Author: Ryan

Game Recaps

Bourque Ties It, Thang Wins It In OT

Earlier in the week, it was the Stars that sent a game to OT with a last minute goal, and eventually winning it in the extra period.

Tonight, it was the Admirals with that storyline.  Gabriel Bourque tied it with 4.4 seconds left in the third period, and Ryan Thang fired a laser into the top left corner of the net with 3:31 left in the overtime period.

“That was a good hockey game by both teams, really,” Coach Lambert said after the game.  “Obviously, both teams could have won the game and we managed to turn the tables on them a little bit with some late game heroics and get that one back.  The ‘wow’ for me wasn’t so much the result, it was more the game itself.  That was one of the best hockey games I’ve seen in a long long time.”

Those two shots by Bourque and Thang spoiled a magnificent performance by Stars goaltender Richard Bachman, who stopped 36 of 38 Milwaukee shots, with many of them quality scoring chances.

Jeremy Smith was no slouch either, as he stopped 40 of 41 shots on the night — a career high in saves.  The only one that got by him was a power play goal midway through the first period.   A shot went off of Philip Larsen, off Roman Josi, and bounced right to Raymond Sawada in front of the net.  He finished the play, and has been arguably the best skater for the Stars this season.

Here’s Coach on Smitty.

“I thought he played good, I thought he made a number of terrific saves to keep the score at 1-0, and allow us an opportunity to come back, and that’s what he did — he gave us a chance to come back.”

Gabriel Bourque scored his fifth of the playoffs with just 4.4 seconds left in the game.  Positioned in front of the crease, he received an end zone feed from Chris Mueller, kicked it to his forehand, and then lifted it over Bachman.

“He did that in game one too, on the goal he scored late in the second period,” Coach reminded us.  “He’s got quick hands quick feet and good skills, and he showed that on that last goal.”

On their way to the locker rooms (the teams don’t have an exit from their benches….the Stars leave through the corner, and the visitors from directly behind the net on that end), Kelsey Wilson and Brenden Dillon collected fighting majors, and there was mutual pushing and shoving along the boards, as both teams were on the ice.  Captains of both teams were in there pulling their guys away from the scrum, but it was only Wilson and Dillon that collected penalties.

In the OT period, the teams alternated stretches of some pretty good momentum, but about midway through the period, the ice seemed to be tilted towards Bachman.

Ryan Thang led a 3-on-2 rush, and the defender gave him the open lane to shoot.  So he did.  It was a slapper from the top of the near face-off circle, and it beat Bachman over his right shoulder.

“I’ve been trying to look for passes most of the series, and tonight I showed up to the rink (saying) I’m going to be a shooter,” Thang said after the game.  “Bachman is obviously a great goalie and he’s been seeing a lot of shots, stopping a lot of shots and making some great saves.  Tonight I was pulling the trigger even if guys were in the lane, hoping to get some through.  Obviously, Van Guilder made a great play, it was a 3-on-2 rush.  The D kind of stayed with Van Guilder and it cleared up the lane for me.  Coach has been stressing all week that if you’ve got a lane, you got to shoot the puck.  I was fortune to get one past Bachman — it doesn’t happen very often.”

NOTES AND Q’S

LINES:

Wilson – Bartlett – Thuresson
Conacher – Van Guilder – Thang
Bourque – Mueller – Beck
Flynn – Latta – Begin

Santorelli, Hunter, and Ryan were scratched.

The Stars were 1-4 on the power play, the Admirals were 0-4.

Wilson looked pretty good, and certainly agitated the Stars over the course of the game.

Thuresson got his first shots on goal for the series.  But his highlight of the game was checking Mathieu Tousignant over and into the Admirals bench.  Earlier in the game, Tousignant put a huge check/charge on/into Scott Ford that went uncalled, so it was nice justice.

Bourque said after the game that it was the most important goal he’s ever scored.

Smitty has been playing great.  If Dex gets healthy, is he automatically the #1 guy again, or do you dance with the guy that brought you here?

Is Bourque punching his ticket to Nashville for next season?

How loud did it get at Goolsby’s when Bourque scored?

So the Admirals will return home with a 3 games to 2 lead in the series.  What do the Admirals need to do to finish off this Stars team on Monday?

News

Kelsey Wilson May Play Tonight

If you follow Jon Greenberg on Twitter, you may already know this….but Kelsey Wilson is in Texas, and may play tonight.

