The Milwaukee Admirals current record of 10-2-1-1 (22 points, 0.786 points percentage) is the best in the AHL’s Central Division. They were the first team in the AHL’s Western Conference to reach 20 points and are still the lone team in conference to win 10 games. At the moment the Admirals are also on a point streak that is up to 8 games (7-0-1-0).
That all said and yet the Admirals aren’t totally there yet. And I feel a very case and point example of what I mean by that can be best demonstrated in the form of the man who finished second on the team in scoring a season ago, Max Görtz.
Görtz finished his first pro season in North America scoring 47 points (18 goals, 29 assists) in 72 games with 18 penalty minutes and a plus/minus rating of +14. Out of Görtz’s 18 goals he scored a team leading 11 power-play goals during the 2015-16 season. The catch is, for as strongly as he played at the end of last season, not much has trickled over just yet.
This season Görtz has 1 point (1 goal, 0 assists) in 14 games with 2 penalty minutes and a plus/minus rating of -6. The lone point came from a power-play goal in the Admirals eighth game of the season. When looking back at Görtz a season ago the Swede through his first 14 games of the season had scored 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists). And, if you wondered, he did have a power-play goal of the 2 goals scored to start last season.
In the split between season-to-season Görtz’s shots on goal through the opening 14 games also differ. Last season he registered 22 shots on goal (1.57 shots per game) and was held without a shot in only one contest – the season opener. This season he has registered 20 shots on goal (1.43 shots per game) and has been held without a shot on goal twice.
So, is Görtz just a bit of a slow starter or is there cause for concern to the way he has actually started?
(Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch)
What has stood out to me this season with Görtz is that he has been tucked away in the Admirals lower rotational forward line. It has seen him centered by Justin Kirkland with Anthony Richard on the opposite wing – both first year pros. On the date of the food poisoning up top for the Nashville Predators Görtz found himself centered by Eric Robinson who never played center until practicing with the Admirals in Training Camp. Earlier in that Training Camp he was finding himself centered by Frédérick Gaudreau with Richard on the opposite wing but he’s yet to really get a foothold on a high functioning line just yet. Be it shifting in Justin Florek, another non-traditional center, or out-right making the center role a rotation piece such as last game when Anthony Bitetto dressed as a seventh defenseman.
(Photo Credit: Stephanie Moebius)
Görtz is therefore on the Admirals bottom line in terms of use with players either coming to grips with the pro game or newly acquainting themselves to the center position. He was the Admirals second best scorer a season ago and missed out on the top spot to Kevin Fiala by 3 points. It isn’t to say that Görtz deserves to be where he is. It’s just where he finds himself with the forward roles being really stacked this season. Görtz might be having a slow start at the moment but if he finds any part of the magic he did a season ago he becomes someone with high level scoring ability from the Admirals lower tier lines. Players the likes of Kirkland and Richard can greatly benefit from having him start elevating his play and, with that, the whole team kicks up a notch.
As a whole the Admirals are still tip-toeing through a minefield with surgical precision. The results, points, and wins have been coming and have so out of high level character play by the team playing as a team. That’s an attribute that lends itself extremely well come playoff time and the two contests played on the road against the Cleveland Monsters were basically a preview of just what playoff hockey is like. The Admirals were able to out perform the Monsters defensively in a playoff style game and no one did that better than the Monsters a season ago.
There can be a springboard effect from that type of an effort and the Admirals are still looking for a game where they can get a lead and play from the front. When the Admirals can start getting into those sorts of environments you’d expect better flow of forward lines hitting the ice so players such as Görtz start doing more consistent damage.
What are your early impressions of the Milwaukee Admirals this season? Are the types of games they keep finding themselves in, nail-biters, what should be expected throughout the season or will play start opening up more? Is Max Görtz slow start down to him or more down to how he is being utilized early this season?
With today’s off-day I figure it would be good to really plunge back into what happened in last night’s shutout by the Milwaukee Admirals over the Cleveland Monsters. You would perhaps think there isn’t a whole heck of a lot to pull out of a 1-0 contest but there honestly was. While it wasn’t a track meet offensively that game delivered one of the better sixty minute performances that this year’s Admirals squad put together and they did it by playing a brand of playoff style hockey against a group that did it better than anyone in last season’s Calder Cup Playoffs.
Plenty will be quick to leap at the effort in net by the returning Juuse Saros. So, let’s get that topic out of the way. On paper you would see that Saros stopped all 35 shots on goal that he faced last night to earn the shutout in a game decided by a single goal. And in itself that is impressive. What stands out more to me is that this was really the first time since making the North American leap that Saros really had a long layoff between game action and that was how he responded. He was tested early, all be it shots that were rather straight forward, but enough to the point he really fell back in-line with the pace of the game and rode out the rhythm of it until the final horn.
Now, as quickly as everyone might feel the need to therefore urge a Saros recall and a short-term Marek Mazanec reassignment, I implore you to consider the following. As bad of a team performance as it was when Mazanec was in net for the Nashville Predators 6-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs was – last night was just as good of a team performance when Saros was in net for the Milwaukee Admirals 1-0 shutout on the road in Cleveland.
The most impressive element to last night’s game for the Admirals was the grounded and intelligent defensive play from the group. There were really many glaring mistakes and when there were individual misplays it felt like someone not far behind was there to account for it. The Admirals became the first team in the AHL’s Western Conference last night to reach the 20 points plateau and they were the second team in the league to get there just behind the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins who have played one-game more than the Admirals have. I still don’t even feel the Admirals have truthfully played up to their true potential yet. Last night just so happened to be the first sort of a “hello” as to what that can look like.
I suspect this year’s Admirals at their maximum potential are a team that can control a game with pace, skill, and precision at all three areas on the ice. While the scoreboard last night wouldn’t wow anyone those attributes all pretty much stayed true to the result that was earned. The Admirals simply did it in the art of defending. It made the night in net for Saros that little bit more relaxed. And, with the talent they have on offense, eventually the battling down ice earned a goal – and a power-play goal at that. The Monsters were a perfect 29/29 on the penalty kill on home ice up until that power-play goal from Matt White that proved to be the game-winner. So, as sloppy as 1/5 on the power-play might look for the Admirals it still looks a whole lot better than the Monsters 0/6 on the power-play did last night. Some nights all you need is one-goal. Last night was that kind of night.
