Great!  The Admirals are able to announce the first two home playoff games, Thursday April 14^th, and Saturday April 16^th.

They were able to clinch home ice for the first round…not because they did anything in their game Wednesday night, but rather due to the fact that Peoria defeated Texas.

So even though the Admirals lost 2-1 to the Grand Rapids Griffins, they can leave the Bradley Center knowing when their first two post-season games will be.  (They probably won’t know the opponents until Sunday).

So clear your schedules for Thursday and Saturday, yo.

Ok, now to the game.

The Admirals, continuing to punish the jersey embroiderer, added two more new names for tonight’s game. Taylor Beck and Michael Latta, who finished their junior seasons over the weekend, were the fresh faces.  And here’s what the coach said about their debuts.

“I liked Latta.  He plays hard and he’s got some skills.  I think the one thing about him is his pace to the game, but he does a lot of things well in terms of competing.

“I thought Beck got an eye-opener tonight.  He’s going to have to compete a lot harder for me, because he’s a big guy, but there wasn’t enough…..there were a couple of moments where he had the puck down below the goal line that he was pretty good…. But on their second goal, all he’s got to do is finish Tatar behind the net and it’s a dead play.  These are little things here that when you get guys out of junior hockey, that you need to fix, and there’s not a lot of time to fix it right now. “

The Griffins’ Cory Emmerton would be the first to light the lamp with 7:47 to go in the first. Chris “shop at” Minard(s) gathered the puck from Adam Keefe . Brett Palin stepped up to contest Minard giving him a good shove but was unable to jar the puck loose. This allowed Minard to pass the puck to Emmerton, who was crashing the net uncontested from the back side, and for an easy goal.

The second period got off to a productive, if not lucky start for the Admirals, and more specifically Andreas Thuresson, who was able to pick up his 14^th goal on the season at 2:02.  Newcomer Latta gave the puck in the neutral zone to fellow noob Cory Conacher.  After receiving the puck Conacher put a shot on net from way out that hit Griffins net minder Jordan Pearce in the torso, and he looked like he thought he still had the puck in his pads.  Instead, the puck had just gotten past Pearce and was slowly moving through the crease as Thuresson was pushing through a defender hard to the net.  On his way to being shoved to the ice, Thuresson got enough on the puck to give it a little more zip to get the Admirals’ only goal of the night. It was one of those plays where the goalie wishes he saw it because there was quite a bit of time between initial stop and Thuresson getting to the loose puck.

“Over the last 40 minutes we carried the play and had the majority of the chances and we should have won the hockey game, but their goalie played well, and we couldn’t find ways to put it past him,” said the Coach.  “And the one that we did put past him was a bad goal by him.  He should have had that easy wrist shot from the blue line and he didn’t.  It’s funny how it goes…there’s lots that should have went in and the one that shouldn’t have did.”

The Griffins, not allowing the Admirals too much time to celebrate the goal, got the lead right back off of a Tomas Tatar tally (that’s alliteration kids) just :34 seconds later.  After a Ilari Filppula shot that went wide, Tatar gathered the puck from behind the net and came around near side to try a wrap around. Jeremy Smith was able to stop the first attempt but unfortunately was unable to stop the second as the puck trickled behind Smith and over the line to give the Griffins the lead, and Tartar his 24^th on the year.

The Admirals had chances in the 3^rd period, and the sound “ping” was heard, illustrating in sound how close they came on a chance.  The home team outshot the Griffins 14-5 in the frame, and they seemed to start using some speed to their advantage.  But Pearce was solid, and the defense was able to get the puck out of trouble when needed.

Coach Lambert says that it’s great to be in first, but the focus is elsewhere right now.

“We’re trying to build here.  In terms of standings and points and things like that, that’s not our focus right now.  It can’t be, because we are trying to improve our game with the number of new players that we have in the lineup.  That’s really our focus – to sort of get back to the foundation and continue to try and build.  There are certain plays that happened in the game tonight that guys that haven’t been here very long don’t recognize.  And it’s all part of the process of trying to get better and we have to do it quickly.”

