Here are some soundbytes from Coach Gulutzan, as the teams get ready for Game 3 on Tuesday night.

On the concept of “home ice advantage”, and on Milwaukee’s road record.

The Stars lost all three home games to the Hershey Bears in the finals last year…and that’s something that a lot of people on this roster should remember.  So they’re taking home ice advantage with a grain of salt.  And Milwaukee’s road record is pretty impressive.  Most points in the conference on the road, and third in the entire league.

Coach Gulutzan on the transformation of his team from Game 1 to Game 2.

That last part pretty much sums up Game 2 in five seconds.  Focus, specialty teams, puck luck, and goaltending down the stretch.  That’s the recipe for success.  That Admirals need to stir up their own batch of that Tuesday night.

If you get to Goolsby’s at 7pm and are wondering if they’re in a rain delay or something….please be advised that the game is scheduled to start at 7:30!

(Thanks to Josh Fisher w/ the Stars for the audio)

As we get ready for Game 2 tonight, I thought it would be a good time to remind everyone about the viewing parties for the away games of this series.

If you are not able to make the trek down to Austin for logistical, moral, or legal reasons (ahem…Sutty….he tried messing with Texas….bad idea), you can still gather with fellow Admirals faithful and watch the games on TV.

Game 3 will be on the big screens at MAJOR GOOLSBY’S on Tuesday.

Game 4 will be on the big screens at BUCK BRADLEY’S on Wednesday.

And if game 5 is needed, it will be back at MAJOR GOOLSBY’S on Friday.

The viewing parties for the away games are free to attend, and there are usually some raffles and merch giveaways to keep you entertained during the intermission.  Although, I’d like to see them try to do the human hockey puck down the straight-away at Buck Bradley’s.  That could be pretty sweet.

Viewing parties for games 6 and 7 would be, well, at the Bradley Center.

Here are the winners of the media room cookies — I assume that all three of you will be at the BC for Game 2?

11 Mark Santorelli – (submitted by Adsfan) The Alain Lemieux Wrong Brother Award.  Named after former the Admiral and older brother of Mario.  Alain played 30 regular season games for Milwaukee in the 90-91 season, and had 8 goals.  Mark Santorelli had 8 regular season goals this year too!  What a coincidence!

In all seriousness….joking aside…I’ll be the first to say that Mark has been an frequent target for us over the last few years, and thankfully, he hasn’t beaten us up in the hallway, despite having every right to.  I can also say this — Mark got some good minutes and Game 1, and I think he looked like he belonged out there.  Here’s hoping he will be a major contributor to this Calder Cup playoff run.

17 Kelsey Wilson – Pump Up The Jam Award. (Submitted by Ouch) We even had a pretty good discussion about it on the Roundtable earlier this season too… is it okay to ham it up like Kelsey likes to do after a fight?  I think the consensus was 1) if you’re at home, and 2) if you don’t get your butt handed to you.

86 – Linus Klasen – The Simon Gamache Clone Award (submitted by frontrowjon).  I thought his explanation summed Klasen’s season up nicely in one objective sentence.  “He could score from almost anywhere at anytime, but after teams targeted him, he got hurt too much.”

OUCH, I know where you sit.  Expect a delivery.

Adsfan & frontrowjon (although…I’ve got an idea where you sit) please shoot me an email at admiralsroundtable at g mail dot com and let me know your section and row.  I’ll try to get your prizes delivered to you before opening face-off on Saturday.

Thanks to everyone for contributing to the Annual Paper Plate Awards.  Great submissions all around!

Yesterday was Playoff Media Day, and we got some quotes from Coach, Chris Mueller, and Jeremy Smith.

Let’s start with the injury quotes.

Coach talks about Chris Mueller…..and then Mueller is complimentary of the coach.

Jeremy Smith, on last year’s championship, and how he needs to be ready, no matter what.

Mueller on the adversity the team had to face this season.

