This is going to be a rare non-Admirals post here at the Roundtable because some pretty rare feats happened in hockey last night that were -so good- it has to be talked about.

~Shoot, Shoot, Shoot Some More~

In the AHL last night there was a game between the Midwest Division leading Rockford IceHogs against the Iowa Wild. Hardly thrilling on paper, right? Think again.

The IceHogs popped in the game’s first goal from Matt Carey midway through the first period. They then proceeded to allow five unanswered goals to give the Wild a big time 5-1 win over the IceHogs.

What makes that so special? The IceHogs totaled 59-shots on goal in regulation… 15 shots in the first period, 19 shots in the second period, and 25 shots in the third period.

Iowa switched goalies prior to the start of the third period. John Curry stopped 33/34 shots before giving way. In his place, Johan Gustafsson stopped all 25 shots on goal during the third period. Both goalies for the Wild were voted the game’s top two stars.

~The Never Ending Shootout~

I was always a fan of how the AHL worked a best of five format to the shootout formula versus the NHL’s best of three. It felt like it changed the dynamic a touch and meant different players had to get involved rather than the flashy skill guys on the team. That of course changed this season with the AHL adopting a new overtime format entirely and then switching to the best of three shootout format. There’s some wondering on my part on if the NHL takes on the AHL’s new and improved overtime format come next season. However, if it was applied this season we may not have seen what we did last night.

The Washington Capitals were visiting the Florida Panthers and both sides endured the game’s 1-1 deadlock all the way to the shootout. Then NHL history happened. 20 rounds. This shootout lasted 20 rounds. You can watch it in it’s full and hilarious 18-minutes via the NHL VideoCenter.

Florida ended up picking up the 2-1 (SO) win when all was said, done, and repeated. Their shootout marathon trumped the previous long shootout between the Rangers and Capitals on 11/26/2005 by a full 5 rounds. Just as was the case then… the Capitals lost… ouch.

~Question of the Day~

Which feat is more impressive: what happened in Iowa or what happened in Florida? Because, either way, it could be awhile before we see something as wacky as that all taking place on the same night.

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Before the Milwaukee Admirals hit the road they’ve decided to make a roster move. Patrick Cehlin has been assigned to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. There has yet to be any announcement of a counter move.

Cehlin missed the start of this season due to a blood clot that formed following his hip surgery in the off-season. He started the 2014-15 season with 3 games played in Cincinnati where he scored a goal in his last outing prior to being brought back up to the Admirals. Since, he has played 4 games and recorded no points with 2 penalty minutes.

With the Cyclones next game being played on Wednesday in Cincinnati and the Admirals playing twice in Cleveland Lake Erie on Tuesday and then Thursday – it is possible that Cehlin could be getting a quick run before being brought back to the Admirals before they leave the state of Ohio. My hope? I would very much like to see Zach Budish get recalled in place of Cehlin. He is a bigger bodied player that offers the Admirals lower-lines a different look and, since joining the Cyclones in late October, Budish has scored 17 points (4 goals, 13 assists) in 19 games.

Thoughts on this roster move? What does this move mean for Patrick Cehlin? Who should fill his spot for Tuesday’s game?

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Longtime Milwaukee Admirals defenseman Scott Ford has signed a contract with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL late this afternoon. The veteran was not re-signed by the Admirals following last season and had been a free agent through the start of the 2014-15 hockey season.

Press Release via South Carolina Stingrays:

North Charleston, S.C. – The South Carolina Stingrays, celebrating 22 seasons of hockey in the Lowcountry, agreed to terms with defenseman Scott Ford, Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Spencer Carbery announced today. In a separate transaction, forward Andrew Ammon is recalled to the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Ford, 34, joins the Stingrays with 510 games of AHL experience, 63 points (18 goals, 45 assist) and a career AHL plus-minus rating of +31 over a 10 year professional career with the Milwaukee Admirals, Peoria Rivermen, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Bruins and Cleveland Barons. The last three seasons, the Fort Saint John, British Columbia, native served as team captain with the Admirals and Rivermen.

