Ads are playing in Iowa again? Feels like only yesterday we were just scouting this team. In that game the Ads managed to power past the Iowa Wild in the late stages en route to a 5-2 road victory.
So, what have the Wild been up to since?
The Wild currently sit at the bottom of the Midwest Division standings with a 6-7-0-0 record good for 12 points. They have played in four games since the previous meeting with the Ads and have only come away with one victory: 5-2 road win against the Rockford IceHogs. Like the Ads, they played games on Wednesday and Friday night. Also like the Ads, last night’s game was a rather scrappy affair that ended with a loss. In short, these will be two teams looking for a composed display of hockey with limited mistakes which torched them the previous night. Either that… or we could be in for a sloppy hockey game where mistakes will be there to be capitalized upon.
Transaction report isn’t too active for the Wild coming into this game. A name that does stand out in that list, and is still on the roster as I write this, is veteran forward Mike Rupp. What you come to expect with a guy like Rupp is physical presence that is great on the forecheck but even better on the backcheck. He blocks shots, gets into the dirty areas, and loves to play the game hard. Rupp has never been the biggest goal scorer in his NHL career, a career best of 13 in a season with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009-10, but will crash the net looking for any rebounds that may get spilled. Just thinking about Scott Ford matching up with him makes me smile. I think those two could have a fun game against one-another depending on how shifts circulate and what d-pairing matches Rupp’s line.
Thoughts about this road game? Will we see a bounce back from the Ads or more of what we saw last night? Can the Ads manage to get on the board first? Which player steps up tonight and makes an impact? My money is on Taylor Beck who scored last night… and -prior to that- scored his last goal for the Ads in Iowa before getting called up to the NHL… and -prior to that- he scored a goal against Rockford. Can he make it four goals in four-straight games?
The Admirals lost 4-3 against the Chicago Wolves Friday night. Another slow start meant the team had to climb out of yet another 2-0 deficit in the first period at home. While it happened twice against the Texas Stars during the opening homestand – it couldn’t be done tonight. The Wolves went on to win their fourth-straight game on the road.
“Our starts have been pretty good as of late, but we didn’t like our entire game from the drop of the puck,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “Regardless of where we were when it got 2-0 we didn’t do anything to be involved and give ourselves a chance to even score a goal.”
This game started off with that little element of chippiness you come to expect from an Amtrak Rivalry game. After Anthony Bitetto decided to play the man and not the puck, Cody Beach of the Wolves skated over and talked up a fight. Bitetto passed on the opportunity but Tousignant decided he would have a go. They wound up calling matching roughing calls between Beach-Tousignant but tagged Beach with an additional for his antics with Bitetto.
Response? Poor.
The Wolves turned that Admiral power-play into a shorthanded goal. After Bitetto made a great sliding effort to block a shot, Nathan Longpre stuck to the play and banked the puck off of Chris Porter and past Magnus Hellberg in net.
After another successful Wolves penalty kill they beat Hellberg again. This goal came right off of the kill with Dmitrij Jaskin managing to slide the puck underneath the big Swede in net and make it a 2-0 hockey game.
“You have those games sometimes where you come out a little flat,” commented Taylor Beck. “They hopped on us early and they did a good job. They came to play. We have to be a lot more sharper with our passing and with our detail. They took advantage of our mistakes early and we couldn’t catch up to them.”
Captain Scott Ford answered back with his first goal of the season and first as an Admiral since March 16, 2012 in Lake Erie. Ford ripped a shot from the point and into traffic. The puck took a deflection off of a Wolves stick and even clanked off the far post before finding twine.
Just over five minutes later the Wolves restored their two-goal lead. The Admiral defensively were spread thin in front of Hellberg. Prior to the series of passes that would net the goal, Bitetto took a stick to the back of his knee and tripped right in front of the Ads goal. There wasn’t a call for tripping, but the move lead to some open ice for the Wolves who played a tic-tac-toe game between Shane Harper-Tyler Shattock-Pat Cannone. The passing was crisp. The shot by Cannone wasn’t going to be denied. 3-1 Wolves.
One thing worthy of mention: boarding penalties. This game saw four of them. The worst of which came at the tail end of the first period when Miikka Salomaki blasted Sergey Andronov into the boards directly in front of the Admirals bench. Andronov stayed down and hunched over for quite awhile before heading behind the Wolves bench. He did manage to return to the game… hockey players, right?
