Ramblings

Roundtable Mailbag
(Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch)

After an energy sapping three-in-three the Milwaukee Admirals have earned a day-off of work. They should be returning to practice tomorrow as they prepare for a Thursday and Friday road set up North against the Manitoba Moose. This break in the action allows for a nice time for you readers to chime in and ask away questions that you have across the board. Let’s get a proper Admirals Roundtable Mailbag started, shall we?

For your mail bag, I’d like to turn the 15 with…on you. Who was your first big hockey player you’ve met, besides the Admirals and Predators? What is your favorite hockey moment, and non-hockey moment? What made you get into hockey? Who influenced you? Most painful memory? It will be like interviewing yourself with your questions so we can get to know Daniel. ~Gail

I actually didn’t meet a big name hockey player until I started up as an intern with the Milwaukee Admirals. So, you’d be going down the list of the players from the 2012-13 season plus many of the names included on the 35th Anniversary campaign that cropped up. Pekka Rinne comes to mind there. What I often enjoy though is that you really can’t get star struck with hockey players. They’re just too down to Earth to get that feeling. I would counter by saying I met Al Unser Jr. when I was four-years old at Road America and he brought me under the roped off section of the Galles Racing garage to show me his car and sign me shirt. I seriously still remember that one.

My favorite hockey moment would probably be watching the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings rivalry growing up. That’s probably what really had me locked into hockey from that point forward. Even looking back now that rivalry holds up because it crammed so much: intensity, high level talent, best teams in the Western Conference at the time, and usually Stanley Cup implications off of it. The brawls were a blast watching it when I was younger. The talented players around it are what make it hold up for me.

My favorite non-hockey moment would have to be school related. As a freshman in high school I was so caught up in the “what will I be doing for a career and when I get to college” dynamic so much that I was never really in the present. I ended up getting a 1.5 GPA and was basically on the verge of getting kicked out of school at 14-years old. I would say the two memories that come to mind the most are when I first made Honor Roll two-years after that happened or either my high school or college graduation. At the time of making Honor Roll I needed to go around and have professors sign off a check list every now and then to get repeated updates on the work I was doing – probably to keep me fully aware on grades. The last class I had to check off the professor pulled me aside after class to tell me I made Honor Roll and it meant the world knowing I had worked back out of re-doing all of my freshman year classes in tandem with sophomore classes at Walden III. I’d say that’s where the work ethic started and every accomplishment since probably starts from that moment.

What made me get into hockey was the sports field in general. I always loved the sport but, at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, all I really covered was Women’s Soccer and Women’s Basketball. I had applied several places to try and break into the job field and ended up -probably- becoming the oldest intern that the Milwaukee Admirals ever brought in. I’ve been caught on working in hockey ever since.

My biggest influence would be my parents. They’ve taught me everything as far as selflessness, work, and having good humor goes!

My most painful memory – going the two route as I often catch players with that. Injury-wise, I’ve been fairly fortunate to not have had any broken bones but I did tear my right ACL a few years back and not long after that I had a left high-ankle sprain. I would say I still feel the right knee being weird at times but the most painful was the ankle. When your knee goes it is more of a jolt, you hear it pop in your ear, and not much more than adrenaline after. The ankle hurt but, with college starting the week after, I bucked the brace – taped it myself zombie apocalypse style – and walked through the pain. Non-Injury, the most painful memory for me feels like it is on the horizon in the near future as it relates to work. Behind the scenes this season it hasn’t been great but, as with the players in the AHL, I’m going through the developmental process in my own way. I’ll always be a believer in good things happen to good people. No matter what lies ahead I’m sticking to that.

What is happening with Cody Bass? Will he back on the admirals roster next season? ~Diane

Cody Bass is done for the season after suffering a knee injury on 12/28/16 in a game against the Iowa Wild. He required surgery and is in the rehab process as we speak. The last I checked he no longer needed crutches and is slowly getting back in the swing of things which I’m sure is a well needed mental boost. As rough as this season is, especially given his rise back to NHL caliber play since joining the Nashville Predators organization, he is still under contract next season and will likely be a top candidate as Admirals team captain for the 2017-18 season. He’s a real well respected locker room presence and none of that goes away after a season ending injury.

