As Nashville spends the day making travel arrangements for Vancouver, the Predators will have a couple of Milwaukee Admirals joining them for their first ever trip to the second round.  This morning defenseman Teemu Laakso and goaltender Chet Pickard were recalled.

Pickard is likely heading up for emergency reasons/practice fodder as Nashville looks plenty set in goal for the playoffs.  Obviously, Pickard was not seeing much ice time in Milwaukee and Cincinnati’s season came to an end at the hands of Reading on April 9, so the Cyclones were not an option.

However, if Laakso stays up with Nashville for any significant period of time it would be a crushing blow for Milwaukee.  Laakso was outstanding against the Texas Stars in the first round of the AHL playoffs, racking up a plus six rating while contributing two points.  If this recall lasts beyond Friday, the question is who will step in to absorb Teemu’s significant minutes along the Admirals’ blueline?

So Roundtable:  If you were Milwaukee coach Lane Lambert, how would you adjust the Admirals’ lineup to replace Teemu Laakso?

In the first round of the AHL playoffs, I managed to pick seven out of eight correct series winners (my only failed prediction was Charlotte’s upset of Hershey).

The Divisional finals are next as eight AHL teams remain alive for the Calder Cup.  This morning I will preview both of the Eastern Conference semifinals, then follow up with a full breakdown of Milwaukee and Houston this afternoon.  Tomorrow, I will breakdown the North Division final between Hamilton vs. Manitoba.

East Division Finals:

1) Wilkes-Barre/Scanton Penguins vs. 3) Charlotte Checkers

Norfolk provided plenty of problems in the first round for AHL’s best team during the regular season, as the Penguins managed just nine goals in their first five playoff games.  After losing game one and two at home, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton turned the series around with a pair of road wins and rode the stellar play of goaltender Brad Thiessen (Series stats: 4-2-0, 1.68 G.A.A. .940 SP) into the Divisional finals.

After losing games two and three, Charlotte looked all but dead against Hershey, as the two-time defending Calder Cup champions seemed to be asserting their playoff will.  But the Checkers made adjustments and won back-to-back home games before stealing the series with a 2-1 overtime win in game 6.  Forwards Zac Dalpe and Zach Boychuk carried the offensive load with three goals a piece in the series.

Charlotte offers a dangerous matchup for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the second round.  The Checkers could overload the Penguins offensively, but Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s smothering defense should be the deciding factor in this series.  I like the Penguins in 7 games.

Atlantic Division Finals:

1) Portland Pirates vs. 3) Binghamton Senators

Despite losing two road games against Connecticut, Portland reeled in the Whale rather easily in the first round, despite close scores.  Netminder David Leggio (4-2-0, 2.93 G.A.A., .897 SP) looked plenty average in the series, but former starter Jhonas Enroth maybe back for the second round to significantly upgrade the Pirates goaltending situation.

It took seven games for Binghamton to eliminate Manchester in the first round, but the Senators won three straight overtime games to dethrone the Monarchs.  Despite the slow start to series Binghamton’s offensive guns, Ryan Potulny (playoff leading 14 points), Ryan Keller, Bobby Bulter and Erik Condra, all had strong series.  Rookie goaltender Robin Lehner (3-0-0, 2.73 G.A.A., .919 SP) replaced Barry Brust in game five and the Senators never looked back.

Portland looks primed for an upset against a battled-tested Binghamton team that continues its crossover march from a far stronger East Division.  Expect that division to produce both of the Eastern Conference finalists as the Senators upset Portland in 6 games.

I think Coach Lambert and Jeremy Smith speak for all of us when they say that they wanted nothing to do with a game 7 tonight.

Coach Lambert says he feels fortunate to be advancing to the next round.

That’s some good praise for Smitty. #30 talks about the mindset of playing in double overtime, and how he didn’t even realize they were being outshot until they were skating off the ice.

