Firstly, I hope all of you had a lovely Christmas yesterday filled with all things Nashville Predators, Milwaukee Admirals, and Cincinnati Cyclones. Me, I finally do have a Predators mug now to fill with that all important Admirals Roundtable fuel known as coffee. Hope you all had a great day with family, friends, and loved ones!

Secondly, there is today’s game against the Chicago Wolves. When we last left off with our beloved Admirals things didn’t go too well with them against these Wolves. The Admirals lost 8-4 on a night where their defense just seemed shot. That came a night after having suffered their first shutout loss of the season.

To this point, the Admirals longest losing streak is three-games which came right after starting the season with three straight wins. They haven’t lost three straight games in regulation yet. That is on the table today.

The Admirals have a record of 17-7-2-1 (37 points, 0.685 points percentage). With the recent defeats they are no longer the top team in the Western Conference or Central Division. That temporary title belongs to the Grand Rapids Griffins. Tonight they’ll be working with Max Görtz and the recently recalled from Cincinnati (ECHL) Justin Kirkland while Cody Bass serves a one-game suspension from the AHL.

When you see the Admirals take to the ice tonight you will be seeing them in what has typically been their road navy uniforms. “Why is that,” you ask. Well, the AHL decided to be playful with the rules this year by adding a uniform policy that switches from white at home to darker uniforms after Christmas.

The Wolves record entering tonight’s game is 14-11-3-2 (33 points, 0.550 points percentage). They are fourth in the Central Division trailing the Griffins, Admirals, and the now -and finally- white hot Cleveland Monsters. In the Wolves last 10 games they hold a record of 5-2-2-1. Including today’s game the Admirals will be seeing these Wolves for 5 of their next 13 games. Come that last occasion in that run? The Admirals will have finished off playing in Chicago for the rest of the 2016-17 season by January 22nd.

By tacking on 3 assists against the Admirals last Thursday Wolves forward Kenny Agostino extended his league lead in scoring. Agostino has 34 points (9 goals, 25 assists) in 30 games this season. This is is first pro hockey season out of the Calgary Flames organization and it is setting up as a career year. In 162 career AHL games he is a 0.83 point per game player.

While the Admirals will be without Bass tonight due to suspension the Wolves will be without goaltender Jordan Binnington for the same reason. Binnington lost the plot against the Rockford IceHogs last Wednesday night and earned 17 penalty minutes (unsportsmanlike conduct minor, fighting major, and a game misconduct for fighting at puck drop). His suspension will last for tonight’s game meaning the Wolves will need a back-up this evening.

Binnington’s suspension makes the choice for who starts clear. Though, I feel the way that Pheonix Copley has been playing this season anyway already should have dictated more time in net. In lesser appearances Copley has outperformed Binnington for the Wolves this season: 6-4-1-1 record from 13 games, 2.46 goals against average, 0.912 save percentage, and a shutout.

Expectations for tonight’s game? How do you think both teams will play coming out of the Christmas break? What do the Milwaukee Admirals need to do to correct their mistakes from the past two games to get back into the win column tonight?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

There just seems to be something about playing in Grand Rapids that is an absolute nightmare experience for the Milwaukee Admirals. In the Dean Evason Era they are now 5-15-1-0 in Grand Rapids and have been shutout by the Griffins 5 times with a current losing streak of 10 games (0-9-1-0). Last night’s 3-0 loss was the Admirals first shutout defeat of the season and the first time they had been shutout in 49 games dating all the way back to March of last season.

It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t fun. But it was last night in Grand Rapids. Tonight, mercifully, the Admirals aren’t in Grand Rapids. They’re finishing up their four game road trip against the Amtrak Rivals.

The Chicago Wolves enter tonight’s game with a record of 13-11-3-2 (31 points, 0.534 points percentage). If you think you have it bad as an Admirals fan last night – a Wolves fan would have an edge in the bickering department today. They lost 6-2 last night on the road against the Rockford IceHogs. That was the most goals scored by the IceHogs this season and the Wolves are now winless in their last four games (0-2-1-1).

