Game Recaps

Shootout! Ads take the Wild 4-3

1614-WAT
(Photo credit to Scott “The Polar Bear” Paulus)

The Admirals won 4-3 in a shootout against the Iowa Wild Monday night. Goals from Austin Watson, Colton Sissons, and Taylor Beck set the background on a shootout game winner for Vinny Saponari – breaking the Ads losing run of two games. Magnus Hellberg returned to the net tonight and picked up his first win since 12/12 vs. Oklahoma City. Hellberg stopped twenty-one of twenty-four shots – including all four in the shootout.

Despite looking sluggish to start the game – it was the Iowa Wild who netted the opener off of a solo effort from Brett Bulmer. The Ads were on attack when Bulmer stormed from the right wing, in front of the player benches, and skated all the way in on Magnus Hellberg. As soon as he closed in the goal, Bulmer pulled up and gave a backhanded spin-o-rama that found a way through Hellberg. The play was initially given no goal signal and went to review before declaring the obvious: Bulmer has scored his tenth goal of the season to give the Wild an early 1-0 lead.

The rest of the opening period really favored the Ads. It felt like the Wild were standing around compared to the Ads work rate in the first: outshooting the Wild 12-7 in the period. Of the chances, Mike Liambas and Mathieu Tousignant seemed to generate some quality offensive chances. Liambas actually led the team with three shots in the period. Those two grinder-style players really have been buzzing with confidence in the offensive zone these last few weeks.

Considering the events of the Lake Erie series and the amount of penalty minutes gathered – it was pretty great to see this game have no calls after twenty-minutes.

That didn’t last long.

Thirty-three seconds into the second period Iowa took a slashing call and the Ads equalized on the strength of Austin Watson… and an assist to Wild d-man Corbin Baldwin. The play for the Ads started from the point with Charles-Olivier Roussel, worked to the left wing wall out to Taylor Beck, and then on to Watson. The amount of patience Watson showed moving into goal forced Johan Gustafsson to sprawl out and make a play from goal. Watson powered around him, tossed the puck toward net, and Wild defenseman Baldwin dove across and carried the puck in. The goal is Watson’s ninth of the season.

The Ads power-play continued its success against Iowa on its second chance of the evening. The second power-play unit was able to bury a chance from in-tight before the man-advantage expired. Bryan Rodney zipped on to Anthony Bitetto on the right wing wall. Bitetto picked out Colton Sissons sitting in the slot. Sissons turned around to goal and roofed the puck under the crossbar. Gustafsson didn’t have a chance stopping that shot. It’s now a team best thirteen goals and twenty-three points for Sissons.

Early in the third period the Wild were able to tie the game at 2-2. A bad exchange between Sissons and Salomaki in their defensive half lead to a turnover and a goal from Kyle Medvec from the point. It was a rising shot that, with a screen, Hellberg didn’t see until the last moment. By then it was into the roof for Medvec’s second goal of the campaign.

A storyline that repeated itself was the Ads ability to respond after Wild goals. The follow up shifts from Milwaukee were always blistering while the opposition remained flatfooted to the point of attack.

After 2:20 time on the ice from the Medvec goal – Taylor Beck banged home his ninth goal of the season to restore the Ads one-goal advantage. The shift that was ushered by Moser, Van Guilder, Beck, Roussel, and Jarvinen was relentless. They were wiring together chance after chance and kept the puck in-zone repeatedly. Beck was finally on the receiving end of a beautiful cross-ice pass from Moser for a one-timer that burned Gustafsson on the left wing.

There was some bad news in this game regarding the Iowa Wild. The game’s opening goal scorer, Brett Bulmer, went down hard in the third period and clutched his knee instantly. He was in major distress and was helped off the ice by teammate Chad Rau and the team’s trainer. He put zero weight on his left leg on his way off the ice. After the game, I just so happened to be walking out by the arena exit with the Wild team – who were carting Bulmer in a full leg brace on a flatbed dolly. My guess for him is that is a long term knee injury. Certainly wish him a speedy recovery.

Right after the injury delay was the ying and yang effects only the game of hockey can deliver so quickly. A hot shot on Hellberg fell behind him in goal and was dancing its way from the crease and in. Just as the puck appeared to be going in – a whistle blew. Just as the whistle blew – a Wild forward put that puck in. It was borderline robbery that the whistle blew that quickly – especially if it was a matter of someone losing sight of the puck (a linesman was right on the end-redline looking at the net). So, saved by the whistle. The very next faceoff – Iowa Wild goal. Brian Connelly’s shot from the blueline was perfectly redirected with a stick by Chad Rau and in to make it 3-3.

The game lasted through regulation and then went to overtime. There wasn’t much going in the way of Ads chances. If anything, it was the Wild that blew a quick opportunity on the power-play after a Joe Piskula high-sticking call thirty-two seconds into OT. That penalty kill, and Hellberg, stood tall when they had to. Great effort on the kill particularly to the Olympian Simon Moser – whose closing rate on skaters disrupted plenty of time on the man-advantage.

