Here is your positive to last night’s negative result. The Admirals have a quick turn-around and a chance to rebound tonight. Sounds great on paper but games in Grand Rapids have been hit and miss for the Admirals. They lost 4-2 in their first visit but were in cruise control with a 4-0 shutout in their last trip. What will we get tonight? Let’s find out.

The Grand Rapids Griffins have a record of 27-17-5-1 (60 points) which is good for third place in the Midwest Division. That’s correct, the Griffins have managed to leap past the Chicago Wolves in the divisional standings and big reason as to how is because in their last ten games the Griffins have pulled off a 7-1-2-0 (16 points) record including a point scoring streak of six games – dating all the way back to when the Admirals shut them out..

During this current six game run for the Griffins they have outscored opponents 24-17, averaged 32.0 shots per game, and averaged 27.8 shots allowed per game. Their power-play has gone 4/21 and, even better, their penalty kill has gone a perfect 18/18.

Some good news is that the Griffins will be without the AHL’s top scorer Teemu Pulkkinen tonight. He was called up to the Detroit Red Wings yesterday. The “Holy Slapper” has scored 57 points (30 goals, 27 assists) in 44 AHL games for the Griffins this season. He was second on the Griffins in scoring in the head-to-head match up against the Admirals with 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) in 4 games. His NHL stat-line has 1 goal and 2 penalty minutes in 6 games of work.

So, incredible Pulk. What does that mean for the Griffins in the scoring department? Oddly enough, the first three names that came to mind as guys to watch out for all follow Pulkkinen on the Griffins team scoring list: Andy Miele, 46 points (15 goals, 31 assists)… Mitch Callahan, 38 points (16 goals, 22 assists)… Landon Ferraro, 28 points (20 goals, 8 assists). All of these guys play great and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see them in the scoresheet later tonight. Idea, don’t let them do it.

Remember when I said good news Pulkkinen up? I deviously neglected some other news that came with that roster move. Petr Mrázek, known Admiral killer, has been reassigned to the Griffins. My reaction is something along these lines.

What’s to fear about Mrázek against the Admirals? Here is his career line in the match-up: 11 games, 7-3-0-1 record, 1.66 goals against average, 0.934 save percentage, and 2 shutouts. Yeah. I’m begging for Tom McCollum or, even the man who shutout the Admirals not too long ago, Jared Coreau. Anything but Mrázek please. Players like himself and Pulkkinen belong up in the NHL anyways.

Expectations for tonight? Will it matter who the Grand Rapids Griffins put in net? Who should the Admirals counter with in net for tonight’s game?

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Friday night was only the Admirals third regulation loss in their previous 20 games. As you might expect that should bode well as far as springing back in the next game is concerned. In the last two regulation defeats the Admirals have won both games and done so in convincing fashion: 4-1 win against the Hamilton Bulldogs… 4-0 shutout on the road over the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Sounds good, right? There’s one slight problem. Our upcoming opponent. The Lake Erie Monsters have won the last 3 games head-to-head including 2 games where they’ve overcome 2 goal deficits. Hopefully this is a trend that can be bucked as the Admirals and Monsters will play today and Tuesday.

~The Other Guys~

The Monsters have a record of 22-18-4-3 (51 points) and are in last place in the Midwest Division. Notice what I noticed? Yes, they are in last place of our division with a record that is over .500. The Midwest Division the only division in the AHL to feature all teams with winning records. They also stand eleventh in the Western Conference standings and trail the eighth place spot, held by the Texas Stars at the moment, by 6 points.

In their last 10 games the Monsters have a good record of 6-2-2-0 (14 points). They enter fresh off of a 3-2 win over the Charlotte Checkers. Despite the good record in this 10 game span they’ve been outscored by their opponents 26-24 in regulation and overtime – to which they have had 6 games go past regulation in that spell.

~The Scoring Threats~

Lake Erie is led in scoring by defenseman Maxim Noreau who has 30 points (8 goals, 22 assists). He is followed by Andrew Agozzino, Paul Carey, and Colin Smith who all have 27 points on the season. Speaking of Agent Smith, he threw his name in the hat for AHL Goal of the Year since the last time we met.

In this season’s head-to-head, consisting of 5 games, sees Carey leading the Monsters big time with 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists). According to AHL’s transactions page, he shouldn’t be a factor for today as he was recalled by the Colorado Avalanche on Friday. That hands the “best in the head-to-head” nod off to the highlight reel man Smith who has 4 assists against the Admirals. Opposite side of the spectrum? This match-up favors Pontus Åberg who has a team best 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) for the Admirals against the Monsters.