There weren’t many highlights in the second period. Save for this one. After losing the draw on a power-play faceoff, Tyler Shattock attempted to get the puck as clear as he could. His problem: Scott Valentine… who checked him hard enough to pry open the Admirals penalty box door. The hit was so violent that play had to be stopped temporarily after an off-ice official could be treated after the door swung open and clipped him in the penalty box.
Much more action occurred in the third period and started with the Ads narrowing the Wolves lead to 3-2. The Admirals power-play responded with a beautiful pass from Colton Sissons that teed up Taylor Beck for his fourth goal of the season. Considering how eventful this past week has been for Beck the goal showed some good poise and maturity on his part dealing with the ying-yang effect these past few days.
“It was a quick week up [in Nashville],” said Beck. “Happy to be back. Happy to hopefully help [the Admirals] start winning again. It’s been a little bit rough lately but we have a good team here and we’ll be really good down the stretch.”
With 2:13 remaining following an offsides call that kept the puck in the Wolves defensive zone, the Ads used their timeout and decided to pull Hellberg in favor of using the extra attacker. There were some looks to the net, but the game was effectively capped off when Corey Locke popped in an empty netter with 1:01 remaining in the game.
“We wanted to give ourselves the best and the longest opportunity,” said Evason of the decision to pull Hellberg during the timeout. “Normally you’re going to pull the goalie at 1:40-ish. Some coaches, 1:30. We like the two minute mark. Why not give ourselves the chance to have some sustained pressure? We want to side on the side of being aggressive and giving our group an opportunity to score.”
Credit to the Ads, though. The “never say die” attitude still showed up with a Tousignant goal with 25 seconds remaining. A sharp pass from the corner by Joonas Rask picked out the Quebec native who made a slick move to beat Allen in net. While nothing more than a late consolation goal in a defeat – it’s still nice to see the team refuse to quit on a game.
“We knew that [the Wolves] are a veteran hockey club,” said Evason. “[The Wolves] come to play. They know how to play the game and they out-competed us. We don’t say that very often about our group.”
Thoughts on the game? What is it about these slow starts for the Ads? How do you feel Taylor Beck played in his return to Milwaukee? What players are standing out to you – both in a good way and a bad way? What will the response be tomorrow night in Iowa?
Amtrak Rivalry night is upon us and revenge is on the mind. The last time the Ads and Wolves played was the home opener in Milwaukee. It went something like this:
Got to love a good rivalry, eh?
As for the last scouting report, not much has really changed in terms of the general make up of this team. The Wolves currently sit fourth in the Midwest Division with a 7-6-0-1 record good for 15 points out of 14 games played. Like the Admirals, this isn’t a team that draws too many penalties. The Ads are the least penalized team in the AHL with 164 PIM’s. The Wolves have 197 PIM’s. However, that first meeting of the season produced a combined 46 minutes worth of penalties. Roughing. Fighting. Slashing. Good times. I won’t be surprised to see a similar hockey game played even with the injury that currently sees Mike Liambas on the sidelines.
For the Wolves, this game will mark the conclusion of a lengthy six-game road trip. Regardless of tonight’s outcome this has been a very successful road trip for Chicago. They’ve won four of five, including three straight games, heading into the Amtrak Rivalry. The first on that trip was a 6-0 rout of the Oklahoma City Barons. They then dropped the rematch the following night, 4-2. But since? Perfect. 2-1, in Charlotte. 2-1, in Charlotte (again). Their last game was a 3-1 victory against the Iowa Wild on Wednesday.
I feel the first meeting between the Ads/Wolves is going to be a perfect barometer to tell just what type of game we should get tonight. My guess is this will be nip and tuck, scrappy, and defensive hockey. Last time out the Ads did a fantastic job staying composed defensively against one of the best teams in the AHL. They’ll need to continue that feat again against the Wolves.
While the Ads defense looked good against Grand Rapids it took a minor hit yesterday with the news regarding Filip Forsberg. In short, he won’t be in Milwaukee for this one. So what does that mean for the offense? The top two forward lines against the Griffins were strong throughout the course of that hockey game. Small example of what I mean: the starting forward group at the opening puck drop (Salomaki-Watson-Rask) won the draw and worked the puck in the offensive zone, line change (Moser-Sissons-Forsberg) with the puck still deep, and -bingo- goal. There is no guarantee that Taylor Beck instantly drops into the pairing with Moser and Sissons… but it seems likely don’t you think?
As for the starting line last game, after struggling to really have consistency with who he has been on the ice with, it seems as though Austin Watson has found a line in which everyone clicks into place. The Finnish combo of Salomaki and Rask provide the Michigan native with good speed, skill, and -tactically- wingers who are more than capable of playing defense just as well as offense.
