Author: Daniel Lavender

Game Recaps December 28, 2016March 16, 2017

Gunnarsson Shuts Out Wild; Ads Win 3-0

The Milwaukee Admirals won 3-0 against the Iowa Wild Wednesday night at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

He might not be seeing the net all that often this season but Jonas Gunnarsson came up big when required tonight. He stopped all twenty-five shots on goal to record the first career shutout of his North American pro playing career as the Admirals snapped a three-game losing skid.

“We talked to the group yesterday and we hoped that -that- was rock bottom,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game of the three-game losing streak. “There’s only one way to go when you’re on the bottom and that’s up. And we did that.”

In the opening phase of the game the Admirals found themselves on a four-on-two rush that they were able to cash in from for a quick lead. Rick Pinkston, who had signed a PTO Contract with the Admirals from the Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) prior to the game, spearheaded the rush down the left wing and cranked a slap shot low that hit off the pads of Alex Stalock and into the path of Mike Liambas for his third goal of the season.

In sixteen seconds of the second period the Admirals were given their first power-play opportunity of the evening. The Admirals worked quickly on that power-play chance and saw a beauty of a backhander from Frédérick Gaudreau go in for his fifth goal of the season. Matt White had put a puck towards the net and Alex Carrier was rushing through towards the goal area. Gaudreau happened to cradle the puck out in front of Stalock, patiently move towards his blocker-side, and pop the backhander into the open net.

The Admirals made it three-for-three when it comes to scoring early period goals. Just 2:16 into the third period and Justin Kirkland smacked a slap shot from the left wing and it soared past Stalock for his first career AHL and Admirals goal to make it a 3-0 lead.

“That’s what it is all about,” smiled Frédérick Gaudreau when speaking about the night’s performances for Justin Kirkland and Jonas Gunnarsson. “To get night’s like that for those guys it feels good for everyone. We see them all the time in practice and they work so hard. So, for us – all the players, to see them having success like that it feels good.”

With 4:19 remaining in regulation, and on the power-play, the Wild brought Stalock to the bench to get the extra attacker on. This attempt to fight back was stunted with 2:49 remaining as Christoph Bertschy was called for a tripping minor. They would never attempt to bring an extra attacker back on from that point forward. And the Admirals shut the door with a 3-0 win.

Jonas Gunnarsson stopped all twenty-five shots on goal net tonight. This was only his fifth start of the season for the Admirals has the Swede has patiently waited for opportunities to play while Juuse Saros and Marek Mazanec traded places between the NHL and AHL. The calm effort in net that he provided help give a nice foundation for the Admirals to spring forward from and get back to winning ways and having fun back on the ice.

“That’s the thing that made us successful this year,” commented Jonas Gunnarsson. “We’re a tight group of guys that have fun together and play hard together. We felt like we needed to get back to that and I think that we did today.”

This was the final home game for the Admirals in 2016. They finish off the calendar with a road game this Friday night at 7:00 PM CST when they play against the Chicago Wolves.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Monday there was one roster move of note and it came not too long before tonight’s game. The Admirals added defenseman Rick Pinkston from the Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) on a PTO Contract. Pinkston follows the likes of Matt White, Zac Larraza, and Matt Leitner as PTO signings by the Admirals from Manchester (ECHL) in the past year. Tonight’s line combinations for the Admirals were: Zolnierczyk-Smith-Gaudreau, Florek-Kirkland-Bass, White-Kamenev-Åberg, Liambas-Girard-Payerl, Oligny-Carrier, Pinkston-Murphy, Diaby-Dougherty. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were both healthy: Max Görtz and Blake Kessel. In the second period of tonight’s game Cody Bass clashed legs between the bench-side area and left the game favoring his right leg. Bass did not return.

What is your reaction to tonight’s game? Was this a solid bounce back performance for the Milwaukee Admirals? How did you view Jonas Gunnarsson’s effort given just how little he has been afforded time in net for the Admirals this season?

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.

Scouting December 28, 2016

Wild: Scouting the Enemy

What do you do following a self-proclaimed worst game of the season? You work your butt off that’s what. The Milwaukee Admirals went right back to work yesterday and put in one of the more grinding style practices that I’ve watched up close. It was a back to the basics sort of day but those were a lot of what was lacking on Monday night when the team recorded their third consecutive regulation loss.

