Author: Daniel Lavender

Game Recaps January 22, 2017January 22, 2017

Wolves Big Dogs Bite Back; Ads Lose 5-1

The Chicago Wolves big guns, Wade Megan included, were out in force as they took down the Admirals 5-1 at the Allstate Arena Sunday afternoon. (Photo Credit: Ross Dettman)

The Milwaukee Admirals lost 5-1 against the Chicago Wolves on the road Sunday afternoon at the Allstate Arena.

With the win today the Wolves have secured the 2016-17 Amtrak Trophy over the Admirals. The Wolves clinched with two-games still to be played in Milwaukee this season. The loss for the Admirals snapped a three-game winning streak and saw the opposite take place on the flip-side for the Wolves.

This afternoon’s game saw big performances for the Wolves top scorers. Kenny Agostino extended his AHL best scoring efforts with a three-point night while Wade Megan, Ivan Barbashyov, and Chris Butler all produced two points each.

Like the majority of last night’s game the opening period was very defensive-minded and saw limited scoring chances created. The lone highlights of the first period saw Pontus Åberg rattle a shot off a post on an Admirals’ power-play and then Justin Kirkland getting into his first pro fight where he rag-dolled Bryce Gervais.

In the opening minute of the second period the Wolves beat the Admirals with pace to get on the board first. Kenny Agostino was cheating behind the Admirals defense and Chris Butler’s pass hit him in stride. Agostino got around Trevor Murphy and then beat Marek Mazanec with a wrister over the glove for his seventeenth goal of the season.

Wade Megan followed that tally up with a highlight reel goal moments later. The former Cincinnati Cyclones product jumped through Jack Dougherty and Trevor Smith as he cut from left wing to the slot. Before Megan lost control he snapped a shot as he turned to the net and beat Mazanec past the blocker for his twentieth goal of the season.

The Admirals needed a spark offensively. That’s where Derek Army stepped in 1:16 of ice-time after Megan’s goal to make it a 2-1 game. Army had just skated into the attacking zone when he hammered a slap shot that appeared to surprise Jordan Binnington and beat him over the right shoulder bardown. The goal for Army was his fourth scored with the Admirals this season while in on a PTO Contract from the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL.

The third period is where things fell completely flat for the Admirals. The Wolves scored three unanswered goals and twice on the power-play to push this game to a 5-1 final.

Magnus Pääjärvi was on the doorstep to pop in a wrap-around feed by Megan to score his sixth goal of the season. The Wolves then added back-to-back power-play goals from successive Admirals slashing minors. Both power-play goals came courtesy of great net front deflections. The first of which was finished off by Samuel Blais for his eleventh goal of the season. The second of which saw a clear cut deflection from the low slot by Ivan Barbashyov for his nineteenth goal of the season to make it a 5-1 Wolves lead.

The rough final frame of regulation would end there. The loss for the Admirals doesn’t see them drop beneath the Wolves in the Central Division standings but it does end the four-game road trip on a down note. It had been a successful one for both Mazanec and the team prior to today’s game.

There is great news though which is the path ahead for the Admirals. The team will play ten of their next twelve games on home ice at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. That hefty slate starts on Tuesday night at 7:00 PM CST when the Cleveland Monsters mark their first appearance in Milwaukee this season.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played last night there was joyously not a single roster move made in the organization. Today’s line combinations for the Admirals were: Florek-Smith-Åberg, White-Kamenev-Fiala, Richard-Kirkland-Gaudreau, Liambas-Army-Payerl, O’Brien-Carrier, Oligny-Murphy, Pinkston-Dougherty. Today’s scratches were: Jonathan Diaby (healthy), Shawn O’Donnell (healthy), and Adam Pardy (upper-body).

Thoughts on today’s game? Would it be fair to mark these two games against the Chicago Wolves as the Milwaukee Admirals offense stalling for a chess match more than interact in a track meet? How good will it be for the Admirals to finally get games at home for once?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Game Recaps January 21, 2017January 21, 2017

A-Maz-ing; Admirals Shutout Wolves 1-0

The Milwaukee Admirals won 1-0 against the Chicago Wolves on the road Saturday night at the Allstate Arena.

There wasn’t much between the Amtrak Rivals tonight. The lone goal of the game came with under four-minutes to play in the first period and came off of a poor in-zone turnover. Wade Megan tried to get a puck up ice from his right wing wall but his pass was picked off by Pontus Åberg. The Swede swiftly passed over to Trevor Smith who managed to beat Ville Husso with a wrist shot for his eleventh goal of the season.

That was the lone goal of this game. That isn’t to say there weren’t chances. Marek Mazanec made a huge breakaway save to deny the AHL’s leading scorer Kenny Agostino on a five-hole attempt. As far as clear cut scoring chances go for the Wolves? That may have been their best opportunity.

