Donald Fehr and Gary Bettman may not have been present but according to Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and Steve Fehr of the NHLPA, Tuesday’s meetings in New York regarding the NHL lockout did provide some optimism.

Fehr called the talks “constructive” and even called Tuesday “the best day we’ve had,” and Daly reinforced that both sides are “going to work hard and try to get a deal.”

On the players’ side notable names including Sidney Crosby, Martin St. Louis and Jonathan   Toews were in attendance.

This could be (and most likely is in my humble opinion) just fluff to help generate some good vibes, or it could be the start of a positive trend towards maybe, just maybe getting closer to ending this thing.

Until both top dogs get back into the picture, it’s still looking bleak for the 2012-13 NHL season.

But again what do you guys think?

Parts of both sides of the NHL lockout conflict are meeting tomorrow in New York without Donald Fehr or Gary Bettman.

The announced owners in attendance: Jeff Vinik of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ron Burkle of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mark Chipman of the Winnipeg Jets, Murray Edwards of the Calgary Flames, Jeremy Jacobs of the Boston Bruins, Larry Tanenbaum of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Fehr said some of the owners listed had yet to attend any previous meetings and that their presence would help continue discussion and hopefully make more headway.

“We hope that this meeting will be constructive and lead to a dialogue that will help us find a way to reach an agreement.”

Just as a discussion topic:

What do you hope tomorrow will accomplish?

With both top dogs not even in the building what do you think will actually get accomplished tomorrow, if anything at all?

(photo credit: Scott Paulus)

Well, we touched on this in the last post a bit, about our concerns about Magnus Hellberg’s performance so far.

Hellberg has now been reassigned to the Cyclones in the ECHL, likely just to get some playing time in this weekend.  Cincy has games Friday and Saturday night, while Milwaukee just has tomorrow’s game against Chicago on the schedule for this weekend.

I wouldn’t read into it that it’s some kind of demotion or depth chart shakeup….just need to get Hellberg some minutes.

So that’ll bring Zoltan Hetenyi up to Milwaukee to open the bench door in tomorrow’s game, get some practice time with the Admirals, and putz around with the continuum transfunctioner.  Zoltan has had better stats than Hellberg this year, but still nothing that should make him think that his stay in Milwaukee will be long term…3.02 GAA, .878 s% in seven games for Cincy.

Expect Zoltan to wear #37.

So Roundtable….This ‘get-work-in-Cincy’ trip for goalies has historically paid dividends for the Admirals.  Do you think Magnus will come back the same way Dexshow did previously? 

(Photo credit:  Scott Paulus)

The game tomorrow night against the Wolves at the BMO-Harris Bradley Center will be the 19th game of the season, marking the completion of the first quarter of the 2012-13 campaign.  The Admirals currently sport an 8-8-1-1 record, good for 18 points, and 4th place in the Midwest Division.  But they’re just 4 points out of 1st place, and 1 point out of 8th place in the conference.

With just four home games so far….doesn’t it still feel like the season just started?  We’re a quarter done already???

I wouldn’t read very much into the standings yet.  But it’s been quite the rollercoaster so far this season, that’s for sure.  And it’s amazing how quickly the storylines change week-to-week.  Prior to the game this past Saturday night, the Admirals were arguably in a tail-spin, losing their last four games (although getting points in 2 of them).  And then with big wins in Rosemont and Grand Rapids on Saturday and Sunday, they took five out a of a possible six points last weekend.  All of a sudden, things are looking a lot brighter.

Should they be?

Are you a glass-is-half-full or glass-is-half-empty type?  Here are some talking points for both sides.

Half Full:

– Of the rookies from last year, Taylor Beck has probably taken the biggest step forward offensively, with 12 points in 13 games prior to his injury.

– The Puustinen – Watson – Bang line really came together during this past roadtrip and started producing.  Watson has points in 7 of his last 9 games, and Bang has points in 7 of his last 8.  That line may stay together for awhile.