~Between the Pipes~

Lake Erie has their tandem of Calvin Pickard and Sami Aittokallio available again today. Pickard has always been good against the Admirals and the same can be said again this season. He has won 2 games from 3 appearances against the Admirals with a 2.14 goals against average and 0.922 save percentage. Aittokallio has yet to play against the Admirals this season.

For the Admirals, despite a hit and miss stretch on home ice, this match up favors Magnus Hellberg over Marek Mazanec. Hellberg has faced the Monsters twice this season and both games have gone all the way to a shootout. He has a 1.34 goals against average and 0.951 save percentage against the Monsters. Mazanec has allowed 9 goals in 3 games against the Monsters this season for a 2.99 goals against average and 0.890 save percentage.

~Breaking News~

The Admirals will be without Brendan Leipsic. Why? He was just traded by the Nashville Predators to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Predators have also reassigned Anthony Bitetto to the Admirals.

Expectations for today’s game? Will the offense rebound? Can Triston Grant score a goal for the fifth consecutive game?

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Let’s be honest, it hasn’t been too long since we’ve scouted these chaps. It was a week ago when first place of the Midwest Division was on the line and the Admirals swept not only the two games against the Rockford IceHogs but also the end of their three-in-three with the Rochester Americans. The Admirals did fall 3-2 in overtime to the Chicago Wolves on Wednesday but the points gained in the last two games were a bonus. The IceHogs haven’t played since we last saw them.

Entering tonight’s game, the Admirals and IceHogs have both played 48 games on the season. The Ads lead the Midwest Division with a record of 28-13-3-4 (63 points) over the IceHogs who have a 26-16-4-2 (58 points) record. A loss tonight would not impact the divisional standings. Though, I think we’d all prefer to simply win.

~Changes For Both~

What has changed since the last time we met? Quite a lot. The Predators and Admirals defensive injury woes have left the AHL side of things very tight. With Jaynen Rissling joining the Admirals this week there are no more defensive products in the system at the ECHL level. In addition, it meant adding an extra body to the fold. What’s fun is that it’s a player that should be more than familiar with tonight’s opponent.

Jared Nightingale was added on a PTO contract and made his Admirals debut on Wednesday night in Chicago. He was the team captain of the IceHogs last season where he played 67 games, scored 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists), had a plus/minus rating of -14, and 114 penalty minutes.

“To be coming to a team like Milwaukee, they’ve always been a playoff team, I’m really excited to help them continue to win,” said Jared Nightingale on Aaron Sims’ pre-game show Wednesday night. “Hopefully I can fit in and can add an element that they need. I’m excited for that.”

By joining the Admirals Nightingale is playing for his fourth different AHL team this season. He has played with the Norfolk Admirals, Hartford Wolf Pack, and Grand Rapids Griffins in 2014-15. That goes along with the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL.

“Things have changed quickly. This will be my fifth team,” said Nightingale. “You could look at it through two odd lenses, get frustrated, but I’ve honestly been pretty fortunate to go to quality organizations and I know I’ve only heard good things about Milwaukee. Grand Rapids was a great experience. I was down in Norfolk for a couple months and that was great. Even when I was in the [ECHL] with Toledo it’s still rewarding. There is a lot that you can get out of it.”

Tonight won’t just be his first game against the IceHogs since playing for them last season. It will actually be the first game he has ever played against the IceHogs in his career. Quite impressive to have a first like that when you have logged 542 professional games.

It isn’t all bad news as far as the Admirals injury woes are concerned. Tonight should mark the return of Miikka Salomäki to the Admirals lineup after missing the last 7 games due to an upper-body injury. The Finn was cleared to play ahead of Wednesday night’s game but the team elected to keep him out one more game just to be on the safe side.

Also on the Admirals side of things. Taylor Aronson has already been returned to Milwaukee after a cup of coffee in the NHL. He was brought up pretty much on an emergency basis in case Shea Weber was still feeling ill last night. As it happened, both d-men took to the ice for pre-game skate and Weber was good enough to go. Aronson was a healthy scratch. Anthony Bitetto is the lone man up in Nashville at the moment.

What’s changed for the IceHogs? Nearly as much. They’ve had quite the active transfers the last week and it even includes Kirill Gotovets. That Belarus native made his professional playing debut with the Admirals on an ATO contract last season. He even made a Chatterbox appearance.

The comings and goings for the IceHogs have seen Kyle Cumiskey and Ryan Hartman both get called up to the Chicago Blackhawks while Finnish phenom Teuvo Teräväinen rejoins the IceHogs from a decent spell in the NHL.