And finally, here’s Coach on the first round series against the Stars.  Basically, they’re Taco Bell quotes….same ingredients, different order.

West Division Semifinals:

1) Milwaukee Admirals (44-22-14) vs. 4) Texas Stars (41-29-10)

My Prediction:  Admirals win in seven games.  To read my full breakdown of the series, click here.

2) Houston Aeros (46-28-6) vs. 3) Peoria Riverman (42-30-8)

Houston enters the AHL playoffs as one of the league’s most dangerous teams with three dynamic scorers on offense, Jon DiSalvatore, Robbie Earl and Patrick O’Sullivan and one of the AHL’s best defenseman in Maxim Noreau.  The question here is whether Matt Hackett or Josh Tordjman can backstop a long playoff run after Anton Khodobin was traded away during the NHL’s deadline.

With either Jake Allen or Ben Bishop in between the pipes, Peoria will have a big edge in this series in the goaltending battle.  The dynamic T.J. Hensick leads the offense, but the Riverman lack much secondary scoring.

My Prediction: The well rested Aeros took game one, and their balance on offense and defense should be enough to overtake the Rivermen,  Aeros win in 5 games.

North Division Semifinals:

1) Hamilton Bulldogs (44-27-9) vs. 4) Oklahoma City Barons (40-29-11)

In a cross-over divisional matchup, heavily favored Hamilton will have their hands full with the expansion Barons.  Hamilton’s strength starts in goal, where two of the AHL’s best netminders, Curtis Sanford and Drew MacIntyre reside on a team that allowed the fewest goals in the Western Conference (193).  Up front the Bulldogs feature the AHL’s top goal scorer Nigel Dawes (41 goals, 72 points), but only a few other threats.  However, Hamilton’s veteran blueline is one of the best in the AHL.

Hamilton’s goaltenders will see plenty of rubber thanks to the likes of offensive talents such as Alexandre Giroux, Brad Moran and Linus Omark who lead an Oklahoma City club that scored 245 goals, second most in the West Division.  However, the Barons’ goaltenders struggled mightily at times this season.

My prediction: Hamilton should dictate a slower defensive game against Oklahoma City, while enjoying a clear edge between the pipes.  Bulldogs win in 6 games.

2) Lake Erie Monsters (44-28-8) vs. 3) Manitoba Moose (43-30-7)

This is one of my favorite matchups in the AHL playoffs.  These two teams look nearly identical on paper in both goals scored and goals allowed.  With Colorado’s late season swoon, their minor league club, Lake Erie, is stocked with a solid blend of offensive talent, including Ben Walter, Matt Ford, Mark Olver and Ryan Stoa.  If the Monsters have a weakness, it is on defense and in goal, the same problems which plagued the Avalanche.

Either rookie Eddie Lack or former Monster Tyler Weiman provides a goaltending edge for Manitoba.  The Moose lack the offense to matchup in high scoring games with Lake Erie, but feature a much better defensive corps that gained considerable NHL experience due to Vancouver’s injury troubles during the season.

My Prediction: All signs point toward this being Vancouver’s year in the NHL playoffs and toward Manitoba to win this series.  The Moose win in 6 games.

Here is are my quick picks for the Eastern Conference.

Atlantic Division Semifinals:

1) Portland Pirates (47-24-9) vs. 4) Connecticut Whale (40-32-8)

My Prediction: High scoring Portland has flaws that can be exposed, but Connecticut doesn’t seem likely to do so.  Pirates in 4 games.

2) Manchester Monarchs (44-26-10) vs. 3) Binghamton Senators (42-30-8)

My Prediction:  Stocked full of prospects, Binghamton was a team no one wanted to face in the first round.  Senators in 5 games.

East Division Semifinals:

1) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (58-21-1) vs. 4) Norfolk Admirals (39-26-15)

My prediction: This is a huge mismatch on paper, as Wilke-Barre/Scranton racked up a league high 58 wins, while Norfolk enters as the playoff team with the fewest victories and a record that would be below .500 including OT/shootout losses.  Penguins roll in 5 games.

