This doesn’t look like the same team that started the season so well, even though much of the personnel is the same.
The Admirals have hit the All-Star Break losers of four in a row, and six of their last seven, as they lost to the Rockford IceHogs 3-1 on Saturday night.
Goals are still a premium for the Admirals, as they scored just one goal in three of their four losses.
We’re tired of asking about it, and I’m sure Coach Herbers is tired of talking about it.
The Admirals found themselves trailing 4:15 into the first period after a Joe Lavin shot from the far point was deflected by Rostislav Olesz just inside of the far circle. The shot went down, and went between Jeremy Smith’s legs.
The Ads tied it up about eight a half minutes later with Taylor Beck’s 8th of the year. Scott Valentine had a nice keep-in at the point, and sent the puck towards the net. Joel Champagne had the initial shot, but Beck was able to deflect it in.
In the second period, Lavin got a goal for himself. A shot from the near point that beat Smith far side. A Chet Pickard style goal that makes you scratch your head.
Brain Fahey made it a two-goal lead with a power play marker. Ben Smith was behind the goal-line, and sent a pass to Fahey pinching to the far faceoff dot. Blake Geoffrion was the forward on that side, and couldn’t decide whether to go after Smith or watch Fahey.
Carter Hutton continued his strong play for the IceHogs, netting his 10th win of the season. Coach Herbers credits not only the hot goalie, but the hot team playing in front of him too.
Confidence. Attitude. Energy. Gel-ing. If you were playing the $25,000 Pyramid, those would be “Things Not Associated With The Admirals Right Now.”
– Jon Blum. A big disappointment. Although, to his credit, he did make some nice plays in crunch time late in the third period. But he doesn’t look like he’s particularly invested in this team right now. Easy for me to say in press row, but I think he played better when he was here last year. (This just in….10:08 pm, Jon Blum tweets “Well, All-Star Break is here. Heading back to sunny southern California for a few days to celebrate my birthday with family. Can’t wait.”
Draw your own conclusions. Make up your own punchlines.
– Blake Geoffrion. Not much better. Not making a positive impact like he should be. He stood out tonight.
– I’d really like to point to someone who stood out in a good way by having a pretty good game, and I’m having a tough time doing it. Yes, the effort in the third period was much much better…but this team needs to find a way to bottle that and play like that for longer stretches of time.
So as the zamboni circles the BMO Harris Bank Center ice to clean up the pink highlights….we’ll wrap this up. We’ll leave with one question for the Roundtable: How do you fix the Admirals right now?
It was the 2nd largest crowd since they joined the AHL.
It was the 7th largest crowd in franchise history.
It was their 17th regulation loss of the year.
The Admirals gave up a pair of first period goals, and couldn’t claw back into the game to get the equalizer, as the Wolves dropped the Admirals 2-1 Friday night in front of 17,386 customers.
Don’t want to read anymore? Here’s a summary of the game from Coach Herbers.
Coach talked about lost battles and not sealing guys off, but the thing that jumped out at me on the two Chicago goals was that Jeremy Smith was doing a lot of sliding around. And when the puck bounced a couple of odd ways, there wasn’t any way he was going to be back in position. That first goal that Reinprecht scored will be one of the easiest of his career.
It really was a different game after the first period. The Wolves only had nine shots on net the rest of the way, and the Ads put 23 on Wolves goalie Matt Climie. The different in those two periods? Matt Climie. Climie moves to 5-1 on the season against the Admirals.
Meet 6’2 winger Daniel Koger! Called up today with Juuso Puustinen on the shelf as a scratch. Koger has five goals and ten assists in 19 games with the Cyclones in the ECHL. It’s his third PTO of the year, after playing three games with St. Johns, and five games with Providence. Here’s coach on Koger’s debut, and some expected vagueness about Puustinen.
I didn’t care for Geoffrion in his first game back from the injury, but Coach liked his game. He thought he was good on both ends, and had a good week of practice this week.
