If last night’s Milwaukee Admirals game still has you down I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the Admirals can instantly put last night in the past by picking up a win tonight against the Rockford IceHogs. The bad news is that, for an Admirals team that was just shutout, the IceHogs defense limited a very strong Chicago Wolves offense to only fifteen shots on goal in a game that saw Rockford win smoothly during a fight filled clash.

The IceHogs have a record of 12-4-1-2 (27 points) with a points percentage of 0.711. With the results going as they did last night the Admirals dropped from the top of the Central Division to third. The Lake Erie Monsters now lead the division with a 0.722 points percentage with the IceHogs not too far behind them.

Since the last meeting between the Admirals the IceHogs have won all three-games that they’ve played and done so on the strength of their defense. The IceHogs have produced 3 goals in each victory while goaltender Michael Leighton has stopped 68/72 shots on goal for a 0.932 save percentage. Those games were all played on home ice in Rockford. The IceHogs have lost their last two games that were played on the road.

The IceHogs are led in scoring by defenseman Ville Pokka who has 12 points (3 goals, 9 assists) in 19 games with a plus/minus rating of +3 and only 4 penalty minutes to his name.

While players such as Marko Dano, Tanner Kero, and Brandon Mashinter all remain up with the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL the IceHogs are still getting quality contributions from: Ryan Hartman, 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists)… Jeremy Morin, 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists)… Bryan Bickell, 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists)… Dennis Rasmussen, 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists)… and Mark McNeill, 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists).

While Leighton has been the go-to option for the IceHogs this season that hasn’t exactly been the case these last two games when facing the Admirals. Mark Visentin has been the man tasked with going up against Marek Mazanec in the last two games of this head-to-head meeting and both have provided great performances: 11/7/15, Visentin 37/40 in save opportunities versus Mazanec’s 35/37… 11/20/15, Visentin 32/33 in save opportunities versus Mazanec’s 28/29. That game ended in a shootout where the Admirals beat Visentin on two opportunities while Mazanec stopped both shootout chances from the IceHogs.

What are you expecting to see out of the Milwaukee Admirals tonight? Can the Admirals rebound from last night with a win against the IceHogs? With another defensively tight team coming into the building what does the Admirals offense need to do in order to have better success tonight?

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It’s about time that the Milwaukee Admirals and Grand Rapids Griffins finally squared off against one-another. It feels like it has been far too long. The Admirals have already played 17 games on the season. You have to go back to the 2007-08 season for the last time the Admirals met the Griffins this deep into a regular season. At that time the two were in different divisions, Admirals (West Division) and Griffins (North Division), and it was the game #21 of the season for the Admirals. They were shutout that night at home 1-0 in a goaltending match-up that featured Pekka Rinne versus Jimmy Howard. Not too shabby -but- I believe we’d all like to avoid such a result as that one.

~Rough Start~

The Griffins enter tonight’s game with a record of 6-8-0-1 (13 points). Their 0.433 points percentage sees them sitting in sixth place of the Central Division and third from the bottom in the entire Western Conference.

It was a really poor start to the season for the Griffins who went five games into this season before finally earning their first win. They were shutout twice in the first four games and currently sit on a goal differential of -10 (36 goals forced, 46 goals allowed).

What was to blame for the bad start? If you were to look at the Griffins roster there are so many returning faces from year’s past that have made them a high quality team. It’s sort of puzzling. Then again, the name that isn’t in Grand Rapids anymore than might be missing from their AHL outfit the most is their head coach of the last three-seasons Jeff Blashill. He is now the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. With his promotion also came the promotion of Teemu Pulkkinen and Alexei Marchenko. That puts new Griffins bench boss, and former head coach of the Oklahoma City Barons and Edmonton Oilers, Todd Nelson in a slightly tough spot. But my guess is that, much like the Admirals, the Griffins had some early kinks to get through as far as familiarity goes. For the Admirals it was a player-to-player problem. For the Griffins it’s coming to grips with a new coach.

Since losing two-games in two-days in Lake Erie, the Griffins appear to have found their polished identity once more and are currently on a four-game winning streak.

This winning streak has looked as such: 3-2 win vs. Rockford… 7-4 win vs. San Diego… 2-1 win @ Chicago… 5-1 win vs. Iowa. The Griffins have: outscored opponents 17-8, outshot opponents 128-127, and gone 5/18 on the power-play (27.8%) and 15/17 on the penalty kill (88.2%).

During the four-game winning streak for the Griffins they’ve seen quality performances by a number of players: Tomas Jurco, 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists)… Andreas Athanasiou, 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists)… Mitch Callahan, 5 (3 goals, 2 assists)… Eric Tangradi, 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists)… Robbie Russo, 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists)… Andy Miele, 4 points (0 goals, 4 assists).

~AHL Player of the Week~

It will be worth highlighting the current AHL Player of the Week in tonight’s game. He’ll be the man rocking the number 28 on the ice for the Griffins, Jurco.

Press Release via AHL:

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Grand Rapids Griffins left wing Tomas Jurco has been selected as the CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Nov. 22, 2015.

Jurco joined the Griffins on a conditioning loan from the Detroit Red Wings and injected life into the Grand Rapids offense, tallying three goals and four assists for seven points – including assists on all three game-winning goals – while helping the club to victories over three Western Conference powers.