Next came the shootout where the Ads elected to shoot first. Beck stepped up and delivered with the first shot: skated out to the left wing and wired in a low wrister. After four saves by Hellberg and three saves by Gustafsson – it was Vinny Saponari time. The twenty-three year old Georgia native skated in calmly, waited, waited, flinched, went to the backhand, Gustafsson dived flat, and Saponari tossed it into the twine for the shootout winner.

Some Ramblings: Mike Liambas finished this game with the most shots on goal, five. The pair of Liambas and Tousignant was so effective Dean Evason decided to put Beck on line with them towards the end of the first period. Injury updates: Joonas Rask and Patrick Cehlin both participated in practice today. Rask is ahead of Cehlin and has the chance to return this weekend if he stays on course. The assist by Beck on Watson’s goal was his 100th point as a member of the Milwaukee Admirals. Beck in his last nine games has four goals and five assists. The Ads have still yet to be defeated by the Iowa Wild in four meetings. Despite the cold – the Monday night crowd was near the 2500 mark. For those wondering, that is around half of what the team typically draws – but about 2000 more than I expected to turn up against the nasty weather. You rock, Milwaukee.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Did you brave the cold to attend? Is this a turnaround for Hellberg and the Ads as a team? If Beck continues playing this good – can we expect an NHL call up soon?

News

Simon Moser is heading to Sochi

Moser-Sochi
(Photo credit to Scott Paulus)

Cool news to announce ahead of tonight’s game. Simon Moser will be representing Team Switzerland in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Moser started this season as one of the final roster cuts out of Nashville’s pre-season camp. Since joining the Ads he has played in 29 games and scored 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists).

Joining Moser is former-Admiral and current Nashville Predators d-man Roman Josi. In Milwaukee Josi played 74 games and scored 44 points (7 goals, 37 assists). This season with the Preds he has suited up for 33 games scoring 13 points (3 goals, 10 assists).

The 2014 Winter Olympics from Sochi start on February 7th with the hockey tournament beginning on Wednesday February 12th. Moser’s Team Switzerland is in Group C with the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Sweden.

Are you as excited as Mike Liambas to have an Admiral in the Olympics? What have your thoughts been on Moser’s season to date?

Scouting

Wild: Scouting the Enemy

There is no escaping the fact that this weekend’s games against the Lake Erie Monsters were brutal. No matter how great it was to see Mike Liambas score his first goal of the season on Friday. No matter how entertaining it can be for a goalie fight to break out. The Ads were outscored 10-3 in those two games.

Who comes to the rescue of the Ads looking to forget the opening games of 2014? Miley Cyrus and the Iowa Wild that’s who.

This game was originally scheduled for Sunday March 9th. A Miley Cyrus concert booking later and we’re playing this game on a Monday night – with courtesy cheap concessions for fans braving the cold weather to hit the rink. While this might have seemed annoying at first this now acts as a great springboard back into winning form against a team the Ads have owned so far this season.

This is the fourth meeting between the Ads and Wild and the Ads have put a hurting on the Iowa-side so far: 3 wins, 2 shutouts, and outscoring them 10-2. The top scorers for the Ads in this meeting have been Colton Sissons, Anthony Bitetto, Bryan Rodney, and Mark Van Guilder who all have 3 points in the games against Iowa. Sissons has a team best 2 goals – while the Wild’s Steven Kampfer has a goal and an assist to top Iowa’s end.

The big story for this game will be Scott Darling whose breakout party really started against the Wild. On 11/16, Darling made his second start of the season and completed a 32-save shutout over the Wild in Iowa. On 12/29, he did it again in Iowa with a 33-save shutout. Those are his lone games against Iowa – so that’s a pretty good save percentage. The only other goalie to face Iowa was Marek Mazanec who stopped 28/30 shots in a 5-2 road victory on 11/27. Ads goalies are a combined 93/95 in shots – that’s a 0.979 SV%.

The Wild will be entering tonight’s game in the cellar of the Midwest Division with a record of 14-14-2-1 (31 points). They are getting better as the season strums along – all be it in tight circumstances. In their previous ten games they have gone 6-2-1-1. Of those ten games – four gave gone past regulation – and three of those went to a shootout. Also of those ten games they have outscored their opponents by a narrow margin of 27-25.

The team lead in scoring is tied among three players with 17 points: Erik Haula (9 goals, 8 assists), Brian Connelly (1 goal, 16 assists), and ex-Admiral Jon Blum (4 goals, 13 assists). I truthfully don’t know what to make of it when a team has two defenseman, Blum and Connelly, in their top three in scoring. What still goes for the Wild is scoring from a vast number of players. They have eleven players in double-digit point totals with none at the 20-point plateau yet. The Ads have eight players in double-digit points with three players at the 20-point mark… and Bitetto at 19 points is right in there.

UPDATE: This morning the Minnesota Wild have recalled Haula and Blum. The Iowa Wild have signed d-man Nicholas Rioux to a PTO.

What do you expect tonight from the Ads? Will this be a bounce back or will the woes of Lake Erie continue? Can Darling shutout the Wild for a third-consecutive game?

News

Website Tweaks

Darling-TKO
(Photo credit to Scott Paulus… with Photoshop help from me)

Good morning, Roundtable!

After last night’s game I figured it was time for some additions to our website to include the following: the team Roster and the team Schedule.

Considering how frequently I buzz around various websites for such team information – why not add it here for everyone’s convenience?

