It may have been best for me to really wait and process yesterday’s 5-4 overtime win for the Milwaukee Admirals over the Charlotte Checkers. That was one of those games where there was probably more bad than good but -hey- the Admirals somehow, someway won again. The term resiliency has been used ad nauseum when describing the Admirals this season but with great reason. The Admirals are more resilient than tardigrades.

When looking at the bad there is plenty to talk up. Let’s start with the running theme of losing the game’s opening face-off and proceeding to concede a goal in the game’s first shift. It’s a scenario which I would now like to describe as the Félix Girard effect.

It started with Girard’s return to Milwaukee on Wednesday night: he wins the face-off, the San Antonio Rampage run roughshod in attack, and Girard scores. Friday night the Checkers win the opening face-off, dominate the attacking zone, and Valentin Zykov scores. Yesterday the Checkers win the opening face-off, get the puck deep in attack, and Lucas Wallmark scores. Wednesday night: 0:57 of ice-time. Friday night: 1:21 of ice-time. Sunday evening: 0:19 of ice-time.

It’s unacceptable and it’s shocking that it could happen twice in a row much less all three-games of the homestand when the team’s task was to make playing in the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena a place of pride and something opponents would dread having to go to. They couldn’t have delivered a more wrong message in all three-games this past week in the way they started. It was bizarre.

Then there were several other goals against yesterday that didn’t make much sense in the defensive aspects for the Admirals. There were two goals scored by the Checkers in which a player was left directly camped in front of Marek Mazanec all alone for either a direct pass or a rebound. Again, it is an unacceptable and self-inflicted issue.

What stands out from every game of the homestand was that resiliency element to the Admirals. It was pretty straight forward Wednesday against the Rampage. They made the opening shift mistake but quickly accounted for it and made a statement as the game pushed forward. In the weekend games against the Checkers there were multiple occasions in which the Admirals trailed by multiple goals. Each time they fought back. And each time they fought back, equalized, and won the game.

Consistency has been lacking for a long time now. While the consistency of the last three-games may have some odd ups-and-downs there is semblance of good things to come with the Admirals willingness to battle, fighting back, and earning the positive results late. The true tough times are ahead of the Admirals and they need to start leveling out their mistakes and getting on the form that they can compete at late in games for a full sixty-minutes.

It shouldn’t be a fun thing to say “we’re losing 3-1, we’ve got them right where we want them” as was the case Friday and Sunday. If the resiliency of the Admirals can simply lend itself to a direct and simplified approach in the opening period it would be great seeing the team act from the front rather than be the ones chasing. It worked this week. It shouldn’t really be an expected way to haul in points.

A dash of good news for the Admirals is that the week ahead for them now is a bit more relaxed than it has recently. The team does not play again until Friday and Saturday this week but they will be doing it on the road against the Central Division leading Grand Rapids Griffins. The Van Andel Arena hasn’t been kind to the Admirals. The Griffins have been playing lights-out lately. The week ahead should give the Admirals rest and serious look at themselves and the opponent they want to knock-off the top step. The resiliency of a tardigrade is good. Never needing it in the first place is the next step.

After last night’s game I spoke with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason as well as Frédérick Gaudreau, Derek Army, and Andrew O’Brien. I was lucky to get to do the interviews alongside Rick Braun of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel who enjoyed his first Admirals game at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena since covering a game back in October of 1986. I could have heard Rick’s stories all night. It was great. Here were the interviews the two of us had.

Comments on the comments? Where do you stand with the Milwaukee Admirals 2016-17 season at the moment: is this team capable of great things or are they going to keep on stumbling around? If the Admirals go into Grand Rapids this coming weekend and knock off the Griffins twice would that be the sort of boost that the team needs to get on a truly big push?

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I’m not sure what it is lately about the Milwaukee Admirals in the opening minute these last two games. Was it that Félix Girard hypnotized the Admirals on Wednesday night? Was it that the Charlotte Checkers came in on a hot streak and showed instantly why that was? Not sure I can put my finger on it but the Admirals were completely flat on both nights.

What I am sure about is the team’s resilient attitude, which shined early and often to start this season, is coming back. In both Wednesday night and last night’s game the Admirals have rallied back from opening minute goals and ended up recording five unanswered to close out the night.

In particular, when the Admirals were behind 3-1 to the Checkers after the first period last night there was a real sense of here we go again. The two power-play goals allowed at the end of that frame along with the sleeping on the opening shift of the game reminded me of that great quote from head coach Dean Evason from five games ago: “We don’t give teams anything until we give teams everything.”

