There are plenty of questions still out there in regards to the Milwaukee Admirals move to the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. One of the more interesting questions is actually a simple one. Is my sweet spot, in terms of a seat at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, going to be just as good across the street?
That question can be answered on site this coming Monday because the Admirals and the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena will have an Open House Night from 4pm to 8pm. This will allow season ticket holders and interested spectators to see the future arena layout in hockey configuration.
Milwaukee, WI—The Milwaukee Admirals will hold their first open house at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther Arena this Monday, March 28 from 4:00 to 8:00 pm.
The event is free and open to the public and is the first opportunity for fans to take a look the layout and configuration of the rink and to pick potential seat locations for season tickets for the 2016-17 Season. Fans who are interested in a particular seat can put $50 down and that will secure their spot on a seniority-based list for seat selection.
The UWM-Panther Arena will have both concession and merchandise stands open for the event, and while there won’t be ice down there will be goals in place and the red and blue lines will be taped down to give fans some perspective on where the seats are located. In addition, there will be public Wi-Fi available for fans to use.
There is free parking available for the event in the surface lot that is just south of the UWMPA. Fans should enter the lot from Wells St. and then take a ticket from the attendant. Fans should then bring that ticket into the event where a member of the Admirals staff will validate it.
Fans with further questions about the event are encouraged to call the Admirals office at (414) 227-0550.
Personally, I’ve not been in the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena since I was probably below the age of 10-years old when a supercross or monster trucks event took place at what was then called the US Cellular Arena. Times have changed and so has the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. I feel I’m not alone in not having visited across the street in a long time so this event should provide a great re-introduction for people such as myself – and quite possibly an introduction, period, for others. This should be a fun way to get to know the surroundings and start getting the building to slowly but surely be the home of the Milwaukee Admirals.
The Milwaukee Admirals won 2-0 on the road against the Texas Stars Wednesday night at the Cedar Park Center.
Juuse Saros was the story of tonight for the Admirals. The Stars were averaging 4.1 goals per game on home ice heading into this game but Saros stopped all twenty-eight shots on goal en route to his fourth shutout and his twenty-third win of the season from thirty-one starts.
For the last three Admirals games there was a scoreless first period of play. It was trending in that direction once again until a hooking call in the Stars attacking zone on Cole Ully put the Admirals on the power-play where they’d cash in from the first chance on the man-advantage. Stefan Elliott let loose on a wrist shot from the top of the left wing circle which got through Maxime Lagacé with Cody Bass standing in front of him. The goal would be credited to Elliott for his fifth goal of the season – all of which have come on the power-play.
In the second period the Admirals penalty kill would get tested three times with key penalty killers all involved with trips to the box. Not only did the Admirals penalty kill hold serve but the Stars were held for well over ten-minutes in the second period without a shot on goal.
The dagger moment of this game came in the third period when the Admirals scored once again on the power-play. Gemel Smith tripped up Corey Potter and set the stage for yet another blistering shot by Max Görtz to be unleashed for his sixteenth goal of the season and ninth scored on the power-play. His wrister beat Lagacé and then managed to beat up the crossbar before directing down and in to give the Admirals a two goal cushion.
With the shutout tonight the Admirals now have sole possession of first place in the Central Division and are second place to the Ontario Reign in the Western Conference standings. This was the eighth shutout of the season by the Admirals and only the second time all season that the Stars were shutout on home ice. The last time the Stars were shutout at Cedar Park Center was back on 10/21/15 against the Stockton Heat.
Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Sunday there have been no roster moves made throughout the organization. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, Murphy-Bass-Pendenza, Oligny-Potter, Elliott-Mullen, Näkyvä-Aronson. Tonight’s scratches were: Jamie Devane (illness), Cody Hodgson (upper-body), and Johan Alm (lower-body).
Reaction to tonight’s game? How good was the Milwaukee Admirals defensive performance tonight as well as Juuse Saros in net? Is this the style of hockey the Admirals need to play to have long term playoff success?
The Milwaukee Admirals have descended to the lovely land of Texas for a pair of games against the Texas Stars. It’s been awhile since the Admirals have played in Texas. They took two games in two nights from the San Antonio Rampage back on 1/15/16 and 1/16/16. It’s also been a good while since the Admirals last played the Stars. These two have played twice this season with both games taking place in Milwaukee and the Admirals getting the edge each outing: 10/27/15 and 12/6/15.