In his first AHL appearance of the season on Wednesday, Jurco helped set up the winning goal with 9:49 left in regulation as Grand Rapids defeated Rockford, 3-2, to end the IceHogs’ 10-game points streak. On Friday, Jurco tied a franchise record with three power-play goals for his third career hat trick, part of a four-point effort to lead the Griffins over San Diego, 7-4. And on Saturday night, Jurco assisted on both Grand Rapids goals in a 2-1 win at Chicago, the Griffins’ third straight win after they had been 2-8-0-1 on the season entering the week.

Jurco, 22, had one assist in four NHL games with Detroit this season before joining the Griffins last week. A member of Grand Rapids’ Calder Cup championship team as a rookie in 2012-13, Jurco has gone on to play 103 games in the National Hockey League with the Red Wings, totaling 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points. Jurco, a native of Kosice, Slovakia, was a second-round draft choice by Detroit (35th overall) in 2011 and has registered 30 goals and 37 assists for 67 points in 109 AHL games with Grand Rapids.

~Familiar Friend~

Tonight will mark the return of Triston Grant to Milwaukee since he signed on with the Griffins this past off-season. It feels like Grant really does have two places he can comfortably call home, Milwaukee and Grand Rapids. He has played a total of 328 games for both clubs (202 with the Admirals, 126 with the Griffins).

Sadly, it looks as if some sort of injury is keeping this ol’ relie from getting back on the ice. Grant has yet to play a game for the Griffins in the 2015-16 season. He might be added to the injury list of familiar faces that played with the Admirals last season but missed out on playing in Milwaukee early this season: Mike Liambas and Joe Piskula.

~Between the Pipes~

This season the Griffins have a clean split at the goaltending department with both Tom McCollum and Jared Coreau having logged 8 games in net each. McCollum leads the way with 8 starts this season but was yanked from the net after an abysmal seven-minutes against the San Antonio Rampage. McCollum went 6/9 in saves beforing giving way to Coreau who would stop all 22 shots he’d face for the rest of that game.

That’s essentially the story for the goaltending as a whole for the Griffins, too. Coreau has shown better results than his more seasoned AHL goaltending partner McCollum. Coreau has earned a record of 4-2-0-1, 2.78 goals against average, and 0.915 save percentage. McCollum has a record of 2-6-0-0 (losing his first 6 starts consecutively), 2.83 goals against average, and 0.907 save percentage. As far as who gets tabbed with starting duties tonight against the Admirals it is a clean toss up.

Which winning streak lives another day, Admirals or Griffins? Will the Admirals losing Colton Sissons to the Nashville Predators stretch the team or could a returning Stevie Moses be a boost? Would you prefer to have a player up with the Admirals to serve as a flex option at forward or should the roster stay bare bones with players remaining active and performing with the Cincinnati Cyclones at the ECHL level?

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History will be on the line tonight for the Milwaukee Admirals. They current are tied for a franchise record nine-game long winning streak. All that stands between them and setting a new franchise record is the San Antonio Rampage.

~The Ol’ Monsters~

The Rampage enter tonight’s game with a record of 9-2-5-0 (23 points). Their 0.719 points percentage is identical to that of the Admirals and are currently in second place in the Pacific Division – trailing the Ontario Reign on points percentage alone (0.786) with the reigning Calder Cup champions having played two less games than the Rampage.

The Rampage were yet another team that experienced an affiliation change this past off-season. They are no longer the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers. They are now affiliated with the Colorado Avalanche. That means, when thinking Rampage, you should be thinking about last season’s divisional rivalry against the Lake Erie Monsters. The Admirals went 5-2-2-1 (13 points) against the Monsters last season. Of the ten games played between the two – half of them went to overtime or a shootout.

~Comparisons~

With the Admirals and Rampage having played an equal number of games with the exact same points percentage it makes for some fun comparisons. The Rampage have scored more goals on the season (55 goals forced) than the Admirals (48 goals forced). Yet, the Admirals defense and goaltending has kept out less goals (42 goals allowed) than the Rampage (46 goals allowed).

The special teams differences between these two are rather drastic when setting the stage for tonight’s game…

The Rampage have the fifth best overall power-play in the AHL (20.9%) and are clocking in sixth in the AHL for road power-play despite being better on the road than at home (21.2%). Their overall penalty killing numbers (85.5%) sees them tenth in the AHL and their road penalty kill is also tenth in the league (85.7%).

The Admirals overall power-play comes in ninth in the AHL (19.5%) and have the seventh best home power-play (20.5%). Their overall penalty kill is twenty-eighth in the AHL (77.3%) and twenty-ninth at home (73.7%).

~Who What Now?~

There are some very familiar names on the Rampage roster that you’d recognize from last season on the Monsters: Andrew Agozzino, 16 points (7 goals, 9 assists)… Maxim Noreau, 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists)… Colin Smith, 12 points (6 goals, 6 assists)… Joey Hishon, 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists)… Trevor Cheek, 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists)… Michael Schumacher, 3 points (3 goals, 0 assists)… Duncan Siemens, 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist)… Patrick Bordeleau, 2 points (0 goals, 2 assists)… and Daniel Maggio, 0 points (19 penalty minutes).

Between Agozzino, Noreau, Smith, Hishon, Cheek, and Schumacher… the Rampage bring back points 19 points (7 goals, 12 assists) worth of offense that did damage against the Admirals last season as members of the Monsters.

In net there is a clear cut number one in net, Chet‘s brother, Calvin Pickard. I don’t know what it is but Pickard is another one of those goalies that plays extrodinarily well against the Admirals. In his career against Milwaukee he has a 8-2-1-1 record, 2.26 goals against average, and a 0.909 save percentage.