As bad as that opening period was. As flat as the better majority of the second period was. The Admirals never looked out of it and the Checkers didn’t do enough of a job in delivering the killer blow. If anything I feel like the Checkers seemed to attempt to rest on that first period as best they could from the second period to the end. But, when Adam Payerl started plugging away at the end of the second period and setup Vladislav Kamenev to score his second goal of the game, things shifted. There was 1:25 remaining in the second period when that was scored and it cut the deficit to one.

While the 6-3 scoreline can suggest run roughshod from then on out that still wasn’t the case. The score gets skewed by the pair of empty netters at the end of the game. Actually, the Admirals really knuckled down against the Checkers in the final twenty-minutes. The Checkers outshot the Admirals 16-11 in that third period. It wasn’t until there was 4:27 remaining in regulation when one of the sweetest looking passing plays you ever did see happened to make it 3-3 with a tally from Kevin Fiala – you could watch it all day and it wouldn’t get old. Justin Kirkland would power out on the left wing and then let a wrister soar into the top shelf near post on Alex Nedeljkovic with 2:53 remaining.

It’s been a mixed bag for awhile now with the Admirals. And, frankly, the last two games have shown a pretty solid spectrum of all those highs and lows. What is most important that I’m seeing is that the mistakes are gradually being weeded out, poor turnovers are being minimized, and that the offense -because the “defense first” mentality is sinking in- is starting to make good strides.

An overlooked area at the moment is also that the Admirals are finally running on a clean bill of health as are their parent club. Both should be benefiting from having that be the case. Having a roster as deep and as strong as the Admirals possess right now is a luxury not all AHL teams can actually say they have. Considering the three-game homestand was demanded of the Admirals to start creating a home-ice advantage to set the benchmark for the home heavy end to their season? They’re using that strength well to earn regulation wins in comeback fashion. All that is needed next is to sustain the success.

A final note of last night’s game. “Slap Shot” night to me was absolutely fantastic. Everything about it: the specialty uniforms only being worn for one game, the amount of fans that wore their Chiefs jerseys, the Hanson Brothers coming down and being just a joy for all the fans -and Admirals players- they chatted with, and then having a game end up being almost as nutty or theatrical as the film that played afterwards on the jumbotron. If the promotion were done all the time? It might be taken for granted or become a tad dull. But gosh would I love seeing it done just like that again every few seasons because it was a blast.

After last night’s game I did speak with Evason. I then had to do a double take with Kirkland because he wanted to talk about assistant coach Scott Ford after the initial interview ended. Then Fiala was roped in for a chat following the news that he was being recalled by the Predators. And then I got the scoop from the man whose jersey sold for the highest amount last night, Mike Liambas.

Comments on the comments? Are the Milwaukee Admirals starting to fit the puzzle pieces back together? How important is it for the health of the team to create consistency with the lineup and therefore the night-in and night-out play? Would you be in favor of more Slap Shot nights such as last night in the future?

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It’s been awhile since the Milwaukee Admirals put together a solid sixty-minutes of hockey such as they did last night against the San Antonio Rampage. Sure, the opening minute could have gone a little bit better but the final fifty-nine minutes showed great defensive work and then a third period eruption of offense that came on the back of an extended five-on-three penalty kill.

I want to say the true standout moment for me in last night’s 5-1 win was the Admirals defensemen. Everyone had a great night and the mistakes were extremely minimal on their part. Sunday’s road game against the Rockford IceHogs saw plenty of the same high quality defensive work but not enough of it translating from defense into offense. That changed last night as much of the work down low by defensemen seemed to quickly manifest into clearances and attacks. It all helped see a quick blip on the radar in the opening minute of the game seem like a distant memory.

Where things opened up seemed to be after the Admirals managed to kill a five-on-three power-play for the Rampage. The penalty kill needed to get through forty-seven seconds with Vladislav Kamenev and Andrew O’Brien in the box. And they did so brilliantly. The tone was set quickly on the by Trevor Smith winning the first face-off back to Jimmy Oligny to clear deep. The Rampage effectively amounted nothing from that five-on-three power-play chance. The game was tied 1-1. And then the Admirals burst for four third period goals.

