Author: Daniel Lavender

Game Recaps January 8, 2017January 8, 2017

Shutout in Stockton; Ads Lose 4-0

The Milwaukee Admirals lost 4-0 on the road against the Stockton Heat Saturday night at the Stockton Arena.

The story tonight was an Admirals offense that was just a bit out of sorts and a goaltender in David Rittich who was solid when he was needed. This is the second time this season that the Admirals have been shutout. The loss ends a two game form of wins to start the 2017 calendar.

It would be the Heat getting on the board first tonight. Émile Poirier exited the box after serving a cross-checking minor and helped get a rush started down the left wing. He would fall back to the middle of the blueline where he would crank a shot past Jonathan Diaby who screened Marek Mazanec. The shot beat Mazanec low to the blocker and in for Poirier’s fifth goal of the season.

The Heat would extend their lead in the second period and Poirier would be a focal point to that 2-0 lead. Poirier whirled around the right wing circle before snapping a shot from the face-off dot that Mazanec fended off. Poirier followed through with a few whacks at his own rebound before Austin Carroll ultimately delivered the decisive strike up past the glove hand of Mazanec for his fourth goal of the season.

With just over two minutes remaining in regulation the Admirals brought Mazanec to the bench in favor of the extra attacker. This would quickly see Poirier score on the empty net for his second of the night and sixth goal of the season. The Admirals, going for broke, went for the extra attacker push again to deny a shutout but saw Matt Frattin add another empty net tally to record his ninth goal of the season and make it a 4-0 Heat lead.

The game would finish there. It was a thirty-five save shutout for David Rittich. It is the Czech goaltender’s fourth shutout from thirteen appearances this season. He is now second in the AHL in shutouts behind Troy Grosenick of the San Jose Barracuda.

The Admirals will return back to the quite charms of home after yet another lengthy trip. This road trip was more a matter of distance traveled than time away but it can be exhausting all the same. They play against the Charlotte Checkers at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Tuesday night at 7:00 PM CST. After that is done they’re right back on the road the next night for a game against the surging Chicago Wolves.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played last night there was one roster move made. Frédérick Gaudreau was recalled by the Nashville Predators. Gaudreau was a healthy scratch in last night’s game for the Admirals in the event of such a recall. Therefore, the Admirals marched out the exact same line combination as they did in San Jose: White-Smith-Åberg, Florek-Kirkland-Görtz, Liambas-Girard-Payerl, (rotating)-Army-O’Donnell, Pardy-Carrier, Pinkston-Murphy, Oligny-Dougherty, Diaby. The lone scratch was Cody Bass who missed his fourth consecutive game due to a lower-body injury.

What is your reaction to tonight’s game? Do you feel the depleted roster caught up to the Milwaukee Admirals tonight?

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.

News January 7, 2017

Gaudreau Recalled by Nashville

The Nashville Predators have recalled Frédérick Gaudreau from the Milwaukee Admirals ahead of the Predators game tomorrow night on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks. Gaudreau was withheld from playing in last night’s 3-1 Admirals win on the road against the San Jose Barracuda due to a potential recall. That potential is now realized.

Gaudreau made his NHL debut with the Predators on 10/22/16 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has played a total of 8 games this season for the Predators and recorded an assist in his third career game for his first NHL point.

With the Admirals this season Gaudreau has produced 14 points (5 goals, 9 assists) in 24 games. He participates in all areas of the game for the Admirals including the penalty kill and power-play. He is yet another forward fully capable of playing center or wing. The majority of his AHL season to date has been spent on the wing.

This is the most stretched the Admirals really have been all season. Fortunately, that was already the case for last night’s game and they were able to get a really high character performance and a win. Derek Army scored a pair of goals after having been brought in on a PTO Contract prior to the game and the Admirals dressed seven-defensemen including fellow PTO Contractee Rick Pinkston. The group that performed last night will do so again later tonight against the Stockton Heat.

