Scouting April 8, 2015

Griffins: Scouting the Enemy

These guys have been in a jolly mood for quite awhile now. (Photo Credit: Mark Newman)

The Admirals 5-3 regulation loss last night to the Rockford IceHogs drops their record to 33-26-7-6 (79 points). There are only four games remaining in the 2014-15 season for the Admirals and the battle for the final playoff position is tight.

The Toronto Marlies are perhaps the biggest threat to the Admirals at the moment. They sit in ninth place right behind the Ads and trail by 2 points with a pair of games in-hand. It’s setting the stage for the penultimate game of the season when the Admirals play host to the Marlies.

There are 8 possible points available to the Admirals for the rest of this season. Tonight the Admirals are playing on the road against the Midwest Division leading Grand Rapids Griffins. Then there is a home-road set with the Chicago Wolves with the Marlies game sandwiched between them. Success is possible in all of those games. The way that the Admirals and the competition have been playing lately paints an ugly picture moving forward. Perhaps that could all change with a thumping result tonight.

~Short & Sweet~

The Griffins enter tonight’s game with a record of 42-20-6-2 (92 points). Same as the IceHogs last night, the Griffins have already clinched a playoff spot but they still have something big to play for with both teams battling for the Midwest Division crown. The Griffins and IceHogs have played the same amount of games and the Griffins only lead by a single point. To boot, there is a chance to leap the San Antonio Rampage for the second seed in the Western Conference.

In the Griffins last ten games they have gone 6-3-0-1 (13 points). Wait. The Griffins losing in regulation? That’s nice to see, right? They’re human after all. Their wild point streak of nineteen games finally came to an end with a 4-3 loss on the road to the Lake Erie Monsters. With that being said, they’re not entirely slowing down any. In those last ten games the Griffins have been outscoring teams 32-23 from open play. That includes beating up the Marlies 7-2 in their last game.

~The Road So Far~

The Griffins lead the season series against the Admirals with a 6-2-1-0 record. With a win tonight the Griffins will one-up their head-to-head with the Admirals from last season when they had a 7-3-0-0 record.

When looking at the three times the Admirals have bested the Griffins you will find a pair of shutouts and an overtime thrill ride: Magnus Hellberg pitched a 22-save shutout in a 4-0 win in the first meeting of the season. In late-January Hellberg posted a 26-save shutout in Grand Rapids in another 4-0 win. Then came the Viktor Stålberg score at 0.4 seconds and overtime winner for the hat trick in a 3-2 game. In fact, that last game was documented by the Griffins on the road for their series Between the Benches:

The Griffins power-play against the Admirals this season is 3/36 (8.3%) and their penalty kill is 31/32 (96.9%). That penalty kill has also scored a shorthanded goal against the Admirals this season.

~Offensively Offensive~

The Griffins will be without top notch scorers Teemu Pulkkinen and Landon Ferraro tonight. They’re both up with the Detroit Red Wings. Those two were the Griffins leading scorers in the head-to-head match up against the Admirals: Ferraro, 5 points (4 goals, 1 assist)… Pulkkinen, 4 points (3 goals, 1 assist).

Why doesn’t that matter? There are still three other Griffins who have scored 4 points against the Admirals this season: Andy Miele, 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists)… Mark Zengerle, 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists)… Nathan Paetsch, 4 points (0 goals, 4 assists).

Miele leads the Griffins in scoring this season with 65 points (23 goals, 42 assists). There are still plenty of other players contributing. Probably the reason why the Griffins have been so lethal this season as there isn’t any one key cog on the team: Kevin Porter, 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists)… Anthony Mantha, 31 points (14 goals, 17 assists)… Andreas Athanasiou, 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists).

The Griffins have nine players with 30 points or more and have ten players with double-digit goals on the season. The Admirals by comparison have six players with 30 points or more and have eight players with double-digit goals.

~Netminding~

Petr Mrázek is still with the Red Wings, where he belongs (huzzah), which means goaltending duties have gone to the likes of Tom McCollum and Jared Coreau.

Both Griffins goaltenders have played the Admirals three times this season: Coreau has a 1.28 goals against average, 0.949 save percentage, and a shutout. McCollum has a 2.02 goals against average and a 0.918 save percentage.

The bulk of games in net have been going to McCollum lately. Since March he has played in ten of the Griffins fourteen games. Coreau might have the better numbers against the Admirals but has two starts in the Griffins last nineteen games.

