Scott Ford will continue his playing career by joining the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Longtime Milwaukee Admirals defenseman Scott Ford has signed a contract with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL late this afternoon. The veteran was not re-signed by the Admirals following last season and had been a free agent through the start of the 2014-15 hockey season.
North Charleston, S.C. – The South Carolina Stingrays, celebrating 22 seasons of hockey in the Lowcountry, agreed to terms with defenseman Scott Ford, Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Spencer Carbery announced today. In a separate transaction, forward Andrew Ammon is recalled to the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Ford, 34, joins the Stingrays with 510 games of AHL experience, 63 points (18 goals, 45 assist) and a career AHL plus-minus rating of +31 over a 10 year professional career with the Milwaukee Admirals, Peoria Rivermen, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Bruins and Cleveland Barons. The last three seasons, the Fort Saint John, British Columbia, native served as team captain with the Admirals and Rivermen.
In the ECHL, Ford enters a new season with 132 career games and 45 points (12 goals, 33 assists) skating with the Utah Grizzlies, Trenton Titans, Dayton Bombers and Fresno Falcons.
The man affectionately known as The Sheriff played 366 career games as a member of the Admirals. No one else in the AHL history of the team has played more games than him. The next closest, Mark Van Guilder, has played in 307 career games.
Thoughts on seeing Scott Ford continue his career with an ECHL team? What are some of your favorite Ford moments as an Admiral?
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(Photo Credit: Scott Paulus. Meme Edit: Daniel Lavender)
There is simply no other way to say it. Last night was a dud. Alright, there are lots of ways to actually phrase it. Clunker. Stinker. The only way I could describe to someone what it was like watching last night’s game was that it was how I felt the one and only time I ever watched the movie, “A Serbian Film,” for a Controversial Cinema class in college. I didn’t know what I was watching. I just knew that it was wrong and not good.
The optimist in me will say this though. Hockey has a very long season and games like this happen to the best of them. Some nights you flat out have nothing. That was the Milwaukee Admirals last night and they had that performance against one of the best teams in the AHL this season. In truth, they may be fortunate to have escaped last night’s game at a 4-0 final.
What will be huge for the Admirals are three things. (1) Friday – a day to let that game sink in and work out the damage in practice. (2) Saturday – a quick game to get back into the swing of things. (3) Sunday – yet another home game to get back and rolling.
Plenty of mistakes and wrongs took place last night against the IceHogs. The ability to take games like last night and learn from them are the difference between good and bad teams. There is a lot to take in. And that one dud, clunker, stinker, “A Serbian Film,” might just be enough to get guys back to winning ways.
Patrick Cehlin returned to the Milwaukee Admirals lineup for the first time this season. That was about as good as it got for the Admirals as they were shutout 4-0 tonight against the Rockford IceHogs. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Admirals lost 4-0 against the Rockford IceHogs Thursday night. From start to finish this game was never really close. The passing and shooting lanes weren’t available for the Admirals as the IceHogs defense and puck control dictated this entire game.
“We were terrible,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “Absolutely terrible. We talked that there is a difference between work and compete in the past. We’ve always said that our group works. We get out-competed sometimes but we always work. Tonight we didn’t do either. It was like men against boys out there.”
It was a shaky start for the Admirals in the first period. They found themselves shorthanded only seventeen-seconds into the game after a delay of game penalty against Anthony Bitetto. They never really seemed to click thereafter and the IceHogs made them pay for it.
Garret Ross threw a puck on Magnus Hellberg from the right wing and it appeared to knuckle in on the big Swede and squeeze through him. There was traffic crashing in for a rebound but the lamp lit up before anyone else could touch it up. It’s Ross’ seventh goal of the season.
“We were not ready to play the game tonight,” said Evason. “They came at us right away. Our entire game wasn’t right.”
The IceHogs added another tally in the second period to give themselves a two-goal cushion. T.J. Brennan stepped up from the blue like and into the left wing faceoff circle to deliver a wing-to-wing feed on a platter for Matt Carey. Hellberg was at full stretch to make a post-to-post save but, even with Carey fanning the initial one-timer, he still couldn’t make the save. For Carey that goes down as his fourth goal of the season.
In the third period a Garrett Noonan turnover led directly to the IceHogs third goal of the night. After winning a faceoff in neutral, the puck fell back to Noonan who tried to toss up ice for Johan Alm. The pass was picked off and turned into a two-on-one the other way with Cody Bass teeing up Drew LeBlanc for his third goal of the season.
