In November, the Milwaukee Admirals rolled through the month en route to a 8-0-1-1 record which pushed them to the best record in the AHL. After the month of December? Things aren’t anywhere near as chipper but it would have been a hard ask to match November.

The Admirals went 6-6-0-1 (13 points, 0.500 points percentage) in the month of December. There was a lot of hot and cold, win three, loss three, up and down kind of play. It is that time of year when other teams who didn’t have it out of the gate start finding -it- and the Admirals were fortunate enough to have had such a strong start to the point that having a lull this month isn’t so bad.

Right now the Admirals record stands at 18-8-2-2 (40 points, 0.667 points percentage). They are second in the Central Division. They are third in the Western Conference standings trailing only the Ontario Reign and Grand Rapids Griffins. What separates the Admirals from those teams is the amount of road games already endured: Admirals (18 road games) and Reign/Griffins (15 road games). Only the Charlotte Checkers by a single game have played more on the road than the Admirals have in 2016.

So, what of the players for the Admirals this month? It has been spotty for sure. I think the defense has been the hardest hit this month with players such as Petter Granberg and Adam Pardy moved out of the equation. It meant defense to offense became that much trickier for the group and it might not have been until later in the month when that transition game started to get back to where it was.

I do feel there are three players who really stood out to me this month. When I break it down more and more though I keep coming back to the same conclusion. Yes, Trevor Smith played great. Yes, Vladislav Kamenev had a stellar month. But how often was Harry Zolnierczyk factoring in for both of those guys and being such a great spark plug for the team? Zolnierczyk has been so consistent this month and to me is deserving of Admiral of the Month for December.

What’s impressed me so much about Zolnierczyk this season has been the pace at which he plays the game. I either really underestimated his speed or he has an extra gear that he can play at and uses it when needed. In December he always seemed to be hustling and around the puck at great pace. And, when seeing how his offensive production ended, he made bigger strides this month than he did coming into it. Zolnierczyk had 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) in 11 games prior to this month. In December, he produced 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) in 13 games.  For the Admirals to keep surging moving forward? Zolnierczyk continuing what he did in December could be a big key to doing just that.

~Admiral of the Month Award~

October: Juuse Saros
November: Alex Carrier
December: Harry Zolnierczyk

Who do you feel was the top performer for the Milwaukee Admirals during the month of December? Was it Zolnierczyk, Kamenev, Smith or someone else? Tell me who your Admiral of the Month was in the comment section below.

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This organization has provided some truly special stories in recent years. What can make them that much better is that they hit across all levels: Cincinnati, Milwaukee, to Nashville.

The recent NHL debuts for Mike Liambas and Frédérick Gaudreau were tremendous success stories. They were both undrafted players that achieved ECHL status and earned their chance to play in the NHL for the Nashville Predators. Mark Van Guilder played 387 games professionally between the AHL and ECHL before finally earning his one NHL game at 30-years old.

With the current stockpile of talent situated in Milwaukee there are even more potential success stories just waiting for the call from Nashville. And I believe I have another unsung player on the cusp of following the likes of Van Guilder, Gaudreau, and Liambas in suiting up for the Predators. That man is Adam Payerl.

Before quickly pointing out that Payerl has already achieved the dream of playing in the NHL its very much worth understanding the journey he has been on to get back.

When Payerl was at his over-age season of junior hockey with the Belleville Bulls he was a free agent invitee to the Columbus Blue Jackets camp in the hopes of getting signed. He did well enough to get into pre-season games for them but they didn’t lock him up do a deal. Instead, he returned to the OHL and produced a career best 47 points (22 goals, 25 assists) in 61 games. What the Columbus organization skipped over was Pittsburgh’s to gain.

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Payerl to a three-year entry level contract following the end of his final junior playing season in 2011-12. During his first pro season he had spells between the AHL and ECHL but mainly stuck around with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Something that he’d do until the end of his entry level contract in 2014-15. Being with that team, as a young up and coming forward, provided an opportunity to be around one of the AHL’s best players and leaders: Tom Kostopoulos.

“He is a great guy,” smiled Adam Payerl when speaking of Tom Kostopoulos. “He was huge in my development for sure. He was just a great guy on and off the ice. A good guy that I tried to learn a lot from and soaked in everything he talked about. He always had little pointers and habits. You were always watching and learning from him.”

The standout moment for Payerl’s time in the Penguins organization was getting his chance to contribute at the NHL level. It was at the end of his sophomore season as a pro when the Penguins recalled Payerl. He made his NHL debut on 4/6/14 on the road against the Colorado Avalanche.

“That was a pretty surreal experience,” said Payerl. “I have a lot of fond memories. It was only half a week but I played a couple games, met them on the road in Colorado. I played pretty well, actually. I had a handful of chances. I probably should have had a goal but [Semyon Varlamov] was playing a pretty good game.”

With his family watching on in attendance Payerl and the Penguins won a 3-2 shootout that night over the Avalanche. Payerl played sixteen shifts for 9:33 of ice-time while on a grind line with Craig Adams.

“It was pretty anxious the night before,” commented Payerl of the build up to his NHL debut. “I had a hard time falling asleep – pretty anxious. I was pacing around my hotel room. The rest of the team wasn’t there yet because they had played the night before in Minnesota. So, I got to Colorado before they did. I was in the hotel that night watching the clock waiting for bed time to come and for the next day. Once the first couple of shifts are out of the way I kind of got in a rhythm and it felt like another game. But, when you’re on the bench, you look around and there’s 20,000 people. It’s pretty surreal.”

Payerl’s NHL time wound extend one more game. That contest took place in Pittsburgh against the Detroit Red Wings in a game that also was decided in a shootout. The Penguins took that one as well. After that game Payerl would go back down to the AHL where he would play out the rest of his entry level contract with the Penguins organization. When it came time to work out what was next the Penguins opted to not re-sign Payerl and he became a free agent.

“It was kind of mixed feelings leaving there,” said Payerl. “It was kind of bittersweet because I had good experiences there but then I left. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go.”

Summer of 2015 was a long one for Payerl. The wait for another NHL contract came and went. Then the wait to field AHL contracts came and went, as well. Payerl quickly set his sights on signing an ECHL deal with the idea of fighting his way back to an AHL spotlight. He signed an ECHL contract with the Cincinnati Cyclones. One of the perks of joining the Cyclones is being afforded the opportunity to join the Milwaukee Admirals Training Camp and get a chance to audition for an AHL opportunity.

