Feature

Scott Ford: The Sheriff of Milwaukee
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With every single game he plays Milwaukee Admirals captain Scott Ford extends his record for the most games played for the team during their era in the American Hockey League. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

“It’s been great,” said Admirals captain Scott Ford of his time playing in Milwaukee. “I embraced the city and the city has embraced me. It’s been an unbelievable experience.”

This season marks defenseman Scott Ford’s sixth professional campaign with the Milwaukee Admirals. In that time he has created a legacy of hard work and leadership that very few have matched in the history of the team.

Head Coach Dean Evason on Scott Ford’s importance to the Admirals:

Ford’s hockey playing career started with inspiration from the classic Edmonton Oilers teams of the 80’s and his father – who was a goaltender. His family’s support provided the backdrop on what would be an incredible journey en route to becoming a professional hockey player.

Ford’s inspirations for playing hockey:

His career began with the Merritt Centennials of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). He enjoyed three-seasons of junior “A” hockey: playing in 157 games, scoring 61 points (14 goals, 47 assists), and tallying 320 penalty minutes.

It was his next step that was far greater than playing the game of hockey itself. He left junior hockey to attend Brown University where he could both play the game of hockey and also attend college as a student. By doing so, Scott Ford became the first member of his family to attend college. Alongside his four-year playing career with the ivy league Brown Bears hockey team – he earned a degree in Liberal Arts.

Ford talks about his time at Brown University:

At Brown he played in 118 games, scored 47 points (15 goals, 32 assists), and logged 130 minutes in the penalty box. Upon his graduation in 2004, he would go undrafted and play between the Cleveland Barons of the AHL and Fresno Falcons of the ECHL during the 2004-05 season. The next season he would have two stints in the AHL with two different teams to go along with a second trip down to the ECHL: Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL), Trenton Titans (ECHL), and Providence Bruins (AHL). He would spend the entirety of his 2006-07 season with the Dayton Bombers of the ECHL. In 2007-08, he would play for the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL before a second tenure with the Sound Tigers in the AHL.

Then came the start of a perfect match. Scott Ford and the Milwaukee Admirals organization.

His first game came on October 11, 2008 on the road against the San Antonio Rampage – a 3-1 Admirals win. Since, he has gone on to play more games than any Admiral in the AHL history of the team. With each and every game he re-sets his own record. And with each and every game he is a leader of the team.

Evason will often give Ford the room during intermissions:

His lone season without a letter in front of his jersey was his first with the team in 2008-09. After that, he was an alternate captain from 2009-10 to 2010-11. Ahead of the 2011-12 season he was officially named team captain.

“It’s an honor,” said Ford of being the captain of the Admirals. “I really see it as just a letter on a jersey but I am very fortunate to be bestowed that honor. I’m not the most youthful guy in the locker room by any means, but I’ve been around and it’s just one of those things where I’ve learned from a lot of role model type guys, guys that were captains, and guys that were leaders before me. Whether it be on different teams, when I was young as a junior, college, and even at the professional level I’ve got to learn and watch a lot of good players and great captains. You take a little bit of what they do. I’m not too out of character any time during the day. What you see is what you get. I like to have fun. I’m there to talk to if need be. And I can be stern if need be, too. What you see is what you get and I’m just fortunate to have that honor.”

The next season he made the tough decision to leave Milwaukee in favor of an opportunity to play for the St. Louis Blues organization – where he would go on to play for their AHL affiliate the Peoria Rivermen – and also be named their team captain.

Ford’s decision to move from Milwaukee to the St. Louis Blues organization:

With a bulk load of veteran players in the system, Ford was becoming an odd-man out for the Rivermen. It was in February of last season when the Admirals pulled the trigger on a trade to re-acquire their former captain. The Ads traded forward Jani Lajunen to the Rivermen for Scott Ford. Upon his return to the team he was given the alternate captain’s patch alongside team captain Mike Moore and fellow alternate captain Mark Van Guilder. The return of Ford, paired with stellar performances in net by rookie netminder Magnus Hellberg, jolted the Admirals into a run that saw them earn the eighth and final playoff seed. It was the eleventh consecutive season in which the Admirals played playoff hockey.