With the game winding down, and blood in the water for the IceHogs, Brennan stepped up from his blue line again to provide offense. Rather than dish off an assist this time Brennan roofed a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Hellberg to score his fifth goal of the season and make it a 4-0 game.
“They just out-worked us,” said Mark Van Guilder. “They moved the puck quicker. They worked smarter. They worked harder. We just weren’t very good tonight and they were.”
He didn’t have a difficult night in net but he’ll certainly take the shutout. Michael Leighton stopped all eighteen shots he faced en route to his second shutout this season. The most difficult save he had to make this season was robbing Austin Watson on the doorstep of goal in the second period. Outside of that – he had it relatively easy.
The opposite end of the rink saw Hellberg taking a solid swipe at his water bottle as the game finished. He let in four goals from twenty-eight shots to pick up his first regulation defeat of this season.
“We didn’t bear down today and it starts with me,” said Magnus Hellberg. “I didn’t do the extra saves today to make us have a chance in this hockey game and it’s frustrating.”
Ramblings: Tonight marked the return of Patrick Cehlin to the Admirals lineup. It was his first Admirals game since Game 2 of the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs in Milwaukee against the Toronto Marlies and his first regular season contest since 4/18/14 when the Admirals defeated the Charlotte Checkers. With his return, and the recent roster moves for Joe Pendenza and Jonathan Diaby, the only scratch tonight for the Admirals was Frederick Gaudreau. Rich Clune took a puck to the groin during the game and never returned. He isn’t expected to return for Saturday’s game.
Thoughts on tonight’s game? What happened? Where was the bite that we’ve seen from the Admirals all season?
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“Why can’t we all just get along?” ~said no one in regards to the Milwaukee Admirals and Rockford IceHogs (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
After putting the wild wild weekend in Charlotte in the rear-view mirror – it’s time to put just another wild wild night with the Rockford IceHogs into perspective. They still lead the Midwest Division with a 15-5-1-1 (32 points) record. With a win tonight the IceHogs would be sitting all alone on top of the Western Conference standings with the highest points total in the entire AHL.
~Since Last We Met~
The IceHogs have played four games since the last time we met up. They shutout the Chicago Wolves on the road, 3-0… they clubbed the Iowa Wild merciless at home, 6-1… they lose in overtime at home against the Wolves, 4-3 (OT)… and then lost to the Wolves in regulation in Chicago, 2-1.
~Goaltending Silliness~
The last time we actually saw the IceHogs they had three goalies in camp: Scott Darling, Michael Leighton, and Mac Carruth. Leighton had a day-to-day injury at the time so Carruth was brought up from the Indy Fuel of the ECHL. Tonight’s tandem will include those two named because Darling was recalled to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Why? Well, isn’t that the fun story.
Corey Crawford, the Blackhawks starting netminder, reportedly missed a step and fell down at a Rise Against concert at Chicago’s House of Blues on Monday night. Put that down for one of the more bizarre sports injuries to come out of hockey in recent years. Crawford was in a walking boot yesterday and is expected to miss two-to-three weeks.
That will impact the IceHogs who will be without Darling during that span. But, it must be said, Leighton is a veteran and Carruth recorded a shutout in his lone AHL appearance this season.
Minor Rambling: Considering this is a small goaltending segment… with Martin Brodeur officially signing with the St. Louis Blues… and Brian Elliott out indefinitely with a knee injury… it makes me wonder what ends up happening to former Admiral killer Jake Allen should Brodeur be serviceable and Elliott comes back good as gold. The Wolves already have seen the return of Jordan Binnington. Could the Wolves see a tandem of Allen and Binnington? …I hope not.
~Scoring, Lots of Scoring~
T.J. Brennan, last season’s Eddie Shore winner, currently leads the IceHogs in scoring with 17 points (4 goals, 13 assists) in 22 games. In a full 7 games less work, Mark McNeill has scored only one less point: 16 points (9 goals, 7 assists) in 15 games. McNeill missed time this season due to a lower-body injury. He hasn’t played a game since the last time the IceHogs came to Milwaukee, 11/15/14.
The rookie of interest in Rockford for me from the start of the season, Teuvo Teräväinen, has impressed. He has scored 13 points (3 goals, 10 assists) in 20 games this season. Compare that with Brendan Leipsic‘s rookie output of 17 points (1 goal, 16 assists) from 19 games. Both have hit the ground running for the 2014-15 season.