Coach Lambert talks about sticking to the gameplan, and Mark Van Guilder talks about staying aggressive in the OT period.

Van Guilder gives lots of credit to the Stars

MVG talks about what went through his head after he scored.

Coach Lambert had a feeling that Ryan Thang might be involved in some scoring chances in OT.

And now some quotes from the Stars…and many thanks to THE Josh Fisher for the audio.

Travis Morin had a great series for the Stars, and in this segment, I think he keys on one of the key stats of the series.

That’s been a Milwaukee strength for a lot of the season.

And finally, here’s Greg Rallo tipping his helmet visor to Smitty.

And we’ll cap this post off with a couple of visual links for you….here’s Aaron Sims’ blog post and Jon Greenberg’s blog post about the epic game 6.

About five minutes after the dust settled on Mark Van Guilder’s game winner in double overtime, the American Hockey League announced the schedule for the West Division Finals, pitting top seed Milwaukee vs. second seed Houston.  Again the series will be a 2-3-2 affair with games in Milwaukee wrapped around the three in Texas.

Here is the specifics (all times central):

West Division Final – Series “L” (best-of-7)
W1-Milwaukee Admirals vs. W2-Houston Aeros
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 29 – Houston at Milwaukee, 7:00
Game 2 – Sun., May 1 – Houston at Milwaukee, 5:00
Game 3 – Tue., May 3 – Milwaukee at Houston, 7:05
Game 4 – Thu., May 5 – Milwaukee at Houston, 7:05
*Game 5 – Fri., May 6 – Milwaukee at Houston, 7:35
*Game 6 – Sun., May 8 – Houston at Milwaukee, 5:00
*Game 7 – Tue., May 10 – Houston at Milwaukee, 7:00

The schedule sets up well, with only one back-to-back date (Games 4 and 5 in Houston).  Also, there are no two-day breaks in the schedule, so this series should seem a little more compact than the Admirals’ first round clash against Texas.

Later today I will briefly preview the matchups for the finals of the East and Atlantic Divisions, and Wednesday morning I will have a full breakdown of Milwaukee vs. Houston.  Stay tuned!

So Roundtable, what are your thoughts on the schedule?  Will it benefit or favor either team?

Our friend Dave Boehler from the Journal Sentinel has this nice feature piece about our playoff MVP so far this post-season…Gabriel Bourque.

Aaron Sims is looking forward to another outstanding hockey game tonight in a new blog post.

Recap and commentary on Nashville’s big win last night, courtesy of On The Forecheck.

Hope to see you at the Bradley Center tonight, for the rare Monday home game.

Mazel tovs are definitely in order for the Nashville Predators, who are moving on to the second round for the first time, after a 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks Sunday evening.  Nick Spaling scored two goals to lead the way for the Preds.

In the series…

Nick Spaling – 2 goals, 2 assists.
Jon Blum – 2 assists.
Blake Geoffrion – 2 assists.
Matt Halischuk – 1 goal

Everyone on the Predators had a least a point except for Shane O’Brien and Anders Lindback.  (Pekka Rinne assisted on Spaling’s 2nd goal tonight).

So yes — Congrats to the Preds for making it into uncharted territory tonight.

It is official, as of Sunday afternoon there will be new winner of the Calder Cup in 2011.  The two-time defending AHL champion Hershey Bears (who also defeated Milwaukee in the 2006 Calder Cup Finals) were eliminated by the Charlotte Checkers in the first round.

1:30 into overtime, Nicholas Blanchard scored the series clinching goal, giving the Checkers a 2-1 win in Game 6 and a 4-2 series victory.  Former University of Wisconsin defenseman Brian Fahey scored for the Bears at 14:18 of the third period to tie the game and force overtime.

AHL clubs can breath a sigh of relief with Hershey eliminated, making the race for the cup wide open.  However, the dilemma now falls on the Washington Capitals on whether they want to use Braden Holtby if their goaltending situation takes a turn for the worse during the NHL playoffs.