Do you think that Dante Fabbro could get an amateur tryout soon? Seems like he killed it for BU. ~Seth

Well, in order to help facilitate that Dante Fabbro would need to sign his entry level contract with the Nashville Predators. That hasn’t happened yet. The players on the Milwaukee Admirals radar at the end of this season are: Frédéric Allard, Samuel Girard, and Yakov Trenin. Though, we aren’t short of a surprise here and there as several college and junior seasons are coming to an end which sees the likes of -say- a Tyler Kelleher turning up out of nowhere.

A friend and I keep debating about Roscoe. What kind of animal is he suppose to be exactly? Other than the mascot obviously. ~Chris

Why, Roscoe is an orange sea dog with a puck for a nose! I actually had this question brought up when both myself and Roscoe were in Nashville. I thought a fan on Twitter had a newspaper clipping that had a bit of backstory to Roscoe but I can’t seem to find it.

How many players that get a PTO contract actually sticks around? ~Dennis

I’m not sure there is any exact league-wide number to that but I can say every PTO Contract serves as an audition for many players in the ECHL to make a claim to be full-time in the AHL. People may already forget that Adam Payerl started last season signed to the Cyclones in the ECHL, was a roster invitee to training camp, and started last season on a PTO before earning an AHL deal with the Admirals and then an NHL deal with the Predators. Matt White was a PTO signing last year from outside of the organization with the Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) who signed a two-year AHL Contract with the Admirals. Derek Army this season is on his second PTO deal with the Admirals and it wouldn’t surprise me to see that lead to something more next season.

Was sorting thru prospect stuff & noticed Tyler Moy should be graduating from Harvard this year. should we expect to seem him in some Ads games when their season ends or a possible ELC with Nashville? ~Eric

I would expect him to go to Toronto or Boston, then Buffalo, and then to the New York Rangers (I kid, I kid). Tyler Moy still hasn’t been signed to any sort of contract by the Nashville Predators so he really can’t do that yet. I would greatly hope that he does sign and begins his pro career next season as a member of the Admirals, though. He has had a fantastic 2016-17 season with Harvard and I would be gutted if he made like his ol’ teammate Jimmy Vesey and darted. I don’t know if you would see the Predators draft a Harvard talent ever again.

Who handles the scouting of the lower levels (major junior, NCAA, ECHL) and who decides to sign those players to AHL deals? ~Josh

That mostly extends across the full organization but you can give plenty of credit to how the Admirals setup shop to Nashville Predators Assistant General Manager and Milwaukee Admirals General Manager Paul Fenton and his scouting staff. As a small example, if you go back to hear the post-game audio when Stephen Perfetto signed Dean Evason was quick to praise them specifically for finding him for the work he was doing for the Alaska Aces in the ECHL. More often than not the praise can go out to Fenton for what Admirals fans get to see as far as non-drafted talent goes.

Will we ever get to see the AHL East coast teams? And will the California teams ever be pushed to the 76 game schedule or, ahem, God forbid, the rest of the league be dragged down to play fewer games? ~MGB

I would certainly love to see more variety back on the schedule. There were quite a few Eastern Conference teams that were always a lot of fun to see appear on the calendar. The Toronto Marlies and Rochester Americans come to mind as teams that were fun going back and forth with. Even the brief time against the Utica Comets and seeing games played inside the Utica Memorial Auditorium where scenes from Slap Shot were filmed was awesome. I don’t know if that would ever happen if there were to be a return to a full 76-game schedule for all AHL teams. It still is asinine for the AHL to allow for a lesser schedule for Californian teams. If cutting excess travel out of the equation is the goal the Admirals traveling from Milwaukee to Iowa to Milwaukee in three days doesn’t paint a fair image nor does travel expense from teams purchased by NHL parent clubs to be closer to home. If there are any teams that should cover the cost of excessive travel – it’s them.

Do you have any additional questions? Feel free to ask away in the comment section below and I will add them to the Mailbag up top with my answer. Tomorrow we will have a story on the Cincinnati Cyclones with Sin Bin Cyclones own Dakota Johnson. Keep tuned as we await the Manitoba road trip!

