Do you like it when the Admirals play against the Rockford IceHogs? Good, because they’ll be playing a three-in-three scenario (home-road-home) all weekend long.

Dean Evason talks about the weekend series with Rockford:

The Admirals will enter Friday’s game after a 3-2 win against the Toronto Marlies on Tuesday night. That victory boosted the Ads to second place in the Midwest Division ahead of the Chicago Wolves. The Ads record now sits at 19-12-5-3 (46 points). In their last ten games they are 4-4-0-2 (10 points).

In this match up you’ll have the Midwest Division’s best home team playing against its worst road team. The Ads are 12-3-2-0 (26 points) on home ice in seventeen games this season. They have scored 57 goals and allowed 38 goals. The IceHogs are 6-11-3-1 (16 points) from twenty-one road games this season. They’ve scored 55 road goals and allowed a staggering 80 road goals – which is the most in the entire AHL. Of the three meetings this weekend – two will be in Milwaukee.

Scott Ford on playing against the Rockford IceHogs:

In the Admirals last game they dressed seven-defensemen and had Taylor Beck and Filip Forsberg double up on lines throughout the night. With the news of Beck’s call up here is what coach Evason had to say:

His comments on Taylor Beck’s recent NHL call up:

With that roster move – will we see seven-defensemen dress again on the weekend?

With the three-in-three scenario, with the additional travel element of Milwaukee to Rockford to Milwaukee, there is also the question of how the goaltending will be worked during these games. Marek Mazanec has played in all three-games since Magnus Hellberg went down with a right ankle injury against the San Antonio Rampage. Mazanec has gone 1-1-0-1 since returning from Nashville with a 2.64 GAA and a 0.896 SV%. This stretch of games might open the door for Hannu Toivonen to play -at least- one game on the weekend.

Evason’s thoughts on working the goalies in the three-in-three:

Toivonen was a first round draft choice of the Boston Bruins in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. After the injury that took place during practice to Scott Darling – the team signed him to a professional try-out (PTO). He had been playing with the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL where he had made 16 appearances in net and won 7 games. His numbers with the Walleye might not have been anything to write home to Finland about, 3.61 GAA and 0.899 SV%, but it’s his veteran experience in this situation the Ads are battling through that makes him fit. From 2005-08 he played 61 games in the NHL with the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues. His last AHL team prior to the PTO with the Admirals? The Rockford IceHogs in the 2010-11 season. He’s made one appearance with the Ads this season. He played all of four seconds in overtime against the San Antonio Rampage and then made four out of six saves in the shootout – giving him a 5-4 shootout loss without facing a shot in regulation or overtime while relieving Hellberg after his injury. Should Toivonen make a start this weekend it will be his first start since April 10, 2011 – which he won while making 37 saves in a 5-4 (OT) game between Rockford and Chicago.

The Rockford IceHogs enter this game with a record of 18-19-4-2 (42 points). In their previous ten games they have gone 3-4-1-2 (9 points). They are currently fourth in the Midwest Division – only two points clear of the basement dwellers the Iowa Wild. Credit where credit is due – they do have a Midwest Division best 690 penalty minutes. They also have conceded the most goals, 144, in the entire AHL. They’ll be entering the game on a winless run of three-games: 0-2-1-0.

Rockford’s top scorer is defenseman Adam Clendening with 32 points (5 goals, 27 assists) – who is second in the AHL for scoring by a defenseman (Ads faced the league leader on Tuesday with T.J. Brennan of the Marlies). Clendenings assists totals are really impressive – so who is scoring the goals? There are four players on the IceHogs with double-digit figures in goals scored: Joakim Nordstrom (13), Brad Winchester (12), Mark McNeill (11), and Garret Ross (11). That’s one better than the Admirals overall – but two better than will be on the ice for this weekend: Sissons (15), Beck (11), and Salomaki (10). Considering how similar these two play the game – anticipate lots of net front traffic as players try to generate screens or rebound chances to score.

The current tandem in net for the IceHogs is Kent Simpson and Jason LaBarbera. Simpson has been the go-to guy for Rockford this season. He has played a team-high 20 games in net and is tied for the team lead with 7 wins with Antti Raanta. He has a 0.897 SV% and a team-low 3.39 GAA. Like Mazanec – it should be Simpson getting the majority of the weekend. Like Toivonen – LaBarbera is another veteran NHL mind currently backing up and waiting for an opportunity to play. He has played in 182 NHL games. Should he get the call – he’ll be ready to go. He has played in 9 games this year with the IceHogs – only winning 2 games but has a quality 0.927 SV%.

