Scouting March 20, 2015

Griffins: Scouting the Enemy

No Admirals-killer Petr Mrázek? That’ll mean Tom McCollum or Jared Coreau tonight. I can hear the Admirals forwards exhaling all the way back home in Wisconsin. (Photo Credit: Mark Newman)

The Admirals season-long six game road trip ends tonight with a match up with the Midwest Division and Western Conference leading Grand Rapids Griffins. To date, and results-wise, this road trip has not gone well. The good news? The Admirals have had good stretches within those bad results and came good with their 4-2 win over the Oklahoma City Barons. The good-er-er news? The Griffins could well be set for a fall tonight with some top talents up in the NHL.

~Short & Sweet~

The Griffins enter tonight’s game with a record of 37-17-6-2 (82 points). As mentioned above they lead both the division and conference. This comes thanks to the surge that is this astonishing eighteen game point streak: 14-0-3-1. The last time that the Griffins lost in regulation came on home ice at the hands of the Admirals in a 4-0 shutout.

~Lacking Star Power~

When looking at the Griffins roster tonight your spirits will be instantly lifted when you see the names Teemu Pulkkinen and Petr Mrázek are absent. Both were recalled to the Detroit Red Wings over the past two weeks. So what does their lack of presence mean tonight? Only good things!

Pulkkinen has been the AHL’s top scorer for a solid chunk of this season. If not for his NHL recalls he’d probably still be the AHL’s scoring leader. I’m sure he doesn’t mind the NHL time. Still, no Pulkkinen takes a major nuclear level weapon off the battlefield for Grand Rapids. He has scored 61 points (34 goals, 27 assists) this season. No one in the AHL has scored as many goals as him and the next closest is Shane Harper with 28 goals. Someone else for the Griffins will need to do the damage tonight.

I hope that Mrázek’s recent AHL spell was a warning shot across the bow of the Red Wings and potential NHL suitors everywhere. He pulled in six straight wins out of seven starts, recorded three shutouts, and had a ludicrous 1.39 goals against average and 0.956 save percentage. No offense to Tom McCollum or Jared Coreau but they are not Mrázek and I am therefore not as concerned heading into this game. Please ignore the fact that Coreau has played great against the Admirals and McCollum won his last start against the Admirals as well.

~That Other Bloke~

So, no Pulkkinen? Who should the Admirals fear the most on the Griffins now? Andy Miele. He hasn’t had an NHL chance yet this season but someone should take notice of the great season he has put together for Grand Rapids. Miele is tied for third in the league in scoring with 58 points (20 goals, 38 assists). Against the Admirals he has 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists). You might remember those goals specifically as well. He was the initial 0.4 second man before Viktor Stålberg took his gimmick and improved it with a hat trick and NHL call up.

~More Blokes~

Landon Ferraro is the leading scorer for the Griffins in this match-up. He has 5 points (4 goals, 1 assist) against the Admirals this season. He does trail the duo of Colton Sissons and Viktor Arvidsson though: Sissons, 7 points (6 goals, 1 assist)… Arvidsson, 7 points (0 goals, 7 assists). Ferraro might well be the trigger-man that the Griffins need in place of Pulkkinen as he trails him for the team lead in goal scoring with 23 goals this season.

One other player worth mentioning is first year pro Anthony Mantha. His season started with an injury but he’s managed to really get with the program and put in a productive season for the Griffins. He has 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists), a plus/minus rating of +11, and 53 penalty minutes in 51 games. Like Pulkkinen, Mantha’s slap shot is a powerful one and he can range from the wing to the point on the power-play effortlessly. He has scored 4 power-play goals this season for the Griffins. Yet another gem of many in the Red Wings system.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Which streak hits nineteen tonight, the Grand Rapids point streak or Scott Ford‘s ECHL/AHL winning streak? Should Magnus Hellberg be given the net over Marek Mazanec tonight?

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Game Recaps March 17, 2015March 17, 2015

Admirals Snap Skid; win 4-2

This big guy game up big in the third period for the Admirals. (Photo Credit: Christina Shapiro)

The Admirals won 4-2 on the road against the Oklahoma City Barons Tuesday night. A three goal third period was the catalyst to the Admirals snapping out of their five game losing streak. In the space of five minutes Kevin Fiala, Mark Van Guilder, and Triston Grant scored to give the Admirals space to survive a late flurry for the Barons.