Scouting January 7, 2017

Heat: Scouting the Enemy

As we Sconnies all know, we banded together and fought off the heat with pitchforks and beer steins a long time ago so that we can blissfully settle into our single-digit degree style weather. And the cosmic ballet goes on.

Poking at how the pre-game headline reads complete – the Milwaukee Admirals look to launch from last night’s 3-1 win over the San Jose Barracuda by facing the Stockton Heat tonight at 9:30 PM CST. It is the first time these two sides have met since the Calgary Flames AHL affiliate was the Adirondack Flames. The Admirals won that last meeting 4-3 in overtime on the road back on 1/17/15.

Who is playing tonight who played in that last game between the two? For the Admirals: Pontus Åberg, Jonathan Diaby, Félix Girard, Mike Liambas, and Jimmy Oligny. For the Heat: Ryan Culkin and Émile Poirier.

Fun Fact. In Poirier’s last two playing seasons, 2012-14, he was teammates with Alex Carrier in Gatineau (QMJHL). In Poirier’s final junior playing season both Carrier and himself were alternate captains.

The Heat enter tonight’s game having played last night at home against the Tucson Roadrunners where they came back to win 3-2 in overtime. The Heat’s record right now is 17-9-3-1 (38 points, 0.633 points percentage). They are third in the Pacific Division and fifth in the Western Conference standings.

There are two familiar faces on the Heat’s roster and familiar for different reasons.

Jamie Devane became a locker room and fan favorite for the Admirals last season. In 2015-16 he scored 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists) in 62 games with a plus/minus rating of -7 and 82 penalty minutes. He didn’t get going for the Heat until November this season but has started to get going: 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists) in 16 games with a plus/minus rating of +6 and 15 penalty minutes. He scored a goal last night in the Heat’s overtime win.

Tom McCollum is a goaltender that has finally broken free from the shackles that had him in the Detroit Red Wings system for his entire professional career up until this season. He has played in 20 career games against the Admirals. He hasn’t played an AHL game since 11/5/16 in a game that saw him bow out after 39:54 of ice time while he was doing extremely well. He since played 3 games in the ECHL for the Adirondack Thunder in early-December but has not seen game action since.

In net, Jon Gillies and David Rittich have held the fort. Gillies has played more but Rittich has performed better in lesser appearances. Gillies has a record of 10-5-2-1 in 19 games played with a 3.00 goals against average, 0.909 save percentage, and a shutout. Rittich has a record of 6-4-1-0 in 12 games played with a 1.96 goals against average, 0.929 save percentage, and 3 shutouts.

The race for the leading scorer title on the Heat is deadlocked at the moment. Mark Jankowski, who is the Heat’s lone AHL All-Star representative, has scored 24 points (9 goals, 15 assists) in 27 games. Linden Vey has 24 points (8 goals, 16 assists) in 25 games.

Expectations for tonight’s game? What do the Milwaukee Admirals need to do in order to lessen the amount of shots on goal from last night (40) considering the Stockton Heat weren’t far behind that total (39) last night? For how he performed does Marek Mazanec stay in or should the Admirals rotate Jonas Gunnarsson in for the second of this two-in-two?

Game Recaps January 6, 2017January 7, 2017

Mazanec Keeps Shining; Ads Win 3-1

The Milwaukee Admirals won 3-1 on the road against the San Jose Barracuda Friday night at the SAP Center.

Marek Mazanec has never looked more locked in than his last few games for the Admirals. Tonight may have been his finest. He made thirty-nine saves en route to the Admirals win in San Jose tonight. The Admirals are now back in front of the Central Division standings.

The Admirals would get on the board five minutes into the game tonight. After a face-off win, Alex Carrier stepped up from the blueline and swooped down the right wing wall before snapping a low shot on target. The Carrier shot hit off the pad of Troy Grosenick and into the net front crashing Derek Army for a rebound tally and his first with the Admirals this season.