In the ECHL, Ford enters a new season with 132 career games and 45 points (12 goals, 33 assists) skating with the Utah Grizzlies, Trenton Titans, Dayton Bombers and Fresno Falcons.

The man affectionately known as The Sheriff played 366 career games as a member of the Admirals. No one else in the AHL history of the team has played more games than him. The next closest, Mark Van Guilder, has played in 307 career games.

Thoughts on seeing Scott Ford continue his career with an ECHL team? What are some of your favorite Ford moments as an Admiral?

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With the news yesterday that Patrick Cehlin would be reassigned there was some curiosity on my part as to what the counter move would be. Late this afternoon we have the answer. The Milwaukee Admirals have assigned defenseman Jonathan Diaby and loaned Joe Pendenza to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.

Diaby has been often rotated on defense this season with Jimmy Oligny and has played in 10 games, recorded no points on offense, has a plus/minus rating of -1, and racked up 41 penalty minutes with 3 fights to his name.

Pendenza has also been a player that has rotated often in the forward group with him tending to swap places every now and then with Frédérick Gaudreau. This season Pendenza has played in 13 games, scored 3 goals, has a plus/minus rating of +6, and only 2 penalty minutes.

Thoughts on today’s roster moves? Surprised to see one or both of these two to go down to the ECHL?

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Still a bit bummed out over the Milwaukee Admirals weekend results? Well, looking at our friends down in the ECHL, you really out to be fortunate that the Ads have been as hot and consistent as they have been.

The Cincinnati Cyclones start to their 2014-15 season has seen a lot of win one-lose one ups and downs. They have a record of 11-8-2-0 (24 points) and currently sit in fifth place of the North Division which ranks them eleventh in the Eastern Conference.

They have scored an equal amount of goals as they have allowed, 53. They are fourth from the bottom in regards to total penalty minutes, 13.4 penalty minutes per game. They have the twelfth overall power-play in the ECHL, 17.8 power-play percentage. And their penalty kill is the second worst in the league, 78.0 penalty killing percentage.

Like the title says: topsy-turvy. Things have been consistent – just consistently and splendiferously average.

The current outfit of players in our system currently residing in Cincinnati includes: Jaynen Rissling, Mikko Vainonen, Zach Budish, Josh Shalla, and Rob Madore.

Shalla has been the man that he has always been for the Cyclones. He has produced 14 points (9 goals, 5 assists) from 15 games. Each and everyone of those goals were scored in the month of November in a span of 12 games. He also scored 5 goals in a 4 game span. If there is some way some how that he could bottle up some of his ECHL magic and unleash it at the AHL level it would be a rewarding sight to see. ECHL Shalla… 0.90 points per game. AHL Shalla… 0.28 points per game. That 4 game span I just talked about? He scored as many goals for the Cyclones in that window as he has in 58 games with the Admirals.

Budish was a player that I almost felt was unfortunate to be sent down when he was. While he may have been on the fourth-line at the time – he picked up 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in 6 games for the Admirals. For the Cyclones he has now played in 13 games while recording 12 points (2 goals, 10 points) with a plus/minus rating of +5. I always feel people expect Austin Watson duplicated work and numbers from Budish. Truth is, he doesn’t do anything too flashy, too fast, too offensively polished, but he doesn’t make hair-pullingly bad mistakes. When it came to his reassignment from Milwaukee this season it came with the mindset that Joe Pendenza and Frédérick Gaudreau can play center as well as the wing. Were Budish more capable at the center-ice position I wonder who would have been sent down at the time.

The two young defensemen that are in system right now in Cincinnati, Vainonen and Rissling, are both guys that I wouldn’t expect offense out of. They are finely tuned for defense and, between the two of them, have a combined 2 points thanks to Vainonen’s 2 assists. They are a combined -3 on the ice and have 40 penalty minutes between the two of them. Workmanlike is the term to use for them. If you see Rissling’s profile picture on Twitter – it sums them both up rather nicely, I think.