Kevin Fiala opened the scoring in the second period with his eighth goal of the season. The goal came after Anthony Bitetto and Andrew Miller were sent to the box to make it four-on-four. Johan Alm slid over to Fiala who was all alone on the inner half of the right wing faceoff circle. Fiala hammered a one-timer through Laurent Brossoit to make it 1-0.

Triston Grant went to the box after some extra shoving in front of the Admirals bench. During his roughing minor, Jason Williams had a stick failure on his slap shot attempt and sent Mark Van Guilder off to the races shorthanded. The Admiral veteran went forehand to backhand and beat Brossoit for his ninth goal of the season.

The moment Grant exited the box from his roughing minor he skated into the Admirals attacking zone and was given a gift courtesy of Dillon Simpson. The Barons defenseman was being heavily pressured and turned the puck over right in front of the net to Grant. Brossoit went into full-on panic and desperation mode and sprawled for a diving poke check but came up empty. Grant threw a shot up and over the downed netminder and scored his eleventh goal of the season to make it a 3-0 Admirals lead through two periods of play.

It wouldn’t be the Admirals if not for a bit of anxiety, right? That anxiety came in the third period in the form of Bogdan Yakimov. With 8:01 remaining, after an in-zone faceoff, Joshua Winquist teed up Yakimov in the high left wing faceoff circle for a one-timer that he blast past Magnus Hellberg high glove side to make it 3-1.

Before the Barons even had to pull Brossoit for an extra attacker Yakimov did it again. Williams was able to win a race to negate icing against the Barons as he beat Johan Alm to the puck and, after some pinballing behind the net, it fell kindly in the slot for Yakomov to score his second goal of the third period and twelfth of the season.

With Brossoit on the bench, and the Barons bringing the extra attacker on, the Admirals scored an empty netter to finally allow themselves to exhale. Fiala competed along the left wing and Rich Clune had the initial chance for the empty cage but missed off a post. The follow up would be cleaned up by Austin Watson to record his twenty-first goal of the season to finish the game up 4-2.

Hellberg was great in net tonight for the Admirals. He made thirty-one saves and was up to the task with Oklahoma City throwing as much as they could at him in the third period when they fired sixteen shots. It’s Hellberg’s first win in over a month’s time.

Ramblings: Prior to the game the Milwaukee Admirals signed Scott Ford to a PTO contract and released Ian White from his PTO contract. It is Ford’s first game in the AHL since being part of the Admirals team that were swept from the playoffs last season by the Toronto Marlies. He had been a member of the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL up until this PTO contract. Per Aaron Sims, Ford is the fifth Admiral all-time to play parts of seven seasons with the franchise. Tonight’s scratches included Felix Girard (upper-body) and Jonathan Diaby (healthy).

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Compared to the previous two outings against the Barons what changed for the Admirals tonight to see the result change? How did Scott Ford look in his return to not just the Admirals but the AHL?

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News March 17, 2015March 17, 2015

Scott Ford Returns; Ian White Released

Ford-Feature-1 — The Sheriff is back. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

How about a nice jolt to the system to kick off your Tuesday afternoon? The Milwaukee Admirals have signed former-captain and long time Admiral defenseman Scott Ford to a PTO contract. In addition, the team has released defenseman Ian White from his PTO contract.

Press Release via Milwaukee Admirals:

Milwaukee, WI–The Milwaukee Admirals announced today that the team has signed defenseman Scott Ford to a Professional Try-Out Contract (PTO). Ford will meet the team in Oklahoma City and be available for tonight’s 7pm game against the Barons.

A veteran of 366 games with Milwaukee, Ford rejoins the team after playing this season with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL where he has a goal and four assists, 82 penalty minutes and a +14 rating in 40 games. The Stingrays are currently riding an amazing 19-game winning streak.

The Fort St. John, BC native has spent parts of the past six seasons with the Admirals, including two as team Captain, and has played the second most games since the Admirals joined the AHL, passed only recently be center Mark Van Guilder.
Overall with the Ads Ford has 14 goals and 29 assists for 23 points, a +41 rating and 563 penalty minutes–second most in team AHL history. Ford (+24 in 2011-12) and current Captain Joe Piskula (+20 in 2013-14) are the only defenseman since 2003-04 to finish the season +20 or better.