2) Hershey Bears (46-26-8) vs. 3) Charlotte Checkers (44-27-9)

My prediction:  Another series that should be must watch TV for an avid AHL hockey fan.  Both teams can score, but Hershey has a huge edge in goaltending and in playoff experience as the two-time defending Calder Cup champions.  Bears in 7 games.

To read all of my NHL playoff predictions, click here.

(Author’s Note:  All teams are listed in their proper matchup position.  Oklahoma City finished 5th in the West Division and crossed over to fourth in the North Division, while Bonghamton finished 5th in the East Division, crossing over into the third spot in the Atlantic Division.  That moved third place Connecticut down to the fourth spot in the Atlantic Division)

As our friend CreedFeed alluded to in the previous post, the AHL has announced some schedule changes that will go into effect starting next season.

The highlights of the plan are:

–  Playing a 76 game schedule instead of an 80 game schedule
– Extending the regular season by one week
– Removing all four-games-in-five-nights stretches from the schedule
– Opening round of the playoffs is a best of 5 series

Commissioner David Andrews had an open letter to AHL fans published today, and I’ll cherry-pick a few quotes…

“As our league has grown and our game has become faster and more physical, the wear and tear on our players from the frequency of games and travel has begun to affect player development and at times the quality of competition.”

 

“These steps are intended to provide a safer environment for our players through increased rest and recovery time, and also provide our fans with an even higher caliber of play as the result of reduced player fatigue.”

 

 

“In the short term, this initiative will require some adjustments to our clubs’ business plans due to the elimination of two home games, but in the long term, it is clearly the right thing to do for our players and our fans.”

 

 

 

I have some mixed feelings about this.  I think it’s kind of shady to go changing things for next season when teams have already been actively preparing for next season, and soliciting money for season tickets.  Two home games is a significant amount of revenue.

And travel is a sensitive subject, when you’ve got the Western Conference teams making some big trips each season, and some Eastern Conference teams who are able to avoid booking hotel rooms completely because they are within busing distance of every opponent.  There isn’t balance between the two conferences at all.

I asked Admirals President Jon Greenberg for some thoughts on the announced changes.  And at the end of the day, the NHL gets what the NHL wants.

“The schedule modification that was put forth by the American Hockey League is supported very strongly by the National Hockey League. We are a developmental league, and our job here from a hockey standpoint is to put our players in the best possible position to succeed. I think that everyone agrees that it’s not advantageous to play that fourth game in five days, even though we looked better the more we played this year.  This year, we had seven four-in-fives (I think), which is difficult on everyone from the players to the coaches to the radio announcer.

“At the end of the day, it is important to understand that the players belong to our NHL affiliate.  Our job here in Milwaukee is to give them the best tools to succeed whether it’s through great facilities which we have, great coaching and training which we have, a great city to live in which we have and great ownership which affords them resources that they might not have in other places.

“From a business standpoint, we will continue to give the best product possible off the ice to surround our great on-ice product.  Having two fewer home games will mean that the 38 that remain will be even more heavily loaded with fun things for fans to do and watch. Having 38 road games means that hopefully there will be some travel savings for the organization.”

I don’t know the numbers of how much revenue a Wednesday night game would bring in, compared to travel costs.  Will the travel savings be enough to offset the revenue of two home games?  If we play less games against North Division, I suppose it’s possible.  If we just cut out a game against Rockford and Chicago, then that doesn’t seem like it would be huge savings in travel.

Jon also advised that for customers who have paid for 40 games in full already….the Admirals won’t be simply keeping the extra money.  The sales staff will be in touch with the customers, and those who still have an outstanding balance will have their billing adjusted.

I’ve got some other thoughts, but let’s get the discussion going from this point here.  Do you like any changes?  Do you buy the rationale used by the league to justify the changes?  Will it be weird for a playoff series to be determined in a best-of-5 series?

