Author: Daniel Lavender

Chatterbox October 6, 2016

Chatterbox, Vol. 138

The battle for the back-up role for the Milwaukee Admirals is a close one. Jonas Gunnarsson made a rather nice case for himself in today’s scrimmage. (Photo Credit: Daniel Lavender)

Day 3 of Milwaukee Admirals Training Camp has concluded and today featured scrimmage action ahead of tomorrow night’s exhibition game against the Rockford IceHogs. As expected, the previous day’s formation of split practice trickled into the lines that squared off today.

~Team White~

Florek-Smith-Aberg
Tyl Spink-Kirkland-Ryan
Payerl-Tys Spink-Zolnierczyk

Murphy-Dougherty
Irwin-Diaby

Visentin

~Team Black~

Richard-Robinson-Gortz
White-Girard-Liambas
Boudreau-Zombo-O’Donnell

Oligny-Carrier
Rissling-Knodel (Doherty)

Saros (Gunnarsson)

With the game tomorrow night at the MSOE Kern Center, and a road exhibition game against the Chicago Wolves on Saturday night, you’d expect a hodgepodge of the lines above to work into the weekend’s events.

The way today’s scrimmage broke down was a first period of five-on-five, second period of four-on-four, and a third period of three-on-three. All periods were ten-minutes in length and the final score was 4-3 in favor of Team Black. Both Anthony Richard and Harry Zolnierczyk score twice for their respective squads in the game. The goalies actually managed to flip around a fair bit to keep things ever rotating and challenging.

There are a few invitees involved in this camp. I have to say it is getting hard for me to imagine Eric Robinson not earning a contract after doing very well at the Nashville Predators Pre-Season Rookie Tournament held in Florida and now picking up another gear here in Milwaukee. These last two days of Training Camp he has actually lined up at center and done extremely well considering he’s a natural winger. The first goal scored in today’s scrimmage was a direct result of a defensive read by Robinson to negate a defensive breakout at the right wing blueline and quickly set up Richard on the back post for a goal. He’s locked in. And its a level of play that forces you to notice because it is happening in all three zones of the ice. In a lot of ways he’s becoming last year’s Adam Payerl – who, for the record, has also looked solid so far.

Richard’s game today will be highlighted by his two goals but what made them happen were a combination of speed and positioning. The first goal I described how Robinson set it up but Richard was quick enough to bolt off the defensive read by Robinson and put himself in a contributing spot for his center to dish it to him. Richard has wheels. And that’s the eye-popping thing of note from Training Camp so far that I have on him. He looked energetic last year when he debuted in the playoffs against the Grand Rapids Griffins and looked so all while banged up with a lower-body injury. He’s healthy now and can really skate with pace and agility. His second goal on the other hand – was less about speed and more about intelligent positional play. He stationed himself towards the right wing side of the net and a puck spilled over for him to smack into the roof of goal. It’s more of that area of the game you’ll hope he shows off with the speed when it comes to this season.

The back-up goaltending battle is still close. I’d have to say though that today’s scrimmage gave a good look at Jonas Gunnarsson and why he could potentially be tabbed over Mark Visentin. Both seemed to be tested with shots far more than Juuse Saros and, of the two, Gunnarsson’s ability to battle for pucks was an encouraging sight. He didn’t seem rattled all that much with lateral action that the offenses would throw at him and, around his crease, he had a pretty commanding presence. He didn’t allow many rebounds and when he did the placement of the rebounds weren’t being shoved off in an area that would cause him trouble. It was a positive effort for Gunnarsson in a game environment. Still, this back-up race is probably going to go down to the wire.

After the scrimmage wrapped up I had the chance to speak with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. I also spoke with defenseman Trevor Murphy as well as the aforementioned goaltender Gunnarsson. Here is what they had to say this afternoon at the MSOE Kern Center.

Final thoughts ahead of tomorrow’s exhibition game against the Rockford IceHogs?

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.