UPDATE: The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled defenseman Klas Dahlbeck and reassigned defenseman Adam Clendening. Dahlbeck had 6 points (2 goals, 4 points) in 22 games for Rockford including 25 penalty minutes – including a fight with Colton Sissons last time the two played in Milwaukee. Clendening scored a goal and an assist from his first 4 games of NHL duty. His production in the AHL this season includes 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) and 10 penalty minutes in 16 games.
Thoughts on tonight’s game? What are your expectations from yet another clash between the Admirals and IceHogs? Will there be more fights than goals? Who starts in net for the Admirals? Scoreline prediction?
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Patrick Cehlin looks set to make his 2014-15 Admirals debut tomorrow night. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
This afternoon I had the chance to trek into the BMO Harris Bradley Center and visit the Milwaukee Admirals ahead of their game tomorrow night against the Rockford IceHogs. I spoke with head coach Dean Evason as well as Patrick Cehlin, Magnus Hellberg, and Marek Mazanec.
Before getting right into the audio let’s dissect some of what I found out today from talking with Evason and Cehlin.
~Blood Clot~
Cehlin’s injury that hindered his start to the 2014-15 hockey season is something that involves two things. (1) a hip injury that has been nagging him for the last few seasons and (2) a blood clot that formed in his leg.
The last three seasons Cehlin had three loose bone pieces in his hip. It wasn’t until last season that it impacted him enough to get it further evaluated. Doctors removed two of the bone fragments and put in three screws. Then, as he was flying back home to Sweden, he developed a blood clot in his leg due to the flight.
The blood clot delayed his summer rehab and took six months of attention before his clearance to play games. He will be in the Admirals lineup tomorrow night and will be on a line with Mark Van Guilder and Brendan Leipsic. He should also take part in the power-play as well.
~Kneeing~
Do you think that last Saturday night’s game in Charlotte is still nuts? Guess what. It gets nuttier. The game ended in a 5-4 final and take a look at the box score right here. Where all the line brawl activity starts up there is a missing stat that may well change by the time this post is being read by yourself.
The footage of Rasmus Rissanen‘s knee-on-knee hit on Rich Clune was sent to the AHL for review by the Milwaukee Admirals and the AHL responded by assessing Rissanen a 5 minute major for kneeing and a game misconduct. That’s all well and good… except for the fact that it wasn’t given on the ice and, instead of the Admirals having a 5 minute major power-play in the tank, they were on the penalty kill for Hellberg’s crossing the red line minor.
That kneeing call initiated everything that happened on the ice. If an arm is raised once the knee-on-knee hit takes place… perhaps it doesn’t stop the scramble that follows… but it certainly would take the full “policing the game” duties off the players minds. No call on the ice for a hit like that and players started protecting themselves and their teammates.
Considering the AHL doesn’t really review matters such as this until after the weekend, and it now being Wednesday, I think it is safe to say Rissanen has dodged a suspension just like the Charlotte Checkers dodged a 5 minute penalty kill.
~Recent Additions to the Cincinnati Cyclones~
Yesterday’s news of Jonathan Diaby being assigned and Joe Pendenza being loaned to the Cincinnati Cyclones did appear to get a few of you Twitter folks wondering what was up with this roster move. Was it a matter of performance, playing time, or another factor?
Truth be told, it’s just a matter of keeping them as active as they both can be. Evason talked both just needing to play as well as mentioning that there is no time table set for them. He did say that he doesn’t anticipate it being a long stint with Cincinnati but that both could use the rhythm of playing on a consistent basis rather than sitting out in Milwaukee.
That’s it for things in Scoop City. Now let’s hear from the Admirals I spoke with today and hear them tell the stories mentioned above.
Joe Pendenza has scored 3 goals from 13 games with the Milwaukee Admirals this season. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
With the news yesterday that Patrick Cehlin would be reassigned there was some curiosity on my part as to what the counter move would be. Late this afternoon we have the answer. The Milwaukee Admirals have assigned defenseman Jonathan Diaby and loaned Joe Pendenza to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.
Diaby has been often rotated on defense this season with Jimmy Oligny and has played in 10 games, recorded no points on offense, has a plus/minus rating of -1, and racked up 41 penalty minutes with 3 fights to his name.
Pendenza has also been a player that has rotated often in the forward group with him tending to swap places every now and then with Frédérick Gaudreau. This season Pendenza has played in 13 games, scored 3 goals, has a plus/minus rating of +6, and only 2 penalty minutes.
Thoughts on today’s roster moves? Surprised to see one or both of these two to go down to the ECHL?