“Every year we try to help Cincy out with bringing a couple guys that they feel have a shot at playing for us at some point,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “It’s a nice recruiting thing for Cincinnati to have the ability to say you can come to the American Hockey League training camp – and [Payerl] was one of the guys.”

From the moment Payerl arrived to Admirals Training Camp ahead of the 2015-16 season he looked like a perfect fit with the Admirals group. He had a very professional approach to both the on and off ice aspects of the game. He was also impressing the Admirals coaching staff for how hard he was competing day-to-day.

“The first practice we were really impressed of how he played the game,” said Evason. “How he skated, how he shot the puck, his skill level, and then getting in the couple of games that he did we decided right away that we wanted to get him under contract. It was almost immediate that we knew he was going to be on our team.”

Payerl’s time with the Cincinnati Cyclones for the 2015-16 season never happened. He started the season with the Milwaukee Admirals on a professional try-out contract and quickly earned a standard AHL contract. At the time he was scoring a point every other game, 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in 8 games, and that included scoring a game-winning overtime goal and an assist in his Admirals debut.

As the 2015-16 season progressed the decision for the Admirals to bring in Payerl looked better and better with every game. He could play in all situations. He was very polished defensively. And, for Payerl, he was reaching offensive production that he hadn’t been able to hit since his time in junior hockey.

In Payerl’s time with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton he scored 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 130 games. In Payerl’s 2015-16 season with the Admirals he scored 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) in 74 games. It was an all-around game and effort level that simply wasn’t ignored on the Nashville Predators. Come the end of April 2016, Payerl had signed that NHL contract that had alluded him the summer prior and it all came off of signing an ECHL contract and then competing on a PTO contract at the AHL level to earn his AHL deal.

“It’s a great story,” said Evason of Payerl. “Doing all the right things being not only a good hockey player but a good person, a good teammate. He’s now worked himself into a leadership role on our hockey club. He’s just an all around good guy and he plays the game the right way.”

The next time Payerl suits up for the Admirals it will be his 100th game with the organization. This season he has hit the ground running across the board and is on pace to surpass his pro-best offensive output from a season ago: 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists) in 25 games. The question next seems to be if his hard work has him on Nashville’s radar give how hard he has been knocking on their door.

“He is,” quipped Evason. “He is on their radar. We’ve already talked about it a couple of times this year when they’re going into play a bigger stronger team. Different people that there’s an opportunity to get called up that [Payerl] is a guy, whose big, strong and grinds, and has a great start to his season. I think in the right circumstance there is no question that he could get a shot at getting called up this year.”

It has been two years, eight months, and ten days since Payerl last played in the NHL. 985 days of work with a combined 161 AHL regular season and playoff games played. His time spent with the Admirals has shown plenty of organizations just what they missed out on two summers ago when he was a free agent up until September. Now all that would be left is to follow the likes of Gaudreau and Liambas as incredible success stories that have taken the road to Nashville from Milwaukee.

“It would be unbelievable,” smiled Payerl of a possible return to the NHL. “I don’t want to get my hopes up. I’m just trying to take care of my day-to-day business here. But, that’s the end goal. To try to get there. And do everything I can to get there.”

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.

Last night’s performance to the Milwaukee Admirals is one that slightly has me frozen. Was it that the Admirals were that good or were the Texas Stars simply that bad? The feeling heading into the weekend was that these two teams play with great pace in transition, both had plenty of skill, and both could end up playing a very wide open contest. It felt like it could be a track meet type of a match-up for the Admirals and Stars. Basically, the hype going in was matched Friday and Saturday night.

On Friday, the Admirals and Stars provided a rather relentless back and fourth game. The Admirals won 4-3 with the biggest bright spot coming defensively by holding the fort for whole of the third period with Marek Mazanec stopping seventeen shots in net for the final twenty minutes. As for what happened last night? That is a far different story.

The Admirals and Stars did have a track meet sort of a game last night. The problem was nobody seemed to inform the Stars that they were involved. The Admirals won 9-1. It’s their biggest win since winning by 9-1 on 2/28/14 against the Iowa Wild on home ice. It is the most amount of goals scored on the road by the Admirals since 11/14/06 when they defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins by the final score of 8-2.

“Pretty tough to assess,” said Texas Stars head coach Derek Laxdal of his team’s performance. “We got a pretty good ass kicking tonight. I think right from the get-go they were the better club and we didn’t have a response for it.”

That is a pretty short and sweet recap of last night’s game from the Stars group. There is just one area of Laxdal’s press conference last night that makes my eye begin to twitch and that’s why this is an Open Letter to him. Because I simply don’t know what on Earth he’s getting at.

Laxdal was asked to elaborate on the following, “I’m not sure if there’s any history between these two teams really but it seemed that it was more physical than last week’s series.” His response:

“There will be probably history next game because guys aren’t going to forget you’re down 8-1 and they’re putting their first power-play unit on the ice. Guys don’t forget that. Guys are upset. They’re getting shown up in their own building. So, there’s going to be a little bit of emotions there. Guys are stepping up for teammates. That’s good to see. At the end of the day it wasn’t a good night for us. Last night we played pretty well in the third period and had a chance to get some points and we didn’t. Tonight they were the better team.”

Before I get into the whole inciting or insinuating that the Stars are out for blood next time they play the Admirals. Because he very blatantly did and you can buy tickets to that game here. I want to address the trigger that made him say that which is the Admirals, who were leading 8-1 at the time, being put on a power-play with 4:33 remaining in regulation and putting their first choice power-play unit on the ice.

Firstly, you’re losing 8-1 at this point coach Laxdal so more than a few things have gone completely wrong at this point. I’d be more annoyed at that on an internal basis. Secondly, if it were up to the Admirals at that point, I feel as if they’d have preferred cruising out to the finish line and winning by that already astonishing scoreline. There was just one problem which was that Bryce Van Brabant decided it would be a good idea to hit Jimmy Oligny in the numbers into the end wall behind the Admirals net and get called for boarding.

So, the Admirals are forced onto the power-play with 4:33 left to play in a game that they already won. Who do you roll out on the power-play? Well, as it happens, the Admirals continued on with the game as though it still was one and the Stars simply didn’t – story of the night. I can appreciate the idea of “don’t run up the score” but when you’re already trying not to and get forced into a power-play and have four forward lines that all have power-play level players on them I kind of don’t know what more the Admirals could have done but exactly what they did.

