Normally, I would like to say that I am an eternal optimist. Tonight’s game is one I’ve looked at on the schedule for awhile and thought it just didn’t look great. The Milwaukee Admirals split the deck with the Iowa Wild in the first two legs of this three-in-three weekend. That meant having a lengthy bus ride back after a 4-1 loss in Iowa to come home where a dominant Griffins team awaits. By all accounts this feels like it sets up harshly for the Admirals. If they are able to flip last night’s script to defeat the Griffins tonight? It could be one of the best results of the season.

What will be a factor for both teams is they are both at the end of a three-in-three. The Admirals had the Wild for two games. The Griffins played twice against the Chicago Wolves, first-leg at home and second-leg on the road, and won both times in games that each required overtime. Fatigue will very much play a factor in how this game can go. And -if it stays tight- it will likely be a test to see who has anything left in the gas tank in the third period to make a difference.

The Griffins will arrive to Milwaukee with a record of 40-17-1-4 (85 points, 0.685 points percentage). They are in the lead of the Central Division and saw their gap to second place ever so slightly grow with the overtime wins against the Wolves (0.656). The Admirals right now rest nestled in third place (0.619) as they have for quite some time now.

As high powered as the Wolves offense might be it is actually the Griffins who are the most lethal attacking team in the division. They score 3.48 goals per game while only conceding 2.47 goals against per game. The Griffins are one of the most balanced and well structured teams in the AHL. And, against the Admirals this season, are 5-3-0-0 with a pair of wins from three contests in Milwaukee.

The leading scorer for the Griffins is Matt Lorito who has 52 points (19 goals, 33 assists). He is followed very closely by Ben Street who has 50 points (23 goals, 27 assists) which includes last night’s game-winning goal in overtime against the Wolves.

Those two are clearly not standing alone. The Griffins have three other players with 40 points or more: Martin Frk, 45 points (22 goals, 23 assists)… Evgeny Svechnikov, 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists)… and Tomas Nosek 40 points (15 goals, 25 assists).

By comparison the Admirals have no players at the 50 point plateau and only three players at the 40 points or more threshold: Frédérick Gaudreau, 42 points (20 goals, 22 assists)… Pontus Åberg, 41 points (24 goals, 17 assists)… and Trevor Smith, 40 points (12 goals, 28 assists).

Vladislav Kamenev could join that group tonight. The Russian currently has 39 points (14 goals, 25 assists). It would take a bit of puck luck for it to be done tonight -but- Matt White is also close to reaching that mark, too. White has 37 points (12 goals, 25 assists) right now.

In net the Griffins have a tandem of Jared Coreau and Eddie Pasquale. Coreau made his NHL debut this season and has made 14 appearances this season with the Detroit Red Wings. He participated in both contests against the Wolves on Friday and Saturday night to push his season total in the AHL up to a record of 14-7-0-2 from 23 appearances with a 2.29 goals against average, 0.922 save percentage, and 2 shutouts.

If the Griffins decide to go a different route and not see Coreau work all three games of the weekend set it would give the reigns to Pasquale. As nice as that might sound the veteran netminder has won all three starts he has made against the Admirals this season and has a spectacular 0.99 goals against average, 0.968 save percentage, and 2 shutouts in the process.

What are your expectations for tonight’s game? Is this Milwaukee Admirals team capable enough right now to compete with this Grand Rapids Griffins team? How important will the start to this game be for the Admirals?

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

Golly, it feels like ages since the Iowa Wild have fallen on the Milwaukee Admirals schedule. In fact, tonight and tomorrow night’s games are the first between the two sides in 2017. The last time they met was on 12/28/16 when the Admirals won 3-0 at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena behind a 25-save shutout from Jonas Gunnarsson.

The Admirals are 3-2-0-0 against the Wild this season and have won the past three contests straight. All games between these two teams have ended in regulation this season. Since moving to Iowa this head-to-head has seen no less than two overtime games per season. Though, times have clearly changed for the Wild as they’ve traditionally been among the worst teams in the AHL. That hasn’t been something you can say at all this season.