NOTES & QUESTIONS:

So what did you think of Latta and Beck?  I thought Latta really picked it up from about the half way point in the second. I felt he was one of the few out there with a real fire… I thought he helped create a few good chances and even got some chances of his own off of his hard work.  Beck?  I wouldn’t say he looked like a loser, baby…..but he didn’t impress me (with his Devil’s Haircut) the way that some of the other ATO guys had in their debuts.

Plenty of dump and chase, but I think they were better about skating it into the zone in the 3^rd period especially.

Was that the loudest pipe you’ve ever heard, on Josi’s bullet in the 3^rd?

Foss and Leaderer….act II…..thoughts?

Laakso and Josi combined for well over 40 minutes of ice time.  Big effort from those guys tonight.  Laakso almost scored in his fifth straight game….but couldn’t get his stick on a rebound on a play in the 3^rd period.

Looks like Ford was able to avoid suspension.  Word is that Peoria didn’t even submit tape to the league about the hit.

Begin took a puck to the leg and had to be helped off the ice.  Day-to-day is the word for now.

And one more note:  The Admirals have a chance to set a franchise record for the fewest penalty minutes in a season.  The current record is 1,086 minutes in the 83-84 season….and with three games to go, the Admirals are sitting on 1005 minutes.

The Admirals suited up 5 total players on ATO or PTO contracts and failed to convert on a chance to clinch the West, as they were defeated 4-3 by the Peoria Rivermen Sunday evening.  With Rockford defeating Texas 5-1, the Admirals could have become the “kings of the west” and clinched home ice advantage through most of the playoffs but alas it wasn’t meant to be.

Here’s the coach.

Only 3:37 into the game things weren’t looking good for the Admirals and unfortunately, worse for former Admiral Dave Scatchard. With Scatchard skating the puck into the zone from the near boards he passed the puck though the slot to a fellow Rivermen. After Scatchard passed, Scott Ford met him with a shoulder to the head and Scatchard went down.  He remained down and had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher. Ford was given a five minute major and a game misconduct for “checking to the head”. I am sorry if this seems kind of vague or non-descript and that is because I didn’t actually see the hit that sent him down, and the replay crew rightfully didn’t deem it replay-worthy.  Please feel free to give your description of the play in the comments section.

Coach Lambert doesn’t know if there will be a suspension, but didn’t think it was a dirty hit.

That was just the start for the Admirals and their penalty troubles as they committed five penalties in the 1^st period alone. Mark Santorelli’s penalty came at the 9:58 mark for holding and just :19 seconds later the Rivermen put a crooked number on the board.  The goal has followed a theme this year and that theme is not consulting with the goal judge and making a unilateral decision on goal or no goal by the Referees.  This was no exception as Akim Aliu was the beneficiary of the hack job. Nathan Oystrick put a shot on net from the near circle that Atte Engren turned aside to the far side icing line. Aliu was there to put a shot on net that Engren had apparently covered. The Ref, Tim Mayer was against the boards at the far side of the ice with his hand up for a delayed penalty when his Go-Go-Gadget eyes saw the puck cross the line.

Here’s Coach Lambert’s token request for video replay.

The Rivermen capitalized on another of the aforementioned penalties. This one was courtesy of T.J. Hensick. Jeff Foss didn’t even have enough time to find out where to sit in the penalty box as the Rivermen only needed : 16 to convert on this odd man advantage. Again, Atte Engren stopped the first shot but was unable to corral the rebound and received no help from his defense. The puck was being peppered form in close with almost everyone in the crease when it came out far enough where a poaching Hensick picked up the puck, skated far side slot and put the shot past the screened Engren.