Milwaukee and Rockford have played three times already this season:

Friday, Nov. 1 vs. Rockford: W, 4-2
Wednesday, Nov. 27 @ Rockford: L, 2-1 (OT)
Saturday, Dec. 21 @ Rockford: W, 3-1

So far, hostilities have been kept to a minimum. There hasn’t been a single fighting major between the two teams this season. With three-in-three set this weekend, and both treating it as though it were a playoff series, the atmosphere might get a little dose of nasty with two similar teams grinding out a weekend together.

Thoughts on this weekend’s series? Can the Ads sweep the weekend? If the team is going back to six-defensemen, who sits and who plays? When can we expect the first fight of the season between the Ads and IceHogs?

The road stretch wasn’t pretty for the Ads. With the game in San Antonio and Saturday-Sunday rodeo in Oklahoma City the team went: 0-1-0-2. In the three games, the Ads were outscored 10-9 despite outshooting their opponents 115-91. Their power-play in the three games converted two goals from sixteen chances. Their penalty kill allowed four power-play goals from thirteen kill opportunities.

Despite only earning two points from a possible six – the chances were there to take more. The power-play was a mess. The shootouts, as gimmicky as it may seem, offered great chances all their own to claim two more points from the road trip. Chances were there – and missed. Frustrating. The bright side is that there is a quick turnaround that has the Ads back in the comforts of home ice.

The difference between the Ads at home versus on the road is pretty extreme. The Ads are 11-3-2-0 (24 points from 16 games) at home and have scored 54 goals while allowing 36 goals (+18 goal differential). On the road they are 7-9-3-3 (20 points from 22 games) and have scored 49 goals while allowing 69 goals (-20 goal differential). The power-play at home is the eighth best in the AHL at 22.1%. On the road their power-play is rated twenty-second in the AHL at 14.0%. Their penalty kill at home is third best in the AHL with 88.7%. On the road, again the numbers dips big, twenty-fourth in the AHL with a penalty kill of 77.5%.

Question to the Roundtable: Why is there such a disparity between home and road numbers? What do they do so wrong that they can do so right at home?

In the Admirals last five home games they have gone 3-2-0-0 (6 points), scored 17 goals, allowed 14 goals, went 26.1% on the power-play, went 90.5% on the penalty kill, and even won a shootout before sudden death. For whatever reason – the team just calms down that extra bit when it comes to playing on home ice.

As for these Marlies – this will be the first meeting of two this season. The Ads will travel up to Toronto in late-March. Last year, the Ads won 3-1 in Toronto and the lost 3-2 (OT) in Milwaukee. The enemy are sitting atop the Western Conference’s North Division with a record of 22-11-2-2 (48 points from 37 games). They will be entering the game on a five-game points streak: 4-0-0-1.

The Marlies are lead in scoring by defenseman T.J. Brennan and right winger Spencer Abbott who both have 38 points: Brennan (16 goals, 22 assists) and Abbott (9 goals, 29 assists). Brennan leads all AHL defenseman in scoring this season and does so by a comfortable six-point margin over Adam Clendening of the Rockford IceHogs (we’ll see him enough to make us sick this coming weekend). As for Mr. Abbott, his 29 assists are second in the AHL this season – only Travis Morin of the Texas Stars, with 31 assists, has more.

The man logging the max-time in net for the Marlies has been former-Admiral goaltender Drew MacIntyre. This season he has played in 28 games and won 17 of them. He has a 2.43 GAA and a 0.915 SV%. When he played with the Admirals in the 2008-09 season he played 55 games, won 34, and had a 0.921 SV%.

Another possible positive about this match up is that the Marlies will be playing this afternoon against the IceHogs in Rockford before travelling up to Milwaukee and playing Tuesday. MacIntyre didn’t start the last game in net for the Marlies. Instead it was Garret Sparks playing in his sixth game and picking up his third win of the season. This makes for flexibility as to who the Marlies want to roll out both tonight and tomorrow. The way he has played – I could see MacIntyre starting both games. I will provide an update to this post once that game goes final later this afternoon.