The Wild will be entering this weekend’s games with a record of 29-23-6-2 (66 points, 0.550 points percentage). They are currently right behind the Admirals in the Central Division which would see them in the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season when they were the then Houston Aeros.

As they arrive to Milwaukee the Wild do so on a four-game point streak and three-game winning streak (3-0-1-0). The winning streak, in particular, all comes with road victories over the likes of the Rockford IceHogs and Texas Stars.

It doesn’t take much to see why the Wild have done such a phenomenal turn-around in the AHL this season over years past. They have brought in highly respected veteran talent who bring with them a culture of success. Pat Cannone, Maxime Fortunus, Jeff Hoggan, and Mike Weber have all performed very well this season and have helped add quality depth to what has been a typically shallow prospect pool filled team.

The leading scorer for the Wild this season is Teemu Pulkkinen. Yet, he has long since been dealt to the Arizona Coyotes. That kicks the title over to 20-year old AHL All-Star Alex Tuch. In his first pro season after having a successful two-year spell with Boston College out of the USNDT he has contributed 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists) in 42 games in the AHL. He has also played 6 games for the Minnesota Wild in the NHL but has yet to earn his first career NHL point as of yet.

In their team scoring race Cannone is right behind the youngster with 30 points (9 goals, 21 assists) in 57 games. The 30-year old center, who played as a member of the Chicago Wolves the previous three-seasons, logged his first career NHL games this season as a member of the Minnesota Wild.

Alex Stalock has been at the helm in net for the Wild during this current run and could well be the best part about it. In the three-game winning streak for the Wild he has stopped 105/109 shots on goal for a sparkling 0.963 save percentage. On the season the 29-year old holds a 19-12-6-1 record from 39 appearances to go with a 2.38 goals against average, 0.923 save percentage, a 3 shutouts. This has been the best full-season of work in the AHL for Stalock in his career.

What are your expectations for these two games against the Iowa Wild? How important will it be for the Milwaukee Admirals to not get caught out looking ahead to the finale of this weekend’s three-in-three, against the Grand Rapids Griffins, and take care of the task in front of them? Is it realistic that the Admirals can pull off the three-in-three sweep?

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

While Saturday night’s game was a slight punch to the gut it would have nothing in comparison should that performance be repeated tonight. The Milwaukee Admirals were able to get the better of the Rockford IceHogs on Friday with a lesser squad by winning 5-2. It is expected that Vladislav Kamenev and Matt White will be returning to the mix tonight and that should be a very welcome boost.

The 4-0 shutout loss against the Chicago Wolves on Saturday shouldn’t entirely be forgotten about for the Admirals. There are plenty of areas and details for them that need to be cleaned up for the team to find success tonight on the road. Defensively responsible hockey is a good thing but their progression from defense to attack was stifled. They will need to clean up the neutral zone and be less careless in puck possession if they are to do what the Wolves did to them on Saturday night as they would like to do to the IceHogs tonight.

Since these two clashed on Friday night the IceHogs have not played. That frankly means our previous Scouting the Enemy on the IceHogs just about holds up! I must say, watching the Friday game, the IceHogs still possess some great talent in the form of Vinnie Hinostroza, Tyler Motte, and even Michael Latta – who has joined the team and been a consistent worker every night. Yet, losing their top three scorers at the NHL Trade Deadline was a proper gut punch and their hope of salvaging the 2016-17 season was pretty much squashed.

That isn’t to say that the IceHogs were playoff bound at that point in the season. This has been a highly disappointing year for the team who have a record of 21-30-8-3 (53 points, 0.427 points percentage). At the moment they are dead last in the Central Division. The team above them in the divisional standings are the Manitoba Moose (0.435) and the only team with a lesser record in the Western Conference are the San Antonio Rampage (0.415).

As far as things to cheer about the IceHogs do have those three still functional spark plugs in Hinostroza, Motte, and Latta. In particular Hinostroza’s efforts on Friday night are something to watch out for once again tonight. He earned him his first goal in the AHL this season while also getting a primary assist. The soon to be 23-year old Chicago native has 14 points (6 goals, 8 assists) in 48 games with the Chicago Blackhawks this season.