Over the past few years, on paper, a match-up such as tonight would seem to be a perfect way for the Admirals to bounce back. That just isn’t the case. The Iowa Wild, despite all of their flaws, have always played the Admirals extremely tight and tend to bust out a solid group performance no matter who is coaching, in the lineup, or in net. This season? The Wild are actually bringing that level of play out on a more consistent basis.

The Wild enter this game with a record of 14-14-2-1 (31 points, 0.500 points percentage). They are currently tied for fifth place in the Central Division with the Manitoba Moose. In the Wild’s last ten games they have gone 5-4-1-0. That overtime loss that they suffered actually sees them holding a point better in the past ten games than the Admirals have endured.

Part of the Wild improvement this season likely comes in the form of the outstanding veteran leadership group that was brought in this season. Pat Cannone, Maxime Fortunus, and Jeff Hoggan have a combined 2,200 games of professional experience spanning the NHL, AHL, ECHL, and DEL. Fortunus and Hoggan have three Calder Cup victories between them.

Right now the Admirals are in second place in the Central Division with a record of 17-8-2-1 (37 points, 0.661 points percentage). They now trail the Grand Rapids Griffins, Tucson Roadrunners, Stockton Heat, and Ontario Reign -in that order- in the Western Conference standings. Only the Charlotte Checkers by a single game have played more road games in the AHL this season than the Admirals who have logged 17 road games.

Teemu Pulkkinen‘s start to the 2016-17 season was a turbulent one as far as swapping organizations is concerned but he seems fully settled into the Wild system now. The “Holy Slapper” is leading the Wild in scoring with 20 points (11 goals, 9 assists) in 21 games this season including 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in his last 3 games.

In Pulkkinen’s career against the Admirals, mainly conducted as a member of the Griffins, he has produced 15 points (10 goals, 5 assists) in 17 games. He has been held scoreless in his first 2 games as a member of the Wild against the Admirals – the first such occurrence for Pulkkinen since the start of the 2013-14 season.

Defensively the Wild aren’t too distant from the Admirals. The Wild have allowed 2.84 goals per game compared to the Admirals 2.82 this season. While results might be alluding them both Alex Stalock and Steve Michalek have done well in net.

Stalock has played in 19 games this season with a record of 9-7-2-0, 2.66 goals against average, 0.909 save percentage, and a pair of shutouts. Michalek has played in 15 games with a 5-7-0-1 record, 2.85 goals against average, and 0.915 save percentage. Both have played twice against the Admirals this season and the better numbers favor Michalek in this match-up with 2 wins in 2 starts with a 1.50 goals against average and 0.960 save percentage.

Marek Mazanec has yet to play against the Wild this season. Should he make his sixth straight start in net he will be up against an Iowa team that he has a career record of 7-5-2-0 from 14 starts with a 2.13 goals against average, 0.921 save percentage, and 2 shutouts.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Could Monday night’s effort for the Milwaukee Admirals be a welcome slap in the face for the group or will this skid continue?

Chatterbox December 27, 2016

Chatterbox, Vol. 162

When someone as blunt as Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason says things like “we were awful” and “it is the worst we’ve played all year” you tend to get the point. That team knew they had a clunker. It was bad and it comes on a string of less than quality performances from a group that is capable of so much better.

To think about where the Admirals are now versus where they were when they defeated the Texas Stars on the road by a 9-1 scoreline is pretty staggering. It was less than two weeks ago and at that point it felt like the Admirals were about to start steamrolling opponents with an offense that was clicking across four forward lines. The problem is what you feel versus what reality is can often be two different things.

The first game after that Texas sized blowout was a 3-0 shutout loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins on the road. It was the first shutout loss for the Admirals this season. That was followed by an 8-4 loss on the road to the Chicago Wolves. That was the most goals allowed in a game by the Admirals all season. And then, while not as directly obvious as to its stink factor by the 5-2 scoreline, the Admirals losing at home to the Wolves last night was a rougher watch than the previous two. Why? That result was largely a self-manufactured disaster.

The Wolves first goal came from a chip attempt out of the zone up the left wing that failed to get anywhere and ended up right to Brett Sterling for an instant scoring opportunity. Credit to Sterling for measuring up and scoring from the chance. Credit the Admirals for affording him that opportunity in the first place.