The Admirals defensively were great in this game and the penalty kill shined. The Wolves had five chances tonight on the power-play and came away with nothing. In the Wolves final power-play chance, that came with 8:21 remaining in regulation, the Admirals held them to no shots on goal while getting four shots to Husso shorthanded.

The Wolves would go empty net and extra attacker with 1:19 remaining in regulation but they would come away with nothing. The Admirals held to a 1-0 win behind a thirty-save shutout for Mazanec. It was the first time this season that the Wolves had been shutout.

For Mazanec this was his tenth career AHL shutout. It moves him five shutouts behind Brian Finley for the Admirals all-time record for shutouts. This week Mazanec has made three starts, won three games, stopped 96/99 shots on goal for a 0.969 save percentage, and earned two shutouts.

With the win tonight Dean Evason surpassed Claude Noel to become the winningest head coach in the AHL history of the Admirals. Evason now sits at 184 career wins behind the bench.

After tonight the Admirals record has improved to 23-12-2-2 (50 points, 0.641 points percentage). The Amtrak Rivalry continues tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 PM CST in the final game of the season for the Admirals at the Allstate Arena.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Wednesday there were several notes from the organization. The Nashville Predators acquired Andrew O’Brien from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Max Görtz. The Predators then activated P.K. Subban from injured reserve and reassigned Alex Carrier to the Admirals. News also came that Cody Bass has been officially ruled out for the rest of the season due to a lower-body injury. Juuse Saros was removed from the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic and is in the process of finding a home in Nashville which likely sees that he remains up with the Predators for the remainder of the season. Tonight’s line combinations for the Admirals were: Florek-Smith-Åberg, White-Kamenev-Fiala, Richard-Kirkland-Gaudreau, Liambas-Army-Payerl, O’Brien-Carrier, Oligny-Murphy, Pinkston-Dougherty. Tonight’s scratches were: Jonathan Diaby (healthy), Shawn O’Donnell (healthy), and Adam Pardy (upper-body injury).

What is your reaction to tonight’s game? How impressed are you right now with the efforts of Marek Mazanec? Are you starting to feel more comfortable with the idea of Mazanec being the go-to option for the Admirals for the rest of this season? What did you think of Andrew O’Brien’s Admiral debut?

Scouting January 21, 2017

Wolves: Scouting the Enemy

Oh, deary me – it’s these lads again! After this weekend the Chicago Wolves will have appeared on the Milwaukee Admirals schedule for six of their last fourteen games played with only one of those games taking place in Milwaukee. Also after this weekend, thankfully – and surprisingly, the Admirals will have played their last game at the Allstate Arena in the 2016-17 regular season.

This road heavy schedule for the Admirals is just one more weight to the shoulders of a team that have been enduring a lot of adversity since the start of December. The Admirals are right now at the literal mid-way point of the season at 38 games played. The Admirals are tied with the Wolves for the second most road games played this season with 23 road games. Only the Charlotte Checkers, 24 road games, have played more.

Yet, as is the circumstance today, that tie between the Amtrak Rivals will be broken and the Admirals will be moving past the Checkers by the end of the weekend for that title. And, after the Ontario Reign host the San Jose Barracuda, no one in the AHL will have played less home games this season than the Admirals.

As bad as that sounds what it means is that the Admirals will have endured -technically- the hard part of the season first. The road games will start to trend down and the Admirals will be finishing the final 38 games of the regular season with 23 home games.

The Grand Rapids Griffins have 18 home games remaining. The Wolves -this weekend not included- have 19 home games remaining. For all that has been thrown at the Admirals in recent times they still have a lot in-hand once the home heavy side of this season begins.

The Wolves will be entering this weekend’s set against the Admirals already having battled last night. They lost 3-2 on the road against the Griffins last night. That’s a sour bus ride back from Grand Rapids only to get two more games against an Admirals team that will be rested as the Wolves grind along in a three-in-three weekend.

The Wolves record right now stands at 23-14-3-2 (51 points, 0.607 points percentage). They are third behind the Griffins (0.705) and Admirals (0.632) in the Central Division standings. They are sixth in the Western Conference standings. The Wolves are tied with the Iowa Wild as the teams who have logged the most games in the AHL to date, 42 games played.

If the “three-in-three” element isn’t enough for the Wolves to be knuckling down hard this weekend then the following is. Their top goaltender this season, Pheonix Copley, was recalled by the St. Louis Blues yesterday as Jake Allen seems to be going through the motions at the moment. In this match-up Copley has started in seven of the eight games played this season.