Going back to Mr. White for a moment. How crazy is it to think that the Admirals at forward were so jam packed to start the season that White was a healthy scratch up until the food poisoning circumstances opened the door back up for him to be inserted into the lineup? He didn’t dress for the first three-games of the season and is currently the team’s leading scorer with 12 points (7 goals, 5 assists) in 10 games. It’s incredible to think that this time last year he still had never played a game in the AHL. It wasn’t until the Admirals brought him in on a PTO Contract from the Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) that he had a run out the next tier up. He scored 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) in his second career game at the AHL level, ended up finishing off last season for the Admirals with 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) in 54 games, and last night’s game-winning goal was his first career AHL power-play goal. It’s rather remarkable to see what he’s done since hitting the AHL scene.
Another element to note from last night’s lone tally was one of the players on the assists to White’s goal was Alex Carrier. I’ve made the comments towards Admirals head coach Dean Evason, Carrier’s defensive linemate Adam Pardy, and Carrier himself that he just doesn’t look or play like someone who is a first-year pro. Carrier turned up late in the Admirals season once the Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL) season came to an end. He lightly practiced and got a look at the AHL lifestyle but didn’t get to log any game action such as current first-year pro defenseman for the Admirals Jack Dougherty or even Carrier’s teammate in Gatineau Yakov Trenin who made his pro debut in the Calder Cup Playoffs with the Admirals. Instead, Carrier just waited, observed, worked hard over the off-season, had a solid Development Camp in Nashville, and arrived to Milwaukee like he already had been through the process many times over. Carrier is now second on the team in scoring and is the top scoring rookie defenseman in the AHL with 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists) in 13 games. His scoring total ranks seventh among all AHL defenseman and, of the names ahead of him, only T.J. Brennan has a better plus/minus rating. Carrier has arrived as a first-year pro looking incredibly polished at all avenues of the game. It’s really been awhile in Milwaukee when there has been a defenseman such as him that makes you sit back and watch what he does on a shift-to-shift basis.
FYI. There will be no Scouting the Enemy ahead of tomorrow’s game. If there were several key talking points or moments from the game worth dissecting to shreds I would have done that as a game preview. Being that the game turned out as it did – this kind of was that. The only thing I’d say is that the game tomorrow does have the unusual start time for a Saturday contest of 4:00 PM CST. I’m not sure why that is the case but keep it in mind and tune in early. Until then, “I’M ON A DEADLINE.”
(Photo Credit: Dan Hickling // Olean Times Herald)
I’ve taken the time to digest Monday’s news because it came in a few waves: (1) There was a trade in the AHL? (2) There was a trade in the AHL this early into a season? (3) The Milwaukee Admirals were the driving force of that trade? It’s been awhile since something such as this has happened and the last time I can remember it going down was the swap of Kevin Henderson and Francis Wathier back during the 2013-14 season. That wasn’t even a trade, though, it was a loan swap deal between the Admirals and Texas Stars that worked like a trade. Even then, when was that semi-trade completed? In early-March heading towards the playoff push. The acquisition of Adam Pardy by the Admirals comes just four-games into the season.
(Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch)
On the surface the Admirals gave away a depth option at forward in Eric Robinson and two players, Teddy Doherty and Brandon Whitney, who were likely not seeing time in the AHL under their banner at all this season due to the numbers above them. Even Robinson was nestled behind the likes of Mike Liambas, Matt White, and Justin Kirkland for a spot to play in Milwaukee this season. It took a mass food poisoning incident for the Nashville Predators for Robinson to get a game with the Admirals this past weekend. Now with all three stationed with the Springfield Falcons organization the path to playing AHL level hockey routinely becomes a lot easier. This was depth for experience with the depth really being Robinson as the one closest to match Pardy’s value.
So in steps Pardy to the Admirals defense. Now what? Well, this is where I find things get pretty fun because -basically- this veteran defensive backing has been a sore spot for the Admirals in the past that wasn’t ultimately addressed until the later go of things in the past. This is just from the Dean Evason Era of the Admirals Era alone: 2015-16, the Predators helped the Admirals by acquiring three experienced defenseman in Patrick Mullen, Stefan Elliott, and Corey Potter. 2014-15, the Admirals bring back Scott Ford on loan from the South Carolina Stingrays. 2012-13, the Predators acquire Scott Ford and Joe Piskula less than ten-days apart in the month of February.
The Admirals already have Matt Irwin. He has shown extremely well in the first four games of the season and it is with that in mind that he was brought up to the Predators during their West Coast road swing that kicks-off tonight against the Anaheim Ducks. Irwin not being with the Admirals would leave a void in which your elder statesman on the defensive side of the puck would be 24-year old Petter Granberg. After him? 23-year old Jimmy Oligny. With all due respect to Jonathan Diaby and Jaynen Rissling it doesn’t take much to see precisely why a trade like this was needed and hugely beneficial.
(Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Should Irwin’s stay topside be a lengthy one, if say Anthony Bitetto‘s injury be very long-term, then it shows the smarts of the Predators brass to have a guy such as Irwin on standby as the veteran go-to guy at the AHL level in the event of just such an injury prognosis. If Irwin returns quicker than you can say “West Coast trip is the location where Points Percentage in the AHL originates from” than we go back to where the Admirals were not too long ago but with an added veteran defenseman in Pardy right there with him. Irwin and Pardy have a combined 493 games of NHL experience. That means a ton to a locker room and defensive nucleus that is very young. The Admirals have a sophomore in Trevor Murphy and two first-year pros in Jack Dougherty and Alex Carrier past the not-so-veteran other veterans in Granberg and Oligny. Knowledge gets to be passed down. Traits, both on and off the ice, get to be learned from. Having another body in the mix willing to be a leader and a role player isn’t just nice – it’s a long-term asset that can pay of in ways other players in the locker room can display in the future.
If Irwin arrives back while Pardy is here the numbers crunch will now unfold defensively much the same way the forwards group has felt out of the gate. You know that Irwin, Pardy, Granberg, and Oligny are locked in. So who fills the last two spots between Murphy, Dougherty, and Carrier? In Evason’s coaching philosophy that worked well last season, having three right-shots paired with three left-shots, it becomes murky having Murphy on his weak side out on the left. Yet, as the sophomore, he’s the favored option and likely would be kicked out to the right side. Dougherty or Carrier becomes the next question. The following question after that gets answered is what do you do with the odd man out? As a first year pro time is better spent playing and learning, like Justin Kirkland recently, than sitting on the outside looking in as a healthy scratch. It’s all a bit of a dilemma. But the sort of one made by having too much of a good thing.