Can the Admirals set a franchise record with a ten-game winning streak tonight? What do the Admirals need to do in order to see yet another win recorded tonight? With both goalies performing as well as they are, who do you start for the Admirals, and how do you make sure one doesn’t get cold by missing playing time?

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The Milwaukee Admirals first taste of the new Californian based teams will come tonight in the form of the San Diego Gulls. Drink it in, it always goes down smooth. Yes, the urge to use Anchorman quotes in this post and during my Twitter play-by-play today is going to be right up there with my wrasslin’ shenanigans during the Milwaukee Admirals Salute to Wrestling Night. Let’s dodge that for now and get right into the enemy because there is lots to learn about.

~San Diego~

The San Diego Gulls were announced as part of the AHL’s Pacific Division back in January as the Anaheim Ducks AHL affiliate. This put an end to there being two teams named the Admirals in the AHL. The Ducks affiliation change meant the Norfolk Admirals transitioning from being the Ducks AHL affiliate to becoming the Edmonton Oilers ECHL affiliate.

That is simply sad days for Norfolk to say the least. It was an organization that entered the AHL as an expansion franchise in the 2000-01 season as the affiliate to the Chicago Blackhawks.  That partnership would last until 2007 when the Tampa Bay Lighting moved into Norfolk’s AHL setup and that is where they would find Calder Cup winning success in 2011-12 under the guidance of current Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. The Ducks would step in the following season and leave Norfolk in the dust to head out Californee-way. The last season of AHL hockey for the Norfolk Admirals ended with a 27-39-6-4 (64 points) record which was tied for the worst in the Eastern Conference.

~Here and Now~

This season appears to be much improved for the Gulls. They’ve played 15 games this season and are already one-third of the way to their win total from all of last season. Their record is 9-5-0-1 (19 points). Their 0.633 points percentage has them in third place of the Pacific Division and seventh in the Western Conference.

While the wins are up there in relation to last season they’re last win came five games ago. Not only that but look at the scoreline of their last win and their game held last night: 11/11/15, San Diego wins 6-1 at home to the Bakersfield Condors… 11/20/15, San Diego loses 7-4 on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Their currently in a slight bit of a skid. This should mean a team looking to play aggressive and desperate. I think last night’s Milwaukee Admirals performance on defense should meet that challenge head-on and lead to a grind it out contest.

~Big Joe From Antigo~

It would be great to see Wisconsin native and last season’s Admirals captain Joe Piskula back on the ice at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Lone problem is that he has missed the last three-games for the Gulls. That’s a shame because he was officially named team captain of the Gulls just days prior to him exiting the lineup.

I don’t see specific news in regards to Piskula’s absence from the lineup but, knowing him, it takes a lot to put him out of game action. It would also be odd for the veteran minimum to be the cause of the team sitting their newly christened captain. My guess is injury and, if that’s the case, it could be that he didn’t even travel with the Gulls during this three-game road trip and two-game swing around Lake Michigan. Saying without fully knowing: I don’t think we’ll see Mr. Antigo tonight so just keep your expectations in check.

~Other Familiar Names In Attendance~

There will be two former Admirals that should take part in tonight’s game: Chris Mueller and Brian McGrattan. Heck, even for Nashville readers you might recognize the name Shane O’Brien on this Gulls roster. Ditto to fans of Badgers fans when seeing the name Nicolas Kerdiles.

The standout of those aforementioned names is easily Mueller who continues to perform well offensively at the AHL level. This season he has scored 13 points (3 goals, 10 assists) in 15 games. He’ll be returning to Milwaukee tonight looking to set a milestone for himself as he is one-point away from reaching 300 career points in the AHL: 299 points (134 goals, 165 assists) in 462 AHL games.

~The Rest of the Flock~

As evidenced by the roster you start tacking up how many veteran names there are. The average age of the San Diego Gulls is 25.08. Compare that to the Milwaukee Admirals average age of 22.86. The Gulls are the fourth oldest team in the AHL behind the Hartford Wolf Pack (25.20), Lehigh Valley Phantoms (25.19), and Iowa Wild (25.09). The Admirals rank as the second youngest team in the AHL behind the St. John’s IceCaps (22.69).

Those other older and more familar sounding names include: Tim Jackman, Stu Bickel, Harry Zolnierczyk, and Kyle MacKinnon.

While he isn’t old he certainly should be another familiar name: Kenny Ryan. You might remember this winger as a member of the Lake Erie Monsters last season where he played 10 games against the Admirals scoring a shorthanded goal and an assist. This season with the Gulls he has only registered 2 assists in 10 games while also getting ECHL time with the Utah Grizzlies.

~Between the Pipes~

The main man for the Gulls in net is John Gibson. You might remember hearing that name back during the 2012-13 season as he looked to be a bright star for the Ducks late in the season. He earned an 18-save shutout in his NHL Debut and would end up playing a  part in the Ducks playoff run that season. The follow-up last season saw him splitting time between the NHL and AHL. Now he’s planted firmly in the AHL having already surpassed the amount of games he played at this level a season ago last night. Gibson has played 12 games, sports a record of 7-3-1-1, 2.68 goals against average, 0.914 save percentage, and has a shutout for the Gulls this season.