Then came that part where the game was actually 1-1 that came thanks to a lapse on the part of the Wolves on a really sloppy line change. The Admirals had a three-on-one rush and Trevor Smith did something that not a heck of a lot of puck carriers did wearing navy blue last night – he had the puck, was in the attacking zone, and shot it towards the goal. It’s weird how such a simple process can actually have the result you’re looking for but time and time again last night the Admirals passed themselves out of scoring chances – and sometimes the entire attacking zone that they just fought to gain entry into. I’ll take a guess that this afternoon’s practice will feature some real “keep it simple, stupid” sort of approaches because it didn’t happen near enough for the Admirals last night. But, when they did keep a level headed approach and put pucks towards the net, it created problems and chances – some of which paid off. When a team gets on a lull such as the Admirals are, and perhaps that 9-1 win plays into this as well, there can be an urgency to do too much. The Admirals are by far a better team this season when the play a very direct game with pucks staying North-South and getting shots to the net and bodies around for second and third chance opportunities. Less is more. The Admirals abandoned that almost completely last night.

That 1-1 scoreline held up almost to the end of the second period. If it did, it may have afforded the Admirals a chance to better regroup and do so on a level playing field. That didn’t happen. What did happen was a Matt White holding penalty followed quickly by a breakdown on penalty kill game planning by the Admirals against the Wolves power-play.

“We do a pre-scout. We do meetings. So many times [Stan Drulia] told us that they on the PP use the middle guy for a shot tip,” said Marek Mazanec. “And even though we know it they still score from it. So there’s got to be something wrong with us to pay more attention to the details and do our job, every guy.”

So, what could have been a 1-1 game entering the final frame of regulation turned into the Admirals needing to fight back once again to get on level terms. Midway through the frame yet another in-zone turnover smacked the Admirals in the face. Jonathan Diaby tried to backhand a puck out of the zone and either didn’t get enough on the clear out that he wanted to or flat out didn’t see Samuel Blais at the center of the blueline cruising around. Either way, the puck went right to him and it was pretty simple from there. It was another rinse and repeat of the first Wolves goal: credit to Blais for scoring off the chance but credit the Admirals for giving it to him in the first place.

That, for me, is essentially the game. There were the empty net theatrics, yes, but at 3-1 the game’s result was set in stone. Two poor turnovers that cannot happen right in front of your goaltender as the group are breaking up ice away from the goaltender and a power-play goal coming from a play that was supposedly scouted heavily and meant to be negated. Execution was desperately lacking. Mistakes were made and punished for being created. Yeah, I think Evason’s assessment was fairly accurate.

I suppose next the obvious question is: what now? Well, today the Admirals are getting a rare luxury that they haven’t been afforded all that much in December which is waking up in their familiar surroundings in Milwaukee. That’s a boost. They then get to practice right on home ice at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena this afternoon. And it all gears up for a quick turn-around against an Iowa Wild team that is actually playing a smidge better in their last ten games than the Admirals, 5-4-1-0 record. There is no time to feel sorry for anything. There is no time to pout or mope around. The Admirals need to clean up their game and get back to some basics – less equals more.

Following the conclusion of last night’s game I did catch up with Evason as well as a few players. Mazanec being one and Jimmy Oligny and Max Görtz being the others. It was nice to catch up with Görtz who seems to be remaining as positive as he can while fighting through an early season slump. I do feel that once a guy like him can start doing some of what he did last year it will be a nice boost for everyone. Here is what Mr. Görtz and company had to say last night.

Thoughts regarding this current losing streak? What are the most glaring issues coming about these last three games or are some of the “we’re resilient” moments from earlier in the season coming back to bite the Admirals now?

Game Recaps December 26, 2016December 26, 2016

Mistakes Prove Costly; Ads Lose 5-2 to Chicago

The Milwaukee Admirals lost 5-2 against the Chicago Wolves Monday night at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

This is the second time this season that the Admirals have had a three game losing streak but the first to feature three consecutive regulation losses. Marek Mazanec played a terrific game in net. The Admirals just had a few too many miscues that came back to bite them tonight.

“We were awful,” commented Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “It is the worst we’ve played all year. We talked to the group and we hope to heck this is rock bottom for us. We have this adversity. We have to find a way.”

It took the Wolves just over two minutes into the contest before netting the opener tonight. The Admirals botched a breakout from behind their net and once a puck kicked off the stick of Harry Zolnierczyk it fell to Brett Sterling for a quick shot that would beat Marek Mazanec for his fifth goal of the season.

The Admirals would level things up before the midway point of the second period. After some stellar pad saves from Mazanec the Admirals caught the Wolves on a bad change and had a three-on-one rush. Trevor Smith was the puck carrier entering the zone down the left wing and he decided to shoot rather than pass off. The shot ripped past Pheonix Copley for the Admirals captain’s tenth goal of the season. Smith is the first on the team to the double-digit goal plateau.