“It’s nice to find that chemistry,” said Austin Watson of his linemates after Wednesday’s game. “[Salomaki and Rask] are two very skilled players. They work really hard. It’s great that we found that chemistry. We put in some good shifts together. The biggest thing I think is there speed and skill is so good that we can just sustain pressure in the offensive zone for twenty to thirty seconds at a time. That’s huge, and it’s going to create scoring chances for us.”
While I think it’ll be most interesting to see where Taylor Beck lines up tonight, the Ads are going to need the exact same consistency that Salomaki-Watson-Rask produced with the win over the Griffins. It set the tempo for the lines that followed and really guided the offense to zone time and -therefore- shots to the net. With a scrappy game in the cards. They could use lots of that.
Who wins tonight? How do you think Taylor Beck will respond in his return to the Admirals? Where would you fit Beck into the forward group? Will we see more fisticuffs in this one? Banter! Banter! Banter!
Remember that day where Fox 6 decided to take a look into the Admirals camp – specifically one Magnus Hellberg? That went well as far as timing goes. They were there to take a look at a “day in the life of a goalie” centering in on Hellberg. Next thing you know – breaking news.
Magnus’ take on the day he was called up? A laugh.
“It was pretty funny,” smiled Admiral goaltender Magnus Hellberg. “Fox 6 news was following me through practice and I was mic’d through the morning. After the practice Stan [Drulia] and Dean [Evason] told me to come to the office. I thought I was going to get some [“crap”] from last game or something. I didn’t know and I asked them, should I remove the microphone? They said, no keep it on, and they just told me that I am getting the call up.”
The evolution of Hellberg’s game since joining the Admirals has been rather impressive. While winning four games from his first six games in net last season, it was apparent the adjustment to the North American game (smaller rinks and increased speeds) was difficult out of the gate for him. On the 2012 side of the calender he had allowed 3.43 goals per game with a 0.892 SV%. During that time he was sent to Cincinnati Cyclones as a means to get him more time between the times. He was called back up to Milwaukee after a short stay in Cinci, but then went through a string of six-straight losses between the pipes for the Ads.
Then it all started to click.
In the month of February Hellberg was absolutely dominant. He won six games with a 1.36 GAA, a stellar 0.950 SV%, and two shutouts. For his efforts in he was awarded the CCM/AHL Goaltender of the Month for February. His effort in net continued on culminating with crucial back-to-back shutouts to end the season and see the Ads make the playoffs for an eleventh consecutive season.
While last season’s playoff run ended in the opening round, it was clear that yet another incredible goalie was being crafted in Milwaukee. Hellberg went to the Nashville Predators pre-season camp only to pick up an injury on day one. In what might have been a disappointment, he continued his efforts to earn his first career NHL call up. An injury to Pekka Rinne and a decent enough start through three games meant Hellberg would get that chance.
“It’s a dream you have since you’re a kid,” said Hellberg of his call up. “That’s why you play here to eventually go and play in Nashville.”
Hellberg spent nearly a week and a half in the NHL. The majority of his stay consisted of practicing with the Predators and sitting on the bench as Carter Hutton started ahead of him. He did make his NHL debut in a relief appearance for Hutton as the St. Louis Blues thumped the Preds, 6-1. Hellberg’s twelve minute NHL cameo saw him stop 3-4 shots on net as he saw off the game to the final horn. While the experience on ice was limited his experience off the ice was very rewarding.
“It was nice to meet all the guys up there. They welcomed me pretty good,” said Hellberg of his stint with Nashville. “Just to see how it is up there, the NHL lifestyle. Now I know what I can come back to. What I am chasing.”
Since returning from Nashville, he has had to weather the storm of 122 shots in four games while shaking loose the cobwebs of not starting on a regular basis. In particular, the past two games have seen a return of form for Hellberg. In the shootout loss in San Antonio, he stopped 43-45 shots. Last night in the victory over Grand Rapids, he stopped 28-29 shots. As far as I could tell, he didn’t look flustered by the Griffins last night either. He allowed a few rebounds but appeared to have his vision and reflexes honed in all night. The lone goal scored by the Griffins featured lots of net front traffic in on Hellberg with a shot just squeaking past his arm on the near post. With some uncertainty taking place in Rinne’s absence from the Predators net, the competition between goalies in the organization to earn that cage is fierce. Hellberg’s take on the situation is as poised as he so often is.