What’s always fun about playing against the Stars is they have one of the best AHL media communities that I get to chat with throughout the season. Stephen Meserve is the man behind 100 Degree Hockey. To get the what’s what on the Texas Stars heading into tonight’s game he was kind enough to to a little Q&A to give us all some insight prior to puck drop.
~Q&A with Stephen Meserve~
Admirals Roundtable: Heading into the last time these two teams met the Texas Stars had a 0.591 points percentage. Coming into Wednesday’s game the Stars will be a smidge better than that at a 0.598 points percentage. How have things been going for the Stars since the turn into the 2016 calendar?
Stephen Meserve. Texas has solidified its standings with pretty great play since the turn of 2016. Unfortunately, Dallas and Texas have both suffered injuries that have diminished the AHL side’s scoring capacity. Travis Morin and Greg Rallo are both out with concussions with no timetable for return. Radek Faksa and Brett Ritchie were recalled to Dallas, and Stephen Johns is there as well, presumably for good now. That crop of players is worth 4 points a game to the Stars. They’ve been relying on depth scoring more than they did earlier in the year. The line of Gemel Smith, Cole Ully, and Matt Mangene has had success in this regard. Ully has been pretty impressive in his rookie season. Despite limited time, he’s made the most of his ice, scoring 16 points in 38 games. He’s a smaller player but makes the most of his size with a wicked shot.
AR: I don’t know if there is anything that makes me laugh more when looking at the current standings than when I spy that the Stars have scored 241 goals as a team this season but also allowed 212 goals as well. You guys certainly don’t lack for entertainment do you?
SM: Well, certainly not! Texas has mostly retired its crazy track meet ways late in the season. Part of the craziness that was the early season was the inconsistency in net. Maxime Lagacé has emerged as the clear starter, and it’s likely he will start every game from here until the end of the playoffs. The penalty kill is an area that has dogged the Stars all year. Any team facing off against Texas has to make the most of those opportunities. Texas is the least penalized teams in the league. Therefore, it really is unfortunate that the PK is such a glaring issue.
AR: Speaking of entertaining, how has life in the Pacific Division treated this Stars team throughout the 2015-16 season?
SM: The Pacific is interesting to say the least. I would say I didn’t start to notice big differences in schedule until about December or so. That’s when games played started to diverge. Texas is in a battle for home-ice with the second seed but can’t catch Ontario for #1. At this point, it honestly looks like the Reign will take the division and battle whoever emerges from the unholy slugfest that will be the Central Division playoffs. All for the privilege of losing to Toronto in the final.
AR: The Stars have two names in the AHL’s Top 20 for Rookie Scoring this season: Jason Dickinson and Esa Lindell. How have your first year players progressed as this season has gone on?
SM: Lindell has made great strides. He is coming from a league of men in Finland, so the adjustment was pretty smooth for him. He’s got a knack for scoring and probably won’t be back on this squad next season. Dickinson was the last pick of the first round his draft year, acquired with the pick that came over in the Stars’ trade with Boston for Jaromír Jágr. Dickinson was a fine return, a defensively-sound center who has an amazing quickness and deft moves with the puck. He scored the prettiest goal all season in November with a beautiful individual effort to pop the puck over SA goalie Roman Will, who had come out to play the puck, catch it himself, drop it and tap it into the empty net. Kid has hands and finish. Dangerous combo. With other centers out or recalled, Dickinson is collecting top 6 minutes along with PP time.
AR: Your leading scorer at the moment is Brendan Ranford who has already eclipsed his AHL points total from a season ago. What have you liked from his game in his third professional playing season with the Stars?
SM: Ranford is still working on the defensive side of his game. He’s had a taste of the NHL and definitely wants more. Ranford, like so many players in his position, needs to ensure he is not a defensive liability at the NHL level in order to ensure a call-up. Of course, you do that by proving yourself in tough situations in the A. He will probably get a ‘prove it’ RFA deal this summer and the key will be what he does with that one season.
AR: Julius Honka is one of the top prospects for the Dallas Stars organization and he’s living up to that billing in the AHL this season. How has his sophomore season been going in your eyes and is this probably the last season of AHL hockey he partakes in?