So this is a slump, eh? I’m sure the coach is tired of us asking about it, but I think he’s sincere in his optimism that we’ll be okay soon.
Ryan Thang says something along the same lines.
Fun facts: The Predators were 15-14-4 with Jon Blum in their lineup. They are 15-2 without him.
Okay. Tomorrow in Rockford, and then it’s the All-Star break. The schedule-makers did us a favor by having Rockford play in Charlotte tonight. So with a gameday travel day tomorrow for the IceHogs, maybe the Ads can have a leg up. And the Flames did us a favor by trading for All-Star defenseman Brian Connelly. So that may help. But don’t look now…the IceHogs are just three points behind the Admirals in the standings (having played four more games, though).
See you in Rockford tomorrow. But feel free to leave your thoughts of the game in the comments section.
There are not many A.M. starts on the AHL calender. After the performance the Admirals endured after their early wake up call Tuesday morning, Milwaukee should be hoping to avoid another.
Well rested Peoria, playing in front of 7,082 at Carver Arena, gave the Admirals a beat down reminiscent of elementary school bully. Riding a stretch of four straight goals after Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead, the Rivermen cruised to a 6-3 victory.
The flaming hot Chris Mueller picked up his 19th of the season just over seven minutes in to draw the Admirals first blood, but that’s when the vaunted Peoria power play went to work. Extra man tallies by Danny Syvret and Phil McRae gave the Rivermen their first lead, then captain Adam Cracknell and AHL dynamo T. J. Hensick (the AHL’s third leading scorer with 50 points) made it 4-1 just under five minutes into the third period.
Defenseman Victor Bartley and forward Ryan Thang gave Milwaukee some life in the third period with respective goals, but Cracknell’s second and Jonathan Cheechoo’s empty netter sunk the Admirals ship.
At points the game resembled a shooting gallery on Milwaukee goaltender Jeremy Smith, who stopped 34 of 39 shots. Jake Allen made 27 stops for Peoria to earn the win.
Lots of disappointments for Milwaukee. Jonathon Blum certainly played like he could have used more sleep as he finished with just one assist and played as a -3. Similar morning for Teemu Laakso (-2). Neither looked ready to return to Nashville anytime soon.
The lone Milwaukee highlight: A fight by Admirals defenseman Jeff Foss seemed to spark a resurgence in the third period. Still Milwaukee managed just eight shots in the final frame.
With the win Peoria moves within one point of Milwaukee and Chicago at 21-19-2-1. This is Peoria’s third straight win over Milwaukee after the Admirals won the first five games of the season series all in regulation.
Milwaukee slips to 22-16-1-1 (just 8-10-0-1 playing away from the Bradley Center), winning just one game on its four-game road trip.
At least Milwaukee gets to return home for a game against Chicago on Friday night.
So Roundtable . . . Some questions for discussion:
1) What did you think of the morning start and did you get to watch/listen to the game?
2) Do you think the early start effected Milwaukee’s play?
3) Can the Admirals overcome a struggling a penalty kill and poor road record and still make the playoffs, or do these problems need to be fixed pronto?
With news coming out today that Michael Latta suffered a broken bone (in arm or wrist) while blocking a shot in Cleveland on Thursday night, center Aaron Marvin was signed to a PTO contract in time for today’s game against Rockford.
Good pick. Because if he hadn’t been called up, the Admirals may have been shutout.
Marvin scored the first goal of the game, but then Brandon Pirri scored a pair of power play goals, and that was all the IceHogs needed to defeat the Admirals 2-1.
Add Latta’s name to the list of the walking wounded. Also out: Blake Geoffrion, Taylor Beck, and Tyler Sloan.
Milwaukee hadn’t played since Thursday, and the IceHogs were finishing their third game in three days. Actually was a pretty good week for the IceHogs — four games, four wins….including a pair against the Wolves.
These were two points the Admirals needed to get.
Both of Pirri’s goals were from about the same spot….the right face-off dot. Perhaps a credit to the special teams gameplan for the IceHogs, getting Jeremy Smith moving from right to left in the crease.