PS.  Also congratulations to the Nashville Predators.  With a 4-2 home win over the Anaheim Ducks, the Predators finally win their first ever playoff series.

PSS.  I should also add that as of today, all of the other AHL playoff series, with the exception of Milwaukee/Texas and Lake Erie/Manitoba, are complete.  The Division Finals in the East will see Portland/Binghamton and Wilkes-Barre Scranton/Charlotte.  I will preview those series on Tuesday.

Some great discussion in the last thread, so thank you to everyone from both sides of the aisle that contributed to that.  That’s EXACTLY how we envisioned things when we started up ye olde Roundtable.  So yes, thanks for the great discussions.

I’m going to give one of the tangents their own post here, because once Mark Dekanich is healthy again, we may have a playoff goalie controversy.

So please vote in the poll about what you think SHOULD happen, and feel free to add any thoughts in the comments, including what you think WILL happen if we’re fortunate enough to still be playing at that time.

If you follow Jon Greenberg on Twitter, you may already know this….but Kelsey Wilson is in Texas, and may play tonight.

And if so — what a speedy recovery for a guy that was on crutches for awhile there.  I think some major kudos would be in order for Kelsey for his dedication to rehab, and probably for strength and conditioning coach Jason Nordby for working with him and putting him in a position to succeed.

With this match-up against Texas, I think Kelsey would be a great addition to the lineup.  Agree?  Disagree?

After earning a split at home against Texas, the Milwaukee Admirals venture onto the road for the next three games of its opening round playoff series with the Stars.  Here are five keys for Milwaukee to pick up a win Tuesday night at the Cedar Park Center and take away the momentum of the series:

1) Remember what got you here.

Milwaukee was the Western Conference’s best road team during the season, finishing third in the AHL with a road record of 21-10-9.  Exactly half of the Admirals 102 points (51) were earned on the road.  Sometimes with a younger club, traveling away from the distractions of home can be a blessing, and that seemed to be the case with Milwaukee at times this season.

2) Unsettle Texas goalie Richard Bachman early and often.

Though Milwaukee scored the first goal against Texas in Game 2, the Admirals wasted a chance to plant some doubt in Stars goaltender Richard Bachman’s mind by getting another goal on the board in the early going.  Though Bachman is a strong netminder, he will be feeling pressure to deliver a win at home, especially after being chased from the net in Game 1.  A couple of early goals and playing with a strong net front presence would go a long way to shake up Bachman’s restored confidence.  Milwaukee went 27-3-7 after scoring the first goal during the regular season.

3) Have Gabriel Bourque, Chris Mueller and Ryan Thang play more like Game 1 than Game 2.

It wasn’t like Milwaukee’s top line of Gabriel Bourque, Chris Mueller and Ryan Thang played poorly Saturday night, but the three forwards lacked the determination they showed Thursday.  Much of that had to do with the defensive adjustments Texas made in Game 2, but for the Admirals to have playoff success, the top line needs to make a bigger impact and takeover play.

4) Take advantage of the schedule.

In the playoffs, it seems like an extra day break always benefits the team that loses the prior game.  Milwaukee had two long days to stew on its 3-1 loss to Texas, but more importantly the Admirals also had extra time to watch tape and make adjustments.  After Tuesday’s all-important Game 3, both teams return to the ice for Game 4 the next night.  A statement win from either club could carry over in the short turnaround.

5) Get the veterans to step up.

Saturday night’s game was tough one for the more experienced members of the Admirals, including Scott Ford, Grant Lewis, Steve Begin and Andreas Thuresson, all who finished with a rating of minus one.  With the series shifting to road games, Milwaukee will need its veterans to step up and lead the Admirals on the ice.  Expect big games from Brett Palin, Aaron Johnson and Ford.

So Roundtable, what does Milwaukee need to improve on to win Game 3?