Army had been signed to a PTO Contract from the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL prior to tonight’s game with all today’s roster activity. By scoring his first AHL goal of the season tonight he extended a personal goal scoring streak to five consecutive games between the Nailers and Admirals.

After being outshot 17-5 in the first period it appeared that the Barracuda shot back to life in the second period. When they were given their first chance on the power-play they quickly scored to tie things up at 1-1. A shot by Tim Heed from the high left wing stayed low and caught traffic in the form of Danny O’Regan. The puck trickled underneath Marek Mazanec and went in for O’Regan’s eleventh goal of the season.

With forty-eight seconds left in the second period the Admirals would snatch their lead right back. Max Görtz was able to fight a shot off from the slot that Grosenick pushed off but right into the path of Justin Kirkland who scored his third goal of the season to make it a 2-1 Admirals lead. The primary assist for Görtz was his first point scored since 11/25/15 on the road against the Rockford IceHogs. It snapped a scoreless drought of nine-games for the Swede.

Army already had himself a nice story by netting a goal to get this game started tonight. He made it even better when he scored a beauty in the third period to extend the Admirals lead to 3-1. Army was flying down the left wing when he did a little head fake towards the left and shot a forehander against the grain of Grosenick that beat him to the glove-side for his second goal of the night.

The game’s scoreline would rest there but not before countless attacks by the Barracuda that would all be answered by Mazanec in net. This was one of his most outstanding efforts as an Admiral as he stopped 39/40 shots on goal with the lone goal allowed coming on a power-play that caught traffic in front of him. The Czech hasn’t looked this sharp in a long time. He has been locked in since returning from the Nashville Predators.

Next up for the Admirals are the Stockton Heat tomorrow night at 9:30 PM CST. They will look to end this California roadie up in style after a really nice character effort tonight in San Jose.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Tuesday there were a good few roster moves made. Anthony Bitetto was recalled from his conditioning assignment by the Nashville Predators. Today the Predators then recalled Vladislav Kamenev who made a cross-country plane trip to make his NHL debut tonight against the Florida Panthers. The Admirals signed Derek Army on PTO Contract for the second time this season from the Wheeling Nailers. Tonight’s line combinations for the Admirals were: White-Smith-Åberg, Florek-Kirkland-Görtz, Liambas-Girard-Payerl, (rotating)-Army-O’Donnell, Pardy-Carrier, Pinkston-Murphy, Oligny-Dougherty, Diaby. The scratches tonight for the Admirals were Cody Bass (lower-body injury) and Frédérick Gaudreau (healthy) who was on standby should the Predators need to recall him in the very near future. The Admirals record improved to 20-8-2-2 (44 points, 0.688 points percentage) which has them ahead of the Grand Rapids Griffins by 0.006 of a point percentage for the lead of the Central Division. Marek Mazanec’s 39-save performance tonight was the third time in his Admirals career that he made 39-saves or more. Mazanec’s career high with the Admirals saw him stop 40/45 shots on goal on 2/7/15 in a 7-5 win on the road over the Rockford IceHogs.

What were your thoughts on tonight’s game? How impressive is it for the Milwaukee Admirals to bring in players such as Rick Pinkston, Shawn O’Donnell, and Derek Army and earn a result such as tonight? Is Marek Mazanec going to play his way back into the picture in Nashville?

News January 6, 2017

Vladislav Kamenev Recalled by Nashville

(Photo Credit: Darren Abate // San Antonio Rampage) — (Photo Credit: Darren Abate)

According to AHL Transactions the Nashville Predators have recalled center Vladislav Kamenev from the Milwaukee Admirals. It is his first career NHL recall and comes complete with a cross-country flight as the Admirals were in San Jose yesterday ahead of their game tonight. The Predators are playing on the road against the Florida Panthers tonight.