Sticking to that game for the Wolves last night. It sounds like it would have been a joy to watch from an outside perspective as the Wolves had a meltdown. Without even going into video highlights (1) how often do you see a penalty for throwing equipment? (2) how often do you see a goalie fight? (3) how often do you see a goalie fight a skater instead of another goalie? (4) how often do you see a goalie get slapped with a game misconduct for fighting off the puck drop?

Both the throwing equipment and goalie fighting infractions happened after the Wolves were already down 6-2. Jordan Binnington came on in relief of Pheonix Copley. After Binnington’s fight, and wrasslin’ level heel turn, it meant Copley coming back in net for the final 1:07 of regulation.

Again. You think the Admirals had it bad last night? It could be a lot worse. What will be a point of note is that the Wolves, barring a total emotional dump from that episode last night, could be fired up off of that game and coming out hot for tonight’s game. These will be two teams looking to right the ship. The Admirals after a shutout loss. The Wolves after another spike in a series of poor efforts of late. It’s the last game for both before the Christmas break. Despite being the last in a two-in-two stretch expect both to empty the gas tanks tonight.

The key player to watch out for in tonight’s game is the AHL’s new leading scorer, Kenny Agostino. The 24-year old now has sole possession of the league lead in scoring with 31 points (9 goals, 22 assists) in 29 games. Matt Lorito and Taylor Beck are right behind him with 30 points.

Theatrics of last night aside the story in net for the Wolves has been more positive than it has been negative. Both Binnington and Copley have performed well but it is Copley who stands out. This season Copley has a 2.32 goals against average and 0.915 percentage which are improvements from his first year with the Wolves last season. Binnington’s numbers continue to decline from what they were two seasons ago as he has a 3.02 goals against average and 0.905 save percentage this season.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Just what sort of Milwaukee Admirals performance are we in for tonight? Which team handles the previous night’s efforts better?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Here we are again. The Milwaukee Admirals are on the road heading into the Van Andel Arena to face the Grand Rapids Griffins. The run of defeats in Grand Rapids now stands at nine straight games (0-8-1-0 record). For Admirals head coach Dean Evason his record in Grand Rapids is 5-14-1-0. Should the Admirals fail to win tonight it would mean their last win in Grand Rapids would be over two years ago coming on 1/31/15 in a 4-0 shutout with Magnus Hellberg in net. The Admirals aren’t in Grand Rapids again until the start of February.

If long term history isn’t your thing the short term history sets up well for this game. The Admirals and Griffins both enter tonight’s game on three-game winning streaks. The Admirals have a record of 17-5-2-1 (37 points, 0.740 points percentage). The Griffins are right behind them in the Central Division standings with a record of 17-7-1-2 (37 points, 0.685 points percentage).

What sets the Griffins apart from the Admirals this season is their offense. It’s a funny thing to say after the Admirals won 9-1 but even then the Admirals average 3.12 goals per game while the Griffins average 3.44 goals per game. Both teams allow practically the same amount of goals per game so it is on the Admirals defense to be smart tonight -especially- due to the Griffins home power-play that rakes in a goal 29.0% of the time.

The Griffins leading scorer right now is Matt Lorito who has 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) in 27 games this season. He is currently in a three-way tie for the AHL lead in scoring with Taylor Beck and Kenny Agostino. After finishing a four-year career at Brown University Lorito’s transition to the pro game has been nothing short of brilliant. Between his time with the Albany Devils and Griffins he has 96 points (31 goals, 65 assists) in 109 games at the AHL level for a 0.88 points per game average.

Behind Lorito there are still plenty of scorers for the Griffins offense: Mitch Callahan, 20 points (8 goals, 12 assists)… Kyle Criscuolo, 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists)… Ben Street, 19 points (5 goals, 14 assists)… Martin Frk, 15 points (10 goals, 5 assists)… Tomas Nosek, 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists)… and Robbie Russo, 14 points (3 goals, 11 assists).

In net the same old story of Jared Coreau doing well seems to continue. For what it is worth, in lesser appearances, Eddie Pasquale has also done real well for the Griffins this season.

Coreau has played in 17 games this season for the Griffins with a record of 11-6-0-0, 2.18 goals against average, 0.924 save percentage, and a shutout. Coreau also made a start for the Detroit Red Wings this season and lost in his NHL debut that saw him stop 32/36 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Pasquale has only played in 8 games this season and has had some hard luck results that see his record go 4-1-1-2. Despite some of the wins alluding him he has done well in net by posting a 2.32 goals against average and 0.923 save percentage.