You would assume that Admirals fourth line would be the safe option for use in a moment such as a power-play, up 8-1, in the closing stages of a game. That isn’t all that true either. It’s not safe at all.

All Félix Girard seems to do is win face-offs to the point that the Admirals have no issue with attempting home run style stretch passes if he is on the ice knowing that he’d win the icing call face-off in their defensive zone should the pass not connect. Girard worked the Admirals power-play late last season leading into the playoffs for his effectiveness at winning face-offs. Him doing what he does wouldn’t help the Stars in that moment.

While not known for goal scoring, so naturally he scored last night, Mike Liambas would have likely rotated into a like-role that Bass provides on the Admirals power-play that sees him as the net front presence. Bass had scored a net front deflection earlier in the game. Liambas, while not as known for it, would have been just as capable providing that net front ability. What he typically is known for by most other AHL organizations though is his fighting prowess. Given the scenario that played out to set the stage for that power-play would it really have been in the Admirals best interest to send out someone for the Stars to continue an altercation with? Even after the fact Dustin Stevenson dropped his gloves to fight an unwilling combatant in Liambas and grappled with him until Liambas finally gave in to fight. The officials should have stepped in and bailed Liambas out to prevent the fight from happening, it took a lifetime before Liambas decided to get involved, but alas – they fought. Why would that situation not have happened directly on the Admirals power-play, following a fight by the Stars between Van Barbant and Bass, considering it did later? The Admirals didn’t want to fight. They didn’t need to fight. They were simply choosing not to fight.

Then there is that third component to the Admirals fourth line by the name of Adam Payerl. He already is part of the Admirals power-play and this season has 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists) in 25 games including 6 points (1 goal, 4 assists) on the power-play. Clearly sending him out on the power-play, the fourth line winger, would have been bad.

This whole situation then is effectively a no-win scenario for the Admirals. If they could have put Jonas Gunnarsson in the game as a skater and had him running around on the power-play I’m sure they would have given it a go. Anything to have helped the Stars see their way out the door swiftly and without more damage.

That’s I feel the biggest issue at hand for Laxdal, though. Finger wagging at the opposition for not doing enough to help them lose by more rather than his own team. I make no bones about it. I felt bad for both Stars goaltenders last night. Maxime Lagacé had a quick leash. Perhaps that was the proverbial wake-up call technique when yanking the starting goaltender. What’s sad is to do that, for it to fail miserably, and then Landon Bow – a guy who exited the middle of Friday night’s third period to throw up because he is battling flue-like symptoms – had to be in net for the rest of the game. The goaltenders were hung out to dry and forgotten about. The Stars were the inventors of their own peril last night. It never mattered who was going out on that final Admirals power-play. They were probably scoring regardless because they were playing a team a man short on the ice with their heads long elsewhere.

The next time the Admirals and Stars play, buy tickets here, will be April 1st. That is a date already notorious in Admirals lore for such a circumstance Laxdal seems to be suggesting the Stars wouldn’t mind having because “guys don’t forget.” The previous game that the Admirals played in when it was a 9-1 game featured a combined 141 penalty minutes with 10 fighting majors. Thanks to the AHL’s new Fighting Policy that simply wasn’t going to happen last night and, when it tried to, the Admirals players didn’t want to get involved – they already won the game anyways. I’d hope that the Stars and Laxdal do forget and rather do something regarding their ineffective and hopeless defense of their’s which has allowed 3.76 goals per game this season compared to the Admirals allowing 2.52 goals per game.

So, Laxdal and the Texas Stars, do yourselves a favor and relax on this your off-day. Practice for yourselves, as the head coach stated angrily a few times, is at 10 o’clock Monday morning. Though, I’d hope the team avoids doing what Laxdal also stated the team do after last night.

“It’s one of those games where you almost just take the video tape or you take the data drive and throw it out the window.”

Please don’t. You should be watching that footage until you’re all throwing up like Bow. Please take stock of all the mistakes, to which there were many – you don’t have a 9-1 scoreline without that, and fix them. I’m on the Admirals side of the fence and that was painful seeing two goalies so exposed last night. Focus less on “there’s going to be history next time we see the Admirals” and more of a focus on night allowing 9 goals against. The lessons of how not to play well are in the video tape and on those data drives. That should probably be saved, utilized, and bludgeoning players over their heads this week until they never play like that again.

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.

We are still so very early into this hockey season. Much can still manifest itself and there are plenty of stories yet to be told. Though, one particular storyline that has become more of a theme to the 2016-17 season so far has been the goaltending rodeo that the Nashville Predators seem to want to have with Marek Mazanec and Juuse Saros. Their lack of confidence in their own decision at back-up to Pekka Rinne has been a bit of a circus. It’s a three-ring circus: Rinne front and center with the other lads sitting down on the far side rings watching him perform his magic.

Lost in all of that his a 24-year old Swedish goaltender by the name of Jonas Gunnarsson who has been with the Milwaukee Admirals this entire season and has only played four times throughout the Nashville juggling act. By this time a year ago he had already played in 25 games for the Malmö Redhawks in the SHL. In his first splash to the North American scene he has basically taken a backseat to Nashville’s back-up instability while in Milwaukee.

I’ve always had the belief, especially at the goaltending spot, that inconsistent playing time leads to inconsistent playing form. The time that’s given needs to be earned, so there is a give and take there – I get that, but with how Mazanec and Saros have been thrown around early this season the time given to Gunnarsson is about as rare as a steak with a cowbell still attached to it.

In looking purely at what Gunnarsson has done in the time the Admirals have been able to play him you’d assume he has deserved all the time away from the responsibilities of a goaltending net. Yet, that just isn’t true.

Gunnarsson holds a 1-2-1-0 record from his four starts. He has a 4.21 goals against average and a 0.850 save percentage. Numbers don’t lie but they don’t always tell the full story. The very first North American pro start for Gunnarsson saw him left for dead on a night when the Admirals put together what has held up as their worst game of the season by losing 6-1 on the road to the Iowa Wild. That’s not exactly confidence building – nor is having to wait the next seventeen days to get a shot at redemption. Gunnarsson would stop 20/22 in an overtime win for the Admirals over the Charlotte Checkers to record his first North American pro, AHL, and Admirals victory in net.

You’d think then that a small consultation game would be back in order after having held the fort to help provide a foundation for the Cardiac Kids to rally down from a 2-0 deficit – but you’d be wrong. He waited out the next four-games until getting the next chance to play. He then stopped 26/30 in what would be a 4-3 overtime loss at home against the Manitoba Moose. That was an Admirals team at the end of a white hot run of five straight wins but also one getting depleted with recalls by the Predators to the forward and defensive group.