Pirri has officially reached “nemesis” status. In his three games against the Admirals this season, he has 4 goals and 2 assists.
Marvin deflected a shot from Jon Blum for his first of the season. The new guy had been playing for the Chicago Express of the ECHL, where his counting stats were 8 goals and 13 assists in 32 games. If his name sounds familiar…he participated in Milwaukee’s training camp at the start of the season.
The Admirals were unable to score on their 3 power play chances tonight, ending their streak of games with at least one power play goal at 8 games. Meanwhile, the PK — still an issue. Rockford scored on 2 of their 5 chances.
The Admirals sent a parade to the penalty box in the second period, giving the IceHogs four power play chances in that period alone.
The Ads will conclude their 4-game road trip Tuesday morning (!) when they visit the Peoria Rivermen. 10am opening face-off.
After giving up a pair of one-goal leads in the third period, Chris Mueller was awarded a penalty shot in the overtime period. And he beat Lake Erie goaltender Trevor Cann to give the Admirals a 3-2 victory.
The win snapped Milwaukee’s 6-game road losing streak — their longest such streak since 1997.
The snakebitten Ryan Thang really deserves an assist on the penalty shot, as his pass to Mueller sprung him on the breakaway that Mueller converted on. But brownie points aren’t an official AHL stat…and Thang remains pointless in 2012.
The Admirals did manage to keep another streak going though, and a good streak at that. They’ve now scored a power play goal in 8 straight games. They scored a pair tonight! Kyle Wilson in the first period, who was strong with his stick in front of the goal while being worked over by a defender. And Zack Stortini had a power play goal too, deflecting a Scott Valentine shot from the point after a Wilson face-off win.
Wilson at center. Good returns so far.
Wilson had the only goal of the first period, and it stayed that way until early in the third period, when the Monsters scored the second a power play ended. Stortini answered a few minutes later, but Cameron Gaunce tied the game with 5:27 left in the third period with a shot from the point through traffic.
Jeremy Smith was in the crease for his second game in two nights, and got the win for the Admirals turning aside 23 of 25 shots.
Taylor Beck and Tyler Sloan were both injured last night in Hamilton, and neither played tonight. No call-ups were needed, as Jeff Foss and Chris Cahill were both on the trip. No word yet on how serious the injuries are.
The Ads are off until Sunday, when they’ll play in Rockford to try to start a new road WINNING streak.
Sloppy turnovers in the neutral zone and missed assignments in the defensive zone were the two culprits in the Admirals’ 4-2 loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs Wednesday night, extending their road loss streak to 6 games.
Chris Mueller scored on a perfectly executed 5-on-3 power play that tied the game at 1 early in the second period. But the Bulldogs scored the next three before Mueller scored his second of the game after a Bulldog turnover.
The Admirals had a power play chance with 8:07 left in the game, but could not convert. And then Scott Valentine took a cross-checking penalty with 2:49 in the game, which pretty much sealed the deal for the Bulldog win.
– This may have been the first time this season that Michael Latta didn’t play center for most of the game. And after a strong game at center on Sunday, Kyle Wilson found himself taking face-offs tonight.
– The new lines were thrown out the window after Taylor Beck left the game early in the second period. Coach Drulia didn’t give any details about what happened on the radio post-game show. (If they have to call someone up from Cincy….well, at least they’ll be in Ohio tomorrow.)
– Juuso Puustinen, who had scored in three of his last four games, passed up a lot of shots in favor of pass plays even when he had open looks. He ended the night with just one shot on goal. On the post game show, Coach Drulia said that Puustinen had a great morning skate…so much that he wanted to be Puustinen’s linemate tonight.
– Tyler Sloan was especially sloppy with the puck. And the Bulldogs scored while he was in the penalty box.
– Ryan Thang was pointless again, but was robbed a couple of times by Bulldog goaltender Robert Mayer.