In net is where you will find the biggest shake-up for the IceHogs tonight. Jeff Glass has returned to the AHL and should be given the reigns tonight after cuppa coffee in the big time while Scott Darling was out due to injury.

Glass’ 2016-17 season has been a very fun watch from afar considering what he’s accomplished in such a quick time under the IceHogs banner. The 31-year old goaltender was a third round draft pick by the Ottawa Senators in the 2004 NHL Draft. His career in North America took a detour after the 2008-09 season and he set his sights to play in Russia’s KHL. He played there for the past seven seasons and this year was his return. Glass was signed by the Toronto Marlies, things didn’t work out, and then found himself as part of the IceHogs in mid-January.

In just over a month’s work Glass did well enough to earn an NHL contract from the Blackhawks good for the 2017-18 season. He has a record of 5-7-1-0 in 13 games with the IceHogs this season with a 2.62 goals against average, 0.910 save percentage, and 2 shutouts. He has won both starts he has had against the Admirals this season with a 1.45 goals against average and 0.945 save percentage.

What are your expectations for tonight’s game? How big of a boost will it be for the team to get back Kamenev and White tonight? Is there the threat of Saturday’s woes trickling into tonight’s contest?

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

Tonight is the last Amtrak Rivalry game of the season. That’s rather crazy to think but the Milwaukee Admirals and Chicago Wolves clashed relentlessly in December and January. The Amtrak Trophy has long been clinched by the Wolves who posted a record of 6-3-1-1 over the Admirals this season. If the Admirals were to snag the victory tonight they would at the very least be on par as far as wins in this year’s head-to-head.

The Wolves enter this game having last played on Thursday night where they lost 3-2 in overtime at home against the Cleveland Monsters. That feels more like a small setback as the Wolves are in the middle of a nine-game point streak (7-0-2-0).

Their current record stands at 35-17-5-3 (78 points, 0.650 points percentage) which is good enough for second in the Central Division behind the Grand Rapids Griffins (0.681). They’ve been ahead of the Admirals (0.627) for awhile now and these three teams have locked out the division for what feels like ages.

Of all that took place on the NHL Trade Deadline what was perhaps the most impactful on the Central Division landscape was seeing the St. Louis Blues organization trade away Pheonix Copley. He had been the best goaltender in their pipeline since last season but was really improved in his second season under the Wolves banner. He now rejoins the Washington Capitals organization who had traded him two seasons ago.

In that trade the Blues organization added Zach Sanford, Brad Malone, and the Capitals’ first-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. Sanford immediately joined the Blues in the NHL while Malone was added to the Wolves roster where he has contributed 2 goals in 3 games.

The battle for the Wolves net now shifts to a three man competition between Jordan Binnington, Ville Husso, and C.J. Motte. Admirals fans are quite familiar with Binnington who previously was a known “Admiral Killer” for how dominant he was in the Amtrak Rivalry. He declined last season and is still up and down in the 2016-17 season. Binnington holds a record of 12-6-4-1 from 24 appearances with a 2.96 goals against average and 0.906 save percentage.

“Why are the Wolves surging again,” you ask. Well that bloke named Kenny Agostino is back in the AHL where he has been the best scorer -by miles- this season. Agostino has recorded 70 points (21 goals, 49 assists) in 54 games. The next closest to Agostino in the AHL’s scoring race is a four-way tie with 52 points between Taylor Beck, Cory Conacher, Matt Lorito, and Chris Terry. In the assists department the next closest to Agostino’s 49 assists are former Admirals Beck and Conacher who both have 38 assists.

And, for all that, Agostino is in the AHL still – even despite contributing 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in 7 games for the Blues this season. If I’m him, and I’m playing this well and not getting a better NHL shot, I look to move elsewhere in the off-season. He is NHL quality and I’m not sure why the Blues don’t try to treat him as such.

