The Milwaukee Admirals closed the gap to fourth place in the Central Division last night. Their attention quickly switched to the Grand Rapids Griffins following the 5-3 win against the Texas Stars. It’s “on to the next one” for the Admirals right now. In order for any of the fight for the playoffs to come good for the Admirals they need to first take care of their own plate. The Griffins have been a thorn in the Admirals side for too many seasons now. Tackling this challenge tonight could be a great boost.
Last night could well have been a night perfectly placed to make the Milwaukee Admirals fall. They had a good amount of time between games and the Texas Stars are an opponent that has really worked them hard with pace and quality defending this season. It started sluggish but turned into a small slugfest for both power-play groups. The Admirals tightened up enough at even strength to secure a 5-3 win and keep their playoff lives very much alive.
The Milwaukee Admirals won 5-3 against the Texas Stars at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Friday night.
The Admirals power-play had been struggling for a long stretch in recent weeks. Tonight the Admirals scored three power-play goals as Anders Lindbäck fought off waves of shots by the Stars early. The Admirals are now on a three-game winning streak. And Lindbäck has become the eighth Admirals goaltender in team history to record thirty wins in a single season.
“I looked at it before the game and I saw that opportunity was there,” smiled Anders Lindbäck. “I think that’s good. It says I’ve been playing well this year and been giving the team a chance to win every night.”
Tonight marks the last time in the 2017-18 regular season schedule that the Milwaukee Admirals will face a non-Central Division opponent. In seventeen games this season outside of the division the Admirals have gone 6-9-1-1 (14 points, 0.412 points percentage). It has been an unfortunate spot on the season and it doesn’t get much better against a Texas Stars team who arrive to Milwaukee tonight looking to complete a four-game season sweep.
The AHL have announced the individual team winners of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year. The Admirals Man of the Year for a second consecutive season is defenseman Jack Dougherty. He now becomes a finalist for the league’s 2017-18 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award.
The Milwaukee Admirals were in action for practice this morning. The team is set for two-games at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena this weekend. It starts tomorrow night against the Texas Stars and ends with the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday. The Admirals are continuing to battle for their playoff lives but time, and the Rockford IceHogs, are starting to run away from them.
The Nashville Predators officially signed forward Eeli Tolvanen to a three-year entry level contract this morning. The native of Vihti, Finland was selected thirtieth overall by the Nashville Predators in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft. He spent this season in Russia’s KHL with Jokerit where he set a league record for the highest scoring season by a teenage player.
Alex Carrier burst onto the scene last season during his first full run of professional hockey. The defenseman from Québec handled everything with such maturity, poise, and precision that it was often times hard to believe he was only 20-years old and fresh off a major junior career with Gatineau Olympiques.
It was all such a blur. He was selected as an AHL All-Star representative for his efforts with the Milwaukee Admirals. He earned an NHL recall in January and would suit up twice to enjoy in his first ever experiences with the Nashville Predators. He would even end his season being around the Predators to watch their run to the Stanley Cup Finals.
“I mean, that was pretty awesome,” smiled Carrier. “Obviously at the end of the season I looked back. I had a great year. I was really happy with it.”
Unfortunately, this season hasn’t been that way. It has been difficult. And it hasn’t been as effortless as Carrier appeared to make it look. That doesn’t mean that this has been a bad season. This sophomore season for Carrier has been one long learning process.
The 2012 NHL Draft was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It would be the first chance for a then 18-year old forward from Sundsvall, Sweden named Emil Pettersson to be selected by an NHL team. How were his nerves doing to mark the occasion?
“I didn’t really care actually,” smirked Emil Pettersson. “I knew I wasn’t going to get drafted.”
At the time Pettersson was predominantly competing at the Junior-18 level with Timrå IK. He had time with the Junior-20 squad competing in the J20 SuperElit league in Sweden but he was flying under the radar as a wiry framed youngster. The 2012 NHL Draft came and went. Pettersson went undrafted. His aspirations would be to make it to the NHL but he never truly had expectations of ever being drafted.
Jump ahead to the late stages of the 2013 NHL Draft held in Newark, New Jersey. The Nashville Predators chose Pettersson in the sixth round with the 155th overall selection. It would still take a further four-years before Pettersson would arrive to North America.
Last night, the Iowa Wild made the trek up from Des Moines after having battled Friday and Saturday against the Grand Rapids Griffins. No one in our area enjoys using the term “tired” as an excuse but it is one I feel the Wild can easily be afforded without shame. The Milwaukee Admirals pounded them 7-2 and did so taking advantage of some serious mental lapses on the part of the Wild and otherwise just burning them with added energy and pace.
Admirals Roundtable 