In addition, the Admirals have released defenseman Ian White from his PTO.

Milwaukee continues a season long six-game roadtrip tonight when they face the Barons at 7pm in Oklahoma City. The Admirals finish the trip on Friday in Grand Rapids before returning home on Saturday night to host the Texas Stars at 7pm at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

The Sheriff was not only signed today but is in fact in Oklahoma City tonight and ready to roll. This move feels rather reminiscent of the 2012-13 season when Ford was a member of the Peoria Rivermen and was brought back to the Admirals to provide a leadership role to the group.

As for White, this news comes as a slight bit of surprise when you consider how well he has plugged into the Admirals defense. He produced 19 points (3 goals, 16 assists) with a plus/minus rating of +4 and 13 penalty minutes in 34 games for the Admirals. Earlier this season White had played for the Providence Bruins on a PTO contract where he tallied 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) in 8 games. I imagine the move comes as a swap of veteran defenseman for veteran defenseman that has the additional trust of the coaching staff and a solid chunk of the locker room the instant he joins the team.

Happy about the return of Scott Ford to the Milwaukee Admirals? Are you disappointed to see Ian White released? What will Ford provide that White couldn’t?

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Scouting March 17, 2015

Barons: Scouting the Enemy

Mitch Moroz has made a few friends in the short time the Barons have played against the Admirals. (Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch)

The Admirals are currently riding a five game losing streak. During this streak they’ve been outscored 23-9 while going 0/18 on the power-play. It has been so very -very- rough. And yet, oddly, there have still been positives.

One of the major points of emphasis last month for the Admirals was simplifying their game and being able to generate pucks to the net. While the scoreline in the last five games reads a different story the shot totals say a lot of the work rate the offense is delivering as they’ve outshot opponents 162-131.

It comes down to finishing. Pucks are getting to the net. That’s good. Being able to generate some rebound or second and third chance opportunities is the next big step. If the Admirals can maintain their offensive stride, work to the front of the net, and play a structured North/South defensive game they may just snap this current funk that’s plaguing them. All that stands in their way is a team that has beaten them twice during this losing streak by a score of 5-1.

~Since Last We Met~

The Oklahoma City Barons enter tonight’s game with a record of 37-18-3-3 (80 points). They are first in the West Division and can move into a tie with the Grand Rapids Griffins for the Western Conference lead with a win tonight.

Since thrashing the Admirals back-to-back games by the score of 5-1 the Barons have played two games against the Charlotte Checkers.

In the first contest, the Checkers managed to pick up a thrilling 2-1 win thanks to a Zach Boychuck power-play goal with only two-seconds remaining. Hey, it could be worse OKC. It could have been scored with 0.4 seconds remaining.

As punishment for the late-winner it was all Barons all the time in the follow-up against the Checkers. The Barons won 6-1 in a game where they had nine chances on the power-play in a really heated divisional game. There were 60 combined penalty minutes in that game. Sounds like something the Admirals and IceHogs would produce.

~The Key~

I think I’ve stated the key above but, just to drive a point home, it is going to be a must for the Admirals to be disruptive in front of the net. Whether it is Laurent Brossoit or even Tyler Bunz in net the Admirals must continue to commit pucks to the net but strive for low shots and the rebound chances they provide.

It has been all Brossoit against the Admirals this season. Three starts. Three wins. He has a 1.67 goals against average and 0.946 save percentage against the Admirals. It’s about time that those numbers take a dent.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Can the Admirals offense erupt tonight or will it be the defense that rises to the occasion?

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News March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

Cooling The Fires of Hellberg

It wasn’t all that long ago when Magnus Hellberg was sitting in the upper echelon of pretty much all major goaltending categories in the AHL. Along with the current funk for the Milwaukee Admirals has come a spurt of goaltending results that haven’t gone to script.

In the past eighteen games the Admirals have gone 6-9-3-0 (15 points). That’s an important number of games because it is the current length of the Grand Rapids Griffins point streak that has seen them vault to the top of the Midwest Division and Western Conference standings. The Griffins are 14-0-3-1 (32 points) during that stretch. In that amount of games the Admirals have been outscored 62-48. Compared to the Griffins during that same number of games, minus the shootout marker, and Grand Rapids are outscoring teams 67-34.

