marlies lead to 4-1.

The Admirals did attempt some late theatrics by scoring another goal. A point shot led to a rare juicy rebound from MacIntyre and Bryan Rodney smacked home a late tally making it 4-2. The Ads emptied their net, Jerred Smithson cleared from long range, Jerry D’Amigo chased it down, and scored the final goal of the game. 5-2 on the scoreboard. 2-0 in the series. Milwaukee has been on the outside looking in from the start.

I feel a lot must be said of the Admirals power-play. They went 0/6 tonight and couldn’t even generate gas. The Marlies blanketed them, boxed out numbers in front of the net, and read all puck movements from the point down low. This game, and quite possibly last night, changes dramatically with an effective power-play. I have to believe the build up to game three in Toronto will mean revisions to how that man-advantage operates because the Marlies have it scouted pass for pass.

Ramblings: Tonight’s lineup change for the Milwaukee Admirals saw Mike Liambas in and Vinny Saponari out. Admirals Scratches: Diaby, Rissling, Vainonen, Pendenza, Pimm, Valentine, Noonan, Saponari, and Rask. Marlies Stratches: Gibson, MacWilliam, Abbott, Ashton, Staubitz, Devane, Holland, Yuen, Herzog, Verhaeghe, Gauthier, and Loov.

What’s going wrong for the Admirals in this series? What has happened to the high-powered depth in the forward position? Are the defense and penalty woes costing Marek Mazanec a wonderful playoff performance?