What will Adam Pardy’s addition to the Milwaukee Admirals mean for the likes of the young guns on defense? Who are the odd-men out in this situation and was this a move that you felt needed to be made?
I don’t often like making outlandish predictions. They often come back to haunt the prognosticator and become a point and stare contest in years that follow. That said, optimism is and should be extremely high for a number of reasons for the 2016-17 Milwaukee Admirals. The majority of last season’s highly successful team is back. New veterans and prospects inject experience and new competition into the squad. So here are ten bold predictions that you should expect to see coming to light over the course of this year’s campaign.
One of these two guys last season felt like they could make a push for the NHL with an explosive start to the year. And the other wasn’t even signed to the Nashville Predators. Both Gaudreau and Kamenev are being positioned for successful seasons at the heart of the Admirals forward group. Kamenev had a really good debut season to the North American scene but it was all done with a comfort level to his surroundings being a challenge. He knows the city of Milwaukee now. He is very familiar with the coaching staff, his teammates, and the style of play that the AHL delivers. He should take things up to a new level and eventually get a loom topside with Nashville. The same can be said of Gaudreau who can play at center or wing and in all game situations. Gaudreau is very defensively sound and his speed and skill on offense last season in addition to the defensive work rate put him on Nashville’s radar. He was placed in Colton Sissons role with the Admirals and arguably did better than Sissons during the Admirals captain last season. Gaudreau is a relentless worker who still treats practice sessions like job interviews. He’s gone from the ECHL to the AHL and has set himself up to complete his incredible story off by getting into the NHL as an undrafted talent in his third pro season .
2. Jimmy Oligny is signed to an NHL contract by the Nashville Predators.
The Nashville Predators have a freakish amount of defensive depth. And, if the most recent NHL Draft is anything to go by, the Predators are only building on it. So why would the Predators need an Oligny? Because he’s that good. Oligny, like Gaudreau, is another undrafted talent that has dialed himself in through the Milwaukee Admirals these last two seasons. His play last season was such that I named him the team’s Defenseman of the Year. As great as the Predators defensive depth is I feel retaining it is important. And, while the Predators 2016 NHL Draft Class is looking good, the likes of Dante Fabbro and Samuel Girard aren’t likely becoming pros in the system for a little bit anyways. Having Oligny become your man waiting in the wings in the event of a recall would be smart. He’s polished defensively and showed improvements to his offensive game last season to back that shutdown defensive ability up. If he stays the course? He’s due for Nashville to provide him a similar pat on the back which his pal Gaudreau received for his efforts last season.
3. Kevin Fiala will return one last time to the Milwaukee Admirals.
Nashville can rejoice that FialaMania has arrived but a lot of him sticking around topside this season will come down to consistency. I love that the Predators seem to have him positioned in a place to succeed as part of the team’s upper tier forward lines rather than lumped down with a checking line. It should allow for his speed and skill to sparkle that little bit brighter. The problem is, how often will he really shine and how long before a lack of shimmer make other options or permutations that much more attractive? I think Fiala hits a bump early in the season that sees him fluttered back to the Admirals for a spell that gets him top line minutes in the AHL that sets him on a course to fire back in the NHL. It worked for Viktor Arvidsson. It will work for Fiala. The key for all parties involved here is patience. In a different situation? Fiala at 20-years of age could well be making his debut season as a pro in the AHL such as Anthony Richard. Fiala is massively ahead of the curve in his pro level development. Now he just needs to figure out the NHL’s speed and grind. He will. Just be patient and expect some speed bumps.
4. Justin Kirkland will predominantly play at center this season.
At Development Camp this Summer in Nashville I watched a number of face-off drills taken with Kamenev squaring up against Kirkland. Much to my surprise the Russian, who played all of last season as a center in the AHL, was losing frequently to the WHL winger that transitioned to center midway through the season to ease the Kelowna Rockets during some injury woes. Kirkland is a big boy at 6-3 and 185 lbs. He’s very strong but deceptively quick. Best of all, he isn’t just an out and out goal scorer but someone who enjoys playing the role of provider and setting up his teammates. It may have been unfortunate circumstances that put Kirkland at center in juniors last season but I feel Kelowna found Kirkland’s best position. I imagine the Admirals coaching staff will be smart enough to see exactly that, as well.
5. Max Görtz will lead the Milwaukee Admirals in overall scoring and goal scoring this season.
As the prospect pool grows I truly hope Görtz isn’t someone that gets lost in the Predators organization. I get to view a lot of players transitioning from Europe to North America at the AHL level and, frankly, not many pan out or are all that suited for the smaller rink and North-South game. Görtz experience in his first North American season? He produced 47 points (18 goals, 29 assists) in 72 games. That point production was second best on the Admirals to Fiala who had 50 points (18 goals, 32 assists) in 66 games. Not only was Görtz producing offensively but he was incredibly smart and successful defensively. His Plus/Minus of +14 was tied for second with Oligny and trailed team leader Max Reinhart by 2 points. Görtz gets it. And his shot is a wicked one. He should carry on from where he was last season and, if anything, improve across the board.
6. Mike Liambas will be the one and only member of the Milwaukee Admirals to get snake bitten by the AHL’s new Fighting Major policy.
Remember the 2013-14 season when Liambas set an Admirals record for penalty minutes in a season with 267 penalty minutes? That was fun. That was 25 fighting majors worth of fun. Consider now that at fighting major #10 you will be automatically suspended for a game by the AHL, as well as fighting majors #11, #12, #13, and that the penalty increased to a two-game suspension at fighting major #14 and on forwards… I don’t think we’ll see Liambas as Liambas as he can be. That being said, you cannot take the fight out of the dog and Liambas is the fight and, in a lot of ways, the heart of the Admirals. When he gets close to #10 the discussions will be had for him to relent and take the high road but hockey things tend to happen and sometimes you just can’t help it. Remember last season when Oligny was dragged into his second fighting major to get him ejected from a game… by Liambas? It just happens. And players who are smart enough to know someone is hovering around this new rule might take advantage of the situation. The story of Liambas’ 2016-17 season will be composure and using his head. That said, even if he cut last season’s fighting majors in half he would still hit the AHL’s new fighting major policy and be suspended a game. It might just be unavoidable. If anything, make the fights count for something.