And if so — what a speedy recovery for a guy that was on crutches for awhile there.  I think some major kudos would be in order for Kelsey for his dedication to rehab, and probably for strength and conditioning coach Jason Nordby for working with him and putting him in a position to succeed.

With this match-up against Texas, I think Kelsey would be a great addition to the lineup.  Agree?  Disagree?

Game Recaps

Secondary Scoring Help Arrives, Ads Tie Series

Gabriel Bourque and Chris Mueller have provided the vast majority of Admirals offense in this series.  And Wednesday night in Texas, some other players stepped up to the plate.

Taylor Beck scored his first professional goal, and Mark Van Guilder scored the game-winner, as the Admirals held on to defeat the Texas Stars 3-2.

“Obviously we needed secondary scoring — that’s why we made some changes,” Coach Lambert said after the game.  Coach made changes on all four forward lines for tonight’s lineup.  “The Mueller Bourque Thang line is doing all the scoring for us.  We can’t win without secondary scoring.  Tonight we got it.”

Although it was Bourque who opened the scoring.  On a power play, Chris Mueller fed a cross-ice pass to Roman Josi, pinching to the far face-off dot.  Josi fired a quick pass to Bourque who had the open shot in the low slot, and beat Richard Bachman at 14:03 of the first period.

Scott Glennie tied the game at 6:25 of the second period, on a play in which I’ll equally credit Glennie and blame Jeremy Smith and Aaron Johnson.  Glennie put his first shot on net from the top of the near face-off dot.  Pretty easy save for Smith, but he kicked it right back out where it came from.  Glennie followed his shot, and Aaron Johnson was unable to tie him up or lift his stick.

About six minutes later, the Admirals regained the lead with Beck’s first professional goal.  (after the game, we’re still unsure whether someone grabbed the puck….we think Mueller may have picked it up).  On a power play, Grant Lewis had a good shot/pass from the near face-off circle that went off of someone’s skates in front of the crease….looked like it may have been Bourque’s, but they didn’t give him the assist.  The puck deflected to a wide open Beck at the bottom of the far face-off circle.

3:13 into the third, Van Guilder scored the eventual game winner.  Ryan Thang fed a pass towards Cory Conacher in the slot.  Conacher couldn’t quite control it, but neither could the defender that was tangling with him.  While they both unsuccessfully tried to play the puck, Van Guilder snuck in there and put a shot on net while he was being tripped.

The Stars got one back on a five-on-three power play that was just silly.  Aaron Johnson earned his cross-checking penalty, but Van Guilder was whistled for holding as the Stars broke out on a play from behind their net.  One of the tickiest-tackiest calls I’ve ever seen.  Greg Rallo got the the goal from the far face-off dot, on a play that Coach says they should have stopped.

“That five-on-three that they had, it’s a play that we’ve completely prepared for.  And we missed the assignment on it.  We’ve got to be better on that five-on-three.  I mean, we knew it was coming to Rallo.  He’s scored three OT winners from that spot this year.”

Down the stretch, the Admirals were able to hang on, and Mark Van Guilder comments on the mindset the team had on the cie during the waning minutes of the game.

“I think for some reason it felt differently today.  It felt like we were just playing better.  Yesterday it seemed like we were just holding on….  We saw it as more of a challenge this time, like we’re not going to let it happen again.”

NOTES AND QUESTIONS:

Lines:

Bourque – Mueller – Beck
Thang – Van Guilder – Conacher
Hunter – Bartlett – Thuresson
Santorelli – Latta – Begin

Ryan Flynn and Ben Ryan were scratched.  And I don’t think they were particularly missed.  Here’s Coach on the line changes…

“Beck got his first profesisonal goal, had a few other chances as well, so he looked good in the game.  We felt like he could probably come in and play with our top line.  He was a high point producer in junior and a high pick.  He came in and did a real good job tonight.  And we were able to balance our lines out a little bit more.  We put Conacher’s speed in the game as well, and i thought his battle level was real good. ”

What do you think of those line combos?  Potential?  Think we’ll see them again on Friday?

Smith had some issues playing the puck again tonight, and found himself fortunate the a shot didn’t go off his skates and in the net as he was scampering back to the crease.  Still, he made 30 and 32 saves on the night.  As touched on earlier, rebounds were still an issue, but for the most part, the defenders and backcheckers were able to scoot pucks out of trouble.