Milwaukee Admirals (44-22-14, 102 points, first place in the West Division) vs. Texas Stars (41-29-10, 92 points, fourth place in the West Division)

Season Series: Texas won five of the six head-to-head meetings, including one in overtime and one in a shootout, and the Stars won all three games held at the Bradley Center.

Game Results:
Nov. 20 MIL 0 @ TEX 2
Nov. 26 MIL 1 @ TEX 0
Dec. 11 TEX 3 @ MIL 2 (OT)
Jan. 22 MIL 1 @ TEX 2 (SO)
Feb. 20 TEX 2 @ MIL 1
Apr. 8 TEX 3 @ MIL 2

Here is Milwaukee Admirals coach Lane Lambert’s thoughts on his team’s first round matchup against the Texas Stars:

“I think we are going to have our hands full with Texas, (but the Stars) are a team that we feel like we matchup well against.  It’s going to be an extremely demanding series–one that will be a grind right until the bitter end.”

To read my feature on Lambert’s remarkable job coaching the Admirals this season, click here.

Here is my breakdown of the series:

Offense: Neither team is overly explosive offensively as Milwaukee scored 226 goals this season, while Texas managed the fewest in the West Division (213).  Veteran Greg Rallo (26 goals and 54 points) leads the Stars, who also get considerable contributions from center Travis Morin.  Chris Mueller (24 goals and 50 points) leads the Admirals, but Roman Josi’s 40 points from the blueline is perhaps Milwaukee’s most impressive producer.  Both teams win games by getting scoring by committee, but I will give a slight edge to Milwaukee due to the Admirals impressive depth.

Defense: The reason why Milwaukee finished on top of the West Division and Western Conference was due to their superior defense.  No team in the division came even close to the Admirals in goals allowed (194 total, 2.43 per game).  Milwaukee features four defenders, Scott Ford, Grant Lewis, Aaron Johnson, Teemu Laakso, with plus/minus ratings of +10 or more.  Texas’ top defender, Dan Spang finished as a +5, but key veteran blueliner Brad Lukowich finished a dismal -14.  However, the Stars allowed only 210 goals, second fewest in the division.  Because Milwaukee’s top five defenders are unmatched, I will give the advantage to Milwaukee.

Goaltending: Unless Mark Dekanich makes a surprising return for the first round, Jeremy Smith (16-8-2, 2.26 goals against average, .921 save percentage) will have to carry the load in goal.  Smith has proven plenty capable in that role, but Texas features one of the league’s elite goaltenders in rookie Richard Bachman (28-19-5, 2.20 G.A.A., .927 S.P.).  Bachman showed signs of breaking down late in the season, but I would prefer have him in goal in a matchup against Smith, so here I see a slight advantage for Texas.

Special Teams: Though I was critical of Milwaukee’s power play at several points during the season, in the second half of the season the Admirals vastly improved in that all important aspect of the game, moving up to seventh in the AHL at 19.7%.  Though the penalty kill lags behind at 80.6% (25th best), the Admirals were one of the league’s lest penalized teams.  Of course Texas took the league’s fewest penalties, as the Stars were shorthanded only 299 times–a remarkable statistic.  Neither of Texas’ special teams (PP: 17.1%, 20th; PK: 80.9%, 23rd), scares its opponents, so here I see an advantage for Milwaukee.

Playoff Experience: Texas made an impressive run to the Calder Cup finals last season, while Milwaukee was ousted in the first round by their nemesis, the currently-golfing Chicago Wolves.  Both clubs are young on average, but feature veteran defensive corps.  Due to Texas’ long run last year, I will give the Stars a slight edge.