The 1-1 deadlock wouldn’t survive the second period. Following a minor penalty against Matt White for holding the Wolves made it a 2-1 game on the power-play with 2:44 remaining in the frame. Sterling circled atop the right point and back down the wall before snapping a shot low that deflected off of Samuel Blais’ stick. The quick change of direction saw the puck get past Mazanec for Blais’ fifth goal of the season and his first scored on the power-play.

Right before hitting the ten minute mark of the third period the Wolves extended their lead to 3-1. Jonathan Diaby turned the puck over on a clear attempt with Blais hovering the blueline like a hawk to get an intercept. The 20-year old forward would step in down the slot a bit more before unleashing a wrister that ringed around the posts before dropping in for his second goal of the night and sixth tally on the season.

“We work for every goal so hard and then we shoot ourselves in the foot with our dumb decisions in the d-zone,” said Milwaukee Admirals goaltender Marek Mazanec. “We gave up so many scoring chances. We’re making it too easy for a team to play against.”

Blais would get called for a hooking minor with 3:18 remaining. At that time the Admirals used their timeout and had Mazanec stay on the bench to bring on the extra attacker. It wouldn’t result in the desired result. The Wolves were able to see a long range clearance by Wade Megan go the distance for a shorthanded empty net tally that made it a 4-1 Wolves lead. The goal was his fourteenth scored this season.

The empty net saga would continue as the Admirals power-play was still on. With 1:47 remaining Vladislav Kamenev would dink a loose puck around the net forward and it would roll underneath Copley for his eighth goal of the season to get it back to a two-goal deficit. After getting the puck cleared from danger the Admirals would keep going with the empty net with 1:20 remaining in regulation only to see Ivan Barbashyov score fifty seconds later to close this game out at 5-2 for the Wolves on their Russian’s eleventh goal of the season.

This will be another game that will look bad on paper for Mazanec. And that is a shame. He was incredible in net for the Admirals tonight. He came up big time and time again. He only allowed three goals and, when looking back on them, he’s left on the short end of the stick with two in-zone turnovers right in front of him and a net front redirect on a Wolves power-play. He made twenty-two saves in net tonight. Mistakes in front of him proved fatal.

The Admirals will be back in action at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Wednesday night when they face-off against the Iowa Wild. That game starts at 7:00 PM CST.

“Tomorrow we’ll come to work,” said Evason looking ahead. “And put some kind of positive spin on getting out of this.”

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Thursday night there were some headlines that took place. Following the completion of his conditioning assignment Reid Boucher returned to the Nashville Predators. Boucher scored four goals and an assist in the five games he played with the Admirals during his conditioning stint. Cody Bass was suspended by the AHL for one-game due to his boarding major on 12/21/16 on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Bass served his one-game suspension tonight. With two forwards out of the lineup the Admirals reinserted Max Görtz after being a healthy scratch for the last five games. The Admirals also recalled Justin Kirkland from the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL). Tonight’s line combinations for the Admirals were: Florek-Smith-Åberg, Gaudreau-Kirkland-White, Zolnierczyk-Kamenev-Payerl, Liambas-Girard-Görtz, Murphy-Dougherty, Oligny-Kessel, Diaby-Carrier. There were no scratches tonight as the Admirals roster was stretched to capacity. This game marked the start of the AHL’s uniform policy that sees all home teams start to wear darker more traditionally road uniforms at home and road teams switching to their white more traditionally home set.

What is your reaction to tonight’s game? Where did this game go wrong tonight? What positives can you take out of this game? What needs to be corrected by Wednesday night?

Scouting December 26, 2016

Wolves: Scouting the Enemy

Firstly, I hope all of you had a lovely Christmas yesterday filled with all things Nashville Predators, Milwaukee Admirals, and Cincinnati Cyclones. Me, I finally do have a Predators mug now to fill with that all important Admirals Roundtable fuel known as coffee. Hope you all had a great day with family, friends, and loved ones!

Secondly, there is today’s game against the Chicago Wolves. When we last left off with our beloved Admirals things didn’t go too well with them against these Wolves. The Admirals lost 8-4 on a night where their defense just seemed shot. That came a night after having suffered their first shutout loss of the season.

To this point, the Admirals longest losing streak is three-games which came right after starting the season with three straight wins. They haven’t lost three straight games in regulation yet. That is on the table today.