While there is certainly a case of no offense or no defense there is a major case that goaltending can help mask problems. It’s happened in the past. It isn’t happening at all right now.

I must say though, of all the odd things happening during this stretch, is the questionable choice from the Admirals to limit the playing role of Hellberg since February. Marek Mazanec has been without question the first choice goaltender during that time as he has played twice the amount of games as Hellberg has. What makes it questionable is that his results in net have been equal to worse than that of Hellberg who remains on the bench during this span.

In February, Mazanec made seven starts and recorded a 2.87 goals against average and 0.905 save percentage. He won his first two starts that month and then proceeded to lose his next five games. Hellberg’s numbers weren’t exactly that much better, mind you. The big Swede posted a 3.07 goals against average and a 0.898 save percentage in February. The difference? Hellberg earned a point for the Admirals in each of his four starts that month.

This month, Mazanec has quite possibly been worked into the ground. We’re halfway through the month of March and Mazanec has already made six starts and seven appearances. From his six starts he has logged a 3.62 goals against average and a 0.842 save percentage. Like February, he won his first two starts. In fact he kicked off the month with a shutout in his first start of March. Since? He has ground to a halt and lost his last four games while surrendering seventeen goals. It wasn’t until last night’s third period that he was pulled in net for his troubles.

Hellberg’s March has also been spotty. He has appeared three times without a win with a 4.56 goals against average and 0.870 save percentage. Here’s the counter to Mazanec’s numerical struggles though. The time between appearances.

Hellberg’s first appearance in March was a road start against the Chicago Wolves. He allowed four goals from twenty-one shots before getting pulled ahead of the third period. It was his first taste of game action in eight days. His next appearance would come ten days later. He allowed four goals from forty shots against the Oklahoma City Barons. Then, fresh off the bench last night, he allowed the first shot he saw before stopping the next seven he faced in a relief appearance of Mazanec after sitting on the out for four days.

Now consider the month that Hellberg had in January prior to all these breaks in his stride. He won five out of seven starts and recorded a 1.80 goals against average, 0.933 save percentage, and a pair of shutouts.

The question becomes a pretty simple one. Why ride a goalie into the ground only too cool the other one off so much so that when he’s given the chance to substitute in he’s lacking the sharpness needed to perform? This goalie 1-A and 1-B formula doesn’t exactly work when equal opportunity doesn’t actually occur. At the moment it is a clear cut one-two in net and both are trending downward for different reasons: Mazanec being worn down. Hellberg being frozen.

It’s this rambling from me that reminds me to a question I posed to Admirals head coach Dean Evason back in November about the difficulty of selecting either Mazanec or Hellberg in net. His response:

“It’s always tough,” said Evason. “Everybody thinks it is so wonderful to have two guys playing well – make a decision – and everybody always says, “it’s a good thing,” but sometimes it’s not a good thing. Sometimes it’s one guy going and another guy gets hot.”

Right now, this decision should be a simple one. Mazanec isn’t going. And the only reason Hellberg isn’t is because he’s been on the bench. The Admirals need some serious energy right now as they’re battling their fourth losing streak of four or more games this season. An outlet could well be the man who did the job for the Admirals around this time two-seasons ago in Hellberg. The question is if he’ll be afforded the chance to do so.

Thoughts on the current state of the Milwaukee Admirals goaltending duo? Should Hellberg be given more chances in net or is this just a rough patch for the team and not for Mazanec?

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Game Recaps March 15, 2015

Admirals Pelted By Stars Again; lose 6-2

The Admirals lost 6-2 on the road against the Texas Stars Sunday evening. As far as results go this is one of the worst games of the Admirals’ 2014-15 season. The Stars upped their performance from the night prior to chase Marek Mazanec and push the Admirals winless skid to five games.

In the first period there was a spell of 1:47 where both the Admirals and Stars traded scoring blows back-to-back-to-back. The Stars opened the scoring through Brendan Ranford’s fourteenth goal of the season. He was able to dodge a stick check of Taylor Aronson before sending a backhander past the glove of Marek Mazanec.

