Colton Sissons is set to join recent call up Taylor Beck in Nashville. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The first season of professional hockey for Colton Sissons just opened an extra chapter up before the AHL All Star pages are written. It’s just been announced that Sissons will be called up to join the Nashville Predators.
Upon his first career NHL call up, Sissons leads the Admirals with 28 points (16 goals, 12 assists). I might add, that is also a team-best for goals scored on the team – five more goals than the next closest Admirals (11, Beck and Salomaki).
From the opening games of the season in Abbotsford, where he scored his first professional point (an assist) and first professional goal on back-to-back nights, Sissons has been among the Admirals most consistent performers all season long. He plays with great maturity. He very rarely looks lost on the ice. And he plays in every scenario: power-play, penalty kill, the works. On Friday night, he provided the perfect highlight reel goal that Nashville fans can watch over-and-over to understand just what Sissons’ game is all about:
Shorthanded. Perfect position. Active stickwork. Speed. Skill. Finishing. He can pick his spots to deliver all his qualities at once but, when he does, that’s the type of play Sissons can deliver.
I also would like to do a call back to an interview I had with Mike Liambas earlier this month.
Liambas talks about Colton Sissons and predicts his NHL call up (1/10/14):
Atta boy, Mike. And an even bigger “atta boy” to Colton Sissons – en route to Winnipeg to join the Nashville Predators.
Thoughts on the call up? Surprised to see a first-timer get the call over Filip Forsberg? What does that say about Forsberg’s maturation process – will he be here for a while?
Joonas Rask – the master of making silly faces during his action shots. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
During my live game tweet session last night I was moments from saying, “If someone scores a late OT goal – it’s going to leave a sour taste in the losing team’s mouth for days.” As I was writing that up, Adam Clendening shot from nearly the Admirals bench, and scored the game-winner with twenty-one seconds remaining.
The truth is, the Admirals might have been fortunate to skate off with one point last night. The IceHogs blasted them for 43 shots – including 20 in the first period alone. While both teams had to handle the three-in-three element it seemed very evident that the IceHogs were the strongest team from the second period in Rockford all the way into OT last night. The team is going to need more than just rest in the days before traveling to Iowa and returning the next night to play division leading Grand Rapids.
As well as crashing Dean Evason’s post-game interview I also had the chance to speak with Austin Watson and Marek Mazanec. Here is what they said after the overtime defeat.
Milwaukee Admirals goaltender Marek Mazanec started his third game in three days and made 39 saves while allowing 4 goals in tonight’s 4-3 (OT) loss against the Rockford IceHogs. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Admirals lost 4-3 in overtime against the Rockford IceHogs Sunday night. The Ads were up by 3-1 until the IceHogs stormed off with two rapid goals from Jeremy Morin in the third period to push this game into overtime. The OT period was nearly over when Adam Clendening blasted in the game-winner from long range to end the Ads and IceHogs three-in-three weekend battle royale.
There were more Vinny Saponari theatrics in tonight’s game. Last night was a double toe drag spin-o-rama for a goal. Tonight he pulled out the toe drag again and almost put IceHogs d-man Theo Peckham on his wallet. The follow up shot from the toe drag was a wrister to Jason LaBarbera’s stick side for Saponari’s seventh goal of the season and second in as many days.
Despite the opening goal, the IceHogs really controlled the first period of play. They outshot the Ads 20-6 in the frame and were able to generate two power-plays. Shortly after a Joe Piskula hooking penalty the IceHogs scored an equalizer. It wasn’t the best goal conceded by Marek Mazanec. The shot from Alex Broadhurst skipped along the ice surface and rolled into goal alongside Mazanec’s right toe. He was simply playing a little too deep in net and it cost him moving side to side. It was the younger Broadhurst brother’s eighth goal of the season.
In the second period the Ads reclaimed the lead on the power-play. Mark Van Guilder guided a pass towards the net to Simon Moser – who expertly tipped a pass across to an oncoming Miikka Salomaki. The pass was backhanded in by Salomaki for his eleventh goal of the season.