And so it would happen, Mazanec starts here and there and then the goaltenders flip again. Saros returns, does his thing, and that meant Gunnarson lucking into a game only four-games later. Not only that, but it came on the back of a four-game road trip where the Admirals already played exhausted the night before and looked to have come up completely flat – again, like in Iowa. After a good first period surge nonstop penalty issues for the Admirals in the second period meant needing to take down five penalty kills. The group was exhausted going in. They were exhausted heading out of that second period. And Gunnarsson’s fourth start of the season ended with him looking fantastic at times but still wearing a very bad night for the team on his chin: stopping 25/30 shots on goal in a 5-2 loss against the Chicago Wolves.

With Mazanec now back with the Admirals you simply assume Gunnarsson gets left in the cold once more. It’s possible that Mazanec takes a seat this weekend and splits a two-in-two against the Texas Stars, Gunnarsson has made such a start with similar circumstances with Mazanec around, but it doesn’t feel likely. The talk is to maximize minutes and activity for two goaltenders in the organization right now. Gunnarsson isn’t one of them but he does have a front row seat.

It’s a shame that more can’t be done for Gunnarsson. That the lack of either faith or confidence in who gets the NHL back-up role is such a mess. It works well short term for both Mazanec and Saros, perhaps the Predators and Admirals as well, but it already genuinely is a process that forgets about the other guy.

What are your feelings regarding the Nashville Predators back-up goaltending conundrum? Do you get the impression they don’t have confidence in Mazanec, don’t want to promote Saros so soon, yet are dawdling between both lines anyways? How should Gunnarsson be maximizing his efforts to get an AHL start here and there to show what he can do?

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.

The Milwaukee Admirals have four first-year talents on their roster this season. There are two defenseman, Alex Carrier and Jack Dougherty. And there are two forwards, Justin Kirkland and Anthony Richard. While Carrier has seemingly hit the ground running it isn’t completely the case for his fellow rookies.

Dougherty entered this season having had the benefit of joining the Admirals late last season and getting to experience game action ahead of the team’s Calder Cup playoff run. The Admirals are Dougherty’s fourth different team in four years after having gone from the U.S. National Development Team, the University of Wisconsin, and then the Portland Winterhawks. Him having joined at the end of the season and keeping with the program is effectively the longest run with a single team that he’s had since playing for St. Thomas Academy when he was 16-years old.

Richard, like Dougherty, also joined the Admirals late last season and got to log game time. Unlike Dougherty though those games that Richard played were playoff games. He was thrown right into the fire in the opening round series against the Grand Rapids Griffins and while playing through a lower-body injury sustained at the end of his last junior playing season. His time with Val-d’Or (QMJHL) spanned four-years in which he produced 238 points (111 goals, 127 assists) in 232 games.

Kirkland was the lone rookie this season that didn’t benefit from being around the Admirals at the end of last season. Carrier was able to do that and was joined by fellow Gatineau teammate and Predators prospect Yakov Trenin. Carrier unlike Dougherty, Richard, and Trenin just never had the opportunity to play. The reason for Kirkland’s absence was simply due to the great performance he and the Kelowna Rockets were putting together at the end of the season that saw their playoff run outlast the Admirals. Kirkland worked his way from the Saskatchewan junior scene before making it to Kelowna in the WHL. Once he made it there he totaled 169 points (71 goals, 98 assists) in 199 games.

All three of these players come from outstanding junior backgrounds before turning pro. So how are two forwards that had a combined 0.94 points per game still without a single point in the AHL through the Admirals first 19 games of the season?

At this point, for all the rookies, Kirkland and Richard are the lone of the group to have ventured out to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. It wasn’t a demotion based purely out of performance, either. The Admirals forward depth this season is very -very- deep and you can look at recent Nashville Predators games as evidence to just that. In their brief spells with the Cyclones they were being afforded ice-time that they wouldn’t otherwise be getting at the AHL level. And that, to a degree, says something about why a lesser start for the two is happening.

The biggest point for what I see with Kirkland and Richard is that they are two high level scoring talents from the junior ranks that sometimes get caught out doing too much too fast too often. Kirkland has had the better and more consistent approach in his 13 games with the Admirals. He has mainly played at center and is looking closer and closer to getting a breakthrough offensively. Richard’s speed is electric but he has moments where he can drift a bit and move out of areas on the ice that could help him produce. I’m sure that the pace of the pro game has been a touch hectic to adjust to. That proceed is simply being shown more in the form of an empty stat total from two forwards completely capable of doing much more.

Things haven’t been completely out of whack for Dougherty but what has been, for sure, is finding someone for him to pair with on a nightly basis. Dougherty has pretty much been paired with everyone defensively this season who has a left-hand shot: Trevor Murphy, Jimmy Oligny, and -most recently- Jonathan Diaby. Over the course of a season familiarity gets really good through game experience and the plethora of practices a team will go through. But, to go through this many permutations this early, it is a bit of a test for Dougherty to find his own feet. While Carrier and Adam Pardy‘s pairing has its own great chemistry and has had it from the moment Pardy has arrived there is something to be said about those two getting to evolve and get better as a tandem the more time they get to feed off each other. Dougherty has yet to really have that. And, with how the Predators injury troubles seem to keep flaring up, I’m not sure when he will.

It’s important for all of these rookies that have been off to a slower start to not end up gripping their sticks tight and continue to go through the learning process at hand. That less is more approach might even be the best way for all three to start getting loose and finding a groove. It isn’t juniors anymore. That point per game average isn’t going to massively translate into the AHL in a heartbeat. What all have around them though is what can help them slowly get a foothold and start finding some of that junior level success. Kirkland’s pairing on a line with Max Görtz in recent games has been so close to getting goals. Richard having a quick spell for the Cyclones that saw him earn his first pro goal and assist can be an evaluation point as to finding more of that night in and night out. It’s simply a matter of time.

Under the Dean Evason Era of the Admirals the team has had seven first-year skaters from the CHL play upwards of 50 games in a season for them. Their combined points per game average was 0.34 in that first-pro season compared to a combined points per game average of 0.67 in their CHL careers. The pro game that first full-season requires a long game mentality. There is a lot to adjust to. Provided all continue to learn from the experiences they are getting these slower starts can start to climb in the right direction.