Coaching: Bench boss Lane Lambert has taken four straight Milwaukee Admirals teams to the AHL playoffs, an impressive feat considering that only four or five teams from the ultra-competitive West Division make the playoffs each year.  Meanwhile, coach Glen Gulutzan is in his second year with the Texas Stars, but has averaged 43.5 wins in those two seasons.  Because both coaches have impressive track records, I will call this aspect even.

Intangibles: It is hard to top the intangibles Milwaukee has going this season.  Despite featuring a lineup ravaged by call ups and injuries, the Admirals managed 102 points and claimed the top spot in the division and conference.  However, Texas dealt with plenty of adversity after nearly claiming the Calder Cup last year.  With Dallas out of the NHL playoffs, Texas will have a full arsenal of weapons to choose from.  Meanwhile, Milwaukee has a huge pool of developmental talent eager just to get into the lineup, creating an intense competition for roster spots.  But something just seems special about this year for Milwaukee, so I will give a slight edge to the Admirals.

Final Summation: Despite any worries about Smith in net, the rookie performed admirably in his recent starting duties for Milwaukee.  The Admirals top five defenders are as good as any in the AHL, and Milwaukee employs a tenacious brand of north-south hockey that is a joy to watch.  Even though Texas dominated the regular season series, I like Milwaukee to advance to the West Division finals with a seven-game series win.

So Roundtable, how would you breakdown the series, and what are the keys for Milwaukee to prevail?

Winning at home?

The play of Jeremy Smith vs. Richard Bachman?

Mueller, Bourque and Thang vs. Spang or Lukowich?

Lambert’s game plan vs. Gulutzan’s?

Anything else come to mind?

Ok, we’ll get back to some playoff preview content tomorrow….but for now, a quick fluff piece.

It’s our annual Paper Plate Awards, and we’re leaving some of the nominations to you.  So get creative, and leave your ideas in the comments section of this post.  The best nominations for the three players will get……drumroll please…..the usual media room cookie treatment!  And not just any cookies…..PLAYOFF cookies.  Oh yeah.

And now, on with the awards.

2 Teemu Laakso:  Lost In The Shuffle Award.  When people talk about the great defensemen in the system, they talk about names like Ellis, Josi, and Blum.  Meanwhile, Laakso’s season featured a career high in games, goals, assists, points (of course), and he even had a four game goal scoring streak.  He was also a +15 defensively, tops among Admiral defensemen.  In another system, I think that might be rewarded a bit more.

3   Jon Blum:  It’s Not As Hard As It Looks Award.  We were all surprised when Jon Blum got the call, but the Preds secured the playoff berth with him in the lineup, and he apparently isn’t making the poor decisions that seemed to be all too frequent this season in Milwaukee.  So good for Blummer, and good luck the rest of the way in Nashville.

4 Scott Ford:  Tough Guy By Default Award – Because who else was ever going to drop the gloves?  He did it 19 times this year.  (Kelsey had 15, next was Flynn with 3.)  Ford quietly had a pretty good season on defense.

5  Blake Geoffrion:  Most Likely To Start Next Season In Milwaukee Award.  You’ll get a different opinion on this guy depending on which Roundtable author you ask.  I was underwhelmed by his start to the season.  He had four great games end of January / early February, which somehow was enough to win AHL Player of the Week twice in a row.  Take those four games away, and he’s got 6 goals and 18 assists in 41 games…close to Grant Lewis numbers.  He’s a great PR story for Wisconsin and for Nashville, and it’s my opinion that the PR aspect had more sway than his hockey play did when the Preds elected to call him up and keep him up.  I think he’ll start the season in Milwaukee next year, and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of attitude he brings back to town.

6  Aaron Johnson:  Namesake Of Our Favorite Twitter Running Gag Of The Season Award.  Ahhhh, Johnson’s office.  Johnson took a lot of minor penalties early in the year, and I came down pretty hard on him early on.  I have since come around on the player, but we took his early penalty struggles for a cheap laugh on twitter.  Basically, whenever an Admiral gets a penalty, he goes to “Johnson’s office” to do some mundane task like reloading staplers, checking TPS reports for cover sheets, plan the company teambuilding retreat…..stuff like that.  It’s probably funnier to us than anybody else, but eh, that’s fine.