SM: Ah, Julius Honka. Everyone loves to put him at the top of the heap and he’s certain got potential to end up there, but today is not that day. Remember that Honka only just turned 20 this season. He still has a tendency to put the world on his shoulders, skate when he should pass, or try to force a play a little too much. He is a brilliantly talented player and there is absolutely a reason why he was coveted by nearly everyone that talked with Dallas GM Jim Nill at the trade deadline. He’s just not 100% there yet. When you compare his consistency to that of Lindell, Johns, or Mattias Bäckman, it’s clear he needs more time. However, I absolutely think he’s a top callup starting next year.
AR: The last ten-games for the Stars have seen the team at a 4-3-3-0 record with some real grinding games going down. What should fans expect from the Stars for these games against the Admirals in Texas?
SM: It depends how much Coach Laxdal‘s message sinks in. The past two games against Grand Rapids, Texas was trying to get too pretty according to their coach. He wanted the club to play a more playoff style shooting game, pucks to the net, sticks and skates in close to generate traffic and bounces. It was what GRG did to the Stars. Watch to see not just the quantity of shots but the types of shots that go toward the Ads’ net. That will help tell a little bit more about how Texas is going about their game.
~Le Fin~
Thanks very much, Stephen. You can follow along with him on Twitter. You can, and should, also bookmark 100 Degree Hockey. It’s a great all-around AHL website to check in on.
Expectations for tonight’s game? After a relatively relaxed schedule these last few weeks do you think it will be nice for the Admirals to get a long bit of time on the road to rejuvenate the minds a bit? The Texas Stars score a ton of goals but also allow a boat load as well. Are we in for a track meet these two games in Texas?
The Milwaukee Admirals won 2-1 on the road against the Chicago Wolves Sunday afternoon at the Allstate Arena.
Entering the third period the Admirals trailed 1-0 but saw a goal from Kevin Fiala in the opening minute of the frame level the playing field. Then it became the Russian Hammer show as Vladislav Kamenev got involved in his first fight in professional hockey during the third period. The teenager would then be the closer to tonight’s game as he put away a rebound with 2:12 remaining in regulation to cap off a three-in-three weekend for the Admirals where they claimed five out of a possible six points.
As has been the featured story of the weekend the first period came and went without a goal being scored. The opening goal wouldn’t come until midway through the second period and would come the way of the Wolves on the power-play. Jordan Schmaltz was priming to fire a shot to the net from the left wing but opted to set his sights off to the side of Marek Mazanec where Jeremy Welsh was crashing from the low right wing. The Wolves defenseman let loose on the shot pass and caught Welsh clean on the redirect for the forward’s thirteenth goal of the season.
Of note, the Admirals road power-play this season has only allowed fifteen power-play goals from one-hundred-and-four penalty kills. The Wolves have accounted for eight of those power-play goals by doing that damage at the Allstate Arena this season.
Only two-minutes after the power-play goal for the Wolves and the Admirals earned themselves a penalty shot that could have drawn them back to level terms. A fast sequence of passes put Félix Girard on a breakaway from the face-off circles in on Pheonix Copley but was taken down from behind by Zack Phillips. On the penalty shot Girard swooped down the left wing side of the ice, held forehand, and tried to snap a wrist shot over the pads blocker side of Copley but didn’t get the elevation he was looking for.
The Admirals were able to equalize just fifty-seven seconds into the third period after a terrible defensive zone turnover by Ivan Barbashyov. The Wolves had four men back in their own zone looking to breakout while the Admirals had Adam Payerl trailing behind them. Barbashyov lost the handle and it led directly to a quick one-two with Payerl passing across Copley to find Kevin Fiala on the backdoor where he’d score his sixteenth goal of the season.
It wouldn’t be much of an Amtrak Rivalry game without a fight, right? Out of all of the possible combatants I don’t think many would have picked out Vladislav Kamenev versus Danny Kristo to go down but it did after the Russian laid out Kristo behind the Admirals net. Kristo had Kamenev’s number following the hit and the two locked horns long after a whistle came. It wasn’t a long scrap at all but Kamenev landed a clean overhand right that dropped Kristo and, in the fall to the ice, the two actually managed to mangle the right ankle of linesman William Hancock. Thankfully the linesman would skate off the pain and carry on for the rest of the game.
With 2:12 remaining in regulation the Admirals scored to take a 2-1 lead. Stefan Elliott hammered a low shot that spilled out in front of Copley. The man quickest to react to rebound was Kamenev to smacked the puck around the right pad of Copley to score his eleventh goal of the season.
