For as poor as the Iowa Wild have been this season they’ve been a slight thorn in the Admirals side in the last two meetings. Nothing flashy. Nothing cute. It’s just been a matter of them getting the better of the Ads: 4-2 on 10/29/14 and 3-2 on 11/12/14. Luckily, today’s meeting isn’t on a Wednesday nor in Milwaukee… if that had anything to do with those results.

~How’s The New Skipper Doing?~

Since the Wild fired Kurt Kleinendorst and replaced him with John Torchetti they have gone 2-2-1-0 (5 points). The Torchetti era may have started with two wins from two games but they’ve since reverted to a three game losing streak. Mind you. All of those defeats were by a one goal margin – including games with the Oklahoma City Barons and road games in Rockford and Chicago.

~Swedish Goalies Everywhere!~

I feel the key for this evening’s game is actually pretty simple -if- this man plays: Johan Gustafsson. Despite what his overall numbers suggest… 2-5-1-0 record from 13 games played… 3.49 goals against average… 0.894 save percentage… in his last two games against the Admirals he was a major difference maker in the result: 10/29/14, 37 saves and 2 goals allowed… 11/12/14, 26 saves and 2 goals allowed.

If the Admirals can muster up the same level of play that they threw down on the road last night in Rockford, 40 shots on goal, the should be able to have a better go of things against Gustafsson… in theory. I would anticipate Swedes at both ends of the rink tonight with Magnus Hellberg returning to the net after Marek Mazanec was rotated into the fold last night. Got to keep the hot hand hot, right?

Thoughts for tonight’s game in Iowa? Can the Admirals rebound from their previous defeats to Iowa and last night’s result? Scoreline prediction?

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With the incredible start for both the Milwaukee Admirals and the Rockford IceHogs it is almost lost that the Chicago Wolves have been having just as good of a start. They are ranked second in the Midwest Division, ahead of the Ads, and fourth in the Western Conference with a record of 10-4-2-0 (22 points) from 16 games.

Speaking of games played. The Admirals, and Grand Rapids Griffins, have played the fewest amount of games in the entire league to this point: 13 games. The Ads are buckling in for their first three-in-three of the season. They have three of these bad boys this season as opposed to eight last season. This weekend sees a bit of trekking, as well. It starts tonight in Milwaukee (vs. Chicago), then a trip down to Rockford on Saturday, before a late evening game in Iowa on Sunday.

Should be not only a great test for the Ads this weekend but a good way to get the games finally rolling. Right after Sunday’s game there will be a Wednesday scrap with the game team we get tonight, the Amtrak Rivals.

~Chatterbox Special~

Yesterday morning I made it out to the rink for practice and caught up with head coach Dean Evason. I’m currently in the process of a Magnus Hellberg feature story, due up here some time next week, but I figured I’d also ask Dean about this coming weekend’s games.

Dean Evason Interview:

~Minding That Net~

Also, for a team that lost its rock Jake Allen from last season to this season, you might think the Wolves netminding would have taken a dent. It really hasn’t. Jordan Binnington has been having a great start to his rookie season with 5 wins from 8 games to go along with a 1.88 goals against average and a 0.924 save percentage.

Binnington has just about displaced Matt Climie at this point. The Wolves veteran goaltender has made only 3 starts from 9 games this month. In those games he has a win a 2 losses: 3.04 goals against average and a 0.906 save percentage. To boot, his career numbers against Milwaukee continued to be poor this season as he has taken 2 losses in 2 starts while allowing 3 goals in each game.

~See Goal, Score Goal~

There is only one team in the AHL that has scored more goals this season than the Wolves (56 goals in 16 games) and that’s the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (60 goals in 15 games) out in the Eastern Conference.

Ty Rattie is currently tied for the league lead in goals with Kris Newbury of the Hershey Bears with 10 goals. Rattie has twice as many goals as the next highest scoring Chicago Wolves player. Thing is, that would should be players because they have four players that have scored 5 goals already this season: Pat Cannone, Rob Bordson, Jeremy Welsh, and Shane Harper.

