The Admirals might be getting a boost for this weekend’s three-in-three in the form of Filip Forsberg. The young Swede, who has been sidelined for over a month, returned to full-contact practice this afternoon for the first time since being injured with a concussion. This is a move that will look to shake off the rust on Forsberg and slowly get him into full-game speed while playing quality minutes as a member of the Ads.
This won’t be Forsberg’s first rodeo with the Ads. Earlier this season he was sent down in an effort to provide him more ice-time and give him different looks on the ice. How did he do? Phenomenally well. As an Admiral he scored a goal and five assists in four games. He might not be entering in the same shape as he was then – having missed the last month. Still, that’s the sort of quality that will be on the ice this weekend.
No word as of yet if the team will make a subsequent move of a forward down to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. The team only just recalled Joshua Shalla yesterday from the Cyclones. If there is a move to be made. They may have made that one a day too quick.
Update: It sounds like Filip Forsberg will be taking part in the upcoming 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship – which is being hosted in his native Sweden this year. For those wondering – World Juniors lasts from December 26th to January 5th. My guess is he returns to Nashville after the tournament – provided he performs well.
Thoughts on what Forsberg could bring to the Ads this weekend? Will he be rusty or rested? What line should he play on?
One of the better stories this season has been the evolution of Ads defenseman Anthony Bitetto. Through twenty-four games this season he has eight goals and six assists which ties him for third best on the team in points with center Austin Watson. As the league stands today, Bitetto is among the top twenty defenseman across the entire AHL in scoring. To think that exactly this time last year he wasn’t even playing in Milwaukee.
Bitetto began his first full professional season with the Admirals last year. He suited up for five games, only registered one shot on goal, and had nine penalty minutes to his name. On 11/12/12, the Ads decided to send him down to the Cincinnati Cyclones in favor of current Admirals teammate and linemate Charles Roussel. Bitetto would go on to play twenty-three games as a member of the Cyclones where he would produce one goal, two assists, and registered sixteen penalty minutes. It wasn’t until 1/7/13 when Bitetto received his call back up to the Ads.
Anthony Bitetto on his time in Cincinnati last season:
When he did return to Milwaukee his game greatly picked up. Upon his return in January, he picked up his first AHL point (an assist) two games after his recall and tallied two more assists to close out the month. February, eight more games – two more assists. Then came a fairly rough month of March for Bitetto where he was a -6 skater through eight contests. The silver lining to that month came by the way of his first AHL goal – scored on the power-play.
Bitetto on his power-play success this season – where he has scored five of his eight goals:
While the rest of his season might have tailed off from that moment – where this story really seems to pick up is in the offseason. Bitetto was asked by the team to trim down in body weight. When he showed up to camp this pre-season – he exceeded expectations by how good of shape he was in.
Mike Liambas, Bitetto’s teammate in both Milwaukee and Cincinnati, shared his thoughts on Anthony’s progress:
From pre-season practice right into the start of this season the change of Bitetto’s game is incredibly evident. His skating ability looks vastly improved. He looks and plays the game far faster than he did last season. And, the icing on the cake, his offensive results speak for themself.
Dean Evason on Bitetto’s progress:
Bitetto about improving his game this season:
What also adds to the rate of development for Bitetto are fellow defenseman Scott Ford, Joe Piskula, and Bryan Rodney – all veteran hockey minds of the defensive core. With Ford, there is a leader to learn from and a gritty defensive nature to understudy. With Piskula, there is a two-way game from the defense to the blue line that can really translate well into his game. With Rodney, Bitetto can also hone in on the offensive side of the puck from a defenseman that makes sharp passes and goal-scoring opportunities while quarterbacking power-plays. The examples are all there for him to learn from.
Bitetto on learning from veterans (while Joe Piskula definitely does not troll on the answer to such a question):
In that last clip you get a taste of something I hear a lot whilst doing player interviews – Anthony Bitetto laughing. There are plenty of great personalities on this Admirals hockey team. Few seem to always be as upbeat and jokey as the New York native.