7. Austin Watson will remain in the AHL for the 2016-17 season but record his fourth consecutive 20 goal AHL season.
I’ve already gone over Watson extensively but now allow me to put a bit of a stamp down. This isn’t a knock against Watson, because it isn’t, but the surrounding talent in the organization has simply exploded past him. Whether it is a center such as Sissons or wingers such as Miikka Salomäki or Viktor Arvidsson. The prospect pool has come up and swallowed Watson whole. Fiala is there now. Kamenev is waiting in the wings. Gaudreau has come out of nowhere and is knocking on the door. Watson is a solid lower-line defensively crisp winger at the NHL level who might just be in the wrong organization at this stage of his career. With that said, he is surrounded by an incredibly talented Admirals team at the AHL level where he can vault himself back into other team’s radars once his contract expires after this season. He became one of just three Admirals to score three 20+ goal seasons to start his career. And, considering the teams he did that damage with compared to this season’s lineup, he might be in for his best AHL season of his career. Watson needs to make the AHL his NHL for this season. It might be bittersweet but the payoff if he plays his cards right could get him back where he wants to be.
8. The Milwaukee Admirals repeat as AHL Central Division Champions.
Taking a look around the AHL’s Central Division and you immediately turn your head to last season’s Calder Cup Champions the Cleveland Monsters or the team that swept the Admirals from the playoffs the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Monsters are still a beefed up team that have a lot of returning names from last season’s success. The Griffins? Ditto. Those are the real challenges to that crown this season. The Chicago Wolves have a depleted, familiar, and uninspired looking team. The Iowa Wild… And the Rockford IceHogs have essentially migrated the successful parties of their team from last season to the Chicago Blackhawks to help ease cap space woes. The Admirals really managed to overachieve a season ago with a 101 point (0.664 point percentage) campaign. The team was incredibly young and layered with inexperience that spoke more towards how great the 2016-17 season could be. Well, last season ended up being rather special. And this season should at the very least match last season success of claiming a divisional crown.
9. Dean Evason will secure his first AHL Playoff series victory since becoming head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals in the 2012-13 season.
This is Evason’s fifth season as head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals. He has made the playoffs three of the previous four seasons. In those three playoff appearances Evason’s playoff record is 1-9. His only ever victory came in his second playoff game behind the bench for the Admirals. He has lost eight straight playoff games and the Admirals have been swept out of the playoffs in their last two appearances. Thankfully, with the roster compiled this season, that simply isn’t going to happen to the 2016-17 Admirals. The mad scramble to locate veteran character in the middle of the season? The Admirals already have that in bulk. The fight to break into Nashville’s glass ceiling to make it into the NHL is as competitive as it has ever been with several NHL caliber talents stuck in Milwaukee simply due to the numbers game in Nashville. The Admirals are the sort of a team that could make a deep playoff run. Perhaps the most exciting element to the season? Juuse Saros as the -first- first choice Admirals goaltender since Jeremy Smith back in the 2011-12 season. He’s only going to make the comfort level of the team that much better knowing what he’s capable of night in and night out.
10. The Milwaukee Admirals will crack into the AHL’s “Top 10 in Attendance” list for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
The last time the Milwaukee Admirals were in the Top 10 in Attendance for the AHL they drew 236,579 fans for an average of 6,226 per night. Last season’s numbers were a touch down from that -but- not by too much. The Admirals drew 234,404 fans in the 2015-16 season for an average of 6,169 per night which listed them at eleventh in the AHL. That’s on the cusp but, what’s exciting, is simply Admirals hockey right now. Last season’s attendance saw a year-to-year boost of 13,659 fans. Those fans, either new or being reenergized by last season’s excitement, should be along for the ride as that same high level team takes to a building that they can now humbly consider their home: the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. I’ve read comments from loyal fans that remember seeing Admirals hockey at the ol’ MECCA and are excited to see that sight return. But I also consider myself in the mix when it comes to fans who probably need something such as Admirals hockey in that building… to reintroduce me to that building. I last saw an event in the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena when it was called the US Cellular Arena when I was just a motocross fanatical kid. It makes me wonder just how many fans attending games or events at the BMO Harris Bradley Center all these years may have neglected the old barn as much as myself. But these times are a changin’ and so to is the ol’ MECCA. Downtown Milwaukee right now is a construction zone where not only is the new becoming new but the old is becoming new too. It’s exciting to think that the Admirals, whose history at the MECCA is incredible, is going to take life for an entirely new generation of fans with a venue that will start to take shape into just that generation of fans. The attraction of Admirals hockey speaks for itself. The attraction of returning, reintroducing, or first-time experiencing the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena this season also speaks for itself.
Of the ten provided, which stands the greatest chance of coming true? What are your bold predictions for the Milwaukee Admirals 2016-17 season?
October 29th will feature a night in Milwaukee with the Milwaukee Admirals and Milwaukee Bucks both in action in arenas separated by only West State Street. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Happy Friday, everyone. The work week has come to a close and the hockey off-season keeps inching closer and closer to its end as well. For example, the AHL’s schedule is due out in the near future thanks to the NBA officially unveiling their league schedule for the 2016-17 season last evening. While the Milwaukee Admirals are no longer tenants to an NBA arena there are still a few teams caught in that mix which forces the wait. That being said, both last season and the season prior both had the AHL schedule get released on the 27th of August. So, we’re almost in the good.
~Aww Shucks, There Go The Bucks~
While the wait for the AHL schedule to drop has been a lengthy one most fans have had their calendars circled for the home opener for a good while. The Milwaukee Admirals return to the ol’ MECCA, now known as the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, is on Saturday October 29th. What became known last night was that across the street at the BMO Harris Bradley Center is that it wouldn’t be the only professional sporting event taking place that date. The Milwaukee Bucks are set to play the Brooklyn Nets on the -exact same night- with the -exact same time- tag not attached to it because the Admirals will be playing an hour earlier on the evening.
While the AHL schedule isn’t out yet I have to imagine this will be the first of a few crossover moments between the Admirals and Bucks for the year’s to come. I’d also have to take a shot in the dark guess that this might be the first instance of the two teams playing at the same time in the same city since the Admirals’ Wilson Park days of the franchise.