All this point production going on and you have Dmitrij Jaškin back on the Wolves roster after a 6 game stint with the St. Louis Blues came to an end a week ago.  In that NHL stint the lone offense he produced was a goal. So far with the Wolves he has played in 7 games and tallied 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) – including a goal and an assist sent he was returned to Chicago. Jaškin has yet to face the Ads this season but, last year, 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) from 6 games against Milwaukee.

What are your expectations for this three-in-three weekend? How many points can the Admirals have from these three games? With the three-in-three in mind – how would you rotate the goaltenders? …would you even rotate the goaltenders?

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The Rockford IceHogs have been one of the best teams in the AHL to start the season. They are leading the Midwest Division and are second in the Western Conference with a 10-2-0-1 (21 points) record. Of those three defeats, one comes from the very scenario we have here tonight. The Admirals beat the IceHogs 3-2 on the road in what was their home and season opener.

Since then, losing hasn’t exactly been the norm for Rockford. The only other regulation loss they’ve suffered came at the hands of the Rochester Americans on the road, 3-2. The other defeat was in a shootout, 1-0, on the road against the Toronto Marlies. Three losses. Two in regulation. Both by one-goal. And the shootout loss saw neither team score until the first shootout attempts.

These guys have been darn near unstoppable and are currently riding an eight-game winning streak. They’ve scored 45 goals, allowed 28 goals, and have the second best goal differential, +17, as a result. The team leading them in that category? Chicago Wolves at +20. …is our division frighteningly good this season or what?

~Goaltending~

It’s hard to not see the results being laid down by the IceHogs and not give credit instantly to their first line of defense. Scott Darling, last year’s great story here in Milwaukee, has been incredible for Rockford: 5 games, 5 wins, 1.52 goals against average, and a 0.948 save percentage. He was the man the Chicago Blackhawks called upon early in the season when Corey Crawford went down for a little bit. Darling’s numbers kept doing even at the NHL level for his first ever look top-side: 3 starts, 2 wins, 1.98 goals against average, and a 0.933 save percentage.

In addition to Darling the IceHogs also have themselves an experienced and savvy veteran in Michael Leighton. The 33-year old has appeared in 9 games this season, had 5 wins, 2.32 goals against average, 0.917 save percentage, and has been in net for all of Rockford’s defeats this season. He was also pulled from a game on 11/4/14 against the Lake Erie Monsters after he allowed 4 goals from 14 shots. Mind you, each of the goals allowed in that game came directly from the power-play. Regardless, Darling came on and shut the door for a four-goals scored comeback to pick up the win. Yes, it has been that good for them this season.

The latest transaction for the IceHogs saw them recall goaltender Mac Carruth from the Indy Fuel of the ECHL. To the best of my knowledge – I don’t know of any injuries that have occurred to either Darling or Leighton. But, it’s rare that you see a team carrying three goaltenders without that being the case.

~Firing On All Cylinders~

The Admirals currently have three players that have 7 points or more on their roster: Brendan Leipsic, Austin Watson, and Viktor Arvidsson. The IceHogs have an absurd nine players with 7 or more points scored: Mark McNeill, Peter Regin, Phillip Danault, Joakim Nordstrom, Matt Carey, Garret Ross, T.J. Brennan, Teuvo Teravainen, and Kyle Cumiskey.

It’s not entirely one player. It’s not entirely one line. It has just been a consistent, night in and night out, effort from the IceHogs on how they generate offense. Only the Wolves (46) have scored more goals this season than the IceHogs (45). And, even then, we’re talking just one better.

~What Happened to the Insanity?~

When I hear the team name, Rockford IceHogs, what I tend to think about is something along the lines of this… this… this… or especially THIS.

So far this season? The IceHogs rank 27th in the entire league with only 12.8 penalty minutes per game: 167 PIM in total this season over 13 games. Not only have the IceHogs defense and offense been playing very well. They’re no longer playing like a pack of wild pillagers anymore.