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Rob Madore, Admirals tendy gear set galore, has been an awfully busy man in net for the Cincinnati Cyclones in the ECHL this season. (Photo Credit: Cincinnati Cyclones)
Still a bit bummed out over the Milwaukee Admirals weekend results? Well, looking at our friends down in the ECHL, you really out to be fortunate that the Ads have been as hot and consistent as they have been.
The Cincinnati Cyclones start to their 2014-15 season has seen a lot of win one-lose one ups and downs. They have a record of 11-8-2-0 (24 points) and currently sit in fifth place of the North Division which ranks them eleventh in the Eastern Conference.
They have scored an equal amount of goals as they have allowed, 53. They are fourth from the bottom in regards to total penalty minutes, 13.4 penalty minutes per game. They have the twelfth overall power-play in the ECHL, 17.8 power-play percentage. And their penalty kill is the second worst in the league, 78.0 penalty killing percentage.
Like the title says: topsy-turvy. Things have been consistent – just consistently and splendiferously average.
Shalla has been the man that he has always been for the Cyclones. He has produced 14 points (9 goals, 5 assists) from 15 games. Each and everyone of those goals were scored in the month of November in a span of 12 games. He also scored 5 goals in a 4 game span. If there is some way some how that he could bottle up some of his ECHL magic and unleash it at the AHL level it would be a rewarding sight to see. ECHL Shalla… 0.90 points per game. AHL Shalla… 0.28 points per game. That 4 game span I just talked about? He scored as many goals for the Cyclones in that window as he has in 58 games with the Admirals.
Budish was a player that I almost felt was unfortunate to be sent down when he was. While he may have been on the fourth-line at the time – he picked up 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in 6 games for the Admirals. For the Cyclones he has now played in 13 games while recording 12 points (2 goals, 10 points) with a plus/minus rating of +5. I always feel people expect Austin Watson duplicated work and numbers from Budish. Truth is, he doesn’t do anything too flashy, too fast, too offensively polished, but he doesn’t make hair-pullingly bad mistakes. When it came to his reassignment from Milwaukee this season it came with the mindset that Joe Pendenza and Frédérick Gaudreau can play center as well as the wing. Were Budish more capable at the center-ice position I wonder who would have been sent down at the time.
The two young defensemen that are in system right now in Cincinnati, Vainonen and Rissling, are both guys that I wouldn’t expect offense out of. They are finely tuned for defense and, between the two of them, have a combined 2 points thanks to Vainonen’s 2 assists. They are a combined -3 on the ice and have 40 penalty minutes between the two of them. Workmanlike is the term to use for them. If you see Rissling’s profile picture on Twitter – it sums them both up rather nicely, I think.
A player I was massively happy that the Admirals signed in the off-season, Madore, has been the Cyclones rock in net so far. He has started all but 4 games this season for the Cyclones and has the following stat-line to show for it: 11 starts, 5-4-0-2 record, 3.15 goals against average, 0.883 save percentage, and 1 shutout. It hasn’t been as awe-inspiring as his 2014 Kelly Cup run that gave him the MVP honors despite coming up on the losing side of things in the final. Perhaps Madore sums up the Cyclones start better than anyone: average and should be better.
The Cyclones will have a busy run of games coming up shortly as they prepare for 13 games in the month of December. It will be interesting to watch whether or not some success can be sustained during that slate. Their longest winning streak so far consisted of 3 games. That run ended and started a 5 game losing streak… topsy-turvy. Here’s hoping the next Cyclones Report will have brighter news in the wins department.
How have our players been doing in the ECHL? Do you feel Josh Shalla will ever be able to have as big of an offensive impact for the Admirals as he does for the Cyclones? Is there a Kelly Cup hangover for Rob Madore?
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Patrick Cehlin should be expected to make his 2014-15 Milwaukee Admirals debut this Thursday against the Rockford IceHogs. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
This just in. Patrick Cehlin has been reassigned to the Milwaukee Admirals from the Cincinnati Cyclones. As of now, there is no counter-move by the Admirals to send a player down.
Cehlin missed the start of the 2014-15 season as he recovered from off-season hip surgery. He was able to finally get into game action at the ECHL level in Cincinnati where he played in three games and scored a goal in his last outing – his lone point recorded in that stint.
The addition of Cehlin will be just another offensive boost for the Admirals. When you think of how loaded the wings already are at the moment, and add Cehlin, it’s going to mean our third and fourth lines even got that much stronger today. It should put someone such as Frédérick Gaudreau or Joe Pendenza on the outside looking in as far as playing time is concerned.