“Hutton is a great goalie, [Mazanec] is a great goalie as well,” said Hellberg. “It’s competition all the time, but it’s a process. My focus is 100% here [in Milwaukee] and to try to help this team win games. We’ll see what happens in the future. I can’t go think about what happens up [in Nashville]. If I get a call up, I want to try an contribute to the team up there.”
Thoughts on Magnus Hellberg? How has he progressed as a goalie since joining the Admirals? Do you expect him back in Nashville again at some point this season? Long term, where do you see him playing a few years down the road?
The Nashville Predators have made the move to bring Filip Forsberg back up and reassign Taylor Beck to the Milwaukee Admirals.
No real big surprise here. When the move to swap these two took place exactly one week ago it seemed as if the Predators were hoping to get Forsberg some quality minutes on the ice that he wasn’t quite getting in the NHL. The response by Forsberg went something like this:
When this roster move happened last week I never really expected to see him play in Milwaukee. He did. For those who had a glance at him last night you probably are not that surprised with this move, either. The talent is completely evident when watching Forsberg play. Considering the Preds are in the midst of a three game losing skid where they have only produced one goal out of three contests – this move had to be made. If Forsberg didn’t play this well and Taylor Beck set the world alight in Nashville – who knows. Fact of the matter is that Beck didn’t make much of an impact when given the chance this go-round: 2 games, 0 points, 2 PIM, -1, and 3 shots on goal. With where the two players stood this move was going to go down before the Predators faced the Penguins and Blackhawks this weekend. Whether or not it will actually boost Forsberg’s NHL production will be another story.
Thoughts on the move? Right call? Should Forsberg have stayed with the Ads a little bit longer or should he have never even have been brought down in the first place? Does Forsberg make an immediate impact upon his return to the Predators this weekend? What should we expect of Taylor Beck returning to the Admirals lineup this Friday?
The Admirals won 2-1 against the red hot Grand Rapids Griffins Wednesday night. An early goal from Colton Sissons and a late third period tally from Mark Van Guilder proved decisive as the Ads break a run of three consecutive losses.
“Grand Rapids is a real good team,” commented Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “They have so much speed and skill. We thought we did a real good job through the neutral zone. We limited their speed. We didn’t give them the odd man rushes that I think they’re used to. When we can play tight like that we should be in a good spot most nights.”
Slow starts have plagued the Ads so far this season. Facing a skilled Griffins team, the Ads made sure to buck that trend by scoring one-minute and fifteen seconds into the game.
The starting line of Salomaki-Watson-Rask kicked off the game by pushing the puck in the Griffins zone, generating shots and turnovers, and helped keep the puck deep as they changed lines. Moser-Sissons-Forsberg entered the ice and instantly attacked the net. After a few good taps at Griffins netminder Tom McCollum the puck went past him thanks to a final push from Colton Sissons. That’s Sissons sixth goal of the season and ties him up with Anthony Bitetto for the team lead in goals.
Grand Rapids, for as hot as they have been coming into the game, started pretty flat. They didn’t register a shot on goal until the twelfth minute of the game. Right after that Gustav Nyquist took a tripping penalty to stunt that momentum that wouldn’t creep back into the first period until the Griffins first power-play. Shots would finish 13-7 in the first period, but the best quality chances were coming off the tape of Admirals sticks.
The second period was cruising by without much drama. Through eight minutes in the second period shots were only 3-1 in the period in favor of the Griffins. For an Admirals team that faced a second period shots total of 20, 20, and 17 in the previous three road games… that’s fantastic defensive work against a team as lethal as the Griffins.
After a scramble in front of Magnus Hellberg, Mitch Callahan of the Griffins fired a loose puck near post at Hellberg. The light was lit but the celebrations were mute and the officials began conversing. There was plenty of pressure on Hellberg’s doorstep, but, upon further review, they called it a good goal to tie the game at 1-1.
Midway through the third period the Ads nearly capitalized on the power-play if not for the awareness of Landon Ferraro. The Ads power-play unit wasn’t having much luck tonight, going 0-4, but in the final seconds of a man-advantage Sissons tagged a puck through McCollum in net. The puck was in the crease making its way past the goal line. Right in front to bail out his netminder, Ferraro gave one firm smack at the puck to clear it out of danger and keep the game tied.
As the ice tilted for the Ads, Mark Van Guilder picked up the eventual game-winning goal to make it 2-1. The team was working hard in the attacking zone when Kevin Henderson’s shot to the net ricocheted off of McCollum and near Van Guilder. MVG, who was working traffic in front of the net, skated out, snagged the puck, and wristed low putting the puck beneath the flustered Griffins goalie for the go-ahead and decisive goal.