Next came some rough stuff. Mathieu Tousignant, our resident chirper, dropped the gloves with Garret Ross. Tousignant was a thorn in the side of Rockford all weekend – playing style and mouth. The fight wasn’t anything special. There were some noogies dished out by both in a grapple fest but no real solid blows landed – if any.
With fifty-seconds remaining in the second period Joonas Jarvinen scored his second goal of the season. Jarvinen stickhandled through Adam Clendening and shot five hole on LaBarbera. The puck took a while to reappear but it had enough gas on it to cross into goal to make it a 3-1 Ads lead.
Then came twenty-three seconds that the Admirals would like to have back tonight. In that third period span they lost their two-goal lead from two goals off the tape of Jeremy Morin. The Ads were just finishing off a power-play when Morin charged down the right wing and delivered a wicked wrist shot that powered top shelf across the grain of Mazanec. Just twenty-three seconds later the IceHogs had a two-on-one and Morin popped it in for his eleventh goal of the season.
The game would head into overtime. Both sides looked gassed from the third period onwards. Just when I was thinking both could be playing for the shootout, and any goal this late in OT would ruin a week for the losing side, the IceHogs scored with twenty-one seconds left in OT. The IceHogs team leading scorer Clendening blasted a slap shot from the far right wing side of the blue line. His shot appeared to take a hit from an Admirals stick just after the shot was taken, lowering the puck’s flight pattern, and burning Mazanec for the late OT game-winner. That’s Clendening’s sixth goal of the season – and the one that makes tonight that little bit sour as the Ads and IceHogs cap the weekend three-in-three.
Ramblings: Marek Mazanec started tonight’s game making him the first goalie since Magnus Hellberg (the final three games of the 2012-13 season) to start all games of a three-in-three. With his assist tonight on Miikka Salomaki’s goal – Mark Van Guilder scored his 100th career point as an Admiral. Only fifteen other players have reached the 100 point plateau in Admirals AHL history.
Thoughts from tonight’s game? How about this series? Should Marek Mazanec have played all three games in net this weekend?
The Admirals lost 2-1 against the Rockford IceHogs Saturday night. The Ads opened the scoring tonight with a brilliant goal by Vinny Saponari. A massive sixty-five delay to repair conditions on the ice set the stage for an IceHogs team that surged in the second period – and found a late game-winner in the third.
“It was a long long break obviously,” said assistant coach Stan Drulia on Sports Radio 1250 WSSP after the game. “I think we lost a little bit of momentum. And then we got into four penalties right in a row. So we kind of lost momentum there in the second period. And then we just don’t get the job done when it got late. We got over committed on our forecheck and gave up a two-on-one. We can’t be giving up a two-on-ones with three minutes to go in a 1-1 hockey game.”
In last night’s game Colton Sissons made a case for the best Admirals goal of the season. Tonight it was Vinny Saponari. The Georgia native skated in from the left wing and into the slot around a sliding Viktor Svedberg (all 6’9” of him), toe dragged around Zach Miskovic, did a clockwise spin, backhand shot, and beat veteran goaltender Jason LaBarbera to the five hole. The goal is Saponari’s sixth of the season – and please YouTube produce the goods.
Next came a massive delay due to unsafe playing conditions. The Rockford IceHogs were having a “Pink The Rink” night. They were wearing pink accented uniforms to promote breast cancer awareness and also tinted the ice a shade of pink. Whether or not that was the route of the problem isn’t entirely known – but, after a sixty-five minute delay, the pink ice was fully shaved and the ice was resurfaced.
“Some guys were on the bikes, stretching, and just trying to keep moving,” said Drulia of how the team dealt with the delay. “We had some time to look at a few things. But we didn’t do a whole lot of coaching because there really wasn’t a whole lot to do.”