In the second period the Admirals were able to half the lead off a Chris Mueller goal while on the Double Rainbow Mountain Fury Power Play. The Admirals had the 5-on-3 advantage with Dean Arsene and Brennan Evans sitting in the box. For the Admirals, Roman Josi and Santorelli were playing catch with the puck with Josi in the near circle and Santorelli down low goal line level. They were seemingly lulling the Rivermen to sleep when Santo sent a quick and beautiful pass though the crease to Mueller awaiting back door. Mueller didn’t even have to do anything but angle his blade as the pass from Santo hit his tape the straight to the back of the net.

In the 3^rd period, the fans didn’t even have time to sit down before the Admirals’ Gabriel Bourque lit the lamp to tie the game at two.  Just :44 into the third, Ryan Thang passed the puck to Bourque, who was down low below the goal. He tried to pass the puck back to the slot but it was deflected to netting on the back of the cage. Bourque hit the back of the net to get the puck to come down then proceeded to try a wrap around shot that successfully beat Allen far side. It was a great effort by Bourque to keep the play alive and beat Allen with a quick wraparound.

The game would not be tied for long as the Rivermen took back the lead at the 3:00 mark.  This was just a simple, ‘you messed up and I am going to make you pay’ goal as T.J Hensick intercepted a pass from Santorelli from inside the slot and beat Engren after a couple strides. No big deal right, we can get that ba….. Rivermen goal?!?!?! It took them 13 seconds to make Engren pay for his rubber glove.  Adam Cracknell put a harmless shot on net from the near side circle and Engren tried the glove save and failed with the puck falling in the crease allowing Stefan Della Rovere to take the loose change to the bank to give the Rivermen the 4-2 lead.  It was the fastest pair of opponent goals this season.

The Admirals refusing to go away quietly got their third goal of the night with the extra attacker on the ice in lieu of a goalie.  Andreas Thuresson was at the near side point he sent the pass rink wide to Teemu Laakso who wound up and fired one past Allen to give the Admirals a little more hope.  It was Laakso’s fourth in as many games.

That hope would fade into obscurity as the Admirals could not get the tying goal, despite a last half-minute flurry, making the final 4-3 in favor of the bad guys.

NOTES:

With 3:01 to go in the first period Ben Bishop stopped his second (yes second) shot on goal and after the puck started going the other way Bishop went down to his knees in pain and left the game. The only thing I can think is he got a puck under the pads.

Although I would not call Ford a thug, or a goon, or Matt Cooke, I do think he will get a couple games off without pay for his hit on Scatchard. The NHL is looking to get rid of shots to the head no matter the intention and I am sure the AHL has a lot of pressure on them to stay in line with their parent league.

Although the Admirals were down a man or two quite often in the first period they only managed to get 2 shots on goal…  Two… as in the second loneliest number since the number one.  I am no mathematician but I am pretty sure you don’t have a good chance of winning a period if you can’t muster more than my (Sutty’s) IQ in shots.

According to the coach, Grant Lewis and Aaron Johnson were scratched with injuries.  They are day-to-day.  Kelsey Wilson tore his MCL and stretched his ACL.  4-6 weeks is the latest timetable we’ve heard.

Not the worst thing in the world that Peoria got a couple of points.  Makes it that much tougher for the Wolves to make the playoffs.  And that would be preferable.

QUESTIONS:

So how were the new guys tonight?  Foss?  Leaderer?  Watson?  Cahill?  Conacher?  Anything?  Here’s the coach.

Thoughts on Atte?  Rebounds?  Glove?  Interest in leaving the crease?

Bummed that they couldn’t clinch tonight?  Or is it just a stennank in the road that the team was probably due to have?

Anything else you want to talk about?

Credit the American Hockey League schedule makers for finally getting one right, having Milwaukee and Houston face off for the final time of season on Friday night, with the road to first place in the Western Conference paved in gold for the winner.

But more props to the Admirals for bringing their steamrollers for work on that road, even if took Milwaukee 20 minutes to rev them up.  The Admirals scored four goals in the second period for a come from behind and statement win 5-2 over the Aeros.