Herbie took a puck to the head on the bench.  He’ll be okay.  But officially, we’ll call it an upper-body injury. (har har har)

If we don’t see Mark Lemelin again for awhile, that would be okay with me.

It’s interesting to watch the Stars, because it sometimes seems that they can turn on their aggression and start to dominate play whenever they damn well feel like it.

Took them two and a half minutes to clean up their chuck a puck.  Our crew usually gets it done in less than 45 seconds.

Very strong game from Laakso and Josi.  Roman had a potentially game saving pass block on a 2-on-1 rush late in the game.  Lewis is getting caught up ice more and more often, but his physical play has been welcome.

Thuresson was horrible in the first period, but seemed to play with some more urgency the rest of the way.  Still, he is SHOTLESS in the series so far.  Shoot the puck Cal Andreas.

And finally, he’s Coach Lambert to wrap it up for the night.

“Key to Friday’s game is to understand that we need to have a better effort than we had tonight, and come out and take momentum right from the start.”

News

What THEY’RE Saying

Here are some soundbytes from Coach Gulutzan, as the teams get ready for Game 3 on Tuesday night.

On the concept of “home ice advantage”, and on Milwaukee’s road record.

The Stars lost all three home games to the Hershey Bears in the finals last year…and that’s something that a lot of people on this roster should remember.  So they’re taking home ice advantage with a grain of salt.  And Milwaukee’s road record is pretty impressive.  Most points in the conference on the road, and third in the entire league.

Coach Gulutzan on the transformation of his team from Game 1 to Game 2.

That last part pretty much sums up Game 2 in five seconds.  Focus, specialty teams, puck luck, and goaltending down the stretch.  That’s the recipe for success.  That Admirals need to stir up their own batch of that Tuesday night.

If you get to Goolsby’s at 7pm and are wondering if they’re in a rain delay or something….please be advised that the game is scheduled to start at 7:30!

(Thanks to Josh Fisher w/ the Stars for the audio)

Game Recaps

Stars Net Two On The Power Play, Take Game 2

A parade to the Admiral penalty box in the middle of the game led to two power play goals for Texas, as the Stars took Game 2 of the playoff series with a 3-1 final score.

You can check out Hundred Degree Hockey’s recap here.

“At the end of the day that’s the difference in the game,” Coach Lambert said.  “Their power play scored and ours didn’t, and their penalty kill held and ours didn’t.  Special teams are going to be a huge factor in these games, and we’ve got to find a way to win that special teams battle.

“I think the frustrating part was we took some bad penalties too.  We talk about discipline and staying out of the box against that hockey team, and they’ve got a good power play.  Eventually it’s going to catch up to you.”

Things were looking promising for the Admirals and their special teams in the first period, and they did what the Stars couldn’t do in game one – convert on the 5-on-3 power play.  With Brenden Dillon and Maxime Fortunus in the penalty box, Teemu Laakso gave the Admirals a 1-0 lead with a shot from the high slot.  Laakso and Roman Josi were passing back and forth, waiting for a shooting lane to open up, and Laakso’s shot beat Richard Bachman stick side.

The Admirals ended the game 1/7 on the power play.

With 3:11 left in the first period, the Stars scored what looked to be a game-tying goal.  A centering pass from the near boards went off of Raymond Sawada while he was being worked over by Brett Palin on their way to the crease.  The referee behind the goal line ruled it a goal, but Jeremy Smith got up right away and did some air-kicks to show everyone what he thought about the play.  The two referees discussed it at center ice, and to our surprise, waived it off.  In the NHL, the play would go to Toronto for review.  But in the AHL?  It’s up to the guys in the black and white striped shirts.  We try to be objective, and Sutty and I think the Admirals probably got away with that one.

Cory Conacher got called for tripping with 1:51 left in the first, after waiving his stick at a guy while he skated by in front of the Stars net.  That opened up the doors of the Milwaukee penalty box, as the next six penalties went against the Admirals into the 3rd period.

“We can handle taking penalties that are warranted, but we can’t have little trips in front of their net 200 feet in front of our goal, or cross-checks behind the net,” Coach said.  “We shot ourselves in the foot with that.”

Philip Larsen took a Travis Morin pass that Jeremy Smith appeared to think was going to go across the ice.  Larsen tapped it in past Smith.  Sawada looked to be in the crease, but it was ruled a good goal.