I also added an updated Reporting Cast with my personal biography and assorted social media and contact information. Jason’s will come in time – but he’s a busy man.

All additions can be accessed from the main menu tab at the top of the website. After every game I will update the schedule with an official box score. After any roster move I will update the team roster to make sure it is as up to date as possible.

Are there any other additions or alterations you would like to see? Let me know!

Game Recaps

Ads Get Run Over 6-1

The Admirals lost 6-1 against the Lake Erie Monsters Saturday night. The rout saw just about everything – including a goalie fight between Scott Darling and Sami Aittokallio – and a hat trick for Monsters left winger David van der Gulik.

Last night’s game featured some big time hitting from Lake Erie. Tonight’s game flipped the script quick with a massive hit by Joonas Jarvinen on Garrett Meurs. This triggered a fight when Daniel Maggio jumped Jarvinen who responded in kind. Decent scrap – all be it a quick one. The bigger thing from this was the lack of an instigator penalty on Maggio for jumping Jarvinen after a clean check. Dean Evason was furious regarding the no call and actually caused the next puck drop to be delayed because the officials had to go over and chat about the incident. How diplomatic of the officials!

After a faceoff win, the Monsters were able to tag Darling for two quick shots and a goal. The faceoff win by Mark Olver fell to J.T. Wyman who fired immediately on goal. Wyman’s shot was stopped with a left pad save from Scott Darling but the rebound was one-timed by Joey Hishon for the opening goal. It was his fifth goal of the season and, for the second consecutive night, the Monsters grabbed the opening goal.

Only fifty-seven seconds later the line of Kevin Henderson, Austin Watson, and Simon Moser were able to equalize. Henderson threw a puck at Sami Aittokallio in net and it deflected off Watson in front. Due to the knuckling action, the loose puck alluded the Monsters netminder and in to collect the garbage was Moser who beat the outstretched glove hand of Aittokallio for his sixth goal of the season.

The first period ended on the 1-1 scoreline but it is worth looking back to the previous night’s performance. The Ads had a season low fourteen shots in the entire game last night. In the first period tonight they outshot the Monsters 13-8. I can only assume what was said after last night and prior to game time was, “make the goalie work tonight.”

Sadly, the first period work rate wasn’t carried over into the second. It took the Monsters just forty seconds into the second period to regain the lead. David van der Gulik was able to beat Darling for his fourth goal of the season

Continuing the second period theme, the Monsters scored through van der Gulik again – this time on the power-play. The penalty setting the stage for this goal was a faceoff violation against Colton Sissons who played the puck with an open hand on the draw. On the man-advantage the Monsters fired a shot that was blocked out in front by Bryan Rodney. The puck fell in line with van der Gulik who quickly hit a shot on net after the block by Rodney – throwing off Darling in net. It was his second goal of the period and fifth of the season.

The Ads started the third period due to a ‘closing a hand on the puck’ penalty by van der Gulik late in the second. Unfortunately, the Ads were unable to cash in and, worse, allowed a break from the box to van der Gulik – who went forehand to backhand and beat Darling for his hat trick.

After Mike Liambas was called for tripping the Monsters tallied for their fifth goal of the game. The shot by Karl Stollery was banked in off of Scott Ford’s leg and in past Darling for the Monsters fifth goal of the game. Liambas, who was in the box for that power-play, was in the face of the officials once he was let out. He was given a ten-minute game misconduct and this may have triggered some of the raw emotion from the Ads that followed.

After a scrum behind the net of Aittokallio, Scott Darling skated out from his own net to center ice and challenged his counter-part in net. There was a pause. There was a shrug from Darling. Then ka-blammo – we had ourselves a goalie fight! Darling took it to the Monsters netminder and both were subsequently tossed from the game.

After all the dust settled from that Magnus Hellberg entered the fire and allowed a power-play goal almost instantly. The Ads gave the Monsters nine chances on the power-play tonight and they scored three times. This goal was credited to Mark Olver – his ninth of the season.

The game continued getting chippy at the end and the two finished with a combined 120 penalty minutes from 27 infractions. To put the fist to this game was Mathieu Tousignant who fought Mitchell Heard and actually leveled the much bigger opponent to the ice.

So, these games in Cleveland this weekend were about as ugly as it has been all season. Fortunately the “Miley Cyrus” game on Monday against the Iowa Stars on home ice offers a quick refresher to the team. It’s a long bus trip back from Ohio. The team will need to ice their knuckles and study up on all the wrongs of the weekend in prep of that meeting.

Ramblings: Mark Van Guilder, who was injured in the second period of last night’s game and didn’t return, did play tonight. Scott Valentine returned to the ice for the first time since 12/21 @Rockford. He injured his left leg crashing into the boards in that game. His return to the lineup meant a healthy scratch was needed and the odd man out for tonight was Josh Shalla.

The Ads have lost six-straight games over two seasons against the Lake Erie Monsters. What is it about Lake Erie? What happened to the Ads this weekend? With the game as out of hand as it was – what are your opinions of turning to fighting late in the game as opposed to earlier when it could make a bigger dent? What team should we expect on Monday night against Iowa?