Chatterbox October 5, 2016

Chatterbox, Vol. 137

Day 2 of Milwaukee Admirals Training Camp is in the books. With the added pieces that the Nashville Predators assigned yesterday it provided another new look for how the team shaped up. The practice was split into two groups once again this morning and line combinations looked like the following:

~Group 1~

Florek-Smith-Åberg
Tyl Spink-Kirkland-Ryan
Payerl-Tys Spink-Zolnierczyk

Murphy-Dougherty
Irwin-Diaby

~Group 2~

Richard-Robinson-Görtz
Liambas-Girard-White
Boudreau-Zombo-O’Donnell

Oligny-Carrier
Rissling-Knodel (Doherty)

All three goaltenders, Juuse Saros included, participated in both sessions. Saros looked his usual Saros self – which is very good – and the battle for the back-up role in Milwaukee still seems pretty deadlocked between Jonas Gunnarsson and Mark Visentin. It’s hard to say either one has a leg up on the other and it is easy to see pros and cons for each. Can Gunnarsson adapt to the North American game as effortlessly as Saros last season? Can Visentin avoid the injury bug and play up to his first round draft pick abilities? Plenty to like from what both provide but the one who finishes up the coming week or so of Training Camp with the best consistency in mechanics and reliability should be tabbed, I’d imagine.

As far as similarities to yesterday’s lines go the look on defense is perhaps the biggest. It looks like the French connection of Jimmy Oligny and Alexandre Carrier might stick while Trevor Murphy and Jack Dougherty provide a highly skilled offensive tandem as a d-pairing. What did change from Day 1 to Day 2 was Carrier’s number. Him being #15 lasted a single day and he will now be #55.

Kidding aside, the bigger change over the two days was seeing Teddy Doherty back in the more natural defensive spot that he plays. He was set-up as a forward on the first day of Training Camp but was splitting defensive rotations with whom I’d expect to be his teammates this season in Cincinnati, Jaynen Rissling and Eric Knodel.

Some last notes to end on from Day 2: Pontus Åberg made his on-ice debut after sitting out of practice yesterday and looked his usual skillful self. Justin Kirkland and Eric Robinson both lined up at center for practice today and looked sharp. Adam Payerl‘s shooting accuracy was pretty eye-opening as he really didn’t seem to miss out on his shots to the net with an active goalie present. He was one of the energetic bright spots for the Admirals against the Grand Rapids Griffins during last year’s playoffs when making his pro debut but Anthony Richard, now at 100% fitness, looks incredible (skating speed, shot, puck movement). Despite looking impressive this Summer at Rookie Development Camp I don’t feel I’ve seen the same spark out of Gabryel Boudreau these first two days of practice.

After practice today I was able to round up a few interviews. Today I chatted with goaltenders Saros and Visentin. I then consulted the leader of the French Fries, Oligny, to talk about this current French Revolution for Nashville, the new baby, the Blue Jays, and this little game called hockey.

Is having a reliable back-up to Juuse Saros a concern of your’s for the 2016-17 Milwaukee Admirals season? Will any of these fringe AHL/ECHL players stick around past the weekend’s pre-season games?

News October 4, 2016October 4, 2016

Juuse Saros Assigned to Milwaukee

The Nashville Predators have assigned goaltender Juuse Saros to the Milwaukee Admirals. That means the goaltending battle to back-up Pekka Rinne in Nashville for the 2016-17 season has gone to Marek Mazanec.

This was the most likely scenario. Mazanec was the tenured product of the system that’s worked the past three-seasons in the system for the opportunity. Saros is the now sophomore North American pro who can really become “the man” in net for the Admirals over the course of a calendar AHL season. The two literally split starts 50-50 a season ago in Milwaukee so the aim for Saros as the surefire number one choice goaltender would be to become the first goalie since Jeremy Smith in 2011-12 to log more than 50 games in net for the Admirals over the course of a single season.

Additionally from Nashville, the team assigned Pontus Åberg and Anthony Richard to Milwaukee (but we already knew that). They also assigned Yakov Trenin and Samuel Girard to their respective junior teams.

Chatterbox October 4, 2016

Chatterbox, Vol. 136

The first day of Milwaukee Admirals Training Camp is in the books. There was a lot to refamiliarize. And lots of new faces to take in. Practice today was split into two groups which both featured three forward lines and two defensive pairings. Goaltenders Jonas Gunnarsson and Mark Visentin worked both groups in net.

I suppose the most glaring thing to take in for the first day of practice is all the new names and faces – even the new numbers. It’s not just that the new players have arrived but players from a season ago have taken to new uniform numbers for the 2016-17 season. You can view the current roster right here to see all the changes. And a big assist on getting those numerals goes out to Aaron Sims.