The Admirals have a record of 17-7-2-1 (37 points, 0.685 points percentage). With the recent defeats they are no longer the top team in the Western Conference or Central Division. That temporary title belongs to the Grand Rapids Griffins. Tonight they’ll be working with Max Görtz and the recently recalled from Cincinnati (ECHL) Justin Kirkland while Cody Bass serves a one-game suspension from the AHL.

When you see the Admirals take to the ice tonight you will be seeing them in what has typically been their road navy uniforms. “Why is that,” you ask. Well, the AHL decided to be playful with the rules this year by adding a uniform policy that switches from white at home to darker uniforms after Christmas.

The Wolves record entering tonight’s game is 14-11-3-2 (33 points, 0.550 points percentage). They are fourth in the Central Division trailing the Griffins, Admirals, and the now -and finally- white hot Cleveland Monsters. In the Wolves last 10 games they hold a record of 5-2-2-1. Including today’s game the Admirals will be seeing these Wolves for 5 of their next 13 games. Come that last occasion in that run? The Admirals will have finished off playing in Chicago for the rest of the 2016-17 season by January 22nd.

By tacking on 3 assists against the Admirals last Thursday Wolves forward Kenny Agostino extended his league lead in scoring. Agostino has 34 points (9 goals, 25 assists) in 30 games this season. This is is first pro hockey season out of the Calgary Flames organization and it is setting up as a career year. In 162 career AHL games he is a 0.83 point per game player.

While the Admirals will be without Bass tonight due to suspension the Wolves will be without goaltender Jordan Binnington for the same reason. Binnington lost the plot against the Rockford IceHogs last Wednesday night and earned 17 penalty minutes (unsportsmanlike conduct minor, fighting major, and a game misconduct for fighting at puck drop). His suspension will last for tonight’s game meaning the Wolves will need a back-up this evening.

Binnington’s suspension makes the choice for who starts clear. Though, I feel the way that Pheonix Copley has been playing this season anyway already should have dictated more time in net. In lesser appearances Copley has outperformed Binnington for the Wolves this season: 6-4-1-1 record from 13 games, 2.46 goals against average, 0.912 save percentage, and a shutout.

Expectations for tonight’s game? How do you think both teams will play coming out of the Christmas break? What do the Milwaukee Admirals need to do to correct their mistakes from the past two games to get back into the win column tonight?

News December 23, 2016

Milwaukee Recalls Justin Kirkland

The Milwaukee Admirals have recalled Justin Kirkland from their ECHL affiliate the Cincinnati Cyclones. This move comes following the completion of Reid Boucher‘s conditioning assignment and today’s news that the AHL has suspended Cody Bass for the next game.

Kirkland has now played 4 games with the Cyclones in the ECHL. He has produced 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist) in that time with a plus/minus rating of +2 and 2 penalty minutes. He has only produced an assist at the AHL level in 15 games this season with the Admirals. The boost in minutes that he played in the ECHL could see that production change.

News December 23, 2016December 23, 2016

Cody Bass Suspended by the AHL

The American Hockey League has suspended Milwaukee Admirals forward Cody Bass for one-game following his boarding major that earned him a game misconduct against the Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday night.

Press Release via AHL:

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced the following suspensions:

Milwaukee Admirals forward Cody Bass has been suspended for one (1) game as a consequence of a boarding incident in a game at Grand Rapids on Dec. 21.

Bass was suspended under the provisions of AHL Rule 28.1 (supplementary discipline). He will miss Milwaukee’s game Monday (Dec. 26) vs. Chicago.

Chicago Wolves goaltender Jordan Binnington has been suspended for one (1) game as a consequence of his actions in a game at Rockford on Dec. 21.

Binnington was suspended under the provisions of AHL Rule 28.1 (supplementary discipline). He will miss Chicago’s game Monday (Dec. 26) at Milwaukee.

The play that earned Bass a suspension saw himself and Kyle Criscuolo moving in on a puck towards the penalty box area. Criscuolo had body position ahead of Bass and the Admirals forward caught him in an awkward spot as he was leaning in for the puck just before reaching the wall. Criscuolo remained down on the ice briefly, exited for the locker room, but did return in time to notch a primary assist on a power-play goal during the major penalty assessed to Bass for the incident. The Admirals lost that game to the Griffins 3-0. Bass did play last night when the Admirals lost 8-4 on the road to the Chicago Wolves.