UPDATE: Marlies took down the IceHogs 3-2 this afternoon in Rockford. MacIntyre made the start in net for Toronto and made 40 saves from 42 shots. Mr. Spencer Abbott had 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists). T.J. Brennan had a 2 point game (1 goal, 1 assist). Make their season totals now Abbott with a team leading 41 points (10 goals, 31 assists) – that ties him for the league lead in assists with Travis Morin with 31.

What shall we expect from this game against the Marlies? A return to home ice and success or will the road struggles ride on in with the team off the bus?

Last time out the Ads held on for a 6-5 win against the Lake Erie Monsters. It wasn’t the same type of crazy that we had when the two met in Cleveland but it was still pretty nerve wracking to know the team almost coughed up a 6-2 lead.

Next up are the San Antonio Rampage – who we’ve seen in two previous encounters:

Sunday, Nov. 10 @San Antonio: L, 3-2 (SO)
Friday, Dec. 20 vs. San Antonio: W, 4-0

In those games we’ve seen big games in net from Magnus Hellberg and Scott Darling. While Hellberg was unlucky to not get the win in Round I – he stopped 43/45 shots including 4/5 in the shootout. Darling picked up his second shutout of the season when the Ads last played the Rampage – stopping all 34 shots on goal.

With the Ads starting up a massive stretch in the schedule, 7 games in 10 days, it’s going to be very fascinating to see how they work the goalies in this span.

UPDATE: Goaltending Shuffle.

In terms of the skating group in this match up – we have a tie in scoring: Filip Forsberg (2 goals, 1 assist) and Austin Watson (3 assists). There is still no real time table on just how long Forsberg will remain with the Ads in his third stint with the team. I feel like the folks up top in Nashville feel much more content to have him playing extra minutes and learning in the AHL than playing third-line minutes and learning in the NHL. Simply put, he’s getting more bang for his buck when it comes to his development. He should still be on the Ads top forward line with Miikka Salomaki and All Star Colton Sissons heading into these road games -and- being a crucial figure on the power-play unit. With his last game against the Monsters being a 4-point night (2 goals, 2 assists) I’m hoping for more good things from the Swede as he starts settling back into the North American sized rink and game speed out of World Juniors.

Now, about the enemy. The San Antonio Rampage enter tomorrow’s game off of a 3-2 shootout win on Monday night against the Utica Comets. That puts them at 14-20-1-3 (32 points) on the season. They’re still in the basement of the West Division – being dominated so far by Texas and Abbotsford. In their last ten games they have gone 3-5-1-1 … which isn’t brilliant BUT they are riding a three-game point streak heading into this game.

The stop scorers in this match up includes a six-way tie for the top in scoring with a single point. The two goal scorers, both with (you guessed it) one, for the Rampage against the Ads include noted pest Steve Pinizzotto and former-Admiral Jed Ortmeyer. I say noted pest because (A) he is and (B) last time against the Admirals he fought Mathieu Tousignant  and (C) took a charging penalty on Joonas Rask into the boards that injured Rask’s right shoulder and sidelined him for 8 games.

Back to the subject of scoring – the Rampage haven’t put too huge of a dent up in the two games so it’s hard to tell what we’re getting. You look at their team’s scoring this season and there are two standouts: Bobby Butler and Vincent Trocheck. The rookie Trocheck holds the team lead in scoring with 26 points (12 goals, 14 assists) – which is that little bit better than Ads rookie Sissons who has 24 points (14 goals, 10 assists). In 4 games this month Trocheck has 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists). He started the year off with a bang and cooled in December. It looks like he’s back on it.

Rampage goaltending right now is a platoon of Jacob Markstrom and ex-Charlotte Checker Rob Madore. While Markstrom has yet to face the Admirals this season Madore has seen them while playing in net for two different teams:

Charlotte, Dec. 1: L, 2-1: 25/27 in saves.
San Antonio, Dec. 20: L, 4-0: (relief appearance) 5/6 in saves.

While he might have the recent experience playing against the Admirals it has been all Markstrom in net for the last 7-straight games for San Antonio. In that time he has gone 3-3-1-0 making 218/239 in saves for a 0.912 SV%. I anticipate him to make his eighth-consecutive start. If they go with Madore – look to his previous history as for a reason why he’s thrown in,

Expectations for tomorrow’s road game against the Rampage? How about this busy stretch in the upcoming schedule? Will the team find a groove and pick up lots of points or stumble during a very hectic amount of games and travel? Who starts more games in net, Hellberg or Darling? Will Forsberg still be an Admiral when the team finishes this long stint of games come Sunday Jan. 26th against Rockford?