With the Griffins net empty, they did manage a few quality looks to the net amidst tight defensive pressure by the Admirals. Badge of honor goes to the game’s first star recipient, Sissons, who made two big shot blocks to close out the game… the last of which looked downright painful to watch.
Hats off to Hellberg. After having a rough -probably rusty- return to the net on the Texas leg of the four game road trip – Hellberg managed to stop 28-29 shots on goal to earn his first AHL victory since the second game of the season. While his stay up in Nashville might have opened his mind his reflexes and timing were just a bit off in his two appearances against the Texas Stars. He made a good start in a shootout loss to San Antonio, but still faced a total of 93 shots in three days of work after a lengthy lay off while up in Nashville.
“It was a great experience to be up [in Nashville], practice with the guys, and see how it was in the show,” said Magnus Hellberg. “At the same time you have to play games to develop. You kind of lose that feeling pretty quickly when you don’t play. I think in a way it was good that we got a lot of shots on us this last weekend – even though it was a tough one. I didn’t play my best game on Friday. I felt a little bit more like my normal me on Sunday even though we lost in a shootout. Today we won 2-1 and the boys battled hard. It was a step in the right direction.”
Tonight, the team looked really composed defensively against an outstanding Grand Rapids Griffins group that entered the game on fire by winning seven-straight games. There were many positives to take from tonight’s game. The top two lines tonight (Salomaki-Watson-Rask / Moser-Sissons-Forsberg) were outstanding on both sides of the puck. The penalty kill was sharp tonight going 3-3 in kills with great efforts by both Joe Piskula and Scott Ford on the back end denying several attempts to deal the puck around the cage and catch Hellberg off balance.
The negatives could still be a wavering in consistency during the second period. The road trip’s worst period seemed to be the second period and tonight that was also the case as they were outshot by the Griffins 15-3 in the period. No telling what the real cause is, but the response in the third period was rather good. Shots were in the Ads favor, 16-7, and the space to roam wasn’t really there for the Griffins.
This is what I call a well-deserved win for the effort out on the ice tonight.
Thoughts on the game? Has Sissons been the Ads best forward this season? Is Magnus Hellberg back up to speed? Why do you feel there is a drop off in the second period and what can be done about it? Will Filip Forsberg still be an Admiral come Friday night?
The division leading Grand Rapids Grffins roll into town tomorrow night. The Ads defeated them on their big Calder Cup banner raising ceremony night by the score, 3-2. Since then the Griffins have gone 7-1-0-1 including seven-straight wins in regulation. Just for good measure they’ll be entering Wednesday night’s game off of two consecutive games where they’ve scored six goals. For an Admirals team that has allowed 125 shots in their last three games… this could be trouble.
Leading the way for the Griffins is a guy I still can’t believe isn’t in the NHL, Gustav Nyquist. He currently leads the team in goals (7) and assists (10). The previous two games, where the team put up six goals in both contests, he has two goals and two assists. The whole team right now is rolling offensively. The man that will cause the most trouble for the Ads defense with each and every shift? Nyquist. It’s not all about scoring goals for him. He’s a great playmaker that creates quality chances for his teammates. While there is no denying he isn’t the only hot offensive player on the Griffins right now. To slow down the Griffins offensive attack the Ads defense will need to stay tight to Nyquist and keep him from controlling the game.
We all know about Petr Mrazek and how good he is. Yet, Tom McCollum is starting to really shine in net for the Griffins this season. McCollum was the first round draft pick for the Detroit Red Wings in the 2008 NHL Draft. He is entering his fifth season with the Griffins and might just finally be proving his value to the organization. This year he has won six games out of seven starts in net. He has allowed 2.25 goals per game but does has a good 0.922 SV%. Both McCollum and Mrazek are proving themselves to be very reliable options in net for the Griffins. No matter who gets tipped to start Wednesday the Ads will be in for a test offensively just as much as they will defensively.
How will the Ads match up against the division leaders? Who steps up big in this game? Will Hellberg continue to face 40+ shots? How can the Ads slow down the Griffins?
While up in Nashville Magnus Hellberg switched up masks. Gone is the Ads design that he wore all of last year and the start of this year. Now his mask features the colors of Nashville. Best news to me? The return of Peter No-tail!
The Admirals picked up a point but lost on the road to the San Antonio Rampage 3-2 in a shootout. The late Sunday afternoon contest finished off the Ads four game road trip which saw them go 1-2-0-1.