Teräväinen has played 12 games for the Blackhawks this season and has scored 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists). He’s been much better at the AHL level this season:  33 games, 23 points (6 goals, 17 assists), plus/minus of -3, and 6 penalty minutes. Against the Admirals this season he has 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) in 6 games.

As far as those suspensions go, the IceHogs will be receiving Brandon Mashinter tonight while Cody Bass starts the first of a two game suspension tonight. Mashinter served his two game suspension for elbowing last weekend. Meanwhile, Bass was suspended by the AHL for his actions last Friday in Milwaukee. I know Bass was involved in his fair bit of post-whistle antics, as was Pierre-Cédric Labrie, but I don’t recall a moment where I thought he went over the line. Garret Ross was given a match penalty for saying the magic words at the officials in the Saturday game in Rockford. Would still love to know more of what happened there.

~Expectations~

After last week I could just about toss expectations to the wind. The two games played between the Admirals and IceHogs had a playoff level intensity with a defensive structure in the second game of *pause* no defensive structure. Those two games ended with a combined scoreline of 11-6 to the tune of the Admirals with a combined 88 penalty minutes.

If there were any aspect that could be bigger and better than it was last weekend you would assume both defenses should be on point tonight. The game plan for both should be simplified and I think both would prefer to avoid the run and gun nature of the Saturday game in Rockford last weekend. With the Admirals defense in a small jam at the moment – this might be the make or break to the game. Otherwise, perhaps that offense will just do enough like they did last weekend.

What are you expecting out of tonight’s game against the Rockford IceHogs? How will the Admirals defense fair in their second night together in the current shape that they’re in? Will our offense be able to overpower the IceHogs to control this game?

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It feels like it has been ages since we’ve seen the Chicago Wolves. The last time there was an Amtrak Rivalry game was Dec. 26 during the Admirals rough stretch where they lost 6-2 on home ice. Luckily, the season series has favored the Admirals who are 4-2-0-0 against the Wolves this season.

~Middle of the Pack~

The Wolves are 24-18-5-1 (54 points) this season and find themselves in fourth place of the tightly contested Midwest Division. They are 8 points back of the Admirals and have played a game more than the Ads have. Their record currently has them in eighth place of the Western Conference with a tie-break putting them over the Hamilton Bulldogs.

In the Wolves last 10 games they have gone 5-3-1-1 (12 points). They are coming off of a 2 game sweep in Charlotte against the Checkers where they won 4-1 in each game.

~Offensively Offensive~

There are so many quality scorers on the Wolves this season. Case and point, their main trigger man Ty Rattie is actually fourth on the team in scoring right now with 28 points (17 goals, 11 assists). The top scorer on the team is Pat Cannone with 36 points (10 goals, 26 assists). Second on the team, and leading the Wolves in goal scoring, is Shane Harper with 33 points (21 goals, 12 assists).

In the head-to-head this season the top scorers for the Wolves are none of the names mentioned above: Jeremy Welsh, 6 points (4 goals, 2 assists)… Brent Regner, 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists)… Terry Broadhurst, 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists)… Jake Chelios, 5 points (0 goals, 5 assists).

Curious where the Admirals head-to-head scoring is against the Wolves this season? There are four players all tied for the team lead in the match up: Austin Watson, 4 points (3 goals, 1 assist)… Viktor Arvidsson, 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists)… Mark Van Guilder, 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists)… Brendan Leipsic, 4 points (0 goals, 4 assists).

~Between The Pipes~

The Wolves have been led in net this season by rookie Jordan Binnington. He has a record of 15-9-3-1 on the season with a 2.37 goals against average, 0.914 save percentage, and a shutout. Against the Admirals he has won both times he’s played this season and has a 1.50 goals against average and 0.933 save percentage.

~Learning On The Fly~

A real story tonight will be just how Jaynen Rissling and Jared Nightingale work on the Admirals defense. Interestingly enough, Nightingale’s addition means that the Admirals will have three right handed shooting defensemen for the first time all season.

Nightingale should be able to slot in easily enough, I think. It’s Rissling that I am most curious about as this should be his AHL debut tonight. How will he handle the pace? And will he introduce himself to the team by dropping the gloves? It worked for Anthony Bitetto in his home debut in Nashville last night. Why not?

Expectations for tonight? How will the Admirals defense work with two new additions? Could we be in-store for another offense needing to bail out the defense style game?

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First of all, website views from North Korea will be on the rise today thanks to this title. I could have called the Rochester Americans by their other name that they like using, Amerks, but that has always looked and sounded bad to me. … I digress.