The Admirals responded fifty-eight seconds later when Viktor Arvidsson scored his nineteenth goal of the season. Pontus Åberg hit Arvidsson on a stretch pass through neutral ice and sent him off to the races. Arvidsson wired a wrist shot far glove-side of Jack Campbell and off the post and in to level things up in less than a minute.

It took the Stars fifty-nine seconds to nullify the Arvidsson goal. A rebound off of Mazanec fell to none other than former-Admiral Kevin Henderson who swatted in the loose puck for his fourth goal of the season and first goal against the Admirals since leaving the team last season.

Similar to the opening frame, it was a matter of moments before the Stars scored a pair of goals in the second period to separate themselves clear of the Admirals. Joining in on the festivities set down by Henderson it was Scott Valentine’s chance to score on his former team. It was a dandy of a goal as well. He raced up to join Branden Troock on the rush and scored a wrister while falling down onto the ice through Mazanec’s blocker-side to record his second goal of the season.

It was forty-nine seconds after that when Scott Glennie was in the right place at the right time to push home a rebound off of the end boards that trickled in on goal. Justin Dowling had the initial shot that banked off the boards and in on goal. Glennie had a simple enough finish for his eleventh goal of the season.

With only six seconds remaining in the second period the Stars tagged Mazanec yet again off of a rebound. Matt Mangene’s shot ended up bouncing off Mazanec and square for Ranford to score his second goal of the game and fifteenth of the season to make it 5-1 Stars through two period of play.

Before the second period closed out there was a bout between Mike Liambas and Stars goal scorer Glennie. It was a spirited bout from Liambas who got a few good ones in before Glennie earned the takedown.

Magnus Hellberg replaced Mazanec for the start of the third period. Mazanec stopped 11/16 shots before getting yanked. Since earning his fourth shutout of the season on 3/4/15 on the road against the Lake Erie Monsters Mazanec has allowed nineteen goals in his last five games.

Hellberg’s entry to the game wasn’t met with much better. The very first shot he faced in the third period beat him high blocker side from a Derek Hulak shot to make it a 6-1 game. The goal for Hulak was his sixteenth of the season.

Over halfway through the third period and the Admirals picked up their second goal of the night from Arvidsson. It was a heavy slap shot from the left point from the Swede which took redirect out in front of Campbell in net. Colton Sissons was trying his best to screen out in front and the traffic he drew may have helped Arvidsson pick up his twentieth goal of the season.

The game would end there and this latest rough patch for the Admirals has hit five straight defeats. During this stretch the Admirals have been outscored 23-9. The divisional and conference standings are seeing the Admirals at a standstill while the rest of the league slowly close the gap or, more importantly, leave the Admirals behind.

The next stop on the road trip is Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Barons. They defeated the Admirals on back-to-back occasions by the score of 5-1 to start this current losing streak. A measure of revenge could be on the mind. Personally, I would just prefer to see a measure of composure.

Ramblings: Today’s scratches for the Admirals included Félix Girard (upper-body) and Jonathan Diaby (healthy). Girard was injured during his fight with Scott Valentine yesterday. It is the first game that Girard has missed all season.

What is your reaction to today’s result? What’s wrong with this Admirals team currently? Was it wrong of Dean Evason to leave Mazanec in net for as long as he did today?

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Game Recaps March 14, 2015March 14, 2015

Mistakes Get Punished; Ads lose 4-3

The Admirals lost 4-3 on the road against the Texas Stars Saturday night. A rough first period for the Admirals put them on the back-foot early. The costly amount of early mistakes put the Admirals winless streak up to four games.

Despite a strong opening minute of play for the Admirals they were immediately turned inside out by their own mistakes. After Kevin Henderson drew a holding penalty on Anthony Bitetto the Stars were able to score off their first power-play chance. Joe Piskula was unable to get a backhanded clearance out of the zone and it put the Admirals penalty kill into a scramble mode which allowed Scott Glennie to score as he sat in front of Marek Mazanec all alone. The puck snuck through Mazanec for Glennie’s tenth goal of the season.

Another failed clearance led directly to the Stars second goal. The puck was rimmed around but kept in at the left point by Scott Valentine and he passed off to Greg Rallo as he broke in towards the faceoff circles. As Rallo rolled in on goal no one, other than Rallo himself, picked up the deadly Travis Morin as he skated in from the left wing. Rallo passed off and it was a tap in job for Morin’s eighteenth goal of the season.