What are your expectations for this weekend’s away-home two-in-two with the Rockford IceHogs? Can we expect a different Admirals team than the one we saw lose to the Iowa Wild on Wednesday? Should we anticipate a match-up of Magnus Hellberg against Scott Darling in net for both games this weekend? And should we expect to see some nastiness come out as it did against the Grand Rapids Griffins? What are your scoreline predictions for both games this weekend?

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These guys, again? It is already the fourth time in eleven games this season that the Milwaukee Admirals will be playing against the Iowa Wild. In the previous three occasions the Ads won twice on the road by scores of 4-3 and 4-0. The most recently played game was on home ice and saw the Ads fall for the first time all season with a 4-2 defeat.

~Rewind~

Let’s go back and address the last game these two played considering it was only the third time in thirteen games, dating back to last season, that the Wild were able to get the better of the Admirals.

The Wild got onto the board inside the game’s opening three-minutes. How did they do it? By establishing a screen in front of Marek Mazanec and generating a one timer from the blue line for Jake Parenteau. Quick puck movement. Quicker shot. No vision in goal. With the chance to redirect the shot – which is precisely what Michael Keränen did as the man screening Mazanec.

Where I feel the game was lost for the Admirals was a four minute spell in the second period. Mark Van Guilder called for holding. Wild score on the power-play. Mike Liambas called for charging. Wild score on the power-play. Regardless of who you play (and remember – this last game was a match-up between the then best team in the AHL against the worst) when you allow for sustained attacking pressure you open yourself up to be scored on. Give any team a chance for continual power-play chances in a game and you’re going to get burnt. It’s what ended up costing the Admirals their first loss of the season two weeks ago. And it’s something they must avoid doing again tonight.

~New Coach~

This week’s news out of the AHL was that the Iowa Wild fired head coach Kurt Kleinendorst late Sunday night. The Wild are a league worst 2-10-0-0 (4 points) to start the season. Only one other team, the St. John’s IceCaps, have allowed more goals. The team is currently riding a five-game losing streak. While I question that the fault of the Wild really falls on their coaching staff. The change was made yesterday.

The Wild’s new head coach is John Torchetti. It’s a familiar face to the organization and voice on the bench considering he was this team’s head coach from 2011-13 when they were the Houston Aeros. In both of those seasons in charge Torchetti’s teams made it into the playoffs. During that time his Aeros went 3-2-2-1 against the Admirals.

Thoughts and expectations for tonight’s game against the Iowa Wild? Who do you see Dean Evason picking as the goaltender tonight? Should Pontus Åberg make his expected return to the Admirals lineup tonight… whose line should he join?

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Feels like it has been awhile? That’s perhaps what the Milwaukee Admirals will be thinking come tonight thanks to this little resting period they’re on. They last played on Sunday afternoon in a 4-1 win over the Chicago Wolves. After today’s game, the Ads will have the rest of the weekend off before getting back into game mode on Wednesday against the Iowa Wild. Hopefully we see an energetic team during that span rather than a rusty one due to inactivity.

~Not So Grand Rapids~

The Grand Rapids Griffins are coming off of a four-game homestand where they lost each and every game. The lone contest they recorded a point from was a 6-5 (OT) loss against the Wolves. Their miserable run of form of has them in the cellar of the Midwest Division: 3-4-1-0 (7 points). They are the only team in the AHL yet to record a win on home ice.

That being said, they are unbeaten on the road so far this season. Three wins from three games. With an awful stretch at home in the past. Look for the Griffins to get out their frustrations tonight and compete their way back into the win column for the first time since 10/18/14.

~Prospect Watch~

Let’s start this section by stating how fortunate the Predators/Admirals have been so far on the injury front. Jonas Gustavsson dislocated his shoulder this past week for the Detroit Red Wings. This meant a recall for goaltender, and Admiral killer, Petr Mrázek. In addition, top prospect Anthony Mantha has missed the start of the 2014-15 season when he fractured his tibia in mid-September. Mantha is reported to be close to game shape. Still, he is “within weeks” from that happening – meaning, like Mrazek, he will not factor in tonight’s game.