Evason on Bitetto’s personality:
Bitetto on having fun:
With still well over half the season to play, it is exciting to see where and how far Bitetto’s season can take him. The tools are all there. His ability and willingness to learn from those around him and apply them quickly to his game is fantastic. His goal is to continually improve and see this team reach the playoffs for a twelfth-consecutive season. If Bitetto continues to improve – I imagine the team would accomplish just that.
What are your thoughts on Anthony Bitetto this season?
Emergency call up done and dusted? I’m at the Bradley Center about to chat with some players and coaches so I will follow up and update this the moment I get confirmation. By all accounts of what I have heard around Admirals camp this sounds like he might already be back in town.
UPDATE: He has officially been reassigned to Milwaukee. Should be all set for practice tomorrow and game action this weekend.
Well this has been an active news day. The Nashville Predators have just announced that Magnus Hellberg will be recalled to Nashville under emergency conditions.
As you can see from the Preds Twitter feed, the reason for this emergency call up comes due to an illness for Marek Mazanec. Considering how good the last week was for Carter Hutton, earning third star of the week honors, I really don’t expect game action for Hellberg this go-round.
I will say though that, for a guy battling confidence, this could be a welcome change of pace for Hellberg. It’s his second ever NHL call up. Even if it is in an emergency back up capacity I think it should give him a boost to get a call from the Predators – who play tonight against the Blackhawks. If Mazanec is out sick long enough, Mags could be taking a trip with the Predators down to Florida for their game in Tampa Bay on Thursday before flying back to Milwaukee for game action with the Ads.
This will be a story to watch the next day or so. I suppose it really depends on how much chicken noodle soup Mazanec packs away before getting cleared.
Thoughts on what this call up could mean for this weekend’s games? Will it just be a quick move for tonight’s game? Can this move, as brief as it might be, actually benefit Hellberg?
Well this didn’t take too long. After being sent down to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL just a little over a week ago – Joshua Shalla has been recalled to the Ads.
BREAKING NEWS: @shalls91 has been recalled by the @mkeadmirals of the AHL. Congrats to him for getting the call-up!
There was never any counter move made when he was initially sent down. So I’m pretty doubtful there will be one made with his recall this afternoon.
With his move down to Cincinnati Shalla missed out on the Ads three-in-three last week and played in three games for the Cyclones. In those three games Shalla produced one goal off of eight shots with a +2 plus/minus. With the Ads so far he has suited up for sixteen games and has two goals and two assists with a -8 plus/minus.
I wasn’t all that sure with his move down last week if this would be a long or short term move. Today we get the answer. Perhaps this was all a matter to get him better looks on the ice while getting more playing minutes than he was earning on the lower forward lines with the Ads.
What do you make of this move? Considering the Cyclones have a game tonight, shouldn’t Shalla have stayed in Cincinnati for at least one more game?
While we sit and wait for the next Ads game I thought I would pose a question to all of you: who has impressed you the most so far this season?
For me, it is a three horse race between Anthony Bitetto, Colton Sissons, and Miikka Salomaki.
Bitetto came into camp in incredible shape and has established himself as one of the best defenseman on the team. He plays in all facets of the game but, without question, has shined the brightest on the power-play this season: five of his eight goals score this season have been on the man-advantage. He has been such an important player when it comes to the Ads transition game this year. At times he is a one-man break out play. It’s been so impressive to see his development from last season to this season. I think he’s only getting better.
Sissons leads the team in goals, ten, and points scored, eighteen, and is only a rookie nearing his twenty-fifth game of professional hockey. His skating ability and vision to find soft spots on the ice to create offense has been very impressive to see. Just as equally impressive – he doesn’t really look overwhelmed out on the ice. As good as he has been on offense his defense has looked just as stable. He never looks lost on the backcheck, he blocks shots, and has done very well to stay out of the box – only posting two penalty-minutes this season. I feel like he walked in from the WHL to the AHL without missing a beat – perhaps even doing better.