Both teams had to endure the delay – but it was clear that the IceHogs started the second period far better than their first. In the second period the IceHogs outshot the Admirals 12-4. They’re attacking pressure was constant in the period and drew four power-play chances.
After a Scott Valentine slash and a delayed call against Joonas Jarvinen for boarding – the IceHogs scored a power-play goal to level the game at 1-1. Brandon Pirri’s shot to the net deflected off of ex-Admiral Brad Winchester and past Marek Mazanec for the tying goal. For Winchester, that is now thirteen goals this season – he had nine all last year with the Admirals.
After a misplay from Jarvinen – the IceHogs were able to spring a two-on-one rush. Brandon Mashinter, who dropped the gloves last night with Mike Liambas, used his hands for good by tapping a shot through Mazanec’s five hole for the go-ahead goal.
The Ads were able to earn an offensive zone faceoff, use their timeout, and play with an extra attacker for the final minute. Nothing came of it. And the Admirals fell 2-1 in Rockford for the team’s sixth straight road loss.
Ramblings: Filip Forsberg returned to the Admirals lineup after missing last night’s contest due to an illness. This meant the team returned to a six-defensemen look with Charles-Olivier Roussel being the odd-man out tonight. Interesting move by the Rockford IceHogs for this game: they benched their top scorer d-man Adam Clendening after costly turnovers in Friday’s game. By allowing two goals tonight, netminder Marek Mazanec continued his run of allowing two or more goals in every AHL start. The lone game where he managed to concede more than two goals game in a 5-4 shootout loss in Oklahoma City last weekend.
Thoughts on tonight’s game? Was the long delay the real buzzkill for the Admirals tonight? Why do the Ads seem to struggle so much on the road? How do you feel in regards to Mazanec consistently allowing two goals per game?
Mark Van Guilder scored last night’s game-winning goal. This was the bromance that followed. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Last night the Admirals defeated the Rockford IceHogs 3-2 in front of a jam packed Bradley Center. The win puts the Ads in second place of the Midwest Division as well as fifth place in the Western Conference. The team fighting right behind Milwaukee are the Amtrak Rivals, Chicago Wolves, who are two points back – but were inactive last night.
Plenty of goods to banter about from last night’s contest. Let’s start with this candidate for best Admirals goal of the season from Colton Sissons. To me this play pretty much sums up Sissons. He’s on the penalty kill, intelligently stays tight to the point, keeps his stick active, intercepts the pass to Adam Clendening, burns past him, avoids getting stick checked, and scores shorthanded on Kent Simpson. This is his first professional season of hockey. When he makes multidimensional plays, like that goal, you nearly forget about that.
There were also some interesting things that took place prior to the game. Filip Forsberg was a late scratch due to illness. Charles-Olivier Roussel, who was going to be a scratch, suited up in his place and actually played right wing the entire game rather than his typical defenseman role. In truth, he didn’t play that bad – actually having a near goal scoring chance in the first period from a slicing backhander in front of the net.
There is no telling whether or not Forsberg will be out longer than one game with illness but, good news, reinforcements are coming! Patrick Cehlin made a cameo appearance during last night’s pre-game skate. He participated in the full warm up and looked to be in good form. He spent the latter part of the session taking shots from the left wing face off area – something that tells me he was preparing for Forsberg’s spot on the power-play unit just in case they wanted to use him over Roussel last night. He may well make his return to game action for the first time since early November at some point this weekend.
After the game I had the chance to chat with plenty of upbeat Admirals around the locker room. Along with head coach Dean Evason, I spoke with Mike Liambas, Austin Watson, Mathieu Tousignant, and Zach Budish. Here is what was said after the game.
One down. Two to go. Ads face Rockford on the road tomorrow and then one more time with the weekend finale in Milwaukee. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Admirals won 3-2 against the Rockford IceHogs Friday night. In front of a massive crowd, nearly 17,000 fans in attendance, the Ads were able to come back and hold off Rockford. The goals from the Ads included a brilliant shorthanded goal from Colton Sissons, a wicked wrister from Austin Watson, and a game-winner from Mark Van Guilder off of an IceHogs turnover. Marek Mazanec also played a big part in the win tonight – making twenty-eight saves in the win.