What have you thought of the first-year pros that the Milwaukee Admirals have had this season? Do you feel that the depth needs a bit more replenishing right now or is the group around right now good enough to outlast the Nashville Predators injury bugs?

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The Road to Nashville Goes Through Milwaukee. That’s a slogan that has been sign posted around the Milwaukee Admirals for a long time now. Yet, it’s a slogan built upon a solid foundation of a proven developmental process that the Nashville Predators have continually built from since their arrival to the NHL scene. The Predators and Admirals work in concert. And some of the recent talent coming through the pipeline have featured some of the best examples of the organization’s scouting and developmental process at work.

At the point in which I write this a little Swede by the name of Viktor Arvidsson isn’t all that little anymore. Not to the fans in Nashville. Not to the fans of the NHL. He is a relentless on-ice worker who displays as much heart as he does skill – and goodness is he skilled. It didn’t take long for Arvidsson to show just what he is capable of in North America when he debuted with the Admirals at the AHL level. But this was a player that slipped through the cracks of the NHL Draft not once, not even twice, but three times. And it only took that debut season of 2014-15 to make people such as myself wonder just why the heck that was the case.

Arvidsson has skills for days. He ended up claiming a few more mentions in that year’s Best Goal of the Season, as well. He’s a highlight reel level player. More than that though, which by now Nashville fans easily identify with him, he never stops working when he is on the ice. When Arvidsson first arrived to Milwaukee in 2014 he arrived already with the presence and maturity you would expect of a pro. He was a constant in the Admirals weight room during the season and continually pushed himself for more. He ended that first pro season in North America as the Admirals leading scorer with 55 points (22 goals, 33 assists) in 70 games.

With how the depth is in the organization now having NHL level consistency is key for the Predators when it comes to seeing their lower line forwards playing a polished two-way game. When Arvidsson has a slow start last season he found himself back with the Admirals. Once you’ve had a taste of where you want to be, the NHL, it isn’t always the easiest to end up back where you climbed up from in the AHL. That said, the Admirals have been stockpiling talent that the Predators have drafted in recent years and it creates an environment that can really help springboard players right back to where they want to be. All that’s needed is the effort in response to being reassigned back to Milwaukee. And if there is anything that Arvidsson consistently delivers – it is effort. That’s probably why he delivered an AHL best thirteen game point streak upon his return to the Admirals before eventually finding himself in the situation he remains in today.

This springboard effect can be seen in a few situations in both current or past examples. Austin Watson started his season after having cleared waivers and ending up back with the Admirals in the AHL. He played in three games, scored a goal, got in a scrap, and was recalled once the Predators experienced a battle with food poisoning. He hasn’t returned. And hasn’t looked like a player that should: 18 games, 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists), plus/minus rating of +5, and 19 penalty minutes which stem from from three fighting majors. That was a short-term bounce back and a recent example. What of Filip Forsberg in the 2013-14 season? He was 19-years old at the time he turned up in Milwaukee and the aim was simply to find consistency in play, offensively and defensively, over the course of sixty-minutes of hockey. Forsberg played 47 games in the AHL that season, scored 34 points (15 goals, 19 assists), and experienced a playoff run with the Admirals for good measure. The next season he stuck to the NHL and contributed 63 points (26 goals, 37 assists) in 82 games.

The model for success and how to do it is there. And it’s a very simple one: Work hard. The Predators organization is one that really does reward effort that gets put in from the players that fight for it. Case and point examples can come in the form of two players that were recalled during this recent road trip by the Predators. And those two players weren’t even drafted by them.

Mike Liambas earned his first career recall during the Predators recent two game road trip. He didn’t suit up for a game but the sheer fact that he was recalled says enough. Liambas was someone who not too many years ago may only have been known for a hit against Ben Fanelli in a game in the OHL that saw Fanelli fracture his skull and Liambas receive a season-long suspension that ended his junior playing career. One bad moment doesn’t define the man. A professional career that sees him currently holding 99 fighting majors in the AHL and ECHL during regular season play doesn’t also define his playing ability. Liambas’ time spent with the Admirals from 2013-2015 saw him make massive strides in his all-around playing ability. Throughout his own developmental process though he was always a fantastic locker room presence and the sort of spirited on-ice leader that could make the likes of Pekka Rinne blush (audio). He wears an “A” on the front of his jersey this season because the locker room voted for him to wear it. His recall wasn’t a simple pat on the back for service time it came because of his tireless on-ice work and dedication to improving himself and those around him. Liambas earned that recall. And the Predators rewarded his hard work.

As for the other name that was recalled, and just so happen to play in both games during the Predators road tip, I feel the need to share a story.

When I was waiting to conduct interviews following the Admirals exhibition game at the MSOE Kern Center prior to the start of the 2015-16 season I was approached by one of the players in passing. “Hey, it is really nice to see you again,” he said before patting me on the shoulder and walking off to do post-game cool down work outs. It was Frédérick Gaudreau and, after all the chatter post-game was done, I quickly looked back to see if I had even spoken to him during the whole of the 2014-15 season where he had split time between the Admirals in the AHL and Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. It turns out that I actually did… once… in December of that year… he still had 14 games of ECHL hockey awaiting him from that moment.

Why I bring that up is to speak to the incredibly humble nature of Gaudreau. He truly appreciates the moment and is as genuinely as nice of a person as you would come across in the game. The path that he’s been on only makes you smile that much more given the success he has been finding.

Gaudreau spent three-solid seasons in the QMJHL where he played mainly with the Shawinigan but finished his junior playing career off with Drummondville. He played 195 games, scored 134 points (50 goals, 84 assists), won the CHL Memorial Cup in 2012, and was awarded the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the QMJHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player in the 2013-14 season. He was never drafted. He instead found himself signing an AHL contract with the Admirals in the 2014 off-season and his first professional season had him in-and-out of the lineup as well as up-and-down between leagues. Between the Admirals and Cyclones that first pro season he scored 18 points (9 goals, 9 assists) in 57 games. He would show up the next season in Milwaukee, wish a reporter who didn’t even know exactly who he was at the time the very best, and proceed to force the Admirals parent club’s hand into signing him to an NHL contract.

I’m entering my fifth season working around the Admirals organization. This is my fourth season as Editor-in-Chief of Admirals Roundtable. There are two players who I take great pride in seeing wear Predators colors: Anthony Bitetto and Gaudreau. Why? Because they 100% show that the developmental system in place works from ECHL to AHL to NHL and it works whether you were drafted or undrafted. There is something special that the Predators have in place system wide when it comes to getting the most out of the right players. Bitetto and Gaudreau are those such players. People who worked hard no matter what circumstance they found themselves in and each have managed to be rewarded for doing exactly that. Cincinnati to Milwaukee to Nashville.