There is no escaping the fact that this weekend’s games against the Lake Erie Monsters were brutal. No matter how great it was to see Mike Liambas score his first goal of the season on Friday. No matter how entertaining it can be for a goalie fight to break out. The Ads were outscored 10-3 in those two games.

Who comes to the rescue of the Ads looking to forget the opening games of 2014? Miley Cyrus and the Iowa Wild that’s who.

This game was originally scheduled for Sunday March 9th. A Miley Cyrus concert booking later and we’re playing this game on a Monday night – with courtesy cheap concessions for fans braving the cold weather to hit the rink. While this might have seemed annoying at first this now acts as a great springboard back into winning form against a team the Ads have owned so far this season.

This is the fourth meeting between the Ads and Wild and the Ads have put a hurting on the Iowa-side so far: 3 wins, 2 shutouts, and outscoring them 10-2. The top scorers for the Ads in this meeting have been Colton Sissons, Anthony Bitetto, Bryan Rodney, and Mark Van Guilder who all have 3 points in the games against Iowa. Sissons has a team best 2 goals – while the Wild’s Steven Kampfer has a goal and an assist to top Iowa’s end.

The big story for this game will be Scott Darling whose breakout party really started against the Wild. On 11/16, Darling made his second start of the season and completed a 32-save shutout over the Wild in Iowa. On 12/29, he did it again in Iowa with a 33-save shutout. Those are his lone games against Iowa – so that’s a pretty good save percentage. The only other goalie to face Iowa was Marek Mazanec who stopped 28/30 shots in a 5-2 road victory on 11/27. Ads goalies are a combined 93/95 in shots – that’s a 0.979 SV%.

The Wild will be entering tonight’s game in the cellar of the Midwest Division with a record of 14-14-2-1 (31 points). They are getting better as the season strums along – all be it in tight circumstances. In their previous ten games they have gone 6-2-1-1. Of those ten games – four gave gone past regulation – and three of those went to a shootout. Also of those ten games they have outscored their opponents by a narrow margin of 27-25.

The team lead in scoring is tied among three players with 17 points: Erik Haula (9 goals, 8 assists), Brian Connelly (1 goal, 16 assists), and ex-Admiral Jon Blum (4 goals, 13 assists). I truthfully don’t know what to make of it when a team has two defenseman, Blum and Connelly, in their top three in scoring. What still goes for the Wild is scoring from a vast number of players. They have eleven players in double-digit point totals with none at the 20-point plateau yet. The Ads have eight players in double-digit points with three players at the 20-point mark… and Bitetto at 19 points is right in there.

UPDATE: This morning the Minnesota Wild have recalled Haula and Blum. The Iowa Wild have signed d-man Nicholas Rioux to a PTO.

What do you expect tonight from the Ads? Will this be a bounce back or will the woes of Lake Erie continue? Can Darling shutout the Wild for a third-consecutive game?

The Ads first games of 2014 will take place against the Lake Erie Monstars. That’s right. The Monstars. (How are these 1996 references working out?)

Lake Erie wishes they looked that beastly. On paper they look pretty average but still should match up well with the Admirals. The Monsters currently sit third in the Western Conference’s North Division: 15-13-0-3 (33 points). What comes to mind when looking at their team numbers is this: 31 games, 83 goals scored, and 95 goals allowed. Of the North Division no team has allowed more goals than Lake Erie.

The Ads kick off the new year with these two road games in Lake Erie. Since their thrashing in Grand Rapids, the Ads have managed to string together some great results over their previous six games: 4-1-1-0 (9 points). They’ve played 30 games now and hold second place in the Midwest Division behind the Griffins with a record of 16-8-5-1 (38 points). To give some perspective on the above mentioned goals scored/allowed for Lake Erie – the Ads have scored 80 goals and have allowed 73 goals. The Ads simply play a smarter and more composed game than their counter parts. If you disagree with that: the Ads have 452 penalty minutes to the Monsters 685 penalty minutes.

The top scorers of the Monsters are Bryan Lerg and Mark Olver. Lerg leads the team in goals scored (12), is tied for the team lead in assists (15), and leads the team in scoring (27). Olver is tied for second best on the team in goals scored (7), is tied with Lerg with the team lead in assists (15), and has the second most points (22) on the Monsters. Now here is the bad news regarding them. They have a combined 49 points scored, good, but a combined plus/minus of -26. When you are the top two in scoring and are still rated that badly – something awful is going on.

