The Western All Stars narrowly defeated the East 12-11 in last night’s AHL All Star Skills Competition in Providence, R.I.
Milwaukee’s own Victor Bartley played a nice role in that effort. The Admiral’s lone All Star competed in both the Pepsi Accuracy Shooting competition and H&R Block Breakaway Relay.
San Antonio’s Drew Shore, Grand Rapid’s Chad Billins and Lake Eerie’s Andrew Aggozino picked up the West’s only goal in the Sher-Wood Puck Control Relay, with the East taking the event and a 3-1 lead.
Portland’s Chris Summers won the CCM Fastest Skater award for the East. The East also took the EA Sports NHL 13 Rapid Fire contest, despite a nice showing from Charlotte’s Justin Peters in net.
Rochester’s Brayden McNabb claimed the Hardest Shot title for the West with a blazing 101.8 mph slapper. The East still gained a goal for the higher average speed among its four players.
Facing a 7-2 deficit the West finished strong, taking the last three events en route to the overall win.
Bartley was first up in the Accuracy Shooting contest where he impressively collected four hits in just six attempts. Texas’s Matt Fraser hit four in five attempts to lead the event and lock down two goals for the West with the win.
Abbotsford’s Barry Brust and Peters were both perfect stopping all three shot attempts they faced in the Pepsi Pass and Score event, leading the West to the 2-1 victory.
Finally it came down to the Breakaway Relay where despite Bartley’s miss on his attempt, the West recorded a 6-3 victory to complete the comeback.
McNabb, Fraser, Charlotte’s Michal Jordan, Toronto’s Ryan Hamilton, OKC’s Mark Arcobello and Rockford’s Martin St. Pierre all scored for the West, while Peters and Grand Rapid’s Petr Mrazek were perfect stopping six shots each.
Milwaukee scored its second straight win against a team that’s given them some trouble this year, the Peoria Rivermen.
After stopping a regular season-high 44 shots Friday night, Jeremy Smith didn’t show much fatigue making 38 saves.
Jack MacLellan opened the scoring with his first goal of the season 7:01 into the first period. Taylor Beck added to the lead with his seventh 9:37 into the second.
With about 4:40 left in the period, however, Chris Bruton got Peoria on the board. Smitty kept the Ads ahead for most the third period and it looked like the Ads might hold on, but Derek Nesbitt tied it up with just 1:29 to play.
With a possible win streak in jeapardy heading into overtime, good old Chris Mueller gave the Ads a lift. Mueller picked up his 14th goal of the season to win the game one minute into the extra period and send Milwaukee into the All Star Break on a high note.
Notes:
The power play was 0-4 again, so they still weren’t able to get that going.
You can watch All Star Victor Bartley represent us tonight in the skills competition at 10 pm. on Time Warner Sports 32.
Questions:
Happy with the win over Peoria to keep things on track?
Puusty breaks out Friday and now it’s nice to see J-Mac get his first. Who’s the next Ad you’ve been waiting to see back on the scoreboard? I got Lajunen.
What event would you most like to see Bartley compete in? Hardest slap shot anyone?
Coach Dean Evason had talked about his team’s recent buildup of frustration. Friday night provided release of that frustration.
The Admirals pulled off an 8-2 laugher over Oklahoma City on Country Music night in front of their biggest home crowd of the season.
The victory snapped Milwaukee’s six-game winless streak and (even more relieving) the power play snapped its 30-0 scoreless streak.
A long list of Ads had big nights.
When Jeremy Smith stops a career-high 44 shots and doesn’t get the first star, you know it’s been an impressive team showing.
Juuso Puustinen came to play scoring the first, sixth and eighth Admiral goals to record his first hat trick since an exhibition game at home in Finland last year.
And Puusty said after that performance he’s going to be gunning it more the rest of the way.
Austin Watson scored 49 seconds into the second period on the power play to get the monkey off the unit’s back.
The lineups looked a little different with Mueller and Cehlin seeing some time at the point. Evason talked about what Mueller added to the PP and whether we can expect to see him at the point in the future.
But in the offensive onslaught, ironically, Milwaukee scored on just one of four opportunities with the man-advantage. The Admirals did, however, nab a shorty courtesy of Scott Valentine 12:40 into the final period.
Evason had expressed concern about the guys passing up shots, but that was no issue in the victory. They let shots fly and it paid off for once. Coach was pleased with that.
But again, ironically, the final shot tally was misleading. You would think judging by the scoreboard the Ads would’ve crushed OKC in the shooting department, but Milwaukee was actually outshot by a whopping 46-29 margin. Smitty’s night was just that good.