Teemu Pulkkinen is the man I’d keep an eye out for tonight. While he didn’t score in the Griffins last outing, nor has he scored a goal in his previous three-games, Pulkkinen leads the team in scoring with 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists). To boot, he was the leading scorer in this head-to-head last season and was by quite a ways: 11 points (7 goals, 4 assists) in 10 games against the Admirals in 2013-14. To put that in perspective. The top scorer in this match-up for the Admirals last season was Colton Sissons with 5 points (4 goals, 1 assist) in 8 games.

Other prospects that will be on the ice to keep note of will be Xavier Ouellet and Ryan Sproul. The two 21-year old defensemen are very gifted offensively. This season, Ouellet has 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists) in 8 games. Last season, Sproul was phenomenal: 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) in his first full professional playing season.

~The Other Guy~

So, there will be no Mrazek in net against the Admirals tonight. Thank goodness for that. Last season he played the Admirals six times, won five games, had two shutouts, a goals against average of 1.14, and a save percentage of 0.951. The only other person, alongside Mrazek, who I would cringe at the thought of us playing against was Jake Allen last season. Reason why I got that feeling probably has something to due with the fact that they are both exactly where they belong right now – the NHL.

Who should have the net tonight for the Griffins? Tom McCollum. In all seriousness, he has actually performed better – by the numbers in the AHL this season – than Mrazek. In five-games this season (one of which was a relief appearance of Mrazek) he has won twice, allowed less goals, has a better goals against average, and -as you’d expect- a better save percentage.

The current back-up goaltender for the Griffins is Jared Coreau. This is his second professional playing season and it is not his first look at the AHL level. He played in five-games last season for the Griffins… lost four of them, had a 4.39 GAA, and a 0.873 SV%. His ECHL season last year wasn’t exactly dashing, either. He played in 20 games with a 4.03 GAA and a 0.879 SV%. He’s yet to log an appearance in the AHL yet this season. I’m expecting that to keep trending tonight. Not unless we see the “Leggio Rule” implemented for the first and only time ever tonight.

Thoughts for tonight’s game? Despite their record, do you feel this game against the Griffins is just as big as a game with the Wolves or IceHogs? With his perfomance on Sunday in mind, would you roll out Magnus Hellberg over Marek Mazanec? What is your scoreline prediction?

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The Milwaukee Admirals will look to rebound tonight after taking their first loss of the season on Wednesday night against the Iowa Wild.  The Ads are set for a road-home weekend set with the Chicago Wolves. And there is a chance that the AHL schedule may benefit the Ads tonight and even more so tomorrow.

With yesterday being an off-day for the Admirals – the Chicago Wolves were pushed hard on the road by the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Wolves came out on top 6-5 in OT to end their two-game skid. It’s a trek back from Grand Rapids to Chicago for a game against the Ads, and then a trip up to Milwaukee for another game with the Ads.

I’m expecting there to be a lot of hitting and strong forecheck work on the boards tonight by the Admirals. They have a chance to take an already tired opponent and exhaust them before the puck drops on Sunday afternoon. If they play their hand correctly – this could be a successful weekend for the Ads.

~Recent Run of Form~

Since the Admirals last played the Wolves their Amtrak Rivals have played two games. After the Admirals defeated them 3-2 in overtime, the Wolves followed up with a 4-3 road loss to the Rockford IceHogs and then the OT victory in Grand Rapids mentioned above.

In the last two games for the Wolves – they have allowed four-or-more goals. This comes with both of their goaltenders, Matt Climie and Jordan Binnington, taking part. It was the veteran Climie that picked up the win last night but, in doing so, he allowed five goals from twenty-six shots. In the loss to Rockford, Binnington had allowed four goals from twenty-nine shots on goal.