~Griffins Killer~

The term “Admirals Killer” can go to someone the likes of Mrázek for all the damage he has done. The term “Griffins Killer” can just as easily go to Colton Sissons for how lethal he has been against Grand Rapids. In seventeen games against the Griffins Sissons has scored 12 points (10 goals, 2 assists). 26.1% of Sissons goals this season have come against the Griffins.

What will the Admirals need to do to earn a win over the Griffins on the road tonight? If the Admirals lose in regulation again would that be a nail in the coffin? After Mazanec was pulled from net last night would you stick with him or switch to Hellberg?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

Game Recaps April 7, 2015April 7, 2015

Spencer Abbott and IceHogs Storm Admirals; lose 5-3

Rich Clune dropped the gloves for the first time in thirteen games for the Admirals tonight in Rockford. Unfortunately, the biggest thing dropping lately are points. (Photo Credit: Greg Hamil)

The Admirals lost 5-3 on the road against the Rockford IceHogs Tuesday night. It was the Spencer Abbott show as he continued to be a dominant force for the IceHogs since he was traded from the Toronto Marlies for T.J. Brennan. Abbott recorded two goals and two assists as the Admirals four game point streak came to an end tonight.

It was the IceHogs jumping out in front with a tally for defenseman Stephen Johns in the first period. Spencer Abbott peeled off of the right wing corner with a backhanded pass straight to Johns as he skated back into the slot. His shot was rifled low stick side on Marek Mazanec and went in for his fourth goal of the season.

The second period started with a bout between Rich Clune and Cody Bass. The two exchanged some rapid fire right handed jabs at each other. Clune was landing clean early and kept trading away despite Bass punching his helmet off. This ended with a spill to the ice. In your fight cards, I’d suggest scoring this an even ten for both combatants.

Abbott was on the scoresheet again in the second period when he recorded his fifteenth goal of the season. A turnover in the Admirals attacking zone allowed the IceHogs to chip forward and send Abbott off on a breakaway. He finished off by letting the puck roll through Mazanec’s five hole. It is his eighth goal for the IceHogs in fourteen games since being traded over from the Toronto Marlies.

Austin Watson responded thirty-five seconds later to record his team leading twenty-fifth goal of the season. Pontus Åberg’s initial shot was stopped by Antti Raanta but the Finn wasn’t able to prevent the rebound opportunity by Watson from going in.

Scott Ford was given a five minute major for boarding at 9:26 of the second period. The Admirals nearly held up through the entire penalty kill but with fifteen seconds remaining Brandon Mashinter scored on the third shot from the major power-play to pick up his sixteenth goal of the season. Peter Regin was able to slip a backhanded pass through to Mashinter who flew from left to right to finish on a backhander to the blocker side of Mazanec for the power-play goal.

Gary Steffes scored his fourth goal with the Admirals in the opening minute of the third period to make it a one-goal game. Åberg rounded the cage and threw a pass from the low left wing out in front of the net where Steffes was crashing to pick up the goal. Steffes, between his time with the Admirals in the AHL and Allen Americans in the ECHL, has scored forty-eight goals in his 2014-15 campaign.

Near the midway point of the third period, and after some solid work by Vince Hinostroza, the IceHogs restored their two-goal advantage with Keith Seabrook’s first goal in the AHL this season. No one picked up Seabrook as he stepped up and into the right wing. Hinostroza picked him out and it was a simple finished to the near post for Seabrook.

Less than two minutes later, Abbott ripped in his second goal of the game to make it a 5-2 IceHogs lead. Regin chipped a puck out from the left wing wall and Abbott skated up on Johan Alm before wiring a shot high to the glove side of Mazanec for his sixteenth goal of the season. It ended Mazanec’s night in net. He stopped 19/24 shots on goal before giving way to Magnus Hellberg.

After a late fracas between Matt Carey and Taylor Aronson, the Admirals tagged the IceHogs for a late power-play goal to make it 5-3 with twenty-seconds remaining. Kevin Fiala’s shot from the right wing bounced around in front of Raanta and Watson was able to put away the garbage for his second goal of the night and twenty-sixth of the season.

