This is Hannu Toivonen. He’s clearly just as stoked for the US hockey team as he is Finland. (Photo Credit: Andy Morrison)
We have ourselves a curveball to start off the morning. The Milwaukee Admirals and goaltender Hannu Toivonen have decided on another PTO contract that will keep him around for that little while longer.
Toivonen has only played in three games with the Admirals and made one start. In all of those situations he held up rather well. He won the game he started. He stopped all six shots in relief of Marek Mazanec in his last outing. And his first outing saw him get thrown into the firing line of the shootout after Magnus Hellberg went down with injury in San Antonio.
Yesterday the AHL listed Toivonen on the Admirals transactions list as released from PTO. Which, at the time, made sense because of the news that Scott Darling was recalled after a three game stint with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. Darling was making his return to game action after missing a month’s worth of hockey due to a lower-body injury.
So, Darling is back in camp. Toivonen has signed back on to remain in camp. And Mazanec is also in camp. Barring any news to come soon after this, totally plausible due to what I’m about to say, the Admirals will have three functional and fit netminders on their roster. Perhaps I’ll find out more on this when I drop by after tomorrow’s practice – or even sooner than that. I will give an update should I find out anything extra. Until then, continued Hannu puns are very welcome in the comments.
Smart move to keep Hannu Toivonen around? What do you think this means for the Admirals goaltenders?
Austin Watson wonders if we’ll be seeing the likes of Simon Moser in Milwaukee after his efforts in Sochi. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Latvia managed to knockout Switzerland from the Olympics yesterday by the final score of 3-1. This meant the end of the Sochi games for Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi and Milwaukee Admirals winger Simon Moser.
For a team that really lacked firepower (scoring three goals the entire tournament) and relied upon the strength of their defense (two shutouts from Jonas Hiller) I believe a real bright spot for the Swiss came in the form of Moser.
I watched all of their games with a keen eye for him and was very impressed by what I saw. Despite not picking up much in the way of scoring, a problem for the Swiss squad in general, he looked better than he even did as an Admiral. I felt as if there wasn’t a single bad shift for Moser during his Olympic run. Offensively, he was doing a great job creating plays and working around the net. He looked big, fast, strong, and wasn’t shy to throw a puck to the net if he saw a good enough chance. While his go-to Olympic moment will no doubt be his game-winning goal against Latvia in the opening game – he had so many more bright spots skating forward that it’s actually a shame he and that team failed to score more than they did.
When it came to his defense, just like the whole Switzerland team, he was doing very smart and responsible work in his own half of the ice. He was also good in the neutral zone work. His size in particular seemed to help out in that area of the ice – Olympic ice – wider ice – and he disrupted plays nicely.
Moser’s Olympic statline: 4 games, 1 goal, 8 shots on goal, 2 penalty minutes, a plus/minus of +1, and he averaged 15:11 time on ice per game. Only four other forwards for Switzerland played more minutes during tournament than him: Nino Niederreiter, 68:20 TOI… Martin Pluss, 67:42 TOI… Damien Brunner, 66:04 TOI… Roman Wick, 65:50 TOI… Simon Moser, 60:45 TOI…
This entire Olympic run for Moser comes right after his first career games in the NHL. With the Predators he played in 3 games and scored his first career NHL point (an assist). With the Admirals, he has played in 40 games this season and produced 25 points (8 goals, 17 assists). His role with Team Switzerland in Sochi was actually quite identical to the way he played in Milwaukee. He was asked to play in multiple facets, performed a two-way game, and worked smartly on both sides of the puck.
It begs to be said. Should we really expect Simon Moser to return to the Admirals after all this? My answer: No.
The next big step for Moser is to perform in the NHL as he did in the Olympics. When it comes to his offensive game I wouldn’t necessarily even point to his Admirals numbers. In no way do I expect for him to be a figure on the Predators power-play. What you’ll get and love from a guy like Moser, when it comes to the NHL level, is a smart third line winger that makes good plays defensively, can skate up ice, battle strength-for-strength on the forecheck, and can bag the odd point here and there with his creativity. Should those attributes manifest themselves, as they have in Milwaukee and Sochi, Moser should settle into Nashville nicely for the rest of the NHL season.
Were you able to watch Simon Moser and Team Switzerland during the Olympics? What did you think of Moser’s play in Sochi versus in Milwaukee? Did the bigger rinks help his game? Have we seen the last of Moser in an Admirals uniform?
