Let’s drop the puck.

See you at Kern Center.

(Photo credit:  Scott Paulus…..circa a few years ago)

It seems the Nashville Predators have made their decision on which goaltenders they would prefer to carry for the 2011-2012 NHL campaign.

No surprise here, but netminder Jeremy Smith was returned to Milwaukee this evening, just in time to potentially suit up at tomorrow’s training camp session in the Brew city.

After an impressive AHL post season run last spring (on top of an stellar ECHL run a year before that), Smith continued to make noise as a prospect with his solid play during this fall’s Predators training camp.  Nashville general manager David Poile will likely have Smith’s number on speed dial in case of another Pekka Rinne injury this season.

Now back down on the farm full time, Smith has a chance to turn some heads and get noticed on larger scale with the Admirals as he will likely see the majority of starts for Milwaukee.  Goaltenders Atte Engren and Chet Pickard are left to battle for the coveted backup slot for a team with numerous three games in three nights scenarios early in their AHL schedule.

So Roundtable, handicap the horse race for backup goaltender, will it be Engren or Pickard? In a spot start for Smith, who would you rather see between the pipes for the Admirals?

We had the chance (and by we, I mean Aaron Sims, Dave Boehler, CP, and myself) to talk to Coach Muller after his first Admiral practice on Tuesday about a variety of topics.

Coach was the man in charge behind the bench in the rookie games earlier this month.  Him?  Nervous?  No way.

Kirk had set up some of the practices down in Nashville, but this is what he was thinking about when designing the first few Milwaukee practices.

So how DID the first practice go?  Here’s what he liked the most from the first session.

That’s good to hear, but while this was the first day of Milwaukee’s camp….many of these guys have been in training camp mode for a couple weeks now.  But still, it’s good to hear that they are ready to work.

Now, Nashville will certainly be sending us some more players.  So what we see this weekend will likely look a lot different than what we see opening night.  But Coach is making the best of his time with the guys that are here right now.

Here’s what Coach says he is looking to get out of the two pre-season games this weekend.

So player evaluation is of course a big part of things, but it sounds like what they practice next week will be determined by how well or how poorly the new guys seem to grasp the systems in these game situations.

An finally…Coach Muller threw out the first pitch at the Brewers game on Monday night.  Here’s what he thought of his effort.

So Roundtable, aside from just watching live hockey again, what are you looking forward to the most in the games this weekend?  Seeing the new guys?  Seeing how some of the young guys like Beck and Latta have improved since we last saw them?  And what do you think of Coach’s demeanor with the media?  Sounds a bit different than Lane, eh?

Not to be filed under “S” for “Surprising News”, Ryan Thang has been assigned to the Admirals.  Not sure why the delay, especially since Preds practice yesterday was cancelled.  Maybe the Frontier Airlines flight to Milwaukee was full?  Who knows.  Anyway.  He’s on his way, and should be at practice tomorrow.

In other news…

Former Admiral Dylan Hunter, has ended his playing career and is set to begin his COACHING career.  He’ll be an assistant coach for the London Knights of the OHL this year…as a 26 year old.

How did he get an interview?  What did they see in him to trust them with players that really aren’t that much younger than him?

See…he kind of knows someone.

His family kind of owns the place.

Father Dale Hunter is the owner, president and head coach of the team.  Uncle Mark is the owner, vice president, and general manager.

And Dylan isn’t exactly a stranger to the team.  He played with the Knights from 01-06, and helped them win the 2005 Memorial Cup.

So good luck in your new endeavors, Dylan.  Hopefully you learned a thing or two from Lane, and will be just as successful.

After their big come-from-behind win against the Winnipeg Jets, the Preds announced their first round of cuts.  Most of these guys are travelling today so that they’ll be ready to go when the Admirals open their training camp tomorrow (Monday).

I don’t think any of these are surprising.