The game would end right there with another Admirals regulation loss. Elsewhere around the league tonight the Hamilton Bulldogs lost 3-1 against the Utica Comets which will mean the Ads will remain in eighth place in the Western Conference tonight. Though, that gap between eight and everyone else that trails is vacuum packed tight right about now.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals included Eric Robinson, Joe Pendenza, and Jimmy Oligny. All scratches were healthy. The Toronto Marlies moved into ninth in the Western Conference with a Brendan Leipsic hat trick headlining their 7-4 win over the Adirondack Flames. The Chicago Wolves won 7-3 over the Lake Erie Monsters to move two points clear of the Admirals with two games in-hand.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? When the Admirals score to make it 3-2 a minute into the third period where does this game fall to pieces? Can the Admirals regain their defensive composure when they face the Griffins tomorrow night?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

Scouting April 7, 2015

IceHogs: Scouting the Enemy

Alright, yesterday wasn’t that great of a day in Wisconsin sports but –great news– the Milwaukee Admirals are back in action tonight and tomorrow to ease or amplify all of the damage that Monday caused you.

The Admirals take on the top two teams in the Midwest Division and still need to expand or maintain their gap over the trailing teams in the Western Conference standings. Make no bones about it. These next two road games are going to be tough ones to plow through but there isn’t really any surprises in-store for them either. There has been success in both of these same fixtures throughout the season so there is still plenty of reason to be up for what’s ahead.

~Short & Sweet~

The Rockford IceHogs enter tonight’s game with a record of 41-21-5-2 (89 points). They current sit behind the Grand Rapids Griffins in the Midwest Division and rank fourth in the Western Conference.

Rockford have played 69 games on the season so far compared to the Admirals (71) and Griffins (70). While the Ads are pushing to stay in the playoff picture the IceHogs have their sights still set on winning the division. They trail the Griffins by only 3 points with a game in-hand. It’s entirely doable. As for taking the top of the conference? That would take some losing on the part of the Utica Comets (69 games, 93 points) and San Antonio Rampage (70 games, 92 points).

~The Road So Far~

The season match-up between the Admirals and IceHogs has seen 11 games played so far with the Admirals holding a record of 7-4-0-0.

When looking at the recent string of overtime games for the Ads there might be some good news here. There has only been one overtime game played between the Admirals and IceHogs this season and it ended as a 1-0 Admirals shutout victory in Rockford.

There has also been a ton of scoring in this match-up. The Admirals and IceHogs have multiple players with over 7 points in the head-to-head: Viktor Arvidsson, 9 points (1 goal, 8 assists)… Phillip Danault, 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists)… Taylor Aronson, 8 points (1 goal, 7 assists)… Austin Watson, 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists)… Ville Pokka, 7 points (0 goals, 7 assists).

Goaltending has also had its great moments on both sides. Marek Mazanec: 7 games, 5-2-0-0 record, 2.15 goals against average, 0.930 save percentage, and 1 shutout… Magnus Hellberg: 4 games, 2-2-0-0 record, 2.02 goals against average, and 0.924 save percentage… Michael Leighton: 7 games, 2-3-1-0 record, 1.92 goals against average, 0.921 save percentage, and 1 shutout.

~Since Last We Met~

You might have noticed I left a name off the goaltending list there. That’s because former-Admiral Scott Darling is no longer a member of the IceHogs he’s been up with the Chicago Blackhawks since signing a two-year contract extension back in late-February. He has been doing brilliantly at the NHL level when called upon and that made a swap with Antti Raanta effortless for the Blackhawks.

Raanta has played in 9 games for the IceHogs this season and has a record of 6-1-1-0 with a 2.60 goals against average, 0.913 save percentage, and a shutout. He has allowed 10 goals in his last 4 games in net.

Since we last met feels like ages ago. No, it really does. You have to go back to mid-February to the last time the Admirals and IceHogs faced off. That game ended with a 2-1 IceHogs win in Milwaukee.

Want a swift kick in the gut? Here is a stat for you. In the time since that last encounter the IceHogs have gone 14-5-1-0 (29 points) while the Admirals have gone 5-11-4-2 (16 points).

~Scoreboard Watching~

Around the AHL tonight there are some games of interest to the playoff chase that is taking place right behind the Admirals in the Western Conference. The current ninth seed the Hamilton Bulldogs will be playing on the road against the top team in the West the Utica Comets. The tenth and eleventh seeds will square off when the Toronto Marlies host the Adirondack Flames. Then, the twelfth seeded Lake Erie Monsters face the seventh seeded Chicago Wolves on the road.