What are your expectations for tonight’s game? Is this finally the end of the Milwaukee Admirals woes on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins? Do you feel the performances by the Admirals in Texas can spill into tonight’s game or will this be more of a playoff style atmosphere than a track meet?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

The Milwaukee Admirals are back on the road again. This road trip will last four games and begins this weekend against the Texas Stars. Once they wrap up Friday-Saturday their sights will turn to a pit stop at home before venturing to Grand Rapids on Wednesday and then Chicago on Thursday. In other words: the marathon continues!

~Q&A with Stephen Meserve~

One of my favorite things about facing the Texas Stars is that they are always well represented by Stephen Meserve of 100 Degree Hockey. To help preview this weekends games against the Stars I reached out to him to get a look inside how they’ve been doing to start the 2016-17 season.

Admirals Roundtable: The Texas Stars are 13-8-1-1 (28 points, 0.609 points percentage) coming into this first meeting of the season against the Milwaukee Admirals. What’s the story been out of the gate?

Stephen Meserve: Texas stumbled out of the gate a bit with all the injuries in Dallas. Some of the players that they expected to see, like Adam Cracknell and Devin Shore, haven’t played a single game in the AHL this year. Others have been called up that weren’t expected, like Justin Dowling and Gemel Smith on forward and Julius Honka on defense. The lineup is just getting back to stable for the time being and that is having a positive effect on the overall winning nature of the team.

AR: I see you’re up to your old trick of scoring a lot and allowing a lot too. Is that on that defense or is having goaltending with less than a 0.900 save percentage more the issue?

SM: Ah, yes, a specialty. Not everyone can have stout Milwaukee D every year. The goaltending has been truly unspectacular. Three goalies have started for Texas already on the young season and only Landon Bow (in just two games of work) has truly impressed. Then again, Maxime Lagacé looked impressive in his first two games of the season. An ongoing struggle in the Dallas organization has been development of a backup goaltender. The Stars haven’t done that well since Mike Smith. Top prospect Jack Campbell left via trade this summer but was unlikely to be re-signed even if he hadn’t been traded. The defense is certainly not as stout as it has been in some prior years, but the goaltending is letting in soft ones and really putting the forwards behind the eight ball early. A common storyline early in the season was falling behind by 2 or 3 and then having to claw back to even by over-utilizing key players, leaving them tired for the 3rd period. Then the team, tired from the comeback, would lose in the 3rd. It was a really demoralizing time for the squad.

AR: 21 points (9 goals, 12 assists) in 23 games. Travis Morin doesn’t age does he?

SM: Morin is an ageless wonder. He’s never been known for his skating, but who cares with a shot like that? He’s on a more veteran line with Brendan Ranford and Matej Stransky and of course on the PP and PK as well. He’s the man for Texas and should be for several more years the way he’s going. He wants to retire a Texas Star and I would say he’s earned that right.

AR: Who are some of the new faces on the roster this season?

SM: Texas returned a lot of talent from last year. By all accounts, this is a pretty veteran team. There is just one rookie on defense and he was a recent callup from Idaho. The forward to watch though is Denis Gurianov. The first round pick of Dallas in 2015, he is a Russian skater with size and speed. He’s got 4-9=13 in 23 games as a rookie. Coach Laxdal really likes what he brings and touts Gurianov’s teachability and coachability. He is going to be a dangerous tool in the Dallas arsenal in a few years with the skills he is showing in raw form right now. In the mean time, perhaps the next year or two, he’ll be in Coach Laxdal’s toolbox to torture opposing defenses.

AR: Any other fun storylines going on for this year’s Texas Stars team that we Admirals peoples should know about for the weekend set?

SM: Fun? Certainly something interesting to watch is the appearance of Landon Bow on the scene. He came in for Maxime Lagacé last week in relief and stopped 34 of 35 and earned the win. He collected a shootout win the next night and now we’ve got a question of who starts at a 50/50 draw on a nightly basis, perhaps. Oh, and he’s only on an AHL contract. It will be a good story to watch to see who the Stars start in this weekend back to back set.