FORWARDS:  Taylor Beck, Joel Champagne, Ryan Flynn, Jani Lajunen, Michael Latta, Juuso Puustinen, Josh Shalla, Robert Slaney, Mark Van Guilder

DEFENSEMEN:  Taylor Aronson, Victor Bartley, Scott Ford, Jeff Foss, Charles-Olivier Roussel, Scott Valentine

GOALTENDERS:  Atte Engren, Chet Pickard

PLACED ON NON-ROSTER INJURED LIST:  Brodie Dupont, Ben Ryan

Notables still in camp:  Gabriel Bourque, Blake Geoffrion, Chris  Mueller,  Craig Smith, Zach Stortini, Ryan Thang, Kyle Wilson, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Jack Hillen, Roman Josi, Tyler Sloan, Jeremy Smith.

Discussion:   Will Chris Mueller start the season with the big club, as he’s currently the team leader in pre-season goals?  Do Craig Smith and Ryan Ellis become the latest examples of how the road to Nashville goes through Milwaukee?  Would you rather have Sloan or Hillen on the Admiral blue line?  Which of the new guys that have been sent down are you most excited to see?

While many of the players that will don a Milwaukee Admirals sweater this year are still in Nashville, there are some guys that are waiting patiently for the big caravan back north.  These are the Milwaukee training camp invitees.

These are the guys that are auditioning with the coaching staff, in hopes that when the Admirals need some help, the coach will give them a call.

Last year, there were 10 guys that were on the training camp roster before Nashville returned a bunch of players.  The initial list included Mike Bartlett and Dylan Hunter, who played some significant minutes for the team last year.  Connor Shields was also on that list, and skated in 14 games for the good guys later in the season.

So far, this year’s list is a lot smaller.  And while we wait for other players to have their airplane tickets purchased, let’s take a look at the guys who are already here.

Chris Cahill (F) – Here’s what we said about Cahill when he signed his ATO contract at the end of last season:

Chris Cahill is a forward who has spent the last four seasons playing for Yale University, and he continues the Predators’ interest in drafting hockey players with high IQ’s.  As a senior, Cahill scored 15 goals and 19 assists in 35 games.

None of that has changed.

And in the interest of unreasonably raising everyone’s expectations….here are some of the comments that you posted about Cahill after his Admiral debut last year.

– Cahill was a force at both ends of the ice and played VERY impressive for a first game as a pro.

– Watching Watson and Cahill tonight was like a breath of fresh air. Maybe that had something to do with the way the team played tonight. Cahill was like a maniac out there.

– Lambert saying Cahill has good speed is the biggest understatement I’ve heard in a long time. The guy was blazingly fast out there and finished his checks hard! I’m looking forward to seeing him fulltime next season!

– I think I am in love…Cahill was everything I wanted in a hockey player–wrapped up in an Admirals’ jersey. Wow..that kid was making hits, speedy and just all around had me thanking the hockey gods that placed him here.

No pressure, right?

David Leaderer (D) – He had the distinction of playing with Paul Fenton’s son at UMass-Amherst.  Suited up for three games for the Admirals at the end of last season (to much less fanfare than Cahill apparently).  He is a 5’11 D-man that was a -22 defensively with the Trenton Devils of the ECHL last year.

Garrett Suter (D) – Younger brother of Ryan Suter.  Interesting story here about how he never quite became a Badger.  A quote from a coach in the story is:  “When he’s disciplined and plays within himself and not force things, Garrett is the best (Division III) player in the country and he still has room to grow.”  That’s great.  But it also suggests that a good chunk of the time, he isn’t disciplined, doesn’t play within himself, and tries to force things.  This may be an interesting project for Kirk Muller, and does have the potential for some high reward.  Suter played 16 regular season games and 4 playoff games for Cincy at the end of last season, tallying 2 goals, 7 assists, and 38 penalty minutes.

Evan Trupp (F) – a 5’10 forward who spent the last four years playing for the University of North Dakota.  Here’s a youtube clip of some fancy stickwork from Mr. Trupp.  He set career highs in goals, assists, powerplay goals and +/- his senior year, and after October, didn’t go consecutive games without a point.  Trupp was the winner of UND’s Cliff “Fido” Purpur Award his junior and senior seasons for “hard work, determination and being a creator of excitement on the ice.”