– They boast a top 10 penalty kill unit.

– The travel schedule doesn’t appear to be extraordinarily taxing in the near future.

– The adversity faced early on may be helpful in the long term.

Half Empty:

– Goaltending.  Jeremy Smith has played better than his 5-9-1 record would suggest, but he has given up four goals in three of his last four starts, and received little offensive support prior to that.  Meanwhile, Magnus Hellberg has let in some weak goals in his 5 games of action, but still boasts a 3-0 record.  His last game against the Wolves was encouraging, but he needs to string a few more of those together for us to stop collectively holding our breaths when the opponent takes a shot from the point on him.  A .862 save percentage won’t cut it.

– Injuries.  Yeah, every team has to deal with them.  But losing three starters in those pair of games in Oklahoma City was brutal.

– Playing from behind.  Not being able to score the first goal of the game until game #8 certainly has made things more challenging early on.  They are 2-6-0-1 when trailing after one period, and 1-7-0-1 when trailing after two.

– A power play ranked 25th in the league.

So Roundtable, what do you feel about the first quarter so far?  Can this team hang with the teams that have some major NHL star-power on them?  Is the ship sinking, or staying comfortably afloat?  Do you like the new Coach?  Are you ready for some home games?!?!

2012-2013 Milwaukee Admirals: 12 G.P., 6-6-0-0–12 pts., 34 goals scored, 34 goals allowed, 10th place in the Western Conference. Leading scorer: Taylor Beck (3 goals, 9 assists, 12 points).

Best Recent Win: Nov. 10, 4-2 over Rockford. Worst Recent Loss: No. 7, 4-2 to Grand Rapids. Key Upcoming Matchup: Nov. 16-17 vs. Oklahoma City.

As Al Michaels said for the Miracle on Ice game, “For people who don’t know the difference between a blue line and clothesline, its irrelevant.”

This weekend is about as close as the AHL gets. If you don’t really follow the AHL, and only the NHL, Oklahoma City carries a roster full of NHL-worthy talent, with huge prospects like Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle and Justin Schultz.

Do we all wish these games were in Milwaukee? I know I would. Milwaukee only sees the Barons four times this season, and not until January 5 at the Bradley Center. Most hockey fans like myself think the lockout will be over by then, but then again after this past weekend…

Still Milwaukee comes into these games on a huge high after creaming Chicago and getting the one of the world’s heaviest monkeys off their back against Rockford. Still the Wednesday morning game at Grand Rapids was a little bit disheartening. I think we all are looking for a little consistency out of the Admirals, considering this is the team’s first winning streak.

Last year I thought these games were a little bit of a turning point for the club. Mired in a funk in January and February, Milwaukee played very well against the top team in the Western Conference, splitting two games in what easily could have been a sweep. We will see if Milwaukee can keep the winning streak alive tonight in Oklahoma City.

So Roundtable . . . How do you see Milwaukee faring in Oklahoma City? Is three points to much to ask for? Can the Admirals’ blueline stack up against the Barons?

Here’s a story about it from the Montreal Gazette, and here’s Puck Daddy’s story about it.  In short, Blake suffered a depressed skull fracture.  He’s still in the hospital and out of action indefinitely, but reports are saying he’ll make a full recovery.

Based on a vote by players and coaches, the Admirals selected their captain and alternates for the upcoming season today.

One of the new guys will be be wearing the ‘C’ on his chest, as Milwaukee unanimously chose defenseman Mike Moore as its leader. Two familiar faces in Chris Mueller and Mark Van Guilder will be the team’s alternates.

No big shockers here, these choices seem to make sense.

Moore was signed by Nashville back on July 3rd, and the four-year vet has some, albeit limited, NHL experience. He played in six games in the 2010-11 season with the San Jose Sharks, while spending most of his time with Worcester.