Bass will be unavailable for the Admirals on Boxing Day when they face-off against the Wolves at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. As you can also see in the AHL’s press release the Wolves will be without goaltender Jordan Binnington in that same game after his antics Wednesday night against the Rockford IceHogs.

With Bass now unavailable, and Reid Boucher‘s conditioning assignment fulfilled, it is likely that the Admirals will need one more player prior to the Boxing Day game. Max Görtz would step in but the Admirals would still be a player short of a complete squad. That would likely mean seeing Justin Kirkland or Anthony Richard return from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.

Game Recaps December 22, 2016December 22, 2016

Bah Humbug; Admirals Lose 8-4 in Chicago

(Photo Credit: Shane Abbitt // Iowa Wild) — (Photo Credit: Shane Abbitt)

The Milwaukee Admirals lost 8-4 on the road against the Chicago Wolves Thursday night at the Allstate Arena.

These lengthy road trips for the Admirals sure do end with a nasty sour taste, don’t they? After such a strong showing in Texas the Admirals have dropped two games in two days with both having their unique flavor of disgust to them.

This wasn’t a shutout loss like last night but a defensively depleted and dysfunctional effort by the Admirals meant conceding a season high eight goals against tonight. This certainly isn’t the merriest of ways to head into the Christmas break.

This looked like the Admirals were getting a quick start tonight as they accomplished something they didn’t do last night, score a goal, in just 1:20 of the game. After the Wolves won a defensive face-off Petteri Lindbohm instantly turned the puck over on an outlet pass that went direct to Reid Boucher in the slot. Boucher delivered a quick release to get his fourth goal of the season before Pheonix Copley probably knew what happened.

The Wolves responded right back 1:26 after the Boucher tally. A good piece of forechecking allowed for Kenny Agostino to snap a pass from the left wing wall out towards Scooter Vaughan as he edged down the right wing for a snap shot past Marek Mazanec to quickly level the game on Vaughan’s third goal of the season.

Agostino nearly had a goal of his own after getting a home run feed out of the penalty box but Alex Carrier held him up to put the Wolves to the power-play. Vince Dunn sent a low wrister from the right point that Jordan Caron deflected underneath Mazanec and the puck sat loose behind the Czech netminder until Caron pushed it across the line for his third goal of the season.

Another net front scramble went the way of the Wolves to end the scoring for the first period. Mazanec had completely laid out to make a few good saves, some from his belly, but the whistle never came and the Wolves kept attacking until the puck trickled towards the left wing side of the net where Ivan Barbashyov smacked it home for his ninth goal of the season to give the Wolves a 3-1 lead.

The first period drama wouldn’t be without some post-whistle pushing and shoving. This went a bit over the top near the end of the period when Lindbohm started to get too stiff with a jab and Jonathan Diaby paired up with him for a proper scrap. Diaby dropped the Finnish defenseman with a solid right hand. You can score that a win in the fight department for Diaby.

For all the penalties that swamped the second period the Admirals were able to rally back and level things at 3-3 in the sandwich stanza. Alex Carrier smacked a low slap shot past a Harry Zolnierczyk screen and Copley to record his fourth goal of the season. Then, during four-on-four hockey, a pass from Agostino to Dunn skipped up off the Wolves defenseman’s stick and sent Frédérick Gaudreau off to the races where he’d finish with a backhander to earn his fourth goal of the season.

Once the third period came it appeared the Admirals defense started to fall apart. Barbashyov was able to whip a backhander wide and stick around the slot long enough for Andrew Agozzino to feed the puck right back to him for a second chance that he’d score on a wrister from the high slot for his second tally of the game and tenth of the season.

Following a disputed icing call that saw the officials take back an icing against the Wolves in favor of a neutral zone face-off the Admirals quickly turned the puck over and allowed Brett Sterling to break down the left wing and pass across to the slot for MacKenzie MacEachern to score on the counter attack for his second goal of the season and see the Wolves restore their two-goal lead just 6:44 into the third period.

There was a glimmer of hope that the Admirals could rally back and deliver their resilient comeback magic as Matt White tagged Trevor Smith for a picture perfect setup. Smith was cruising behind the defense off the back post and White’s pass from the right wing wall hit the Admirals captain right on the tape for a redirect past Copley and Smith’s ninth goal of the season.

As great as that play was. As much momentum as it should have created. The Admirals fell flat on their face defensively just fifty-four seconds later when a bad turnover allowed for the easiest of two-on-zero plays in front of Mazanec. Sterling passed off to the right wing and Bryce Gervais had a tap in to get the Wolves back ahead by two-goals.