Cheers as always to Stephen Meserve! You can see his work at 100 Degree Hockey and follow along with him on Twitter. He also occasionally gets things up on the AHL website, too. It’s all good stuff. Do follow along.

Expectations for this weekend’s games? After having a lengthy road trip that ended on a rough patch what do the Milwaukee Admirals need to do early on this road trip to set themselves up for later success come Grand Rapids and Chicago? How do you feel Marek Mazanec will perform in his return to the Admirals? Should Jonas Gunnarsson get rotated in this weekend?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

The Milwaukee Admirals had yesterday off to rest after a lengthy road trip ended on a flat note and managed to spill into Saturday’s game. Not only that, but the Nashville Predators have also provided the Admirals with a little Christmas cheer with the additions of Frédérick Gaudreau, Adam Pardy, and Reid Boucher. They are rested and restocked. Now they can prep for a team that they haven’t seen since the opening weekend of the season.

The San Antonio Rampage enter tonight’s game with a record of 11-12-1-0 (23 points, 0.479 points percentage). They are in last place of the Pacific Division and find themselves thirteenth in the Western Conference.

When these two teams last met it was the first two games of the season for both. Obviously there have been a few changes since the Admirals claimed a 2-1 win and matched it with another 2-1 win the next night to start the campaign. There are three Admirals on the previous roster sheet when these teams played that are now with the Predators: Petter Granberg, Matt Irwin, and Austin Watson. On the flipside to that the Rampage are now without Mikko Rantanen and Ryan Stanton. Rantanen is now with the Colorado Avalanche while Stanton was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Cody Goloubef.

That doesn’t seem so bad, as far as missing pieces go, but there are nine players who didn’t play for the Rampage in those first two games of the season against the Admirals that are now on their roster. One of those names coming in will be a familiar one in Gabriel Bourque. It was a rough 2015-16 season for Bourque who played 26 games between the NHL and AHL. Injuries held him back and he has already played 22 games in the 2016-17 season between San Antonio and Colorado. He has 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists) in 16 games this season for the Rampage.

The Rampage have four players in double-digit points right now: Rocco Grimaldi, 17 points (7 goals, 10 assists) in 23 games… A.J. Greer, 15 points (5 goals, 10 assists) in 21 games… Joe Whitney, 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) in 24 games… J.T. Compher, 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) in 12 games.

Spencer Martin has been the main man in net for the Rampage this season. Though, I don’t know if that is entirely his doing or down to injuries around him as they have also had Jeremy Smith, Ken Simpson, and Nathan Lieuwen play for them as well. At the moment Martin, Smith, and Simpson are on their roster. The former Admiral Smith has not played since late-October.

Martin has played in 18 games, holds a record of 11-7-0-0, 2.31 goals against average, 0.924 save percentage, and a shutout. In the Rampage’s last two games Martin was in net and saw two different results on the road against the Iowa Wild. He earned a 27-save shutout the first night and allowed 4 goals against the next night.

Expectations for tonight’s game? How big of a boost will it be for the Admirals to have those three players being brought into the mix? With this being the Admirals last home game until after Christmas break do you feel this is an important game to get momentum back on an upswing before such a long road trip?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Let’s try to quickly put yesterday’s 3-1 defeat to the Grand Rapids Griffins in the past, shall we? The time spent in Grand Rapids in recent years has been a horror show. Last night’s game was on that level – it just was a performance that lacked typical Milwaukee Admirals energy and battle levels. If that can be the result of the four-game road trip coming to an end? Let it be.

Tonight the Admirals return to the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena where they are 5-1-2-0 on the season and face the Chicago Wolves who they have beaten three from three-games. The Wolves enter this game with a 11-9-2-1 (25 points, 0.543 points percentage) which has them fourth in the Central Division. They are currently on a four-game point streak (3-0-1-0). During this point streak they have scored no less than 4 goals per game.

A storyline that should be worth keeping an eye on early and late is going to come in the form of energy. The Admirals played last night and traveled back from Grand Rapids. The Wolves last played on Wednesday. Their game was also on the road in Grand Rapids and that game was a turbulent loss for the Wolves that saw them come back from 2-0, go up 3-2, trail 5-3, force overtime, and then fall 6-5. The Wolves have the Griffins once again tomorrow afternoon. It will be important for the Admirals to have a fast start and not get caught up in more of last night’s sluggish effort.