A player I was massively happy that the Admirals signed in the off-season, Madore, has been the Cyclones rock in net so far. He has started all but 4 games this season for the Cyclones and has the following stat-line to show for it: 11 starts, 5-4-0-2 record, 3.15 goals against average, 0.883 save percentage, and 1 shutout. It hasn’t been as awe-inspiring as his 2014 Kelly Cup run that gave him the MVP honors despite coming up on the losing side of things in the final. Perhaps Madore sums up the Cyclones start better than anyone: average and should be better.

The Cyclones will have a busy run of games coming up shortly as they prepare for 13 games in the month of December. It will be interesting to watch whether or not some success can be sustained during that slate. Their longest winning streak so far consisted of 3 games. That run ended and started a 5 game losing streak… topsy-turvy. Here’s hoping the next Cyclones Report will have brighter news in the wins department.

Added Footnote: The Admirals assigned Jonathan Diaby and loaned Joe Pendenza to Cincinnati.

How have our players been doing in the ECHL? Do you feel Josh Shalla will ever be able to have as big of an offensive impact for the Admirals as he does for the Cyclones? Is there a Kelly Cup hangover for Rob Madore?

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This just in. Patrick Cehlin has been reassigned to the Milwaukee Admirals from the Cincinnati Cyclones. As of now, there is no counter-move by the Admirals to send a player down.

Cehlin missed the start of the 2014-15 season as he recovered from off-season hip surgery. He was able to finally get into game action at the ECHL level in Cincinnati where he played in three games and scored a goal in his last outing – his lone point recorded in that stint.

The addition of Cehlin will be just another offensive boost for the Admirals. When you think of how loaded the wings already are at the moment, and add Cehlin, it’s going to mean our third and fourth lines even got that much stronger today. It should put someone such as Frédérick Gaudreau or Joe Pendenza on the outside looking in as far as playing time is concerned.

What do you think the return of Patrick Cehlin will mean for the Admirals? Who would you want Cehlin to be paired up with for a forward line?

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Last night’s 5-4 Admirals loss may have been one of the craziest and exciting hockey games that I’ve watched in a long time. I’m certain that the coaching staff, both of them, won’t be too happy with the defensive effort laid down. That being said, both offenses were buzzing from the second period to the final horn.

As far as losses go – I’d take the proverbial “last team that scores wins” goal fest over a low-scoring nailbiter every single time. A loss is a loss. But, when both sides are trading blows that hard, can’t be as upset with the result.

The flash point in the game last night was of course the melee that triggered a goalie fight in the third period. You can watch the full incident on Hockey Fights Video.

It all started when Rasmus Rissanen caught Rich Clune along the right wing boards with a knee. To me, it appeared as if Clune was looking to swoop to the left of Rissanen and, in a last ditch effort to get a body on him and slow his progress into the attacking zone, Rissanen stuck a leg out on him and sent Clune tumbling down.

While that play alone is poor from Rissanen. I can’t imagine too many Admirals were already that happy with him in the first place. He was playing a very physical game, which is fine, but often crossed the line when it came to the way he was delivering his punishment. Case and point: At the end of the second period Rissanen was fighting behind his own net with Colton Sissons for a puck around the boards. He hooked Sissons up, picked him up and slammed him, and then proceeded to give him a few stiff cross-checks high to the head and neck.

As soon as the Admirals, specifically Mike Liambas, saw the number of the truck that caught Clune on a hit and run… it was on. Liambas went for Rissanen. The Checkers looked to protect their player. The mass of bodies pushed into John Muse‘s net. Magnus Hellberg skated towards center ice to get a good view. And, once Muse went to grab Liambas in the pile, Hellberg took the mask off and went after his opposite netminder.