The Monsters are among the few teams I’ve looked at this year in the AHL who have managed to only play two goalies this season: Calvin Pickard and Sami Aittokallio. Not only that, but they are evenly distributing that work load very well with similar results. Pickard has played in 17 games for 991:16 minutes in net and a 0.904 SV%. Aittokallio has played in 16 games for 889:56 minutes in net and a 0.908 SV%. The way these two have operated I wouldn’t be shocked to get a dose of both Pickard and Aittokallio in these two games in Lake Erie.

Ads/Wisconsin products on the Lake Erie Monsters include the following: Markus Lauridsen (Green Bay Gamblers, 2010-12), Calvin Pickard (guilty by association.. Chet’s brother), Cam Reid (Admirals, 2012-13), and Russ Sinkewich (Admirals, 2008-09).

Ads News: No word yet on Joonas Rask or Scott Valentine’s availability for these games. Some good news though came via the Twitter machine from Patrick Cehlin:

Great way to kick off the new year with some icetime. First time back after 2 months #progressing

— Patrick Cehlin (@PattyC29) January 2, 2014

Cehlin has missed 23 games this season including the last 22 straight-games.His last game was on 11/3/13 @ Iowa where he scored a goal and an assist. If he’s on the comeback trail – it could be a great boost to have his skill on offense back in the mix. No time table for him as of yet.

UPDATE: Scott Valentine made the trip to Lake Erie but isn’t expected to factor in tonight’s game. Tonight’s starting goaltenders will be Scott Darling squaring off against Calvin Pickard.

Thoughts on the match up with the Lake Erie Monsters? Should the “Goalie of the Month” carry the load in both of these games in Lake Erie or should Magnus Hellberg be given a chance in the two-in-two? Is it safe to expect any hang over from not playing since last Sunday (the Monsters played on Wednesday in Utica)?

Hello San Antonio! It’s been awhile. The Admirals faced the Rampage on the road earlier this season in a game that ended with a 4-3 shootout defeat for the Ads. That was over a month ago and just as the Rampage were under new management.

So, what have they been up to since that game?

San Antonio sits in the basement of the AHL’s West Division of the Western Conference with a record of 11-16-0-2 (24 pts). The team has played five more games than the Ads but have less wins and points. That may go down to the fact that, through 29 games, San Antonio have allowed 89 goals against 76 goals scored. If it weren’t for the penalty-minute happy affair between the Ads and Griffins last weekend – the Rampage might well have more than 100+ penalty minutes than the Ads.

It’s been tough sledding all season long for the Rampage who just so happen to play in one of the highest scoring divisions of the AHL. Ever since their first encounter with the Ads they played in sixteen games sporting a 5-10-0-1 record. Of the entire season that they’ve played in – there has only been one shutout and it was the Rampage on the receiving end of a 6-0 thrashing by the Texas Stars.

The Rampage’s top scorer is Vincent Trocheck. The rookie center leads the team with 11 goals and 22 points. That total puts Trocheck fifth amongst AHL rookies this season in scoring. While his numbers to start the season were consistent – he has tailed off in the month of December. In October, he has 5 goals and 4 assists. In November, 4 goals and 5 assists. Through eight games in December he has 2 goals and 2 assists – only tallying an assist in his last six games.

Another note on the Rampage’s struggles could go down to the revolving door in goal for the team. In twenty-nine games this season they have three goalies who have played eight-or-more games in net. Compare that to the Ads who only have one. The top man in net for the Rampage, as far as minutes and the numbers back up, has been Jacob Markstrom: 4-5-0-1 record, 2.46 GAA, and a 0.924 SV%. The major problem, Markstrom has lost his last four decisions. This has contributed to the likes of Rob Madore and Michael Houser playing games since Markstrom’s last start – last Tuesday – a 2-1 loss in Charlotte. No clue who gets the net for this game. And it is that level of uncertainty that can lead to a run like the one San Antonio is battling through.