There are two players that have been on an absolute tear during this four-game point streak for the Wolves: Kenny Agostino and Brad Hunt. The two each have contributed 9 points during this point streak: Agostino (2 goals, 7 assists) and Hunt (4 goals, 5 assists). Right now Hunt is the AHL’s top scorer with 29 points (9 goals, 20 assists) in 23 games but -thankfully- the St. Louis Blues recalled the 28-year old defenseman on Thursday. He scored an assist in his first NHL game of the season yesterday in a 4-1 win for the Blues over the New Jersey Devils.

Agostino is the leading active scorer for the Wolves with Hunt up topside. He has 24 points (8 goals, 16 assists) in 23 games. He is followed by the Wolves top goal scorer former Cincinnati Cyclones forward Wade Megan who has 18 points (10 goals, 8 assists) in 22 games.

The tandem in net for the Wolves seems to finally be accomplishing what the organization hoped for a season ago. Jordan Binnington has a 7-5-2-0 record from 14 games with a 2.73 goals against average and 0.913 save percentage. Pheonix Copley has a 3-3-0-1 record from 7 games with a 2.13 goals against average, 0.922 save percentage, and a shutout. Copley is the better of the two goaltenders against the Admirals this season: 2 starts, 0-1-0-1 record, 1.95 goals against average, and 0.934 save percentage.

What are your expectations for tonight’s game? Was last night just a dud performance or are the Milwaukee Admirals starting to miss out on their defensemen that have been recalled by the Nashville Predators?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Tonight marks the Milwaukee Admirals first trip into the Van Andel Arena since being eliminated by the Grand Rapids Griffins in one of the more bizarre games in recent memory for the Admirals. That night saw two pucks fly clean through a net requiring lengthy review processes that stalled out what had been a good start by the Admirals when they needed it.

One would only hope that officials this time around actually check the quality of the goal nets before dropping a puck before every period just to be sure that absurdity is never repeated. Should the netting not be an issue the action surrounding it will be a little like that playoff environment once again.

The Admirals and the Griffins always seem to have very grinding games that exemplify playoff style hockey. As they stand entering tonight the are first and second in the Central Division. The Admirals still maintain the best record in the AHL, 14-3-2-1 (31 points, 0.775 points percentage). The Griffins have the third best record in the Western Conference, 13-6-1-2 (29 points, 0.659 points percentage).

This is the third meeting of the season between these two teams. The Admirals came back from a 3-0 deficit to earn a point but lost in an overtime heartbreaker. They did respond the next time out by winning with a solid 3-1 performance at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Admirals captain Trevor Smith scored twice in that contest, Vladislav Kamenev added a goal, and Juuse Saros stopped 28/29 shots on goal – only allowing a power-play goal from Tomáš Jurčo coming with a full-two minutes of five-on-three power-play time with 4:31 remaining in regulation.

Saros should have a very busy night tonight. The Admirals defense is without half of the defensive core that played against the Griffins that first time out as Anthony Bitetto, Petter Granberg, and Adam Pardy have since gone up to the Nashville Predators. The Griffins have scored the second most goals in the Western Conference and fourth most in the entire league to this point, 73 goals from 22 games. That is a 3.32 goals per game average. Saros, on the other hand, boasts the second best goals against average in the league among qualified goaltenders at 1.54 goals against average.

Another obstacle in the Admirals path is turning around their fortunes at the Van Andel Arena. Including last year’s playoffs the Admirals have lost their last eight straight games in Grand Rapids (0-7-1-0 record). Their last win in that building came back on 1/31/15 in a 4-0 shutout with Magnus Hellberg in net. In the Dean Evason Era the Admirals are 5-13-1-0 in Grand Rapids and have been shutout by the Griffins 4 times.

The Griffins leading scoring entering this contest is Matt Lorito who ranks third in the AHL in scoring, as well. The former Brown University team captain, who joined the Detroit Red Wings organization from the Albany Devils in the off-season, has 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 22 games this season for the Griffins.