~Last Night~

The Admirals 7-5 thrill ride win in Rockford last night put them into sole possession of first place in the Midwest Division. They are now 27-13-2-4 (60 points) on the season which also puts them in third place of the Western Conference. The IceHogs don’t play until Friday when they get us again. The Ads have today and Wednesday to get a bigger cushion built up.

The Admirals not only lit up Scott Darling last night but also rocked CCM/AHL Goalie of the Month Michael Leighton for the second consecutive night. I felt the IceHogs were pretty harsh to yank Darling so quickly into the game. He had allowed two goals on three shots but consider what those goals were: Brendan Leipsic power-play goal right off the bat and a Viktor Stålberg shorthanded breakaway.

The decision to put Leighton in must have purely been a “wake up, guys” sort of move on the bench. In the end, Leighton allowed four goals from thirteen shots on goal. It’s the first time he has allowed four goals since Dec. 16 in Iowa. And it is his worst save percentage in a game (0.692) since Nov. 4 at Lake Erie (0.714) in a game that saw him get pulled. Two games into his month of February, fresh off his AHL monthly honor, and the Admirals tagged Leighton for two losses, 7 goals allowed, 3.78 goals against average, and a 0.829 save percentage.

Stålberg has been with the Admirals for thirteen games this season. He has the best points per game average on the entire team with a 0.85. He has scored 11 points (7 goals, 4 assists). As far as his weekend is concerned he already has four goals from two games. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him right back after it again later this afternoon.

Marek Mazanec has won seven straight games in net for the Admirals. In those games he has a 0.931 save percentage, 2.40 goals against average, and one shutout. There is a strong chance that Magnus Hellberg will finish off the three-in-three set this afternoon. In his last five home games Hellberg has a 1-2-0-1 record, was pulled from net once, has a 0.821 save percentage, 4.39 goals against average, and one shutout. As rough as pulling all three games of a three-in-three might be. We could possibly see one today.

~Merica~

The Rochester Americans have a record of 20-26-2-0 (42 points) which sees them sitting in last place of the North Division and thirteenth in the Western Conference standings. In their last ten games they have gone 5-4-0-1 (11 points) and enter on a three point streak.

Some slight good news as far as today is concerned. The Admirals are on the last of a highly emotional and physically draining three-in-three. You would think that they should be on fumes for today’s game. Well, joy of joys, so too could be the Americans! They are also on the last of a three-in-three and both of their games were overtime games played against the Grand Rapids Griffins. We know full well how difficult those games can be. These two teams should be exhausted come the third period of this contest.

The other thing worth noting about Rochester as a team? Today will be their seventh straight road game and it isn’t even the last of their road trip. They’ll play today in Milwaukee and finish off an eight game road trip close to their home with a game in Utica.

In this road trip so far the Americans have been outscored 23-18 in six games. Their special teams have also come up poor on this road trip. They’ve gone 5.0% (1/20) from the power-play and 72.0% (18/25) on the penalty kill.

~When Last We Met~

Remember that awful month of December? One of the few bright spots from that time came from a four game road trip where the Admirals won three games. One of those games was in Rochester when they won 4-2 over the Americans.

In that game the Admirals fell behind 2-0 before scoring four unanswered goals to get the win. They were almost doubled up in shots by Rochester, 30-16, and really battled it out to get that result. Like last night, everything was made up and the shot disparity didn’t matter. They scored twice in the third period on three shots to seal the win.

That game saw Joel Armia, Tim Schaller, Joe Pendenza, Leipsic, Colton Sissons, and Austin Watson score goals. That was also a Mazanec game and he stopped 28/30 shots on goal while Andrei Makarov was responsible for three goals from fifteen shots.

~Best of Team America~

The top scorer for the Americans is Phil Varone with 36 points (11 goals, 25 assists). He was a 2015 AHL All Star and notched a pair of assists in the game. Varone is followed in scoring for the Americans by Schaller who has 33 points (15 goals, 18 assists). During this current road trip they’ve both recorded a point per game average with 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists).

The goalie group right now in Rochester includes Matt Hackett and Nathan Lieuwen to the mix with the Russian youngster Makarov. Hackett was assigned to the AHL this past Wednesday and has played four games for the Americans this season going 2-2-0-0 with a 3.03 goals against average and 0.886 save percentage.

Lieuwen and Makarov have been the main battery for Rochester. Their combined work sees them have a 3.13 goals against average and 0.893 save percentage. Makarov has the team’s lone two shutouts this season. Considering Lieuwen is 23-years old and Makarov is 21-years old – it isn’t great but it also isn’t that bad.

Expectations for today’s game? Will there be anything left in the tank for these two teams? Would you start Mazanec or Hellberg? After the last two huge games against Rockford do you feel the sense of a dreaded let down game for this one?