When Gaudreau happened to earn his first career NHL point as a secondary assist last night I received a comment wondering if I had a tear in my eye from that moment. I’d never go that far but whenever I see members of the Admirals go up and find success at the NHL level that they’ve been fighting so hard for it makes me smile. Again, in this organization it is very much opportunity earned and reward earned and deserved. I imagine in that moment and into the coming days Gaudreau’s teammates both in Nashville and Milwaukee have to be over the Moon for him knowing the path he traveled had that culminated in that moment though. That’s the fun of getting to see life from the AHL level, as well. You get to experience moments that on the surface can be so small, just playing a single game – just 8:27 of ice-time, but for someone the likes of a Mark Van Guilder who battled so long to get there. Even in that instance it was opportunity earned and reward earned. Last night for Gaudreau? Much the same. It’s earned.

There are so many stories such as an Arvidsson, Liambas, or Gaudreau just waiting to surface. The beauty I find in the Predators developmental process is that they actually can surface and succeed. The structure across the organization from ECHL to AHL allows for NHL success. All that is truly required for one to make it under the Predators banner is a commitment to hard work. When looking at how this year’s Admirals team has been competing you find nothing but exactly that. The process is working. And it yields results across the board.

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Happy Monday, everyone. I know this is a monthly award and the month isn’t over yet but it is as far as games for the Milwaukee Admirals are concerned. They played ten games during this month, went to overtime in seven of those games, required a shootout from two of -those-games, and wound up never losing a single game in regulation for a 8-0-1-1 record.

It has to be said then that this isn’t the easiest task to select a solitary figure from the Admirals this month. The entire group was what worked so well. All games played in November were high character games with solid team performances being the shining element on a nightly basis. It is this character that is seeing them -as of today- holding to the top record in the AHL based on points percentage: 12-2-2-1 (27 points, 0.794 points percentage).

Our choice for Admiral of the Month could therefore go to darn near anyone, really. But that just would be too easy. I feel I’ve narrowed it down to three choices: Alex Carrier, Juuse Saros, and Matt White. It speaks volumes to me that the top three candidates just so happen to all come from the different positions on the ice: forward, defenseman, and goaltender. These three all did such a stellar job. So let’s talk about all three because at the very least the two odd men out deserve the Admirable Mention.

Carrier’s first pro season to this point has been a remarkable one, already. As of today he is currently the second highest scoring rookie defenseman in the AHL behind Kyle Wood of the Tucson Roadrunners. But, comparing the two, Carrier game isn’t all about his 14 points (3 goals, 11 assists) of offense but it is also his defensive effort that complements it. Carrier has a plus/minus rating of +10 which is +9 up on Tucson’s Wood. It’s really been Carrier’s instant chemistry with veteran defenseman Adam Pardy that seems to have seen him take an even further step out of the blocks. Since Pardy’s arrival via trade from the Springfield Falcons on 10/24/16 the two have basically been attached at the hip in-game. Carrier only had an assist prior to Pardy’s arrival. Carrier has since shot out of a cannon and displayed great two-way ability.

I’m beginning to run out of superlatives when it comes to Saros. So, here it goes. The month of November saw Saros start in net for five of the Admirals ten games. He did this with some here-and-there call ups to the Nashville Predators as Marek Mazanec floated down-up-and-down. How did he do in those starts for the Admirals? He won all of them and had a 1.37 goals against average, 0.954 save percentage, and earned a shutout in his return to the team after an eleven day long layoff between in-game appearances in a 1-0 win on the road against the Cleveland Monsters. Saros is the top goalie in the AHL right now by way of wins (9), goals against average (1.59), and save percentage (0.945). Saros is 21-years old and only in the beginning stage of his North American development. This is him while he is learning. He is a truly special prospect.

I’m not all that sure who was responsible for healthy scratching White from the first three games of the Admirals season but I do know they are going to be hard pressed into doing it ever again. White’s performance this entire season since finally getting to game action has actually made me wonder just what on Earth took the rest of the AHL so long to give him his due. White played 158 games in the ECHL over the course of three-seasons until the Admirals brought him on-board as a PTO signing a season ago. He did so well so fast that he ended up signing a two-year contract with the Admirals in a shade under two months. They knew they had something. And White responded. Last season White scored 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) in 54 games with the Admirals. Not bad for a guy who originally showed up on PTO basis, right? This season White already has 15 points (7 goals, 8 assist) in 14 games. He is yet another one of these high energy, high work rate, never takes a shift off and works all three-zones well types of players that have come through the organization in recent years despite flying under the radar. His surge this season, all be it purely on left wing, reminds me a ton of how well Frédérick Gaudreau played. Look where Gaudreau was this time last season and now look where he is today. White’s month of November saw him score a point in every game but two yet he still put a clip up of 9 points (3 goals, 6 assists) in 10 games. He has been operating on such an extremely high level and is yet another reminder of what solid depth the Admirals have in its locker room right now.

So, who deserves it the most? This is as agonizingly close of a call as I’ve had to make but time after time I’ve given this player praise throughout the month of November and it is hard for me to not cement that here. Admirals Roundtable’s Admiral of the Month for November is Alex Carrier.

I’ve said time after time that Carrier doesn’t look or play like a first-year pro. I’ve also been caught out on a number of times mesmerized watching Carrier’s work rate which I’m just not used to seeing so often from a defenseman in Milwaukee – but I am used to seeing it from several defensemen in Nashville. His skating ability allows for him to really cruise around the ice and act almost as a fourth forward at times. I know Nashville enjoys seeing defensemen be active and really pinch but Carrier can take that a step further and wire around the net at times on the puck and keep creating offensively all while having an active presence of his defensive responsibilities, He plays at a high pace but also with a very calm approach. He doesn’t look flustered at all. And I feel, as far as his development is concerned, he is benefiting all the more by his partnership with Pardy. He looked great when I saw him this Summer at Nashville’s Rookie Development Camp. He looked good early here in Milwaukee. And now he’s looking stunning with every passing game that he seems to get under his belt.

~Admiral of the Month Award~

October: Juuse Saros
November: Alex Carrier

Who do you feel was the top performer for the Milwaukee Admirals during the month of November? Was it Carrier, Saros, White or someone else? Tell me who your Admiral of the Month was in the comment section below.

