Ads pick up Liambis

The Orlando Solar Bears lent former Cincy left winger Michael Liambis to Milwaukee three days ago, and he’ll be with the Ads Friday night.

The Toronto native was traded to the Bears last October, and he’s skated in 32 games for Orlando this season.

He scored two goals, collected seven assists and garnered a whopping 151 penalty minutes.

Getting set for a wild week

Buckle up. After just two games in the past two weeks, the Admirals start one of their tightest stretches of the season with six home games over the next ten days.

Against the five team’s it’ll line up against this week, Milwaukee is a combined 7-10-1.

Currently fourth in the Midwest Division and seven points behind Houston for the eighth spot in the Western Conference, the Ads take on the Aeros tomorrow to open the home stand with a chance to narrow that gap.

Peoria visits Sunday for a key division battle, then the Abbotsford Heat come knocking Tuesday. San Antonio will kick off a Bradley Center 3-in-3 next Friday, followed by Charlotte Saturday and Abbotsford again that Sunday.

It’s going to be a huge sequence of games for the Ads and an excellent chance to gain some ground and exorcise some demons (especially against the Heat who are 5-0 against Milwaukee since 2/24/12.)

The time is now for the Admirals to Unleash…er Fury the Fury and make a serious push with home ice advantage, as this stretch could define their season.

Checking in with Cincy

The Cyclones are at the top of the North Division and sit in third place in the Eastern Conference with  58 points.

Cincinnati is 4-4-1-1 in their past ten games, but currently rides a three-game losing streak. It now leads the Toledo Walleye by just two points in the Division race with 24 games left.

Rookie David Pacan leads Cincy in points with 11 goals and 27 assists, while Garret Wilson leads the team in goals with 19.

Brian Foster’s been the top guy in net with a .902 save percentage and a 13-6-4 record in 25 games started. Meanwhile Zoltan Hetenyi has a 5-4 record with a .913 percentage and Michael Houser has a 7-5 record with a .921 percentage.

Questions:

What do you think of the Liambis project? What role do you think he’ll fill in his first trip to the AHL?

What record do you anticipate over the next six games realistically? How many wins do the Ads need to climb back into serious contention?

How many games are you going to get out to?

Any guys in Cincy right now that pique your interest?

Heading into last night, the Blues were one of the most talked about offensive squads in the NHL. When the final buzzer sounded in St. Louis, however, it was the Predator’s offense that had stolen the show.

Coming in ranked in last place in the league with just 1.88 goals per game, Nashville had relied heavily on the play of Pekka Rinne and Chris Mason. For the first time this season, Rinne got some breathing room thanks to three players who spent a lot of time in Milwaukee during the lockout.

Ryan Ellis gave the Predators an early lead taking a cross-ice feed from Colin Wilson and beating Brian Elliot through his A gap for his second goal of the season.

Former Admiral Nick Spaling made it 3-0 later in the first with his second goal of the season.

The goals kept coming in the second period, when in just his second game of the season, Jon Blum picked up his first point, setting up a Kevin Klein strike.

Then, Gabriel Bourque made it 5-0 with a nice tip-in for his first goal.

Blum and Ellis helped the Preds ice the cake, each assisting on a Martin Erat goal that made it 6-1.

It was certainly a big night for a team that had previously scored just seven goals in its last six road games. To put up those kinds of numbers against the Blues on the road was a huge statement.

Questions:

So Roundtable, what do you think of the impact Milwaukee’s “Big Three” made last night?

Do you see them helping the offense get turned around in the future? Does it make you wish they were back down here, or are you happy to see them progress.

Again, between Blum, Bourque and Ellis which do you think will have the best stat line at the end of the season?

We’ve got some time before the next Ads game, so let’s take a look at the guys in Nashville.

It’s been a decent start for the Preds. They’ve picked up nine points in their first eight games and are currently ranked fourth in the Central Division behind Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit.

They’ve been a bit pressed in the scoring department where with just 12 goals they sit in dead last in the NHL.

To make matters worse, last season’s lead scorer Patric Hornqvist is missing the next three to four weeks with a sprained knee.

That being said, the defense and goaltending have been up to snuff surrendering just 17 goals, ranking them 4th in the NHL.

Three guys that started the season in Milwaukee have played moderate roles in the 3-2-3 start.

Ryan Ellis and Gabriel Bourque each have two points, and they’ve helped add some depth to the Preds.