For the most part, the Admirals outplayed the IceHogs in the opening period. They spent more time on the attack and outshot the visitors 17-12 in the first period. The IceHogs work from their defensive half on a counter rush did force some big saves from Marek Mazanec throughout the period – but there was never anything that really caught Mazanec off guard.
After a Mike Liambas high-sticking call, the IceHogs were able to score the opener from a power-play with thirty-seconds remaining in the period. A shot from BLURBLE was spilled out into the path of Mark McNeill. With Mazanec out of position due to the initial save – all McNeill had to do was smack it in for his eleventh goal of the season.
Zach Budish was called for a trip early in the second period. Cue Colton Sissons and one of the best individual plays by an Admiral this season. Sissons was able to jar a turnover loose, win a race in the neutral zone, skate over and in front of DEFENSEMAN, and beat Simpson’s glove for a shorthanded goal. The goal leveled the game at 1-1 and extended Sissons team-lead for goals with sixteen.
Then something that hadn’t happened in the previous three meetings this season between the Ads and IceHogs: a fight. Off of a faceoff Mike Liambas dropped the gloves with Brandon Mashinter. It appeared like this was all instigated from the draw by Mashinter and then Liambas obliged him. I scored my fight card: Liambas 10, Mashinter 9. The edge goes to Liambas who landed solid body blows throughout the fight. Both ended the scrap with solid punches landing flush to the face.
In the third period the Ads were able to gain their first lead of the game from Austin Watson’s tenth goal of the season. Watson skated in from the right wing and fired. His shot may have taken a deflection off of a stick in front of him before it got to Simpson. The shot appeared to knuckle en route to goal and snuck through Simpson’s arm.
The eventual game-winning goal came through an IceHogs turnover in their own zone. Mathieu Tousignant was able to intercept an outlet pass at the top of the blue line. This kept Van Guilder onside and right on target for a Tousignant pass. Van Guilder threw it by Simpson to give the Ads a two-goal lead and picked up his eight goal of the season.
The IceHogs were able to score a shorthanded goal of their own with five-minutes remaining. A bit of miscommunication and steady pressure from the IceHogs generated a turnover from the left wing pocket. Brandon Pirri was able to score directly in front of Miikka Salomaki and Mazanec to make it 3-2 – where the game would remain.
Ramblings: Filip Forsberg missed tonight’s game due to an illness and was a very late scratch from the lineup. In his place the team dressed seven defensemen with Charles-Olivier Roussel – who actually played the full game as a right winger. A pleasant surprise in tonight’s pre-game skate was the return of Patrick Cehlin. The Swede played the full skate-around and might return at some point this weekend. Taylor Beck, who was called up to the Nashville Predators this week, has been a healthy scratch in two-straight games since his call up.
Thoughts on tonight’s game? Can the Ads sweep the weekend?
Miikka Salomaki has scored two goals in three games against the Rockford IceHogs this season. He scored his first multi-goal game Tuesday night against the Toronto Marlies. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Do you like it when the Admirals play against the Rockford IceHogs? Good, because they’ll be playing a three-in-three scenario (home-road-home) all weekend long.
Dean Evason talks about the weekend series with Rockford:
The Admirals will enter Friday’s game after a 3-2 win against the Toronto Marlies on Tuesday night. That victory boosted the Ads to second place in the Midwest Division ahead of the Chicago Wolves. The Ads record now sits at 19-12-5-3 (46 points). In their last ten games they are 4-4-0-2 (10 points).