Gibson did play in the Gulls lost in Grand Rapids last night. He allowed 7 goals from 40 shots. So, should the Gulls feel a goaltending swap is needed for the night, Matt Hackett is their second choice in net. He has only played 4 games this season and split the deck by winning and losing 2 games. Of note, one of those wins came in a relief appearance of Gibson at the start of this month. Hackett sports a 3.00 goals against average and 0.897 save percentage for the Gulls.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Can the Admirals winning-streak hit nine games? What do you do in regards to the Admirals choice for goaltender at this point: does Saros get back in or do you reward Mazanec for his efforts last night?

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Before games were played in the AHL on Wednesday night the Milwaukee Admirals had the third longest points streak in the division, the Chicago Wolves had the second longest points streak in the division, and the Rockford IceHogs had the longest points streak in the division. As of today the lone streak standing goes to the Admirals. You can give an assist to the Grand Rapids Griffins for ending the IceHogs run Wednesday night.

~The Oinking Enemies~

The IceHogs enter tonight’s game with a record of 9-4-1-1 (20 points). Their 0.667 points percentage slots them in fourth place of the Central Division which is just behind the Admirals who have a 0.679 points percentage.

With the IceHogs  ten-game points streak (8-0-1-1) now over you’d expect them to be attempting to get right back on track tonight after a sloppy performance in Grand Rapids. Even the goals the IceHogs scored on Wednesday night were rough to watch. As was them allowing the game-winning goal 34 seconds after tying the game halfway through the third period. They should be very hungry to right the wrongs from that game.

~Recapping~

This will be the third meeting between the Admirals and IceHogs this season. The first game took place in Milwaukee and ended with a 4-2 IceHogs win. The second contest happened in Rockford and ended with Trevor Murphy‘s first career pro goal to give the Admirals a 3-2 win in overtime.

You can easily argue that the Admirals are a much different team than the one that lost to the IceHogs in Milwaukee the first go around. The sad truth is, despite not being at their best, the Admirals almost pulled that game out of the bag. They tied the game up a 2-2 with 9:41 remaining in regulation only to have a bizarre puck kick up off of Vladislav Kamenev and unleash Marko Dano for the game-winning breakaway goal only 1:21 of ice time after the game was equalized.

The last time these two met featured what was in my eyes Marek Mazanec‘s best performance with the Admirals. He was brilliant. Mazanec stopped 35/37 shots and allowed for the Admirals to keep the game tight until winning in overtime. It was shortly after that effort that Mazanec was recalled by the Nashville Predators to fill in while Carter Hutton was placed on injured reserve. If there were ever a good night to give Juuse Saros a rest it might be tonight to see if Mazanec can deliver the goods against the IceHogs once more.

~Who What Now?~

The current leading points scorer on the IceHogs is defenseman Ville Pokka with 9 points (2 goals, 7 assists) in 15 games. That production from the blueline is impressive but it takes a backseat to what Bryan Bickell has been able to do since arriving from the Chicago Blackhawks. Bickell has only played 5 games in the AHL this season but has scored 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists). He’s been on a tear and has scored at least a point in each game he has played since his assignment to the IceHogs.

In net, it has mainly been the Michael Leighton show for the IceHogs. The veteran goaltender has played in 12 games this season and has a record of 8-3-1-0, 2.38 goals against average, 0.921 save percentage, and a shutout to his name. The last time the Admirals and IceHogs played though it wasn’t Leighton in net it was a student of Ben Vanderklok by the name of Mark Visentin in net. In that game he matched up with Mazanec very well by stopping 37/40 shots on goal – taking the overtime loss in the process. That was the last time he started in net as these last three games have belonged to Leighton.

~Just So You Snow~

In non-game topic news, Southeastern Wisconsin is expected to be hit with some snow tonight right around game-time. The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Watch yesterday for the occasion and upwards of three-inches of snow is possible in downtown Milwaukee. Make sure you drive smart, be safe, and plan accordingly.

UPDATE. It’s now become a Winter Storm Warning that can deliver up to nine-inches of snow. So. That’s fun.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Will the Admirals points and/or winning-streak end tonight? Would you attempt to start Mazanec over Saros or continue to let the young Finn do his thing?

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The Milwaukee Admirals current run of form is a seven-game points streak backed by a six-game winning streak. For how rough the first few games were to watch it is an outstanding turn-around by the coaching staff and players. While this current streak is fantastic to see out of the Admirals the unfortunate reality is that it isn’t even the second longest points streak in the Central Division right now. The longest points streak active in the division goes to the Rockford IceHogs who have a ten-game points streak (8-0-1-1 record). The team entering the BMO Harris Bradley Center tonight, the Chicago Wolves, have the second longest at nine-games (7-0-1-1). Simply put, something is bound to give tonight.

~Recapping~

It’s worth looking back to the first Amtrak Rivalry game of the season. It was opening night for both teams and expectations for both were suspect. What were we going to get? Who was going to be more polished? Was a team going to stumble out of the blocks? Or, were both teams simply going to match-up evenly and grind through a tight contest? Spoiler Alert. The Admirals lost badly on the road to the Wolves 5-1. So, there was the answer.

The major talking point from the first game of the season was the Admirals discipline. They allowed the Wolves to go on seven total power-plays and conceded four power-play goals. In the first period alone the Admirals allowed three power-play goals. Oddly, the lone Admirals goal came during the run of first period penalty killing when Vladislav Kamenev scored against Jordan Binnington on a chance I’d best describe as a softy that Binnington would normally stop.

It was cruise control from then on for the Wolves. The damage the Admirals did to themselves was capitalized upon by the Wolves in the first period and second period. It clearly wasn’t a result that the Admirals could be happy with but it provided some glaring weaknesses in their game that I feel they’ve tightened up on since.