Going for broke, the Admirals went with the empty net and extra attacker with 2:24 remaining in regulation only to see the Wolves score twice more to make the game reach a season low for the Admirals. The Wolves scoring eight goals tonight was the most allowed by the Admirals all season. Chris Butler scored from distance for his third goal of the season. That was followed by Gervais netting the second empty netter and his second tally of the night to extend his season total to eight goals.

The Admirals record falls to 17-7-2-1 (37 points, 0.685 points percentage). This means seeing them slip behind the Grand Rapids Griffins in the Central Division and Western Conference standings. The Admirals will look to avenge tonight’s rough outing against the Wolves next time out as they will be back on home ice at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Boxing Day against the Amtrak Rivals for a 7:00 PM CST face-off.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played last night there were no roster moves made in the organization. Tonight’s line combinations were the same as last night: Florek-Smith-Åberg, Boucher-Gaudreau-White, Zolnierczyk-Kamenev-Bass, Liambas-Girard-Payerl, Oligny-Carrier, Murphy-Dougherty, Diaby-Kessel. Tonight’s lone scratch was Max Görtz who was a healthy scratch. This was the final game of Reid Boucher’s two week (fourteen consecutive days) conditioning assignment: 5 points (4 goals, 1 assist) in 5 games with a plus/minus rating of -4, 0 penalty minutes, and 13 shots on goal.

What happened to the Milwaukee Admirals these last two nights? Are the losses on defense of Petter Granberg and Adam Pardy starting to hurt the group? When will the penalty troubles end?

Scouting December 22, 2016

Wolves: Scouting the Enemy

There just seems to be something about playing in Grand Rapids that is an absolute nightmare experience for the Milwaukee Admirals. In the Dean Evason Era they are now 5-15-1-0 in Grand Rapids and have been shutout by the Griffins 5 times with a current losing streak of 10 games (0-9-1-0). Last night’s 3-0 loss was the Admirals first shutout defeat of the season and the first time they had been shutout in 49 games dating all the way back to March of last season.

It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t fun. But it was last night in Grand Rapids. Tonight, mercifully, the Admirals aren’t in Grand Rapids. They’re finishing up their four game road trip against the Amtrak Rivals.

The Chicago Wolves enter tonight’s game with a record of 13-11-3-2 (31 points, 0.534 points percentage). If you think you have it bad as an Admirals fan last night – a Wolves fan would have an edge in the bickering department today. They lost 6-2 last night on the road against the Rockford IceHogs. That was the most goals scored by the IceHogs this season and the Wolves are now winless in their last four games (0-2-1-1).

Sticking to that game for the Wolves last night. It sounds like it would have been a joy to watch from an outside perspective as the Wolves had a meltdown. Without even going into video highlights (1) how often do you see a penalty for throwing equipment? (2) how often do you see a goalie fight? (3) how often do you see a goalie fight a skater instead of another goalie? (4) how often do you see a goalie get slapped with a game misconduct for fighting off the puck drop?

Both the throwing equipment and goalie fighting infractions happened after the Wolves were already down 6-2. Jordan Binnington came on in relief of Pheonix Copley. After Binnington’s fight, and wrasslin’ level heel turn, it meant Copley coming back in net for the final 1:07 of regulation.

Again. You think the Admirals had it bad last night? It could be a lot worse. What will be a point of note is that the Wolves, barring a total emotional dump from that episode last night, could be fired up off of that game and coming out hot for tonight’s game. These will be two teams looking to right the ship. The Admirals after a shutout loss. The Wolves after another spike in a series of poor efforts of late. It’s the last game for both before the Christmas break. Despite being the last in a two-in-two stretch expect both to empty the gas tanks tonight.

The key player to watch out for in tonight’s game is the AHL’s new leading scorer, Kenny Agostino. The 24-year old now has sole possession of the league lead in scoring with 31 points (9 goals, 22 assists) in 29 games. Matt Lorito and Taylor Beck are right behind him with 30 points.

Theatrics of last night aside the story in net for the Wolves has been more positive than it has been negative. Both Binnington and Copley have performed well but it is Copley who stands out. This season Copley has a 2.32 goals against average and 0.915 percentage which are improvements from his first year with the Wolves last season. Binnington’s numbers continue to decline from what they were two seasons ago as he has a 3.02 goals against average and 0.905 save percentage this season.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Just what sort of Milwaukee Admirals performance are we in for tonight? Which team handles the previous night’s efforts better?

