The momentum swings of this 2017-18 season have been pretty violent. There have been so many ups-and-downs that it can be hard to appreciate a good string of games at times because it feels like the eventual fall is right around the corner. The Milwaukee Admirals, after having lost six straight games, are now on a three-game winning streak and looking to sweep a three-in-three for the first time since the first three games of November in the 2015-16 season.
The Opening Ceremonies for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang take place tomorrow night. There will be a few former Admirals making that walk. Stefan Elliott with Canada. Martin Erat with the Czech Republic. Jani Lajunen for Finland as well as an 18-year old Eeli Tolvanen who could be a future Admiral in time. Peter Ölvecký with Slovakia. Both Magnus Hellberg and Viktor Stålberg will make the walk with Sweden. The Admirals last Olympian, Simon Moser, will once again represent Switzerland. And Bobby Butler, Jonathon Blum, and Ryan Zapolski will walk out for USA.
“When you say it it sounds pretty cool,” is what Butler told CBS 58 this past week when hearing his name an the term ‘US Olympian’ attached to it. At 30-years of age the eight-year pro has seen and experienced a lot to reach this big of a stage. His final scheduled game before leaving for South Korea was Tuesday night and he managed to record a goal for his 200th career AHL point. He helped contribute to the Admirals snapping a six-game losing streak and earning a 3-2 shootout win over one of the best teams in the league this season, the Manitoba Moose, and did it all hours before he took flight. His focus is on the here and now. And now it is time for a dream to be realized.
My friends, it has happened. The Milwaukee Admirals won a hockey game. Yes, it was by a narrow margin and required a shootout to do it. What stands out -by far- was that the Admirals stamped down one of their more complete defensive efforts of the season and did it against a Manitoba Moose team that has mauled teams. The Admirals 3-2 shootout win over the Moose snapped the six-game losing streak but importantly established a launch pad that the Admirals have needed to shoot back up into the right direction.
The Milwaukee Admirals returned to practice this morning at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and they did so with a new face out on the ice. Mark McNeill has officially arrived and will make his Admirals debut tomorrow night when the team looks to strike back against the Manitoba Moose and end a six-game losing streak.
The Milwaukee Admirals are trending down. The Manitoba Moose have been trending up and towards something special ever since the season started. Last night’s result, a 5-1 loss for the Admirals to the Moose, doesn’t feel out of line given recent form of both. What continues to hurt so much watching the Admirals is their self destructive individual behavior that can stunt positive momentum swings if not outright determines the outcome of games early. It keeps happening. It is grating to watch. And there is no clear path back to a successful run of play until the Admirals fully bleed out this venom.
This afternoon the Milwaukee Admirals returned to practice at the MSOE Kern Center. It was the first team activity out of the AHL All-Star break. The Admirals are gearing up for two-games this weekend which starts tomorrow night on the road against the Chicago Wolves at the Allstate Arena. That will be followed by the first of two meeting at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena against the Manitoba Moose. Those games are on Saturday and Tuesday.
In the most recent off-season the Milwaukee Admirals announced the signing of 23-year old goaltender Jake Paterson. It felt like one of those goaltending projects that could have a nice pay-off. Paterson was stuck in the Detroit Red Wings system and never really was afforded the chance to show what he could do on the AHL stage. It has been a rotation heavy time for both Admirals goaltenders behind Anders Lindbäck but lost in that is this has been the longest time spent operating in the AHL in Paterson’s career. It has been an opportunity to learn and to grow.
Tyler Moy has barely scratched the surface of his professional career. Yet, it hasn’t taken that long for all of us from the outside to see what a Renaissance Man he is. He arrived out of his collegiate career at Harvard University still grinding away with online classes while making his pro debut with the Milwaukee Admirals in order to graduate on time. And he did with a degree in Human Evolutionary Biology.
Tonight is the start of the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic festivities from Utica, New York. The event begins with the AHL All-Star Skills Competition at 7:00 PM CST tonight and is followed by the AHL All-Star Challenge tomorrow night at 6:00 PM CST. The Milwaukee Admirals will have two representatives for the event: Anders Lindbäck and Emil Pettersson.
We’ve already had the chance to get to know Pettersson a bit better earlier this season. Now it is time to chat with the Big Swede himself whose journey from being drafted to being an AHL All-Star has been an incredible one to follow.
The Milwaukee Admirals are now on a four-game losing streak following a 4-3 loss against the Ontario Reign last night at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. That was a performance that left me absolutely numb. The Admirals keep having stretches, within a game, where they look and play so well only to see all that positivity get crushed by one mistake. The Admirals were up 1-0 after the first period. They rallied past a bizarre moment to get back in the lead and enter the second intermission up 2-1. And then everything crumbled by way of mistakes.
Admirals Roundtable 