~The Amtrak Rivaly~

 The Wolves overall record on the season is 8-1-1-1 (18 points). Their points percentage of 0.818 has them sitting not only on top of the Central Division but the entire Western Conference. They only trail the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins insane points percentage of 0.923 for the best record in the entire league. Few are being able to stop the offense and fewer are being able to solve their defense.

Let’s start with the aforementioned Binnington in net. One of the things to watch with the Wolves this season is how they handle their battery in net which can be viewed as a 1-A and 1-B setup rather than a first choice and second choice goaltending partnership. At the moment Binnington has seen the net more but by only a single game over Pheonix Copley. When you have two goaltenders that can serve as the first choice goaltender it presents more of a problem that it does a bonus. How do you keep the two rolling without messing both up? It was a situation that manifested itself with Magnus Hellberg and Marek Mazanec here not too long ago. It will be a talking point of the Wolves all season long.

When looking at the Wolves goaltending you’ll see pretty average statistical numbers by both: Binnington (0.902 save percentage and 2.61 goals against average) and Copley (0.908 save percentage and a 2.58 goals against average). What does that mean? It means look less at the goaltending and more at the defense of the Wolves. Both goaltenders have faced a combined 304 shots on goal for an average of 27.6 shots against per game. The Admirals goalies have faced a combined 395 shots on goal for an average of  30.4 shots against per game. As great as the Wolves goaltenders can be it hasn’t been about them anywhere near as much as it has been the team playing out in front of them to start this season.

With great defense comes a solid foundation upon which you can attack. That’s been the biggest weapon the Wolves have had to start this season. While both goaltenders goals against average is in that 2.5 range the Wolves offense has been averaging 3.9 goals per game.

That scoring is coming from the entire team. The Wolves have four players with double-digit points in scoring already: Pat Cannone, 14 points (5 goals, 9 assists)… Danny Kristo, 12 points (6 goals, 6 assists)… Ivan Barbashyov, 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists)… Ty Rattie, 10 points (6 goals, 4 assists). Beyond them there are eight players with 5 points or more. Fortunately, two of those players are with the St. Louis Blues at the moment: Jeremy Welsh and Magnus Pääjärvi.

For comparison’s sake, when looking at how many members of the Wolves are scoring up above 10 points this season, the Admirals don’t have a single player with 10 points of offense yet and they have played two-more games than the Wolves have. The Ads leading scorer is Viktor Arvidsson with 9 points (4 goals, 5 assists). He started his season in the NHL but is currently on a nine-game points streak. Should he record a point tonight he will tie the Wolves’ Cannone for the longest points streak in the AHL this season at ten-games.

Another noteworthy getting excited about comes from the Admirals blue line. Trevor Murphy has only played in eight games for the Admirals this season. That limited action is due to a combination of a groin injury and Anthony Bitetto‘s conditioning assignment that kept him in Milwaukee for fourteen consecutive days. You might be fearful that such a swift outing of the lineup might catch out a young defenseman like Murphy but he’s been ridiculous since returning. He has scored a goal in four consecutive games, has a pair of assists, has a power-play goal, and marked his return to the ice that sparked this run by recording his first career professional goal on a game-winner in overtime on the road against the IceHogs. It’s also fitting to mention Bitetto in Murphy’s current season because last season Bitetto led all Admirals defenseman with 4 goals in 70 games. Murphy already has 4 goals in 8 games. It’s been an impressive sight seeing the Admirals defense starting to contribute offensively.

It’s also worth acknowledging just how good Juuse Saros has been playing in net for the Admirals. This month he has won all five starts in net while recording a 1.60 goals against average, 0.945 save percentage, and a shutout. There is a tie for the AHL lead for wins at 8 and for second place at 7. Saros sits at 6 wins this season with overall numbers that really put him on the cuff of the AHL’s top ten in goals against average and save percentage. As far as AHL rookies go he only trails fellow Central Division netminders Joonas Korpisalo (Lake Erie Monsters) and Eric Comrie (Manitoba Moose) – both of whom have played less games than Saros. The young Finn has been looking every bit the hype that fans were hoping for and I can only imagine him learning and improving with each and every game.

What are your expectations in the second meeting of this season between the Admirals and Wolves? Can the Admirals start getting this Amtrak Rivalry back in their favor? What will be the key to the Admirals extending their streaks tonight against the Wolves?

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This is the second meeting of the season between the Milwaukee Admirals and Charlotte Checkers. If you don’t remember the first one I can’t say that I blame you. It was the second game of the season and the Admirals lost soundly by a final scoreline of 7-2. That might have been the Admirals at the height of their individualistic style of play this season when terrible passing and bad special teams were among a long list of repairs needed to be fixed.

It has been a month’s time since that game took place. The Admirals enter on a four-game winning streak with a record of 6-4-1-0 (13 points). The Checkers enter with a record of 7-5-0-0 (14 points). Thanks to the Pacific Division’s California based teams and the newly formatted standings based on percentage of points earned to games played ratio it is actually the Admirals (0.591) who have the better position in the Central Division than the Checkers (0.583). Imagine that after how the first meeting turned out?

I do suppose some major credit can be given to these Checkers though. They opened the season up with a crazy ten-game road trip. They weren’t able to finally unveil their new/old barn the Bojangles’ Coliseum until this past weekend when they reintroduced the place with two games against the Manitoba Moose. Game 1: Checkers get shutout, 3-0. Game 2: Checkers win, 3-2. Call me crazy but I think the Carolina Panthers against the Green Bay Packers is the reason why attendance fell from 8,317 to 3,514 on the first two days back in the building.