Jordan Binnington is therefore the lone goaltender on the Wolves active roster to have faced the Admirals this season. He was in net for the “School Day” game and allowed 5 goals from 24 shots. This season and last season have seen him really shy away from his excellent 2014-15 season. He has 7 wins from 17 appearances this season with a 3.02 goals against average and 0.905 save percentage. He did not start last night for the Wolves – Ville Husso did.

Where goaltending might be a question mark then – it could all be answered or diverted by one of the AHL’s best offenses this season. The Wolves have three top the league’s top ten scorers right now on their roster with Kenny Agostino leading the way (and the league). Agostino has 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) in 42 games. The next closest player in the AHL to Agostino for assists this season is former-Admiral Taylor Beck who is still 8 assists shy of Agostino.

The other top scorers for the Wolves this season include: Wade Megan, 35 points (19 goals, 16 assists) in 40 games and Ivan Barbashev, 35 points (18 goals, 17 assists) in 42 games. The man behind those two on the Wolves leading scorer’s list sees recently waiver claimed defenseman Brad Hunt – now of the Nashville Predators – with 29 points (9 goals, 20 assists) in 23 games.

For the Admirals it appears that their roster is starting to get filled back out as their parent club heals up. Alex Carrier will return to the Admirals after playing his first 2 games in the NHL with the Predators. Kevin Fiala remains on the Admirals roster for the time being. And Anthony Richard has made a splash since returning from a concussion that sidelined him for a month.

The interesting storyline for this weekend will be if the Admirals get to see just who Max Görtz was traded away for in Andrew O’Brien. Görtz made his San Diego Gulls debut last night in a 5-1 win over the Barracuda. O’Brien only recently made his return from an injury that had sidelined him for a month (11 games). O’Brien was described in the AHL’s Press Release as a left-winger. That means he is a converted defenseman not too unlike the Jaynen Rissling experiment from a season ago. O’Brien has yet to be officially added to the Admirals AHL Roster at the time this was published.

Expectations for this weekend’s Amtrak Rivalry games? Are the Admirals playing the Wolves at an ideal time? Will the injury to Pardy hurt moving forward or can the group collectively pick up the slack? With Fiala and Richard’s pace still on the team – will the Admirals offensively be able to match the Wolves or should they play a more defensive approach as they did when they last met?

News January 20, 2017

Carrier Returns; Bass Ruled Out For The Season

The highs and lows of the hockey season can get condensed at times into news stories such as today. The Nashville Predators reassigned defenseman Alex Carrier to the Milwaukee Admirals. There was then the announcement that forward Cody Bass will be out for the rest of the season due to a lower-body injury.

Starting first with the Bass news. This injury occurred on 12/28/16 when the Admirals hosted the Iowa Wild. Bass clashed legs in front of the bench area and went down clutching the back of his leg immediately. The last that I had heard was he underwent an MRI to his hamstring. It appears this injury is significant enough that he will no longer be able to factor in for the rest of the season.

That there was the continuation of hard news to swallow as of late. Yet, there is some real good news when it comes to Carrier returning to the Admirals. I’ve stated often enough this season that the 20-year old defenseman doesn’t look or play as if this is his first pro season. That translated well enough into seeing him make his NHL debut with the Predators on 1/17/17 on the road against the Vancouver Canucks. He played twice in his recall with the Predators and returns to the AHL where he is the Admirals leading defenseman in offense this season and their AHL All-Star representative.

Ramblings January 20, 2017

Coming to Grips With Yesterday’s Trade

It was the second period the Nashville Predators against the Calgary Flames when news broke of a trade. The Predators traded Max Görtz to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Andrew O’Brien. While this news raised a few eyebrows because of the teams involved in making the trade this was very much an AHL trade. The initial question one would ask is the simple one: why?

The short and sweet answer to this trade coming to be is the injury status of defenseman Adam Pardy. During Wednesday night’s game the veteran was trekking back in his own half when Patrick Brown of the Charlotte Checkers jammed his stick into the braking skate of Pardy as the two were racing towards the end wall. Pardy went down hard into the boards head and left side of the body first in a violent collision. Brown received a tripping minor on the play while Pardy left the ice after getting looked on and helped off the ice by head athletic trainer Doug Agnew. He would not return for the rest of the game.

It appears that the extent of the injury to Pardy was bad enough to force a trade within twenty-four hours of him going down. He is out indefinitely and joins the likes of Cody Bass (lower-body) and Miikka Salomäki (lower-body) in that respect.