Notes:
Evason said Ben Ryan will be out for a while with an “upper body” injury and Josh Shalla was sent down to Cincy today for an undisclosed period of time.
We got a chance to catch up with Victor Bartley and ask him about how much crap he took from his teammates following the Gangnam Style parody as well as his quite eventful last two weeks.
Questions:
Well, they finally scored on the power play. Allow me to open the can of worms by asking “What do you think they did to break the skid?”
Who was your first star? I personally think that as nice as a hat trick is, Smitty might’ve gotten the edge with his career night.
Do you think this turns the corner?
What did you think of Victor Bartley Style? Kudos to Charlie Larson for painstakingly putting that together. Think it’ll be going viral?
2012-2013 Milwaukee Admirals: 40 G.P., 17-17-3-3–40 pts., 100 goals scored, 114 goals allowed, 13th place in the Western Conference (Last Midwest Division). Leading scorer: Taylor Beck (6 goals, 21 assists, 27 points). Best Recent Win: None. Worst Recent Loss: Jan. 20, 2-0 at Abbotsford. Key Upcoming Matchup: Jan. 25 vs. Oklahoma City.
Can you remember the last time Milwaukee won? I know I can! It was on January 6, when the Admirals posted a 3-2 win in a shootout over Grand Rapids. It came as part of a weekend where Milwaukee picked up five out of a possible six points, and also just happened to come on the day the NHL lockout ended.
One thing I remember about that weekend was how good Austin Watson was. He scored the game-winner against Chicago in the final two minutes on Thursday night and then the Admirals’ only shootout goal against Oklahoma City two nights later.
For Watson its been an up-and-down first professional season. He was dominant for Milwaukee in November, scoring 11 points. But the the rookie went dormant on the score sheet for a seven-game stretch in December. Watson, whose never been known as a huge goal scorer, has struggled offensively to tally goals in January (who hasn’t for Milwaukee), going four games without one during the Admirals recent swoon.
Watson got a big goal in Milwaukee’s loss to Houston and now leads the Admirals with 14 on the season. Though there is a lot of outside pressure on Watson, which I chronicled in my feature today on MilwaukeeAdmirals.com, Milwaukee will need him to contribute even more for Milwaukee to end their second straight January tailspin.
A good place to start a turnaround would be Friday night at the Bradley Center against Oklahoma City. Clearly, Milwaukee hasn’t responded well to the end of the lockout. But the rest of the AHL isn’t going to feel sorry for the Admirals, especially the Barons. Five of OKC’s top six scorers, a staggering 80 goals and 200 points, have moved on to the next level.
Perhaps a game against the Barons is exactly the wake-up call Milwaukee needs.
So Roundtable . . . What do you think of Austin Watson first season? Do you think a game against Oklahoma City will help end the January slide?
If you hadn’t heard about Milwaukee’s acquisition of Brad Winchester Tuesday, you certainly should have by now.
The new Admiral made his presence known in more ways than one in Wednesday night’s 3-2 loss to Houston, making an impact on and off the scorecard.
Winchester’s first-point initiation didn’t take long.
Early in the first period, Anthony Bitetto fired the puck from the Admirals zone all the way down to the boards behind Houston goalie Darcy Kuemper.
Winchester had a beat on the puck and was easily able to grab it and feed it back to Taylor Beck. Beck fed it left in front to Chris Mueller who put away the one timer to put Milwaukee up 1-0 at 7:35.
Here’s Winchester on his part of the play:
David McIntyre tied it up less than two minutes later when Charlie Coyle hit him on a cross-ice feed. While Jeremy Smith looked caught in a bad position, Mike Moore certainly could’ve done more to help him out.
Shorty after the goal, Winchester leveled Johan Larsson with a beautiful clean open-ice hit. The Aeros responded by going after Michael Latta after the ensuing faceoff.
Houston took the lead 5:07 into the second period when Beck fired a bad pass seemingly right to Jason Zucker. The shot was pure and the play happened so fast that Smitty had little time to react.
Austin Watson redirected a long wrister by Scott Valentine at the 17:07 mark of the period, but the tie would be short-lived.
Just 52 seconds later, Nick Petersen came out of a weave sent home the eventual game winner for Houston from the slot.
The power play continued to struggle with the scoreless streak now at 28 attempts. After the game Evason said the PP units were still frustrated and weren’t able to get anything going that they’d hoped to during the week.
Evason also felt Smitty played well enough to win with 25 saves, but mentioned his team’s inability to start the way it finishes in the intensity department.