~Developments for the Admirals Next Home~

In talking about the Charlotte Checkers moving back into the Bojangles’ Coliseum one should take note of the potential mirroring story unfolding right here in Milwaukee in the not too distant future. When I spoke with Admirals President Jon Greenberg on Wednesday I brought up Charlotte’s recent move back into an old building and how it could be similar to an Admirals move to the UW-Milwaukee Panthers Arena.

“We’ve had preliminary discussions with the UW-Panther Arena about the possibility of coming over,” said Jon Greenberg. “Those have been positive discussions so far. I’m actually going to Charlotte this weekend to study – to meet with the Checkers just about the challenges that they had moving forward – things that needed to be updated in their building that we need to be keeping in mind when we move because the life span of this building isn’t going to be here much longer. We do have to start planning for our future and those discussions with the UW-Panther Arena we’re excited about where those have a potential to go.”

So, there is your on-ice hockey development with the players and the team itself taking place this weekend as well as developments off-the-ice in regards to the Admirals search for a future home. The time between the Checkers leaving and returning to the Bojangles’ Coliseum was ten years. The Admirals last played hockey in the ol’ MECCA back in 1988 – probably before I was born yet. What challenges are there for the Admirals with respect to such a move? Well, that’s part of what President Greenberg will be finding out with the Checkers who went through the same thing just recently.

“We’re excited about what’s going on in the UW-Panther Arena,” said Greenberg. “They’ve done a lot of amazing work over there. If you haven’t been in there recently, every seat is being replaced, they’ve done about eighty-percent of them already, so it’s brand new seats. Beautiful HD scoreboard. Technologically that building is very advanced. There are things that they still have to get ready for a new tenant that they’re willing to do. So, exciting possibilities for the Admirals moving forward.”

~Checking Those Checky McCheckers~

The Checkers are led in scoring by Phil Di Giuseppe currently with a total of 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists). In fact, when looking at the Checkers top five in scoring you will surprisingly not find a single player with a positive plus-minus rating. That’s sort of the state of things for them so far this season. Perhaps even stranger than that is perennial AHL scoring talent Zach Boychuk is 12 games and 42 shots on goal into this season without scoring a goal. He hasn’t recorded a goal in 19 AHL games now. It was 3/22/15 on the road against the Iowa Wild when Boychuk last picked up a goal.

Things are also not so sound in net for the Checkers. They have been heavily leaning on veteran netminder and former Admiral Drew MacIntyre. He has played in all but a single game out of 12 for the Checkers this season. That includes an appearance where he was yanked from the net and one in which he wishes he was never put in the net to relieve Rasmus Tirronen.

My thought is for the Checkers to be attempting a similarly played game to the one played against the Admirals previously. They forced the Admirals to take long perimeter shots, 24 shots on goal in the game, and MacIntyre wasn’t tested much with many of them. The Admirals power-play was blanked in four opportunities while the Checkers cashed in from two of their four power-play chances.

The great news is that this is in absolutely no way the same Admirals team right now. During this five-game points streak and four-game winning streak the Admirals have: outscored their opponent 17-9, produced a power-play goal in four consecutive games, gone 6/28 (21.4%) on the power-play and 18/22 (81.8%) on the penalty kill, and have outshot their opponents by 179-149 while only being outshot once from their last five games.

In short, these two games in Charlotte shouldn’t really reflect what the first meeting in Milwaukee displayed. Thinking back to what happened a season ago in Charlotte also makes me wonder what type of fireworks could take place. I know, I know. That was all circumstantial stuff but anytime I can reference last season’s goalie fight I will.

Expectations for the Admirals two-in-two on the road in Charlotte? Can this current streak last the weekend or will the East Coast travel sap some of the energy that was built here in the Midwest?

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It is that time again when you get your pre-game scout for a Milwaukee Admirals game the day before it happens. Why? Because AM Hockey tomorrow at the BMO Harris Bradley Center that’s why.

If the Admirals play half as well as they did in their AM game last week in Iowa then all attending this game should be treated to a great one. The Admirals shutout the Wild 3-0 with Juuse Saros in net. With Marek Mazanec up in Nashville the same storyline has the potential to play out once more. Still, the Lake Erie Monsters provided a playoff like atmosphere when they met the Admirals last Friday. No matter if it’s coffee, Red Bull, or all-natural enthusiasm I believe these two will deliver a similar gritty game regardless of the early start time.

Lake Erie has a record of 6-2-0-2 (14 points) and are in second place of the Central Division. The Monsters have won twice since they lost to the Admirals and will be entering this game following a 3-2 comeback win on the road against the Wild played on Sunday. Iowa was able to score twice in the opening five-minutes of the game but a late first period goal for Lake Erie provided enough of a boost heading into the second period for them to tally twice – including a game-winner shorthanded goal scored by Josh Anderson. In the third period the Monsters outshot the Wild 7-1 to cruise to that final scoreline.

The Monsters have the fifth best power-play unit in the AHL: 9/38 (23.7%). That figure is just about as good when their power-play takes to the road: 5/22 (22.7%). Their opposite end of special teams, penalty killing, is also ranked fifth best in the league, 40/45 (88.9%), and they have scored two shorthanded goals on the season.

When we last met, the Monsters were playing without their leading scorer Kerby Rychel in the lineup as he was with the Columbus Blue Jackets at the time. That isn’t going to be the case tomorrow morning because Rychel is back in the AHL. He has scored 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 8 games this season for the Monsters.