The same might be said from Wade Megan who is having a monster season for the Wolves. To think that two-seasons ago he was playing with the Cincinnati Cyclones in the ECHL, too. He went from that to earn 23 points (14 goals, 9 assists) in 75 games as a member of the Portland Pirates last season. That was a career best for him at the time but he now has more goals than he did points for the Pirates. Megan has scored 51 points (27 goals, 24 assists) in 57 games for the Wolves this season. He also scored his first career NHL goal as a member of the Blues. He has played 3 games in the NHL this season.

What are your expectations for tonight’s Amtrak Rivalry game? With the Wolves no longer on the Admirals schedule after tonight’s game how crucial is it for the Admirals to win in regulation tonight to swing points in the playoff race their way?

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

Is it just me or does it feel as if the Rockford IceHogs haven’t been on the Milwaukee Admirals’ schedule enough this season? Tonight’s game included there are still five games remaining between the two Central Division rivals. The Admirals are 4-1-1-1 against the IceHogs this season. They get them tonight at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and then will be traveling to Rockford’s BMO Harris Bank Center on Tuesday night. The final meetings of the season will take place in April.

The IceHogs are certainly having a rough 2016-17 season and that hasn’t gotten any better with the NHL Trade Deadlines. Mark McNeill was traded to the Dallas Stars organization. Both Spencer Abbott and Sam Carrick were traded to the Anaheim Ducks organization. Their best goaltender, who wasn’t even on the roster until mid-January by the name of Jeff Glass, has since been recalled by the Chicago Blackhawks while former Admiral Scott Darling is out with injury.

That’s all a lot of bad, but that only stacks the deck on what already was a thoroughly disappointing season for the IceHogs who displayed much better a season ago. They have a record of 21-29-8-3 (53 points, 0.434 points percentage) which is the worst in the Central Division.

If you’re an IceHogs fan you can thank the San Antonio Rampage (0.405) for your team not also having the worst record in the Western Conference. Still, the Eastern Conference features three lesser teams… Binghamton Senators (0.432), Rochester Americans (0.431), and Hartford Wolf Pack (0.405)… so it’s not all bad, eh?

At the moment the IceHogs are on a five-game losing streak. During this poor run they had a stretch in which they allowed five-goals in three straight games. It hasn’t necessarily been -all- bad during the losing streak. Their offense has been very active but that defense has been leaving their goaltending exposed. The Admirals might be looking for period-to-period consistency but the IceHogs are looking for it in general.

The top three leading scorers for the IceHogs were all traded away at the NHL Trade Deadline. That leaves the mantle for two defensemen and a forward.

Erik Gustafsson is the current leading scorer for the IceHogs. He has 27 points (5 goals, 22 assists) in 53 games. He is followed closely by Kyle Baun, 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 59 games, who is the leading forward in the scoring department. Ville Pokka, another defenseman, then adds 25 points (5 goals, 20 assists) in 61 games.

In net, sans-Glass, the IceHogs will be leaning on the likes of Lars Johansson and Mac Carruth for the time being. Johansson has been the more go-to option between the two available. The 29-year old Swede has a record of 11-12-4-0 from 33 appearances with a 2.65 goals against average, 0.909 save percentage, and 2 shutouts.

A final note for the Admirals. Tonight will mark the final appearance for Miikka Salomäki on his long-term injury loan from the Nashville Predators. He is expected to join them after the completion of tonight’s game per the rules of his conditioning loan.

What are your expectations for tonight’s game following the disappointment for the Milwaukee Admirals on Wednesday? How important is it for the Admirals to play a complete sixty-minutes tonight to set the tone for a much tougher Chicago Wolves team that arrives tomorrow night?

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

It’s Hockey Night- no, it isn’t actually. The Milwaukee Admirals third ever “School Day” game takes place Wednesday at 10:30 AM CST which means getting the pre-game scout sooner. I tend to publish and filter material out at the 7 AM hour but that’s the time I’ll be hitting rinkside and setting up shop. Once again, it’ll be odd having a game start that early – end that early – but he so incredibly loud. These last two games with the kiddos out in mass have been brilliant spectacles that –I hope– create lifelong fans.