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Nashville:

When I arrived to the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena last Saturday for the Milwaukee Admirals contest against the Grand Rapids Griffins I did so with an on edge feeling knowing just how last season came to a thunderous and unceremonious end. I also arrived with a trusted source informing me that Marek Mazanec would be heading up to the Nashville Predators after his start for the Admirals that night. It felt like that would be a quick AHL stint for the prospective NHL back-up goaltender but, that being said, that source informed me of that information long before he played the game that night. It was after that game was played when I felt like the information was due to change.

Mazanec didn’t just allow four goals from twenty-six shots against the Griffins that night. He darn near single-handedly lost the Admirals that game. A gusty effort in front of him, combined with some confidence building stops here in there in net, saw the Admirals climb out of a 3-0 first period deficit against one of the more polished and versatile teams you’ll find in the AHL. The Admirals outshot the Griffins 27-16 from the second period to the end of regulation in that comeback effort. It was an astonishingly good fight back and one that saw them claim a point on a night that could have just as easily been thrown in the garbage after a period of play. The momentum was 100% on the side of the Admirals heading into overtime. That was right up until Mazanec did precisely what he did to start the game which was passing it from his net to the opposition who would score almost instantaneously. Nail. Meet. Coffin.

At points such as that night on my end of things you get put in the very awkward position of asking questions you already know the answers to. Mazanec looked absolutely dejected after that performance and pretty much spoke to that regard as well.

“I saw our guy. He was looking at me and so I thought I could give it to him and he’s going to go,” said Marek Mazanec of the pass he made in overtime that would lead to the game-winning goal for the Griffins seconds later. “The pass didn’t work out for me as I expected. I wanted to make a difference in the game and it didn’t work well. It cost us the game.”

“You step into the game and want to be the difference maker in the game. Want to have a good game and help the guys. It just didn’t work out for me today.”

Anyone viewing Mazanec’s stint as a quick cup of AHL coffee to better himself, his sharpness in net, and bounce right back to the NHL simply doesn’t know Mazanec the human being away from the game. This stint saw him coming back to a place he considered to be a home away from home, Milwaukee. It was something you could tell he took to heart. Not only did he want to make sure he left a good impression back with the Admirals he wanted to do what he could for the team’s success. This is a results based game with a multi-tier system in place that sees players rise and fall at a moments notice. That last result really hurt him. It isn’t often I outright here a player take full responsibility for a loss but Mazanec did that. It was tough seeing and hearing that. He had a bad one. And he knew he had a real bad one. Because who was to say at that point he didn’t just seal an Admirals loss but a further duration in the AHL?

As it so happened that performance did end up being Mazanec’s last outing in the AHL before he was recalled by the Predators due to a day-to-day injury to starting goaltender Pekka Rinne. I was at morning skate the day that news took place and was more surprised than anything to see that news come paired with Predators goaltending coach Ben Vanderklok was on-hand at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena teaching up the likes of Jonas Gunnarsson and Mark Visentin. Would it not have made sense to have given Mazanec that one-day to go over the mistakes made against Grand Rapids with Vanderklok before meeting back up the next day with the parent club in Toronto? If Mazanec is back with the NHL group without the main goalie coach there to dissect and walk through moments from that last outing who was?

The slight bit of roster shuffling chaos of course boiled down to one key component: Rinne having a day-to-day injury. Shame, really, because he had just put on a twenty-seven save shutout performance prior to the injury announcement. No Rinne? Well, then you better bring Mazanec up to have two serviceable goaltenders for the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs regardless of whether or not Mazanec’s AHL stint was indeed over or not as planned.

Here comes the biggest question of all for me though towards the Predators coaching staff. Knowing full well how rough Mazanec’s last outing was at the AHL level for the Admirals, and how tough he took that performance, why would he be the best possible choice to start against the Maple Leafs last night? That is with zero disrespect said of Mazanec’s ability but it just makes no sense to take someone who was rattled in two outings at the AHL level with an 0.849 save percentage against AHL competition and throw him back into the deep end of the pool to see if he can swim. Mazanec was already fighting it previously and was in need of game shape sharpening, hence the reason why he was assigned to the AHL in the first place, and -naturally- he wasn’t that sharp. He had made two starts from the Predators opening eleven games of the season. Goaltenders can often be creatures of habit so to go through long stretches without playing and getting thrown into the fire can be rattling at times. Here is the thing though – that’s perfectly OK. Because that’s precisely why a platform such as the AHL exists.

If Mazanec needs time to sharpen back up, polish his mind, and knock some dust off rather than collect more watching Rinne play all the time – send him to Milwaukee. That’s no issue in relation to the player himself. It isn’t. But it is an issue with making sure the rotation of what is in place can allow for that process to work without coming back to blow up in the parent club’s face. It did last night. And it didn’t have to.

Mazanec starting last night’s game was the equivalent of a race car driving missing multiple races, hopping in a go-kart for a weekend, breaking his go-kart and finishing less than desired, and then being told to run in the Monaco Grand Prix. What did anyone truly expect was going to happen? If his confidence and game sharpness are in question, put more into question after a last game played in the AHL, Mazanec suddenly finding his groove once again at NHL game speed would be like catching a bullet in the dark. Do I expect Mazanec to allow as many goals as he did? No. Do I expect a less than quality-standard performance in net after what I just saw previously? Yes. And the Predators chose that option.

A major catch to all of this is to then assume that if Saros hopped in net last night that he would magically have saved the day. That also is simply not the case, either. As much as Mazanec being shaky in net and out of practice right now as he is there is still a massive team element to the game. The Toronto Maple Leafs won 6-2. Something tells me that scoreline doesn’t purely rest on the head of one individual. Accountability in such a resounding loss is shared by everyone. Plus, I also believe a bit of credit can be bestowed to the Maple Leafs on doing that damage. Let’s do a quick jog through of last night, shall we?

The goals scored against Mazanec essentially went as follows:

(1) Mitch Marner shoots from the wide left wing using Ryan Ellis as screen for the shot that was placed against the grain and into the upper-90 to Mazanec’s blocker side.

(2) The Maple Leafs break in on a three-on-two rush, James van Riemsdyk‘s initial shot gets blocked down off of Mattias Eklholm, Mazanec bit blocker side on the initial shot, van Riemsdyk stuck with the puck, and shot glove-side where Mazanec just gave up added space.