Scott Darling won the CCM/AHL Goalie of the Month award for his work in December. He’s been out for a month with a lower-body injury. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Cincinnati Cyclones are set to play tomorrow night in Indiana against the Evansville IceMen. There was some pondering on my part of that meant one last rehab game for Scott Darling before this weekend’s three-in-three for the Admirals. Ponder no more! This afternoon he has officially been recalled to the Ads roster.
During his return from a lower-body injury he made three starts with the Cyclones of the ECHL. He won two, lost one, had a 2.62 GAA, and a 0.908 SV%. That statline is only slightly mucked up from his last outing where he conceded four-goals from twenty-one shots against the Kalamazoo Wings. Even still, he was the runner up for the ECHL Goalie of the Week. With the Admirals, Darling has played in fifteen games, won eighth, has a 2.18 GAA, a 0.930 SV%, and a team-best three shutouts.
This only surprises me in the sense that he will miss one more chance to play a game with the Cyclones in the ECHL before joining the Admirals. What should that tell us? He’ll probably start Friday night under good rest. Had he played Wednesday and joined the next day… he may have missed morning practice on Thursday… and might be a slight bit off sync come game day. This tells me enough that he’s going to make a dent this weekend – and the team hope that he does.
When Darling makes his return to the ice for the Admirals he’ll also have a different look about him. No, the beard is staying for good (at least I’ve told him it should). But, he has brand new Admirals goaltending gear. I give the set an A+ for retro stripy goodness!
UPDATE: Per TheAHL.com, Hannu Toivonen has officially been released from his PTO with the Milwaukee Admirals.
Will Scott Darling start on Friday? Should he have played one more game in the ECHL before being called up? What should this do for Marek Mazanec?
Anthony Bitetto is just one of many Admirals struggling to find the back of the net recently. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Yesterday we took a look into the numbers of Marek Mazanec this season. Today, let’s take a gander at the up-and-down Admirals offense.
I feel as if these last few games, in particular, have been erratic for the team. Some nights there have been limited shots. Then there are other nights when the shots have been there but the finishing touch isn’t.
A player that comes to mind when I pieced this “numbers”story together is our photo boy for this one, Anthony Bitetto. Remember how hot his start to the season was? He started off the 2013-side of the calendar with 9 goals in 29 games – 6 of which were scored on the power-play. Ever since the calendar switched to 2014 – Bitetto has failed to score a single goal from 19 games played. When I see such a sudden drop off it makes me wonder if teams around the league are solving something in the Admirals offense? …or if it is simply a case of the team’s inability to finish at a high percentage? Let’s take a look at the team’s stats from open-play this season.
Now, I know what you’re going to be thinking next. These numbers, stats, and figures on the Admirals offense are all jolly exciting. But what on Earth do they even mean? Well, let me give you the official AHL measuring stick to bring this all into proper perspective.
AHL League Averages
9.31 Shooting Percentage, 17.796 PP%
The Milwaukee Admirals are below the AHL league averages when it comes to shooting and the power-play. Add a goaltender, who has been forcing his team to find two or three goals per game to have a chance, and you get the constant win one, lose one, win one sort of behavior the Admirals have battled through this season. The firepower just hasn’t been able to push them over the top for a decent enough stretch of games.
Two of the more successful months this season for the team, October and December, came when they were shooting at a percentage above league average. Since that calendar turned to 2014, much like Mr. Bitetto, the whole team’s ability to finish at a high rate has been lacking. I don’t think I could even care who is in the net for the Admirals if the team continues to fire nearly a percentage point below league average when it comes to shooting. It’s just not good enough. I can safely imagine the coaches and players are fully aware of that sentiment. It’s time for the ship to sail with its guns blazing as the playoff push comes into picture. Either that, or the team will need to play defense at a clip that makes this offense win games.
What can the team really do to turn things around offensively? Is this the Admirals own doing or more to do with teams breaking them down more and more as the season progresses? What worked best in those 2013 months of the season that hasn’t followed in 2014?
When the Admirals were busy playing yesterday against the Chicago Wolves I missed out on a wee bit of fun that our pals out in the Eastern Conference were up to. The Adirondack Phantoms and Portland Pirates had themselves a line brawl: complete with a goalie fight and a minor bench clearer.