Evason was still pleased with the start of Winchester’s Admiral career and the prospects of what he can bring to the roster.
Notes:
Evason said Jani Lajunen was a healthy scratch for reasons he didn’t disclose.
The Ads’ winless streak is now at six games heading into Country Music night this Friday against OKC.
Questions:
So we’ve heard what Evason is trying to do with the power play. Do you agree?
What did you think of Winchester? Did he seem a step above the rest with his pro pedigree?
Were you as thrilled as we were to see the Soup Nazi? Or did hearing the phrase “No Soup for You!” over and over start to get a tad old by the end of the game?
Ok, so Gabriel Bourque getting recalled….that’s old news now. He’s in St. Paul tonight, he’s playing against the Wild. Do us proud, Bourquey!
But the corresponding move is the interesting one.
Forward Brad Winchester was signed to a PTO contract, and should play for the Admirals tomorrow night against Houston.
Winchester brings 390 games of NHL experience and some muscle to a team that has been severely lacking both at times.
A second round draft pick of the Oilers back in 2000, Winchester spent four seasons at the University of Wisconsin (a 2nd generation Badger), before turning pro in the fall of 2003. Last season, he played 67 games with the San Jose Sharks.
As an unrestricted free agent heading into the mini-camps this year, Winchester was invited to the Calgary camp, but was unable to break with the big club….perhaps his roster spot was given to former Admiral Steve Begin?
And now the 6-foot-5 31-year-old Madison, WI native will be suiting up for the team down the road in Milwaukee. It’s just a PTO for now, but if things go well….there’s certainly room for growth in this organization. There always seems to be tenants in Barry Trotz’s doghouse.
What to expect out of him, outside of the veteran intangibles that we don’t get to see in the stands? Maybe a bigger version of Ben Guite that will drop the gloves and drive to the net.
Welcome to Milwaukee, Brad. Hopefully you’re the spark that’ll get this team back on track.
Milwaukee played better against the team that swept it out of the playoffs last season. Unfortunately that didn’t translate into wins.
The Admirals’ winless streak is now at five games as the Heat picked up a 2-1 win Saturday night and a 2-0 victory a day later.
The losses certainly didn’t result from a lack of scoring chances, but the Ads just couldn’t seem to finish. In the third period of Sunday’s matchup, Milwaukee outshot Abbotsford 12-5, but one shot went off the post and another off the top of the net.
Danny Taylor was solid in net Saturday stopping 24 shots, and AHL All Star Barry Brust was even better Sunday making 30 saves to record his fourth shutout of the year.
Krys Kolanos scored the opening goals of both contests as he continued a 10-game point streak against Milwaukee dating back to May of 2009. Brett Carson, who spent last week working with the Calgary Flames in camp, scored two power play goals in two nights, each one ensuring Heat victories.
Kevin Henderson got the lone goal of the weekend for the Admirals at 16:13 of the second period Saturday night. MVG and Taylor Aronson grabbed the assists.
Jeremy Smith stopped 25 of 27 shots in the first loss and Magnus Hellberg stopped 21 the next day, but neither got the support they needed on the offensive side.
The Admirals’ defense kept them in both games despite the losses of Jon Blum, Ryan Ellis and Victor Bartley (who’s coming back from Nashville).
The back-to-back losses, however, continued a recent trend of special teams futility as the Ads are now 0 for their last 24 chances with the man advantage.
Assistant coach Stan Drulia said after Sunday’s game that the team is still trying to figure things out in the wake of the recent Nashville call ups. He feels the power play has been passing up too many shots and is being “too cute.” Going forward he said they’ll try to work on simplifying things on the attack.
Notes:
As mentioned, Victor Bartley was reassigned to Milwaukee today by Nashville after not appearing in last night’s season opening shootout loss to Columbus. Sad to see him sent back down, but great for the Ads to have him back in the lineup.
On the flip side, Ryan Ellis scored his first NHL goal of the season Saturday night, but was stopped on his shootout attempt. Looks like we’re going to be seeing a lot from him in the big leagues.
Questions:
Seems like we’ve asked this before but here it is. What are they going to do about that power play?
How do you feel about the defense stepping up even with some of its biggest pieces gone. Does it speak to the depth of this organization at the blue line?
Why do you think the Flames continue to leave Kry Kolanos down in Abbotsford to torment the Ads?
Finally, it’s time to grade the guys who light the lamp. Here’s my take on Milwaukee’s forwards.