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Buckle up, folks. This is the Milwaukee Admirals last three-in-three of the season and it starts with two games against the Rockford IceHogs. If things fall into place correctly the Admirals could be in charge of the Midwest Division by supper time Sunday.

~The Showdown~

The IceHogs enter tonight’s game with a record of 26-14-4-2 (58 points). They hold a two point lead over the Admirals for the division lead and have played two games more than the Admirals have.

The way the schedule works out, the IceHogs only have tonight and tomorrow’s tilt against the Admirals this weekend before playing in Milwaukee next Friday. They’ll be more than familiar with us as the games storm ahead. Meanwhile, the Admirals have the Rochester Americans on Sunday and a road game against the Chicago Wolves on Wednesday before squaring back up against Rockford.

~Head to Head~

This season’s head-to-head currently favors the Admirals through eight previous games: 5-3-0-0. Only one of those games went past regulation and that happened the last time they met – a 1-0 shutout win for the Admirals in Rockford. That game also took place in a similar scenario as we see this weekend with a home-and-home battle. In fact, this will be the third time this season that it’s happened. The Admirals split the first set Nov. 14-15 and swept the IceHogs Jan. 8-9.

As far as scoring goes, the Admirals have managed to outscore the IceHogs 17-15 head-to-head. The power-play numbers head-to-head are: 8.6% (3/35) Admirals, 12.0% (3/25) IceHogs. The top scorers for each team head-to-head: Taylor Aronson, 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists)… T.J. Brennan, 6 points (4 goals, 2 assists) and Phillip Danault, 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists).

~UFC on Ice~

With seeing the same team so often as this you might expect some fisticuffs to break out at some point this weekend. So far this season we’ve had -inhale-  Triston Grant vs. Joakim Nordström, Anthony Bitetto vs. Ryan Hartman, Mike Liambas vs. Garret Ross, Rich Clune vs. Cody Bass, Colton Sissons vs. Klas Dahlbeck, Garrett Noonan vs. Stephen Johns, Jonathan Diaby vs. Brandon Mashinter, Clune vs. Brennan, Félix Girard vs. Danault, Diaby vs. Bass, and -exhale- Ian White vs. Hartman.

I almost didn’t realize how often we’ve really gone to blows against Rockford this season. So, yeah, I think we’ll be in for a scrap or three this weekend.

~Notable Absentees Tonight~

Rockford will be short a few bodies tonight. Remember Adam Clendening? He was traded by the Chicago Blackhawks in a like-for-like trade with the Vancouver Canucks for Gustav Forsling. The Swedish defenseman remains with Linköping of the SHL and probably won’t join the IceHogs until next season. That mean an ECHL move needed to be made and the man called up from the Indy Fuel was Dillon Fournier.

The IceHogs will also be without the flashy Finn Teuvo Teräväinen who remains up with the Blackhawks. He had scored 23 points (6 goals, 17 assists) for the IceHogs prior to his move up. He has since scored 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in the NHL.

Another player who we won’t have to worry about for both games this weekend is Mashinter. Why you ask? Because he was suspended by the AHL for two games after an elbowing incident against the Wolves. He wasn’t called for elbowing or a game misconduct during the game but you can watch and judge for yourself on the Wolves video highlights from that tilt.

~Between the Pipes~

What will be plenty of fun to watch in these two games is the goaltending. Both the Admirals and IceHogs have their tag teams in order. You have Magnus Hellberg and Marek Mazanec, aka Demolition. For the IceHogs they will have Scott Darling and Michael Leighton, aka the Legion of Doom.

Both netminders in Rockford have been putting in solid campaigns this year. Darling has a record of 11-7-2-0, 2.18 goals against average, 0.929 save percentage, and 2 shutouts. The veteran Leighton has had more games in net this season and, per the Chicago Sun Times, has been a calming force for the young team. He has a 12-7-4-2 record, 2.01 goals against average, 0.931 save percentage, and 4 shutouts this season.

Leighton has had the better numbers this season against the Admirals. He has 2 wins from 5 appearances with a 1.14 goals against average, 0.955 save percentage, and a shutout. In addition, his month of January was sensational: 4-0-2-0 record in 7 games with a 1.05 goals against average, 0.969 save percentage, and 2 shutouts.

Darling has actually been beaten up a bit by his former team in the 4 games he’s played this season: 1-3-0-0 record, 11 goals allowed,  3.10 goals against average, 0.904 save percentage. His January was also pretty solid but the results went against him: 2-3-0-0 record in 5 games, 2.22 goals against average, 0.928 save percentage, and 2 shutouts.