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Chatterbox

Chatterbox, 190
(Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch)

The last time that the Milwaukee Admirals and Grand Rapids Griffins played I called my shot and said that the Griffins would win 6-2. I wasn’t going to go that far this time around but I had a gut feeling for awhile, looking at the schedule, that the Admirals were set up for disaster with the Griffins at the end of a three-in-three weekend. Never before has my gut instinct been so immensely wrong. And I couldn’t be more thrilled.

While the scoreline itself is great what stands out the most to me in the Admirals 6-3 win over the Griffins was their all-around performance. The opening minutes to that contest were very Griffins heavy with attacking pressure and an early goal but it didn’t take the Admirals too long to find a foothold and start driving right back.

It may have been a weird goal to watch happen but when Pontus Åberg flipped a puck up from his zone to catch Matt White as he skated across the attacking blueline – that’s when the Admirals started to really clamp down. White scores off the breakaway and makes it a 1-1 game. And that set the stage for a second period that was, for the lack of a better term, bonkers.

Martin Frk did score a really weird goal just over a minute into the second period. His shot just managed to find a gap in Marek Mazanec‘s left arm as he was holding to the near post and it trickled in. That was then followed by the gaffe of all gaffes by Mazanec’s counterpart last night Eddie Pasquale. He skated behind the net, appeared to suddenly not know where he wanted to play the puck, realized he had no more time to make a decision on which side to play it, backhanded it, and he banked it off the boards right to Vladislav Kamenev for what would be effectively an empty netter for the Russian.

It’s around this point, only at a 2-2 game, when you start seeing a team as high quality as the Griffins being the one who looked out of their depth and lost in their own head. That mistake by Pasquale was a microcosm of the Griffins in a lot of ways. He didn’t have the time and space he thought he did when he got there, lost it, and paid the consequence.

(Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch)

What followed next was something that legitimately had me in shock as I sat back and watched the game unfold. Were the Admirals capable of winning last night’s game? Sure, everyone always has a chance. The Griffins are a beatable team and the Admirals have beaten them in the past. Yet, what the Admirals did to a team as good as the Griffins in that second period was memorizing to watch. Yes, Frk scored 1:10 into the second period but that was just a single shot and one of only four shots on goal that the Griffins would have in the period. The Admirals outshot the Griffins 16-4 in the second period. The Admirals scored four goals in the second period against a goaltender in Pasquale who had recorded consecutive shutouts against them entering the start. It was as authoritative and dominant as the Admirals have played all season – structured, balanced, smart, aggressive, and also without the need for a single penalty kill.

I would have said that the Admirals went through two periods of hockey without taking a penalty -but- they did. But damn was it worth it when they did.

Watching from afar I can safely say that the Griffins are a team that love to talk. There are several players on that team that embrace the agitator game and just aren’t willing to back it up with a fight. The Admirals are now sixth in the AHL with 34 fighting majors. The Griffins are dead last in the AHL with 13 fighting majors. The Griffins talk the talk but are never willing to walk the walk.

I have to imagine that when Matt Lorito challenged Anthony Richard he did so mostly because he is the little guy, the kid, and the youngest player on the ice. I can’t imagine he ever in his wildest dreams saw Richard doing what he did next with those three viscous right hands that landed flush to drop him. I certainly didn’t! The reaction from the Admirals bench was incredible – it erupted. If the Admirals needed the extra energy for the rest of the night that fight, followed by the late second period power-play goal from Åberg, did just that.

(Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch)

What comes next is the important thing for the Admirals: sustaining an effort such as that. It’s been awhile since the Admirals have been on a proper run of form. This season for the longest time has felt like it has been on a “win one, lose one, repeat” cycle. The importance of the growing pains lately for the Admirals was to mature into a “defense-first” style and to make home ice at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena a place of dominance and to make visiting teams feel uneasy having to walk into the building. There have been some hiccups over the past two months in getting that all smoothed out but last night, and Friday night against the Iowa Wild for the matter, are among the finest examples of that working successfully. If it becomes the norm it is coming at the perfect time of the season for the Admirals to find an identity and get hot. It’s playoff season. And playoff style hockey is starting to come out in the way the Admirals play.