What are your expectations from these two games? Can the Admirals catch the IceHogs and Griffins taking some sort of a breather with both already having cliched their playoff spots?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

Feature April 6, 2015April 6, 2015

The Silly Faces of 2014-15 Admirals

Hello everybody. I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend. For those of us on the Wisconsin-side of things this was quite the nice weekend. The Milwaukee Admirals took a point on Friday night, the teams behind the Ads in the Western Conference standings didn’t really close that much ground afterwards, the Wisconsin Badgers managed to defeat Kentucky and advance to their first NCAA Final since 1941, and -of course- the Milwaukee Brewers open their season this afternoon with the NCAA Final later tonight.

Keeping with this warm and toasty feel I thought it would be fun to do a little of what I did last season for today. Joonas Rask is all to blame for these you see. The Admirals photographers (whether it be Scott Paulus, Jeff Hanisch, or Sara Stathas) aren’t intentionally snapping photos of players, like Rask, when they’re making silly faces but it does in fact happen… a lot. Throughout the course of this season that has been happening once more and it is time to kick back and enjoy some of the more unflattering moments captured in Admirals photography this season.

Continue reading “The Silly Faces of 2014-15 Admirals” →

Chatterbox April 4, 2015April 4, 2015

The Chatterbox, Vol. 78

Austin Watson now leads the Admirals in goal scoring after registering his twenty-fourth tally last night. Colton Sissons, your move. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

The dust has settled after the Admirals 3-2 shootout loss to the Texas Stars and, once again, we’re all sat thinking about a positive effort that didn’t get the full reward. There just weren’t really that many lowlights to speak of. The Admirals are in playoff mode right now and they are playing highly competitive playoff brand hockey.

When looking at the games ahead for the Admirals you’ll be seeing nothing but tough tasks: Rockford IceHogs (fourth in the Western Conference) on the road, Grand Rapids Griffins (third in the Western Conference) in the road, Chicago Wolves (seventh in the Western Conference) at home, Toronto Marlies (tied for ninth in the Western Conference) at home, and finally the Wolves again, this time on the road, for the season finale.

If the Admirals can get through that schedule in the green, as far as generating wins or points is concerned, I think they stand a good chance of being the eighth seed in the Western Conference. Help from around the league will certainly help. And I get the feeling what everyone should be pulling for is for the gap between the eight and nine to widen. To boot, rooting against the Wolves -which shouldn’t be a stretch for anyone reading this- is also a plus. Like Formula 1 knockout qualifying – no one wants to be on the last spot before the drop zone. The Admirals do still stand a good chance to go ahead of the Amtrak Rivals in division and conference by season’s end. Did you boo the Stars last night? Nice, but cheer them on later tonight when they play in Chicago.

After the game I had the chance to speak with Dean Evason, Colton Sissons, Austin Watson, and Zach Budish. Here is what they had to say following last night’s shootout defeat.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 78” →

Game Recaps April 3, 2015April 3, 2015

Admirals Take Another Point; lose 3-2 in shootout

The Admirals lost 3-2 in a shootout against the Texas Stars Friday night. For the fourth consecutive game the Admirals went past regulation to earn a point. Sadly, it is the third time in that span that they could only earn a single point.

“That was a hell of a hockey game,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “We played great, goalie played great, [defense] played great, got good goals. What else can you ask for? The result, as far as that one extra point isn’t there, but my gosh we played the way that we need to play. It was very positive.”

There was a really good start for the Admirals that all went for naught when Derek Hulak scored from a rebounder to give the Stars a first period lead. Justin Dowling beat Taylor Aronson on the left wing and skated in on goal. His shot banked off Marek Mazanec’s chest and into the path of Hulak for a quick backhanded swipe on the rebound to score his nineteenth goal of the season.

Kevin Fiala would respond by the end of the first period with his eleventh goal of the season. Branden Troock’s outlet pass for Jamie Oleksiak was botched and Fiala raced in to intercept the soft pass. The 18-year old proceeded to dangle through Oleksiak and then Stars team captain Maxime Fortunus before burying a wrist shot on the near post past the blocker of Jack Campbell.

“He’s a special player,” said Evason. “Nashville obviously knew it when they drafted him. We know why we brought him here to get North American-ized. He’s just responded great. His skill level is one thing but he wants to play, he wants to win, he’s a good teammate, he’s got everything to set himself up to be a great great pro. He just needs a bit more time because he’s eighteen.”