Kamenev may have been considered a snub when it came to yesterday’s 2017 AHL All-Star Classic roster announcement. He certainly is having a season with the Admirals deserving enough to be there. He is currently second on the team in scoring with 24 points (9 goals, 15 assists) in 31 games. By missing tonight’s game for the Admirals it will be the first game is has missed all season.

Should Kamenev play tonight, a distinct possibility given the nature of this cross-country recall, he would wear #50 for the Predators. He becomes the third member of the Predators 2014 Draft Class to make it to the NHL behind Kevin Fiala and Viktor Arvidsson.

As for the Admirals. This move likely means seeing them play with all defensemen available with Jonathan Diaby and Rick Pinkston coming back into the lineup. How ironic would it be should Trevor Murphy be pushed to forward from defense once again as the last time the Admirals went to California last season Murphy scored a hat trick and three assists in a 7-3 win against the Bakersfield Condors.

Scouting January 6, 2017January 6, 2017

Barracuda: Scouting the Enemy

Before we remotely go one step further. Play this song in the background and keep it on a loop for today’s pre-game scout. “Why,” you ask. Well, it sets a lovely tone for the first time the Milwaukee Admirals see the San Jose Barracuda.

The Barracuda have been known for a few other names through the years: Kentucky Thoroughblades, Cleveland Barons, and Worcester Sharks. Throughout their movement across the United States they have always been an AHL organization. When NHL ownership packed up their Worcester Sharks and brought them out Californi-way it moved them across conferences.

This match-up between the two sides comes thanks to a chance meeting against California based opposition. Last season the Admirals saw the Bakersfield Condors and the San Diego Gulls. This season they will be getting the San Jose Barracuda and Stockton Heat. Those evil kiddos that took the Western Conference crown on a system that the Californian teams forced the AHL to mandate because they play less games, points percentage – the Ontario Reign, they’ll have to wait at least one more season.

Entering this game the Barracuda have a record of 16-7-1-3 (36 points, 0.667 points percentage). That has them in second place in the Pacific Division and are fourth in the Western Conference standings – one spot behind the Admirals.

The Barracuda have played 4 games less than the Admirals. By the end of the Admirals season the Barracuda will play a further 4 games less. “Why,” you ask. …I still don’t really know.

What I do know though is that this Barracuda team is coming on the Admirals schedule at a time in which they have an 8-1-1-0 run in their last 10 games. This season they have scored 3.48 goals per game while allowing 2.59 goals against per game. Their home power-play is clicking at 27.8% (15/54) which likely helps see that sparkling home record of 10-2-1-1 be what it is.

This will not be a push-over for the Admirals tonight. This should be a battle. They have already logged 18 road games this season and have a 0.667 points percentage from those contests. What they are going to need to avoid is that bug that can plague them at times which is penalty trouble. The less the Barracuda go on the power-play the better. And, speaking of the PP, the Admirals road power-play needs to improve: 13.3% (11/83).

Like the Admirals, the Barracuda will have two representatives at the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic at the end of the month.

22-year old forward Danny O’Regan is the team’s top scorer with 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 27 games and in November made his NHL debut with the San Jose Sharks.

Their last representative is goaltender, and Brooklyn, Wisconsin native, Troy Grosenick who has been part of the organization since the 2013-14 season. On paper, Grosenick has done well by winning 9 games from 19 appearances with a 2.06 goals against average and 0.929 save percentage. What stands out is his AHL best 5 shutouts this season.

Final Note. Get your coffee ready, folks. Tonight’s game starts at 9:00 PM CST and tomorrow night against the Stockton Heat is a half-hour later than that.

What are your expectations for this weekend? Knowing how a Californian AHL team playing 8 games less than the Milwaukee Admirals last season snuck past them on points percentage for the Western Conference crown – how vital are these games for the Admirals to negate points from San Jose and Stockton?