I feel the best bet on who gets the start for the Griffins in net tonight would be Jared Coreau -but- Eddie Pasquale did get the start when the Griffins earned an overtime win over the Admirals in the first meeting of the season. Coreau is fresh off his first career stint in the NHL where he had a less than ideal debut with the Red Wings. He has a record of 8-5-0-0 from 13 games for the Griffins this season to go along with a 2.39 goals against average, 0.923 save percentage, and a shutout. Pasquale has a record of 3-1-1-2 from 7 games, 2.50 goals against average, and a 0.918 save percentage. In Pasquale’s last three starts he has picked up losses in games spilling past regulation: two shootout defeats and one in overtime.

What are your expectations for tonight’s game? Can the Milwaukee Admirals buck this poor run of results in Grand Rapids? How important will Saros be in net for the Admirals tonight?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

The Milwaukee Admirals had a long layoff a week ago that saw them sitting for six straight days before playing a game. With a stretched roster they fell 4-1 to the Cleveland Monsters for their first regulation loss since the end of October. The next night, with an even more stretched squad, they bounced right back against the Monsters with a 4-1 win of their own.

Great news is that some roster relief is in sight for the Admirals. And it isn’t just limited to the forward roles, either. The Admirals will have Pontus Åberg, Mike Liambas, and Juuse Saros all on-hand for tonight’s game. Åberg has been a point per game player at the AHL level this season. Liambas provides such a physical but also defensively polished approach on the lower lines that can help tilt the ice back to offense. And Saros is the reigning AHL/CCM Goaltender of the Month  who arrives back to the AHL where he is riding a personal winning streak of six straight games.

Saros should be a very welcome addition because I believe that the Finn might be able to help neutralize the Iowa Wild’s Finn, Teemu Pulkkinen. When the Admirals last played the Wild it was only Pulkkinen’s second game with the Wild after a hectic waiver wire start to his season saw him switch NHL organizations and then end up down in Iowa. He looked lost in that game in Milwaukee that ended in a 5-3 win for the Admirals. Since? He’s looked just like his old AHL self when he was explosive for the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Pulkkinen has played 15 games for the Wild this season. He is a point per game player with 15 points (8 goals, 7 assists). Half of his goals scored come on the Wild’s power-play which comes in eleventh in the league on home ice (21.4%). He has always had a stunning slap shot. But now he appears to be finally settled into the Wild organization. He shouldn’t look like a lost puppy as he did that first game against the Admirals a month ago. He should be the man that needs to get clamped down. He hasn’t scored a point in the last two games, true, but before that he had goals in four straight games. Saros should enter from Nashville and instantly find a nice test from a re-energized Wild offense.

Speaking of re-energized. The Wild, like the Admirals yesterday, did pick up some help ahead of tonight’s game from their parent club. Zack Mitchell and Gustav Olofsson were both reassigned by the Minnesota Wild to the AHL yesterday. Mitchell has split time almost evenly between the NHL and AHL ranks this season. Meanwhile Olofsson has mainly been at the AHL level and has performed very well for Iowa this season from the blueline: 12 points (3 goals, 9 assists) in 21 games.

The Wild are currently fifth in the Central Division with a record of 10-11-1-1 (22 points, 0.478 points percentage). They have played four more games than the Admirals have to this point. They average 2.7 goals scored per game while allowing an average of 3,3 goals against per game. Compared to the Admirals, who roll a 2.8 goals per game and 2.4 goals against per game, they’re defense can be a bit erratic.

In net the Wild have shared time between Steve Michalek and Alex Stalock. The majority of game action to this point has favored the Stalock (14 games) over Michalek (12 games). The two both have pretty average to below average numbers on the season. Stalock: 6-6-1-0 record, 3.02 goals against average, 0.901 save percentage, and a shutout. Michalek: 4-5-0-1 record, 3.28 goals against average, and a 0.912 save percentage.

Tonight’s game starts at 7:00 PM CST. After the game completes the next journey for the Admirals takes them to Grand Rapids for the first time this season. They’ll be traveling tomorrow, practicing there on Thursday, and then getting the Griffins at the Van Andel Arena Friday night at 6:00 PM CST. It will complete the Admirals four game road trip. The Admirals return home this Saturday night when they get the Chicago Wolves at 6:00 PM CST.