As for the Ads, they’ll be looking to get the foul taste of Grand Rapids out of their mouth with this home game that kicks off the first of a three-in-three this weekend. The team, which along with the Portland Pirates have played an AHL lowest twenty-four games so far, enters Friday with a 12-7-4-1 record good enough for 29 points and third place in the Midwest Division. While their counterpart in tonight’s match up makes this looks fine – in the Ads last ten games they have gone 4-4-2-0. It’s been almost a week since the Ads played a game. In that time, much has taken place. Perhaps best summed up by Magnus Hellberg’s quick two-days of traveling between Milwaukee, Chicago, Nashville, and Milwaukee.

How Hellberg found out about his latest NHL call up:

Hellberg on the back-and-forth travel and time in Nashville:

Hellberg on maintaining focus against all the travel:

I also caught up yesterday morning with Joonas Rask. Despite an ugly weekend in Grand Rapids, perhaps the brightest spot of the two-games played against the Griffins came when Rask netted his first goal of the season… and first career fight for good measure.

Joonas Rask on his eventful time against Grand Rapids:

Rask on fighting:

Rask feeling less pressure after his first goal of the season:

Another major news story that developed fast in the midweek was the addition of Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg. The nineteen-year old Swede is returning back to game action after missing a month worth of hockey due to a concussion.

Forsberg’s plan: Treat this weekend with serious purpose, get any and all rust off, and hope that his performance and fitness levels through the Ads three-in-three this weekend are enough to propel him back to his native Sweden for Chirstmas – and the 2014 IIHF World Juniors. It sounds like the opportunity is there for Forsberg to represent Team Sweden at home for the tournament provided he displays quality on the ice without any injury setback. In just four games with the Ads, Forsberg produced 1 goal and 4 assists in his first stint in the AHL. That included a game against these very same San Antonio Rampage where he scored an assist, fired four shots on goal, and failed to convert in the shootout.

Should Forsberg play on the same line as last time he would be on the ice with Simon Moser on the opposite wing and anchored by Colton Sissons down the middle. Moser has missed the team’s last three games due to an upper body injury but did return to full-contact practice with the team yesterday after not having made the trip with the Ads to Grand Rapids. I will provide an update on his condition closer to game time on Twitterland.

UPDATE: Goaltending match-up tonight will be Scott Darling against Michael Houser.

UPDATE: Pre-game skate, Moser is on the ice – while Budish, Cehlin, and Liambas are absent. Liambas was hurt in the midweek – not sure if it relates to some of the big hits he took in Grand Rapids.

UPDATE: Moser in. Budish, Cehlin, Liambas, and Roussel out.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? With yet another lengthy gap between games – will it hurt or help the team in game one of this three-in-three? How is your outlook on the weekend series between San Antonio, Rockford, and Chicago?

Last week the Admirals played three games. The week before that they played three games. And before that, you guessed it, three games. This week -and- next week will only see the Ads play one game a week – both of which are against the Oklahoma City Barons. Funny how that schedule shakes out, right?

The Ads are entering the game with a 10-5-4-1 record good for 25 points and third place in the Midwest division. The last ten games haven’t seen the team at their sparkling best: 4-3-2-1. Even worse has been the team’s power-play over its last five games which has not scored a goal with the man-advantage from twenty chances. The last time the team scored a power-play goal came on 11/19 vs. Abbotsford in the first period thanks to Simon Moser. Ever since… ouch.

The biggest benefit to this lengthy break over this week and next will be to reignite the offense and power-play unit. Practice. Practice. Practice. Undoubtedly a focal point all week. It will be fascinating to see if the team can break out of the power-play drought tonight.

Captain Ford. Where art thou? I had the opportunity Wednesday to speak briefly with the Ads skipper and he told me that he broke his foot while blocking a slap shot. He was walking around in a boot but without crutches. As he so often is, Ford was in very good spirits and was still chirping around with his teammates after practice. The captain should be back in a few weeks. He’s a tough hombre!

Now, about the enemy…

The Oklahoma City Barons enter tonight’s game having played in three more games than the Ads but with a lesser record: 9-11-0-3, 21 points, and are fourth in the West division. Like the Ads, the Barons previous ten games has also been a mess going 4-5-0-1. The team is a very odd case. They have an offense that can be explosive: in the last ten games they have scored three-or-more goals seven times. They play in incredibly tight hockey games: thirteen of their twenty-three games played this season have been decided by one goal with a team record of 4-6-0-3 in those contests. They have outscored the Ads this season by 9 goals but have also allowed more goals, 14, than the Ads have. Whether we see a game played on a tight rope or an open and fast paced contest appears to come down to which Barons team shows up: Jekyll or Hyde.