Salomaki has four more assists than anyone on the team with a team-leading twelve assists. What I’ve enjoyed the most about his game so far this season has been his relentless work rate and willingness to scrap it out in the dirty areas of the ice. For such a shy and quiet kid off the ice, it is amazing just how often his game gets underneath the skin of the opposition. When there is a scrum on the ice, time and time again is seems like #20 is in the middle of it. It’s not a rookie playing out of control. It’s the opposite. It’s a rookie playing the game exactly right – and right in everyone’s face.
Who has impressed you the most so far this season and why?
The Admirals lost badly in Grand Rapids Saturday night. The Griffins shutout the Ads 5-0 in large credit to a four-point night for Cory Emmerton. As bad as that scoreline sounds this game could have been a completely different story if the Ads capitalized on their power-play, which went 0-9. If you ask me, the Ads really can’t get out of the state of Michigan fast enough.
This game started off with a taste of last night’s game in mind. Mike Liambas dropped the gloves with ex-Admiral Jordin Tootoo. It’ll be great to get the video highlights of this one. Sounded like it ended in a draw, but –as fighting goes– these two would match up nicely. The fight took place less than thirty-seconds into the game.
The Griffins response off the fight was swift. The defending Calder Cup champs popped in two-goals on three shots in the opening 5:22 of the first period. The first goal came from Cory Emmerton who snapped a shot into the top shelf past Ads starting goalie Magnus Hellberg. The second goal came just 2:24 later when Calle Jarnkrok beat the glove of Hellberg to make it a fast 2-0 Griffins lead.
Round II between Liambas and Tootoo took place 10:28 after their opening fight. This one sounded a bit more lively than the first tussle. A few good blows were landed for both and ended with a Liambas take down.
In the second period the Griffins were able to score two more goals to make it 4-0. Landon Ferraro deflected a low wrist shot from the point by Alexey Marchenko for the third goal of the game. Next came a shorthanded effort by Emmerton for his second goal of the game. The shorthanded rush started with Landon Ferraro who fed the puck over to Emmerton who beat Hellberg to push the gap between the two sides miles beyond reach. This was the sixth shorthanded goal allowed by the Admirals this season.
After Mark Van Guilder went to the box, the Ads had their best opportunity to score a goal on a shorthanded breakaway. The man on the shorthanded attack was Kevin Henderson who went for a backhanded effort. The shot was denied by Tom McCollum and it may have been the biggest save of the thirty-one he posted in his shutout performance.
Moments right after the chance for Henderson, the Ads were lucky to avoid yet another Griffins goal thanks in part to a quick whistle. Pulkkinen managed to poke the puck past Hellberg but the referees had already blown play dead. Despite the lamp being lit, the goal horn blasting, and fans going bananers the goal was waved off nearly as fast as the puck crossed the line. Perhaps a bit of a mercy whistle on the officials part.
For good measure, the Griffins added a power-play goal late in the third period to make it a 5-0 final score. The goal went to Pulkkinen and an assist went to Cory Emmerton – giving him a four-point night (two goals, two assists).
The game finished off with a fight between Joonas Jarvinen and Brennan Evans. The fight was a slow one. They do match up like heavy weights compared to Liambas versus Tootoo. While this game was a rough one for the Ads – the team showing its grit throughout these two games in Grand Rapids said a lot about their physical playing attitude. The last time they came into Grand Rapids, ahead of these two games, was a 5-0 loss where the Ads were skated circles around. The tempo was set in yesterday’s tilt with three fights. Tonight, there were another three fights. They might not have shown up tonight offensively but the Ads are in no way a team to be walked over. Despite a rough set with the Griffins – at least there is some major fight shown by everyone on the team.
Thoughts on tonight’s game? Thoughts on these two games in Grand Rapids? What is it about playing the Griffins that brings out the worst in the Ads? Is this a let down performance by Magnus Hellberg or more-so the team in front of him? What happened to the Admirals power-play that looked back in stride during the games at home against the Barons?
The Admirals lost 4-2 on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins Friday night. The Griffins score three goals in the space of 3:17 at the end of the first period to really put the stranglehold on the Ads tonight. The Ads did receive goals from Joonas Rask (his first of the season) and Colton Sissons (his team best tenth of the season) but just didn’t have enough late in the third period to claw back even before the Griffins empty netter sealed the result.