Ford talks about Nashville’s impact on Admirals’ team success:

So what it is it about the city of Milwaukee that has been such a great fit for the native of British Columbia, Canada? The explanations from Ford are endless.

Embracing the city:

His relationship with the organization and community:

Socializing in Smallwaukee:

Ford’s relationship with the city of Milwaukee begins with Nolan Yonkman giving him a tour of the city in his first season with the team. Yonkman was given the nickname “The Mayor of Milwaukee” for his knowledge of the city and connections with so many people. When he left the Admirals, Ford filled into his role with the team and players starting calling him the Mayor. After a friendly reminder that the nickname was Yonkman’s – the team quickly called him the Sheriff.

The Origin Story of The Sheriff:

This is Scott Ford’s tenth professional season of hockey. In 614 games and counting worth of ECHL and AHL hockey he has yet of play in the National Hockey League. While he knows and accepts his place within the AHL – so much as playing that one game in the NHL would be a dream come true.

Ford’s NHL dream:

So, what would it take for him to achieve that one game?

Ford:

Evason:

When the curtain falls on his playing career, Ford’s ambitions are vast. He would love nothing more than to stick around the game of hockey – be it in a coaching, scouting, or even broadcasting capacity. Outside of the game, his love of interacting with people and communication can see him continue his path from his degree from Brown University: teaching.

Ford’s future plans:

It’s uncertain whether or not Scott Ford will ever get that one NHL game. What separates him from most is that he already doesn’t take his place as a professional hockey player for granted. What he does for a living is a privilege and he knows that. The more games he gets to play at any level of hockey is one more great day in the life of the Sheriff. Should his body of work ever see the NHL level – few could argue of a more deserving moment for a player beloved by his teammates, coaches, front office, and fans.

Full Scott Ford Interview (18 minutes):

News

Colton Sissons Earns First NHL Call Up
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Colton Sissons is set to join recent call up Taylor Beck in Nashville. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

The first season of professional hockey for Colton Sissons just opened an extra chapter up before the AHL All Star pages are written. It’s just been announced that Sissons will be called up to join the Nashville Predators.

Upon his first career NHL call up, Sissons leads the Admirals with 28 points (16 goals, 12 assists). I might add, that is also a team-best for goals scored on the team – five more goals than the next closest Admirals (11, Beck and Salomaki).

From the opening games of the season in Abbotsford, where he scored his first professional point (an assist) and first professional goal on back-to-back nights, Sissons has been among the Admirals most consistent performers all season long. He plays with great maturity. He very rarely looks lost on the ice. And he plays in every scenario: power-play, penalty kill, the works. On Friday night, he provided the perfect highlight reel goal that Nashville fans can watch over-and-over to understand just what Sissons’ game is all about:

Shorthanded. Perfect position. Active stickwork. Speed. Skill. Finishing. He can pick his spots to deliver all his qualities at once but, when he does, that’s the type of play Sissons can deliver.

I also would like to do a call back to an interview I had with Mike Liambas earlier this month.

Liambas talks about Colton Sissons and predicts his NHL call up (1/10/14):

Atta boy, Mike. And an even bigger “atta boy” to Colton Sissons – en route to Winnipeg to join the Nashville Predators.

Thoughts on the call up? Surprised to see a first-timer get the call over Filip Forsberg? What does that say about Forsberg’s maturation process – will he be here for a while?

Chatterbox

The Chatterbox, Vol. 11
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Joonas Rask – the master of making silly faces during his action shots. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

During my live game tweet session last night I was moments from saying, “If someone scores a late OT goal – it’s going to leave a sour taste in the losing team’s mouth for days.” As I was writing that up, Adam Clendening shot from nearly the Admirals bench, and scored the game-winner with twenty-one seconds remaining.