In this match up you’ll have the Midwest Division’s best home team playing against its worst road team. The Ads are 12-3-2-0 (26 points) on home ice in seventeen games this season. They have scored 57 goals and allowed 38 goals. The IceHogs are 6-11-3-1 (16 points) from twenty-one road games this season. They’ve scored 55 road goals and allowed a staggering 80 road goals – which is the most in the entire AHL. Of the three meetings this weekend – two will be in Milwaukee.
Scott Ford on playing against the Rockford IceHogs:
In the Admirals last game they dressed seven-defensemen and had Taylor Beck and Filip Forsberg double up on lines throughout the night. With the news of Beck’s call up here is what coach Evason had to say:
His comments on Taylor Beck’s recent NHL call up:
With that roster move – will we see seven-defensemen dress again on the weekend?
With the three-in-three scenario, with the additional travel element of Milwaukee to Rockford to Milwaukee, there is also the question of how the goaltending will be worked during these games. Marek Mazanec has played in all three-games since Magnus Hellberg went down with a right ankle injury against the San Antonio Rampage. Mazanec has gone 1-1-0-1 since returning from Nashville with a 2.64 GAA and a 0.896 SV%. This stretch of games might open the door for Hannu Toivonen to play -at least- one game on the weekend.
Evason’s thoughts on working the goalies in the three-in-three:
Toivonen was a first round draft choice of the Boston Bruins in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. After the injury that took place during practice to Scott Darling – the team signed him to a professional try-out (PTO). He had been playing with the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL where he had made 16 appearances in net and won 7 games. His numbers with the Walleye might not have been anything to write home to Finland about, 3.61 GAA and 0.899 SV%, but it’s his veteran experience in this situation the Ads are battling through that makes him fit. From 2005-08 he played 61 games in the NHL with the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues. His last AHL team prior to the PTO with the Admirals? The Rockford IceHogs in the 2010-11 season. He’s made one appearance with the Ads this season. He played all of four seconds in overtime against the San Antonio Rampage and then made four out of six saves in the shootout – giving him a 5-4 shootout loss without facing a shot in regulation or overtime while relieving Hellberg after his injury. Should Toivonen make a start this weekend it will be his first start since April 10, 2011 – which he won while making 37 saves in a 5-4 (OT) game between Rockford and Chicago.
The Rockford IceHogs enter this game with a record of 18-19-4-2 (42 points). In their previous ten games they have gone 3-4-1-2 (9 points). They are currently fourth in the Midwest Division – only two points clear of the basement dwellers the Iowa Wild. Credit where credit is due – they do have a Midwest Division best 690 penalty minutes. They also have conceded the most goals, 144, in the entire AHL. They’ll be entering the game on a winless run of three-games: 0-2-1-0.
Rockford’s top scorer is defenseman Adam Clendening with 32 points (5 goals, 27 assists) – who is second in the AHL for scoring by a defenseman (Ads faced the league leader on Tuesday with T.J. Brennan of the Marlies). Clendenings assists totals are really impressive – so who is scoring the goals? There are four players on the IceHogs with double-digit figures in goals scored: Joakim Nordstrom (13), Brad Winchester (12), Mark McNeill (11), and Garret Ross (11). That’s one better than the Admirals overall – but two better than will be on the ice for this weekend: Sissons (15), Beck (11), and Salomaki (10). Considering how similar these two play the game – anticipate lots of net front traffic as players try to generate screens or rebound chances to score.
The current tandem in net for the IceHogs is Kent Simpson and Jason LaBarbera. Simpson has been the go-to guy for Rockford this season. He has played a team-high 20 games in net and is tied for the team lead with 7 wins with Antti Raanta. He has a 0.897 SV% and a team-low 3.39 GAA. Like Mazanec – it should be Simpson getting the majority of the weekend. Like Toivonen – LaBarbera is another veteran NHL mind currently backing up and waiting for an opportunity to play. He has played in 182 NHL games. Should he get the call – he’ll be ready to go. He has played in 9 games this year with the IceHogs – only winning 2 games but has a quality 0.927 SV%.