News January 5, 2017

Saros and Carrier Named to 2017 AHL All-Star Classic

The American Hockey League has announced the participants for this year’s 2017 AHL All-Star Classic and Milwaukee Admirals defenseman Alex Carrier and goaltender Juuse Saros have been selected. The AHL All-Star festivities take place later this month on January 29-30th at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania which is the home to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Press Release via AHL:

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today the playing rosters for the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross, to be held January 29-30 at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Each of the AHL’s four divisions will be represented by 12 players. Rosters were determined by committees of AHL coaches, and all 30 AHL teams are represented by at least one All-Star.

The 2017 rosters feature 37 first-time AHL All-Stars, 12 rookies and seven former first-round draft choices. In addition, 27 of the All-Stars named have been recalled to the National Hockey League already this season, including standouts Jake Guentzel of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh), Zane McIntyre of the Providence Bruins (Boston), Juuse Saros of the Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville) and Brendan Perlini of the Tucson Roadruners (Arizona).

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli, Syracuse Crunch head coach Benoit Groulx, Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Todd Nelson and Ontario Reign head coach Mike Stothers will serve as coaches for the event.

The 2017 AHL All-Star Skills Competition presented by Giant Food Stores and Velaspan on Jan. 29 (7:30 p.m. ET) will pit the All-Stars from the two Eastern Conference divisions against those from the two Western Conference divisions in seven skills events.

In the 2017 AHL All-Star Challenge on Jan. 30 (7 p.m. ET), the four teams will participate in a round-robin tournament featuring six games of 10 minutes each, played entirely at 3-on-3. The two teams with the best records at the end of the round-robin will face off for the championship, a six-minute game also played at 3-on-3.

Starting at just $26 each, single-event tickets are now on sale for the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross, featuring the AHL All-Star Skills Competition presented by Giant Food Stores and Velaspan and the AHL All-Star Challenge. To purchase event tickets, please visit phantomshockey.com, call 610-347-TIXX or visit the PPL Center box office.

The 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross will be preceded by a Phan Fest on Saturday, Jan. 28 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by a Tailgate Party beginning at 6 p.m. Both events will take place at the PPL Center and tickets for both the Phan Fest ($5) and Tailgate Party ($10) are also available now at phantomshockey.com.

The 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross will feature the top young talent in the American Hockey League: since 1995, more than 93 percent of All-Star Classic participants have gone on to compete in the National Hockey League, including Jake Allen, Artem Anisimov, Patrice Bergeron, Ben Bishop, Troy Brouwer, Ryan Callahan, Zdeno Chara, Logan Couture, Braden Holtby, Tyler Johnson, Martin Jones, Chris Kunitz, Zach Parise, Tuukka Rask, Pekka Rinne, Bobby Ryan, Cory Schneider, Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza, P.K. Subban and Mats Zuccarello, as well as former Lehigh Valley Phantoms representatives Nick Cousins, Brandon Manning and Anthony Stolarz.

In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for the players, coaches, managers, trainers, executives and broadcasters of all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 88 percent of NHL players last season were AHL graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers. In 2015-16, over 7.1 million fans attended AHL regular-season and playoff games across North America, the highest total attendance in league history.

To view the full 2017 AHL All-Star Classic roster please view the AHL Press Release linked above.

Carrier is the youngest member of the Admirals current active roster. You would never be able to tell that if you’ve watched him play in what is his first pro season. The Québec native has been the Admirals top defenseman this season and, since the arrival and subsequent pairing with veteran Adam Pardy, has seen his all-around play get even better. Carrier has 20 points (4 goals, 16 assists) in 31 games with a plus/minus rating of +6 and 14 penalty minutes.