~Climie’s Arch Nemesis~

Climie’s history against the Milwaukee Admirals has been rather remarkable. The 31-year old netminder has played in 217 career AHL games. Of that total, he has played the Admirals twenty-nine times – including twice in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

2009-10: 3-1-0-0, 1.26 GAA, 0.956 SV%
2010-11: 2-1-0-1, 2.66 GAA, 0.890 SV%
2011-12: 5-2-0-0, 2.59 GAA, 0.927 SV%
2012-13: 0-7-0-1, 3.13 GAA, 0.889 SV%
2013-14: 1-2-0-0, 2.60 GAA, 0.893 SV%
2014-15: 0-0-1-0, 2.71 GAA, 0.857 SV%

His career mark against the Admirals in the regular season is 11-13-1-2 with a 2.49 GAA and a 0.902 SV%. Mind you, it’s those last four seasons with the Wolves to keep an eye on. The last last three seasons especially haven’t favored him at all – eleven defeats and only one win.

~Hunting in Packs~

The Wolves are currently led in scoring by Rob Bordson who has 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) in seven games. He is followed by a four-way tie for the second most points on the team with 6 points.

It’s a very deep roster that is finding offensive production all across the board in the early goings. Still, if I had one guy that I’d keep an eye out for this weekend it is – and remains Ty Rattie. In the Admirals-Wolves first meeting of the season his play, in combination with the speed of Terry Broadhurst, was outstanding to watch.

Someone else worth watching out for in a less-than-offensive sense is Cody Beach. He currently leads the entire league in penalty minutes with 68. His Fight Card already has three bouts attached to it this season. If Rich Clune makes his Admirals debut – perhaps we’re treated to a tilt between the two.

What are your expectations from this weekend’s games? Can the Admirals get back to winning form tonight? Scoreline predictions for the weekend? Do you see the Admirals rotating goalies at all this weekend?

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It is a tad overkill for a fully fledged scouting the enemy today when you consider we did that whole song and dance about two weeks ago on the Iowa Wild. So, let’s do some quick recapping and take a look into our own team in today’s scouting report.

~Be Kind, Rewind~

The Admirals played a so-so game in their first meeting of the season against the Wild. The game finished 4-3 and the Ads nearly coughed up a 4-1 lead. This was followed the next night by a game that wasn’t even remotely close. Marek Mazanec recorded his first career AHL shutout. Viktor Arvidsson scored a natural hat trick. And the Admirals won 4-0.

What has happened since for the Wild? They played two more home games and split them with the Charlotte Checkers. This past Friday the Wild lost 5-1. The next night they were finally able to earn their win of the season, 4-1. They sit at the bottom of the entire AHL with a record of 1-5-0-0 (2 points). In other words, they are the yin to our yang as far as this young season has developed so far. (Don’t take the Admirals hot start and win streak for granted!)

~The Great Gustafsson Mystery~

In his first start of the season, Johan Gustafsson may have allowed three goals but he had an impressive thirty-six saves in a 3-2 road loss against the San Antonio Rampage. Then came the Admirals and back-to-back rough nights in net. He was pulled the first night against the Ads after allowing four goals from eight shots in 21:50 of ice time. The next night he hung around for the distance but, again, conceded four goals.

The spark he, as well as the entire Iowa Wild team needed, was that first win of the season. Gustafsson was the man in net on Saturday night when the Wild took down the Checkers. He made thirty-four saves from thirty-five shots on goal. This includes being the fort in net when the Wild’s penalty kill went six-of-six on the night.

So, which Gustafsson do the Admirals get? The one that was stellar last time out or the one that requires an Iowa Wild team to produce more than four goals to win?

~Admirals Roster Shake-Up~

There’s no telling which line Viktor Stalberg will be injected into but there is no denying his inclusion, on a conditioning assignment, will make this team even better. The Admirals forward lines have stayed pretty consistent during this franchise best start to a season. Unfamiliar? It has looked as such:

Leipsic-Van Guilder-Watson
Salomaki-Sissons-Aberg
Arvidsson-Girard-Grant
Pendenza-Gaudreau-Budish

I’m sure the top two lines listed there are sort of “1-A, 1-B” but that’s where things are about to get complex. There are a number of possibilities as to what Dean Evason could roll out with tonight.