Kevin Henderson: B
32 games, 9 goals, 6 assists, 48 shots, +4
Henderson’s role has increased dramatically since last season. He’s played in two more games and scored five more goals than he did all of last year, and in his second season with the team he’s on track for his best statistical season by far. He’s been a solid second/third-liner and adds a lot of depth to the team.
Ben Ryan: C
32 games, 1 goal, 3 assists, 34 shots, -2
It’ll be nice to see what Ryan does in the second half as he’s been a lot more active of late. He scored his first goal of the season in last Sunday’s loss to Peoria, and jumped into the first fight of his career back on December 28 against the Rivermen. Before that, however, he hadn’t been heard from much.
Gabriel Bourque: B+
13 games, 7 goals, 5 assists, 21 shots, +7
Like Mike Moore, Bourque’s season so far has been marred by recurring injury. In the 13 games he’s played, however, he’s been the best skater on the ice for the Admirals. He’s taken good shots and made them count with a 23.3 percent scoring percentage. We’ll see how long he stays down with Milwaukee in the second half if/when he comes back.
Joshua Shalla: N/A
10 games, 0 goals, 3 assists, 5 shots, -3
Shalla’s another call-up who could play a big role in the second half with the lockout over. He’s made his presence known recently and hopefully his production will steadily improve. So far he’s show a lot of potential as a guy who’ll take advantage of his chances in the AHL.
Patrick Cehlin: C+
35 games, 6 goals, 10 assists, 75 shots, -1
Cehlin had a great first month of the season, but his production has fallen off considerably. With other guys trending up, he’s likely going to have to step it back up in the second half if he wants to stay in the mix as a big part of the offense.
Daniel Bang: B
22 games, 3 goals, 8 assists, 35 shots, -1
Bang is yet another guy who’s impressed in limited action. For the most part he’s made himself known when he’s been on the ice and shown he can be a solid facilitator. He’s speedy and opportunistic and he’s got good potential to be an important cog in the offense going forward.
Taylor Beck: ?
31 games, 6 goals, 20 assists, 85 shots, +4
Juuso Puustinen: C+
36 games, 3 goals, 8 assists, 72 shots, -8
What can you say about Puustinen? When he’s been good he’s been good, but when he’s been bad well…take a look at the +/-. His production hasn’t been as good as guys who’ve played in considerably fewer games, but the potential is always there for him. He can be a big presence out there and he’s shown the cliqued “flashes of brilliance” so he’ll need to build on that in the second half.
Michael Latta: B+
37 games, 5 goals, 17 assists, 61 shots, +7
Latta’s started quite a few games this year and for good reason. He’s filled the role of unofficial “fighter” and spent 110 minutes in the box this season, and that’s not a negative stat. He’s a guy who stands up for his teammates and rises to the task in the physical part of the game. Along with that he’s been a much better facilitator this season with four more assists now than he had all of last year.
Chris Mueller: A
34 games, 12 goals, 8 assists, 87 shots, -1
He’s one of the 35 greatest Admirals of all-time and he’s continued to play to that standard this season. Sadly there’s a good chance we might not see him in Milwaukee again. He’s done his time in the AHL and it’s looking an awful lot like he’ll be staying up in Nashville the rest of the season. He’s been a good leader and he’ll leave behind a big spot to fill.
UPDATE: Mueller will surprisingly return to the Admirals while Bartley, Blum and Ellis will remain in Nashville.
Jani Lajunen: C
35 games, 1 goal, 0 assists, 36 shots, -9
Lajunen’s played in a lot of games and hasn’t done too much with them. Add him to the list of guys who need to step it up in the second half.
Jack MacLellan: C
26 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, 34 shots, -10
(See above)
Mark Van Guilder: A
36 games, 7 goals, 9 assists, 44 shots, +6
MVG is the unsung hero of this squad and he’s the last person who’d tell you so. He’s more than made a name for himself over the last five years, and he’s been described as one of the best teammates a player could want by both current and past Admirals. He’s quietly the best facilitator on the team and he’s on track for another year of solid production.
Cam Reid: B
20 games, 0 goals, 5 assists, 27 shots, -1
Mr. Spin-o-Rama has been a nice call-up and another guy with a lot of potential. He’s one of the youngest guys on the team but has been quite an impressive passer. GM Paul Fenton said he plans to keep Reid around leaving room for more possible highlight reel flashes in the second half and beyond.
Yesterday we graded goalies, now we’ll look at the men in front of them.