Not far behind Rychel in team scoring is a group of names tied at 6 points of offense: Michael Chaput, 6 points (4 goals, 2 assists)… Andrew Bodnarchuk, 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists)… Ryan Craig, (2 goals, 4 assists)… Markus Hännikäinen, 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists)… Also, small footnote, not too far behind on the team scoring list is the Monsters’ lone goal scorer against the Admirals last Friday Alex Broadhurst who has 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists).

When looking back at the first meeting between these two teams there was some chippy stuff that took place. Cody Bass dropped the gloves with Brett Gallant. Jamie Devane tried to fight against Oleg Yevenko but the referees had other plans (video). That prompted the best photo taken this season.  Then Devane and Yevenko had at it for realsies and the referees thought about where the best place to get a steak after the game ended would be (video). Could there be more of the same on the horizon? I don’t know but my gut says maybe.

Anton Forsberg was the man between the pipes for the Monsters when the faced the Admirals last Friday. He stopped 20/22 shots on goal. One of the goals he allowed was a one-timed bomb scored by Viktor Arvidsson at his sweet spot on the power-play. Since that game the Monsters rotated goalies back and forth while on the road in Iowa with Joonas Korpisalo getting the Saturday game and Forsberg getting the Sunday game. Korpisalo stopped 35/37 shots on goal and didn’t allow a shootout goal to pick up the win. Forsberg stopped 14/16 shots on goal but played shutout hockey from the fifth minute of the game all the way until the finish.

On the Admirals end of things this game gets an interesting shake up thanks to a few injuries up top for the Nashville Predators. It isn’t the biggest thing in the world that Saros gets the net for this game but not having team captain Colton Sissons might thin things out a slight bit. The good news? The Admirals are incredibly deep down the middle at the center position so that isn’t that huge of an issue. Yet, Sissons was leading the team in scoring at the time of his recall to the Predators so that’s where others will need to step up. One or two or the current population of Nashville might suggest Kevin Fiala or Stevie Moses would do well to contribute here.

Thoughts going into this game? Can the Admirals push their winning streak to four games? Without Sissons, who do you feel needs to step up in his place for the time being? Will you be able to attend this inaugural AM event for the Milwaukee Admirals?

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Is everyone in a good mood after yesterday’s 3-0 shutout win for the Milwaukee Admirals? I am, and I think most are, but there are some detractors kicking mud at a pair of players who were punished prior to or during the game itself. Before leaping into the new look Lake Erie Monsters, kick back, get yourself a coffee, and let’s dive into these two players getting the proverbial boot from yesterday’s game.

~The Almighty Ban Hammer~

If there is anything that I can give a resounding 100% thumbs up to on this young Admirals season it has been the authoritative approach that the coaching staff has had with its players. It is now very clear that there are strict team rules that must be adhered to or players face the risk of being scratched from the next game and quite possibly tasked with staying home in Milwaukee as the rest of the team travels to play on the road without the offending member of the team. This much was made clear when both Max Görtz and Pontus Åberg violated team rules prior to the Admirals game on 10/20/15. That was the precedent set by the Admirals brass and one that should set the tone for every wrong-doing that follows. That’s what makes Stevie Moses subsequent violation of team rules two weeks after the baseline was clearly issued a head scratcher.

Moses is being reintroduced to professional hockey in North America for the first time since he had a brief spell as a member of the Connecticut Whale (AHL) after his time with the University of New Hampshire finished up. He played 8 games for the Whale, recorded 2 goals, averaged 3.1 shots per game, and factored into a playoff game for good measure. That was the early sample size of AHL hockey for Moses who has spent his last three-seasons playing in Finland for Jokerit between two different leagues, Liiga and the KHL. His total haul with Jokerit, playoff games included, was 125 points (75 goals, 50 assists) in 170 games.

When Moses was signed by the Nashville Predators in early-April this year I think most viewed this situation as a low risk high reward scenario for the one-year, $1 million price tag on the 2014-15 top goal scorer in the KHL. Best case scenario is him hitting the ground running and earning a spot in Nashville’s pre-season camp while sticking with the team as an active lower-line winger. Worst case scenario, he gets fed to the Admirals to try and find his KHL mojo at the AHL level before his one-year contract runs out. Right now my calendar says that it is early-November. The Admirals have only played eight games and eight games with few real positive results from any specific individual to speak of because the team itself has really yet to find itself. Where is Moses right now? Trending towards the worst case scenario but right in the middle of the two evils because this season is still young. What does him being late to a practice say about his mindset or fire to earn his way back into the mix of the Predators? I can’t really answer that because I’m not Mr. Moses. His play from his first game back out of this team imposed one-game suspension will speak volumes in that respect. The coaching staff has to be appreciative of the response they’ve received by Görtz and Åberg since they were slapped with the exact same penalty imposed by the team. For Moses to act or perform any less than that is when I need to re-write what the worst case scenario for him actually is. Yet, he is a 26-years old with a collegiate and professional career in this game. He should deliver with the right attitude.

~Benched~

The next talking point that came from the Admirals shutout victory was a moment that occurred roughly six-minutes into the first period of the game. Kevin Fiala made a poor decision to pass from the right wing circle towards the point without realizing Brett Sutter was directly camped in the path of the passing lane. Fiala went ahead and slid a puck on the ice. Sutter intercepted it and was off on a shorthanded breakaway that he would narrowly miss on a backhand attempt. The net was open on Juuse Saros‘ blocker side but Sutter ran out of real estate and the shot fluttered to the endboards rather than the twine.