Long story short: this game was pretty darn intense. Mike Liambas against former-Admiral Tristan Grant would become a staple of this game and it all started just five-minutes into the game. Joonas Rask skated through the neutral zone and was sandwiched by Grant and Tomas Jurco. Grant went high. Jurco went low. Liambas came to the rescue and landed some good ones on Grant before having his jersey pulled around his head to end the fight.
Then came a moment I’ve been awaiting for the better part of this season. That’s right. Joonas Rask scored his first goal of the season. The Fin was Johnny-on-the-spot to secure a rebound and smack a backhander past Tom McCollum to give the Ads the game’s first goal. For Rask, this was his first professional goal since his debut with the Ads last season: 4/19/13 vs. Charlotte.
Then came another moment.. this one being much more surprising. Similar to the opening fight of the game an Admirals player came to the rescue of a teammate on the end of a big hit. The man who was hit? Mathieu Tousignant. The man to his rescue and drop the gloves? Rask. In a matter of moments Rask was an assist shy of a first period Gordie How hat trick. He went toe-to-toe with Brennan Evans. Rask clearly lost the bout but also won over plenty of respect from more than just his teammates by stepping up to the plate.
Grand Rapids leveled the game at 1-1 through a quick-fire power-play goal from Ryan Sproul. The rookie d-man hit a rocket past Ads goalie Scott Darling. It was his sixth goal of the season.
The Griffins were then the recipient of an incredibly awkward bounce off the glass behind Darling’s net. The puck spanked off the glass, fooled Darling, and fell right in place for Mitch Callahan to take care of the rest. Just like that it was a 2-1 hockey game.
Grand Rapids wouldn’t stop there to end the first period, either. Teemu Pulkkinen scored from a rebound to net the team’s third goal in the span of 3:17. That was Pulkkinen’s tenth goal of the season.
The second period was very intense but started with an Admirals goal. Colton Sissons tallied his team leading tenth goal of the season. Sissons was able to take a rebound from McCollum and backhand it past him to draw things back to a one-goal game at 3-2.
Then came the rough stuff – and I mean rough. Liambas and Grant were reunited on the ice and Grant crushed him with a high elbow near the head. Liambas went down incredibly hard and stayed down for awhile before getting up and skating over to the bench. As was the case with previous fights in the game, an Ads player came to the rescue from this heavy Griffins hit. This go-round it was Tousignant who went after Grant. As was not the case with previous fights, despite them occurring in roughly the exact same circumstances, Tousignant was stamped with a ten-minute misconduct for instigating. The coaches on the bench were heated in regards to that call – with good reason. I still don’t understand that decision versus letting the other fights happen without an instigator.
In the late staged of the third period, with the game still 3-2 Griffins, the wacky calls from the referees continued. Ex-Admiral Jordin Tootoo tripped Miikka Salomaki. The call on the ice was a trip on Tootoo and a dive by Salomaki. This made absolutely zero sense what so ever to me. If it is a dive by Salomaki – it’s a dive and no trip should be called. If it is a tripping call – then how can it possibly be a dive?
The call meant the game would be ending with four-on-four hockey instead of the Ads having a power-play chance with an extra attacker to follow once Darling emptied the Admirals’ net. Instead, it was an empty net five-on-four for the Ads. The Griffins managed to miss the empty net three times and iced the puck a few times in the closing seconds. They eventually capped the game off by hitting that empty net through Landon Ferraro.
Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda. These two are back at it tomorrow night.
(Unfortunately the “Game Highlights” from Grand Rapids cut out the opening fight between Liambas and Grant.. and the Griffins announcers can’t pronounce Ads names correctly.)
Thoughts on this game? Will there be more fireworks tomorrow night? Will Joonas Rask’s goal be a lift for his game? How do you feel Scott Darling played in this game? Is it positive to see the team stick up for one-another through fights or would you rather see the team avoid drawing additional penalties?