Where losing Pardy hurts the most is up for debate. He was a tremendous veteran style defenseman that was doing great work with the Milwaukee Admirals since he was acquired in an AHL trade earlier in the season from the Springfield Falcons. He brought great depth to the team and filled a role that the team quickly lost when Matt Irwin made his claim to being with the Predators for the rest of the season. The other area where losing Pardy hurts next is that his veteran résumé also meant being a great depth option for the Predators to recall in moments of need – something that seemingly has happened far too often already this season. Pardy has been tasked to play four games this season with the Predators. Not too shabby for a guy that lost out on an NHL contract with the Florida Panthers in their pre-season camp, accepted an AHL deal, was traded to a new AHL team, and worked to earn the NHL contract from the Predators.

With all of that in mind the next question to me is the one that makes yesterday’s trade hard to understand. Did the Predators actually find a suitable replacement for Pardy with O’Brien? And the answer to that is an emphatic and capitalized NO.

(Photo Credit: San Diego Gulls // flickr)

O’Brien is 24-years old and was drafted by the Ducks in the fourth round of the 2012 NHL Draft. He turned pro in the 2013-14 season where he split time between the Norfolk Admirals (AHL) and Utah Grizzlies (ECHL). That first pro season he saw the ice only 28 times and was in the ECHL for 24 games of that season. His last two seasons have seen him stay on the ice to a much higher degree and with only a single ECHL appearance: 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 121 games with 174 penalty minutes and a plus/minus rating of -13. This season he has played 10 games from the San Diego Gulls 32 games played and has 2 assists, 4 penalty minutes, and a plus/minus rating of -2. He has never played in the NHL.

What I see here then is that the Predators traded away a struggling prospect in Görtz for a struggling prospect in O’Brien. The difference is that at least Görtz in one previous pro season displayed excellent skill and is a forward capable of wracking up lots of points – he was the Admirals second leading scorer in his North American debut season a year ago with 47 points (18 goals, 29 assists) in 72 games. O’Brien has yet to do much of anything and, between his first pro season and current season, is struggling to even make the ice.

If the Predators wanted to replace Pardy and were willing to trade a prospect away within their own conference there were better options available to them to fill a veteran defensive void: Jamie McBain and Zbynek Michalek (Arizona/Tucson), Mark Fraser (Edmonton/Bakersfield), Chris Butler (St. Louis/Chicago), Maxime Fortunus and Mike Weber (Minnesota/Iowa), Brian Strait (Winnipeg/Manitoba), Vincent LoVerde and Zach Trotman (Los Angeles/Ontario), Cameron Schilling (Chicago/Rockford), Andrew Bodnarchuk (Dallas/Texas), and -even on the very team that they traded with- Nate Guenin and Jeff Schultz (Anaheim/San Diego).

Those were all equivalent or like-minded players that could fill into Pardy’s NHL/AHL veteran depth role and the opted to trade a prospect that showed great promise a year ago for none of those names and a player that features no veteran-like traits that could serve the Predators -and possibly even the Admirals- well for the length of the season. For the Admirals and O’Brien’s skate – I really hope I am massively wrong and the Predators get away with a solid talent heist. I just don’t see how it fits the criteria of what they were looking to fill for both the Predators and Admirals. The Admirals right now have someone who is doing what O’Brien has doing in his career and they picked him up on a PTO Contract from the Manchester Monarchs, Rick Pinkston. Is that equal value to Görtz’s potential or Pardy’s capacity to work between the NHL/AHL? No.

This feels like a knee jerk reaction made in the space of a day to fix a problem with something that could quickly become a new problem. Görtz’s struggles this season should not have made him fodder for such a woeful return. Everything from this point forward is dependent really on O’Brien being superior to the likes of a Pinkston or Jonathan Diaby. It should also get a serious nudge-nudge for Jimmy Oligny to get the NHL contract that the Predators should have given him after last season.

Ideally, P.K. Subban and Roman Josi get back for the Predators soon enough for Alex Carrier to make a return to the Admirals. Even more ideally the injury bug plaguing the Predators’ 2016-17 season goes away and never comes back. Petter Granberg would have been nice depth awaiting a chance to go back up after a good AHL run but even that isn’t attainable because in the moment he gets to the Admirals he gets recalled and hurt.

I do not remember the depth ever being so tested in my time following the Admirals these past five seasons. There are so many question marks that hang over the Predators and therefore their minor league affiliates. The biggest of which, if this injury bug continues, is what happens at the NHL Trade Deadline?

Trades are already happening now. They might feel minor on the Nashville scale but the repercussions in Milwaukee have been painful. Are bits and pieces going to be sold off to salvage a season or will everyone stand pat if returning healthy bodies act as newly acquired pieces? The past few weeks from an Admirals perspective has felt a lot like having a dark cloud hovering over the entire group. That cloud could be growing in the weeks to come.