The game was so highly competitive that it really only took one agitating player like Rissanen to send things from nuts on the goal side of things to insane on the penalty minute figures.

I’ve said it in the past and I’ll say it again about this year’s Milwaukee Admirals team. They do not let anyone mess with their players. Not a soul. So often this season you see the likes of Joe Piskula or Johan Alm manhandling people away from their own goaltenders. When Viktor Stålberg was hit knee-on-knee by Brennan Evans there was an instant response with a fight by Jonathan Diaby. This team has zero problems policing a game on their own. And that’s what I take from last night’s wild ride in the third period.

Continue reading “A Recent History of Milwaukee Admirals Goalie Fights” →

In the coming weeks Milwaukee Admirals coach Dean Evason might have another forward at his disposal. Today the team announced that Patrick Cehlin would be assigned to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.

As Daniel Lavender reported on Sunday, the spark plug forward is currently working on regaining his fitness as he recovers from off-season hip surgery. With Milwaukee’s forwards plenty stockpiled at present, Cehlin is now on his way to the Queen City to accelerate his recovery and log his first games of the 2014-15 hockey season.

The Stockholm, Sweden native is in his third minor league season within the Nashville Predators organization, accumulating 41 assists and 56 points in 108 American Hockey League contests in the two years prior.

He was also involved in this memorable tussle via HockeyFights.com back on February 28, 2014 against Iowa with former Admiral/Predator Jonathon Blum:

Coach Dean Evason had this say about the bout, via Lavender’s Admirals Roundtable recap:

“There is no way that Patrick Cehlin cuts his tie-down,” exclaimed Evason. “He’s never been in a fight. They say that it came off too easy. Which is indication that they feel that we doctored it in some way. I don’t understand it.”

Cehlin was previously sent down to the ECHL for one game back in 2012-13, where he scored an empty net goal in a 3-1 win. The speedy Cehlin was Nashville’s fifth-round pick in 2010, chosen 126th overall. He could appear with the Cyclones as early as tonight as Cincinnati hosts Evansville, before a weekend series at the Indy Fuel.

So Roundtable . . . Is there a place for Patrick Cehlin with Milwaukee once he’s back up to full speed? Are you excited at the prospect of having him back in the near future?

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David Poile, the General Manager of the Nashville Predators, was a guest on 102.5 The Game’s “Sports Night” yesterday afternoon. During his time on the air he made mention of two injury situations: Mike Fisher and Viktor Stålberg .

Let’s start with the latter of those two – seeing as we were witness to that injury here in Milwaukee. Poile stated the following on Stålberg:

“Talk about not getting any breaks. In two years, two training camps in a row, where he has virtually missed entire training camps. Got off to a slow start last year and then it resulted in him being scratched, etc etc. So we had our hopes up high this year that everything would be great. Misses training camp again. Goes down to Milwaukee. He’s playing pretty good. Last game he gets hurt. Met with him today. Looks like it’s going to be 4-6 weeks, I think. He’s having an MRI today so we’ll know a little bit more. An update tomorrow. Again, just a real bad break for Viktor. Just not getting any traction here in Nashville.” ~ David Poile on Sports Night

We’ll be holding tight for those MRI results today and any sort of updates from Nashville. All things considered. If Stålberg escapes that hit with a knock that only leaves him out for 4-6 weeks – it’s fantastic news. The way that he went down, stayed down, and was assisted off the ice had me thinking he blew out ligaments in his knee. MRI results pending – that bullet hasn’t been dodged yet. Let’s hope Poile’s spot on there.

As for Fisher, Poile mentioned that his progress is close but he is still feeling stiffness in his achilles. The Predators alternate captain suffered a ruptured achilles during a training session and had successful surgery in early-July. Fisher has been practicing with the team and has just started contact practice. The plan is for him to return to the Nashville lineup in two-weeks.