In the Milwaukee camp, both Hellberg and Mazanec have split the 8 games against Rockford this season and have looked great. Mazanec has 3 wins, 1.75 goals against average, 0.938 save percentage, and a 27-save shutout to his name over the IceHogs this season – that shutout happened the last time we met. Hellberg has a 2-2-0-0 record against the IceHogs this season with a 2.02 goals against average and 0.924 save percentage.

Expectations for tonight and tomorrow’s games against the Rockford IceHogs? Is it an advantage for the IceHogs to focus in on the Admirals for their next three games? Will the Admirals be in first place of the Midwest Division before Sunday’s final of the three-in-three weekend?

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If the month of February could be anything close to as good as January then we should all be in for a treat. This week the Admirals have a chance to leap into first place in the Midwest Division with games set against the Rockford IceHogs on Friday and Saturday. Before they can think about that there is another divisional foe to handle tonight at home.

The Lake Erie Monsters enter tonight’s game with a record of 19-16-4-3 (45 points) and are currently in last place of the Midwest Division. They have earned points from their last five games – including three wins from their last four games.

Against the Admirals this season the Monsters are 2-1-0-1. The top scorers for both teams in the head-to-head are Pontus Åberg for the Admirals with 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) and Paul Carey for the Monsters with 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists).

An interesting thing about how these two teams match up is their power-play and how much better it performs away from home ice. The Admirals overall power-play percentage is 16.2% while the Monsters comes in at 15.6%. At home, both power-plays drop tremendously: Admirals, 9.5%, Monsters 9.9%. That means keeping an eye out for the Monsters’ road power-play tonight which has a 20.5% success rate.

The leading scorer for the Monsters this season is defenseman Maxim Noreau with 30 points (8 goals, 22 assists). It is currently the 27-year old’s fifth career season in the AHL. He spent the past three seasons playing professionally with HC Ambrì-Piotta in Switzerland.

Tonight the Monsters will have quality selection for who they want out in net as both Calvin Pickard and Sami Aittokallio are available. Regardless of which goalie gets the start a huge point of emphasis should be to get to the net and take their vision away.

Both netminders have done well against the Admirals in the past, statistically. Pickard has played against the Admirals eight times and won five with a 2.35 GAA and 0.906 SV%. Meanwhile, Aittokallio has won two out of three games against the Admirals in his career with a 1.37 GAA, 0.953 save percentage, shutout, and goalie fight.

As far as the injury bug goes for the Admirals we should know more about the what’s what closer to pre-game skate tonight. Miikka Salomäki has missed the last two games due to an upper body injury. Rich Clune injured his right leg on Friday night’s home game and didn’t play the next night. The lone guarantee should be that Jimmy Oligny shouldn’t be in the lineup after his lower-body injury on Saturday night triggering the call-up of Garrett Noonan from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL late Sunday night.

Expectations for tonight’s game? More of the same from what the Admirals produced on the road in Grand Rapids? Against the Lake Erie Monsters would you like to see Rob Madore get the start or rather keep Magnus Hellberg rolling en route to the weekend showdown with the IceHogs?

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Welcome back, hockey! The AHL’s All Star break is officially over for the Milwaukee Admirals. Tonight at home, tomorrow on the road, it’ll be a match-up against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Good news. The Griffins are doing a three-in-three and played last night. Bad news. Last night they shutout the Iowa Wild 6-0.

~The Enemy~

The Griffins will be entering tonight’s game with a record of 22-16-3-1 (48 points) which has them third in the Midwest Division and seventh in the Western Conference standings. They currently trail the Admirals by 5 points and have also played an extra game to this point. Simply said, these two games this weekend are going to be hugely important for the Griffins as they look to claw back in the standings.

Grand Rapids are currently on a three-game winning streak. In those three games alone they have outscored opponents 15-4, gone 6/15 on the power-play, and 8/9 on the penalty kill.

~The Holy Slapper~

Teemu Pulkkinen has been a driving force for the Griffins this season. In 37 games he has produced 47 points (24 goals, 23 assists). He leads the AHL in goal scoring as well as overall scoring. He has had goal scoring streaks of four-games and eight-games. The latter streak set a franchise record. In last night’s blowout win he recorded his first hat trick of the season. All goals that he scored were from the power-play.

Question then would be a simple one. Why is this guy not up in the NHL doing this sort of damage? Well, the Detroit Red Wings are relatively loaded up top and in 9 career games in the NHL Pulkkinen has only managed to score a goal. His development seems to be following that of Gustav Nyquist‘s not to long ago. It took the Nyquist 137 AHL games, and 143 points (53 goals, 90 assists), before securing his role with the Red Wings. Pulkkinen is currently on 110 AHL games and 106 points (55 goals, 51 assists) and trending onwards and upwards.

