We are in the run of the Admirals longest losing streak, five games, since last season when the team went on a winless drought of six games: 1/11/13 to 1/23/13.

While a part of me would love to rant and rave over just how rough this game was, how defeated the team was early in the game, or deliver a speech to the level of Peter Finch in Network –which is fantastic– I merely accept this run as one of the many ups and downs of a hockey season.

The Admirals were ahead of the Rockford IceHogs in the Midwest Division for much of this season. What happened? One team got hot. The other team went cold. In time, the IceHogs run of incredible success will run into a wall and they’ll be left to gather themselves for the next big run.

The Admirals, who have been in a cycle of up-one down-one for most of the season, have probably long been due a stretch of games like this. Not because they’re not good enough to win these games – but because of the massive amounts of knowledge there is to learn from a defeat. At the core, Milwaukee is a young team looking for the right balance in their game. Some nights they have it. Others – not so much. Right now, the team is spinning in place looking for traction as they charge into the thick of the playoff push. The lessons being learned right now could be an instrumental part of late season success.

Whether it’s hockey, baseball, or football – it is all about getting hot at the right time in the season. The season isn’t over in a week. The panic button shouldn’t be punched just yet. Instead, the time to see a team work through some massive growing pains is at hand. It’s all about how quickly the group responds from successive defeats, seeing their weaknesses so easily exploited, and rebounding back stronger than before the plunge.

I’m not panicked about this team. And I don’t think anyone who follows them should be. Bad run of games? Sure. Players and coaches hanging by a thread? No chance.

After the game I spoke with head coach Dean Evason as well as Anthony Bitetto and Joonas Rask. This is what they had to say following the team’s 5-1 defeat to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 18” →

This afternoon I had the chance to drop in and chat with the Milwaukee Admirals after their morning skate. They just about let me do everything but actually drop in and join them for the women’s gold medal game between Team Canada vs. Team USA. It sounded intense. By “it” I mean the players and coaches watching it.

I wanted to get to the bottom of yesterday’s goalie question of the day, why do we have three goalies right now, so I spoke with head coach Dean Evason. I also got to speak with Hannu Toivonen and Scott Darling. Here’s what everyone had to say.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 17” →

Tonight was another grinder for the Admirals as they lost their third-straight game on home ice. It also marked the first time all season the Iowa Wild were able to defeat the Ads. The past few games haven’t entirely been clunkers – but they have been on the flat side. Rarely does the team get outworked, but they’ve effectively been rocked in two of their last three games. The wheels haven’t been turning as quick for the offense. And I’m not sure what they can do to combat the issues of the past few games.

After the game I was able to speak with Dean Evason, Filip Forsberg, and Colton Sissons about the game – and much more. Here is what they had to say following the 3-1 defeat to Iowa.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 16” →

Yesterday the Admirals tasted defeat in the shootout to the Wolves. It was the sixteenth occasion in which the Ads played beyond regulation and they suffered their eleventh defeat in such circumstances. In the whole of last season the team played in fifteen overtime or shootout games – and they won eighth of them. Why do you feel that area has been such a sore spot for the team this season? I’d love to hear your responses on that question – because I, for one, am fairly stumped.

A question that someone asked me deserves some answering as well. The question: when was the last time the Admirals have even scored a shootout attempt? The Admirals, over there last three shootout games, have missed their last ten-straight shootout attempts. You have to go back to Jan. 19 @ Oklahoma City (L, 5-4) when Simon Moser last scored an Admirals shootout attempt.

The Admirals have been hit and miss ever since the three-in-three // home-away-home series with the Rockford IceHogs. Since the start of that stretch the Admirals have had a record of 3-2-1-2 (9 points from 8 games). It hasn’t been as bad as it could be – but it also hasn’t looked as sharp on the ice, even in some of those wins, as it has been this season. I feel the best thing about the AHL All Star break for the team is it allows the players to get out of the day-to-day hockey mind set a little, take some time off, and get back with the mental slate cleaned up after two-straight games where they either didn’t show up or lost control. R&R, peoples. It always helps.

After the shootout loss to the Chicago Wolves I spoke with head coach Dean Evason. After his presser I chatted with Kevin Henderson and Colton Sissons. This is what they had to say following yesterday’s game.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 15” →

First things first. UGH. There, I wanted to include that in last night’s game story but couldn’t find an appropriate place to say it. But, yes, ugh. Last night’s game was ugh. I spent the longest time during the game trying to decide if it was the best defensive game played against the Admirals all season or if it was simply the worst Admirals performance of the season. Truthfully, I think you could go with both. As Dave Boehler of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headlined his game story: it was a rare clunker at home. You could easily point at the Miikka Salomaki boarding call and say things collapsed from there. It certainly could have helped to have him in the mix, but, even prior to his game misconduct, the team looked out-matched in all areas of the game.

I always say you can get over blow outs much easier than games where it goes down to the wire and you lose in the dying seconds. For the Admirals, they’ll need to take last night’s game and either burn it from memory – or burn it into their memory and use it going forward. After all, that next game is a day away.

Following last night’s shutout defeat against the Utica Comets I spoke with head coach Dean Evason, Taylor Beck, and Mark Van Guilder. This is what they had to say following the game.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 14” →

The Admirals won 4-2 last night over the Hamilton Bulldogs. It wasn’t the prettiest of games played from either team. Not the most crisp all-around passing game I’ve ever witnessed and it created plenty of turnover chances, for both sides, that lead to rushes back the other way. I feel the win comes as a result of the Ads being the more patient team in the end. The longer the game when on – the less mistakes the team made (especially with passes). The game-winning goal came from a power-play goal. The clincher came from an empty netter – the team’s first since Dec. 12 vs. Oklahoma City, 4-0. The Ads rolled with the punches. And, in the end, the team that played smarter hockey later in the game won out.

Along with head coach Dean Evason’s post-game press conference I had the chance to chat with Colton Sissons and Charles-Olivier Roussel. Here is what everyone had to say following last night’s 4-2 victory.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 13” →

The Admirals lost 3-2 in a shootout last night against the division leading Grand Rapids Griffins.  It might not have been the end result that the team wanted, but I feel it was a decent outing for the Ads last night considering the circumstances: top scorers up in Nashville, forward core stretched as thin as it possibly could be, and a long bus ride back from Iowa that saw them get back in Milwaukee at four o’clock in the morning. Two games this weekend. Three points. Take as many points as you can – when you can, I say. In a stretch for them team that could be tough due to the circumstances. That isn’t bad.

After the game I spoke, as always, with head coach Dean Evason. I also chatted with Patrick Cehlin, Charles Olivier-Roussel, and Marek Mazanec. Here is what they had to say following last night’s game against the Griffins.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 12” →

During my live game tweet session last night I was moments from saying, “If someone scores a late OT goal – it’s going to leave a sour taste in the losing team’s mouth for days.” As I was writing that up, Adam Clendening shot from nearly the Admirals bench, and scored the game-winner with twenty-one seconds remaining.

The truth is, the Admirals might have been fortunate to skate off with one point last night. The IceHogs blasted them for 43 shots – including 20 in the first period alone. While both teams had to handle the three-in-three element it seemed very evident that the IceHogs were the strongest team from the second period in Rockford all the way into OT last night. The team is going to need more than just rest in the days before traveling to Iowa and returning the next night to play division leading Grand Rapids.

As well as crashing Dean Evason’s post-game interview I also had the chance to speak with Austin Watson and Marek Mazanec. Here is what they said after the overtime defeat.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 11” →