What is your reaction to Max Görtz for Andrew O’Brien? Did the Nashville Predators get equal value for Görtz? Did the Predators really fill the void left from an injured Adam Pardy? Will this chain of moves for the Predators that are impacting the Admirals ratchet up come the NHL Trade Deadline?

News January 19, 2017

Max Görtz Traded to Anaheim

The Nashville Predators have traded forward Max Görtz to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for defenseman Andrew O’Brien. The move likely sees the two switch between AHL affiliates as both have yet to reach the NHL level. This should mean a switch of scenery for both between the Milwaukee Admirals and San Diego Gulls.

Press Release via Nashville Predators:

Nashville, TN – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Thursday that the club has acquired defenseman Andrew O’Brien from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for forward Max Gortz.

O’Brien, 24 (11/21/92), has appeared in 10 games for the San Diego Gulls (AHL) this season and recorded two assists and 16 shots on goal. The Hamilton, Ontario, native set career AHL highs in goals (6) and plus/minus (+3) in 2015-16 with San Diego, and totaled 14 points (6g-8a) and 54 penalty minutes in 59 games.

O’Brien is a 6-foot-4, 208-pound blueliner who was drafted in the fourth round (108th overall) of the 2012 Entry Draft by Anaheim. He has appeared in 135 career AHL games and registered 30 points (10g-20a) and 180 penalty minutes.

This is likely one last blow to what has already been a tough sophomore season for Görtz. He was the Admirals second leading scorer last season when he produced 47 points (18 goals, 29 assists) in 72 games. He hasn’t just failed to replicate his offensive production this season but has also struggled to maintain a place in the lineup as a result. Görtz has been a healthy scratch for the Admirals eight times this season while producing just 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists).

I can only assume that O’Brien has been banged up this season as he has only played in the AHL for San Diego but had missed out on 22 games for them so far. His first pro season came in 2013-14 where he split time between the AHL and ECHL. The majority of his career to this point has been in the AHL under the Anaheim banner where he has logged 135 career games while recorded 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists), 180 penalty minutes, and a plus/minus rating of -19.

This could well be a case of swapping two struggling prospects in the hopes of finding a spark for both while getting that spark in a position of need. The Admirals have been banged up on defense the last month and a half. In their most recent game Adam Pardy crashed into the end boards favoring his left shoulder in the second period and did not return to the game.

News January 19, 2017

Juuse Saros Pulled from 2017 AHL All-Star Game

The Milwaukee Admirals have been reduced to a single representative for the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic. Juuse Saros has been removed from the event as well as Kasperi Kapanen (Toronto) and Brendan Perlini (Tucson). In their place the AHL has added Anton Forsberg (Cleveland), Alexandre Grenier (Utica), and Christian Fischer (Tucson).

Saros is still among the best AHL goaltenders statistically this season. The only catch is that he hasn’t played in the AHL since 12/12/16. In 13 starts for the Admirals this season Saros has a record of 11-2-0-0 with a 1.76 goals against average, 0.938 save percentage, and a shutout. He has managed to better some of those numbers with the Nashville Predators in the NHL this season: 1.25 goals against average, 0.957 save percentage, and a shutout from 8 starts.

The Admirals are down to Alex Carrier as their lone representative. Though, given how often things can change, you never know if more AHL All-Star roster shake-ups could take place prior to the event. This just so happened to be the first tweak and it could be that there are more prior to the event on January 29–30th.

Ramblings January 19, 2017January 19, 2017

Let Kevin Fiala Be Kevin Fiala

It caused a slight double-take on my part when the Nashville Predators reassigned Kevin Fiala to the Milwaukee Admirals on Tuesday morning. He had been performing really well at the NHL level this season and is beginning to show flashes of his capabilities on the grand stage. That there is the problem though. They’re only flashes and you hope for consistency. That’s when it is time for the AHL to become involved to let prospects going through the motions, slight as they might be, a chance to play maximum minutes and get a full head of steam en route to the NHL spotlight once again.

Fiala endured a day of travel that saw him journey from Vancouver to Minneapolis to Charlotte when he was reassigned from the Predators to the Admirals. He made it in time to play Tuesday night and he didn’t look like someone who had woke up at 4 AM and traveled for ten hours when he was on the ice. He was sensational. He followed that up with a repeated quality effort that was sealed with one of the prettiest worked solo goals of the AHL season to secure the win for the Admirals in overtime.

He was with the Admirals for barely two days, played two games, and looked like someone that was head and shoulders above so many outstanding players who were on the ice. He was skating with pace, he was active off the puck and being attentive to defensive assignments, and was buzzing around and creating offensively at a time when the Admirals desperately needed an igniter in that department.

Why is Fiala with the Admirals right now? Why is Fiala not doing what he just did in Charlotte against NHL opposition on a shift-by-shift basis? And is the Fiala who has had those flashes in the NHL just who he is always going to be?