The Wolves went empty net with 1:24 remaining in regulation and ended up getting a power-play with twenty-seven seconds remaining. With effectively two extra attackers the Wolves ran out of time as the Admirals held on to the 2-1 lead for their second win in less than twenty-four hours.
The win today for the Admirals pushes their record to 40-20-3-1 (84 points) with a points percentage of 0.646. It is the first time since the 2012-13 season that the Admirals have hit the forty wins plateau and there are still eleven games remaining on the 2015-16 season schedule.
Ramblings: Prior to today’s game the Nashville Predators recalled both Gabriel Bourque and Eric Nystrom from their long-term injury loans. Today’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, Devane-Bass-Pendenza, Elliott-Mullen, Näkyvä-Aronson, Oligny-Potter. Today’s scratches were: Trevor Murphy (healthy), Cody Hodgson (upper body), Johan Alm (lower body).
Thoughts on today’s game? What did you think of the Milwaukee Admirals ability to battle back late in today’s game? How impressed are you right now with the line combination of Kevin Fiala, Vladislav Kamenev, and Adam Payerl?
After participating in two games in two days both Gabriel Bourque and Eric Nystrom have been recalled by the Nashville Predators early from their long-term injury loans.
Nashville, Tenn. (March 20, 2016) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has recalled forwards Gabriel Bourque and Eric Nystrom from Long-Term Injury loans with Milwaukee (AHL). They each played a pair of games vs. Charlotte on Friday (2-1 shootout loss) and Saturday (6-2 win).
Bourque, 25 (9/23/90), went scoreless in this weekend’s games, and has appeared in four games for the Admirals in two Long-Term Injury Loans over the past four weeks. He has missed the Predators last 50 games after leaving the team’s Nov. 27 game at Philadelphia with an upper-body injury. In 22 NHL games in 2015-16, the Rimouski, Quebec native has four points (1g-3a).
Nystrom, 33 (2/14/83), scored a goal in Saturday’s win, his first action since sustaining a broken foot on Jan. 26 at Vancouver. He has missed Nashville’s last 23 games, and has seven goals/points in 40 games with the Predators this season.
The Nashville Predators commence a four-game home stand Monday night when they face off against the Los Angeles Kings at 7 p.m. (TV: FOX Sports Tennessee; Radio: 102.5 The Game). The game will feature several special promotions and events, with Mike Fisher’s 1,000th game celebration and tribute taking place prior to face off. The team will also be hosting 90’s night, and will be selling hot dogs for just $1 during the evening. A limited number of tickets remain, fans can purchase tickets by visiting NashvillePredators.com, or by calling 615-770-7800.
The two were eligible to play in this afternoon’s game with the Milwaukee Admirals but Nystrom had suggested this weekend that fatigue might dictate not playing throughout the three-in-three. The veteran forward also said that “he was leaving Sunday” so that, combined with a fatigue factor, probably speaks to the early call up.
I feel both Bourque and Nystrom looked great considering both had such long lay offs since their last piece of game action. There was no lag effect for either and Bourque, in particular, played with a hot motor throughout the Admirals two-games against the Charlotte Checkers. He was running over just about everyone on the ice and reminded me a lot of Miikka Salomäki‘s style of play. As for Nystrom, he played a smooth first game and appeared to play with an extra level of confidence last night. In the process he just so happened to get rewarded by going to the net and getting a redirect goal for his first AHL goal since 2/17/08 when he scored twice as a member of the Quad City Flames. Both Predators players were on a line with Cody Bass for those games and Admirals head coach Dean Evason was quick to acknowledge how well that group played after last night’s game.
First things first, this edition of Chatterbox will be your “Jack of all trades” to recap last night and prep you for this afternoon’s contest on the road against the Chicago Wolves.
In the recap department, the Admirals 6-2 win over the Charlotte Checkers was a real feel good performance for the team. I say that because it could have well gone drastically different. After such a one-sided first period where the Admirals generated three power-play chances, out-shot the Checkers 14-5, and had numerous other shots aimed for damage get blocked – they still ended the period scoreless. Worse, the Checkers came out of the first intermission and scored in the opening minute of the second period. That could have been a punch in the gut or a “it’s going to be one of those games” sort of moments. But, thankfully, it wasn’t.