So what is it about Pulkkinen that makes him so deadly? His shooting ability. More specifically his cannon of a slap shot:

How has he been rifling in so many goals? That shot. He can deliver it all over the ice. Give the Griffins a power-play to work with? Ker-Blammo. The Griffins power-play has scored on 32/168 chances for a 19.0% conversion rate. Pulkkinen has scored 9/32 of those power-play goals and assisted on 8 of those goals.

In his last 12 AHL games Pulkkinen has scored 21 points (13 goals, 8 assists) and averaged 4.83 shots per contest. Andy Miele, Mitch Callahan, and Landon Ferraro are all having solid seasons. No doubt about that. But it’s clear that the real trigger man that makes the Griffins click is the Finn wearing numeral #6.

Pulkkinen has only failed to score in 9/37 games that he has played in for the Griffins this season. Grand Rapids is 2-7-0-0 and have been outscored 27-17 as well as shutout twice – once by the Admirals. Slow down Pulkkinen. Slow down the Griffins.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Can the Admirals winning streak hit ten games? With the Griffins playing last night – will they have an advantage over the Admirals coming out of their All Star break?

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Tonight could well see some Milwaukee Admirals history be made. The Ads are currently on an eight game winning streak which matched a franchise record set in the IHL era of the team in March of 1989.

There is only one thing needed to be done to pull it off: defeat the worst team in the AHL. Problem? The Iowa Wild have gone 4-2-0-0 against the Admirals this season. In fact, they have nearly won one-third of their games this season against the Ads. They’ve won twice past regulation, an overtime game and shootout, as well as winning twice in their previous two trips to Milwaukee.

The Wild have a record of 15-24-1-1 (32 points) on the season. They are an even 5-5-0-0 in their previous 10 games and enter after being shutout 1-0 by the Rockford IceHogs. There is only one team in the AHL that has allowed more goals this season than the Wild. The St. John’s IceCaps have allowed 135 goals this season and the Wild have allowed 133 goals. The goal scoring differential for the Wild is a staggering -37.

Jordan Schroeder is the top scorer in this head-to-head match up. He has scored 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) in 5 games against the Admirals this season. He’s third on the team with an overall haul of 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) for the Wild this season. The top scorer for the Wild is Michael Keränen who has 28 points (6 goals, 22 assists). Their leading goal scorer is Tyler Graovac who has 13 goals in 38 games.

Still like Jonathon Blum? No? Great! He has 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists) in 31 games for the Wild this season while putting up a painful plus/minus rating of -11. Out of those 5 goals he has scored 4 have been scored on the power-play for Iowa.

Currently the Wild have John Curry and Johan Gustafsson as their goaltending tandem. Technically, Josh Harding is on the roster but has only played 2 games this season for Iowa as he continues to handle his battle with multiple sclerosis. Gustafsson has a record of 7-15-1-0 in net this season with a rough 3.36 goals against average and 0.898 save percentage. Curry has a 8-8-0-1 record this season with a 2.62 goals against average and 0.922 save percentage.

On the season Gustafsson has appeared against the Admirals in 5 games and has 3 wins despite posting a 3.18 goals against average and 0.893 save percentage. Curry has appeared twice against the Ads, picked up a single win, but has a stunning 0.57 goals against average and 0.980 save percentage. He’s also had a strong month of January that has seen him win 3/5 decisions, recording a 2.02 goals against average and 0.936 save percentage, and a 41-save effort last time out in a losing effort against the IceHogs.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Can the Admirals set a franchise record for a winning streak tonight? Who is Brett Eldredge and will his fans know what is happening on the ice before the concert?

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The Milwaukee Admirals return home tonight and are riding a season long seven game winning streak. The test they face tonight is that of the Utica Comets – a team that pushed the Admirals quite hard last Friday.  I would go as far to say that the Ads were outplayed from the second period until the final horn but Mark Van Guilder’s well documented theatrics showed up and saved the team’s bacon in the final minute. Rematch? Buckle up.

Rather than redo a “Scouting the Enemy” on the Comets I decided to reach out to Jack W. of Comets Army to do a Q&A ahead of tonight’s game. You can follow Comets Army on Twitter as well as visit his website.

~Scouting The Enemy With The Enemy~

Admirals Roundtable: Last season you guys missed out on the playoffs. This season the Utica Comets have been at or around the top of the Western Conference for most of this season. What has caused the turn-around?