Aaron Gagnon got credit for a goal about two and half minutes later.  Smith made an initial save, and then Gagnon and Andreas Thuresson were tied up heading to the crease.  The puck went off Gagnon and in.

In the 3rd period, Ryan Thang was assessed a ghost holding penalty, and the combination of Travis Morin and Raymond Sawada made them pay.  From the far boards, Sawada skated with the puck behind the net.  Smith thought he was going to come out the other side, but Sawada instead offered a no-look backhand pass to Morin, who had a vacated net to shoot at.  Great decision and great play by Sawada, and boo on Smith for biting.

“The goaltender has to hold that side there, and make sure that that puck is coming out the other side before he moves,” Coach Lambert said.  “Give them credit, they made a great play and it worked.  But you can’t get caught cheating to the other side.”

After Thang’s penalty early in the third, four straight Stars were sent to the box. But the Admirals power play couldn’t convert on any of them.  Bachman made some great glove saves when the Admirals did have some good chances.  Bachman made 29 saves on the night, and should have been a star of the game. (we voted for him)

So now, it’s off to Austin for three road games.  And with the way the Admirals played on the road down the stretch, it may not be the worst thing in the world.

“We’re comfortable playing on the road, and we play well in Texas, so we’ve got that to look forward to,” Coach Lambert said. “Nobody said it was going to be an easy series.  Give them credit, they played hard.  I thought they elevated their game tonight.  We pride ourselves on details and so do they.  We made a mistake on a faceoff play that can’t happen.  You never know what little thing is going to end up hurting you and costing you a hockey game.”

NOTES:

Lines were the same as last game.

Bourque – Mueller – Thang
Thuresson – Van Guilder – Conacher
Santorelli  – Begin – Beck
Flynn – Bartlett – Ryan

So from those forward lines, how many of those players would you say were invisible tonight?

Do you like any of the goals that Smith gave up?

Waived off goal……Do you think the officials got the call right?

Mark Dekanich – no update on his progress….but he’s not making the trip.   Looked sharp, though.

Streaky penalties…..Three against the Stars, then six against the Admirals, and then four against the Stars.  Do you think the officials dictated play too much?

Anyone making the trip to Austin?

What adjustments do the Admirals need to make to be better in game 3?

News

Viewing Parties

As we get ready for Game 2 tonight, I thought it would be a good time to remind everyone about the viewing parties for the away games of this series.

If you are not able to make the trek down to Austin for logistical, moral, or legal reasons (ahem…Sutty….he tried messing with Texas….bad idea), you can still gather with fellow Admirals faithful and watch the games on TV.

Game 3 will be on the big screens at MAJOR GOOLSBY’S on Tuesday.

Game 4 will be on the big screens at BUCK BRADLEY’S on Wednesday.

And if game 5 is needed, it will be back at MAJOR GOOLSBY’S on Friday.

The viewing parties for the away games are free to attend, and there are usually some raffles and merch giveaways to keep you entertained during the intermission.  Although, I’d like to see them try to do the human hockey puck down the straight-away at Buck Bradley’s.  That could be pretty sweet.

Viewing parties for games 6 and 7 would be, well, at the Bradley Center.

News

Reader Paper Plate Award Winners

Here are the winners of the media room cookies — I assume that all three of you will be at the BC for Game 2?

11 Mark Santorelli – (submitted by Adsfan) The Alain Lemieux Wrong Brother Award.  Named after former the Admiral and older brother of Mario.  Alain played 30 regular season games for Milwaukee in the 90-91 season, and had 8 goals.  Mark Santorelli had 8 regular season goals this year too!  What a coincidence!

In all seriousness….joking aside…I’ll be the first to say that Mark has been an frequent target for us over the last few years, and thankfully, he hasn’t beaten us up in the hallway, despite having every right to.  I can also say this — Mark got some good minutes and Game 1, and I think he looked like he belonged out there.  Here’s hoping he will be a major contributor to this Calder Cup playoff run.

17 Kelsey Wilson – Pump Up The Jam Award. (Submitted by Ouch) We even had a pretty good discussion about it on the Roundtable earlier this season too… is it okay to ham it up like Kelsey likes to do after a fight?  I think the consensus was 1) if you’re at home, and 2) if you don’t get your butt handed to you.

86 – Linus Klasen – The Simon Gamache Clone Award (submitted by frontrowjon).  I thought his explanation summed Klasen’s season up nicely in one objective sentence.  “He could score from almost anywhere at anytime, but after teams targeted him, he got hurt too much.”