The truth is, the Admirals might have been fortunate to skate off with one point last night. The IceHogs blasted them for 43 shots – including 20 in the first period alone. While both teams had to handle the three-in-three element it seemed very evident that the IceHogs were the strongest team from the second period in Rockford all the way into OT last night. The team is going to need more than just rest in the days before traveling to Iowa and returning the next night to play division leading Grand Rapids.

As well as crashing Dean Evason’s post-game interview I also had the chance to speak with Austin Watson and Marek Mazanec. Here is what they said after the overtime defeat.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 11” →

Game Recaps

IceHogs Comeback to Hurt Ads in OT
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Milwaukee Admirals goaltender Marek Mazanec started his third game in three days and made 39 saves while allowing 4 goals in tonight’s 4-3 (OT) loss against the Rockford IceHogs. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

The Admirals lost 4-3 in overtime against the Rockford IceHogs Sunday night. The Ads were up by 3-1 until the IceHogs stormed off with two rapid goals from Jeremy Morin in the third period to push this game into overtime. The OT period was nearly over when Adam Clendening blasted in the game-winner from long range to end the Ads and IceHogs three-in-three weekend battle royale.

There were more Vinny Saponari theatrics in tonight’s game. Last night was a double toe drag spin-o-rama for a goal. Tonight he pulled out the toe drag again and almost put IceHogs d-man Theo Peckham on his wallet. The follow up shot from the toe drag was a wrister to Jason LaBarbera’s stick side for Saponari’s seventh goal of the season and second in as many days.

Despite the opening goal, the IceHogs really controlled the first period of play. They outshot the Ads 20-6 in the frame and were able to generate two power-plays. Shortly after a Joe Piskula hooking penalty the IceHogs scored an equalizer. It wasn’t the best goal conceded by Marek Mazanec. The shot from Alex Broadhurst skipped along the ice surface and rolled into goal alongside Mazanec’s right toe. He was simply playing a little too deep in net and it cost him moving side to side. It was the younger Broadhurst brother’s eighth goal of the season.

In the second period the Ads reclaimed the lead on the power-play. Mark Van Guilder guided a pass towards the net to Simon Moser – who expertly tipped a pass across to an oncoming Miikka Salomaki. The pass was backhanded in by Salomaki for his eleventh goal of the season.

Next came some rough stuff. Mathieu Tousignant, our resident chirper, dropped the gloves with Garret Ross. Tousignant was a thorn in the side of Rockford all weekend – playing style and mouth. The fight wasn’t anything special. There were some noogies dished out by both in a grapple fest but no real solid blows landed – if any.

With fifty-seconds remaining in the second period Joonas Jarvinen scored his second goal of the season. Jarvinen stickhandled through Adam Clendening and shot five hole on LaBarbera. The puck took a while to reappear but it had enough gas on it to cross into goal to make it a 3-1 Ads lead.

Then came twenty-three seconds that the Admirals would like to have back tonight. In that third period span they lost their two-goal lead from two goals off the tape of Jeremy Morin. The Ads were just finishing off a power-play when Morin charged down the right wing and delivered a wicked wrist shot that powered top shelf across the grain of Mazanec. Just twenty-three seconds later the IceHogs had a two-on-one and Morin popped it in for his eleventh goal of the season.

The game would head into overtime. Both sides looked gassed from the third period onwards. Just when I was thinking both could be playing for the shootout, and any goal this late in OT would ruin a week for the losing side, the IceHogs scored with twenty-one seconds left in OT. The IceHogs team leading scorer Clendening blasted a slap shot from the far right wing side of the blue line. His shot appeared to take a hit from an Admirals stick just after the shot was taken, lowering the puck’s flight pattern, and burning Mazanec for the late OT game-winner. That’s Clendening’s sixth goal of the season – and the one that makes tonight that little bit sour as the Ads and IceHogs cap the weekend three-in-three.