As far as line combinations went there wasn’t anything major to take in for the first day of practice. The lone notes I’d taken from today really lend itself to the blueline where it appears the Jaynen Rissling “as a forward” experiment is over after one-season. He was skating backwards alongside roster invitee Eric Knodel and those two could potentially pair up in the ECHL with the Cincinnati Cyclones. That experiment, tested out on Rissling last season, seems to have shifted to Teddy Doherty on the other hand. Last year’s captain for Boston College is a defenseman but was taking forward practice with a line including Max Görtz and Eric Robinson.

Also on defense I was very interested to find out where the Admirals are looking to plug in first-year pros Jack Dougherty and Alexandre Carrier. Today Dougherty was paired with Trevor Murphy as part of the second group practice and Carrier was joined by Jimmy Oligny in the first group practice. It wouldn’t shock me in the least to see these pairings or lines change throughout the week. This is all about the feel out process and letting everyone get used to one-another before finding something that sticks. That said, the permutations at the Admirals disposal for their rookies this season feel pretty much endless to find the right fit.

After practice I was able to chat with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. I also spoke with Eric Robinson, Max Görtz, Pontus Åberg, and Jonathan Diaby. Here is what they all had to say at the conclusion of Day 1 of Admirals Training Camp from the MSOE Kern Center.

Thoughts or reactions from the first day of Training Camp? Who impresses you the most out of the invitees and do you feel any have a legitimate chance of sticking around in Milwaukee?

News October 3, 2016

More Names Added to the Training Camp Roster

If Kenny Ryan sounds familiar its because he played for the Lake Erie Monsters in the 2014-15 season. (Photo Credit: John Saraya)

Tomorrow morning will mark the first day of Training Camp for the Milwaukee Admirals. It will take place at 10:30 AM CST at the MSOE Kern Center and is open to the public. Yesterday the team unveiled an initial roster but have just tacked on a few more names to the forward group for good measure.

Added to the Training Camp roster will be: Justin Florek (LW), Shawn O’Donnell (RW), Kenny Ryan (RW), and Dominic Zombo (LW). With the exception of Florek all other players listed here are reinforcements from the Admirals ECHL affiliate the Cincinnati Cyclones. Florek spent last season with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) but is currently a free agent headed to Milwaukee on a try-out basis.

Stay tuned tomorrow across social media for live coverage from practice at the MSOE Kern Center. Interviews will also be provided and uploaded later tomorrow afternoon. If you’re stopping by the rink? Do give a wave! I’ll be around.

News October 2, 2016

Admirals Initial Training Camp Roster Released

The Milwaukee Admirals will start their Training Camp on Tuesday morning at the MSOE Kern Center. Before skates hit the ice in Milwaukee we get to take a look at the initial roster for the camp that was just released.

Forwards: Gabryel Boudreau, Félix Girard, Max Görtz, Justin Kirkland, Mike Liambas, Adam Payerl, Jaynen Rissling, Eric Robinson, Trevor Smith, Tylor Spink, Tyson Spink, Matt White, and Harry Zolnierczyk

Defenseman: Alexandre Carrier, Jonathan Diaby, Teddy Doherty, Jack Dougherty, Matt Irwin, Eric Knodel, Trevor Murphy, and Jimmy Oligny

Goalies: Jonas Gunnarsson and Mark Visentin

Invitees: Boudreau, Knodel, Robinson, and the Spink twins

This roster means that forwards Pontus Åberg, Kevin Fiala, Frédérick Gaudreau, Anthony Richard, and Vladislav Kamenev are still in Nashville for the time being. The same goes for defensemen Petter Granberg as well as goaltenders Marek Mazanec and Juuse Saros who are battling for the back-up role with the Nashville Predators. With assistance from media friends in Nashville I can also say that defenseman Stefan Elliott did not report to Nashville’s Pre-Season Camp and opted to sign with Ak Bars Kazan in Russia’s KHL instead.

With the invitees I’d keep a firm eye on both Boudreau and Robinson potentially earning AHL contracts for the 2016-17 season as AHL/ECHL fringe players. Boudreau has impressed in Summer and Pre-Season camps in Nashville. Robinson’s history in the organization has already proved to show the coaching staff in Milwaukee enjoy his play and he would be a quality depth player to have around at the ECHL level in the event a call-up was needed.

Another key focal point this coming week will be the back-up goaltending battle here in Milwaukee between Gunnarsson and Visentin. This competition could come down to Gunnarsson translating from the European to North American style game vs. Visentin’s fitness. Gunnarsson looked fine enough in practice but had flustering moments at game speed. Meanwhile, Visentin has recovered from back-to-back season ending ankle injuries but is still a former first round draft pick level talent. No matter who loses out in Nashville they should be expected to shoulder the load in net for the Admirals this season. That still requires having a back-up on the AHL roster you can lean on just as well if needed.