7  Brett Palin:  Bum Rap Award.  His Mo-vember stache has been made fun of.  People seem to like to bash him in discussion.  He talks to the referees a lot.  But he’s the captain.  He’s supposed to make the case for his team.  He plays a lot of minutes, and frankly, I think he was a pretty good signing for us this season.  I feel a lot more confident with Palin on the ice than ‘his Yonk-ness’.  Off the ice, he was great in the community, and great with fans.  If he re-signed with Nashville this off-season, I would be a fan.

8  Ryan Thang:  Mueller-In-Training Award.  When Chris Mueller got his first call-up to the Predators, Ryan Thang was the guy that stepped up his game the most.  Thang finished the season 3^rd on the team in points, and had a team best +17 defensive rating.  When Matt Halischuk was called up, Thang got to play on the same line as Mueller and Gabriel Bourque, and that line has paced this team offensively through the last quarter of the season.

10  Ryan Flynn – Most Likely To Be Confused For A Backup Quarterback Award.  Our friend Matt Moore accidentally referred to him as Matt Flynn a couple of times during an intermission interview.  Matt felt pretty bad about it, but is able to laugh about it now.  Which is good, because it’s pretty hilarious.

11  Mark Santorelli:  (Leave your nomination in the comments section)

12  Andreas Thuresson:  Sahara Desert Award.  Now THAT was a drought.  Thuresson scored a goal October 24^th against Chicago.  January 6^th, he scored his next goal.  He’s been playing better the last two months, and averaged almost a point per game in March.

17  Kelsey Wilson (Leave your nomination in the comments section)

18  Chris Mueller:  Most Valuable Player Award.  Now THIS is a feel good story.  He played his way to an NHL contract.  The first blip on the radar screen happened during the two games in Lake Erie during the 10 game road trip in November.  Four goals and an assist, a couple of shorties, and a couple of game winners.  Since then, he has meant more to the offense of this team than any other player on the roster.  The Bourque- Mueller – Halischuk line was probably our favorite combination of the year, and since Halischuk departed for Nashville, Mueller and Bourque have continued to be a great pair on the first line.

19  Gabriel Bourque:  Most Improved Player Award.  Speed, tenacity, and now, scoring!  Bourque started to find the scoring touch in February, and is now third on the team in goals scored this year, with 18.  With a great work ethic and some great tools, he’s a pretty good hockey player right now….and he’s only 20 years old.  He’s going to be even better, and it’ll be a treat for us to watch his development.

20  Mike Bartlett:  Least Likely To Have His Own Bobblehead Award.  Guys like him don’t get the glory.  It’s the fighters and the scorers.  But Bartlett is just the kind of guy that Coach loves having on the team.  He’s got the work ethic and the energy, and for awhile there, that line of Flynn – Bartlett – Hunter was playing very well together.  The stats won’t say it, but he had a solid year on a 3^rd/4^th line.

21  Jamie Lundmark:  Addition By Subtraction Award.  He quit on his team, which I think is the most selfish thing an athlete can do in a team sport.   But in the end, it made the Admirals a better team, so I guess we should be thankful?   He quit so that he could go play 18 games for a team in Sweden, and bring his family along.  They didn’t make the playoffs, so the vacation has been over since early March.  They’re back in the US now, and according to Jamie’s twitter page, he doesn’t know what the plan is for next year.  If some team calls Coach Lambert asking for a reference, I hope Lane doesn’t mince words.

22  Steve Begin:  WebMD Award.  A bit injury prone, but a great guy to have in the locker room, and a great guy to talk about hockey with.  He didn’t have as much of an impact on the scoresheet as I had hoped for, but he has still been an asset to the team.