Saros has done so incredibly well in the AHL this season that, actually, he isn’t in the AHL anymore. The 21-year old from Forssa, Finland arrived to the North American pro scene last season with a ton of hype surrounding him. He met it in 2015-16. I believe he has surpassed it in 2016-17. The work Saros was able to provide for the Admirals this season saw him win 11 games from 13 starts with a 1.76 goals against average, 0.938 save percentage, and one shutout. He has continued this high level of performance for the Predators at the NHL level as well by winning half of his starts from 6 appearances to go with an astonishingly better 1.16 goals against average, 0.957 save percentage, and -also- a shutout. The NHL All-Star break overlaps this stretch of time so -hopefully- Saros is able to participate in the AHL’s All-Star festivities.

Chatterbox, Feature January 5, 2017

Fifteen with Jack Dougherty

As the Nashville Predators go – so does that ever expansive depth coming at defenseman. While this current season was setting up to be so much more than it currently is I fear how most other organizations could have handled stretches that the Predators have had to go through this season without the depth that they already possess. It’s scenarios like this season as well as long-term planning as to why stockpiling and creating new talent at defense is a terrific asset to have.

One of those long-term plans came with the Predators third draft selection in the 2014 NHL Draft, Jack Dougherty. The 20-year old from St. Paul, Minnesota was drafted in the second round, fifty-first overall, as a product of the U.S. National Development Team. He had split time ahead of his draft year between the Juniors and Under-18 squads where he had a combined 2013-14 season total of: 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) in 78 games. He also participated and won Gold for Team USA in the 2014 IIHF World Juniors U-18 Championship – scoring the opening goal in the Gold Medal Game against the Czech Republic.

As a small aside. That 2014 NHL Draft Class for the Predators right now features their first five selections of the class all playing in the AHL or NHL: Kevin Fiala, Vladislav Kamenev, Justin Kirkland, and Viktor Arvidsson. The latter of the class, Joonas Lyytinen and Aaron Irving, turned up to Milwaukee around the end of the 2015-16 season and Irving managed to make his pro debut with the Admirals. Fiala and Arvidsson are both in the NHL right now. Kamenev is knocking on the door for his first NHL call up. And both Dougherty and Kirkland are roommates in Milwaukee playing in the AHL. Irving remains in juniors while Lyytinen is back playing for his lifelong club KalPa in his native Finland. As it stands today, that was quite an impressive haul for Nashville.

At the time Dougherty was drafted I’m not sure he could have imagined the path he was about to travel en route to turning pro. After being drafted by the Predators his sights veered towards the college direction where he would join the University of Wisconsin. That 2014-15 season for the Badgers was an absolute disaster. The program went from having a 24-11-2 record and a first round elimination in the NCAA Tournament to a mortifying 4-26-5 record that saw only a pair of wins against conference opponents. His time as a collegiate athlete would end after just one season with the Badgers and he would move out to the Western Hockey League (WHL) for junior hockey.

If there was anything that Dougherty needed after that lone season with the Badgers it was a change of scenery. He was able to find that and success as a member of the Portland Winterhawks. He was named an alternate captain for the 2015-16 season and produced 52 points (11 goals, 41 assists) in 68 games. He was in the top fifteen in scoring amongst WHL defensemen last season and was the second highest scoring rookie defenseman only to teammate Caleb Jones. His season with Portland ended early following a first round sweep by the Everett Silvertips from the 2015 WHL Playoffs.

While no one at any level wants an early playoff exit there was an upside to Portland being eliminated so quickly. Dougherty was able to join the Milwaukee Admirals in the closing stages of their 2015-16 season. Usually, this example plays out a great deal by the end of an AHL season. It serves real well to give young prospects the chance to see the professional hockey lifestyle up close and get a taste of what’s ahead of them. For Dougherty he was able to do one better than that. He made his pro debut. And he also managed to record his first career pro point, a primary assist, ten-minutes into that pro debut. Plus, that weekend he played in both games on the road against the Charlotte Checkers which would see the Admirals clinch their first divisional title since the 2010-11 season. Dougherty would play once more following that in another road game against the Rockford IceHogs in the regular season finale before playing observer from there on out.