Last night the Ads won their third straight game in shutout fashion, 4-0. Here’s what the team had to say from last night’s win over the Oklahoma City Barons.
The Admirals were able to shutout the Oklahoma City Barons 4-0 Thursday night. Magnus Hellberg finished the game off with a 40 save shutout and earned his first win since 11/22 vs. CHI. The goal scoring was on-point tonight with help from two power-play goals, one from even-strength, and an empty netter to seal the deal.
After a rough opening power-play, the Ads had the chance to shine with the man-advantage after a too many men on the ice penalty against the Barons. A great entry into the zone led to a tic-tac-toe effort between Charles Roussel, Miikka Salomaki, and Austin Watson. From the point, Roussel was able to sling a pass to the right faceoff circle to Salomaki – who then tossed the puck to the front of the net. There was plenty of traffic in front of Barons netminder Richard Bachman, but the puck knuckled up, off the shin of Watson, and in for a power-play goal. That’s Watson’s seventh-goal of the season.
In the middle of the action a fight between Mike Liambas and Steve MacIntyre broke out. This clearly carried over from the previous game in which MacIntyre was trying to engage several Admirals during the game – including a cross-check to Liambas’ neck. This being a fight between Liambas (5’9”) and MacIntyre (6’5”)… it was as awkward to look at as I’m sure it had to be to fight in. There weren’t many blows thrown. Heavy grappling and a take down by MacIntyre. Liambas appeared to hurt the left half of his body as a result of the scrap. He did return to the game the very next period.
In the second period the Ads tallied another power-play goal. A physical drive down the boards by Vinny Saponari lead to an errant clearance by the Barons that fell to Bryan Rodney at the blueline. While this wasn’t one of Rodney’s better nights on the ice as an Admiral –lots of giveaways for him tonight– he was able to display exactly why he can be lethal offensively when passing from the point. Rodney took a quick peak at the power-play unit in front of him, and picked out a wide-open Anthony Bitetto lightning quick. Bitetto was able to skate in off the right faceoff circle, measure his shot, and burned Bachman with a wrist shot. That was Bitetto’s eighth-goal of the season and fifth-goal on the power-play.
Colton Sissons tagged the Barons in the third period for his team leading ninth-goal of the season. This play was triggered from another great feed from Rodney that put Sissons into a decent scoring opportunity at the low right circle. The shot by Sissons was fantastic. He took advantage of his shooting angle, roofed the puck above Bachman’s left shoulder, and extended the Ads lead to 3-0.
Late in the third period, the Barons were put on the power-play from a Saponari slash that hacked Linus Omark to the ice. The Barons, already with the man-advantage, pulled their goalie looking to get a breakthrough against Magnus Hellberg. Saponari left the box, found a loose puck, and scored an empty net goal for his first Admiral goal.
While his play this season might feel hot and cold at times, the display tonight in net from Hellberg was by far his best display in net this season. The only thing that was going to beat him tonight was himself. Literally. The biggest save of the game for Hellberg might not have even counted on the scorer’s sheet. A wild bounce off the boards fooled Hellberg, who was preparing to play the dump-in behind the net, and steering right in on goal. The big Swede leaped back in front of the net and cleared it away before putting a damper on his 40 save shutout performance. Make no mistakes about it: the defense in front of him tonight, playing against a unit as skilled as the Barons, were sharp from start to finish. Still, Hellberg never looked flustered or fooled on a single shot to the net tonight. For how long he’s had to wait for a start, 11/30 @ Charlotte, this was quite a performance for him.
Injury notes: Scott Ford, who I spoke to a week ago as he was wearing a boot that had behind it a broken foot, actually suited up and played tonight – a full three-to-six weeks ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, Simon Moser was not in tonight’s lineup due to back issues.
Thoughts on the win tonight? Is this the performance you’ve been waiting to see for Magnus Hellberg? How on Earth did Scott Ford play tonight’s game with a broken foot? Are the power-play woes resolved? Do these last two games set the stage for positive results in a back-to-back scenario tomorrow and Saturday in Grand Rapids? Seriously, what is Scott Ford made of to be able to play tonight?!
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