I think a big credit should be given to the Admirals for sticking to the program and doing what they did in the first period until they got the breakthrough that they needed to open the floodgates. The Admirals weren’t doing anything wrong. The Checkers defensively were just doing an incredible job selling the body, blocking shots, and allowing for good sight-lines for John Muse to make relaxed saves in net. The pressure was mounting, it was forcing the Checkers to get sloppy in their own zone detail wise as well as to take some bad penalties, and the Admirals first goal of the night seemed to finally lessen some of the stress levels to their game. If not that first goal – the power-play goal that followed it 2:43 of ice-time after it certainly did. From there the momentum that was brewing was finally unleashed and it lead to a quick goal out of the second intermission and a fourth successive goal not too far after that. The following damage that was done was just a welcome sight to see the team operate so strongly in attack at even strength.
~Chatterbox~
After last night’s game I had the chance to speak with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason as well as Matt White, Max Görtz, Eric Nystrom, and Kevin Fiala. I also was able to speak with the President of the Admirals Jon Greenberg prior to the game and he was very kind to speak at great length about the move to the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. This was all the chatter from around the rink yesterday.
~Scouting the Enemy~
Before even making Amtrak Rivalry shrapnel jokes I feel like it’s worth looking at the Admirals themselves. The Admirals record now stands at 39-20-3-1 (82 points). That is more points than the Admirals hauled in all of last season and there are still twelve-games remaining in the schedule. With the Rockford IceHogs going on a bit of a cold stretch as of late it has the Admirals 0.641 points percentage up into second place of the Central Division and third place in the Western Conference standings. Those division leading Grand Rapids Griffins though? They’re still rolling on a now thirteen-game winning streak.
The Chicago Wolves enter today’s game with a record of 28-28-5-3 (64 points). Their 0.500 points percentage has them seated sixth in the Central Division and twelfth in the Western Conference standings.
In the Wolves last ten-games they’ve been on a run of 4-3-2-1 (11 points). As their overall points percentage suggests – that’s nothing too special. Allow me to counter that by directing you to what the Wolves have accomplished in their last two games as they beat the IceHogs 4-1 in Chicago and then 4-3 in overtime last night in Rockford. Needless to say that is impressive – especially given the IceHogs were still the aggressors. The man in the spotlight there to bail the Wolves out was Jordan Binnington who started both games and stopped 66/70 shots on goal for a 0.943 save percentage in those contests.
It’s in saying exactly that where you get a sense for where this game might possibly be won or dictated all within the opening period of today’s game. The Wolves, like the Admirals, are at the end of a three-in-three weekend. The Wolves, unlike the Admirals, were the ones playing high stress defensive minded hockey and did so while also having to bus back and forth between games. It doesn’t sound like much but it takes a toll. The Admirals are fresh off of a game that was a freeing experience to the one Friday night was. The offense exploded. And the Wolves might be dreading the snowball effect that they could have felt they dodged last night finally rolling them over – finding them again today wearing an Admirals uniform instead.
The start of this afternoon’s game should provide a lot of answers as to: (1) Are the Admirals still in goal frenzy mode? (2) Are the Wolves going to be able to match the work-rate of the Admirals? I don’t feel as if the Wolves provide anywhere near the level of defensive quality that the Admirals just battled through with the Checkers blocking so many shots. If anything, it may have opened the team’s eyes as to how to better manage their offensive zone time and generate offense by way of cycling to open up areas of the ice due to defensive misalignment or draw penalties and attack on the power-play. The Wolves are 3-5-1-1 against the Admirals this season. What do they have left in the gas tank to do what the Checkers couldn’t last night?
Comments on the comments from last night? What impressed you the most in rehards to the improvements made by the Milwaukee Admirals from Friday to Saturday’s game against the Charlotte Checkers? Will the Admirals offense of last night be packing the same level of heat today in Chicago at the end of this three-in-three weekend?
The Milwaukee Admirals won 6-2 against the Charlotte Checkers Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Tonight’s meeting between the Admirals and Checkers wasn’t at all like the struggle that last night. Instead, the Admirals offense unloaded thirty-nine of shots on goal and went on a string of scoring four unanswered goals to leap back into the win column tonight.
“Certainly, we’ve talked about five-on-five not having the success as of late,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “Fortunate our [power-play] got a real big goal there as well. Penalty kill was good again. Hopefully that gives our group confidence that we can score five-on-five and, if we do the right things – which we thought we did, that we’ll get rewarded for it.”