What makes this season so special for Dougherty isn’t just that it is his first career professional playing season. It’s that he is effectively sticking with the same team that he was with for the first time since playing for St. Thomas Academy when he was 16-years old. He can finally settle in and continue to grow with the same coaching staff and a group of players that he is familiar with. That’s usually not viewed as a luxury – but it is for Dougherty given these last three-years.

It’s been an up-down-and-around beginning to Dougherty’s 2016-17 season. With all the fluctuations that have taken place within the organization at defense this season it feels like Dougherty has gone through the motions that come with that. “Is he paired with Jimmy Oligny or Trevor Murphy tonight,” is a question that comes to mind nearly every game now. That can be tricky to handle early in the year. Fortunately, with enough in-game experience and all the practices that a pro team delivers, the “who am I playing with” aspect all becomes a much easier process to handle. Dougherty does appear to be adjusting better and better. And, while he might not look it for his size, it’s important to remember that he is the fourth youngest player on the Admirals. There is still far more to come from the Minnesota kid.

Without further ado. Let’s learn even more about Mr. Minnesota, as I call him, from the man himself. Fifteen questions. And I think on his part he’s glad we conducted this interview prior to the end of the NFL season… because Vikings.

A big thank you to Jack Dougherty for taking the time to conduct this interview. As for what is next for Fifteen – that is where you come in. Please leave your suggestion for who should be featured next in the comment section below.

News January 4, 2017

Anthony Bitetto Returning to Nashville

The Nashville Predators have officially recalled defenseman Anthony Bitetto from his conditioning assignment with the Milwaukee Admirals. Bitetto played in last night’s 5-2 victory over the Rockford IceHogs at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and earned a power-play goal and an assist on the evening.

It seemed that this was always going to be a one-and-done scenario for Bitetto given how the Admirals schedule plays out this week. It didn’t seem likely that Bitetto was going to be tasked with joining the team on their first trip out to California this weekend. After how he played last night? He pretty much guaranteed there was no chance of that being required.

The first few shifts it appeared that there was some clear coming to grips with game speed once again. He said himself after the game that his decision making was a little slow. He did get better and better as the game progressed and he and his defensive partner last night, Trevor Murphy, were outstanding. The two combined for 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists).

Hopefully 2017’s side of the 2016-17 season will be much kinder to Bitetto. The year started off with a nasty upper-body injury that had him out for a good chunk. He returned on a conditioning assignment with the Admirals briefly before going back up and almost instantly breaking his hand. He even took a high stick in a practice in Nashville just before heading to Milwaukee on this most recent conditioning assignment that narrowly avoided direct impact to his right eye. He has played a total of 7 games this season between the NHL and AHL. It’ll be a pleasant sight to get that kid playing for the rest of the season as he can be a plus-defender for the Predators down the stretch.

Chatterbox January 4, 2017

Chatterbox, Vol. 165

The Milwaukee Admirals ended 2016 by losing four of their last five games. It had been a grinding time for the entire group. Last night’s effort saw an injection of life with new additions making solid contributions and giving some nice stability on the defensive side of the puck. It helped see 2017 start on the right foot with a 5-2 win over the Rockford IceHogs and set a nice bar for the team to push upwards come this weekend in California.

Something that really stood out to me last night for the Admirals was the team’s shot blocking. It felt like the high quality scoring chances the IceHogs did have last night came mainly from turnovers or mistakes. Most of those went away on their own part with poor shooting. But, also, there just weren’t that many high quality chances to be had. The Admirals forced the IceHogs into deep shots all night and with that came numerous shot blocks by the group that made Marek Mazanec‘s night in net that little bit more relaxing.

What also makes Mazanec’s life that much better in net is when the team can pop home five-goals. It feels like a rare sight this season when the Admirals get an early lead, pad it, and play from ahead rather than chase from behind. The Admirals are now 15-2-1-1 this season when scoring the first goal in the game. They opened with two power-play goals, did allow a goal to the IceHogs after that, but proceeded to slam the door by the end of the second period with two goals scored forty-five seconds apart.