Expectations for tonight’s game? How big of a boost will the recent returns from the Nashville Predators be for the Milwaukee Admirals?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

The Milwaukee Admirals are on the road for the next four games and they start with a Friday-Saturday tilt against the Cleveland Monsters. The last time the Admirals traveled into The Q they also had a two-game set and were able to come away with two wins. Yet, those wins were of the white knuckle variety to sit back and watch. It was playoff style hockey in the month of November. And I would honestly expect much of the same this weekend.

What the Admirals were planning on doing last time out was playing a very measured defensive style game. They wanted to be as mistake free as possible and not get caught up into a track meet with the defending Calder Cup champs. The Admirals ended up playing a playoff style hockey game both times and out played the team who worked that playoff style better than anyone last season. It wasn’t pretty, flashy, or scoreboard popping but the Admirals had a very calm and controlled approach that won both times out.

Juuse Saros, who yesterday was named the CCM/AHL Goaltender of the Month, was a fortress for the Admirals during those two games in Cleveland. He earned a 35-save shutout in a game that only saw a third period goal scored by Matt White. Saros then followed that up stopping 30/31 in a 2-1 overtime win.

If there were any serious changes from those two games to these two it comes in the lineup that the Admirals are bringing in. Saros is currently up with Nashville as are Kevin Fiala, Frédérick Gaudreau, Petter Granberg, and Mike Liambas. In the second game of the season against the Monsters the Admirals ended up dressing seven-defensemen with Anthony Bitetto playing his first game on conditioning assignment.

In a similar breath to Bitetto’s introduction the Admirals will be doing something similar tonight. Miikka Salomäki is with the Admirals on conditioning assignment and is expected to play his first game since 10/15/16 when he injured his hand while blocking a shot in a 5-3 loss for the Predators on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Admirals will also have Cody Bass this time around and should see Jonathan Diaby and Justin Kirkland chip in as well.

The biggest focal point will come in that last personnel change, Marek Mazanec. He looked far better in his last start which ended in a 3-2 shootout win on the road against the Rockford IceHogs. He still had less than a 0.900 save percentage on the night but he looked more square to shots, played great around his net in getting pucks back up out of the zone to disrupt forechecks, and held his own in a crazy overtime frame to eventually earn the win in a shootout.

For the Admirals to succeed this weekend against the Monsters the exact same strategy that played out on their last Cleveland trip should hold up regardless of who is in net. They defended very well and -doing that- should allow for Mazanec to settle into the game nicely. Mazanec made three starts against the Monsters last season. He had a 1.31 goals against average, 0.943 save percentage, and earned a 19-save shutout on the road. In fact, he took part in a two-in-two in Cleveland last season where he started both games and stopped 40/42 which did include that shutout performance which, like Saros this season, came in a 1-0 win.

A final factor that could creep in on the Admirals side of things is the battle between rest and rust. The Admirals last played on Saturday night when they lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Manitoba Moose in Milwaukee. The Monsters played that night as well, where they were thrashed at home 6-2 by the Grand Rapids Griffins, but they did respond well to win a 3-2 shootout on the road against the Griffins on Wednesday. Will the Admirals play with some extra energy thanks to all that down time or will a small sloppiness at game speed be a factor against a team that earned a tough result just two nights ago?

Monsters notes: Despite having such a solid team back this season the Monsters they have the worst record in the Central Division, 7-10-1-1 (16 points, 0.421 points percentage). Anton Forsberg has been their best goaltender this season sporting 6 wins from 14 games with a 2.43 goals against average and 0.926 save percentage. His battery-mate Joonas Korpisalo on the other hand has been simply atrocious – allowing 20 goals in less than 5 games of ice-time (252:49). The lone roster absentee for the Monsters from the previous meeting would be Markus Hännikäinen who is currently up top with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Monsters leading scorers, both whom have played all games for the team this season, are Daniel Zaar and Alex Broadhurst who have a combined 25 points (7 goals, 18 assists).

Expectations for tonight’s game? Will the Milwaukee Admirals current roster make-up be able to produce grind-it-out results such as the last Cleveland trip? How big of a difference will Mazanec in and Saros out be for this series? How big of an impact would you expect Salomäki to make in his return from injury?