It feels like that offensive eruption had been built up. The last time the Admirals produced that many goals in a game came back on the first game of 2017 when they won 5-2 over the IceHogs. There have been 18 games played between those two games in which the Admirals offense really fired up another gear. When the defense plays as it did, and the offense can work to the net and get the goals like last night, this team can be one of the best teams in the AHL. Their problem just comes down to consistency and sustaining nights such as last night. The biggest challenge awaits for them matching or continuing their work rate Friday and Sunday against the Charlotte Checkers.

I do feel that if that offense is to continue on its path they are in a good place right now. The Predators are finally healthy. The Admirals are, pretty much, healthy. It makes for a packed and deep core of players. Pontus Åberg might have been reassigned to start the Predators break but, with healthy scratches coming in the form of (Colton Sissons, Anthony Bitetto, and Brad Hunt), it is likely he remains down with the Admirals alongside Kevin Fiala and Mike Ribeiro unless the Predators shake someone else loose. It’s a good problem to have too much depth. The Predators this season have simply tapped into it way beyond recent years. Now you hope both the Predators and Admirals can benefit from having roster stability for a change.

If last night was to be Juuse Saros last game in net as a member of the Admirals it was a fairly fitting send off. He was locked in, composed, and proceeded to shut the door after an early goal popped past him. He brings such a calming influence to the rest of his teammates when he is in the net. And it wouldn’t surprise me if the presence he brings in goal to the rest of his team is the reason why he’s picked up 42 wins from 53 starts in the AHL. He has been phenomenal from the first day that he has arrived. He is mature beyond his years with a tireless work ethic. Him stopping 25/26 shots on goal last night after yet another up and down travel time between Nashville and Milwaukee screams to all of those attributes.

Saros is expected to return to the Predators following that start last night. Should he already be closing the books on an Admirals career in the AHL he leaves behind an incredible -all be it short- legacy. He played 53 games, had a record of 42-10-0-0 for a winning percentage of 79.2%, 2.13 goals against average, 0.924 save percentage, and 5 shutouts. Saros turns 22-years old in mid-April. He is still very much in the early stages of his pro hockey career and learning to improve. He is who is now because of how hard he competes whether he is on or off the ice. The Nashville Predators have their heir to the throne. And he might be ready faster than they ever could have dreamed.

After last night’s game I had the chance to speak with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason as well as Saros and Åberg. I then waited a good while for the chance to catch up with our ol’ pal Félix Girard who did get to have a very good post-game chat with his old teammates. He was kind enough to then stop by and give a quick interview before joining back up with his Rampage squad. Here were last night’s post-game interviews.

Comments on the comments? What did you think ended up seeing the Milwaukee Admirals offense take off the way that it did in last night’s third period? Can the Admirals, with a healthy and padded roster as it is now, sustain a winning run off of last night’s result?

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Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody. This morning I made the trip to the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena to catch the Milwaukee Admirals practice ahead of tomorrow night’s game against the San Antonio Rampage. If I had to declare a theme or motto for what I saw in practice today it would be: pass, pass, pass some more, and pass again.

It was a very detail oriented passing day. There were plenty of looks in regards to d-to-d passes, passes that worked from the defensive zone up ice, and some passing work around neutral ice in transition from defense to attack. You want to know what the majority of Lay’s Potato Chips bags are filled with? Admirals passing drills. It’s just not on the nutrition facts label.

Fiala-Ribeiro-Åberg
White-Smith-Gaudreau
Kirkland-Kamenev-Payerl
Liambas-Florek (Army)-Richard

Oligny-Carrier
Murphy-Granberg
O’Brien-Dougherty
(Pinkston)

Saros
Gunnarsson

Those were the lines that rolled out during practice. It actually isn’t too clear if Justin Florek or Derek Army take that center role on the fourth line but my gut instinct would say Florek gets the nod. Rick Pinkston still remains on the outside looking in for the Admirals defense but he was one of only two skaters to advance from the first round of today’s team shootout drill. Anthony Richard was the second skater and he’d secure his second attempt as well to get the shootout win this morning.

Once practice came to a close I caught up with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. I then had the chance to speak with Juuse Saros, Frédérick Gaudreau, and Pontus Åberg. These were today’s comments from a busy busy busy UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena that almost saw me get run over a few times by karts trafficking gear around the building.

Comments from their comments? What do you think the Milwaukee Admirals will be like tomorrow night having Félix Girard on the other side of the ice? How big of a boost will it be having Juuse Saros and Pontus Åberg back? Could tomorrow night be the last time that Saros suits up as a member of the Admirals?

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.