Those seem to be questions on tons of peoples minds as comments floated on in after he scored last night’s game-winning goal in overtime. “We lost a one goal game to the Canucks Tuesday night and here is Fiala scoring a game-winning goal in overtime when we need him.” Those sorts of commentary chirps were raining in.

Listen folks. I understand the frustrations. I understand the magnitude of a first round selection’s potential to perform. But, Fiala’s current spot that he finds himself in – whether temporary or longer, I think that the expectations weighted on him have been blown way out of proportion. It’s time to stop thinking about what Kevin Fiala isn’t and start appreciating Kevin Fiala for who he is.

Fiala is still 20-years old and has taken great leaps forward this season for both on and off-ice approaches to the game. If expectations are “necessary” for a first round draft choice I kindly point people toward the season that Austin Watson is finally having in the NHL and the long path it took for him to get there – at now 25-years old. People can be foaming at the mouth for Viktor Arvidsson now but he is the player that he is by comparison to someone such as Fiala because he is three-years older and has played 115 games of pro level experience more. The polish to Arvidsson’s game and maturity come largely because of that experience.

During the 2013-14 season the Admirals had contributions for 47 games from a 19-year old named Filip Forsberg. He was placed in the AHL on the basis of sharpening his attention to detail and finding consistency in his all-around play. There was optimism that Fiala’s “Forsberg Year” was the 2015-16 season that saw him dip a toe in the NHL for 5 games but stuck around in the AHL for the season and was the Admirals leading scorer – as a teenager. Of the Admirals roster throughout the whole of this current season there are only three players to have played that are younger than Fiala: Anthony Richard, Alex Carrier, and Vladislav Kamenev. Only one of those names was a full-time pro a season ago and the other two are just beginning their pro careers this season.

In different circumstances Fiala is a first-year pro this or last season. He is then massively ahead of the curve as far as his developmental process goes for a 20-year old. Yet, do not let that fact detract from the very real nature that he is still a prospect destined for some speed bumps along the way.

The Fiala that I’ve had the opportunity to observe this season with the Predators is largely different than his past self. He is starting to fill into his frame as the kid becomes more of a man. Him getting stronger is allowing him to feel more comfortable getting into dirty areas as well as finding better success in those key places on the ice. Having talked to him during the Summer and in his brief time in Milwaukee this season – I’m talking to a different person than when he first arrived. He is by far and away more comfortable in his own skin in the North American environment than when he first showed up and he is also getting a far greater understanding of the different style game that this region of the world plays. He’s matured off the ice. Last season went a long way into seeing that become reality. He isn’t looking to shoot himself in the foot or be down on himself. That same treatment is given to his play where he seems to be far less recklessness the way he plays and he is starting to make savvy reads on both offense and defense.

That’s not to say there aren’t some bad turnovers that he makes from time to time or even offensive plays that he could bury – that he doesn’t. This is the breaking point that can get him pushed down the lineup or flat out healthy scratched. As the Predators begin to assemble a more layered approach to the way they attack a game these days, with more veteran minded or scrappy players like the line of Cody McLeod–Derek Grant–Harry Zolnierczyk, it makes having the risk-reward element of Fiala one that isn’t as tempting to go to at the moment. So, if you’re not playing him or don’t have intent to, why leave him in the cold when at 20-years of age he should be playing, developing, learning, and proving the Predators wrong in their decision to send him down. You should want a level of fire in Fiala’s game, shift-by-shift, and game-by-game. That is the exact result the Predators would have wanted. And it is the exact result they received in two games played for the Admirals on the road in Charlotte.

The path of getting to the NHL takes so many different forms. Frédérick Gaudreau and Mike Liambas were amazing stories for their long roads to Nashville. Others, even if a bit more direct like a 2015 NHL Draft selection such as Alex Carrier, can still be surprising given how fast they can push for the opportunity. Fiala didn’t get to the NHL too fast. He isn’t getting there consistently too slow. He’s just learning like the Forsberg, Watson, and the Anthony Bitetto‘s of the world before him.

Right now the Predators are allowing Fiala the freedom to learn in far greater capacity at the AHL level, for however long it might be, than they feel they have the flexibility to do now in the NHL. That shouldn’t be viewed as a negative of the Predators. And it certainly shouldn’t be viewed as a poor reflection of Fiala.

Game Recaps January 18, 2017

Fiala & Mazanec Steal Show; Ads Win 4-3 in OT

(Photo Credit: Charlotte Checkers // flickr)

The Milwaukee Admirals won 4-3 in overtime against the Charlotte Checkers on the road Wednesday night at the Bojangles’ Coliseum.