However, Milwaukee coach Lane Lambert would prefer his team stay humble about the victory:

Seven minutes into the hockey game, Gabriel Bourque got the Admirals cooking with an even strength goal off a rebound from Ryan Thang’s original shot.  Unfortunately for Milwaukee, Bourque’s tally was sandwiched between a pair of Houston power play markers. Jarod Palmer scored first, then Jon DiSavatore potted his 27th goal of season–and 13th on the man advantage–to make it 2-1 Aeros in dominating fashion after the first period (Houston out-shot Milwaukee 15-6 after 20 minutes).

Much like the Aeros recent leads in the standings, their advantage would not last long.  Milwaukee responded with perhaps their best period of season, scoring four unanswered goals to grab a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes.

Chris Mueller got the Admirals party started with a 5-on-3 power play goal five minutes into the second period to tie game.  Mark Van Guilder chipped in 10th goal of the season one and half minutes later, still on the power play from the second penalty call of the 5-on-3.  It was a little redemption for Van Guilder, who thought he scored three and half minutes earlier but was robbed by an early whistle (More terrible non-goal calls to come).

With Milwaukee leading 3-2, the Admirals pressed for more and got rewarded with a pair of goals during the 15th minute of second period.

At 15:16, Mueller, planted on the doorstep, got his second goal of the night by chipping home a rebound off of Aaron Johnson’s initial shot.  After Mueller’s goal, Hackett suffered a total breakdown, taking a four minute minor for roughing (not sure why one of the calls wasn’t a slash) at 15:43 while attacking freshly-minted Admiral Austin Watson.  Five seconds later Teemu Laakso let go a blast that beat Hackett clean and ended the Aeros starter’s night.  Milwaukee, out-shooting Houston 14-4 in second period, took a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes.

The third period proved rather uneventful with the exception of several minor scrums and a ridiculous non-goal call on a would-be Andreas Thuresson tally.  On a wrap around, Thuresson clearly tucked a puck beyond the goal line and behind Houston’s reliever netminder Josh Tordjman.  Despite the official having a clear look at the play, and the red light being emphatically on, the goal call was missed and the goal judge was never consulted.

FURTHER GAME NOTES:

Kelsey Wilson left the game during his first shift with an dreaded “lower body” injury and did not return.  Wilson is looking at MRI tomorrow to find out the extent of the issue.  Too bad it had to happen on the night that Wilson became the Admirals all-time leader in AHL games played at 294.

Jeremy Smith improved to 15-6-2 in the Admirals net, stopping 22 of 24 shots for the win.  Smith wasn’t spectacular, but he didn’t need to be on a night where Milwaukee’s defense was stout for the final 40 minutes.

Milwaukee’s power play was clicking against the Aeros going 3-for-8 in the game.  Meanwhile, the Admirals’ penalty kill allowed two goals on just four man advantage chances, but that discussion is for another day.

Tonight was the AHL debut games for Watson and Chris Cahill.  Both made great first impressions on their new coach:

In front of 7,379 fans at the Bradley Center, Milwaukee moves up to 98 points for a four-point top spot advantage in the West Division.  The Admirals are now a virtual lock to win the division and the Western Conference.

Needless to say, the game of the year for Milwaukee did not disappoint.

So Roundtable, while you celebrate the win, here are some questions to ponder:

Mueller was awesome tonight.  Is it safe to say that he has become the team’s unofficial heart and soul?

What did you think of a new guys?  Watson drove Houston (especially Hackett) crazy all night, while former Yale standout Cahill was an impressive physical presence and fit right in.

Though he returned against San Antonio, are you happy to see a healthy Steve Begin back and wrecking havoc on the ice?

Has there been a better period for the Admirals than tonight’s second 20 minutes against Houston?

How about Milwaukee’s formerly dormant power play?  Seems like the special teams are getting better in every game as of late.

Are you getting sick of AHL non-goals?  Thuresson’s was ridiculous, and that was SECOND missed goal of the night for Milwaukee.

Do you have your Western Conference champagne bottle uncorked or are you going to wait until the Admirals wrap things up before enjoying this win?