The long story short here is that this little head-to-head between the Admirals and Bucks is the present and future of downtown Milwaukee. What’s ironic here in terms of actual business practices is that both would love to lean on casual fans to sweep on by and attend games – but now one will likely detract from the other in that respect. It would be in both organization’s best interests to minimize these head-to-head dates – especially for the Admirals once the allure of attending a new arena becomes a reality. Whether this means the Admirals shifting towards afternoon games on the weekend during conflict dates or not will remain to be seen. But, it’s either that or directly going head-to-head and seeing which fans cross West State Street to their respective homes. Uniquely that is a story behind the on-ice product that will be fascinating to see unfold if there are a solid number of conflict dates between the two teams.
~Cleveland Cavaliers On-Ice~
If that little NBA/AHL crossover discussion wasn’t enough there was the news this week that the 2015-16 AHL Calder Cup Champions will no longer be known as the Lake Erie Monsters but as the Cleveland Monsters.
On the surface, I’m a fan of that switch because that is where they play and it provides a better professional identity for the team to utilize the name of their city. What I am not sold on having Dan Gilbert’s ownership of the Cleveland Cavaliers as well as the Monsters mean having the exact same look. Because, at a certain point, why not rename last year’s Calder Cup winners the Cavaliers as well if their uniform update is meant to copy them anyways.
(Photo Credit: @monstershockey // Twitter)
I suppose a throwback to the Cleveland Barons was simply out of the question. That’s a shame for purely nostalgic reasons. If anything this rebranding and new look is uniquely their own identity. I will give the Cleveland Monsters that. It’s not a very good one -but- it is all their’s now. They aren’t exactly the first team to really embrace the look or identity of their local NBA team. True. It’s just an odd mishmash. I do however look forward to the potential Cavaliers/Spurs and Monsters/Rampage crossover game that will need to take place twice this season – once in Cleveland and once in San Antonio. For a laugh. You can read more about the the updated look of the Monsters on Icethetics.
~Pre-Season~
I did some due diligence in sharing the news on social media but, for those that missed out, the pre-season dates for the Milwaukee Admirals are officially set.
Friday, Oct. 7 vs. Rockford: 7:00 pm CST (MSOE Kern Center)
Saturday, Oct. 8 @ Chicago: 7:00 pm CST (Triphahn Center Ice Arena at Hoffman Estates)
This is becoming a tale as old as time. The Rockford IceHogs at the Kern Center followed by a road game against the Chicago Wolves the next evening. The pre-season really picks up in Nashville with the Nashville Predators Rookie Camp on September 15th with a Rookie Tournament taking place September 17-20. The official Predators training camp begins on September 22nd and their official pre-season schedule is locked and loaded with the final pre-season game taking place the same night as the Admirals meeting with the Wolves.
How do you feel head-to-head competition between the Milwaukee Admirals and Milwaukee Bucks will impact both organization’s business?
A Petter Granberg sighting with cameo appearances from Vinny Saponari and Zac Larraza? This is photographic magic. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Happy Wednesday and a welcome back to Ramblings after a small break. A storyline I wanted to write about this week was just how painfully show the off-season has been in terms of roster movement for both the Nashville Predators organization as well as those due to sign elsewhere that played a part of the Milwaukee Admirals last season. Swerve, Petter Granberg ended up being signed yesterday to provide a slight bit of excitement in an otherwise dead quiet time.
When I brought up the Granberg news it was merely a reported news story. The official press release came an hour or so after that. To reiterate the details of that signing it is a two-year deal that is a two-way contract for the upcoming 2016-17 season worth $575,000 (NHL) and $175,000 (AHL). It then kicks up to a one-way contract valued at $650,000 (NHL) for the 2017-18 season.
As for everyone else in arbitration land? It’s still rather quiet. According to the Predators handy dandy off-season schedule the window for arbitration hearings is right now with a deadline for arbitration decisions on August 6th. I’m sure the Predators quiet off-season, outside of that one particular trade you might have heard of, points towards their goal of player retention. So, a quiet free agent market should mean the RFA’s that they had are being treated as their free agents. Of note for Admirals fans I suspect Stefan Elliott would probably be eyeing up a rather similar deal that came yesterday for Granberg given his numbers compared to that of Granberg’s. At the very least one of those should end up in Milwaukee to start next season.
~Rebrand-iversary~
I touched on it very briefly on social media the day of but wanted to expand on it even more today. It’s now been beyond a calendar year since the Milwaukee Admirals rebranding took place with the new logos, colors, and uniforms. I asked through a poll what the initial thoughts or grades were from you fans about the new look at that came back with 70.43% out of 230 votes as an A. Now that it has been a year I’m curious how you feel it has held up.
My initial reaction to the look wasn’t enthusiastic. I loved the previous look with the playful logo and simple color palate. After really looking at the uniforms and how the logo really played into all previous Admirals logos that came before it? I was won over. After watching them on-ice for an entire season? I’m completely sold. I still love that the Admirals are one of these rare breed AHL teams that have their own unique identity opposed to teams that borrow from their NHL parent clubs.
With the AHL rule changes coming in this season that will see the Admirals uniforms switch from white to navy after the Christmas break I’m also reminded that the alternate uniform being baby-blue delightfully neutral. If I had any complaint to last year’s rebranding though? It was the Admirals alternate uniform being exactly the same as it was with the exception of the paint bucket tool splashing navy where the black was – as well as inverting the colors on the name and number font to give broadcasters headaches everywhere. It’s not that it is a bad uniform, it was highly popular, it’s just that if you were going to do a rebrand with new logos you really should stay true to that and not keep some inbetweener such as the current Admirals alternate. If the new rule change means adding more color to the home team uniforms? I say an upgraded baby-blue alternate would be a welcome complement to the AHL’s rule change.
That’s enough polls for one post I’d say. Until the next Ramblings (or preferably a news story) I wish you all a pleasant Wednesday. If it has been a rubbish work week, good news, there are only 94 days (3 months, 2 days) until the Milwaukee Admirals home opener at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. …we’re slowly getting there.
~UPDATE~
The Nashville Predators decided to up the tempo of enthusiasm by officially re-signingCalle Järnkrok this afternoon as well as sign free agent defenseman Matt Carle.