When Austin Watson was called for boarding it took the Stars only eleven seconds on the power-play. Rallo passed off to the left wing for Derek Meech whose quick wrist shot was stopped by Mazanec but fell back in-line with Rallo as he followed through on goal to pick up his twentieth goal of the season.

Immediately after the Admirals went down 3-0 in the first period Dean Evason called for a timeout. The coaches didn’t say much, if anything, and left it up to the players to figure the poor start out.

Not too far after that was a dust up between the former-Admiral Valentine and Felix Girard. This bout started in the Admirals attacking end along the left wing end boards. Not many blows were landed cleanly, though a few wild punches were thrown, and it ended with both tumbling to the ice with Valentine coming up on top of Girard.

Before the end of the first period Kevin Fiala’s seventh goal of the season gave the Admirals some relief to their opening frame frustrations. Triston Grant hit Colton Sissons on an outlet pass through neutral zone and he worked through two defenseman after dropped back for Fiala. Sissons helped clear some space out in front of the net and Fiala beat Jussi Rynnas to the blocker side on a wrist shot to make it a 3-1 game.

In the second period the Stars made it 3/3 on the power-play with Derek Hulak scoring his fifteenth goal of the season. Bitetto was called for a crosscheck and, for the second time on the night, was in the box as the Stars cashed in off a power-play. A point shot by Maxime Fortunus buzzed through traffic and right in front of goal for Hulak to secure the rebound off Mazanec and make it a three-goal lead.

With eleven seconds remaining in the second period Bitetto was able to get one back for the Admirals by scoring his third goal of the season and first since January 10th. Joe Pendenza carried the puck, and Matej Stransky, into the left wing boards and Bitetto stepped up from the blueline and raced in, secured the puck, and floated in a backhander past Ryannas. Small credit must be given to Grant who cleaned out two Stars defenders on the play as Bitetto skated in-behind him to deliver the backhanded shot.

With 3:01 remaining in regulation, the Admirals not only had a power-play but Mazanec pulled in the hopes of a miracle comeback down two goals. The power-play came to an end but it didn’t stop the onslaught of attack which ended with Sissons powering in his team leading twenty-first goal of the season.

Unfortunately, the last gasp of attack with the extra attacker was too little and too late. The Stars won this game 4-3 and really achieved much of that scoreline through a first period where mistakes were early and often. That first period the Stars only had five shots of which three were put past Mazanec. The Admirals offense ended the night outshooting the Stars 32-21. They’re just not getting the finishing touch for all their work putting pucks to the net.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals included Frederick Gaudreau (healthy) and Ian White (late scratch, replaced by Jonathan Diaby). Miikka Salomaki will miss the rest of the season due to shoulder surgery. Mike Liambas made his return to game action after missing four games due to a laceration he suffered to his lower-right leg on 3/1/15 playing against the Chicago Wolves.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What is the possible explanation for the Admirals awful first period? What were the positives you would be able to take out of this game into tomorrow night’s game against these same Stars? What must be done differently?

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Scouting March 14, 2015

Stars: Scouting the Enemy

Hey! Scott Valentine! … We’ll see him on the opposite side of the ice tonight in Texas. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

Yesterday we had a great Q&A with Stephen Meserve of 100 Degree Hockey to get an inside look on the Texas Stars. Today on gameday we’ll take our quick rundown on the Stars.

~Short & Sweet~

Last season’s Calder Cup winners have a record of 26-18-13-1 (66 points) which sees them third in the West Division behind the Oklahoma City Barons (78 points) and San Antonio Rampage (74 points). The Stars are currently sitting in eighth place of the Western Conference standings with the Chicago Wolves (65 points), Adirondack Flames (64 points), Toronto Marlies (63 points), and Lake Erie Monsters (62 points) all in shouting distance.

In the Stars last ten games they have a record of 5-2-3-0 (13 points). In their last outing they won a track meet against the Monsters by the final score of 6-4. In that game the Stars allowed 40 shots on goal and had a penalty kill that ended the night 1/3.