Game Recaps

The Cleveland Show; Ads lose 4-2

The Admirals lost 4-2 against the Lake Erie Monsters Friday night. The Monsters tallied for two goals on the opening four shots of this one. Despite goals from Joonas Jarvinen and Mike Liambas, the Ads were never really able to level the game for as much as they clawed back. Credit where credit is due: the Monsters outworked the Ads tonight and limited Milwaukee to a season low fourteen shots in this game.


(Courtesy of the Lake Erie Monsters YouTube channel)

The Monsters scored from the game’s first shot after some quality passes from the point set Andrew Agozzino loose on the left wing for a goal. The goal was created when J.T. Wyman dropped the puck back to Markus Lauridsen who then faked a slap shot and delivered a great pass that was one-timed in by Agozzino for his eighth goal of the season.

On only their fourth shot of the game the Monsters stepped out to a 2-0 lead 7:21 into the first period. Matt Hunwick zipped around Scott Darling’s cage and tossed the puck from behind the net where both teammate Joey Hishon and Ads rookie Miikka Salomaki were crashing. The puck deflected in off of Salomaki’s skate and in for Hunwick’s sixth goal of the season.

Energy lacking, the bell rang for Mike Liambas and Daniel Maggio. It sounded like a fantastic bout for Liambas. Hopefully YouTube cooks us up the footage!


(Cheers to Adam in the comments for the find!)

The Ads responded towards the end of the period after a rocket by Joonas Jarvinen. There was a fair bit of net front traffic in front of Monsters goaltender Calvin Pickard – including Mark Van Guilder (directly in front) and Bryan Rodney (crashing in from the right wing). After some scoring changes on this one – the goal was finally awarded to Jarvinen and his booming shot from the blue line for his second goal of the campaign.

After a hooking call against Mathieu Tousignant in the second period the Monsters re-established their two goal lead by snapping the Ads run of twenty-two consecutive penalty kills without a goal conceded. There were only two seconds left in the hooking penalty when Mark Olver scored his eighth goal of the season and fourth from the power-play.

Having already put his hands to good use, Liambas decided to put them to even more lethal use by scoring his first goal of the season to make it 3-2. Zach Budish pushed the puck behind the net to Tousignant who teed up Liambas on the opposite post for his second career goal as an Admiral: last scored 2/17/13 vs. Abbotsford. Awesome News Dept: Liambas’ mom, dad, and older brother made a near five-hour drive out to Cleveland to see these games between the Ads and Monsters. They were able to see him score a goal and win a fight.

That just about did it for the game from the Admirals perspective. The Ads recorded a season low fourteen shots in this game. With 1:16 remaining, they pulled Darling to get the extra attacker on only to concede a long range empty netter from veteran Brett Clark with thirty-two seconds left in the game.

The two play again tomorrow night. It should be a very quick turnaround for the Ads who, based on tonight, will need to come out guns blazing. Not enough done offensively to keep up with the Monsters – who the Ads have not beaten in two years.

Some game notes from this one: Mark Van Guilder left the game halfway through the second period after sustaining a big hit from Mark Olver. Van Guilder needed help off the ice and wasn’t putting much weight down on his right leg. He did not return to the game after that check from Olver. After the game on Sports Radio 1250 WSSP, assistant coach Stan Drulia said that Van Guilder was “banged up” and it isn’t a serious injury – but will be a game time decision for tomorrow. If a replacement is needed – he might have joined them on the trip. Scott Valentine traveled with the team after being sidelined since 12/21 @ Rockford with a left leg injury. He might not be a center like Van Guilder, but he’s always capable of playing forward – should he be healthy enough to make a return tomorrow night.

Scouting

Monsters: Scouting the Enemy

The Ads first games of 2014 will take place against the Lake Erie Monstars. That’s right. The Monstars. (How are these 1996 references working out?)

Lake Erie wishes they looked that beastly. On paper they look pretty average but still should match up well with the Admirals. The Monsters currently sit third in the Western Conference’s North Division: 15-13-0-3 (33 points). What comes to mind when looking at their team numbers is this: 31 games, 83 goals scored, and 95 goals allowed. Of the North Division no team has allowed more goals than Lake Erie.

The Ads kick off the new year with these two road games in Lake Erie. Since their thrashing in Grand Rapids, the Ads have managed to string together some great results over their previous six games: 4-1-1-0 (9 points). They’ve played 30 games now and hold second place in the Midwest Division behind the Griffins with a record of 16-8-5-1 (38 points). To give some perspective on the above mentioned goals scored/allowed for Lake Erie – the Ads have scored 80 goals and have allowed 73 goals. The Ads simply play a smarter and more composed game than their counter parts. If you disagree with that: the Ads have 452 penalty minutes to the Monsters 685 penalty minutes.

The top scorers of the Monsters are Bryan Lerg and Mark Olver. Lerg leads the team in goals scored (12), is tied for the team lead in assists (15), and leads the team in scoring (27). Olver is tied for second best on the team in goals scored (7), is tied with Lerg with the team lead in assists (15), and has the second most points (22) on the Monsters. Now here is the bad news regarding them. They have a combined 49 points scored, good, but a combined plus/minus of -26. When you are the top two in scoring and are still rated that badly – something awful is going on.