As most Ads/Preds fans would attest, defense has been maybe the biggest piece of both teams’s success. That in mind, it makes sense that the Ads would elect a defenseman to lead them, keeping with that tradition.

Moore is by no means a grizzled vet, but the 27-year-old has been a solid producer in the AHL so far at both ends of the ice with 10 goals and 43 assists in 192 games.

Coach Evason has stated his hope that the Ads will be a balanced team, so who better to lead them than a balanced, well-rounded player.

The alternates, again, shouldn’t surprise many Ads fans. Mueller led the team in goals scored (32) as well as total points (60) last year. MVG is always a gamer, a good creator on the ice, and a fan favorite.

Questions:

What do you think of the selections?

Who would’ve gotten your vote?

Admirals Roundtable had a chance to catch up with new Ads head coach Dean Evason this week and get his thoughts on his time with the Caps, the lockout and life in Milwaukee. Below is the interview in Q&A format.

Coming from a team like the Capitals that’s experienced a lot of growth and success over the last few years, how are you looking to carry that over to the Admirals?

Well, there’s a lot of different things you learn from being an assistant coach under three different head coaches in seven years, as far as systems and getting your head around how you want to play the game and have your team play the game. The most important thing I found over the last seven years is to try to make the players as accountable as you can. Not giving them too much rein that they run with it, but not pushing them so hard that you stifle them. Hopefully I can do that at this level. Allow the players to play the game the right way, but not let them off the hook if they’re not.

Are there any similarities you’ve seen so far between the Caps and this team?

There’s a youth aspect, we’re a young hockey club and when I first went (to Washington) years ago the Ovechkins and the Greens were young and Backstrom wasn’t even there yet. We had a real young group then and they’ve come along.  We’ve got a few veteran guys here, but hopefully we can get the same stuff out of our younger players. They’re going to have that high energy level and excitement to play the game and start and/or continue their careers, so we’re just looking to guide them in that direction.

Being under those three head coaches the Caps played under a lot of different schemes. Did any of them stick and are you planning on using any in particular this year?

Any coach wants their team to compete and battle every night and be hard to play against, and certainly that’s what we want to do. We want to be a team that’s difficult each and every night to play against. We also want our hockey team to be very well-rounded and not particularly an offensive or defensive specializing group. We want to play the game at both ends of the rink the right way.

With the NHL lockout you’ve got a lot of two-way contract players coming down for at least the start of the season. Anyone you’re particularly excited about?

Certainly Bourque is a special player. What he did there in Nashville in the playoffs was terrific. Ellis is obviously a special player as well, and Blum’s going to provide us with steady influence back there with some offensive ability. Every team’s going to have their players come down that they didn’t expect to be there, and it’s great for the American Hockey League to have these players come down. We all hope that the NHL goes as soon as possible, but it’s going to make our league better, and certainly those three guys are going to make our team a better hockey club.

How have you been adjusting to life here in Milwaukee so far? What do you like or dislike about the city?

There’s nothing I don’t like. I really enjoy the people. They’re very down-to-earth and very friendly. I haven’t been here that long, but I just like the atmosphere of not only the downtown area but the surrounding areas as well. Weather-wise it’s going to be interesting through the winter, but we had some funky weather in Washington and I’m from Canada so it shouldn’t be too bad.

If you could recall your favorite story from either your time as a player or those seven years in Washington what would it be?

A story I tell a lot from when I was a player about how to treat people was when I was playing in an exhibition game in San Antonio against Wayne Gretzky during a lockout year. I was playing for Dallas and we were playing the Kings that game. My son’s birthday was coming up in a couple of weeks, and when we were out warming up on the ice I called out his name, and he turned around, and I asked if I could maybe grab a stick from him after the game for my son. He asked what his name was, and I gave it to him, and when I came in after warm up the stick was sitting in my stall with his signature on it addressed to my son. I think things like that stick out. While Wayne Gretzky was a hell of a hockey player he wasn’t too big to sign autographs or talk to people or give a stick to another player.