Järnkrok’s deal is incredibly team friendly: six-years, $12 million contract. The breakdown of the contract goes: $1.7 million (2016-17), $1.8 million (2017-18), $2.1 million (2018-19), $2.2 million (2019-21), and $2 million (2021-22). For further discussion on the deal I suggest giving Jeremy K. Gover‘s story, here, a read.
As for Carle? That’s a story worth covering in full for tomorrow because there is now a bit of a stacking up of defensive players topside that might be trickling down to Milwaukee that might also detour prospective talents down to the ECHL. I’ll leave that as a teaser for now.
It’s been nearly a week since the AHL dropped the new alignment and rule changes for the 2016-17 season. My general round-up from reader comments seems divided on the changes to fighting, unanimous on the hilarity of teams that still will run a lesser schedule than the rest of the league, and some confusion in the uniform swap that will occur after the league’s Christmas break. In other words it was a mixed bag. But, fighting was the big one that most kept flip flopping on. That being the case I figured I would throw down my two cents.
~Fighting the Fighting~
Fighting being further restricted or punishable by the league doesn’t bother me all that much. Whenever I see fights off of a face-off it’s amusing but it’s also groan inducing. If there is a pretext to the cause for that fight needing to be done? I get it – but it also probably should have been addressed and policed before that point.
(Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch)
Speaking of policing the game, guess what, players ability to police the game still exists. Fights are still going to happen and they’ll now manifest mostly out of post-whistle activity or during the middle of the action. It’s with that where I feel this wrinkle added towards fighting majors wasn’t aimed so much at lessening fighting as an act within the game as much as it was enhancing the speed of the game. Puck drops take long enough now-a-days as it is. If a fight was needed due to an earlier action by a team or a player it should have been taken into account as it happened on the ice. If you’re looking to start a fight off the draw to “gain momentum” or “get the crowd into it” you should probably put your brain power in a place better suited to winning the game by playing it rather than having a fight for the sake of a fight. As much as I enjoy a good hockey fight, as much as I’ve fallen in love with the sport of MMA, or grew up with boxing… nothing is more out of place in a hockey game than a fight off the draw that has no true context. Let the game carry on, deal with personal flare ups as they happen if needed, and get the crowd “into it” by having the team perhaps being into it.
For fight hungry fans upset with the AHL’s slant against fighting majors, as well as suspensions, note that in the Dean Evason Era of the Milwaukee Admirals the team has had: 44 fights (2012-13 season), 62 fights (2013-14 season), 66 fights (2014-15 season), and 53 fights (2015-16 season. In the grand scheme of things how many of those fights were really started off the draw? It has to be a single digit percentile out of all the fights you would have seen in per season and per the recent Evason Era of the Admirals.
Now, about that suspension ruling. The AHL will now be suspending players who record up to ten fighting majors in a season automatically for one-game for all subsequent fights up until they record their thirteenth fighting major. When they hit that one-game suspension threshold of thirteen fighting majors the AHL imposes an automatic two-game suspension once players record their fourteenth fighting major and they stay at a two-game suspension for every fighting major earned from there on out.
Who accumulated ten fights or more in a season that would have fallen into the new automatic suspension rule during this recent time scope of the Evason Era? Here’s the short list:
2012-13 season: 1 player, Michael Latta (16 fights) with the next closest being Mike Liambas (8 fights).
I suppose that should mean keeping an eye out for Liambas this season, yeah? If he takes up any sort of go-to enforcer role with the team, as was a similar case in that 2013-14 season, he’ll be pushing towards suspension time. That season in particular would have meant being suspended for 25 games due to fighting 25 times in a season… probably something that couldn’t have happened due to the latter portion of the hefty suspensions shoving past the playing season… but you get the point.
(Photo Credit: Todd Reicher)
What will become interesting in regards to this new rule by the AHL that might become a point of contention is the act of targeting. Remember the regular season finale in Rockford when a very clever Liambas noticed Oligny during a post-whistle scrum and grappled with him until it stirred into a fighting major? Liambas did that knowing Oligny already had a fighting major to his name and the second one in-game meant an ejection against Oligny to leave a very young practically debuting pair of defensemen in Jack Dougherty and Aaron Irving exposed for the rest of the night. Who is to say, knowing how divisional rivalries work, that teams shouldn’t just have lesser fighting major inflicted talents go out and to be match-up or targeting players on the opposite line nearing the suspension threshold?
This will be the one area of this fighting rule change that will become highly interesting just past the midway point in the season when players are starting to edge towards that suspension boundary. Is there going to be a certain review panel from the AHL that will look into altercations where it was more tactically setup to sucker a player into a fighting major or, at the end of the day, is it just gamesmanship because it still takes a second dance partner to have a fight? One thing that’s for certain, given he was exemplified on the last two paragraphs for two separate circumstances, having Liambas back with the Admirals this season just became all the more interesting.
Having read this do you have any new takeaways in regards to the AHL’s stance towards fighting that will take place during the 2016-17 season? Is this a good move or an unnecessary change? How much will the loss of certain players due to suspensions gained by the new fighting major rules impact teams?
WHY CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? (Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch)
After a small delay let’s get back to regularly scheduled programming. Apologies for taking a small break but -between (1) family (2) travel fatigue (3) battling a head cold- a small R&R cool down stint was needed on my end. All is well and good now. Let’s plunge into some topics.
~Bus Returning to Milwaukee~
Yesterday the news became official with Mike Liambas signing a one-year, two-way contract with the Nashville Predators. Amusingly, the Predators official news release shows a picture of Liambas face-punching the guy whose job he likely snatches by the name of Jamie Devane.
The more I think about this signing the more I appreciate what it could mean for both Nashville and Milwaukee. Firstly, Nashville should get used to the sight of Cody Bass rumbling along topside. It is a great sight to see someone who has paid his dues in the AHL finally get a chance to get a solid NHL opportunity. I believe that is exactly what Bass now has. He isn’t a one dimensional player. He isn’t someone brought in just to fight when needed. Bass is well respected for how he handles himself on and off the ice, he’s a leader, he keeps a locker room loose and relaxed, does well at the face-off dot and therefore is a quality penalty killer, and -yes- is capable of fending for his teammates when needed. He should start in Nashville and I hope he stays there as well. He’s earned his opportunity and should continue to earn his NHL minutes.