The Monsters are among the few teams I’ve looked at this year in the AHL who have managed to only play two goalies this season: Calvin Pickard and Sami Aittokallio. Not only that, but they are evenly distributing that work load very well with similar results. Pickard has played in 17 games for 991:16 minutes in net and a 0.904 SV%. Aittokallio has played in 16 games for 889:56 minutes in net and a 0.908 SV%. The way these two have operated I wouldn’t be shocked to get a dose of both Pickard and Aittokallio in these two games in Lake Erie.

Ads/Wisconsin products on the Lake Erie Monsters include the following: Markus Lauridsen (Green Bay Gamblers, 2010-12), Calvin Pickard (guilty by association.. Chet’s brother), Cam Reid (Admirals, 2012-13), and Russ Sinkewich (Admirals, 2008-09).

Ads News: No word yet on Joonas Rask or Scott Valentine’s availability for these games. Some good news though came via the Twitter machine from Patrick Cehlin:

Cehlin has missed 23 games this season including the last 22 straight-games.His last game was on 11/3/13 @ Iowa where he scored a goal and an assist. If he’s on the comeback trail – it could be a great boost to have his skill on offense back in the mix. No time table for him as of yet.

UPDATE: Scott Valentine made the trip to Lake Erie but isn’t expected to factor in tonight’s game. Tonight’s starting goaltenders will be Scott Darling squaring off against Calvin Pickard.

Thoughts on the match up with the Lake Erie Monsters? Should the “Goalie of the Month” carry the load in both of these games in Lake Erie or should Magnus Hellberg be given a chance in the two-in-two? Is it safe to expect any hang over from not playing since last Sunday (the Monsters played on Wednesday in Utica)?

Feature

Mid-Season Review: Grades and Awards

MidSeason
(Photo credit to Scott Paulus)

Happy New Year, Roundtable! I hope your Holiday season has been going great. To kick off 2014 I figure it’s a good time to look at the season so far. It’s not officially the middle of the AHL season yet -but- I think it’s worth looking at the 2013 side of the calendar as we get ready for tomorrow night’s opening game of 2014.

2013-14 Milwaukee Admirals Mid-Season Review

Awards

Most Impressive Player: Miikka Salomaki

Least Impressive Player: Patrick Cehlin

Best Forward: Miikka Salomaki

Best Defensemen: Joe Piskula

Best Goaltender: Scott Darling

Most Likely To Be Called Up to Nashville: Taylor Beck

Actually Should Be Called Up to Nashville: Austin Watson

Most Improvement: Anthony Bitetto

Least Improvement: Magnus Hellberg

Player to Watch in the Second Half of the Season: Colton Sissons

Player Who Needs to Step Up in the Second Half: Magnus Hellberg

Player Who Will Step Up in the Second Half: Kevin Henderson

Grades
(A, B, C, D, F, and an Inclomplete for less than 10 Games Played)

#2, Anthony Bitetto: What a start to the season it has been for a man who was sent down to Cincinnati for 23 games last year. In the first half of the season Bitetto has 9 goals and 10 assists. His offensive game has been stunning to watch develop this season. He’s gone from a cautious defenseman to a quality puck mover that can skate with confidence and deliver big time results on the power-play – with 6 power-play goals scored. While Bryan Rodney was brought in for his offensive-defensemen capabilities – it’s been Bitetto who has looked just as sharp in that regard. There aren’t many I can name on this team that can single handedly establish a breakout play from behind the net, carrying the puck the length of the ice, and straight into the zone – but Bitetto does it probably three times or more a game. His confidence this season is through the roof when it comes to skating forward. The lone down spot in his game are defensive lapses that can take place trying to do too much offensively. His plus/minus of-9 is the lowest of any defenseman on the team. I only expect to see more great progress from him as the season continues. Hopefully that sees an improvement in his defense to go along with his numbers on offense. (A-)

#4, Scott Ford: The Captain has delivered the same type of toughness we’ve come to expect from ol’ Fordo. That could be perfectly summed up when he surprised us all by returning from a broken foot: two weeks after breaking it and a full three-to-six weeks before he was scheduled to return to the ice. The best qualities of Ford aren’t always what you see on the ice – certainly not on the scorer’s sheet. What Ford brings to the team is leadership off the ice and veteran composure on it. So far. So good. (B-)

#5, Theo Ruth: Starting the season with the Ads, Mr. Ruth never really showed enough quality to stick around. He was sent down to Cincinnati, called up briefly during Piskula’s NHL call up, and sent right back. Shortly after Christmas, he announced his retirement from the game of hockey at the age of 24-years old. Best of luck in your future endeavors, Teddy. (Incomplete)

#7, Joe Piskula: Of all the defensemen this season none have played more consistent than the Wisconsin native. Alongside Captain Ford, Piskula brings a great veteran calmness behind the forwards. His play in Milwaukee to start this season earned him his first NHL call-up since the 2011-12 season with the Calgary Flames. It might have been a brief stay in Nashville, only two-games, but it was a very well deserved call-up for a twenty-nine year old that plays a stable two-way game. (A-)