OUCH, I know where you sit.  Expect a delivery.

Adsfan & frontrowjon (although…I’ve got an idea where you sit) please shoot me an email at admiralsroundtable at g mail dot com and let me know your section and row.  I’ll try to get your prizes delivered to you before opening face-off on Saturday.

Thanks to everyone for contributing to the Annual Paper Plate Awards.  Great submissions all around!

News

Game Day Soundbytes

Yesterday was Playoff Media Day, and we got some quotes from Coach, Chris Mueller, and Jeremy Smith.

Let’s start with the injury quotes.

Coach talks about Chris Mueller…..and then Mueller is complimentary of the coach.

Jeremy Smith, on last year’s championship, and how he needs to be ready, no matter what.

Mueller on the adversity the team had to face this season.

And finally, here’s Coach on the first round series against the Stars.  Basically, they’re Taco Bell quotes….same ingredients, different order.

News

Schedule Changes Next Year

As our friend CreedFeed alluded to in the previous post, the AHL has announced some schedule changes that will go into effect starting next season.

The highlights of the plan are:

–  Playing a 76 game schedule instead of an 80 game schedule
– Extending the regular season by one week
– Removing all four-games-in-five-nights stretches from the schedule
– Opening round of the playoffs is a best of 5 series

Commissioner David Andrews had an open letter to AHL fans published today, and I’ll cherry-pick a few quotes…

“As our league has grown and our game has become faster and more physical, the wear and tear on our players from the frequency of games and travel has begun to affect player development and at times the quality of competition.”

 
“These steps are intended to provide a safer environment for our players through increased rest and recovery time, and also provide our fans with an even higher caliber of play as the result of reduced player fatigue.”
 

 

“In the short term, this initiative will require some adjustments to our clubs’ business plans due to the elimination of two home games, but in the long term, it is clearly the right thing to do for our players and our fans.”

 

 

 

I have some mixed feelings about this.  I think it’s kind of shady to go changing things for next season when teams have already been actively preparing for next season, and soliciting money for season tickets.  Two home games is a significant amount of revenue.

And travel is a sensitive subject, when you’ve got the Western Conference teams making some big trips each season, and some Eastern Conference teams who are able to avoid booking hotel rooms completely because they are within busing distance of every opponent.  There isn’t balance between the two conferences at all.

I asked Admirals President Jon Greenberg for some thoughts on the announced changes.  And at the end of the day, the NHL gets what the NHL wants.

“The schedule modification that was put forth by the American Hockey League is supported very strongly by the National Hockey League. We are a developmental league, and our job here from a hockey standpoint is to put our players in the best possible position to succeed. I think that everyone agrees that it’s not advantageous to play that fourth game in five days, even though we looked better the more we played this year.  This year, we had seven four-in-fives (I think), which is difficult on everyone from the players to the coaches to the radio announcer.

“At the end of the day, it is important to understand that the players belong to our NHL affiliate.  Our job here in Milwaukee is to give them the best tools to succeed whether it’s through great facilities which we have, great coaching and training which we have, a great city to live in which we have and great ownership which affords them resources that they might not have in other places.

“From a business standpoint, we will continue to give the best product possible off the ice to surround our great on-ice product.  Having two fewer home games will mean that the 38 that remain will be even more heavily loaded with fun things for fans to do and watch. Having 38 road games means that hopefully there will be some travel savings for the organization.”

I don’t know the numbers of how much revenue a Wednesday night game would bring in, compared to travel costs.  Will the travel savings be enough to offset the revenue of two home games?  If we play less games against North Division, I suppose it’s possible.  If we just cut out a game against Rockford and Chicago, then that doesn’t seem like it would be huge savings in travel.

Jon also advised that for customers who have paid for 40 games in full already….the Admirals won’t be simply keeping the extra money.  The sales staff will be in touch with the customers, and those who still have an outstanding balance will have their billing adjusted.

I’ve got some other thoughts, but let’s get the discussion going from this point here.  Do you like any changes?  Do you buy the rationale used by the league to justify the changes?  Will it be weird for a playoff series to be determined in a best-of-5 series?

News

2010-11 Paper Plate Awards

Ok, we’ll get back to some playoff preview content tomorrow….but for now, a quick fluff piece.