Two nights ago Nashville made headlines by handing San Jose its first loss in a shootout and Jon Blum saw his first action of the season. Blum didn’t pick up any points but he was active. He spent some time in the box for an interference call and shot the puck three times in 11 minutes 29 seconds on the ice.

Questions:

So Roundtable, have you been watching any of the guys up there and if so what have you seen?

Where do you see the Preds going this year? Will Rinne, Mason and the defense be enough to get this team to the playoffs or does something have to change with the offense?

Between Ellis, Blum and Bourque which guy do you see having the biggest impact this year?

Any speculation on what they might do to replace Hornqvist for the time being? Think we could see a call up soon?

So now we come to the glorious jersey history of our beloved Milwaukee Admirals. From Team USA tributes to Bob Uecker, we’re sure everyone has a favorite and we’d love to hear it.

I decided to leave out the current, everyday jerseys though I’d like to hear which of those you think is best. The blue? The black? The white?

For now, we’ll look at the themed and the classics. I’ll list my top 5.

So let’s dive in, Cowabunga!

5.  1997-2006

These will always be popular throwbacks. The Admirals enjoyed some of their greatest success as a franchise wearing them, hoisting the Calder Cup in 2004. You still see a lot of fans rocking these to games and for good reason. The logo is classic and the waves add a cool element.

4. St. Addy’s Day Special

I mentioned before that St. Patrick’s Day jerseys don’t always work, but these do. Rather than just slapping on the usual logo, the Ads did something with it, giving the skeleton a sporty green hat. The one thing I might’ve left out is the gold coins, but they still represent a unique twist.

3. Miracle on Ice tribute

The 1980 U.S. Olympic team will forever live in the hearts of American hockey fans everywhere. The Ads recognized this and created these simple, beautiful replicas to honor the men that staked their claim in hockey history.

2. Brew Crew Crossovers

While, as I said, I’ve always been partial to the powder blue, I still prefer the classic pinstripes. They just look sharp and they’re another fan favorite you see in the stands at almost every Admirals game.

1. 1979-80 Nordique throwback

Watching the Ads take the ice in these sleek duds is one of my favorite memories of last year. It’s not flashy, but the fleur de lis pattern and the red Admiral logo show that sometimes less is more.

Admirable Mention:

Bob Uecker is undoubtedly one of the great faces of Milwaukee sports and a fitting tribute is more than warranted. I personally can’t get past the idea of plaid on a hockey jersey, but it’s worth it to pay homage to the man, the myth and the legend.

Note:

Hope you’ve enjoyed our little retrospective of the plethora of AHL jerseys we’ve seen over the years.

Now, back to the present, the Admirals take on the Wolves at the Bradley Center tonight. Daniel Bang and Cam Reid are back in the lineup, so we’ll see if the rejuvenated roster can pick up where it left off heading into the All Star Break.

Yesterday we stomached the ugly, now let’s reward ourselves with some AHL eye candy. These are our favorite current, alternate and themed jerseys.

I prefer originality and classy throwbacks. There are a lot of jerseys I like, but didn’t include based on the fact that they’re just NHL jerseys with AHL logos.

You know, the ones that make you scratch your head and ask, “gee, I wonder what team they’re affiliated with…” I kind of skipped over those with this list with No. 1 being the exception.

(Note: Despite being numbered, these are really in no particular order from best to worst)

1. St. John’s IceCaps

Yes, the basic layout is the same as the Jets, but if I had my way I would switch this name and logo with the NHL name and logo. “IceCaps” just screams hockey to me, and that sharp looking logo works much better with the jersey itself than Winnipeg’s maple leaf jet does. Plus there’s already a Canadian team with a maple leaf in its logo.

2. Connecticut Whale

Pure nostalgia makes this jersey great. Hartford may have moved to Carolina, but the Whale ensured that green and blue scheme wouldn’t die. A nice/tacky touch depending on your point of view is the waves at the bottom and on the sleeves.

3. Manitoba Moose

Manitoba broke out these beauties to honor the Canadian military and man are they gorgeous. I don’t know why, but I’ve always been a sucker for the powder blue. The front looks nice, but its the back that makes it cool. The font is just classic.

And speaking of classic, check out their Winnipeg-inspired jerseys below. Would love to see the Jets wear something like this one day.

4. Norfolk Admirals

Norfolk wore these awesome threads for a jersey auction in support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Looking good for a good cause is always nice and these “old school Kings” lookalikes feature a better logo than the Admirals currently use, in my opinion.