#8, Filip Forsberg: Alrighty. So, he played in 7 games. So, he was sent down in an effort to give him more minutes. So, he was sent back down to knock off the injury rust before heading to World Juniors. All he did in those seven games was score 3 goals and 5 assists and showcased some of what Nashville hopes only gets better and better and better. He is 19-years old. You nearly forget how young he actually is when watching him play. He will only get better with time and patience. (Incomplete)

#10, Patrick Cehlin: The reason why I listed this Swede as the Least Impressive Player through the first half of this season has nothing to do with his play on the ice and much more to do with his inability to stay on it. When I spoke with head coach Dean Evason in the pre-season he said that Cehlin was going to need to be a crucial figure on the team’s offense if they were going to succeed. He has suited up for 7 games. In those games he has scored 2 goals and 3 assists. You can see what Evason sees in him with numbers like that. Sadly, a nagging injury has kept him out since early-November. The team needs his skill and ability to bring an added offensive element to the lineup. When Cehlin returns to game action still seems to be a mystery. (Incomplete)

#15, Kevin Henderson: Last season was explosive for Henderson. He scored 17 goals and 12 assists en route to his first trip to the Nashville where he netted his first-career NHL goal. So, looking at this year’s Henderson, what’s happened? If you asked me… I feel the lower-body injury he sustained at the start of the season, which sidelined him for 5 games, nagged on a bit and possibly hampered his play before he went out officially. It probably took him awhile until his legs were really back underneath him. Once he did spring to life in December he looked like a completely different player. I don’t think his first half has been anything like Henderson would have wanted it to be. If he remains healthy, and continues playing on the wing of his penalty kill battery-mate Austin Watson, that’s precisely why I think his second half of the season will be fun to watch. (C)

#16, Mathieu Tousignant: It’s been an interesting season to this point for Tousignant. I’d say for him some nights are better than others. Mostly what I like about him is precisely what the opponents hate about him – his aggressive edge on the ice. He plays very feisty hockey: finishes off checks, forechecks and backchecks aggressively, skates fast, and isn’t shy to get talkative with his opponents – nor drop his gloves with them. I like what he adds to the team on the lower forward lines. Still, I’d like to see more from him in an offensive sense considering the tools he has are there to make an impact. (C-)

#17, Mike Liambas: We all know about Liambas. He just checks hard and drops the gloves. Wrong. So very wrong. From pre-season practice and into the season I have been impressed by the work ethic of Liambas to make plays on offense and defense. He’s worked closely with assistant coach Stan Drulia on his game preparations and looks more and more sound on both areas of the puck. With how physical he is, I’ve liked seeing him work to the front of the net on offense and can see him being able to create chances setting up shop there when he is off the forecheck. It’s all a matter of learning for Mike. This season he’s learned a ton and that knowledge is slowly making its way onto the ice. (C+)

#18, Colton Sissons: Where do I start? How about a team-leading 12 goals to go with 10 assists for a team-leading 22 points. Here is the other place I could have started: this is his first season of professional hockey and in no way does that show in his game. From the opener in Abbotsford on forward Sissons has played fantastic. He has this incredible ability to skate into soft spots on the ice and go undetected by the defense. That same hockey IQ lends well to the defensive side of his game as well. He isn’t afraid to give up his body to block shots and had a very active stick to make the passing lanes a mess. And he’s just a 20-year old rookie. My hope is for this great start to continue. My fear, being that this is his first pro season, is that he hits a wall at some point and begins to slow down. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. (A)

#20, Miikka Salomaki: While his fellow rookie above, Sissons, might be tallying more goals – there hasn’t been a more energetic player on the ice this season than Salomaki. For as shy as this young Fin is off the ice it is amazing just how often his playing style gets under opponent’s skin. The moment he hits the ice it’s zero-to-sixty. He plays the game very physically and drives right in on the goalie – time and time again. His work rate is a constant of the team. He never stops. Heck, if you get to the rink for the pre-game skate at 6:30pm you’ll find that most nights he is the final Admiral to skate off the ice.. often staring down the clock until the final seconds just so he can get his money’s worth of practice. So, he’s shy and facing a language barrier as a rookie. His game speaks for itself. (A)

#21, Simon Moser: Nashville was such a big fan of Moser that he was one of the final cuts in camp before the season started. I can see why. Despite line combos being very erratic this year – no matter where Moser finds himself he seems to complement his linemates well and find ways to make a difference to their playing styles. Whether he plays with a center like Van Guilder or Sissons, he plays smooth offensive hockey and has been rewarded with 5 goals and 9 assists so far in his first professional season of North American hockey. I think with some consistency he can calm down a bit more and focus his game better. He could have a decent finish to the season if he does. (B)

#22, Scott Valentine: It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a defenseman. It’s a forward. It’s a defenseman, again. Now it’s a forward, again! It’s Scott Valentine! …couldn’t help myself. The truth is, I really think the “Valentine as a Forward” experiment should be given the green light for full-time operation. I’m not saying he plays badly as a defenseman. He plays pretty well back there. Especially his partnership when playing in a d-pair with Scott Ford. Yet, when Valentine is put on the wing of a forward group he can be as lively and as tough of a forechecker as there is on the entire team. Whether or not the team decides to keep him as a forward really depends on the circumstances of who is healthy. It always seems the team wants him involved no matter the circumstance. If a d-man goes out – he’s back there. If a forward goes down – he hits the wing. His collective body of work this season, despite the constant shuffle, has been a positive for the team. If the team were to settle on him as a forward full-time.. then business could pick up for the better. (B-)