Similar to last night’s game the opening goal wouldn’t come until the second period. Unlike last night’s game it came the way of the enemy in red. A rapid-fire start for the Checkers gave them a two-on-one rush and goal just fifty-eight seconds into the second period. Ethan Werek passed over to Checkers top scorer and team captain Derek Ryan who snapped a one-timer off from the left wing and past Juuse Saros for his nineteenth goal of the season.
In the final four-minutes of the second period the Admirals finally found rewards for all their attacking pressure. Kevin Fiala made a strong drive from the left wing wall, caught John Muse getting low with his paddle down early, and snapped a shot off his back and in for his fifteenth goal of the season.
“I mean, a goal is a goal,” smiled Kevin Fiala. “It counts but it was not beautiful. Not every goal is beautiful but it was important I think. To score 1-1 is very important to get us going.”
The Admirals needed 2:43 of ice time to tack-on to Fiala’s tally and take the lead. Kyle Hagel was called for tripping to get the Admirals on their fourth power-play of the night. This set the stage for Max Görtz to whip a wrister from the top of the left wing face-off circle and score his fourteenth goal of the season. The shot by Görtz appeared to take a glancing touch off of Keegan Lowe’s stick and sent it fluttering up and over the blocker of Muse into the roof of the net.
The Checkers scored in the opening minute of the second period. The Admirals decided to mirror that and score their third unanswered goal to start the third period. Stefan Elliott threw a puck to the net where Eric Nystrom was battling for the front of the crease with Mike Cornell. The puck deflected off the traffic in front of Muse and Nystrom was credited with the deflection for his first goal in the AHL since 2/17/08 when he scored twice as a member of the Quad City Flames.
Following the goal the Checkers decided to yank Muse from net in favor of Daniel Altshuller. It may have been a harsh move against Muse but his night ended with him stopping 23/26 shots on goal.
Altshuller was given a rather quick introduction to the game. The Admirals continued to pour pressure on offense and then came the fourth unanswered goal. Patrick Mullen blistered a head hunter of a shot from the point and Matt White caught a piece of the puck as it whistled past with his stick. The puck flew in and there were immediate calls for that deflection by White to have been played with a high stick. The referees talked it out and decided against it. The goal counted and counted as White’s eighth of the season.
The run for the Admirals finally came to a halt when Checkers captain Ryan scored his second of the night. Werek’s initial shot on Saros appeared to be saved but the puck had enough juice on it to keep motoring behind the Finnish netminder and fall into the crease. Ryan continued his drive to the net and was rewarded with his twentieth goal of the season.
The Admirals would re-establish their three-goal lead once again and do so off of an incredible piece of skill by White. The Admirals forward dangled from the right wing, across the slot, dodging stick-checks, and bending a wrist shot against the grain and through Altshuller for his second goal of the game and ninth of the season.
“I wanted to pass it to [Adam Payerl],” commented Matt White of the goal. “He made a nice play at the blueline so I kind of wanted to return the favor. But I just tried to make a move, the goalie was sliding over, just tried to hit the net, and it went in.”
For good measure the Admirals smacked in one more goal and it would be a second tally for Görtz. The Swede fought off a defender, nearly fell down while doing so, but regained his balance to unload a wrister to the near post from the left wing face-off circle that smoked past Altshuller for Görtz’s fifteenth goal of the season.
“We actually reinforced after the game that if we get pucks deep and we cycle and get that part of our game in order – we’re going to score goals,” said Evason. “Because we have enough skill level once we get the puck in their zone to the middle of the ice but, a lot of times, we take it to the middle too quickly and then look for that opportunity. That’s where the blocks come in. If we can cycle, get people out of their position defensively, and then bring it to that core area we feel we are going to have a chance to have success.”
Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played last night there were no roster moves made throughout the organization. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, Nystrom-Bass-Bourque, White-Girard-Görtz, Oligny-Potter, Elliott-Mullen, Murphy-Aronson. Tonight’s scratches tonight were: Kristian Näkyvä (healthy), Jamie Devane (healthy), Cody Hodgson (upper body), Joe Pendenza (healthy), and Johan Alm (lower body).
Thoughts on tonight’s game? Was this a return to form for the Milwaukee Admirals offense? How does a game like this bode for tomorrow’s game in Chicago?