The opponent that the Admirals have in front of them for the festivities just so happened to be the first team to compete with them during the inaugural “School Day” game. They were the Lake Erie Monsters then and lost 6-3. That team would go on to win the Calder Cup last season and change their name to the Cleveland Monsters. Perhaps, as this season has gone, they might want to consider a return to the Lake Erie name.

The Monsters hold a record of 25-24-3-4 (57 points, 0.509 points percentage) which has them resting in fifth place in the Central Division and tenth in the Western Conference standings.

In their last ten games the Monsters have won twice from a stretch that had them endure eight road games – seven of which came in succession. In five of the last six games the Monsters have allowed 4 goals. That being said – holding any sort of a win over the Grand Rapids Griffins is a good thing and they earned a 4-1 win on their return to home ice following that marathon seven game road trip. I can’t imagine you see a team as good as the Griffins allow 48 shots on goal in a three period game very often.

You could then think that defensively things have been the sore spot while the offense is doing its best. It’s actually the other way around. The Monsters allow less goals per game (2.80) than the Admirals (2.84). Yet, the Monsters have scored the fewest goals (135) in the entire AHL this season.

They weren’t all that mind blowing offensively last season either, (2.78 goals per game), but were able to match that with excellent goaltending and defense – allowing 2.47 goals against per game. Their current 2.41 goals per game isn’t near good enough. And that is only made all the more prevalent in recent games in which the defense has been torn apart.

If it wasn’t hard enough for the Monsters lately they will be without some of their top scoring talent. T.J. Tynan leads the Monsters in scoring this season with 30 points (7 goals, 23 assists) in 55 games but was recalled on an emergency basis by the Columbus Blue Jackets where he joins the Monsters third leading scorer, Oliver Bjorkstrand, at the NHL level.

The current active leading scorer for the Monsters is Sonny Milano who has 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists). Other notable players that are still quite a threat on the ice include: Daniel Zaar, Markus Hännikäinen, Alex Broadhurst, and former Admiral Joe Pendenza.

In net the Monsters should have Anton Forsberg between the pipes but, in the off-chance that isn’t the case, he does have two friends that played their trade with the Admirals’ ECHL affiliate the Cincinnati Cyclones: Brad Thiessen and Michael Houser.

Statistically speaking, Forsberg is having a rebound season for the Monsters. He has a 2.25 goals against average, 0.927 save percentage, and 2 shutouts. It is the best he has played since the 2014-15 season with the then Springfield Falcons. Yet, his record for the Monsters this season does speak to the bigger team problem in front of him. Forsberg is 16-12-1-2 from 34 appearances this season.

UPDATE. Tynan has been reassigned to the Monsters from the Blue Jackets at the sparking 8 AM hour ahead of this morning’s game.

What are your expectations for the “School Day” game between the Admirals and Monsters? Will it be as crazy as the last two that the Admirals have played? Is there a chance that the AM start time will allow the Admirals to play a more instinctive game?

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

After spending their last four games on the road the Milwaukee Admirals get to settle in for these next four games at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. There are twenty games remaining in the regular season. Of that total there are thirteen home games awaiting the Admirals en route to the finish line and the 2017 AHL Calder Cup Playoffs. The mantra for the Admirals last homestand was to create a home-ice advantage. This should be the continuation of that process.

Truth be told, the Admirals last homestand was a bit of an adventure that fortunately saw the results trend back into the positive. The Admirals won all three games last homestand but also allowed an opening shift goal in each game and needed to claw back from multiple goal leads against the Charlotte Checkers three times in two games. Resiliency has been this year’s buzzword. It would be far more relaxing for everyone if they could simply play a solid and consistent sixty-minutes of hockey.