Ramblings: Marek Mazanec started tonight’s game making him the first goalie since Magnus Hellberg (the final three games of the 2012-13 season) to start all games of a three-in-three. With his assist tonight on Miikka Salomaki’s goal – Mark Van Guilder scored his 100th career point as an Admiral. Only fifteen other players have reached the 100 point plateau in Admirals AHL history.

Thoughts from tonight’s game? How about this series? Should Marek Mazanec have played all three games in net this weekend?

Game Recaps

Road Woes Continue; Ads lose 2-1

The Admirals lost 2-1 against the Rockford IceHogs Saturday night. The Ads opened the scoring tonight with a brilliant goal by Vinny Saponari. A massive sixty-five delay to repair conditions on the ice set the stage for an IceHogs team that surged in the second period – and found a late game-winner in the third.

“It was a long long break obviously,” said assistant coach Stan Drulia on Sports Radio 1250 WSSP after the game. “I think we lost a little bit of momentum. And then we got into four penalties right in a row. So we kind of lost momentum there in the second period. And then we just don’t get the job done when it got late. We got over committed on our forecheck and gave up a two-on-one. We can’t be giving up a two-on-ones with three minutes to go in a 1-1 hockey game.”

In last night’s game Colton Sissons made a case for the best Admirals goal of the season. Tonight it was Vinny Saponari. The Georgia native skated in from the left wing and into the slot around a sliding Viktor Svedberg (all 6’9” of him), toe dragged around Zach Miskovic, did a clockwise spin, backhand shot, and beat veteran goaltender Jason LaBarbera to the five hole. The goal is Saponari’s sixth of the season – and please YouTube produce the goods.

Next came a massive delay due to unsafe playing conditions. The Rockford IceHogs were having a “Pink The Rink” night. They were wearing pink accented uniforms to promote breast cancer awareness and also tinted the ice a shade of pink. Whether or not that was the route of the problem isn’t entirely known – but, after a sixty-five minute delay, the pink ice was fully shaved and the ice was resurfaced.

“Some guys were on the bikes, stretching, and just trying to keep moving,” said Drulia of how the team dealt with the delay. “We had some time to look at a few things. But we didn’t do a whole lot of coaching because there really wasn’t a whole lot to do.”

Both teams had to endure the delay – but it was clear that the IceHogs started the second period far better than their first. In the second period the IceHogs outshot the Admirals 12-4. They’re attacking pressure was constant in the period and drew four power-play chances.

After a Scott Valentine slash and a delayed call against Joonas Jarvinen for boarding – the IceHogs scored a power-play goal to level the game at 1-1. Brandon Pirri’s shot to the net deflected off of ex-Admiral Brad Winchester and past Marek Mazanec for the tying goal. For Winchester, that is now thirteen goals this season – he had nine all last year with the Admirals.

After a misplay from Jarvinen – the IceHogs were able to spring a two-on-one rush. Brandon Mashinter, who dropped the gloves last night with Mike Liambas, used his hands for good by tapping a shot through Mazanec’s five hole for the go-ahead goal.

The Ads were able to earn an offensive zone faceoff, use their timeout, and play with an extra attacker for the final minute. Nothing came of it. And the Admirals fell 2-1 in Rockford for the team’s sixth straight road loss.

Ramblings: Filip Forsberg returned to the Admirals lineup after missing last night’s contest due to an illness. This meant the team returned to a six-defensemen look with Charles-Olivier Roussel being the odd-man out tonight. Interesting move by the Rockford IceHogs for this game: they benched their top scorer d-man Adam Clendening after costly turnovers in Friday’s game. By allowing two goals tonight, netminder Marek Mazanec continued his run of allowing two or more goals in every AHL start. The lone game where he managed to concede more than two goals game in a 5-4 shootout loss in Oklahoma City last weekend.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Was the long delay the real buzzkill for the Admirals tonight? Why do the Ads seem to struggle so much on the road? How do you feel in regards to Mazanec consistently allowing two goals per game?