As always, I really like to let games such as last night digest for myself before spitting out a take on the game. The Milwaukee Admirals lost 2-1 in a shootout to the Charlotte Checkers. It was a game that they led until 5:10 remaining but a 1-0 lead isn’t something I would consider all that comfortable. The Checkers force overtime, they had the best chance of the overtime period, and the Admirals heavy hitters in the shootout weren’t able to get a breakthrough. If any of the Admirals go-to guys in the shootout deliver that game was yet another shootout win. It didn’t happen. The Checkers won in the fourth round of the shootout and the Admirals left a point on the table.
The simple question I asked myself on the drive home last night was this: was that a bad game by the Admirals?
Again, this is why I digest these games before generally writing Chatterbox because, if asked right after that game, I probably say the Checkers just won that game more than the Admirals lost the game. Was it bad? No. I felt the Admirals had yet another great effort in net by Marek Mazanec. Players such as Pontus Åberg, Kevin Fiala, and Gabriel Bourque played with a great spark. John Muse just matched the performance down at the opposite end of the rink last night. There were rarely second or third chance opportunities off of either goaltender last night and that’s a credit to Mazanec and Muse handling rebounds and freezes so well.
If there were any area of concern attached to the Admirals performance last night it’s the offense. The scoreline through regulation sort of says enough but it also isn’t actually something all that new for the Admirals to have the offense struggling. In the Admirals last ten-games they have gone 5-4-0-1. In their last six-games they have traded wins and losses. Those last ten-games the Admirals have posted 30 shots on goal through three periods of regulation just three times. The forwards are being tied up and the defensemen have been the ones delivering lots of shots to the net which goaltenders are dealing with – with ease. A bit more has to be done from a creative standpoint for the Admirals than to simply take those wide perimeter level shots.
Was it a bad game by the Admirals? No. The Admirals are still going through a bit of a lull, taking a step forward – step back – forward – then back, but the Admirals are still better than eleven other teams in the Western Conference. The Admirals now have 80 points on the season. The Admirals had 81 points all of last season. The Admirals lull this season isn’t too bad in perspective. All they really need is what they get today in the form of a chance to deliver a better, out and out, sixty minutes of hockey.
~Chatterbox~
After last night’s game I had the chance to speak with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason as well as forwards Pontus Åberg and Eric Nystrom. This is what they had to say after the game.
Comments on the comments? What are you looking for the Admirals offense to get done tonight that didn’t go right last night? What changes must be made overnight?
The Milwaukee Admirals lost 2-1 in a shootout against the Charlotte Checkers Friday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
This was the first shootout loss for the Admirals from eight shootout games on the season. It also marked the first loss for the Admirals after leading the game through two periods of play. Previously the team was 27-0-0-0 until tonight’s shootout loss.
It wouldn’t be until the second period when the game had its opening goal. Corey Potter snapped a stretch pass from deep in the Admirals defensive zone that bounced around Frédérick Gaudreau and Dennis Robertson. The two went to swat the puck at the same time and the path the puck chose to go was fortunate for the Admirals as it went directly into the path of an on-rushing Pontus Åberg. The speed that the Swede was carrying while Mike Cornell was caught puck watching left only John Muse in net to beat – and beat him he did. Åberg slammed on the breaks and flipped forehand to score his eighteenth goal of the season.
The AHL isn’t immune to some bizarre moments but what happened as soon as the second period came to an end has to stack up there as the wackiest moment of the 2015-16 season. The horn sounded, the Admirals left for the locker room, but the Checkers remained with their coaching staff seemingly upset. After a lengthy delay the announcement was made that they were using their challenge to see whether or not they had scored a goal with two-minutes remaining in the period. The Admirals coaching staff walked back out of the locker room to see what was what. The only players of the Admirals that stayed present through all of the delay were Marek Mazanec and Juuse Saros and all members of the Checkers stayed on their bench. The call came in and it was announced as, “no goal.” This delayed the start of the second intermission for a good amount of time but, hey, that was extra recovery time for the Admirals who were already in cooldown mode in the locker room as this challenge from the Checkers came and went with them losing and losing their timeout.