It’s our annual Paper Plate Awards, and we’re leaving some of the nominations to you.  So get creative, and leave your ideas in the comments section of this post.  The best nominations for the three players will get……drumroll please…..the usual media room cookie treatment!  And not just any cookies…..PLAYOFF cookies.  Oh yeah.

And now, on with the awards.

2 Teemu Laakso:  Lost In The Shuffle Award.  When people talk about the great defensemen in the system, they talk about names like Ellis, Josi, and Blum.  Meanwhile, Laakso’s season featured a career high in games, goals, assists, points (of course), and he even had a four game goal scoring streak.  He was also a +15 defensively, tops among Admiral defensemen.  In another system, I think that might be rewarded a bit more.

3   Jon Blum:  It’s Not As Hard As It Looks Award.  We were all surprised when Jon Blum got the call, but the Preds secured the playoff berth with him in the lineup, and he apparently isn’t making the poor decisions that seemed to be all too frequent this season in Milwaukee.  So good for Blummer, and good luck the rest of the way in Nashville.

4 Scott Ford:  Tough Guy By Default Award – Because who else was ever going to drop the gloves?  He did it 19 times this year.  (Kelsey had 15, next was Flynn with 3.)  Ford quietly had a pretty good season on defense.

5  Blake Geoffrion:  Most Likely To Start Next Season In Milwaukee Award.  You’ll get a different opinion on this guy depending on which Roundtable author you ask.  I was underwhelmed by his start to the season.  He had four great games end of January / early February, which somehow was enough to win AHL Player of the Week twice in a row.  Take those four games away, and he’s got 6 goals and 18 assists in 41 games…close to Grant Lewis numbers.  He’s a great PR story for Wisconsin and for Nashville, and it’s my opinion that the PR aspect had more sway than his hockey play did when the Preds elected to call him up and keep him up.  I think he’ll start the season in Milwaukee next year, and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of attitude he brings back to town.

6  Aaron Johnson:  Namesake Of Our Favorite Twitter Running Gag Of The Season Award.  Ahhhh, Johnson’s office.  Johnson took a lot of minor penalties early in the year, and I came down pretty hard on him early on.  I have since come around on the player, but we took his early penalty struggles for a cheap laugh on twitter.  Basically, whenever an Admiral gets a penalty, he goes to “Johnson’s office” to do some mundane task like reloading staplers, checking TPS reports for cover sheets, plan the company teambuilding retreat…..stuff like that.  It’s probably funnier to us than anybody else, but eh, that’s fine.

7  Brett Palin:  Bum Rap Award.  His Mo-vember stache has been made fun of.  People seem to like to bash him in discussion.  He talks to the referees a lot.  But he’s the captain.  He’s supposed to make the case for his team.  He plays a lot of minutes, and frankly, I think he was a pretty good signing for us this season.  I feel a lot more confident with Palin on the ice than ‘his Yonk-ness’.  Off the ice, he was great in the community, and great with fans.  If he re-signed with Nashville this off-season, I would be a fan.

8  Ryan Thang:  Mueller-In-Training Award.  When Chris Mueller got his first call-up to the Predators, Ryan Thang was the guy that stepped up his game the most.  Thang finished the season 3rd on the team in points, and had a team best +17 defensive rating.  When Matt Halischuk was called up, Thang got to play on the same line as Mueller and Gabriel Bourque, and that line has paced this team offensively through the last quarter of the season.

10  Ryan Flynn – Most Likely To Be Confused For A Backup Quarterback Award.  Our friend Matt Moore accidentally referred to him as Matt Flynn a couple of times during an intermission interview.  Matt felt pretty bad about it, but is able to laugh about it now.  Which is good, because it’s pretty hilarious.

11  Mark Santorelli:  (Leave your nomination in the comments section)

12  Andreas Thuresson:  Sahara Desert Award.  Now THAT was a drought.  Thuresson scored a goal October 24th against Chicago.  January 6th, he scored his next goal.  He’s been playing better the last two months, and averaged almost a point per game in March.

17  Kelsey Wilson (Leave your nomination in the comments section)

18  Chris Mueller:  Most Valuable Player Award.  Now THIS is a feel good story.  He played his way to an NHL contract.  The first blip on the radar screen happened during the two games in Lake Erie during the 10 game road trip in November.  Four goals and an assist, a couple of shorties, and a couple of game winners.  Since then, he has meant more to the offense of this team than any other player on the roster.  The Bourque- Mueller – Halischuk line was probably our favorite combination of the year, and since Halischuk departed for Nashville, Mueller and Bourque have continued to be a great pair on the first line.