What are you looking forward to the most out of this week’s Training Camp? Which new talent are you most excited to see on the ice? Who would you rather to take the back-up role in Milwaukee: Gunnarsson or Visentin?

News September 30, 2016

Frédéric Allard Signs Entry Level Contract with Nashville

The Nashville Predators signed Frédéric Allard to a three-year entry level contract Friday afternoon. The 18-year old defenseman becomes the second member of the Predators’ 2016 Draft Class to sign his entry level contract following defenseman Samuel Girard who signed his deal on Wednesday. Both are due to join their respective teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) for the 2016-17 season.

Press Release via Nashville Predators:

Nashville, Tenn. (September 30, 2016) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the team has signed defenseman Frederic Allard to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Allard, 18 (12/27/97), has played the last three seasons with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL). In 2015-16, he played 64 games, amassing 59 points (14g-45a). He scored 11 power-play goals, two game-winning goals, and recorded 34 penalty minutes. Allard played 62 games for the Sagueneens in 2014-15, recording 30 points (2g-28a) and 24 penalty minutes. In 2013-14, Allard recorded 23 points (4g-19a) and 26 penalty minutes in 61 games.

Nashville’s fourth choice, 78th overall (third round), in the 2016 Entry Draft and a native of St. Sauveur, Quebec, Allard is currently attending 2016 Predators Training Camp. He skated 21:24 on Tuesday in the Preds’ second preseason game against the Florida Panthers, a 2-1 victory.

Unlike Girard, I wasn’t able to get an up close look at Allard this Summer at the Predators Rookie Development Camp as he was still nursing an injury at the time. The good news is that he was fit and factored into the Pre-Season activities for the Predators which should serve him nicely heading into his last junior playing season with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL).

Allard’s development in Chicoutimi saw a relatively incremental change from his rookie QMJHL season to his second but last season proved to be explosive. His best previous goal scoring production went from 4 goals (2013-14) to 14 goals and his best previous assists total went from 28 assists (2014-15) to 45 assists. The 2016 NHL Draft really was needed to replenish the Predators defensive depth and it appears that the scouts did an outstanding job finding quality early and often in this year’s class.

News September 29, 2016

Admirals Roundtable 101

The Milwaukee Admirals 2016-17 season is fast approaching. This coming Tuesday will be the first official day of Training Camp here in Milwaukee and it will lead into the first of two Pre-Season games on the weekend that follows. The full schedule of the Training Camp can be found here. Friendly reminder, all practice sessions held at the MSOE Kern Center are open to the public.

I often like to set the table on a season by providing a little Admirals Roundtable 101 for a lot of the new readers and followers. My name is Daniel Lavender and I am the Editor-in-Chief of Admirals Roundtable. This season will be my fifth with the Milwaukee Admirals and fourth heading up Admirals Roundtable. My goal is to deliver a comprehensive inside look into the Milwaukee Admirals, provide breaking news, game recaps, feature stories, interviews, and make this your go-to destination for the Admirals and Nashville Predators prospect news.

When it comes to feature stories? Those vary but I often love to provide the stories that you want to know more about. Last season was the first in which we had an interview feature series known as Fifteen and it was driven mainly by getting to the players you readers wanted to hear from the most. Reader interaction is something I love bouncing off of because, without it, this isn’t much of a Roundtable is it? Always feel free to provide your comments and feedback on the website, stories, or social media platforms so a lot of what you want to be heard is heard and reciprocated.

As for our social media platforms – that’s a big thing. I like to stress that Twitter (@adsroundtable) is where the most activity tends to come from. It’s a better way to chat or ramble along with Admirals Roundtable and is where live play-by-play of the games gets presented. The Facebook page is a lot more relaxed and is generally used to provide stories when they’re released, minor notes here and there, and keeps the frequency of posts to a lighter setting to those who might feel that’s the overwhelming feel of -say- Twitter. We’re also available on Instagram for quickfire posts on news, final scorelines, roster activity, and general photographic hijinx. Additionally, all of our interviews with the Admirals coaches and players are hosted on SoundCloud where you can sometimes catch post-game interviews before they launch on the website.