5. Rochester Americans

I know I picked on Rochester a little bit in the last post, but these jerseys are the perfect example of how to make the Red, White and Blue work. Bold, yet subtle these jerseys employ a great blend of patriotism with a traditional hockey jersey.

Honorable mention: San Antonio Rampage

I’ve always been a fan of the silver-and-black San Antonio Spurs scheme and to see it carried over into a hockey jersey is really cool. I also love when towns make an effort to use the same colors with each of their teams. It’s a nice touch and really creates a strong unity factor.

Note there are no Milwaukee Admirals jerseys on this list. I find that having such a distinct history of themed and throwback jerseys the Ads deserve their own post and will be granted it in third and final installment.

So for now, what are your favorites of all time?

With some time off in the Admirals’ schedule, I thought it’d be fun to take a look some of the best and worst AHL jerseys of all time.

Jerseys are just as historic as the teams that wear them and the AHL has put forth some of the sleekest and weakest offerings in sports history.

When you bring up the topic of team attire everyone seems to have their own list of favorites and duds. We’d like to share some of our choices for the good, the bad and ugly and get some of yours as well.

Today let’s take a look at the ugly.

1. Rockford pays a “tribute” to Mexican Heritage.

You can call it picking on a rival, but it’s hard not to notice these duds the IceHogs donned last November on a themed Mexican heritage night. The color scheme offers a grim likeness of the early Phoenix Coyotes and in a world of increasing political correctness, the mustached Hog on the front might not fly with the easily offended.

2. Charlotte’s real knock offs

Note the K-mart logo on the top right. It’s fitting because this jersey looks like a cheap knock off that might be discovered on a K-mart clearance rack. On top of that, Smoky is far more intimidating than the cartoon bear in the middle.

3. Lake Erie’s Monstrous throw backs

One can only speculate what could’ve inspired these tie-dye-like nightmares from Lake Erie.

4. Rochester gets a little too patriotic

Hard to knock a celebration of the good ol’ red white and blue, but the Americans proved that in the wrong hands things can go a little over the top. I wonder if people felt it disrespectful when these jerseys touched the ice.

5. No luck of the Irish for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Sometimes its a great idea to have St. Patrick’s day themed attire (see the Boston Red Sox.) Other times you get attempts like this that clash horribly with the logo of the team. These jersey’s might’ve looked good after a day of celebrating St. Paddy’s at the local pub, but without beer goggles…

“Austin Watson & Taylor Beck are ready to play in the NHL right now. Are they ready to contribute on a nightly basis? Not yet.”

That’s a quote attributed to Barry Trotz, tweeted by Willy Daunic, who is the studio host for Preds Radio.  That quote came last night before the Preds were shutout by the Coyotes.

Before anyone gets to super-excited about that quote, re-read it.  It sounds like a backhanded compliment to me.  And it sounds vaguely familiar.

Remember Blake Geoffrion?  Sure you do.  Trotz said this as he was being sent down to Milwaukee for the last time…

“It was a pretty easy decision for me. Boomer hasn’t really had any production; he hasn’t scored in 31 games. There’s a lot of players that can play in the league. The difference between players that can play in the league and NHLers is that you have to produce. There was no production and there wasn’t enough impact in his game.”

So I don’t think his quote from last night suggested anything was imminent.  However….

Today, Trotz had more to say when talking to Josh Cooper of the Tennessean.

From Cooper’s blog post:  “Predators coach Barry Trotz listed three names as possible call ups from Nashville’s AHL affiliate in Milwaukee, if the Predators decide to go that route to shake things up: forwards Austin Watson, Taylor Beck or Chris Mueller.”

Normally, I take the road-to-Nashville-goes-through-Milwaukee stance, and suggest that there’s more for a guy like Watson and Beck to gain here than there would be getting 5 minutes of ice-time with Brian McGrattan.

But if there’s ever a time to take a quick plunge on any of these guys….I say do it now.

We’re at a quirky part of the AHL schedule where the Admirals only have one game between now and Thursday February 7th (it’s this Friday against Chicago).  Meanwhile, the Preds play the 31st, 2nd, 5th, and 7th, before Milwaukee plays again on the 8th.

A guy or two can be called up to get some facetime with the coaching staff, maybe get some game action, and not miss too much stuff going on down here on the farm.

Maybe the quotes are meant to motivate the players already there.  Somewhat of a threat.  Maybe they are seriously considering bringing some guys up.  I’m inclined to lean towards the former, but because of the schedule, I won’t be surprised by the latter.

What do you think?