The player to watch on the Barons side of the puck, and one that I am very excited to see play in person, is shootout wizard Linus Omark. Considering all the one-goal games the Barons play… perhaps a shootout isn’t such a bad thing. Nevermind his noted shootout skills though – his AHL season so far has been sharp. In 23 games this season Omark has scored 11 goals and 14 assists (25 pts). That includes a game in which he scored 4 goals in a road effort against the San Antonio Rampage. Right now Omark is on a six-game point streak: 1 goal and  9 assists. How good was his month of November? In twelve games for the Barons he scored in all but three games. That continued in the Barons last game on Tuesday with 2 assists. He’s the man to shutdown if the Ads are going to slow down the Barons offense.

Similar to our previous opponents, the Charlotte Checkers, the Barons have had a hard time finding consistency in net. The Barons have used six goalies this season: Jason LaBarbera, Richard Bachman, Ilya Bryzgalov, Tyler Bunz, Olivier Roy, and Laurent Brossoit. Not yet included in that mix is Ty Rimmer who was recalled from the Quad City Mallards of the Central Hockey League on Tuesday. The current battery in net consists of Brossoit and Rimmer. My expectation would be the man with the most time posted in net, Brossoit, to get the nod tonight. If not, the Ads could see back to back games where their opponents play their seventh goalie of the season… the Checkers played their seventh in the 2-1 defeat Sunday afternoon.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Will the time off help or hurt the team? Can the Ads power-play solve their issues in tonight’s game?

First and foremost, I hope that you all had lovely Thanksgivings and tame Black Friday festivities!

Tonight marks the first meeting of the season against the Charlotte Checkers. It has been a very difficult season to this point for them. They sit above only the Utica Comets for the worst record in the AHL with a record of 6-12-0-1 (13 pts). As a team they’ve scored one more goal than the Admirals have, 49, but have conceded 14 more goals.

The current run the Checkers have gone through is a cringe inducing one that has them 1-9-0-0 in their last 10 games including back-to-back losses. Not one of those games went past regulation. Four of the defeats were decided by one-goal. They conceded 40 goals during that span including 23 goals in six home games.

In fact, the Checkers have played eight games at home and have only won once. OUCH.

Their current top scorer is Zach Boychuk with 5 G, 9 A, and 14 pts. If he sounds familiar it is because last season he was picked up on waivers by every team under the sun… alright, put on waivers by Carolina, claimed by Pittsburgh, waived by Pittsburgh, claimed by Nashville, waived by Nashville, and claimed by Carolina again before being sent to the Checkers… so all went to Carolina’s plan. While it has been a struggle for the entire team of late, Boychuk has produced 4 points (2 G, 2 A) in his last three games at home. He could well be the igniter the Checkers desperately need in order to claw back into the win column.

The top goal scorers of the Checkers are defensemen Mark Flood and winger Chris Terry with 7 goals each. That sounds all well and dandy but both started off the season with red hot months of October and have since cooled off. Terry scored 6 goals and 4 assists in October and earned an NHL call up. He played in seven games, didn’t hit the scoresheet, and went -3. Since being sent back down he has scored 1 goal in three games. As for Flood, he scored 5 goals and 3 assists in October. In November he has cooled, 2 goals and 3 assists, but the bulk of those points came in the two-in-two at home against the Rockford IceHogs where he picked up 2 goals and 2 assists in two games.

Six. Six goalies. The Checkers have played six different goalies. One of which was Rick DiPietro – who the Checkers released from his PTO earlier in the week. The main man between the pipes has been John Muse who has started 11 games from 19 total. The numbers: 4-6-0-0 record, 2.55 GAA, 0.912 SV%, and 2 SO. He started the season with three straight wins including back-to-back shutout performances over the Griffins and Wolves. Great right? Now here’s where it gets bad. In the month of November Muse has gone 1-6-0-0 with a 0.885 SV% conceding an average of 3.2 goals per game. In his last five appearances he has allowed 19 goals. Whether he gets the net against the Ads is a mystery at this point. If you read up on the Checkers website… it sounds like we might see the seventh different goalie they’ve used in net this season.

Thoughts on the Checkers? What are your expectations for this two-in-two scenario? Will the Ads take both games this weekend or meet a Charlotte team ready to get off the floor?