At this point in the game, again, it is roughly six-minutes in and the game is scoreless. The Admirals have been playing on the backfoot all season long it feels like. They’ve been trailing so often and left to go for broke in the third period, empty net, extra attacker, and hope for the best. The desperation levels have been lacking early in games. If the Admirals push as hard as they have in most third periods for a full sixty-minutes they stand such a phenomenal chance at winning games.

The Fiala turnover was representative of so many “see foot, shoot foot” moments on the season for both himself and the team that I believe it left the coaching staff with no other recourse than to bench him. You can only punch in video highlight breakdowns, instructions in practice, and watch the same flaws creep on the ice again and again before enough is enough. How do you get through the point to be smarter with the puck? Bench him. Have him sit back and watch everyone else playing the game as it is needed to be played to win games and see if it sinks in next time out.

You could look no further than the man that ended up kicking up into Fiala’s place than Eric Robinson as to what the coaching staff clearly want out of Fiala’s play. Smart puck control, crisp passing, creating scoring chances, and keeping active pressure on defense. Robinson came from his early ECHL stint to start this season and had his work rate in the game be rewarded with double shifting on the top line and fourth line. Oh yeah, he also ended up scoring a goal in his first AHL game of the season. Fiala is 8 games and 29 shots deep into this season without a goal. Something isn’t clicking for him. And watching him press, turn pucks over, and set up scoring chances in the opposite direction shouldn’t be rewarded with anything other than what he earned for himself yesterday: the bench.

Now here is where I find a lot of comments going nuclear when it comes to Fiala. “This is who he is. He’s a brat. He’s spoiled. He’s stubborn. He’s immature.” Those are the types of comments I saw yesterday in response to Fiala being benched. Now, I don’t know when so many people became so personally familiar with Fiala to know all of these attributes as well as they appear to cite them -but- it’d be amazing if people could dodge hitting that torch button and remember that this is a 19-year old kid. He has an immense amount of talent and is in the process of learning how to hone in them in. That’s what the AHL is all about. Without getting through growing pains such as this how is Fiala ever supposed to well and truly get any better? Him being benched is his first real wake-up call since playing professionally here in North America. I say that because I don’t feel Fiala’s play on the ice would backup a claim that him being cut by the Predators in pre-season camp was a wake up call that he needs to be better than what he is right now if he wants to play NHL hockey.

How Fiala comes out of being benched should speak to his character. It’s not a matter of eye-popping scoresheet numbers or highlight reel goals. All Fiala needs to be doing right now is slowing down his game and being smarter with what he does on the puck. With the amount of talent he possesses less really should translate to more. When the dust settles on this season, and he looks back on what he’s done, Fiala being benched should count for far more than a one-off scalding. It should be the actual starting point to his 2015-16 season.

~Lake Erie Monsters~

Since we last saw the Lake Erie Monsters they’ve switched affiliations. For the entirety of their existence the Monsters were the Colorado Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, 2007-08 to 2014-15. This changed in the off-season when the Columbus Blue Jackets switched AHL affiliates from the Springfield Falcons to the Monsters as the Avalanche’s AHL affiliation moved on to the San Antonio Rampage. So, when you think Monsters this season you’ll be best served looking at Blue Jackets information and previous Falcons AHL stats.

The Monsters enter tonight’s game with a record of 4-1-0-2 (10 points). They’re one of six teams in the AHL to have played less games than the Admirals have this season yet enter with the better points equity. The Monsters’ one and only regulation loss on the season came on opening night for them as they fell 6-3 on the road against the Rochester Americans. Since then they’ve claimed points in six-straight games with four wins and two shootout defeats.

Second year pro Kerby Rychel leads the Monsters in scoring this season with 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 6 games. Lucky for the Admirals, Rychel was called up by the Blue Jackets on Wednesday and shouldn’t be an issue for the Admirals tonight.

The focus then shifts to the likes of: Markus Hännikäinen, 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists)… Michael Chaput, 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists)… and Ryan Craig, 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists).

I find the main man to look out for is going to be Hännikäinen. He leads the Monsters in shots on goal with 25. He’d probably be up in the upper tier of the entire league with his 3.6 shots on goal per game average but the Monsters simply just don’t have the games played yet. Expect him to continue getting pucks to the net and anticipate the rebounds of his shots to be the more dangerous factor in him doing that. Fun Fact, Hännikäinen and Moses were teammates when they played at Jokerit.

In net the Monsters have a solid 1-A, 1-B tandem going between 22-year old Anton Forsberg and 21-year old Joonas Korpisalo. Both have been outstanding. Forsberg in his second year of work in the AHL has three wins from four games, 2.27 goals against average, and a 0.915 save percentage. Korpisalo, who tasted AHL hockey briefly last season, is impressing in his rookie AHL season already. He actually has more shutouts right now than wins. You can thank a tough luck shootout loss to the Wild for that factoid. He followed up that effort with a second straight shutout before karma finally caught up to him on Halloween when he allowed 5 goals from 34 shots. He still has a 1.58 goals against average and 0.940 save percentage. Both of these goaltenders are more than capable of making life difficult for the Admirals tonight.

Expectations? Further reaction to yesterday’s news regarding Moses and Fiala? Did Robinson earn himself another game tonight and, if so, who sits out with both Moses and Vladislav Kamenev expected to return to the lineup? Does Saros see his first AHL shutout get rewarded with a consecutive start?

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