Chatterbox

The Chatterbox, Vol. 10
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Mark Van Guilder scored last night’s game-winning goal. This was the bromance that followed. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

Last night the Admirals defeated the Rockford IceHogs 3-2 in front of a jam packed Bradley Center. The win puts the Ads in second place of the Midwest Division as well as fifth place in the Western Conference. The team fighting right behind Milwaukee are the Amtrak Rivals, Chicago Wolves, who are two points back – but were inactive last night.

Plenty of goods to banter about from last night’s contest. Let’s start with this candidate for best Admirals goal of the season from Colton Sissons. To me this play pretty much sums up Sissons. He’s on the penalty kill, intelligently stays tight to the point, keeps his stick active, intercepts the pass to Adam Clendening, burns past him, avoids getting stick checked, and scores shorthanded on Kent Simpson. This is his first professional season of hockey. When he makes multidimensional plays, like that goal, you nearly forget about that.

There were also some interesting things that took place prior to the game. Filip Forsberg was a late scratch due to illness. Charles-Olivier Roussel, who was going to be a scratch, suited up in his place and actually played right wing the entire game rather than his typical defenseman role. In truth, he didn’t play that bad – actually having a near goal scoring chance in the first period from a slicing backhander in front of the net.

There is no telling whether or not Forsberg will be out longer than one game with illness but, good news, reinforcements are coming! Patrick Cehlin made a cameo appearance during last night’s pre-game skate. He participated in the full warm up and looked to be in good form. He spent the latter part of the session taking shots from the left wing face off area – something that tells me he was preparing for Forsberg’s spot on the power-play unit just in case they wanted to use him over Roussel last night. He may well make his return to game action for the first time since early November at some point this weekend.

After the game I had the chance to chat with plenty of upbeat Admirals around the locker room. Along with head coach Dean Evason, I spoke with Mike Liambas, Austin Watson, Mathieu Tousignant, and Zach Budish. Here is what was said after the game.

Continue reading “The Chatterbox, Vol. 10” →

Game Recaps

Rocking Rockford; Ads win 3-2
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One down. Two to go. Ads face Rockford on the road tomorrow and then one more time with the weekend finale in Milwaukee. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

The Admirals won 3-2 against the Rockford IceHogs Friday night. In front of a massive crowd, nearly 17,000 fans in attendance, the Ads were able to come back and hold off Rockford. The goals from the Ads included a brilliant shorthanded goal from Colton Sissons, a wicked wrister from Austin Watson, and a game-winner from Mark Van Guilder off of an IceHogs turnover. Marek Mazanec also played a big part in the win tonight – making twenty-eight saves in the win.

For the most part, the Admirals outplayed the IceHogs in the opening period. They spent more time on the attack and outshot the visitors 17-12 in the first period. The IceHogs work from their defensive half on a counter rush did force some big saves from Marek Mazanec throughout the period – but there was never anything that really caught Mazanec off guard.

After a Mike Liambas high-sticking call, the IceHogs were able to score the opener from a power-play with thirty-seconds remaining in the period. A shot from BLURBLE was spilled out into the path of Mark McNeill. With Mazanec out of position due to the initial save – all McNeill had to do was smack it in for his eleventh goal of the season.

Zach Budish was called for a trip early in the second period. Cue Colton Sissons and one of the best individual plays by an Admiral this season. Sissons was able to jar a turnover loose, win a race in the neutral zone, skate over and in front of DEFENSEMAN, and beat Simpson’s glove for a shorthanded goal. The goal leveled the game at 1-1 and extended Sissons team-lead for goals with sixteen.

Then something that hadn’t happened in the previous three meetings this season between the Ads and IceHogs: a fight. Off of a faceoff Mike Liambas dropped the gloves with Brandon Mashinter. It appeared like this was all instigated from the draw by Mashinter and then Liambas obliged him. I scored my fight card: Liambas 10, Mashinter 9. The edge goes to Liambas who landed solid body blows throughout the fight. Both ended the scrap with solid punches landing flush to the face.