Want to know the end result of all the paperwork for the poor officials? 329 combined penalty minutes. Why, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say the league might just be reviewing this one. While they do that – let’s look back on some other good ol’ AHL donnybrooks from the past few seasons.
“You guys remember me and my luscious beard, right?” (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
This afternoon Scott Darling made his third start in net for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL since returning from an injury that sidelined him for one month. For those that don’t necessarily follow the Cyclones all that heavily – allow me to fill in how he has been doing.
Feb. 14 @ Fort Wayne: W, 3-2 (SO): 35 saves, 2 GA, 5-7 saves in shootout.
In his first game back he was sensational. In his second game back, outside of giving up two goals in fifty-seconds of the first period, he was also really good. Today, he was brought back down to Earth ever so slightly.
For those also wondering if there could be yet another start for Darling prior to the Admirals three-in-three this weekend: the Cincinnati Cyclones will be playing on the road against the Evansville Icemen on Wednesday night. After that? Cincinnati plays on the road against the South Carolina Stingrays Friday night. They do not play Saturday or Sunday – which are days when the Admirals will be on the road.
How do you rate Scott Darling’s first few games in his return from injury? Does he need more time in the ECHL before returning to the Admirals? When would you call him back up?
Since January, it has been all Marek Mazanec. Is that a positive or a negative? (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Marek Mazanec was pulled from yesterday afternoon’s Admirals game where he conceded three goals on twenty shots. The final straw, the reason why he was pulled, came in the third period when two Wolves goals were scored in rapid succession. He has now allowed three goals in his last four starts – all of which resulted in losses. To say it as eloquently as possible: it just hasn’t looked quite like Marek Mazanec lately.
I think one of the more oddball stats of this entire season has been that, in his AHL time with the Admirals, Mazanec has allowed at least two goals per game. In the NHL, that wasn’t the case. He had four NHL games in which he conceded less than two goals – two of those were shutouts.
So, what is the deal with our 22-year old Czech netminder? Why don’t we check out the statistical breakdown of all of his games this season, AHL and NHL, and see what we make of it.
Feb. 1 vs. Grand Rapids: SOL, 3-2: 35 saves, 2 GA.
Feb. 5 vs. Hamilton: W, 4-2: 28 saves, 2 GA.
Feb. 7 vs. Utica: L, 3-0: 28 saves, 3 GA
Feb. 9 vs. Chicago: SOL, 4-3: 31 saves, 3 GA.
Feb. 14 vs. Iowa: L, 3-1: 27 saves, 3 GA.
Feb. 16 @ Chicago: L, 3-2: 17 saves, 3 GA.
Overall Report
Total Record: 17-15-2-6 (42 points from 40 decisions)
NHL Record: 8-10-1-3 (20 points from 22 decisions)
AHL Record: 9-5-1-3 (22 points from 18 decisions)
Total Goals Against Average: 2.62 GAA. (NHL, 2.80 GAA… AHL, 2.43 GAA…)
Total Save Percentage: 0.910 SV% (NHL, 0.902 SV%… AHL, 0.918 SV%…)
Total Goal Differential: 108 Goals Allowed by Mazanec (NHL/AHL) vs. 103 Goals Forced from the team in front of him when he plays (54 NHL, 49 AHL): -5 Goal Differential for Mazanec.
Amount of Consecutive Starts Made: 37 games started consecutively during the course of this season (21 NHL, 16 AHL).
Three-In-Three starts: 1, in AHL (1/24 vs. Rockford… 1/25 @ Rockford… 1/26 vs. Rockford).
Two-In-Two starts: 5, in the NHL and AHL (11/15 @ Pittsburgh… 11/16 vs. Chicago… // 11/27 @ Columbus… 11/28 vs. Edmonton… // 1/11 vs. Ottawa… 1/12 vs. Minnesota… // 1/18 @ Oklahoma City… 1/19 @Oklahoma City… // 1/31 @ Iowa… 2/1 vs. Grand Rapids…)
Amount of NHL/AHL Games Played In: 43 games.
Amount of Games Played In for Plzen HC in the 2012-13 season: 21 games.