The Admirals took their first lead of the game after a power-play goal scored by Austin Watson. Anthony Bitetto stepped in from the right point to deliver a hard shot towards the net. Watson wasn’t picked up by the Stars penalty kill as he moved off the wall and towards the front of the net. He caught Bitetto’s shot with his stick blade and deflected the shot up and over Campbell’s glove for his team leading twenty-fourth goal of the season.

A defensive breakdown with less than five minutes remaining in the second period leveled the score back up again. Greg Rallo swooped down the right wing and was able to catch the trailing Travis Morin racing to the backdoor of Mazanec. Joe Piskula and Jonathan Diaby were both occupied with Brendan Ranford’s net front presence and Morin won the foot race to the back post against Colton Sissons for the tap in on the left wing. It goes down as Morin’s twentieth goal of the season. It is his fourth career twenty goal season in the AHL.

This game ended up being decided in the shootout after flying through overtime without ever needing to go into three-on-three hockey. The Admirals went first in the shootout and, after Frederick Gaudreau and Fiala both scored, it was up to Mazanec to get a stop against Morin for the win. That didn’t happen. Gary Steffes stepped up next for the Admirals and scored on a backhand forehand move. Mazanec was once again beaten with a chance to win the game and missed out on the Devin Shore forehand shot. After Pontus Aberg was stopped by a glove save from Campbell it was Dowling finishing off the shootout with a wrister to the blocker side of Mazanec. The Stars scored on the last four shootout attempts that they had and three of them burnt the blocker side of Mazanec.

The Admirals will get a slight bit of a rest with the weekend off. Their next games are both on the road and will take place Tuesday and Wednesday. The first stop is against the Rockford IceHogs and the following day they’ll face the Grand Rapids Griffins. It’s not going to be an easy task facing the top two teams in the Midwest Division on back-to-back nights but it’s playoff time for the Admirals right now. Each game should be treated as such. These are teams that the Admirals would have to beat to make it to the Calder Cup. The same has to be said to make it into the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Eric Robinson (healthy), Joe Pendenza (healthy), and Jimmy Oligny (healthy). The Admirals played their twenty-third overtime game tonight. They are tied with the St. John’s IceCaps for the AHL lead in overtime games played this season.

What is your take from tonight’s game? Was this still a positive result for the Admirals? How do you feel the playoff picture is forming right now.

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

Scouting April 3, 2015

Stars: Scouting the Enemy

The last time the Texas Stars came to Milwaukee there was supposed to be a Foreigner concert. Remember? Me too. (Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch)

Remember how the Admirals were on a six-game losing streak? Me too, and there is some good news. That streak is dead and, in its place, is another one. The Admirals are now on a three game point streak. Hey, it’s a start right?

The Admirals enter tonight’s game with a record of 33-25-7-5 (78 points). With the Chicago Wolves besting the Hamilton Bulldogs last night by the final score of 4-2 the Admirals have fallen behind the Amtrak Rivals in both divisional and conference standings.

It is getting to the point now where you might want to start looking at teams such as the Bulldogs, Toronto Marlies, Lake Erie Monsters, and Adirondack Flames to lose with the Admirals earning either wins or points. The gap between the Admirals in eighth in the Western Conference and ninth place might end up being all the difference this season. Still, goes without saying (so I’m going to say it). If the Admirals can string together wins they shouldn’t have to worry so much about what other teams are doing.

~The Texas! The Finger Thing Means The Texas~

The Texas Stars will enter tonight’s game with a record of 33-21-13-1 (80 points). They are currently third in the West Division and sit sixth in the Western Conference standings.

In their last ten games they have sported a 7-3-0-0 (14 points). That includes three regulation wins over the Admirals. Outside of that, the Midwest Division has done well against them in that span with the Rockford IceHogs and Grand Rapids Griffins winning three games.

~The Road So Far~

The Admirals have lost to the Stars in all three meetings so far this season and done so in regulation. The first meeting was a 4-3 defeat in Texas when the mistake bug started to turn its ugly little head. That was followed up by a 6-2 thrashing on the road. And then, in Milwaukee almost two weeks ago, the Stars held on late for a 4-3 win.

I want to say that the mistakes that had cropped up during that lengthy road trip have been either eliminated or at least minimized lately. The Admirals have been playing tighter defensively and the real question mark of late has been if the offense can catch a break against hot goaltending.