What is a great sign is that the “defense first” approach for the Admirals is starting to get into place. The team’s ability to score goals of late has come from managing their defensive half of the ice correctly and making plays in transition. There are a few hiccups here and there. The last game may have had its share of bad luck -but- a game the likes of their 6-2 loss against the Grand Rapids Griffins a week ago stands out for what needs to be improved. For the most part? Those mistakes were corrected earlier this week on the road in Charlotte. It’s important the Admirals build on that.

In front of the Admirals tonight stands the Manitoba Moose who have not appeared on the schedule since the end of November. The Admirals lost 4-3 in overtime to the Moose back on 11/26/16. The Admirals roster that night featured seven players who are either no longer on the roster or available due to injury: Jonathan Diaby, Tylor Spink, Max Görtz, Félix Girard, Harry Zolnierczyk, Cody Bass, and Adam Pardy.

The Moose hold a record of 23-27-3-4 (53 points, 0.465 points percentage). They are coming off of a 5-3 win for the “Battle of the Central Division Basement” on the road against the Rockford IceHogs last night. Things were sailing along in that game at a 4-0 scoreline until they conceded three power-play goals in a span of 3:20 of the start of the third period. So, while the Admirals were resting yesterday, the Moose were in a bit of a scrap.

In the scoring department the Moose are spearheaded by three AHL rookies: Jack Roslovic leads the team with 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) in 48 games. He is followed by the likes of Dan DeSalvo and Kyle Connor. DeSalvo has 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) in 47 games. Connor has 28 points (15 goals, 13 assists) in 36 games – which is good for the best points per game average and most goals scored on the Moose roster.

With goaltending the Moose have been rather straightforward as to who they roll out time and time again: Eric Comrie. The 21-year old goaltender has appeared in two-thirds of the team’s contests in the 2016-17 season: 14-19-3-2 in 38 games with a 2.72 goals against average, 0.914 save percentage, and 2 shutouts. He stopped 38/41 shots on goal in last night’s win for the Moose in Rockford only allowing goals from power-plays.

Final Notes: The Admirals are on a home point streak of 4-0-1-0… The Moose have won their last two road games but are 4-5-0-1 from their previous ten… The Moose have a better road power-play (15.2%) than the Admirals (15.0%) but the second worst road penalty kill (74.8%) in the entire league… Since 1/28/17 both Pontus Åberg and Frédérick Gaudreau have combined for 29 points (18 goals, 11 assists)…

What are you expecting out of tonight’s game given how long it has been since the Milwaukee Admirals and Manitoba Moose have last played? Will the Moose having played last night be a positive or a negative? Who gets the net tonight: Marek Mazanec or Jonas Gunnarsson?

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

The Milwaukee Admirals last result was one that hurt -but- one that also came at the hands of one of the best teams in the AHL. It’s one thing to lose a clunker such as that. It is an entirely different thing to follow that performance up with the exact same deflating results the following times out.

That is what lies ahead for the Admirals. They lost 6-2 on Saturday night to the Grand Rapids Griffins on the road, traveled Sunday to Charlotte, and are now set to play against a team in the Charlotte Checkers who -also- last played on Saturday when they won 6-1 over the Cleveland Monsters. To put it bluntly: if the Admirals allow a repeat of Grand Rapids to happen against the Checkers – it will happen.

Right now the Admirals hold a record of 31-18-3-2 (67 points, 0.620 points percentage). For a good while now they have been knocking around the second and third spot in the Central Division with the Chicago Wolves (0.634) while both having a decent cushion ahead of the Iowa Wild (0.527). The Admirals are in a fine enough of a spot in the standings but there isn’t a time on this planet for them to ever be content with that. A good time to surge would be now.

Standing in front of the Admirals tonight and tomorrow night are the Checkers who hold a record of 25-24-4-0 (54 points, 0.509 points percentage). They are currently in fifth place in the Central Division and tenth place in the Western Conference standings.

The Checkers are currently on a point streak of four-games (3-1-0-0) which includes taking a point from the Admirals when they lost 5-4 in overtime two weekends ago. The run came on the back of losing 6-3 to the Admirals on Slap Shot night in which Vladislav Kamenev scored the first hat trick of his North American pro playing career.