With how well Mark Van Guilder and Austin Watson have been playing together – Stalberg is a similar style player that could fit in there. But, I question if taking Brendan Leipsic off that line is the best thing for how well he has worked in concert with his linemates. It could be that you see Miikka Salomaki or Pontus Aberg rotate down with the eventual choice of Joe Pendenza or Zach Budish getting healthy scratched with Triston Grant pulling fourth line duty. Shame, as well. Because that fourth-line has also been playing well.

All that and we haven’t even thought of what will happen to Mike Liambas, who is healthy and game ready, should Rich Clune clear waivers and reach Milwaukee. While that works itself out I’ll be enjoying the fact that we now have two players named Viktor and reciting “Smoke Signals” quotes.

UPDATE: Rich Clune has cleared waivers and will be assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals.

What do you expect out of tonight’s game? Scoreline prediction? Can the Admirals winning-streak continue? How would you re-work the Admirals forward lines to incorporate Viktor Stalberg?

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Before leaping ahead to the match-up we have tonight against the Lake Erie Monsters I feel like some recapping is in order from the 3-2 (OT) win in Chicago last night.

With the Texas Stars losing 5-3 to the Oklahoma City Barons last night – the Milwaukee Admirals became the last remaining unbeaten AHL team. This start, five wins in five games, ties the franchise record for the best start to a season (1988-89). The four-consecutive road wins to start a season is a new record for the Admirals. And, for good measure, they also became the first team in the AHL this season to reach double digit points.

The only other team with more goals than the Admirals this season are the Rochester Americans – who have 21 goals to the Admirals 20 goals. That same team is also on equal playing field with the Admirals for the best goal differential in the league with +10.

Brendan Leipsic, who recorded another primary assist last night on Austin Watson‘s goal, now leads in rookie scoring with 7 points – all of which are assists – a category in which he leads the entire league in. Viktor Arvidsson and Pontus Åberg are both tied for third place in rookie scoring with 5 points.

Plenty of superlatives to dish out from this start to the season. Positives all over the place. And you almost forget that Marek Mazanec, for the second consecutive season, has started his AHL season off with five straight wins.

~The New Divisional Foe~

With this season’s divisional realignment, the shuffle saw the Iowa Wild go from our division to the West Division and the Lake Erie Monsters step in from the North Division. Since their inception in 2007-08, they have gone 13-7-3-1 against the Milwaukee Admirals.

Previous seasons have only seen the two battling home and away in two-game sets for a total of four games in a season. The most recent edition, the 2013-14 season, saw a combined total of 212 penalty minutes between the two teams in four games. In addition, there were 31 goals scored – 10 goals from the power-play – 2 shorthanded (one by each team) – and a single empty netter.

The Monsters, the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, enter tonight’s game with a 2-3-0-0 record from their opening five games. They are at the bottom of the Midwest Division. They have scored 13 goals and have 18 goals against. Despite getting spanked by the Chicago Wolves last weekend they enter tonight’s game off of a stellar 5-4 road win against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Each and every goal scored in that game by the Monsters was with Petr Mrazek in net. Weirdly, they finished the night 0/5 on the power-play and still scored 5 goals.

~Prospect Watch~

According to the Fall Top 20 for Avalanche prospects on Hockey’s Future – the Monsters will boast half of that list on their current roster that will be rolling into Milwaukee from Grand Rapids.

Topping their list of current Monsters is defenseman Duncan Siemens. The 21-year old Alberta native was selected by the Avalanche with the 11th Overall Selection in the 2011 NHL Draft. Last year was his rookie season of professional hockey and it was tattered with injuries. He only played in 46 games for the Monsters, scored 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists), had 45 penalty minutes, and a plus/minus of -1. He is healthy to start this season off, has played in all five games so far, and has an assist with a -4 rating.

Joey Hishon is another name worth spying on tonight. You might remember that he scored a hat trick against the Admirals last season in a 6-5 defeat for the Monsters in Milwaukee. To boot, the main AHL website has given him a feature story worth looking at. He is also a former first round selection of the Avalanche (10th Overall). And, despite a great pre-season camp with Colorado, has no points in three games for the Monsters and is a -5 rating to boot. Look for him to potentially get off the mark tonight.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Will the Admirals set a franchise record for a best ever start to a season? Would you dare rotate Marek Mazanec out of the net in favor of giving Magnus Hellberg his first start of the season tonight?