Special Teams: PP (overall), ranked seventh with a 19.0% conversion rate… PP (home), ranked fourth with a 22.4% conversion rate… PK (overall), ranked seventh with a 86.0% success rate… PK (home), ranked twenty-fourth with a 81.5% success rate.

~Ol’ Reliable~

Travis Morin has been the main man in Texas forever and a day it seems. That fact remains true in 2014-15. Last season’s AHL MVP currently leads the Stars in scoring with 47 points (17 goals, 30 assists). He has only played 47 games this season which means he is a point per game player. And yet, it feels like off of season. I suppose you could say that about the Stars in general but Morin averaged 1.33 points per game last season.

~Familiar Faces in Different Places~

Remember that Kevin Henderson guy? How about Scott Valentine? Well, for those that have missed seeing or hearing from them both, tonight is the game for you!

Henderson joined the Stars last season on a loan that pretty much worked like a trade. The Admirals received Francis Wathier on loan on the flip-side to that. As it happened, Henderson would win out on the deal by being part of the Calder Cup winning Stars team. With him staying over there for this season things haven’t gone as smashing as they did last year. Hendo has had injury woes and has 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists), a plus/minus rating of -5, and 21 penalty minutes in 40 games.

Valentine ended last season with the Admirals by undergoing shoulder surgery. He didn’t find a home for the 2014-15 season until joining the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL in mid-October. He was brought up to the Stars and has since stayed up with a stat-line of 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists), a plus/minus rating of +2, and 62 penalty minutes in 38 games.

~Merica~

Jack Campbell, of World Juniors hockey fame, is currently in Stars camp. It hasn’t been a good year for the 23-year old. In the AHL this season he has a record of 3-11-5-0, a 3.47 goals against average, and a 0.888 save percentage. He’s been put through the ECHL cycle to get a run of games and has performed much better during his time with the Steelheads: 5-2-0-0 record, 1.73 goals against average, 0.945 save percentage, and a shutout.

Expectations for this weekend’s games against the Stars? What needs to be done from the Admirals to buck this three-game winless streak? At this point, does it matter to you whether or not Marek Mazanec or Magnus Hellberg start in net or are they churning out similar performances?

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

Scouting March 13, 2015March 13, 2015

Stars: Scouting The Enemy With The Enemy

The Milwaukee Admirals hope to break out of their current three-game winless skid at the expense of last season’s Calder Cup winners the Texas Stars. The two will meet on Saturday and Sunday and, to preview the match-up, we have a very special guest. Stephen Meserve of 100 Degree Hockey took the time to answer some questions and give us all some insight on the Stars season and their pair of former-Admirals.

~Texas Stars: Scouting the Enemy~

Admirals Roundtable: Following last season’s Calder Cup success the Texas Stars have struggled a bit this season. What has factored into the up and down season?

Stephen Meserve: Texas lost a lot of talent all over the roster. It’s the blessing and the curse of success.

Goalie Cristopher Nilstorp headed back to Sweden after leading the team to victory in the playoffs. Goalie Jack Campbell has had a very forgettable season and found himself on an ECHL stint recently to get playing time. Big-time scorers Mike Hedden, Chris Mueller, and Dustin Jeffrey all departed for various locales. Mueller, who your readers are surely familiar with, was a huge part of the Stars win last year. He currently holds the record for points per game in team history with just one season of work. On defense, the team lost Patrik Nemeth, Jyrki Jokipakka, and Jamie Oleksiak. Additionally, John Klingberg, who is currently lighting up the NHL rookie scoring, was slated to be an AHL defenseman for much of the year but only lasted 10 games before callup.

Finally, coach Willie Desjardins and assistant coach Doug Lidster both went to Vancouver.

Also, Dallas has had some issues in various positions that have led to instability. Forwards have gotten hurt and forced the recall of Curtis McKenzie and Brett Ritchie for much of the year. Waiver claims took David Schlemko and Kevin Connauton, which put gaps in the roster.

Par for the course in the AHL though.

AR: Have you run out of superlatives to describe Travis Morin‘s presence for the Stars?