Now, while that role gets filled in Nashville a similar-like role in Milwaukee opens up. No, Liambas isn’t a face-off type of guy like Bass was but he checks every other box listed above. I feel the single biggest factor to this signing actually comes with just how much the coaching staff of the Milwaukee Admirals really do enjoy Liambas. I was there for the 2015-16 regular season finale in Rockford when Liambas performed a bit of gamesmanship and gave Jimmy Oligny his second fighting major to get him ejected from the contest. After interviewing head coach Dean Evason, Liambas came through the visiting locker room area doors, reluctantly said to Evason, “Please don’t be mad at me,” and the two proceeded to have a laugh. Liambas loved the Admirals and the coaching staff then. The team and coaching staff still loved him then. And now he’s back on the right side of the ice.
Liambas is someone who immediately understands the coaching staff, isn’t too far removed from playing as a member of the Admirals, and is a quality locker room presence. I would go as far as saying right now he won’t provide the offense that Devane managed to do on the lower line roles for the Admirals during the 2015-16 season but, guess what, he doesn’t have to. As long as Liambas plays responsible without compromising his intensity on the ice and maintains a smart defensive approach on the lower lines? He’s a table setter for a possible first forward line of Justin Kirkland and Kevin Fiala centered by Vladislav Kamenev to do all that offensive puck work. Set the table with relentless work rate. Push like Hell. Get off the ice for the goal scorers to match the compete level. That’s the aim there. Bass promoted. Liambas reintroduced. It’s a great fit.
~The Other Veteran Minds~
I don’t want to brush off a few of the other names that signed while I was in Nashville because they too should have great on and off-ice impacts. Due for the Milwaukee Admirals in the 2016-17 season will be defenseman Matt Irwin as well as forwards Trevor Smith and Harry Zolnierczyk. I remember a talking point of the Admirals playoff match-up against the Grand Rapids Griffins being experience. These signings, Liambas included, really helps in addressing experience with players who all still have the NHL on their radar.
Let’s start with the oldest of those names, Smith, who is 32-years old and has 106 games of NHL experience as well as 453 games of AHL experience. Smith is an all-out pro and has a trophy cabinet which includes the title Calder Cup Champion. Before departing North America for Europe to play in Switzerland with SC Bern, where he won a Championship, he was a captain for the Toronto Marlies. He also happened to be teammates with Adam Payerl at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the 2012-13 season where Smith was an alternate captain at the time. Smith’s numbers over the past two-seasons have fallen off a cliff, true, but a change of setting such as this year’s Admirals team might bring out the best in him. At the very least the Admirals are guaranteed another quality locker room leader and on-ice worker for two-seasons.
At 28-years old Zolnierczyk isn’t that old. Yet, by current Admirals roster standards, he kind of is. Without keeping that close of an eye out on the San Diego Gulls last season I have to assume that Zolnierczyk suffered from injury woes. In the 2015-16 season he only logged 24 games in the AHL and a lone appearance up top for the Anaheim Ducks. His total scoring output ended up being 9 points (6 goals, 3 assists). That’s a far cry from what he did the year prior with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers where he scored 44 points (18 goals, 26 assists) in 60 games. Before that -hey- he was teammates with Payerl with the Baby Pens in the 2013-14 season where Zolnierczyk was an alternate captain. Perhaps a WBS Reunion Line can be formed this season with Zolnierczyk-Smith-Payerl as the third line? Huge point of emphasis for Zolnierczyk will be to put 2015-16 in the past and get right back on track with what he’s capable of. He’s joined a good group to open up offensively. That’s a good start.
How does the 28-year old defenseman Irwin cross paths with Mr. Payerl like everyone else on this section? Well, he doesn’t. Irwin’s career took him from UMass-Amherst right to a five-year spell as a member of the Sharks organization. It wasn’t up until last season when the native of British Columbia, Canada moved back towards the state of Massachusetts where he played with the Bruins. In total, Irwin has 50 points (16 goals, 34 assists) from 155 career games in the NHL as well as 118 points (27 goals, 91 assists) from 245 career games in the AHL. Last season Irwin did very well for the Providence Bruins scoring 30 points (5 goals, 25 assists) in 64 games with a plus/minus rating of +1 and 27 penalty minutes. The question mark with him? He’s a left-handed shot so that side of the ice should be well set on defense with Oligny and Trevor Murphy in-house. I feel a likely defensive pairing for him will be Jack Dougherty which should be great for the first-year pro to have a security blanket such as Irwin covering him.
There are sure to be more signings made down the line. We’ll of course be catching AHL level signings and ECHL level pre-season invitees who might stick around with a solid showing (Payerl reference yet again). I would very much like to see Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau, who impressed during the Rookie Development Camp last week, sign with the Admirals under an AHL contract or to an entry-level contract with the Predators. He showed very well and had a lethal shot. He was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft but it seems like he’s slipped through the cracks for him to end up in Nashville this summer. Other Development Camp possibilities? Kris Bennett, Vinni Lettieri, or Zach Stepan… possibly by season’s end on ATO’s more than anything.
Do you like how the 2016-17 Milwaukee Admirals are forming? What are your thoughts on the veterans that were added by the Nashville Predators?
Happy Monday, everyone. Today marks the day that all NHL teams must submit qualifying offers to their crop of restricted free agents (RFAs) by 5 pm EST or else they will become unrestricted free agents (UFAs). The Nashville Predators current RFAs include: Filip Forsberg, Calle Järnkrok, Petter Granberg, Cody Hodgson, Stefan Elliott, Garrett Noonan, and Gabriel Bourque. Who stays and who becomes a free agent?
Well, let’s be serious here. Forsberg is going to be getting paid, BIG, and is likely getting a long-term contract worked out. Järnkrok is also likely getting a rather nice contract worked out. As for everyone else on that list? It’s questionable.
Granberg was put in an awkward place last season. He was entering the 2015-16 season injured and up with the NHL outfit of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs attempted to pass him through waivers to get him to the Toronto Marlies (AHL) but the Predators claimed him instead. He spent a cup of coffee as part of the Milwaukee Admirals in his first in-game action in the season and was thrust into the fires of the NHL in Nashville where the 23-year old had only played a career number of 8 games previously. He was never going to blow people away how he played. He was injured to start the year and needed to really find his stride in-game at a level of professional hockey he wasn’t used to. Should he be brought back it might be smarter to attempt to sign him to a new deal with a two-way contract in-mind. He can be a solid shutdown defenseman. He just needs a healthy Summer without the instant microscope of NHL quality of play weighing on top of him.