Milwaukee and Rockford have played three times already this season:
So far, hostilities have been kept to a minimum. There hasn’t been a single fighting major between the two teams this season. With three-in-three set this weekend, and both treating it as though it were a playoff series, the atmosphere might get a little dose of nasty with two similar teams grinding out a weekend together.
Thoughts on this weekend’s series? Can the Ads sweep the weekend? If the team is going back to six-defensemen, who sits and who plays? When can we expect the first fight of the season between the Ads and IceHogs?
Kevin Klein played with the Milwaukee Admirals from 2004-08.
Taylor Beck wasn’t the only move of the day. This afternoon the Nashville Predators traded defenseman Kevin Klein to the New York Rangers for defenseman Michael Del Zotto. This is what Nashville’s President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile had to say in the team’s official press release regarding the trade:
“Michael gives us another young, gifted left-handed shooting defenseman with significant offensive upside. We look forward to his presence on our already talented young blue line, further balancing our defensive corps.” David Poile
The move seems to indicate a future top four in defense with two rights and two lefties: Shea Weber, Seth Jones, and Roman Josi. That’s if the team re-signs Del Zotto in the summer – where he can become a restricted free agent. The move for Klein takes place in the first year of a five-year, $14.5M contract. Del Zotto makes $2.55M this season.
Thanks everyone! Going to miss the friends I have made in Nashville. But a new chapter in New York.
Kevin Klein played with the Milwaukee Admirals from 2004-08. In that time he scored 81 points (19 goals, 62 assists) in 220 games. He also played 32 playoff games where he produced 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists). Last year he was voted to the Top 35 Admirals of All-Time list – coming in at #31.
What do you make of this trade? Is Del Zotto a good fit for the Predators? What trades, if any, do you see the Predators making next? What are your memories of Klein’s time with Milwaukee?
Nashville Bound: Taylor Beck leads the Milwaukee Admirals with 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) this season. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
It’s been hinted at the last few days and now it is pretty much done. The Nashville Predators will be recalling Taylor Beck for their upcoming four-game road trip to Western Canada.
“He’s been their best player. He’s going to come up and join us.” – #Preds Head Coach Barry Trotz on @taybeckone9 and the @mkeadmirals.
Beck leads the Admirals with 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists). His season may have started off slowly but from November and onward he has been a workhorse for the team. He plays in all facets of the game and has often doubled up on offensive lines when the team dresses an extra-defenseman. This call up takes place in a month where he has been producing fantastic numbers: 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists) in 9 games.
This will be Beck’s third stint in the NHL with the Nashville Predators. Last season he played in 16 games and scored 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists). He was called up earlier this season in November when they flipped him with Filip Forsberg. Beck suited up twice, picked up no points and 2 PIM’s, and swapped back with Forsberg shortly after the two traded places.
Thoughts on the move? How do you feel Taylor Beck has played this season? Has he earned this call up or is there another player who you feel could have gone up – and if so who and why? With Beck getting called up and Filip Forsberg remaining with the Admirals – what does that say about Nashville’s plans for Forsberg short term?
Mark Van Guilder reacts to the official telling him how many penalties the Marlies have taken… I’m guessing. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
It was a fairly wacky hockey game last night. The Admirals won 3-2 over the Toronto Marlies. All goals scored by the Ads were from the power-play – which had eleven opportunities on the man-advantage thanks to an ill-tempered Marlies team. It could have been a blow out for the Ads last night. Instead it was a one-goal game with the Marlies pressing hard with an extra attacker on for the final minute of the game. Fortunately for the Ads – they skated off with the win regardless of just how many “shoulda, woulda, coulda” moments were had on the power-play. The win, combined with a Chicago Wolves loss to the Utica Comets last night, pushed the Ads back into second place in the Midwest Division.
As always, after the game I spoke with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. I also caught up with Miikka Salomaki and Marek Mazanec. Here is what they had to say after the game.
Admirals Roundtable 