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This is the first appearance of the Manitoba Moose on the Milwaukee Admirals 2016-17 schedule. It’s also going to mark one of my favorite things in hockey. For the first time during an Admirals game at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena tonight we will hear -both- the United States and Canadian anthems. All you could possibly hope for after that is for the game to go the way of the two teams parent clubs last night.

The Moose arrive to Milwaukee with a blissfully average record of 7-7-1-1 (16 points, 0.500 points percentage). Unlike the Admirals the Moose were inactive last night. Their last games came at home on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Iowa Wild. They lost both of those contests and only scored a single goal from 56 shots.

I do ponder how the game that proceeded the two games against Iowa actually played into the performance. The Moose were the opponents to the Tucson Roadrunners when their captain Craig Cunningham collapsed on the ice during the pre-game singing of the national anthem. The Moose were sightseers to that frightening scene and that game was effectively canceled on the night and postponed to be played at a later date. The Roadrunners subsequently cancelled their Tuesday and Wednesday games against the San Diego Gulls. They are expected to play their first game since that incident took place tonight at home in what should be an emotional game against the Stockton Heat.

While it didn’t happen to the Moose – that incident shook everyone in the hockey community. I’d imagine being there for when that happened would be a difficult thing to process. Not too unlike when the Admirals were guests to the Grand Rapids Griffins a season ago when Alden Hirschfeld collapsed on the Griffins bench and suffered a seizure shortly after finishing a shift. It takes some time to let something like that fade on the mind whether you knew the player personally or not. The Moose in their games against the Wild may have still been going through some of the motions. This road trip to Milwaukee might serve them well.

The leading scorer for the Moose at the moment is first-year pro Jack Roslovic who has 10 points (3 goals, 7 assists) from 16 games. The 19-year old who was drafted in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2015 NHL Draft is their lone player at the double-digit plateau in points. The Admirals have four.

The good news for them is that they happen to have a version of Matt White on their team by the name of Quinton Howden. Both haven’t played the full allotment of games for their respective teams but both lead their teams in goal scoring with 7 goals. White does have a slight edge as a point per game player at the moment to Howden’s 0.75 point per game average.

A glaring stat for the Moose happens to come in the form of their 255 penalty minutes. There is a good reason for this, too. Remember that new AHL fighting policy that came up this Summer? Cool. Me too. Now somebody tell the Manitoba Moose that because they are current tied with three other teams for fourth most fighting majors (11) in the AHL this season. The only teams who have more are: Albany Devils have a league high 17 fighting majors taken so far while the Hershey Bears and Ontario Reign are tied with 12 fighting majors. The Admirals have only taken 4 fighting majors all season and the only teams who’ve taken fewer than that are the Charlotte Checkers and Griffins who both have had just 3 fights all season.

If anything the good news is that there isn’t a soon to be red flag yet for the Moose. The most fighting majors accumulated to date by a single player on their roster stands at 2 fighting majors and is shared by Patrice Cormier, Darren Kramer, and  J.C. Lipon. Beyond that? Sparkling. Only five other players have dropped the gloves for the Moose. So, this game should be 100% civil… ignore the photo used above.

In net the Moose have a young up and comer as well as someone who has been there and done that. Eric Comrie was someone that really impressed me in net for the Moose every chance I got to watch him play. He ended up shouldering a massive work load a season ago but that can now be shared because he is partnered with Ondrej Pavelec.

To this point Comrie has been the much better option of the two. He has a 2.31 goals against average and 0.925 save percentage compared to Pavelec’s 3.62 goals against average and 0.899 save percentage. With such a healthy bit of rest since their last game either could start tonight. As for the Admirals? It might be interesting in the back of a two-in-two if the rotate Marek Mazanec out after last night’s wild game and gave Jonas Gunnarsson another go. It might make someone in Nashville wearing a suit frown but it also might be a smart move to play the Swede.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Do you feel like last night’s grinding effort will comeback to bite the Milwaukee Admirals tonight against a fresh Manitoba Moose team? Would you consider rotating Mazanec and Gunnarsson for the sake of rest or play Mazanec until Nashville sees that he’s back on the horse again?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.