19  Gabriel Bourque:  Most Improved Player Award.  Speed, tenacity, and now, scoring!  Bourque started to find the scoring touch in February, and is now third on the team in goals scored this year, with 18.  With a great work ethic and some great tools, he’s a pretty good hockey player right now….and he’s only 20 years old.  He’s going to be even better, and it’ll be a treat for us to watch his development.

20  Mike Bartlett:  Least Likely To Have His Own Bobblehead Award.  Guys like him don’t get the glory.  It’s the fighters and the scorers.  But Bartlett is just the kind of guy that Coach loves having on the team.  He’s got the work ethic and the energy, and for awhile there, that line of Flynn – Bartlett – Hunter was playing very well together.  The stats won’t say it, but he had a solid year on a 3rd/4th line.

21  Jamie Lundmark:  Addition By Subtraction Award.  He quit on his team, which I think is the most selfish thing an athlete can do in a team sport.   But in the end, it made the Admirals a better team, so I guess we should be thankful?   He quit so that he could go play 18 games for a team in Sweden, and bring his family along.  They didn’t make the playoffs, so the vacation has been over since early March.  They’re back in the US now, and according to Jamie’s twitter page, he doesn’t know what the plan is for next year.  If some team calls Coach Lambert asking for a reference, I hope Lane doesn’t mince words.

22  Steve Begin:  WebMD Award.  A bit injury prone, but a great guy to have in the locker room, and a great guy to talk about hockey with.  He didn’t have as much of an impact on the scoresheet as I had hoped for, but he has still been an asset to the team.

24 Matt Halischuk:  Put Me In, Coach Award.  He had a five game points streak before the Preds were shutout in the last game of the regular season.  Same amount of games, he has the same number of points as big trade acquisition Mike Fisher.  He’s playing well, just like he did in Milwaukee.  I’m still hoping that we’ll see him with the Admirals for the playoff run, but I’m not holding my breath.

25  Grant Lewis:  Best Things Come To Those Who Wait Award.  Lewie was on the short end of a numbers game for most of the first half of the season.  Three other defensemen had letters on the front of their jerseys, and three other defensemen were Preds draft picks.  Lewis only played four games in November, and three games in January.  But he was a great asset whenever one of the other defenders needed a night off due to injury, or if coach elected to go with seven defensemen for a game.  And then Jon Blum was recalled, and Lewis has been an everyday player since.  He has more physicality to his game than Blum did, and ended up being just as valuable on the power play in Blum’s absence.  Lewis is one of the unsung heroes for this team.

29  Mark Van Guilder:  The Largest Strides Award.  Scoreless in 28 games last season, Van Guilder was a key player on this year’s roster to the point that it was noticeable when he wasn’t on the ice.  I don’t have face-off statistics, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he was statistically the best on face-offs for the team.  Responsible on both ends of the ice, Van Guilder more than earned his paychecks this year.

30 Jeremy Smith:  Red Green Award.  Ready and able in every role he’s been asked to play.  Kind of a handy-man in that way.  Started the season in Cincy.  Changed places with Chet.  And when the keys were given to him during Mark Dekanich’s recalls and injuries, Smith has delivered and kept things together…without the need for duct tape.

31 Mark Dekanich:  Best Nickname Award.  So this year, we haven’t tried to give players very many nicknames.  We used to do that at the old blog, with a mixed bag of results.  But on twitter, this is the nickname that stuck the most this year:  Mark “I just bailed you out AGAIN” Dekanich.  He even re-tweeted it once.  Which is kind of weird, that a player has any idea who the hell we are….but we think that summarizes the impact he had on the team this year.  He stole some games for the Admirals.

32  Dylan Hunter:  Your Dad Was One Of My Favorite Players Growing Up Award.  Had hoped to bump into Dale at the Bradley Center at some point.  Hasn’t happened yet.

33 Roman Josi.  Highest Ceiling Award.  I think he’ll be a better defenseman than Jon Blum in the end.   I think he’s wearing down a little bit right now, as he’s never played this many games in a season previously… but his adjustment to the North American game has been seamless.  Remember the point-scoring streak?  He can be a dynamic two-way player, and I selfishly hope we’ll get to see some more of him next season.

86 Linus Klasen (Leave your nomination in the comments section)