So keep an eye out for these guys if you make it to a practice next week, or if you’ll be at one of the pre-season games next weekend.

(That’s right….it’ll be hockey night in Milwaukee a week from tomorrow.  Huzzah!)

It is official the 2011 NHL preseason is underway for the Nashville Predators.

This afternoon the Predators are taking on the Florida Panthers, as I type the score is 3-2 Nashville in the third period (no idea officially who has the goals).  The two teams will then rematch at 6:30 central time.

In today’s games Nashville will be playing with youth-laden lineups (On the Predators website, Predators.NHL.com, there is an excellent list of all of the Predators Prospects).  Many of the names on that prospects list will form the nucleus of the 2011-2012 Milwaukee Admirals.

Here is a list of who is skating for Nashville this afternoon.  I would expect some changes to that group for tonight, though I have yet to find that list (and in case you missed it, here is a list of Nashville’s training camp rosters from over the weekend).

Tomorrow Nashville has another preseason game at Baltimore, Maryland against the Washington Capitals.  Needless to say the Predators front office will have a lot of information to chew on by Wednesday.

Rookie camp is underway under there in Nashville, and Admirals head coach Kirk Muller is right there in the middle of it.  Before he left for Nashville, he talked to The Roundtable, and here’s part II of our Summer Sit-Down with Kirk Muller.

AR:  Let’s talk about special teams. I understand that the power play will be one of your responsibilities this season. If a power play unit is successful, is it equal parts skill and system? The reason I ask, while Milwaukee’s power play has had decent numbers over the last few years, the Predators haven’t, and anything that you can bring to the table with the power play would be a nice boost for the organization.

KM:  It goes hand in hand, the personnel of having guys in the right setups and situations. You need a variety of guys…net presence, play-making guys. Every power play that’s successful usually has some good shooters, establish the shot, and from there you can set up plays. We’ve been really lucky the last five years in Montreal, we’ve been one of the top power plays each year, but we’ve been able to have a really good shooting defenseman each year, and I think that’s a big factor. I’m certainly happy to throw any input in down there if they’re looking at some stuff, but it’s a good coaching staff down there. But it does go hand in hand. it’s about running plays consistently and being on the same page, but having the personnel to finish it off at the end of the day.

AR:  The offensive success you had in your playing career is a credential that not many previous Admiral coaches have had. The sum total of NHL regular season goals scored by our last four head coaches is 61, with 58 coming just from Lane Lambert. In general, what are some things that you will be able to work on with our offensive minded players like Taylor Beck and Craig Smith (if he’s here) to help them improve their games?

KM:  I was a center, I was a winger….the thing about my career, I’ve been a first line, second line, I’ve been a checking guy. So I think I can understand and relate to the guys…natural goal scorers or to the guys that are going to earn the goals by being gritty and being around the net. At this level, a lot of it is about bringing out the strengths in each player, and explaining to them, ‘This is how you’re going to succeed. You’re going to be a power forward, you’re going to be a finesse guy. You’re a playmaker.’ And challenge them on to their skills and identify them so that they know. The key is they have an identity of who they are and how they can make the NHL if that’s their goal. To say, ‘Listen, you know what, these are the things you need to work on. These are the players that you play similar to. Watch these guys.’ I think it’s just a lot of working with individuals after practice, working on their strengths, and working on their weaknesses. It’s a day-to-day process of making them better players.

AR:  A psychological part of the game that you’ll probably have to deal with is how to motivate a player that just got sent down from the big club. There have been some mopers here over the last few years. I imagine they are all addressed on a case-by-case basis, based on the relationship between the player and the coach….but generally speaking, what do you think will be the best way to deal with mopers to get them back on their game?