In the third period the Ads were able to gain their first lead of the game from Austin Watson’s tenth goal of the season. Watson skated in from the right wing and fired. His shot may have taken a deflection off of a stick in front of him before it got to Simpson. The shot appeared to knuckle en route to goal and snuck through Simpson’s arm.

The eventual game-winning goal came through an IceHogs turnover in their own zone. Mathieu Tousignant was able to intercept an outlet pass at the top of the blue line. This kept Van Guilder onside and right on target for a Tousignant pass. Van Guilder threw it by Simpson to give the Ads a two-goal lead and picked up his eight goal of the season.

The IceHogs were able to score a shorthanded goal of their own with five-minutes remaining. A bit of miscommunication and steady pressure from the IceHogs generated a turnover from the left wing pocket. Brandon Pirri was able to score directly in front of Miikka Salomaki and Mazanec to make it 3-2 – where the game would remain.

Ramblings: Filip Forsberg missed tonight’s game due to an illness and was a very late scratch from the lineup. In his place the team dressed seven defensemen with Charles-Olivier Roussel – who actually played the full game as a right winger. A pleasant surprise in tonight’s pre-game skate was the return of Patrick Cehlin. The Swede played the full skate-around and might return at some point this weekend. Taylor Beck, who was called up to the Nashville Predators this week, has been a healthy scratch in two-straight games since his call up.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Can the Ads sweep the weekend?

Scouting

IceHogs: Scouting the Enemy
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Miikka Salomaki has scored two goals in three games against the Rockford IceHogs this season. He scored his first multi-goal game Tuesday night against the Toronto Marlies. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

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

Dean Evason talks about the weekend series with Rockford:

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

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

Scott Ford on playing against the Rockford IceHogs:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Milwaukee and Rockford have played three times already this season:

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

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

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

News

Impact Rookies Leading the Charge for Milwaukee

In the first half of 2013-2014, Milwaukee’s offensive charge has been lead by a pair of talented rookies, brothers from another country, that share much in common despite their far different backgrounds.

With Colton Sissons and Miikka Salomaki leading the way, Nashville is building a stockpile of great young talent in its farm system. Read more about the two budding AHL stars in my most recent feature at MilwaukeeAdmirals.com: Sissons, Salomaki Making an Impact.

In case you missed it, here are my other feature stories on the Admirals this season.

Dec. 13, 2013: Spotlight on Piskula.

Nov. 30, 2013: Reflecting on a title 10 years later.

Oct. 10, 2013: Ads Look for Big Things This Season.

So Roundtable . . . What are your impressions of Admirals first year forwards Colton Sissons and Miikka Salomaki?

News

Preds Trade Klein to the Rangers
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Kevin Klein played with the Milwaukee Admirals from 2004-08.

Taylor Beck wasn’t the only move of the day. This afternoon the Nashville Predators traded defenseman Kevin Klein to the New York Rangers for defenseman Michael Del Zotto. This is what Nashville’s President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile had to say in the team’s official press release regarding the trade:

“Michael gives us another young, gifted left-handed shooting defenseman with significant offensive upside. We look forward to his presence on our already talented young blue line, further balancing our defensive corps.” David Poile

The move seems to indicate a future top four in defense with two rights and two lefties: Shea Weber, Seth Jones, and Roman Josi. That’s if the team re-signs Del Zotto in the summer – where he can become a restricted free agent. The move for Klein takes place in the first year of a five-year, $14.5M contract. Del Zotto makes $2.55M this season.

Kevin Klein played with the Milwaukee Admirals from 2004-08. In that time he scored 81 points (19 goals, 62 assists) in 220 games. He also played 32 playoff games where he produced 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists). Last year he was voted to the Top 35 Admirals of All-Time list – coming in at #31.

What do you make of this trade? Is Del Zotto a good fit for the Predators? What trades, if any, do you see the Predators making next? What are your memories of Klein’s time with Milwaukee?