What do you think the return of Patrick Cehlin will mean for the Admirals? Who would you want Cehlin to be paired up with for a forward line?
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Magnus Hellberg recorded as many wins in November as he did all of the 2013-14 season. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Starting from this point forward Admirals Roundtable will start giving out an Admiral of the Month Award to the Milwaukee Admirals player who excelled the previous month of play. In November there were two really standout performers that could just as easily share the honors. My selection though: Magnus Hellberg.
During the month of November, Hellberg made seven starts from the Admirals twelve games and won five of them. He had a 1.28 goals against average and a 0.950 save percentage during November and continues to lead the AHL in each of those two categories. With six wins to his name already in 2014-15 – Hellberg has surpassed the amount of wins he secured in net for the Admirals during all of last season – and he equaled that amount in November alone.
The other standout for the Admirals in November is the man I would tab as the Admiral of the Month for October: Brendan Leipsic. In October, he was flying around with his incredible speed and creating tons of offense for himself and his teammates. That same level of play spilled into November and then some. Last month Leipsic recorded 10 points (1 goal, 9 assists) in twelve games. He currently leads the Admirals in scoring and the next closest men in that category… Pontus Åberg, Austin Watson, Viktor Arvidsson, and Anthony Bitetto… are all 5 points behind the rookie from Winnipeg.
~Admiral of the Month Award~
October: Brendan Leipsic
November: Magnus Hellberg
Who do you feel was the Milwaukee Admirals top performer during the month of November? Was it Hellberg, Leipsic, or someone else?
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Drew MacIntyre haunted the Admirals all throughout last season’s playoffs. And he was just as good today. (Photo Credit: Charlotte Checkers // flickr)
The Admirals lost 3-2 in a shootout on the road against the Charlotte Checkers Sunday afternoon. Drew MacIntyre came up huge against his old team yet again as he made thirty-nine saves in net for the Checkers including all three shootout attempts to give the Admirals their second loss inside twenty-four hours.
The Admirals scored the opener late in a first period they dominated. Anthony Bitetto hit Mark Van Guilder on a stretch pass to send him loose into the attacking zone. Van Guilder then passed off to his left for Triston Grant to wired a shot through Drew MacIntyre for his first goal of the season. The Admirals outshot the Checkers 16-5 in the opening frame.
Yesterday’s second period marked the beginning of a lot of insanity. Today’s was a bit more composed. The Checkers were able to equalize early on in the period from Brock McGinn’s fifth goal of the season. Rasmus Rissanen’s initial shot from the point was blocked down by bodies out in front of Marek Mazanec. McGinn was able to pick up the loose puck and wire a rising shot up and over Mazanec to make it 1-1.
In the closing stages of the second period the Admirals were able to punish the Checkers on a five-on-three power-play. I don’t know what happened in the build up to these games against the Checkers but this weekend’s power-play passing by the Admirals has been stunning to watch. Lightning fast passing from Brendan Leipsic to Miikka Salomaki to Colton Sissons resulted in the latter’s sixth goal of the season. All six points that Sissons has on this season have been scored from goals. At this time last season he had seven goals and seven assists.
Midway through the third period the Checkers leveled the game at 2-2. Justin Shugg’s shot on the right wing took a few deflections with Phil Di Giuseppe and AJ Jenks crashing the net. It would be Jenks getting the crucial last touch past Mazanec for his second goal of the season.
The game would last all the way to a shootout. The lone man on the mark in the shootout would be the Checkers’ right winger Shugg who pumped forehand and switched to the backhander to beat Mazanec on the glove-side. It is the first time all season that the Checkers have recorded back-to-back wins.
While today’s result may have only yielded a point for the Admirals – give the credit where it belongs in-between the pipes for the Charlotte Checkers today, Drew MacIntyre. The former-Admiral was sensational in the game and stopped 39/41 shots including all three shootout attempts. If it was anyone else in net for the Checkers today, outside of perhaps Pekka Rinne, this game is a runaway for the Admirals.
Ramblings: Today’s scratches included Joe Pendenza and Jonathan Diaby. With the secondary assist on the opening goal – Anthony Bitetto is now on a five-game point streak. His career best point streak was recorded last season at six-games.
Thoughts from this weekend’s games? Are these bad losses for the Admirals or simply better wins by the Checkers? What will it take for the Admirals to get back into the win column this coming week?
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