– Back at it again tomorrow…see if they can get some revenge on the Lake Erie Monsters, and see if they can get that road monkey off of their bus.
The Admirals were facing a Lake Erie Monster goalie making his AHL season debut this afternoon. The guy was signed to a PTO on Wednesday, and got the start today. Admirals should have been salivating at the idea, right?
Instead, the 6’5 goalie Gerald Coleman played big and led the Monsters to a revenge win against the Admirals.
Former Admiral Hugh Jessiman scored the game winner on a power play with 49.4 seconds left in the overtime period while Taylor Beck was serving a tripping penalty. The stick of Teemu Laakso was broken when he blocked a shot earlier on the shift. Mark Van Guilder gave Laakso his stick, but it’s tough to be down a man and down a stick, and the Admirals could never get the clear. A cross-ice pass from Tyson Barrie set up Jessiman’s goal, as he one-timed a shot from the near circle that hit the corner of the net.
After a scoreless first period, the Monsters got on the board in the second period off a great shot by Mark Olver. With the Monsters in the offensive zone, Olver fired a shot from inside the far side circle that “tinked” off the crossbar and past Jeremy Smith. It was one of the those tip-your-hat shots as there wasn’t much Smith could have done to stop it, especially since Olver was for the most part uncontested.
The Monsters extended thier lead early in the third period while on the power play. Joel Champagne was in the sin bin for a hooking call and the Monsters’ Luke Walker made him pay. With Brad Malone skating into the zone he was able to get down low and send Walker a cross-crease pass that was instantly fired home to give the Monsters the 2-0 lead. Smith seemed quite upset that they got the goal and I do not blame him. He had no back-side support and Walker was wide open to bury the goal.
The Admirals, not wanting the game to get too far out of reach, dug down and answered back with a goal of their own. Victor Bartley gathered the puck at the point and fired a shot on net that was knoced down by a defender. The puck carried forward where Kyle Wilson gained control, and fired a shot that beat Monsters’ Coleman. The goal looked great, as Wilson was checked from behind by Mike Brennan while shooting, forcing him to shoot it as he was falling.
Tyson Barrie was called for an interference penalty with 2:36 left in the 3rd period, and the Admirals pulled Smitty to make it a 6-on-4 power play. And they converted that Mountain Fury Power Play. It started with a clean face-off win by Mark Van Guilder, and then Kyle Wilson played the puck back to the point. Victor Bartley sent it to Juuso Puustinen on the far-side point, and his snipe beat Coleman with 1:19 left in the period.
Taylor Beck’s tripping penalty in overtime? It was a trip. It was right in front of the ref. Still, I’m surprised to see it called, especially after all the rough stuff that wasn’t called over the 2nd half of the game.
———–
– 14 shots for the Ads in the first period. 15 the rest of the way.
– Beck had a penalty shot attempt in the first period. Here are the rule violations referenced in the box score:
53.6 Penalty Shot – When any member of the defending team, including the Coach or any non-playing person, throws or shoots any part of a stick or any other object or piece of equipment at the puck or puck carrier in his defending zone, the Referee or Linesman shall allow the play to be completed and if a goal is not scored, a penalty shot shall be awarded to the non-offending team.
56.6 Penalty Shot – When a player in control of the puck in the neutral or attacking zone and having no other opponent to pass than the goalkeeper is interfered with by a stick or any part thereof or any other object or piece of equipment thrown or shot by any member of the defending team including the Coach or non-playing Club personnel, a penalty shot shall be awarded to the non-offending team.
So that’s that. Beck had the goaltender beat on his attempt, but he pushed the shot wide right.
– Jeremy Smith played his third game in three two-and-a-half days. Here’s Coach Herbers on that decision.
That’s great….but still, I think it speaks volumes that Coach would rather play Smitty three days in a row, rather than give one of the games to Atte Engren. The confidence that he has in Engren must be extraordinarily low at this point. That’s the conclusion I draw from the actions.