(3) Maple Leafs enter the zone on a three-on-three, Tyler Bozak glides down the right wing with Ekholm pressed on him, Craig Smith allows van Riemsdyk to win the foot race to the back post because he’s watching the puck carrier, and Bozak snaps a phenomenal pass across the net to create a back post a tap in.

(4) After a good cycle along the boards a puck gets over to Martin Marincin at the left point and his long range wrister deflected in off of the net front screening Leo Komarov – who Ellis left all alone directly in front of Mazanec. The Predators had three bodies around the net and allowed two Maple Leafs to camp in around one defender in front of the net on the redirect.

(5) On a face-off three Predators converged to the face-off dot against two Maple Leafs players to get a puck loose. The puck did get loose and, when it did Marner poked the puck past Ekholm in a small scale two-on-one with the lone Maple Leafs forward watching that face-off scramble taking place -van Riemsdyk- who then breaks in on Mazanec down the slot and delivers a stiff backhanded shot low glove-side before Viktor Arvidsson could race in and close him down.

(6) The Maple Leafs have a three-on-two rush breaking into the attacking zone with a trailing Predator, Filip Forsberg, in hot pursuit. The rush gets to the endboards. William Nylander hops opposite side of the cage away from the continual backcheck of Forsberg, fends off Ellis, and spins around to take a shot from the low right wing circle between Ellis and Ryan Johansen that catches Mazanec off guard to the near post as he was screened by Ben Smith – who turned out to be the forgotten man on the ice at the time, freely skating directly in front of Mazanec with no one watching him.

That is bad. That is an awful lot of bad. And, hey, it isn’t limited to a one-person issue. It probably wouldn’t have been made any better if Saros or Rinne himself were in net at the time, either. It was just plain sloppy from a tactical perspective for the Predators and done simultaneously while the speed, precision, and smart offensive reads by players on the ice for the Maple Leafs shined.

I can understand then the frustration, on a number of platforms, for Nashville Predators fans. How can a team that just won a 5-0 shutout one night lose 6-2 the next night? I suppose this is where a lot of the “Maz sucks” comments came pouring in last night. He was the difference in personnel between the two games after all, right? It has to be on him. It can’t be on any other solitary figure or groups of players on that roster. Mazanec is a wasteland of not good hockey player. He’s AHL quality. A vacuum of goaltending talent. The Robin to Magnus Hellberg‘s Batman. Fire Peter Laviolette. Fire David Poile. The World is burning and the time for panicking and abandoning ship is well and truly upon us all.

This commentary has to stop. Period.

I know full well that the Predators had a world of hype behind them heading into this season. I know that the early stages to the 2016-17 season aren’t going that well right now. People want to search for answers as to why or excuses as to why not. It’s a patience issue and an over-expectations issue – wanting too much, too soon.

Is a back-up goaltender the difference between winning and losing last night’s game? The answer you’ll be shocked to find is no, no it is not. Is that position in particular a gray area for the Predators right now? Sure, but the cost effective and sound developmental process way of doing things was to give Mazanec his due after three full-seasons of development in North America. How are you ever to truly know if he is NHL quality or not until gets a chance such as this season to prove it? He had twenty-seven games of NHL experience with the Predators prior to this season. The hope was likely to meet a lesser figure such as Carter Hutton from a season ago. Is he? Certainly not now but who is to know until it actually happens?

If the leash for Mazanec is a short one than it is a short one but the way the goaltending position stacks up behind him tells a big story. Saros is going to be a good one. The emphasis in that last sentence is set on future tense. He split the deck in AHL starts a season ago with Mazanec and you would like for him as a way of the developmental process to see him have a full-season as a first choice goaltender eating up experiences and learning more about the North American pro game at an AHL level pace. I’m sure plenty can be learned kicking back and joining the Predators camp as a back-up goalie but if the starts are sporadic and the results become erratic than who benefits out of that situation both short and long term? Saros needs to play and be kept rolling. That start people might be gaga over, his first career NHL win, came after he started three games in the week leading into that effort. Predators fans haven’t seen Saros play a cold game, yet. What happens if it is bad? Does he get the “Saros sucks” treatment for it? It’s a learning process being conducted at NHL level pace with NHL level stakes. The right man of the two to play that game with right now is Mazanec based on experience and experience alone. If it isn’t enough? You better believe a trade is coming if it is such a problem area.

This same attitude towards Mazanec that I saw last night I already see enough of in relation to the blockbuster trade that took place in the off-season. The Predators acquired P.K. Subban from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Shea Weber. It was a straight-up one-for-one deal. High profile players involved. It’s something you don’t see that much of across sports that much anymore. What I feel mostly happened in that trade was that the Predators traded the soul of their locker room in order to acquire a superstar. It was a shakeup due to the previous years seeing a lack of success looking to inject a new kind of kick to the system. It is ambitious to trade away a franchise pillar level player in Weber and one that meant a tremendous amount on and off the ice. But a shake-up likely needed to be done in the sense of needing a change to make a change.

What I imagine has not been counted on as of yet is the void left from Weber’s leadership has likely been left like an open wound and others aren’t stepping in to heal it and fill that void. To lose one leader in a locker room is tough. To lose -the- leader in the locker room requires the ones that are left to really step up their accountability and those around them to strive for far bigger and better of themselves. If you think that is a process that was going to magically occur in the off-season or the first months of the season? You’re silly.

The beauty of all that takes place in a hockey season is that it can all feel shorter and more rapid than it actually is. The season is a long one. It very much is the case of a marathon versus a sprint. As much as everyone wants to see the Predators shoot to the Moon the reality is that there are a multitude of pieces, on and off the ice, that need to adhere. What most should rest their heads about is that the pieces to the puzzle are there. They just need to come together and stay together.

Does Mazanec suck? No. Do the Predators suck? No. Is the World going to end? Yes, but we’ll be long dead by the time it does so fret ye not. Hockey presents obstacles on a daily and game-to-game basis. It’s about winning and learning. There is no Doomsday Clock required. The Predators may have been, for the lack of a better term, spanked last night but they were also given a plethora of information from which to learn and improve. Patience is a requirement here. No amount of scapegoating or blame gaming will make the process run any better.

Bad games will happen. Rough stretches will happen. All teams have them. It’s the teams that learn from those situations the best that go the furthest. There is no reason to believe the Predators aren’t that sort of a team that can’t learn or couldn’t achieve what they set out to achieve this off-season. It’s mid-November. Let the narrative run longer.

Sincerely,

Daniel Lavender
Editor-in-Chief
Admirals Roundtable

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