#24, Zach Budish: Not to sound harsh, but Budish is a difficult player for me to figure out because he can sometimes feel invisible out on the ice. Perhaps that can work to his advantage. He does have 3 goals and 4 assists after all. Like so many of the forward group he has also bounced around line to line – second, third, and fourth line. Time to gel might bring out the better qualities to Budish who, in my eyes, still looks fresh from a four-year collegiate hockey career. (C-)

#25, Josh Shalla: Similar to a combination of Budish and Cehlin, I feel Shalla is a player that was expected to produce offensively but simply became an invisible entity on the ice – leading to his reassignment to and from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. What bums me out about Shalla’s time in Milwaukee is his track record to score goals and his difficulty to do it on a consistent basis while wearing white, black, and Lake Michigan blue. When he was sent down to Cincinnati last season he scored a stunning 21 goals in 37 games. He has the capacity to do it. He just needs to actually do it. (D)

#29, Mark Van Guilder: This is the sixth season in which Mark Van Guilder has suited up with the Ads and every season he seems to take a step forward. This year, he has 5 goals and 7 assists. It’s not going as well offensively as last year. Also an oddity this season has been penalty minutes. Last season he spent 9 minutes in the penalty box in 73 games. Already this season he has 16 penalty minutes. While he is in no way leading the AHL, much less his own team, in penalty minutes – it does speak to the off-start to his season. Unlike some of the young guns of the roster, I can see a guy like Van Guilder working through it and making a bigger difference as the season grinds along. (B-)

#31, Marek Mazanec: Another one of those players I heard about in pre-season camp that was intriguing was Mazanec. When Scott Ford told me Mazanec was going to be pushing Magnus Hellberg hard – I kind of wanted to laugh him off. Boy did I shut up fast. Not only did he win all 5 starts in net for the Ads, but he was called up in-place of Hellberg in Nashville and played so well he earned the NHL Rookie of the Month award for his work in the month of November. He played incredibly composed in net for a 22-year old in his first year of North American “smaller rink – quicker game” hockey. Last season, Hellberg’s adjustment to the North American game took some time before he settled in. Mazanec settled in almost instantly. It seemed like he rarely was fooled by shots, he was able to manage rebounds well, and –scariest of all– could get even better – which was proved by his work up top the moment he went in net for the Predators. As the goalie situation goes within the system, Mazanec just goes to show how great it is to have quality strength in quality depth. (Incomplete)

#33, Bryan Rodney: I doubt that there is a more polarizing figure to Admirals fans than Bryan Rodney. On one hand, I think criticism on him is spot on. How many veteran defensemen does this team need? When will he stop making soft passes that lead to easy turnovers? When will he realize he isn’t Kris Letang and avoid skating too far forward and costing his team odd-man rushes? Then he makes a stunning lightning fast past for an assist that will leave your jaw on the floor and every fault of his prior to that seems to be made accounted for. In other words – he’s a head scratcher that can sometimes single handedly make and break a game. For what it’s worth I think we’ve seen far more right than wrong out of Rodney this season. (B-)

#36, Joonas Jarvinen: The big Fin was sidelined at the start of the campaign for seven games. Ever since his return to the lineup he hasn’t missed a game and has provided very reliable minutes of defense for the team. For believers in the plus-minus statistic, of the entire team no one has a better plus-minus than Jarvinen with a +9. He only posted a negative plus-minus in four out of his twenty-three games played this season. As far as the young d-men go – Jarvinen has stood out as the best defensive minded player through the first half of the calendar. (B)

#37, Scott Darling: The happiest student of Ben Vanderklok’s has played phenomenally to start the season. He has won 7 games from 9 starts, allowed 1.43 goals per game, a 0.955 SV%, and has earned three shutouts. His efforts this season have been recognized by the AHL twice: Player of the Week (ending December 29) and Goalie of the Month (December). And to think I laughed off Mazanec threatening Hellberg in pre-season camp. What we have here is just one more quality “big man” in net. Depending on how the Predators goaltending situation shakes out when Pekka returns, the 6’6” Darling has shown incredible strides in his first real lengthy stint at the AHL level and could play his way into staying in the Ads roster for the majority of the season. It’s has been him against Hellberg to start the year. December showed that the team is much more confident with Darling. And boy did he respond to the task. (A)

#41, Taylor Beck: Another player falling under scrutiny, Beck has put up 8 goals and 8 assists in twenty-six games this season. While it might have been a disappointment for him to have not made the Predators opening day roster – you could tell why he started the campaign off in Milwaukee. He wasn’t playing like himself. At the beginning of the season I had questions about his fitness and/or health. He didn’t play with the same speed or agility I was used to seeing him play with. In fact, it wasn’t until the start of December where I thought he was back up to his full speed: 3 goals and 5 assists in the month of December. Perhaps like Henderson, he played with a lower body injury that sapped his game up that -little bit- to start the season. With his legs fully under him – he’s about as talented a forward as there is on this roster. (B)