If Wednesday’s result provided a lift past simply winning a game it is that the Ads pulled off three goals late in a game against Calvin Pickard who was SportsCenter number one play good in that game. There should be reason to believe confidence should be back in all facets of the Admirals play at the moment.

And then you look back at what the Admirals did against the Stars and wonder if this could be a long night. The Admirals have gone 0/13 on the power-play against the Stars this season. Flip side of that is the Stars going 5/11 on their power-play against the Admirals. Emotions need to be held in check tonight. The Admirals can’t allow special teams to be the difference maker in this game.

One thing that the season head-to-head does say that could be big for the Admirals is their ability to play with speed and get pucks to the net. There were some bad things done against the Stars in those three games. No question. But, the Admirals managed to outshoot the Stars 111-70. That needs to continue and the finishing needs to sharpen up.

~Ol’ Reliable~

Travis Morin continues to be the leading man for the Stars in scoring. He has produced 54 points (19 goals, 35 assists) in 57 games this season. It seemed like when the Admirals last met he was on a hot run where he scored the entirety of his 8 points (2 goals, 6 assists) in the month of March in a six game span. It wasn’t until last night’s game when he seemed to wake back up again by scoring a goal and hammering in five shots on goal to boot.

~Young Guns on Defense~

The Stars have a pair of fantastic young defensemen in their lineup at the moment: Julius Honka and Jamie Oleksiak.

Honka was selected by the Dallas Stars just a few spots behind Kevin Fiala in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft. The 19-year old Finn has done incredibly well in the AHL this season by scoring 26 points (7 goals, 19 assists) in 60 games.

Did I mention Fiala? I’m sure Oleksiak remembers that name. Fiala put his name in the hat for “Goal of the Season” the last time the Admirals and Stars met. I’m going to assume he remembers that when #12 is charging at him one-on-one he’ll need to avoid making the highlight reel again.

Another Finnish defenseman that would have been fun getting a glimpse of again will not be with the Stars for this game. 20-year old Esa Lindell was assigned to Team Finland for the IIHF World Championships.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Can the Admirals start stringing together wins? With the recent games against the Stars in mind how will this game play out?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

News April 2, 2015

Zach Budish Named Admirals IOA/American Specialty Man of the Year

I’ve often thrown out the term “Good Guy” as a way to highlight the many great actions I see players on the Milwaukee Admirals doing in and out of the rink. Today it is the Admirals turn to use that label and they did so by selecting Zach Budish as the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year for his contributions to the Milwaukee community this season.

Press Release via Milwaukee Admirals:

The Milwaukee Admirals are proud to announce that Zach Budish has been named the team’s winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the Milwaukee community during the 2014-15 season.

A second-year pro from Edina, MN, Budish was instrumental to the success of the Admirals reading program “Reading: The Ultimate Power Play,” as he went to multiple Milwaukee Public Schools that participated in the program to read to the kids in their classrooms. In addition, he made numerous other schools visits to talk with kids about the importance of sportsmanship and how success in school helped him reach where he is today.

Zach served as a celebrity waiter for Prevent Blindness of Wisconsin’s annual fundraiser that raises money to help prevent blindness and other severe eye problems in kids and was one of the top tip earners at the Admirals Celebrity Serve which raised over $18,000 for the Power-Play Foundation, which supports non-profits in southeast Wisconsin.

Zach also went to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin to visit sick kids during the season and donated money to help buy presents for underprivileged kids at Christmas time.

Budish is now one of 30 finalists for the AHL’s 2014-15 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award, honoring the overall IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year. The league award is named after the former Hershey Bears forward and AHL All-Star who died in 1997 following a 16-month battle with leukemia. The winner of the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award will be announced by the American Hockey League later this month.

Budish isn’t just making splashes away from the rink. He is also having his best season in pro hockey to date. In his time with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL he recorded 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists) in 30 games. For the Admirals this season he has 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists). For both levels of hockey he has managed to maintain a positive plus/minus rating, as well.

All teams in the AHL announced their recipients of the “Man of the Year” team awards this afternoon. You can read up on the other award winners via the AHL. There you will see a couple of former-Admirals have also won for ther respective teams: Mathieu Tousignant, Mike Moore, Jonathon Blum, and Zack Stortini.

