Milwaukee received some great news from its parent organization Nashville today as goaltender Jeremy Smith was returned to the Admirals. The Predators swapped Smith for Chet Pickard as the team’s reserve goaltender for Game 1 against Detroit.

Prior to exchange Milwaukee was left with a backup goaltender in Pickard, who hadn’t played a single game in the AHL in 2011-2012. A season prior Pickard found ice time in just seven games at the AHL level. With the Admirals facing a desperation three games in three nights stretch to finish the season, Milwaukee coach Ian Herbers faced the prospect of starting Atte Engren in all three games (Engren had yet to play on back-to-back nights all season) or rolling the dice with Pickard for at least one start.

Certainly Nashville’s decision to return Smith (29-19-1, 2.25 goals against average, .920 save percentage) bolsters Milwaukee’s prospects for its final weekend where the Admirals will face three Midwest Division foes that own better records in their season series. Rockford is 9-1-0-1 and Chicago is 6-4-0-1  in their 11 prior head-to-head match up with the Admirals. Meanwhile, Charlotte holds a 4-3-0-0 mark in its prior seven games against Milwaukee, but the Admirals can take the season series with a regulation victory on Sunday.

Currently Milwaukee stands at the top of a precarious sixth place in the Western Conference at 38-28-2-4, good for 82 points tied for the same total as Houston (3 Games Remaining), Peoria (2 GR), Lake Erie (2 GR) and Rochester (2 GR). Charlotte at 81 points with three games left is still alive, as is Grand Rapids at 77 (but the Griffins would need to win out their final three games and get TONS of help). Oklahoma City, Toronto, Chicago and Abbotsford will all be in the Calder Cup playoffs. San Antonio sits one point ahead of the pack at 83 total with three games left to play.

Here are the remaining games (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) for teams fighting for the final four postseason slots:

MILWAUKEE:  at Rockford, at Chicago, vs. Charlotte

San Antonio:  vs. Texas, at Houston, vs. Oklahoma City

Houston:  at Oklahoma City, vs. San Antonio, vs. Texas

Peoria:  vs. Charlotte, OFF, at Chicago

Lake Erie:  vs. Hamilton, vs. Rochester, OFF

Rochester:  vs. Syracuse, at Lake Erie, OFF

Charlotte:  at Peoria, at Rockford, at Milwaukee

Grand Rapids:  vs. Chicago, at Hamilton, at Hamilton.

So Roundtable . . . How many points do you think Milwaukee needs to make the playoffs? My best guess is that the Admirals need 86 points to guarantee playing in the postseason, that would mean taking four of six available points this weekend.

How many points do think Milwaukee will get this weekend? My best guess is four, two points between Rockford and Chicago, two for a win against Charlotte.

Who gets into the Calder Cup playoffs and who stays out? I predict Milwaukee, San Antonio, Houston and Rochester get in, while Peoria, Charlotte, Lake Erie and Grand Rapids will end up left out.

So, did ya catch the Preds game?

Gabriel Bourque with two goals.  Super happy for him.

And after about another 60 minutes, nobody will be talking about that anymore.

Between 11pm tonight and game 2 on Friday, all anyone is going to be talking about is if Shea Weber will be suspended.

I’ll link to the video when Puck Daddy posts it….I imagine they will shortly….

(And right on cue…here it is)

And whichever way Shanny goes, one fanbase is going to be fuming.

So, do your civil duty and vote.

Following up Jeremy Smith’s surprising non-start Sunday, on Monday Nashville General Manager David Poile confirmed Monday the fact that Smith has been recalled to the Predators. The assignment is under emergency conditions, and is subject to the league’s twenty-three man roster limitations.

Therefore, at the present it looks like the Admirals will be proceeding ahead with backup netminder Atte Engren in net. That might not be such a bad thing as the Rauma, Finland native has given up just five goals in his last four outings, grabbing a pair of wins and shootout losses.

Meanwhile, Smith had redeemed a tough month of January by moving up to second place in the AHL in wins with 29, games played (53) and in minutes, manning the Admirals net for 3,096 minutes this season. The Dearborn, Michigan native stopped 63-of-64 shots in wins against Charlotte and San Antonio and served a one-game suspension during an eventful past week.