This game had a little bit of everything tonight. The Admirals held a 3-1 lead but the Checkers rallied back with their net emptied and the extra attacker on to force overtime in the final three-minutes of regulation. That only set the stage for Marek Mazanec and Kevin Fiala to provide a true curtain drop on the evening. Fiala might have scored the goal of the season to win it in overtime.

It was a far better start for the Checkers tonight who played better out the gate than at any point last night. This paid off when Phil Di Giuseppe flew past Trevor Murphy down the left wing and won a wrap-around race against Marek Mazanec to record his eighth goal of the season.

The Checkers first period pressure had the Admirals firmly pinned into their own half of the ice for the majority of the frame. Perhaps Frédérick Gaudreau was simply trying to flip a puck up and out of his defensive zone at the time but what resulted in his clearance was setting up Anthony Richard for a breakaway. The speedster zipped in on Michael Leighton and beat him low to the stick side with a hard forehand shot to pick up his first AHL goal a day after recording his first AHL assist.

After a roughing call against Valentin Zykov the Admirals scored with seconds remaining on a power-play to go up 2-1 early in the second period. Pontus Åberg worked himself free down the left wing wall. After getting loose he skated in towards the face-off circle and fired a shot from the dot that snapped past Leighton for the Swede’s tenth goal of the season.

On an overlapping power-play the Admirals scored early in the third period to extend their lead to 3-1. Gaudreau passed back to the point where Trevor Murphy was all alone. He stepped up into the high slot and smashed in a trademark howitzer of a slap shot for his ninth goal of the season.

The third period would get nasty as a scrum broke out that saw dual fights take place. It is hard to do proper justice to all that occurred in the fracas but the net result was a fight between Adam Payerl and Keegan Lowe and a fight with Derek Army and Sergei Tolchinsky with game misconducts given to the latter brawlers and a boarding major to Payerl.

For all that occurred, the five minute major penalty kill as well as a misconduct that sat down Jimmy Oligny for ten minutes, the Admirals survived. Unfortunately, all that they had endured seemed to sting them with the repeated attacks of the Checkers coming wave upon wave to Mazanec’s doorstep.

With 4:38 remaining in regulation the Checkers brought Leighton off and the extra attacker on. They found a gap in transition when Andrej Nestrasil slid a pass from the right wing down towards the rushing Patrick Dwyer who finished on the backhand to get the game down to 3-2 from Dwyer’s sixth goal of the season.

The Checkers were continually pressing and Leighton made his way to the bench again with 1:13 remaining and the Checkers were able to tie things up at 3-3 with 19.2 seconds left in the contest. A shot from the high left point by Haydn Fleury redirected in the slot by Lucas Wallmark snuck past Mazanec to level the game. It was Wallmark’s twelfth goal of the season. And the Checkers went from being down 3-1 to tied 3-3 in the final three minutes of regulation.

It seemed as if the Checkers could have been destined for a monumental comeback victory tonight. They had two high quality breakaway chances in three-on-three overtime but Mazanec came to the Admirals rescue. He first denied Jake Chelios who beat a tripping Murphy at neutral ice. He then stayed grounded along the mouth of goal to stop Andrew Poturalski on both his initial and follow up chances.

That just simply wasn’t how this game was going to end. Kevin Fiala delivered one of the best goals scored this season to win it for the Admirals in overtime. He had the puck on a string attached to his stick as he guided around two Checkers defenders and then came to a completed stop once he reached the glove-side of Leighton who –at that point– completely sold out on Fiala’s speed to the net and laid out. Fiala stopped, yo-yo’d the puck back to a shooting position, and flipped it into the wide open net over the left pad for the game-winner and his third goal with the Admirals this season.

For all the theatrics that this game provided you cannot take Mazanec’s performance in net for granted. He made a career high forty-three saves in net tonight. It is the second time in his Admirals career that he recorded forty-plus saves. The last time he accomplished the feat it came on 2/7/15 on the road against the Rockford IceHogs in a 7-5 Admirals win.

The next adventure on this four-game road trip for the Admirals just so happens to be the final games of the 2016-17 season at the Allstate Arena. The Admirals will face the Chicago Wolves on Saturday and Sunday. From there, the Admirals will finally get a little home cooking with a four-game homestand that begins Tuesday against the Cleveland Monsters.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played last night there were pleasantly no roster moves made in the organization. Last night defenseman Alex Carrier made his NHL debut for the Nashville Predators in a 1-0 road loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Carrier played 10:49 of ice time from nineteen total shifts and recorded a blocked shot in his debut. Tonight’s line combinations and scratches were exactly the same as last night: Florek: Florek-Smith-Åberg, White-Kamenev-Fiala, Richard-Kirkland-Gaudreau, Liambas-Army-Payerl, Pardy-Murphy, Oligny-Pinkston, Diaby-Dougherty. Scratches: Cody Bass (lower-body), Shawn O’Donnell (healthy), and Max Görtz (healthy). Marek Mazanec recorded his tenth career AHL assist tonight. Since calling the Bojangles’ Coliseum their home last season the Checkers have now hosted the Admirals six times and lost every single game.