Game Recaps December 21, 2016December 21, 2016

House of Horrors; Ads Shutout 3-0 in Grand Rapids

The Milwaukee Admirals lost 3-0 on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins Wednesday night at the Van Andel Arena.

This game started off poorly for the Admirals, got worse with a match penalty against Cody Bass, and they never got into a groove offensively. Following the highest of highs, winning 9-1 in Texas, the Admirals hit a low with their first shutout loss of the season. Eddie Pasquale stopping all twenty-seven shots on goal tonight. The Admirals skid in Grand Rapids, including last year’s trip in during the playoffs, is now up to ten straight games (0-9-1-0 record). Under Dean Evason the Admirals are 5-15-1-0 in Grand Rapids.

It took the Griffins twenty-six seconds to get on the board tonight. After a face-off win in neutral ice Yevgeni Svechnikov was able to sneak behind Jimmy Oligny and Alex Carrier to race off on a breakaway. The Russian forward stickhandled and then flipped a backhander above the left pad of Marek Mazanec to quickly make it a 1-0 Griffins lead.

Joe Hicketts has made sure he is on the Admirals naughty list this season. In the first meeting of the season Hicketts low bridged Harry Zolnierczyk at the knees with a check that had him landing on his head. Tonight Hicketts walloped Mike Liambas towards the head near the penalty box area. It instantly caught the ire of Jonathan Diaby who flew over and dropped the gloves with the Griffins defenseman. Diaby was issued an instigating penalty and misconduct for doing so but the Admirals did kill off the minor penalty that created.

The first period heat intensified when Cody Bass delivered a big hit to Kyle Criscuolo that sent him face first towards the boards. Bass was issued a five minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. Criscuolo stayed down for a bit after the hit and went off to the locker room for repairs. He would return quickly enough to contribute on the Griffins major power-play.

Diaby was out for his misconduct for instigating a fight. Bass was out for the game due to his boarding major. Blake Kessel was serving Bass’ penalty. This may have sparked a bit of gamesmanship with Mitch Callahan grappling Jimmy Oligny after a whistle that had the two sent to the box for matching roughing minors that would leave the Admirals to just three defensemen to kill the remainder of the major penalty.

Moments after the roughing calls the Griffins had their breakthrough. Svechnikov and Criscuolo played a one-two pass to each other and it allowed the Russian to get a quick shot off down the slot to score his second goal of the first period and seventh goal of the season to extend the Griffins lead.

In the second period the Admirals did have much better attacking pressure and scoring chances. They weren’t able to get anything through and that was in large part to some great work in net during the middle frame by Eddie Pasquale. At the other end, Mazanec came up huge to deny Martin Frk with a phenomenal glove save on a breakaway and keep the scoreline right where it was coming into the period.

Despite finding some momentum in the second period the Admirals would allow a goal less than three minutes into the third period. The Griffins won an in-zone face-off and Robbie Russo ripped a wrister from the left point right off the draw that sailed in top shelf for his fourth goal of the season to make it a 3-0 Griffins lead.

In an effort to negate a shutout the Admirals did bring Mazanec to the bench with 2:06 remaining in regulation. Their effort with the extra attacker didn’t crack Pasquale in net and the Griffins won 3-0 with their netminder earning a twenty-seven save shutout. It was the first time the Admirals have been shutout this season. The last time the Admirals were shutout came back on 3/1/16 on the road against the then named Lake Erie Monsters.

If there is any good news out of this game it is that it will not have to stay in the memory banks of the players for too long. The Admirals are right back in action tomorrow night on the road against the Chicago Wolves at 7:00 PM CST. They’ll look to end the current four-game road trip on a high note heading into the Christmas break.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Saturday the lone roster move made saw defenseman Adam Pardy recalled by the Nashville Predators. Tonight’s line combinations for the Admirals were: Florek-Smith-Åberg, Boucher-Gaudreau-White, Zolnierczyk-Kamenev-Bass, Liambas-Girard-Payerl, Oligny-Carrier, Murphy-Dougherty, Diaby-Kessel. Tonight’s lone scratch for the Admirals was Max Görtz who was a healthy scratch.

Reaction to tonight’s game? What is it about playing in Grand Rapids that just seems to flip the Milwaukee Admirals’ world upside-down? What do the Admirals need to change to start having success on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins?

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