No word yet on how long Smith will be retained by the Predators as Nashville prepares to take on Detroit in the first round of the NHL playoffs at home on Wednesday and Friday. After Tuesday’s game with the Rampage, Milwaukee is off until Friday’s matchup at Rockford.

Anders Lindback got hurt in the Nashville season finale against the Avalanche last night.  Barry Trotz said “I hope and expect him to be backing up in Game 1.”

Game one of the Preds’ first round series against the Detroit Red Wings isn’t until Wednesday.

But the Predators have elected to recall Jeremy Smith today.  Sunday.

So it’ll be the Atte Engren show until further notice.  Which, the way he’s been playing lately, may still be okay as the Admirals continue their pursuit of the playoffs.

But it’s still a blow.

We’ll see how they do in Houston tonight.

Time for some fun with numbers.

Here’s how the conference looks right now.

– Only 7 of the 15 teams have walked out of their arenas as winners more often than they have walked out as a loser of some kind so far this season.  Milwaukee is one of them.  Houston, Rochester, Texas, Grand Rapids, and Hamilton will all finish this season with more losses than wins.  Lake Erie and Rockford need to win out to break even.  A few of those teams have legitimate shots at making the playoffs despite that.

– A third of Texas’ wins have come in extra time.

– Just a hair under a third of all Rochester games went into extra time this season, and a hair under 43% of their total points have come from those games.  On the other end, the Chicago Wolves are the team least likely to have unfinished business after 60 minutes, only heading to overtime in 14% of their games.

How would the playoff picture look if three points were awarded for a regulation win, two points awarded for an OT or shootout win, and one point awarded for an OT or shootout loss?

A bit of separation there.  137 points is astounding. Instead of eight teams within 6 points of each other jockeying for four playoff spots, you’ve got a smaller group fighting to get in.  And then a secondary group fighting for the home-ice advantage in the first round.  Plus, teams like Rochester, Houston, and Lake Erie would be a little lower for not being able to seal the deal in regulation.  Coffee is for closers.

Which system do you think would be better for hockey (ignoring the fact that one scenario currently would have the Ads holding a playoff spot)?  The status quo or three point games?  Do you enjoy that almost every team is playing meaningful hockey games in April right now?  Would it horrify you if a team like Rochester eeked into the playoffs after being so dependent on OT in the regular season?

Photos courtesy of Stephanie Sutton / Hockey In Pictures

This one is ripe for a caption contest.  So Milwaukee has a blimp….Texas has the infamous flying cheeseburger.  What should Charlotte have?

Put.  The camera.  Away….or I’ll go all “Rob Flick” on you.  I’m warning you.

Ladies and gentlemen……David Leaderer.  In just his second game of the season, and first since New Years Day.

What’s that guy on the bench giggling about?

And finally…..great to have you back, Kyle.

The rest of the set is here, and you can browse some other Milwaukee games she has been to this year.

As expected, the American Hockey League took harsh actions toward four of the participants in the April Fools Day brawl with Rockford.

Admirals forward Michael Latta and goaltender Jeremy Smith each received suspensions, with Latta’s time off set at three games (both games against Charlotte and Saturday’s game against San Antonio). Smith will be forced to sit out Thursday’s game against the Checkers (surprisingly not Tuesday’s game). Rockford’s Rob Flick and Shawn Lalonde each received three-game sentences from the AHL, matching Latta’s sentence.

Both Ice Hogs coach Ted Dent and Admirals coach Ian Herbers were not suspended, but both bench bosses plus their organizations received fines.

Certainly the AHL’s Tuesday actions came as little surprise considering the extent of affairs on Sunday afternoon at the Bradley Center, but they do nothing to sooth their impact on the Admirals as they make the trek to Charlotte for the final time this season. Both Latta and Smith will be sorely missed from the Admirals lineup this week as Milwaukee embarks on its longest road trip of the season.

Heading into Tuesday night’s matchup with the Checkers, Milwaukee stands at 34-28-2-4, good for 74 points. The Admirals are currently four points behind 8th place Peoria and five behind the three-way log jam for fifth place, which includes Charlotte, Houston and San Antonio. Check out the AHL’s playoff primer here.