– Gerald Coleman. Signed to a PTO contract on Wednesday. Hadn’t played in the AHL since the 09-10 season. Spent all last year and had spent all of this year in the ECHL with Alaska. This season, he was sporting a record of 17-4-2, with a 1.80 GAA. Surprised it took him this long to catch on somewhere. And if there is a lack of confidence in Engren….heck, why didn’t we jump at the opportunity to sign this guy? Just because Engren is a draft pick?
I asked Coach about Blake, Dave Boehler asked about Chris Mueller. Coach wasn’t really interested in going into much detail.
– Going back on the road now for four games, after not having all that much success on the road recently… still, Coach is confident as they pack their bags.
Questions: Thoughts on the Coach’s decision to play Smitty 3 straight days? Does it say more about Smitty or Engren? How about Kyle Wilson’s goal? One of the best of the year? Surprised to see that Hughie is one goal shy of being a 20-goal scorer already this year?* (that question applies to everyone except reader Broad Street Bully). Are you happy to get the point out of this game, or frustrated that it wasn’t two?
No matter if Admirals won or lost at least the fans were going home with a great parting gift as tonight’s promotion was a Sheriff Scott Ford bobblehead. As it were, they were able to take home a win too, as the Admirals defeated the Texas Stars 2-1 at the Bradley Center Saturday night.
After being losers of 5 of their last 6 games, Coach Herbers said it was important to get those two points.
The Admirals were the first to dent the scoreboard, and the goal came on a Mountain Fury Power Play. At 8:32 Victor Bartley had the puck at the point. He sent a pass to the far side just above the circle to Taylor Beck, who one-timed a pass to Juuso Puustinen, who was inside the near cirle. Puustinen wasted no time in firing on net to beat Stars’ goaltender Andrew Raycroft. This was a great bang-bang goal type of play. See the great passing for yourself.
It only took the Admirals 1:15 to score another goal, and this time it was Joel Champagne doing the damage. Champagne had the puck behind the net and passed it across the trapezoid to Ryan Flynn, who attempted a wrap-around. Flynn’s attempt was unsuccessful, but Champagne, who was following the play, picked up the rebound and fired it home adding to the Admirals’ lead.
The Stars answered back with just under 4 minutes left in the first period. Jon Blum had the puck at the offensive near-side point when he attempted to fire a shot on net. In the process of shooting his stick snapped in two, sending the puck right to Colton Sceviour, who then took off down the ice, with a stickless Blum trying to defend. Sceviour put a shot on net that Jeremy Smith initially stopped. Smith layed out on his belly to corrall the puck using his stick to hook the puck back into his body. He never fully covered the puck and Mike Hedden grabbed the loose puck and just tapped it home, halving the Admirals lead to just one goal. With Smith on his belly there wasnt much he could do as he completly sold out to covering the puck. What I will say is that the Admirals didn’t seem like they had much urgency on the back check considering one of the D men was without his stick. And here’s what Smitty said about the goal.
Then not a lot happened after that….until the final minute of the game. Ryan Garbutt took a shot at Ryan Thang’s head. Just two minutes for roughing, was the call for Garbutt. And then the Stars were upset about something. Confused? So was Coach Herbers.
NOTES:
– The game clocked in at a brisk 2 hours 17 minutes tonight. Not a lot of whistles in the second half of the game.
– Good crowd, but I dock them a few points for doing the wave. Seriously. The water is frozen. There shouldn’t be any waves.
– Blake Geoffrion. If he’s already afraid to go into corners, the hit he took on an offsides play didn’t help him get over that fear. Blake missed the rest of the game after that hit. Coach said he hadn’t talked to the trainer yet, but called it an upper-body injury. And if you couple that with the Mueller callup, and some question about whether Dupont will go 3-in-3 this weekend….that may leave the Ads with just 10 forwards for tomorrow, if nobody can get gere from Cincy in time for the early game. Time for some Voodoo Rosternomics.
– Quick turnaround….1pm against the Lake Erie Monsters tomorrow. Here’s Coach on the matchup.