#45, Magnus Hellberg: After last season expectations were huge for Hellberg. The start to this season just hasn’t gone to plan for him. An injury on day one of Predators pre-season camp. Decent first three starts. A call up to Nashville. Bench. 12:12 of an NHL debut stopping three of four shots. Back into the fire and surrendering nearly three goals per game. The truth is, I think Hellberg is caught in a loop of trying too hard and getting himself flustered in net. When he calms down and plays with confidence – you get a netminder that can deliver a 40 save shutout against a very highly skilled team in the Oklahoma City Barons. All too often this season he has been fighting himself. It’s a little like what happened with Pekka Rinne last season in the sense he’s being caught scrambling that little too much. For someone as talented as Hellberg is in net – the term less is more might be all the difference for him. One game at a time. One save at a time. (C-)

#51, Austin Watson: Last season, Watson spent the majority of his time with the same line: centering Daniel Bang and Juuso Puustinen. This season he has centered a multitude of different lines combinations that have seen him play with the likes of Rask, Salomaki, Moser, Budish, Tousignant, and Henderson. The Bang-Watson-Puustinen line last season put up great numbers out of the partnership playing seamless hockey. So far, Watson has put up 8 goals and 11 assists with a mishmash of wingers around him. That’s not too shabby. His best linemate this season, for my money, has been Henderson. The two play a very similar style of hockey. They’re skilled, strong, play gritty defense, and can get on the attack fast. That started with their work on the penalty kill together and wound up translating when Evason paired the two on the same line. If Watson is to have a strong second half of the season he’s going to need to continue playing the way he has with a stable line. His partnership with Henderson is the beginning of that. (B+)

#55, Charles Roussel: Of the current crop of d-men on this team I wonder how many overlook the growth of Roussel this season. From pre-season on I’ve noticed similar upgrades to his game as has been the case with Bitetto. The lone downer and reason why he might get overlooked is simply – he isn’t producing the numbers to back it up. At least not yet. His skating ability looks fantastic this year. He can quarterback a power-play. Defensively, he might be a work in progress as far as keeping the play in front of him, but he also hasn’t made that many mistakes when his number is called. He is in the last year of his contract. So far this season it’s been a big step in the right direction. (C+)

#74, Vinny Saponari: One of the last names cut before the season started for the Ads, Saponari returned to the fold from Cincinnati in late-November. His stick skills and skating ability have looked very good since rejoining the team. He’s also earned the trust of his coaches to place him on the power-play. There is much to like with Saponari. I think his play, especially if it continues as it has, may well keep him in Milwaukee for the rest of the season. Should he keep playing on the top forward line with Salomaki and Sissons – his numbers, 3 goals and 4 assists, can only get better. (B-)

#88, Joonas Rask: Tuukka’s brother (sorry Joonas) is another player that I’m curious whether or not people like what they see. The honest truth is, if you look at his career numbers, he isn’t the type of player to produce big offensive numbers. Where he makes up for the lack of offense is with incredibly consistent shift after shift effort. Rask may well be the best defensive forward on the team. He plays very tight defense, has quick hands and stick skills to create takeaways, his speed makes him a neutral zone pest to play against, and that same speed makes him a relentless backchecker that causes the opponents to often times have to dump the puck in rather than freely skate into the zone. His offense might still need some work. As I mentioned, he won’t set the world alight. His passes sometimes aren’t the best. He can sometimes get lost in his own stickhandling and skate into trouble. However, if his speed and stickhandling can be honed in, Milwaukee might be in for a show to watch while he’s playing here. He creates plenty of chances on skill alone. Sooner or later those chances outta be rewarded with numbers. (C+)

Agree or Disagree with the Awards or Grades? Let me hear your take!

News

Scott Darling Tabbed December’s Goalie of the Month
Darling_DeepThoughts
(Photo credit to Scott Paulus)

Surprise, surprise! Scott Darling has been selected as the CCM/AHL Goalie of the Month for his efforts in December.

No shocker there considering just how outstanding his numbers were in December: played in eight games, made seven starts, has a record of 6-1-0-0, has allowed 1.12 goals a game, has a 0.964 SV%, and two shutouts.

Who saw this coming at the start of the year? Just another example of how stacked the Nashville Predators organization is between the pipes… or how great it is to have a guy like Ben Vanderklok around!

Would you like to see Darling continue carrying the load in net? How long do you see this level of play from Darling continue for the Ads? What does this do to the mind of Hellberg – deflate or ignite?

News

Scott Darling Named AHL’s Player of the Week
Darling-POW
(Photo credit to Scott Paulus)

Coming off of yesterday’s 4-0 shutout of the Iowa Wild we get some more good news. Scott Darling was just announced as the CCM/AHL Player of the Week.

I made mention in yesterday’s game recap how outstanding his entire month of December has been. This past week just about sums up how good it has been for Darling: 2-0-0-0 record, stopped 65/66 shots on goal, 0.985 SV%, and a 0.45 GAA.

Something tells me we’re not done with this story either. I imagine he’ll be in the discussion for December’s Player of the Month award as well. Expect a post for that if it goes down.

What has impressed you the most about Scott Darling? What do you think is going right for him versus Magnus Hellberg at the moment? Going forward, should we expect more games and more results like this month for Darling?