In other somewhat unrelated news, Nashville general manager David Poile announced today that Chet Pickard has been assigned to the Predators. Pickard recently completed his season with Cincinnati, going 14-12-2 with a 3.12 goals-against average and a .890 save percentage, while posting one shutout. Pickard was also called up to Nashville at the end of the 2010-2011 season.

So Roundtable . . . What is you assessment of Tuesday’s suspensions? Did you think Latta would receive more/less games? What about Smith sitting out Thursday, but not Tuesday?

The American Hockey League announced today that Mark Van Guilder was named Milwaukee’s 2011-2012 IOA/American Speciality AHL Man of the Year Award winner for his outstanding contributions to his community during the course of the season.

Some of the highlights of Van Guilder’s charity work are his active role in “Reading: The Ultimate Power Play,” tutoring a student by helping with his reading and writing skills, serving as a celebrity waiter for Prevent Blindless of Wisconsin’s annual fundraiser and in the Admirals’ Celebrity Serve for the Power-Play Foundation, visiting the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and helping out delivering turkey dinners for local needy families.

All that on top of playing in 62 games to date for the Admirals, scoring 12 goals and 13 assists while holding a plus seven rating. Van Guilder shines in his role as one of the team’s top penalty killers and faceoff specialists.

The fourth-year professional from Burnsville, Minnesota is one of 30 finalists for the AHL’s Yanick Dupre Memorial Award. Another notable on the list is former Admiral Darren Haydar of Chicago.

Certainly the nomination is well-deserved for Van Guilder as a player who means a lot to both his team and his community. Read my feature story on his efforts on MilwaukeeAdmirals.com.

So Roundtable . . . What are some of your favorite Mark Van Guilder stories, or highlights from his on ice efforts?

Sorry guys.  It’s been so busy that it hadn’t even crossed my mind.

And rather than hastily put one together this day….instead, I’ll offer a trip down memory lane.

Here’s a link to our April Fools stories about James Sixsmith and Brett Sterling from the old Short Shifts blog.

Hopefully, this will be an acceptable cop-out…

To say this weekend’s pair of home games is huge for Milwaukee would be the understatement of the year.

With only three games at the Bradley Center remaining on the schedule, where Milwaukee ranks tied for the third best record in the AHL (21-11-2-1–45 points), the Admirals need to take full advantage against Oklahoma City and Rockford Friday and Sunday. Otherwise the final showdown with Charlotte to end the season might not matter after Milwaukee faces seven straight road games. The Admirals have just 13 wins in 31 road games so far this season, posting the third-worst away record in the AHL at 13-16-0-2–28 points.

To add those two precious games into the win column, the Admirals need to continue getting offensive support from a couple of sources that have taken their game’s up a level in recent weeks–forward Brodie Dupont and defenseman Jonathon Blum.

To say Dupont had a slow start to his 2011-2012 season with Milwaukee would be the understatement of the year. Perhaps rushing back from serious injury, Dupont managed just two assists through his first 24 games, a far cry from his average of 42 points per season over the past three years.

However, ever since he scored a pair of goals in Milwaukee’s dramatic 5-4 come from behind victory against Lake Erie on March 16, Dupont’s been one of the Admirals’ best scoring options.  The Russell, Manitoba native has five goals and seven points in March, while seeing ice time on Milwaukee’s top two lines.

Meanwhile, after a two-goal effort and a two-assist effort in his four AHL games this season with Milwaukee, defenseman Jon Blum fell off the face of the earth during January and February as reality set in that his most recent demotion to the Admirals was going to be permanent.

After abysmal defensive efforts against Chicago and Rockford in back-to-back games on March 7th and 10th (-3 and -4 respectively), the former first-round pick has played to just a minus-two rating since (good for the own-zone deficient defender). Offensively, Blum now ranks ninth on Milwaukee in scoring with 20 points, with seven points so far in March.

Certainly, if Milwaukee is going to return to the playoffs for the tenth straight season, Dupont and Blum must continue their upward trends.