SM: Absolutely. He and Maxime Fortunus are the only remaining players from the first season. Recently Texas scored its 1500th goal in franchise history and Travis Morin has scored just a hair under one of every eleven goals in franchise history. In fact, 25% of all goals scored ever have Morin as the goal scorer or one of the two assists. You can’t overstate what he does for this team. He’s a player that does little things on the ice. He kills penalties for Texas and is the first one over the boards on a unit with Greg Rallo. He just re-signed with Dallas on a two-year deal, and I’m sure he’s getting well-compensated in the AHL for his services. Chris Mueller made 300k last year for Texas and I’m certain Morin will make at least that on the new deal.

AR: Our old pal Kevin Henderson joined the Stars last season. What have you seen from his game since he arrived and how has he looked this season?

SM: Henderson has been an interesting story this season. He was injured in the mid-season stretch and lost a lot of playing time there. He didn’t score his first goal until the past month, but has scored three since then. Maybe things are heading in the right direction for him. Henderson has played a checking line winger role. Last year, he was on the ‘Czeching’ line in the playoffs with Radek Faksa and Matej Stransky. The three had scoring prowess and also shut down defensive capability. This year, he’s had some difficulty finding linemates, but he is now settled in with Stransky and a new center, Éric Faille. Radek Faksa was lost to shoulder injury for the season early on.

He’s playing for a new contract because it’s pretty clear Nashville won’t be re-signing him. He needs a solid final 18 games and playoffs to ensure a North American deal.

AR: Another former-Admiral turned up in Texas this season by the name of Scott Valentine. How has he fit in since joining at the start of the season?

SM: Once Dallas called Klingberg, Scott Valentine was up with the Texas Stars. Valentine started with Idaho of the ECHL and was signed to a standard contract right away. From his time in Milwaukee, Texas GM Scott White knew what he’d get with Valentine. He plays bottom 4 minutes for Texas and has that physical edge that he’s always had. He’s been in and out of the lineup at times with players like Jokipakka, Oleksiak or Nemeth making appearances form Dallas on occasion. Overall a solid defender for Texas though.

AR: There is some pretty exciting talent in the Texas Stars lineup – favorite of which for me is Julius Honka. Who are some of the top performing prospects that you think are set for the NHL?

SM: Julius Honka, oh my. This kid is only 19 and has a lot of promise. He’s raw. He’s a rookie. But he can skate like the wind, puck handle like a forward and, despite his size, has a heavy shot that catches goalies offguard. He scored a beauty PPG last game and had a nice assist to Kevin Henderson for another goal. He’s learning still, but there’s so much promise. Scouts in the press box Wednesday night audibly exclaimed when he made the moves that led to the Henderson goal. Everyon’s impressed.

Others to watch include: Justin Dowling, skilled center who joined Texas on a PTO and now has a Dallas contract; Devin Shore, high draft pick who just joined on an ATO and is an unknown; Derek Hulak, currently on an AHL only deal but very talented and solid winger who has earned top six time.

AR: This playoff race is as tense as it always seems to be. How do you think things are going to shake out in the Western Conference?

SM: There’s some smoke and mirrors going right now in the West with regards to games played. Hamilton has played way more than Texas, so their rank is deceiving. I think Texas makes it in as the seven or eight seed. As Dallas fades down the stretch but also gets healthier, some players may return and give the Stars a boost at just the right time. If Texas can matchup against OKC in the playoffs, they might be able to trip up the Barons. Otherwise, it will be a tough row to hoe.

Thanks very much again to Stephen Meserve for taking the time to shed some light on the Texas Stars our way. You can read his work at 100 Degree Hockey and follow along with him on Twitter via @100degreehockey.

Expectations for this weekend’s games against the Texas Stars? Miss the seeing the likes of Henderson or Valentine at all?

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News March 12, 2015March 12, 2015

Miikka Salomäki Out For Rest Of The Season

From the very end of January to today Miikka Salomäki has only played in two games for the Milwaukee Admirals. Today a source confirmed to me that Salomäki will in fact miss the rest of this season due to shoulder surgery.

This comes as a blow to both Salomäki and the Admirals. It had been a fantastic sophomore season for the Finn who was able to score a goal in his NHL debut in Nashville back on January 9th.

With the Admirals this season he had produced 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists) with a plus/minus rating of +15 and 30 penalty minutes in 38 games. He was successfully building upon his rookie season of 2013-14 where he led the Admirals in scoring with 50 points (20 goals, 30 assists).

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