This game started somewhat slowly compared to the previous bouts with the Stars. There wasn’t a goal scored until the second period. The best chances in the first period for both teams came seconds apart from one another. Rampage defensemen Mike Mottau, just out of the box after a hooking penalty, caught the puck out of the penalty box for a breakaway chance that would be denied by Magnus Hellberg. Right after that Filip Forsberg had a chance of his own only to ring his wrist shot off the pipe.
The opening goal came in at the 14:19 mark of the second period. After a lengthy shift for the Admirals the Rampage forced a turnover. The rush the other way led to a goal for Steve Pinizzotto. That’s his second goal in as many games.
Only 1:21 after the opening goal the Rampage fired home another goal. The puck stayed the way of San Antonio out of the opening goal, and led to a goal by one-time Admiral Jed Ortmeyer to make it a 2-0 Rampage advantage.
As has been the identity of the Ads this season: they don’t quit. After drawing a hooking call the Ads tallied with a power-play goal. Mark Van Guilder picked out a wide open Bryan Rodney who buried the puck past Dov Grumet-Morris in net for his second goal of the season.
In the third period the Ads managed to level the game up at 2-2. The line of the night, Simon Moser – Austin Watson – Filip Forsberg, produced a goal through Moser after some great puck movement between the group. That’s Moser’s second goal of the season and first since October 19th.
The real story of this game was the goaltending. Hellberg and Grumet-Morris were fabulous in this one and both played key roles as to why this game lasted through overtime and all the way to the shootout. Hellberg stopped 43-45 shots. Grumet-Morris countered with a strong effort of his own stopping 31-33. While shots against were plenty again for the Ads, it looks as if Magnus has shed any rust that was present in his games against the Texas Stars.
The shootout was basically capped off on the first shooter. The one and only goal scored in the shootout came off the tape of Jon Matsumoto for the San Antonio Rampage, who scored five hole. Colton Sissons, denied. Filip Forsberg, denied. Joonas Rask, denied. Austin Watson, denied. And then Bryan Rodney was also denied by Grumet-Morris – a perfect 5-5 in shootout saves to add to his first star effort in regulation.
Thoughts on this road trip? Any particular player stand out during this four game trip? How do you feel Hellberg and Forsberg played this weekend? What can we expect when the Ads return to home ice this Wednesday?
I know exactly what you’re thinking this morning. I am sick of playing the Texas Stars. Well good news! As of last night’s game the Ads finished off the season series with the Stars. Bring on the San Antonio Rampage! …who also know how tough those Stars can be.
Like the Stars, the Ads will play four games with the San Antonio Rampage. This is their first meeting of the 2013-14 season. Last year they met twice with the Ads winning 5-4 at home and getting shutout 1-0 in the road contest. The year before that they did play four games against each other and the Ads managed to win three out of four.
So, who exactly are the Rampage?
For starters they are a team under brand spankin’ new management as of Friday. The new head coach of the Rampage, Tom Rowe, replaces one time Admiral head coach and long time Nashville Predators assistant coach Peter Horachek who was named the head coach of the Florida Panthers on an interim basis. Rowe has a great background of coaching experience that includes being the head coach of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL last season. His first game as head coach of the Rampage resulted in a comeback victory over the Oklahoma City Barons, 3-2 in a shootout. While Rowe seems more than up to the task of his position it still shakes up a camp having a coaching change. There is a new voice barking orders and getting the right lines on the ice. In his first game as Rampage coach the team was called for “too many men on the ice” twice. Expect a team that is still getting used to a different voice on the bench.
Trocheck is a native of Pittsburgh who was drafted in the third round (sixty-fourth overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft. This is his first season of professional hockey and the 20-year old has played very well. In twelve games he has scored 6 goals and 6 assists. He scored the game tying goal in the Rampage’s shootout win last night. He’ll be the young gun to keep an eye on against the Ads.
The man with the perfect beard –PERFECT– was voted as the Milwaukee Admirals 14th Greatest Admiral last year. How to sum up Greg Zanon? Like this:
Zanon is as tough as they come. A relentless defensive presence with zero regard for the human body… namely his own because he tends to block shots in his sleep. While the NHL is where Zanon would like to be, having played a career 493 games in the NHL, he starts the season in San Antonio as a veteran leader of a young Rampage team. If there were any player to pick out on this roster as the man players need to look up to, it’s Zanon.
Thoughts on the Rampage? Will the Ads end their two game skid today? What are your memories of Greg Zanon in Milwaukee?
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