The Admirals are 5-1-0-0 against the Checkers this season. Not only that, but with today and tomorrow in mind, the Admirals have yet to lose to the Checkers since the Checkers moved into the Bojangles’ Coliseum last season. The Checkers are 0-5-1-0 against the Admirals on home ice since the start of the 2015-16 season.

Leading the charge for the Checkers offensively at the moment is rookie Andrew Poturalski who has scored 38 points (13 goals, 25 assists) in 53 games this season. Against the Admirals he has produced 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) in 6 games. The leading scorer in the head-to-head match up for the Checkers is Valentin Zykov who has scored 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists) in 6 games against the Admirals this season.

The second leading scorer for the Checkers also happens to be second for the team in tonight’s match-up with the Admirals. Lucas Wallmark has 34 points (19 goals, 15 assists) in 53 games. The first year North American pro has 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists) in 6 games versus the Admirals this season.

Someone who might not be available for the Checkers tonight is goaltender Michael Leighton. The AHL’s all-time shutout king’s last outing came against the Admirals on 2/17/17 and saw him bow out due to a lower-body injury after 26:57 of time in net.

The man who relieved Leighton on that night was 21-year old Alex Nedeljkovic who has played the better majority since. Nedeljkovic has a record of 8-13-1-0 from 23 appearances this season with a 3.20 goals against average, 0.888 save percentage, and a shutout to his name. He is partnered up with Daniel Altshuller who earned the win in net last time out for the Checkers as he stopped 26/27 on home ice against the Monsters.

What are your expectations for these two games against the Charlotte Checkers? How important is it for the Milwaukee Admirals to have a good first period tonight to set a tone and amends for their last outings failures? Do you think Wednesday night’s game could see changes with the NHL Trade Deadline looming and finishing prior to game-time?

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

While I might be on the road in Nashville this week that doesn’t mean I’m ignoring Priority #1: the Milwaukee Admirals. Yes, the schedule has opened up rather nicely this past week for the group but they are going to need those rest days.

Tonight and tomorrow the Admirals will be playing against the Grand Rapids Griffins on the road. That will be quickly followed up with a two-in-two, Tuesday and Wednesday, on the road to see last weekend’s enemy of choice – the Charlotte Checkers. For as great as the down time was for the Admirals at the start of the week it all gets a bit cramped as far as road travel in a quick space of time. And it starts in grandiose fashion.

This weekend’s match-up is a very big test for the Admirals. They may have swept their three-game homestand but they did so while shooting themselves in the foot along the way. The Griffins simply aren’t a team that will let mistakes like that slide while creating many of their own. What the Admirals need to do this weekend is more of what made their comebacks a success: be direct, play North-South, and go to the net.

The Griffins enter this weekend’s two-in-two against the Admirals with a record of 34-14-1-2 (71 points, 0.696 points percentage). That has them seated atop the Central Division ahead of the Chicago Wolves (0.627) and Admirals (0.625). The only team with a better record in the Western Conference than the Griffins right now are the San Jose Barracuda (0.717) who are currently riding a 12-game winning streak.

On the Griffins roster they certainly don’t lack for offense. They have seven players with 30 points or more and AHL All-Star defenseman Robbie Russo is a point away from adding to that. The Admirals, by comparison, only have 4 players at that plateau.

As far as the top scorer title goes for the Griffins it is currently being shared. Ben Street has 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists). Matt Lorito has 40 points (14 goals, 26 assists). The difference between the two players can best be summed up with Lorito having played 3 games less than Street.

In net the Griffins have Jared Coreau back on a conditioning assignment as the Detroit Red Wings begin their NHL mandated bye-week. The 25-year old played 13 games with the Red Wings this season but has played the bulk of time as part of the Griffins in the AHL: 11-6-0-0 record from 17 appearances, 2.18 goals against average, 0.924 save percentage, and a shutout.

What are your expectations for the Milwaukee Admirals this weekend on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins? How big of a moment will these two games against the Griffins be for the Admirals as far as the season is concerned?

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