KM:  It’s natural, it’s human nature, you’re disappointed. I’m sure guys all the time come down feeling like they didn’t deserve it, or they didn’t get a fair shot, or they played well…whatever the circumstances, at the end of the day, the key is to get them right back on the horse and get them out there playing. But, it’s really making them understand that what they can only do is take care of what they can control. Sometimes it’s not fair, especially today in hockey with the salary caps and money being a factor….guys on two-way contracts, and one-way, all these scenarios…All they can do is just make sure they prepare that when they do get the call, they are ready to go. They get better each day, and they understand that what they have in control of is to be a better player every day. Work hard, play for each other, so that they stay mentally focused, so that when they get that crack again, they’ll be ready to go.

AR:  What are some players that caught your eyes in good or bad ways at development camp?

KM:  Well of course Ellis is a special player. He’s skilled, he sees the games really well, he’s going to be fun to coach if he sticks around down here. I was really impressed with (Craig) Smith. He’s a good strong skater, he’s on the puck, he’s energized, he’s going to be a fun player to really watch. You got young guys like Latta who look like gritty little players that have played some hard games in the OHL. It’ll be interesting to challenge guys like him to get their roles. Beck will be a guy that if we can get him playing consistently and get to be like a power forward and challenge him every day like that to be consistently a good solid player, it’ll be fun. It’s going to be fun to coach.

AR:  You’re living in Milwaukee now….are you a beer drinker?

KM:  (Laughs)I am….I’m a wine drinker, but it’s pretty hard to play 19 years in the NHL and not be a beer drinker. I’m sure I’ll have to try and see the best parts of Milwaukee.

AR:  And with football season starting now, I need to ask, are you going to become a Packer fan?

KM:  I better say I am? (Laughs) It’s funny though, TV is so different now with sports, and everything is available. Growing up in Ontario, we only had access to the Jets, the Giants, the Bills, and the Steelers. They were the four teams, so I became a Steelers fan really because in the 70’s they were so dominant…but we only really caught four teams. But truthfully, Green Bay is one of my favorites as well, and it’s very easy to cheer for them.

Well this is interesting.

The host of the AHL All-Star Game this season?

This guy.

Atlantic City will host the All-Star game.

From the press release…

The first AHL All-Star event held outside an AHL city is being made possible through the partnership of the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, Caesars Entertainment and the American Hockey League.

“The American Hockey League is looking forward to working with Boardwalk Hall, the ACCVA, the CRDA and Caesars to make the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic a truly special event,” said Andrews. “The historic Boardwalk Hall will provide an incredible and appropriate backdrop for us to celebrate our league and our sport’s best young players.”

Incredible backdrop, definitely.  Appropriate?  That may be a stretch.

But the arena isn’t a stranger to hockey, as the press release continues…

While this is the debut of the AHL’s All-Star Classic at Boardwalk Hall, the venue enjoys a life-long association with hockey dating back to Dec. 28, 1929, when the New York Rangers took on the Ottawa Senators in a regular-season National Hockey League contest. Boardwalk Hall hosted four Albany Devils games during the 2010-11 AHL season, and is currently the home of the ECAC Hockey men’s championship.

I’ll admit, when I saw the news, I thought it was silly.  But the more I think about it, I give the AHL credit for thinking outside the box on this one.  Hosting a logistical event of this magnitude is a HUGE undertaking, and to do it well requires a huge team effort from the hosting team, and a ton of volunteer work from the community.  It’s tough to pull off.

And if the AHL didn’t see a lot of raised hands when they looked for hosts for this season, good on them for broadening their search and finding a host that wanted to throw the party.  We’ll get an All-Star game like we’ve never had before.  And if it goes well?  Maybe this is the start of something pretty great.

Yeah, it’s a bit goofy.  But it’s better than no All-Star game at all.

Here’s the link.  Aaron Sims gets thoughts from former and current players and coaches.  It’s worth your time.

If you have any good Dieter stories to add, make sure you leave a comment on Aaron’s post.

(Photo credit:  Scott Paulus)