What is your reaction to all of what that game just was? What caused that melee in the third period and did that take enough of a toll on the remaining group to allow the Charlotte Checkers back in at the end of regulation? Kevin Fiala isn’t going to be here for long is he?

Game Recaps January 17, 2017January 17, 2017

Bounce Back; Mazanec and Ads Shutout Checkers 3-0

The Milwaukee Admirals won 3-0 against the Charlotte Checkers on the road Tuesday night at the Bojangles’ Coliseum.

If ever there was a time for a performance like this it was tonight. The entire group delivered but especially Marek Mazanec in net who was fantastic. The Czech goaltender stopped all twenty-three shots he faced and the Admirals have snapped their four-game losing streak in shutout fashion.

The way things have gone lately it was important for the Admirals to have a quick start. After seeing a goal waved off for being played in with a high stick the Admirals would get one that counted moments later. A horrible turnover behind the net by Roland McKeown went directly to the tape of Derek Army in the slot. The follow-up shot was swift and flew past Michael Leighton to his stick-side for Army’s third goal in seven games with the Admirals on PTO basis from the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL.

Midway through the second period a shot from the right wing wall by Phil Di Giuseppe somehow managed to sneak into the net past Marek Mazanec and go in. The signal was for a good goal but Mazanec was convinced that he had the near post covered firmly. After a lengthy video review the officials determined that Mazanec was absolutely correct. The puck managed to sneak underneath the net and the goal was waved off.

In a second period that saw several chances being brewed up by the Admirals it felt a reward was badly needed to separate them from the Checkers. After Levko Koper delivered an elbow to the head of Justin Kirkland the Admirals delivered a much more appropriate response: ending a power-play drought that lasted twenty-two chances without a goal.

Vladislav Kamenev was able to work a puck loose down the right wing for Adam Payerl. Once the puck was low right wing it became a two-on-one near the net and Payerl hit Matt White back post for a tap in past Leighton for his ninth goal of the season to make it a 2-0 Admirals lead. It was the Admirals first power-play goal since Anthony Bitetto scored on 1/3/17 against the Rockford IceHogs.

It was yet another dominant period of play in the last frame of regulation for the Admirals. It was also rewarded when Trevor Murphy blasted a slap shot from the right point into the top shelf past Leighton for his eighth goal of the season to make it a 3-0 lead. The man with the primary assist on the play was Anthony Richard who earned his first career AHL point in the process.

The Admirals in the final minutes were practically stationed in the attacking zone. They shut the door on the Checkers and Mazanec earned himself a twenty-three save shutout. It is his first shutout of the season and his ninth career AHL shutout. The Admirals in five games now at the Checkers’ new old barn the Bojangles’ Coliseum have won all five.

These two lock horns once again tomorrow night in Charlotte. We’ll see if the Admirals can extend this run in the Bojangles’ Coliseum but more importantly sustain all that was accomplished in tonight’s game. It was a solid effort from the group from start to finish. It really is just what the doctor ordered.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played on Friday night there have once again been a chain of roster moves made within the organization. The Nashville Predators claimed defenseman Brad Hunt from waivers off of the St. Louis Blues and placed defenseman Petter Granberg on injured reserve. The Predators then reassigned forward Kevin Fiala to the Milwaukee Admirals. Tonight’s line combinations for the Admirals were: Florek-Smith-Åberg, White-Kamenev-Fiala, Richard-Kirkland-Gaudreau, Liambas-Army-Payerl, Pardy-Murphy, Oligny-Pinkston, Diaby-Dougherty. Tonight’s scratches were: Cody Bass (lower-body), Shawn O’Donnell (healthy), and Max Görtz (healthy). By securing a shutout tonight, Marek Mazanec joins fellow Admirals goaltenders Juuse Saros and Jonas Gunnarsson in having a shutout this season. It is the first time since the 2006-07 season that the Admirals had three goaltenders record a shutout in the same season: Pekka Rinne, Karl Goehring, and Scott Reid. Tonight marked the NHL debut of Alex Carrier. The Admirals 2017 AHL All-Star debuted on the road with the Predators against the Vancouver Canucks.

What is your reaction to tonight’s game? How impressed have you been by the addition of Derek Army? Is this recent run with the Milwaukee Admirals the best that Marek Mazanec has played?

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