-And finally….geez Ryan, could you read those promos any faster???
QUESTIONS:
Thoughts on the the Geoffrion or Thang hits? Anybody leave their personal belongings under their seats, since they knew they’d be back here in about 15 hours or so? If a D-man had to play forward tomorrow, who do you think it should be?
With a week to prepare for a rivalry and a fresh face in the lineup, Milwaukee looked to break out of its January funk Friday night against Chicago at Allstate Arena.
Instead, the Wolves made it five losses in six games for the Admirals, pitching a 2-1 decision over the Admirals in an entertaining affair.
Former University of Wisconsin forward Michael Davies proved the difference maker for Chicago, picking up his second goal in as many games, then assisting on Bill Sweatt’s game winning goal with 61 seconds remaining in the second period.
Both goals came off of defense breakdowns by the Admirals. On the Wolves first tally, Nolan Baumgartner found a streaking Davies with a long pass eluding Milwaukee defenseman Scott Valentine. Davies then scored on his own rebound. On the second Admirals defenseman Jonathon Blum couldn’t handle a breaking Sweatt, who finished off Davies’ feed.
The Admirals lone goal came from All-Star snub Michael Latta (Milwaukee’s best player in the game), who had Blake Geoffrion’s centering pass go in off of him. Latta would add a fight in the third period.
The Admirals’ other star was Jeremy Smith, who turned in one of his best performances of the season by stopping 34 of 36 shots. However, Matt Climie was even better, allowing just one fluke-variety goal while saving 30 Milwaukee shots.
The loss makes it five in six games for the reeling Admirals, who return home Saturday night to face a Texas team that has won its last two games, including a 6-4 victory at Grand Rapids this evening. Milwaukee is now 20-13-0-1 on the season and stuck in a 3rd place tie in the Midwest Division with Peoria, which lost 2-1 to Houston tonight.
Notes for the Game:
-Not many thrills out of Brody Dupont in his season debut. Here are a couple of quotes from his interview with Aaron Sims prior to the game:
“This is going to be a full year process and I won’t be 100% until summer,” Dupont said. “The ankle is what it is, but conditioning wise I feel great and I am excited to (get into the lineup).”
-Latta’s tussle came at 7:48 mark of the third period with Chicago’s Byron Bitz. Latta scored the decision on the former Boston Bruins grinder in his second fight against the Wolves this season (strangely the only two of the season series).
-Bitz later took a penalty in the final minute. The Admirals mounted some chances, but ran out of time.
-Chicago registered more shots than Milwaukee for the first time in the eight game season series to date.
-Prior to the five losses in six game funk, the Admirals last win came against Chicago, 4-2 on home ice back on December 28. For more on the Amtrak rivalry, check out my feature this week on MilwaukeeAdmirals.com.
-Geoffrion remains without a goal in his ten games with Milwaukee. Not a good sign for a return trip to Nashville. Blum wasn’t much better.
-Friday was a former Badger reunion night in Rosemont. Davies and Geoffrion were linemates at Wisconsin, while Steven Reinprecht played from 1996-2000 at Madison before embarking on a 663-NHL game career.
-All three goals were scored in the second period. Milwaukee outshot Chicago 14-12 in the middle frame.
-The win is the Wolves’ fifth straight allowing Chicago (21-12-1-3) to move into a first place tie in the Midwest Division with idle Charlotte. The Wolves have two games in hand on the Checkers.
I have an easier time with the team losing if the other team scores 4 good goals. In that case, good on them, they beat us. Fine.
Simply put…..after the exhibitions in the last two games….the Milwaukee goaltending needs to be better, or the Admirals won’t be playing meaningful games after your income taxes are due.
The Admirals lost this one 4-2, with Engren giving up three in the first period before being relieved, and then an empty netter at the end of the game. Juuso Puustinen had a power play goal for the Admirals, and Chris Mueller made it a one-goal game late.
Here are the video highlights from the game, courtesy of the Rivermen.
Note the body language of Engren after each goal.
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