So, what will Fisher’s eventual return to the Predators roster mean for the Milwaukee Admirals? Firstly, I wouldn’t be too surprised if Fisher had a short conditioning assignment with the Admirals to get him up to game speed. Difference between him and Stålberg? I don’t see Fisher’s stint lasting all of the fourteen days allotted for the conditioning assignment. That, by the way, is just my guess. For all I know – Fisher leaps right into NHL action once he gets cleared for game shape.

The real story here in Milwaukee is what roster shake up could take place when this all goes down. When Fisher comes back  off of injured reserve what will the Predators do?

When the time comes – I figure that the player with the highest chance of being assigned to the Admirals when Fisher comes back is Calle Järnkrok. Despite his incredible start in the organization last season… 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) in 6 games with the Admirals, 9 points (2 goals, 7 assists) in 12 games with the Predators… it hasn’t quite translated into 2014-15 just yet.

Järnkrok has played in ten of the Predators fourteen-games this season. He has yet to record a point of offense while averaging 13:27 minutes of ice time per game. The only other forwards to have played as many or more games and not record a point of offense for the Predators are Olli Jokinen and Gabriel Bourque.

Milwaukee could use Järnkrok just as much as Järnkrok could use Milwaukee to springboard back into the form that saw him tearing up the scoresheet late last season.

The Admirals would grow stronger down the middle of their forward group and it could put a more offensive minded center on the third line with the flashy talents of Viktor Arvidsson – something they haven’t entirely got with either Félix Girard or Frédérick Gaudreau. That’s where Colton Sissons could jump in and get his game really rolling offensively. I believe the recent combo of Miikka Salomäki, Mark Van Guilder, and Austin Watson could and should stick around. And it could be that Järnkrok is surrounded by wingers Brendan Leipsic and Pontus Åberg.

When looking at CapGeek, and trying to understand the other possibilities, you just run to the conclusion that Järnkrok is due to arrive in Milwaukee once Fisher returns. Perhaps the other other consideration is that the Predators try to put Taylor Beck on waivers to see if he can reach the Admirals. With how Beck has played, especially in comparison to Järnkrok, I don’t feel the Predators are up for doing that. Besides, why risk losing a player when you don’t have to?

The undeniable thing right now to think about is just how deep the entire Nashville Predators organization has become this season at the forward position. The Predators are a success. The Admirals are a success. And, it may get to the point through depth, that we see more Admirals forwards head down to the Cincinnati Cyclones and make them a stronger team.

It’s all a matter of everyone staying healthy to create problems such as this. One better. When the injuries do happen, as they always do in hockey, the Predators are loaded for just such a scenario this season.

What will Mike Fisher’s return to the Nashville Predators mean for the Milwaukee Admirals? Is Calle Järnkrok the most likely candidate for a move down or could someone else get assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals?

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The AHL has just announced that Grand Rapids Griffins defenseman Brennan Evans will be suspended four-games as a result of the hit he delivered to Viktor Stålberg. The AHL described it as a “kneeing” incident.

Press Release via AHL:

The American Hockey League today announced that Grand Rapids Griffins defenseman Brennan Evans has been suspended for four (4) games as a consequence of a kneeing incident in a game at Milwaukee on Nov. 7.

Evans was suspended under the provisions of AHL Rule 28.1 (supplementary discipline).

Evans will miss Grand Rapids’ games Wednesday (Nov. 12) vs. Lake Erie, Friday (Nov. 14) vs. Texas, Saturday (Nov. 15) vs. Texas and Nov. 21 at Lake Erie.

Stålberg was in the final day of his fourteen-day conditioning assignment. He played in four-games with the Admirals and recorded 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists). There has yet to be an update on his exact condition since being helped off the ice after the Evans hit in the second period on Friday night’s game. All we have to go on is that Ads head coach Dean Evason said that it was, “not good.”

Did the AHL get this suspension correct? What were your thoughts on the hit Brennan Evans dished out on Viktor Stålberg? With this hit being suspension worthy, why wasn’t it called as such for “kneeing” on the ice?

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