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

Game Recaps April 1, 2015April 1, 2015

Admirals Complete Monster Comeback; win 3-2 in OT

Calvin Pickard made the best save in the AHL this season. And the Admirals still found a way to solve him late to get back into the win column. (Photo Credit: Lake Erie Monsters // flickr)

The Admirals won a 3-2 overtime thriller on the road against the Lake Erie Monsters Wednesday night. The Admirals trailed 2-0 entering the third period against a goaltender in Calvin Pickard who was razor sharp tonight for the Monsters. Triston Grant, Gary Steffes, and a monumental penalty kill helped push this game into overtime for the Admirals where Kevin Fiala’s heroics snapped the six-game losing streak.

It was a decent enough opening road period for the Admirals but with just 8.8 seconds remaining the Monsters tagged Marek Mazanec for the game’s first goal. After negating an icing call, Monsters winger Michael Schumacher was able to throw a wrist shot low on the Czech netminder before Taylor Aronson could get a stick check on him. The low shot hit off Mazanec’s pads and into the path of Trevor Cheek who scored five hole on the rebound for his sixth goal of the season.

The second period started with a “Save of the Year” candidate from Lake Erie’s Calvin Pickard. The Admirals had their top line out on the ice to start the period and Kevin Fiala had all the net in the world to shoot on when the puck slid over to him on the low right wing circle. Pickard made a lunging dive out of desperation and made the glove save to rob Fiala.

Reid Petryk would score his third goal of the season just prior to the midway point of the game to make it a 2-0 Monsters lead. Petryk managed to fend off Anthony Bitetto from the blueline and whipped in a wrist shot from the high slot that went straight into the roof of the net past Mazanec.

The Admirals were finally able to solve Pickard 2:07 into the third period to make it a one-goal contest. Mark Van Guilder battle off Cheek on the end boards to wrap around a puck to the front of the net where Triston Grant was able to bury his twelfth goal of the season. This matches a career mark in goal scoring for Grant who tallied twelve goals during the 2009-10 season.

With 5:19 remaining in regulation the Admirals completed their third period comeback to make it a 2-2 game. Joe Piskula’s shot from the middle of the blueline knuckled up on Pickard who spilled a rebound out to Gary Steffes who settled the puck and fired for his third goal of the season in the AHL and first scored at even strength.

Then, only fifty-four seconds after equalizing, came a moment of controversy for the Admirals. Viktor Arvidsson made a hard drive from the right wing in on goal and ran through the Monsters netminder Pickard. He was given a charging major and a game misconduct that put the Monsters on the power-play for the rest of regulation and thirty-five second of overtime.

Fortunately for the Admirals, their penalty killing late in the game was up to the task to end the night a perfect 3/3 on the PK while killing nine minutes worth of power-play time.

Kevin Fiala was chosen to take a seat in the penalty box to serve the final seconds of Arvidsson’s charging major for the start of overtime. Once he exited the box he and his teammates were on an odd-man counter from the blueline. Fiala entered on the puck from the left wing, dangled past a stick check, and wired a wrister off the toe drag for the game-winner and his tenth goal scored for the Admirals this season. The Admirals losing streak of six-games is over.

Ramblings: Prior to the game, the Nashville Predators reassigned Viktor Arvidsson to the Milwaukee Admirals. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Joe Pendenza (healthy), Eric Robinson (healthy), and Jimmy Oligny (healthy). The Admirals allowed twenty shots on goal in the second period. It was the most they’ve allowed in a single period this season. The Chicago Wolves defeated the Toronto Marlies 2-1 in regulation tonight. Therefore the standings remain as such.

What is your reaction to this Admirals game? How up, down, and around was this game? Were the officials right to give Arvidsson a major and a game misconduct? How huge was this win for overall confidence moving forward?

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News April 1, 2015April 1, 2015

Viktor Arvidsson Reassigned to Milwaukee

If the Milwaukee Admirals current issue is scoring there might be some good news as far as tonight’s game is concerned. The Nashville Predators have just reassigned Viktor Arvidsson back to the Admirals.

Arvidsson’s first career NHL stint saw him log six games for the Predators. He didn’t register a point but he did average more than a shot per game. Wouldn’t have expected any less from the man who still leads the AHL in shots on goal this season.

His reintroduction to the team means the Admirals will once again have their leading scorer back in the lineup. Arvidsson has 51 points (19 goals, 32 assists) this season. The next closest to him on the Admirals in scoring is Austin Watson with 39 points (23 goals, 16 assists).

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