The third period was close to providing yet another dazzling goal from Åberg but instead left the game level with 5:10 remaining. Åberg cut through several members of the Checkers but Muse was able to fend off his shot this time. On the following counter rush from the Checkers they finally put a puck past Mazanec to end the shutout streak of the Admirals over the Checkers that lasted 115:40 of ice time over the course of three-games. Jake Chelios delivered a snapshot from the high slot that missed the sliding block attempt of Patrick Mullen and flew over the top of Mazanec’s gloves for the defenseman’s sixth goal of the season.
This game would be pushed into overtime and it was there that saw an incredible amount of nearly-almost moments. Derek Ryan whipped a backhander that beat Mazanec and banked off the crossbar, into the path of Keegan Lowe, and the follow up shot missed wide.
The game fell to a shootout where the Admirals would lose their first shootout of the season. The lone goal scored in the shootout came in round four where Justin Shugg beat Mazanec five-hole for a Checkers shootout victory.
Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Sunday the organization agreed to a new ten-year lease to make the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena the team’s home starting in the 2016-17 season. The Admirals also saw two members of the Nashville Predators, Gabriel Bourque and Eric Nystrom, arrive on long-term injury loan. The conditions of their loan should be fulfilled by completing this weekend’s games for the Admirals. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, Nystrom-Bass-Bourque, White-Girard-Görtz, Oligny-Potter, Elliott-Mullen, Murphy-Aronson. Tonight’s scratches were: Kristian Näkyvä (healthy), Jamie Devane (upper body), Cody Hodgson (upper body), Joe Pendenza (healthy), and Johan Alm (lower body).
Reactions to tonight’s game? Was this a slow offensive performance because of the time off you think? Despite the shootout loss, are you still satisfied with Marek Mazanec and the defense’s effort tonight?
You know in infomercials when they’re getting towards the finish and state: but wait – that’s not all. After the wild news week for the Milwaukee Admirals securing a venue to call home for the next ten-years the fact that we now approach a three-in-three weekend has that exact same feeling. The focus immediately shifts from the future to the here and now. And that should also be plenty exciting.
~Checking Out The Checkers~
The Charlotte Checkers enter tonight’s game with a record of 31-25-3-3 (68 points). Their 0.548 points percentage has them in fifth place of the Central Division and eighth place in the Western Conference standings.
Prior to meeting the Admirals twice this weekend in Milwaukee the Checkers just about played a mini-playoff series against the Rockford IceHogs and came up big. They had beaten the Chicago Wolves twice and proceeded to beat the IceHogs rather soundly on home ice by scores of 6-3 and 4-1. That was followed with a tight contest in Rockford Tuesday night when the lone goal of the game came in the third period for the IceHogs to squeak out a 1-0 shutout.
Of note, the man behind that shutout for the IceHogs just so happens to be a news-worthy subject in connection to these two-games in Milwaukee with the Checkers. Drew MacIntyre was in net for the IceHogs delivering the 30-save shutout against his old team since being traded for defenseman Dennis Robertson. In place of MacIntyre the Checkers received a familiar face to their blueline as Robertson played with the Checkers out of Brown University and for the entire 2014-15 season.
That wasn’t the only returning name to the Checkers, either. John Muse, the goaltender who Magnus Hellberg beat up (video highlight), also returned to the Checkers. Muse fills the void that MacIntyre left and has played in 6 games for the Checkers since his return and has a 1.63 goals against average and 0.929 save percentage.
You might also notice there is a familiar name for the Checkers no longer on the roster. Zach Boychuk, a noted fan of Admirals Roundtable, was swapped out with Andrew Miller of the Bakersfield Condors. While both are technically considered loans back-and-fourth it is very much like an AHL trade. Remember when Kevin Henderson and Francis Wathier were flipped between the Admirals and Stars? Same thing, really.
What the Checkers lose in Boychuk they certainly gain with the form that Miller has shown this season. While Boychuk is the Checkers all-time leading scorer it is Miller who has 16 points more of offense in 2015-16. Miller has produced 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists) in 49 games between the Condors and Checkers this season. That makes him second on the Checkers roster in scoring this season behind team captain Derek Ryan who has 43 points (18 goals, 25 assists) in 60 games. Miller has scored 2 goals in his first 5 games as a member of the Checkers.
This Checkers team is fairly different from when the Admirals last played them. What are you expecting out of these games Friday and Saturday? Gabriel Bourque and Eric Nystrom are both active participants for the Admirals this weekend. Who do you feel ends up being the odd-men out of the lineup should Cody Hodgson and Jamie Devane remain banged up?
Admirals Roundtable 