Anthony Bitetto: C
8 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, 2 shots, -1
In all fairness, Bitetto has only skated for Milwaukee in eight games this season, so it’s tough to give a definitive assessment of his performance. From what the players have told us, he’s a good locker room guy and one of the funniest guys on the team. When he’s been on the ice, however, he’s been a bit less visible.
Ryan Ellis: B+
20 games, 2 goals, 7 assists, 54 shots, +2
Whenever you talk about Ryan Ellis, you talk about his status as a two-way contract player. He’s an NHL-caliber talent who’s spent time in the big leagues, and you can see it in his play. It’s the subtle things that set him apart (the way he handles the puck, his calmer, collected demeanor) and he carries himself with that NHL swagger.
Jonathon Blum: B
34 games, 1 goal, 11 assists, 42 shots, -3
Blum is another guy who fringes on NHL-caliber, but he struggled and drew the ire of some fans last season (why him more than anyone else is beyond me.) This season, Blum gets my vote for most improved Admiral at the halfway point. His puck control has been better, he’s been a better facilitator on offense and he’s been much better at holding pucks in on the attack.
Mattias Ekholm: ?
29 games, 4 goals, 10 assists, 60 shots, -2
Charles Olivier-Roussel: B
14 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, 9 shots, 0
Roussel gets the Johnny-on-the-Spot award for filling in nicely in the absence of Mike Moore. While he hasn’t had much of an impact on the offensive end, Roussel’s been a capable defender who’s stood out to Dean Evason as a solid call-up.
Mike Moore: B
16 games, 4 goals, 3 assists, 26 shots, +1
One reason to be excited for the second half of the season is to see what Moore can do. He may be a new face, but he fits the mold of the ideal Admirals/Predators defenseman and for that reason the team named him captain. He’s another guy who carries that pro swagger and makes the team better when he’s on the ice. He’s had his rough spots with a few ugly turnovers here and there, but it’s pretty tough to redeem yourself when you’ve spent the time he has out with injury.
Scott Valentine: ?
32 games, 3 goals, 3 assists, 29 shots, +3
Taylor Aronson: N/A
The guy’s had one shot in one game. He’s going to be a key cog with the lockout over, and for now let’s see what he can do in the second half.
Victor Bartley: A
37 games, 6 goals, 13 assists, 53 shots, +6
He’s Milwaukee’s lone all star, and he’s spending the week at camp in Nashville for good reason. Bartley’s putting forth his best season to date, leading the defense in most stat categories. While he’s one of the team’s most physical defenders, he’s also got a blistering slap shot that’s becoming a big part of the Admiral’s offense. As far as playing at both ends goes, Bartley is tops on the roster this season.
Joonas Jarvinen: C+
36 games, 2 goals, 4 assists, 28 shots, -7
Jarvinen’s another guy who can go missing at times when he’s on the ice. He’s the most penalized defenseman with 47 minutes in the box and sometimes it’s hurt the team as his -7 +/- shows. The good news is he’s got plenty of time to turn it around.
Hey guys, I’m back and ready to resume as Editor-in-Awesome for the Roundtable. I want to thank Ryan and Sutty for doing an awesome job while I was gone. They wrote some great stuff that I’m sure got a lot of you nostalgic.
Saturday marks the midway point of this 2012-13 campaign and interestingly enough the Ads are headed to the place their last season ended. It’ll be intriguing to see how our guys handle Abbotsford, a team that seemed a significant step better than last year’s squad in the playoffs.
For now, I’d like to take some time to look back at the first half (and what a first half it was) and give my personal grade to everybody that skated for the team.
Just to make it fun and fair I’ll leave some blanks for you to generously fill in in the comments section.
So without further ado, let’s use today to look at the guys between the pipes:
Jeremy Smith: B+
Smitty had a pretty rough start to the year in the wins and losses department, but a good chunk of that had to do with his scoring support. There were more than a few occasions (Oct. 20 in San Antonio, Nov. 16 in OKC, Dec. 5 at home against Texas) where Jeremy played well enough to win, but the rest of the team couldn’t help him out. Since a fantastic performance on December 21 in a 2-1 win over Rockford Smitty’s been really strong in net going 5-3. Two of those losses came in the shootout round and could certainly be counted in the “played well enough to win” category.
Magnus Hellberg: ?
Tell me what you think of the big goalie so far this year. Where Smitty didn’t, Hellberg had a lot of scoring help early on and at times has looked pretty good for a backup. It’s difficult to compare him to Jeremy as his size and experience make him very different stylistically. He’s much more of a stand-up goaltender who’s more used to blocking shots with his body than being quick with the glove and more active in net.
Question:
What are your grades?
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