Hodgson was signed last season hoping to bank on a low cost high reward type of signing. His contract wasn’t bad. His play at the NHL, more than anything really his consistency, was bad. He turned up in Milwaukee after clearing waivers. Acted like a professional from the moment he arrived. And then he vanished towards the end of the season. This was due to a nagging injury, back spasms, which were greatly hampering more than just his ability to play the game. I’m hoping that the treatment he sought out has worked out for the absolute best and that Hodgson is able to return to a rink this Fall. I doubt that the Predators will be the ones to to offer up an opportunity to do that though. Even if NHL teams are fishing for him it would have to be with starting in the AHL first as the option. That or he could venture overseas where he could possibly pocket some more cash than he otherwise would as an NHL/AHL fringe player.
Elliott is someone who I not only want to be given a qualifying offer but a proper multi-year contract. I feel a potential third defensive line of Elliott on the right with Anthony Bitetto on the left would work extremely well. It would be a good pairing on opening night of the Predators 2016-17 season if it had to be. Otherwise, Elliott can start in the AHL and be your go-to option in the event of a call-up. Elliott should be brought back. He’s a strong two-way player who seems to be getting better the longer his pro experience goes.
Noonan might make some in Nashville sigh given how his pro career has panned out through his first two full pro seasons have manifested themselves as mainly an ECHL defenseman. That said, he was the Cincinnati Cyclones best defenseman last season by a good margin and had no ability to really push anyone out of the Admirals AHL defensive group. That chance is there for him in the 2016-17 season and he could look to take a very strong ECHL season and carry it into the AHL. It worked for Taylor Aronson in the 2014-15 season. Why not Noonan?
Bourque is a real mystery man to me who will likely be left out in the cold because of names such as Miikka Salomäki, Viktor Arvidsson, Colton Sissons, and Austin Watson passing him by. You can even make the argument that Cody Bass, Kevin Fiala, and Pontus Åberg surpassed him. I don’t know what Bourque’s injury was last season that caused him to miss as much time as he did, do a conditioning assignment (look good), get called up from the conditioning assignment early just to not play, get another conditioning assignment (looked even better), and then sat the rest of the season. Either it was an undisclosed injury that came in waves and shut him down or he was given the notification that he might get today which is that the Predators just don’t have ice-time for him anymore. I would be shocked if he gets brought back.
~Nashville Bound~
By the way, that last sentence will be a rather legitimate one in regards to how all of these RFAs receiving or not receiving qualifying offers will go today. Why is that? Because I will be driving from Caledonia, Wisconsin to Nashville, Tennessee all day today. I won’t be able to bring up any of the RFA news or signings that crop up. My focus will be on the road. So, I advise you to keep your eyes open towards the Nashville Predators website and your trusted Nashville media peoples for all the latest on that front today.
So, I won’t be dropping any news today when it comes but I will be attending the Nashville Predators Rookie Development Camp. I’m greatly looking forward to seeing a lot of familiar faces on the ice, getting to know some of the new ones that will be heading to Milwaukee later this Fall, and some of the newbies that were drafted just days ago. I also think it will be a fun way for me to get to see a lot of you Nashville readers in-person. I’m guessing that I’ll be the one who looks the most like a tourist. Still, if you see a person with this face, give him a wave. I’d be happy to give a wave right back.
Trevor Murphy looks like how we all feel right now. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Struggling through the off-season blues? Well, fear not. Some news should be on the near horizon. This week features the NHL Awards on Wednesday with the 2016 NHL Draft taking place on Friday and Saturday. Plenty of interesting things to come from the next week or so. Will the Nashville Predators be making any trades at the NHL Draft? Where should the go with their first round selection, forward or defenseman? And what remaining restricted or unrestricted free agents get left out in the cold?
Of note, I will be making my first trip to Nashville in a week’s time for the Nashville Predators Rookie Development Camp. Exact details of when I’ll be arriving are up in the air for now but I want to be there for the first day of on-ice activities. I suspect I’d be on my way out either on or right after the Fourth of July fun (might be worth checking out those festivities in that setting).
Announced last week were the official team names and logos for the new AHL affiliates of the Arizona Coyotes and Florida Panthers. The Springfield Falcons are no more as they will now be the Tucson Roadrunners. Thankfully fans in Springfield weren’t completely dumped, Portland Pirates, as their new AHL team courtesy of the Panthers will be the Springfield Thunderbirds.
I can’t say enough positive things about that Roadrunners logo. It’s fun. It’s paying homage to a previous iteration of Arizona based hockey (1967). Plus, their Twitter handle is replying to people with, “meep meep.” That’s a win. Also, as pointed out to me, it is also humerous to think that Roadrunners are trying to elevate themselves into being Coyotes. That organization needs to keep up with the Looney Tunes team names with an ECHL update to the Rapid City Rush… affiliation agreement pending that is.
As for the Thunderbirds. Don’t even get me started about how much I love that. The more Tracy Island and “F.A.B.” jokes the better, I say.
Of course, I suspect that another slight realignment is in order. My thought? Swap the Charlotte Checkers and former Springfield Falcons organization in terms of their Conference standing, relocate the Tucson Roadrunners to the Pacific Division so that those teams can play a full league schedule, and easy as you like – that’s it. Odds of that happening are probably slim. These are the same minds in suits that said the Pacific Division and points percentage make sense, after all.
~Former Admirals On The Move~
Italian League Champion Mark Van Guilder is leaving Ritten for Stavanger Oilers. Van Guilder’s new team competes in the top flight of Norway (GET-ligaen). Josh Shalla has signed for this year’s runners up for the ECHL Kelly Cup – the Wheeling Nailers. The odyssey, but all-around great guy, Charles-Olivier Roussel will be heading to France with Les Ducs d’Angers. The league Roussel will be competing in is Ligue Magnus which is the top flight of French professional hockey. Scott Valentine will be switching from one German club (Krefeld Pinguine) to another in the form of Augsburger Panther in their top flight (DEL). Mathieu Tousignant signed an extension to remain with Ravensburg Towerstars in Germany’s second flight.
Admirals Roundtable 