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The start of the Amtrak Rivalry begins tonight in Chicago. The Milwaukee Admirals, who have won all four games they’ve played so far, are one of two teams in the AHL that are currently unbeaten. The other team that hasn’t taken a loss is last season’s Calder Cup winners the Texas Stars.

Quick refresher course. The Admirals have score no less than three goals per game heading into tonight. They’re coming off of their strongest win of the season – a 4-0 shutout on the road against the Iowa Wild.

As for the Wolves, they have played every single game (tonight included) on home ice. They enter with a record of 3-0-1-0 (7 points) and have allowed no more than two goals in their opening four games. And are coming off of a two games in two days thrashing of the Lake Erie Monsters… featuring an 18-save shutout by Matt Climie in a 4-0 win… and then seven different Wolves scored goals in the following night’s 7-2 beat down. To put it simply. Tonight. This is the test.

~Hooray For No More Jake Allen~

What should make everyone feel all the more excited with tonight’s game is that Jake Allen is no longer in net for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. The winner of last season’s Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award for the AHL’s best goaltender currently finds himself right where he belongs in the NHL.

Against the Admirals last season, Allen won 7 games from 9 starts and had a 1.51 GAA with a 0.939 SV%. He also shutout the Ads twice in the final month of the regular season.

Who carries the reigns then for the Wolves in net? It’s early days just yet but the 31-year old veteran Climie has shouldered the brunt of the opening slate. He has won all 3 games he has started, has a shutout, a 1.00 GAA, and a 0.945 SV%. Expect a match up tonight between him and Marek Mazanec as these two should be going with the hot hands.

Backing up Climie is 21-year old Jordan Binnington – who spent almost all of last season playing for the Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL: 23-13-3 record, 2.35 GAA, 0.922 SV%, and a shutout to his name. He did play in one game for the Wolves last season: allowing 3 goals but picking up a 4-3 win against Rockford. He is the goalie of record in the game in which the Wolves dropped their one and only point of this current season: a 2-1 (OT) loss against the Charlotte Checkers.

~Prospect Power~

When you check out this year’s Midwest Conference, the talent pool all across the board is pretty well loaded for all teams this season. Looking at the Wolves roster is just a reminder or the depth that the St. Louis Blues organization has at its disposal.

Ty Rattie and Dmitrij Jaškin are on the Wolves again this season. The two combined for 77 points (46 goals, 31 assists) last season. Both were in their first full-season of professional hockey. And both have hit the ground running this season with each having 4 points in the Wolves opening 4 games of the season.

Elsewhere, defensemen Jani Hakanpää and Joel Edmundson are back after completing their rookie seasons. The good news in terms of tonight. Both have missed the opening games of the Wolves season due to injury: Hakanpää (thumb) and Edmundson (back). No word on their status ahead of this game. Fact of the matter remains that, when they get back, they only make this Wolves roster that much better.

~Austin, Son of Wat~

Shifting gears to our side of things. If you are looking for someone to step up tonight for the Admirals in the Amtrak Rivalry. Look no further than Austin Watson. He was the joint top scorer in this match up last season with Taylor Beck with 6 points from 12 games. And, in his career against the St. Louis Blues AHL affiliates, Watson has 14 points (9 goals, 5 assists) in 24 games.

Playing as a right winger this season and last season has proved to be a boost for Watson. He has 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in the Admirals opening 4 games and has seemed to have developed a great on ice chemistry with Mark Van Guilder. Barring an injury, call up, or trade – I just don’t see these two moving around this season. The combo of 29-51 works and it should continue working well tonight in Chicago.

Thoughts for tonight’s first Amtrak Rivalry game? What are your expectations? Can the Admirals escape Chicago tonight still unbeaten? What is your scoreline prediction?

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