24 Matt Halischuk:  Put Me In, Coach Award.  He had a five game points streak before the Preds were shutout in the last game of the regular season.  Same amount of games, he has the same number of points as big trade acquisition Mike Fisher.  He’s playing well, just like he did in Milwaukee.  I’m still hoping that we’ll see him with the Admirals for the playoff run, but I’m not holding my breath.

25  Grant Lewis:  Best Things Come To Those Who Wait Award.  Lewie was on the short end of a numbers game for most of the first half of the season.  Three other defensemen had letters on the front of their jerseys, and three other defensemen were Preds draft picks.  Lewis only played four games in November, and three games in January.  But he was a great asset whenever one of the other defenders needed a night off due to injury, or if coach elected to go with seven defensemen for a game.  And then Jon Blum was recalled, and Lewis has been an everyday player since.  He has more physicality to his game than Blum did, and ended up being just as valuable on the power play in Blum’s absence.  Lewis is one of the unsung heroes for this team.

29  Mark Van Guilder:  The Largest Strides Award.  Scoreless in 28 games last season, Van Guilder was a key player on this year’s roster to the point that it was noticeable when he wasn’t on the ice.  I don’t have face-off statistics, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he was statistically the best on face-offs for the team.  Responsible on both ends of the ice, Van Guilder more than earned his paychecks this year.

30 Jeremy Smith:  Red Green Award.  Ready and able in every role he’s been asked to play.  Kind of a handy-man in that way.  Started the season in Cincy.  Changed places with Chet.  And when the keys were given to him during Mark Dekanich’s recalls and injuries, Smith has delivered and kept things together…without the need for duct tape.

31 Mark Dekanich:  Best Nickname Award.  So this year, we haven’t tried to give players very many nicknames.  We used to do that at the old blog, with a mixed bag of results.  But on twitter, this is the nickname that stuck the most this year:  Mark “I just bailed you out AGAIN” Dekanich.  He even re-tweeted it once.  Which is kind of weird, that a player has any idea who the hell we are….but we think that summarizes the impact he had on the team this year.  He stole some games for the Admirals.

32  Dylan Hunter:  Your Dad Was One Of My Favorite Players Growing Up Award.  Had hoped to bump into Dale at the Bradley Center at some point.  Hasn’t happened yet.

33 Roman Josi.  Highest Ceiling Award.  I think he’ll be a better defenseman than Jon Blum in the end.   I think he’s wearing down a little bit right now, as he’s never played this many games in a season previously… but his adjustment to the North American game has been seamless.  Remember the point-scoring streak?  He can be a dynamic two-way player, and I selfishly hope we’ll get to see some more of him next season.

86 Linus Klasen (Leave your nomination in the comments section)

West Division seeding scenarios (ripped from theahl.com)
If TEX (at SA)…	and OKC (at HOU)…	then W3-W4-W5 would be:
Win	Win
Win	OTL/SOL
Win	Reg loss
OTL/SOL	Reg/OT win
OTL/SOL	SO win
OTL/SOL	OTL/SOL
OTL/SOL	Reg loss
Reg loss	Win
Reg loss	OTL/SOL
Reg loss	Reg loss

So while our game is ultimately meaningless….we should know by the end of our game who our opponent will be in the first round of the playoffs.

Do you have a preferance?

(Editors Note:  The Admirals Roundtable has signed Laura Liebl to an ATO contract for the rest of this season (Author Try-Out).  This is her first piece for the Roundtable, and it’s a great effort — and she even managed to throw in references to our made-up sponsors, so I think she’ll fit in around here.  She was there in Peoria and saw the game first hand, and she files this report.  Thanks Laura!   – RBM)

Ladies and gentlemen, we proudly present your 2010-2011 regular season Western Conference champs! It sure wasn’t easy, and the team and coaching staff deserve huge accolades for fighting hard all season long.