Comets Army: From the second half of last season to this point, the Comets have been one of the top teams in the AHL. I feel this is due to the cohesiveness of the squad since the AHL All Star break last season. At the beginning of last season the team was kind of in a scramble to build a good roster. So we ended up with what we had which lead to the poor start, not winning for eleven games, and not winning a home game until the end of November. Then, at about the midway point, the signings of vets like Kent Huskins and Cal O’Reilly seemed to inspire the locker room. And the stellar play of Joacim Eriksson brought the Comets to only missing a playoff spot by four points. With the additions of top prospects in the Vancouver Canucks organization such as Hunter Shinkaruk, Brendan Gaunce, and Mike Zalewski. The acquisitions of Will Acton, Andrey Pedan, and Jacob Markström. The Comets have been able to build a team with an high octane offense, a stellar defense, and one of, if not the best, goaltending tandems in the AHL. The Comets have been able to control the AHL’s Western Conference for most of the season.

AR: How huge has the goaltending been to this season’s success?

CA: When you have two top fifteen goaltenders on your roster you know they’re doing something right. Both Markström and Eriksson have dominated the net for Utica and been a pivotal part of the Comets success so far. When Markström fell injured in December Eriksson stepped up and held the division lead. Ever since Markström came back they’ve split time and have done great. One game in particular that sticks out is when Markström had forty-five saves and only one goal allowed in a fantastic performance in Glens Falls against the Adirondack Flames. Both goalies have paved the way for this season and, if continued, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with in the Calder Cup playoffs.

AR: Cal O’Reilly is still a popular figure in Milwaukee for his time here as an Admiral. How key has hey been for the Comets since joining last season?

CA: Cal O’Reilly is still, in my opinion, the greatest signing in our (short) team history. He’s a great playmaker. He’s one of the best passers in the league, fourth in the league in assists with twenty-six, and he’s a pivotal piece on our special teams. He is one of the best players in the AHL and it shows. He’ll be making this third career AHL All Star Classic appearance this weekend.

AR: Dustin Jeffrey is another solid AHL talent on your roster who has been on a surge of late. Just another great piece to your puzzle?

CA: Definitely. Having the NHL experience with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Dallas Stars he’s definitely one of the leaders on the squad. Often playing on a line with Brandon DeFazio and Darren Archibald, it’s one of the more deadly lines the Comets have: Archibald being the big enforcer on the ice, and DeFazio and Jeffrey splitting goals and assists. Having Jeffrey on the squad definitely makes us better.

AR: Tonight’s game should mark the debut of Kevin Fiala. What are the top prospects in Comets camp and some of the guys in the pipeline you’re most looking forward to seeing in the AHL for Utica?

CA: It was really cool seeing Bo Horvat come down on a conditioning stint early in the season. A player that young and that talented. I’m glad he’s prospering in Vancouver. Also having players like Skinkaruk and Gaunce on the full time roster is cool. It’s nice seeing such young talent develop here, and then eventually make the jump to Vancouver. I’m excited in the future to see players like Dane Fox and Curtis Valk come up from the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL to make an impact, as well as Thatcher Demko (currently at Boston College) and Jake Virtanen (currently playing in the CHL). Seeing both of them play in the World Juniors was pretty cool and I’m excited to see what they can bring to the Canucks organization.

AR: The last match up between the Ads and Comets had the feelings of playoff hockey. The defenses were sharp, goaltending was as solid as you’d have expected from a Hellberg vs. Markstrom bout, and there was a thrilling finish. Will we get more of the same in round two?

CA: Yes, unless Eriksson gets the nod over Markström – which is very well possible due to Markström starting the last two games. Not much has changed with the Comets roster since the last meeting and, due to the Canucks going into the All Star break last night, there should be no call ups. Expect a much similar matchup to the one on Friday.

AR: What does the rest of this season hold for the Comets? Do you feel this regular season is setting up for a good Calder Cup run?

CA: The Comets definitely have a chance at the Cup this year having a goaltending duo as they do. They definitely have a chance to thrive in a game six or seven situation. As for the rest of the season, the Comets have a particularly easy schedule but, with teams like the Toronto Marlies on the rise, they can make it tough to contend with the Oklahoma City Barons for the number one seed in the West. It’ll be a long push, complete with three road trips of three-plus games or more, including a three game roadie to end the season. It’ll be interesting to see how they’ll perform. They’re a stellar team at home and they need to step it up on the road to be able to make a playoff run.

Cheers again to Jack of Comets Army. Always nice having us AHL bloggers sticking together.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Can the Admirals winning streak live to fight another day? How will Fiala handle the North American game and what do you expect from his debut? And what will Viktor Stålberg‘s inclusion to the Admirals do for the team?

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