When will things get posted? That’s often a question dependent upon how the news comes in but on a typical game-day experience you get a pre-game story known as Scouting The Enemy in the morning, the Game Recap gets posted as soon as it possibly can, and the post-game interview column Chatterbox tends to get posted late into the night. As always, when news becomes news – we shall get that rounded up and published. And feature stories generally come with a tip off of their arrival on social media but will come along in bulk when the season starts hitting stride.

Lastly, I always massively encourage everyone to participate, share thoughts, provide feedback, and -100%- have fun. Come Tuesday morning this is full-time work and things will be very busy and active. It’s the best time of the year, to me. The weather is getting colder. We’ve made it through the long off-season and buried that awful last game of the 2015-16 season in our minds… until I brought it up. Hockey is finally here. And, with all the storylines due to come at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, I think we’re in for a special ride here in Milwaukee with the 2016-17 Admirals.

Welcome to the Roundtable,

Daniel Lavender
Editor-in-Chief
Admirals Roundtable

News September 28, 2016

Samuel Girard Signs Entry Level Contract

(Photo Credit: Judith St-Pierre // Shawinigan Cataractes)

18-year old defenseman Samuel Girard has been turning heads ever since he first took to the Nashville ice this Summer. It’s perhaps with little surprise then that today he became the first member of the Nashville Predators 2016 NHL Draft Class to sign his entry level contract.

Press Release via Nashville Predators:

Nashville, Tenn. (September 28, 2016) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Wednesday that the team has signed defenseman Samuel Girard to a three-year entry-level contract.

Girard, 18 (5/12/98), has played the last two seasons with the Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL). In 2015-16, he played 67 games, amassing 74 points (10g-64a). He posted a plus-24 rating and scored seven power-play goals. Girard played 64 games for the Cataractes in 2014-15, recording 43 points (5g-38a) and a plus-15 rating.

Nashville’s second choice, 47th overall (second round), in the 2016 Entry Draft and a native of Roberval, Quebec, Girard is currently attending 2016 Predators Training Camp. He skated 20:49 on Tuesday in the Preds’ second preseason game against the Florida Panthers.

Girard still has two-years remaining of junior playing time before he could ever see the AHL ice here in Milwaukee. With how sharp the Predators second round choice in the most recent NHL Draft has looked though I question if Admirals fans will be afforded the luxury of seeing him as an Admiral for all that long of a stay.

In two-seasons playing for the Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL) Girard has produced 117 points (15 goals, 102 assists) from the blueline in 131 games. He was awarded the Raymond Lagacé Trophy in 2014-15 as the QMJHL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year and named to the All-Rookie Team. He followed that up by being named the CHL Sportsman of the Year, the QMJHL Defenseman of the Year (Emile Bouchard Trophy), and the QMJHL Most Sportsmanlike Player (Frank J. Selke Trophy). He’s expected to rejoin Shawinigan this Fall for his third season of junior hockey.

News September 23, 2016September 23, 2016

Admirals Training Camp Schedule Released

1415KernCamp — It’s almost time to get frozen over at the MSOE Kern Center! (Photo Credit: Daniel Lavender)

Remember this morning when I said that the Milwaukee Admirals Pre-Season Camp hasn’t been officially scheduled or set in stone? It’s the afternoon now. And it has! The team will start on-ice activities here in Milwaukee on Tuesday October 4th. That same week will see the Admirals play their two Pre-Season games on Friday and Saturday.

~Training Camp Schedule~

Tuesday, October 4th:

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM @ MSOE Kern Center

Wednesday, October 5th:

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM @ MSOE Kern Center

Thursday, October 6th:

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM @ MSOE Kern Center

Friday, October 7th:

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Pre-Game Skate @ MSOEKern Center
7:00 PM – Exhibition Game vs. Rockford @ MSOE Kern Center

Saturday, October 8th:

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Pre-Game Skate @ Kern Center
7:00 PM – Exhibition Game vs. Chicago @ Triphahn Center Ice Arena

Sunday, October 9th:

Team Building Activity

Monday, October 10th:

Off-Day

Tuesday, October 11th:

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM @ MSOE Kern Center

Wednesday, October 12th:

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM @ MSOE Kern Center

Thursday, October 13th:

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM @ MSOE Kern Center (Tentative Media Day)

Friday, October 14th:

Travel Day to San Antonio

Saturday, October 15th:

7:00 PM – Regular Season Opener @ San Antonio

It’s nice to have everything mapped out, eh? It is also worth noting that all practice sessions held at the MSOE Kern Center are open to the public. So, if you’re just too eager to see the Admirals back on the ice, get your calendars cleared up now and plan accordingly.

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