Coming into last night’s final road game of the season, the Admirals were riding an impressive streak of playing 15 road games without a regulation loss but also a three game losing streak from their latest home swing. The Admirals welcomed yet another new face to the team in Peoria in the form of Ben Ryan (#16), newly signed to an ATO from Notre Dame. With a showdown for the West threatening to go down to the final day of the season, the Admirals hoped to settle the West once and for all Saturday in Peoria…

Jeremy Smith got the start in net while his teammates finally got off to a good start in the first period. The Admirals got the first PP of the game when Peoria’s Akim Aliu went to the box for interference at 5:24. With 19 seconds left on the Mountain Fury Power Play, the Admirals struck first. Brett Pailn blasted a one-timer from the blue line off of a pass from the circle by Cory Conacher.  Jake Allen made the initial save but Chris Mueller was on the doorstep to poke the rebound through the 5 hole for his 23rd of the year. 1-0 Admirals.

The power play for both teams would prove to be the story of the game early on. With Conacher in the box for high sticking, the Rivermen wasted no time cashing in. T.J. Hensick sent a long back-handed pass from the half wall that somehow made it’s way through to the right face off dot, where Drazenovic rifled a rocket that beat Smith top shelf glove side. 1-1.

Most coaches will tell you the best way to respond to a goal scored against you is with a goal of your own. On the very next shift the Admirals gained the Rivermen zone. Another one timer from the point, this time by Foss, found it’s way to Allen who again made the save, but left a rebound that was picked up by Ryan Flynn, who backhanded it in for his 6th of the year. 2-1 Admirals. Foss grabbed an assist and kudos to Ben Ryan for earning his first point on that goal by Flynn.

The Mountain Fury Power Play had one last thing to say before the end of the period. Brennan Evans got to sit for boarding Austin Watson, and this time it was the Admirals cashing in quickly on a pretty play.  It started with a Ryan Thang pass from the left circle to Mueller on the goal line who then sent it across crease through a sliding defender to Conacher, who beat Allen trying to slide across. The Admirals had to feel pretty good about the first period but it wouldn’t last.

In the second, Peoria started to throw more pucks at Smith while the Admirals just couldn’t get any quality chances going. With Lewis in the box for tripping the Admirals couldn’t clear the zone from the get go and in a play similar to Conacher’s goal, Nicolas Drazenovic shot a cross-crease pass through sliding defenders to a waiting TJ Hensick, who one timed it passed Smith, who had no chance. 41 seconds later, a lost face off from Mueller found it’s way to the right point where Peoria’s Daryl Boyle fired a slap shot through traffic that found it’s way over Smiths glove hand for his first of the year. Smith didn’t seem to see it until the last second. Peoria heavily out shot the Admirals 18-5 in the second period.

Now tied 3-3 the third period saw much of the same from the second. The Admirals continued to be out shot and couldn’t muster much offense of their own. Smith came up with big and timely saves on several occasions, as did the PK who killed off two Peoria power plays to keep it tied.

In the final minute of the period the Admirals were stuck in their own zone. With disaster looming Smith made a huge blocker save to keep the Admirals alive, and then Thang then intercepted a pass from Aliu in the high slot and the Admirals were off to the races with a 2 on 1. Thang had Mueller on the right, but he didn’t need him.  Thang’s wrister from the left circle beat Allen through the pads with 6.5 second left.

Notes & Questions
 
Here were your lines to start the game
Flynn-Bartlett-Ryan
Watson-Van Guilder-Thuresson
Conacher-Mueller-Thang
Beck-Latta-Santorelli
 
Defense
Palin-Foss
Jost-Laakso
Ford-Lewis
 
Lederer was a healthy scratch.   Gabriel Bourque  joined the Admirals M*A*S*H unit with a lower body injury that is considered day-to-day.

Do you think Admirals might be able to loosen up a bit now for Sunday’s finale without the elusive point looming over their heads, or do you think they’ll just go through the motions in game 80?
 
How far do you think the Admirals can ride Jeremy Smith in the playoffs?