AUDIO: Mazanec after the conclusion of his three-in-three against Rockford (Part 1):
AUDIO: Mazanec after the conclusion of his three-in-three against Rockford (Part 2):
So, I don’t know about you folks, but what I see when I look at everything laid out in front of me like this is that Marek Mazanec is being used as a workhorse – in his first North American professional hockey season – and he is being stretched to the limit Again, it is only his first professional North American hockey season. I feel some agitated in his recent play might just happen forget about that. Last season, Magnus Hellberg battled through his struggles with the higher tempo game with smaller ice – and delivered with a great finish to the season. Big difference was, Hellberg was in no way shape or form asked to carry such a load, AHL and NHL, so quickly.
Mazanec has shown plenty of talent this season. I only feel that there is far too much weight being put on top of him all while his past experience doesn’t compare – not to the AHL level – and certainly not to the NHL level. You can easily wag your finger at his NHL numbers, his NHL Rookie of the Month award for November, and say – why not Milwaukee? Well, just as easily, the caliber of players in front of him to help out defensively and offensively aren’t up to par but, even more so, Mazanec really hasn’t had a goaltender to push him and make him earn his net since Hellberg at the start of pre-season camp.
I feel that the sooner we see a Scott Darling return, or even a Hellberg, the better off things will be for the Admirals and all goaltenders involved. Goalies want to play as much as possible – without question. But that’s exactly why having an option 1-A and 1-B to pick from as a starting goalie raises the internal competition meter up and brings out the best of the group. Not to mention, as this season drags down to the finish – you’re not going to want a rookie netminder like Mazanec to have flamed out before April because he has played every-other or more games for the Ads.
At some point this week I expect the Admirals will recall Darling from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL after he won two games (in two days) in his return from a lower-body injury. For all we know, the situation that I just brought up takes place as soon as this weekend where, you guessed it, a three-in-three will be played. Should that happen… who starts Friday in Milwaukee and how do you balance out the rest of the weekend?
What are your thoughts on Marek Mazanec’s season to date? Is he being overworked? Are we expecting too much from him?
Scott Darling hasn’t played since 1/12/14 vs. Lake Erie due to an injury he sustained during team practice. (Photo Credit Scott Paulus)
Before tonight’s game against the Iowa Wild we have a roster move in play. The Milwaukee Admirals have reassigned Scott Darling to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.
Darling hasn’t played since 1/12/14 vs. Lake Erie due to a lower-body injury he sustained during team practice. He has been one of the better surprises this season. In December he earned the CCM/AHL Goalie of the Month and a weekly honor as the CCM/AHL’s Player of the Week. This season with the Admirals he has played in 15 games, won 8 games, picked up 3 shutouts, has a 2.18 GAA, and a 0.930 SV%.
I’ll certainly ask later tonight to see what this move is all about, but I have the feeling it is the equivalent to a rehab stint for Darling – who began his season in Cincinnati. He has been out of the lineup for a month with a lower-body injury and could use games in net to be properly brought up to speed. There isn’t any other news regarding Hannu Toivonen being released from his PTO – so I think it is safe to assume that Magnus Hellberg isn’t ready to return either – nor impacting the team’s decision to send Darling down.
UPDATE: Darling returned to game action tonight and came away with a 35 save shootout win (also stopping 5-7 in the shootout):
If this is simply a matter of logging games before returning to Milwaukee – how long do you think it should take before we see Darling in an Admirals jersey?
With a primary assist to the Milwaukee Admirals on Facebook – we have our first real look at the Pink Jersey the team will be wearing tomorrow night against the Iowa Wild. We saw a mock-up of it earlier in the week – now the real deal.
As far as this style of jersey is concerned – we have seen far louder attempts in the past. This is essentially our road blacks with a substitute of Pink for the typical Lake Michigan Blue – with the added Breast Cancer Awareness symbol behind the primary crest and replacing the shoulder anchors. It’s simple. And I like that. Plus, if we mixed in the wrestling promotion from last game, how Bret Hart is this jersey?
Yesterday, for for the sake of fun (honestly boredom), I created some Milwaukee Admirals themed Valentine’s Day cards. I was rather surprised how well it was received by all of you – considering I made them on my phone as a goof.
If there was any complaint against them it was that I didn’t provide you with the full roster. … Challenge Accepted.
36, Joonas Jarvinen.16, Mathieu Tousignant.8, Filip Forsberg.24, Zach Budish.5, Teddy Ruth.11, Paul Crowder.10, Patrick Cehlin.74, Vinny Saponari.22, Scott Valentine.
All photos courtesy of Scott Paulus. All forms of a lack of a social life done by your’s truly, Daniel Lavender.
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