The goaltending was sharp. The defense played well. The offense looked good. And I think when the Admirals are at their best it functions in precisely that order. Adam Pardy returning to pair up with Alex Carrier was a very welcome sight. He was most likely one-and-done on conditioning assignment but the play of Anthony Bitetto seemed to get so sharp by the end of the game after a tough first few shifts. His work on the evening with Trevor Murphy was really good. And that all gets said while one of the Admirals best defenseman, Jimmy Oligny, also had a strong night with Jack Dougherty.

For the Admirals to get out of the funk that they were in late-December they need the simple approach that was provided last night. Those deep pucks that the IceHogs had didn’t stay around for long. There really wasn’t a single sustained attacking stretch for the IceHogs in that entire game. That comes with quick and precise puck movement up and out of the defensive zone for the Admirals. No nonsense stuff. Nothing flashy. No need to try and air-mail a home run stretch pass. Just get it out.

Mazanec faced 30 shots on goal last night. The lone goals he allowed came on a double screen just as a power-play for the IceHogs had expired – fantastic shot by Carl Dahlström. Then there was a slight defensive lapse as Chris DeSousa snuck behind the defense and was all alone to get the mid-air swat on a rebound off of a Martin Lundberg shot that hopped up on Mazanec’s chest. There wasn’t much he could do on the goals against but the 28 saves he made surrounding them were outstanding. I’ve been hearing many fan criticisms of Mazanec this season from both levels. While I understand the NHL situation for Mazanec’s play, I do, I feel some of Mazanec’s best work that I’ve seen has come since this latest trip down from the Nashville Predators. His movement in and around his net has been really good. He has played so calm and composed. He isn’t getting jumpy or overaggressive on shooters. He has played “big” in net by standing his ground and squaring up shots. While recent numbers since his reassignment on 12/14/16 might not reflect that, cheers to two games in which the Chicago Wolves erupted against the Admirals, he has been very steady. If the rest of the Admirals season features Mazanec playing at this sort of work rate with Jonas Gunnarsson, who looked great in his last two starts, I feel things are just fine moving forward as far as goaltending goes at the AHL level – with or without Juuse Saros.

Someone else who had a really nice night last night was Pontus Åberg. While Mazanec has shot back to life since reassignment by the Predators I haven’t been able to say much the same with Åberg – until last night. He was working his butt off and skating with a ton of pace. It seemed he was accounting for Harry Zolnierczyk‘s speed while he is up on recall. When Åberg plays with that high of an energy output you always feel the team has a scoring chance or two in them when he’s on the ice. It’s that caliber of play that brought him up to the Predators this season and it is that same level of hustle and skill that can get him back.

And, rather than gloss over him up top, let’s discuss Bitetto’s return to game action. Those first few shifts for him were a tad off. He said it himself that his decision making was slow. Frankly, that’s the reason why he arrived on conditioning assignment rather be thrown right back into the fire at the NHL level. The rust did seem to get more and more knocked off as he played. The mental aspects are more where he seemed to get sharper as the game grew – getting timing down. The slight good news, if you could call it that, was this last injury was a broken hand. That means being able to stay in great shape as the bones heal up. When he returns, which sounds like this could have been a one and done, he should be back to his old self for the Predators. He has had some rotten luck this season. Let’s all hope that bad luck stays in 2016 and this 2017 portion of the calendar treats our honorary Sconnie with a healthy run.

After last night’s game I chatted with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. I also did catch up with Bitetto, Mazanec, and Åberg. These were their comments following Tuesday night’s win at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Comments on the comments? Would you be as comfortable as me with a Mazanec-Gunnarsson goaltending tandem from here on out? How do you feel the Milwaukee Admirals will handle these Pacific Division teams out in California given how little they see each other?

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