After last night’s game I had the chance to speak with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. I then caught up with Mr. Gordie Howe Hat Trick himself, Richard, as well as Jack Dougherty and Adam Payerl. These were last night’s post-game comments.

Comments on the comments? Was a performance such as last night a sign of things to come from the Milwaukee Admirals or a flash in the pan? Will they be able to sustain that sort of effort on the road on Thursday and Friday against the Manitoba Moose? How does that game set the stage for the rematch against the Grand Rapids Griffins on Sunday?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Game Recaps

Howe About That Richard? Ads Defeat Grand Rapids 6-3
(Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch)

The Milwaukee Admirals won 6-3 against the Grand Rapids Griffins at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Sunday night.

You can count this as one of the best results of the season. The Admirals and Griffins were both on the last of a three-in-three weekend but the Griffins were riding high on two wins whilst the Admirals suffered a tough loss in Iowa last night. The Admirals exploded in the second period and Anthony Richard capped it off with a Gordie Howe hat trick to see them finish off the best team in the Central Division in style tonight.

“The win is one thing, and the score is one thing, but the effort is what we’re proud of,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “It’s easy to just take the night off and just say, “oh well, it’s three-in-three and we’re tired,” and we didn’t. We just worked. It feels good for us, as a coaching staff, to see the group do that.”

It didn’t take long for the Griffins to assert their dominance tonight. They came out in attack and earned a first period lead in only 3:31 of play. Eric Tangradi glided across the top of the right wing circle and released a snap shot against the grain that beat Marek Mazanec high glove-side for his thirteenth goal of the season.

With 4:03 remaining in the first period the Griffins had a goal waved off. A shot had knuckled up on Mazanec and Mike Borkowski quickly snapped at it out of the air. The puck flew down into the net but the baseball style swat by Borkowski was quite clearly above the crossbar and the officials waved it off on the spot.

Moments after that disallowed goal the Admirals equalized. Pontus Åberg had flipped a puck high into the air and Matt White gloved it down just as he was crossing into the attacking zone. White threw the puck down and had a breakaway that ended with a backhander through the five-hole of Eddie Pasquale for his thirteenth goal of the season.

Similar to the way they started the first period the Griffins had a quick tally to open the second period. Martin Frk whistled a shot from the right wing wall through the arm of Mazanec as he was holding the near post. There was just enough of an opening stick-side on Mazanec where the puck hit off of him and glance off the post before Frk had his twenty-third goal of the season and see the Griffins back out in front.

Coming into tonight’s game Pasquale had consecutive shutouts against the Admirals. Perhaps with the Admirals second goal he was making up for lost time or simply felt bad for doing that. The veteran netminder was playing the puck behind his net, hesitate to play it forward, and then passed a backhander directly off the end boards to Vladislav Kamenev. The Russian had a simple rush to the empty net to record his fifteenth goal of the season and make it a 2-2 game.

The Admirals would follow that up to take their first lead of the night. Andrew O’Brien unleashed a low shot as he entered the attacking zone. Pasquale failed to secure the shot with his glove and the puck bounced free for the speedy Anthony Richard to bang home on the rebound to earn his fourth goal of the season and give the Admirals a 3-2 lead.

“My first thought was that I think [O’Brien] was going to give it to Gaudreau and [Ribeiro] on the other side to create maybe a three-on-two or four-on-two,” said Richard. “So I was like, I’m going to create space with my speed and just rush to the net. The puck came right at me on my tape.”

It was around this point when it felt like the dam had officially broken. The Admirals poured on pressure and then saw the French Fry line come up with the goods again. Mike Ribeiro dropped a pass back for Richard who opened up down the left wing for the trailing Frédérick Gaudreau to snap a shot from the slot past the stick-side of Pasquale for his twenty-first goal of the season and make it a 4-2 game for the Admirals.

Richard’s second period was already something special but, following a high stick by Yevgeni Svechnikov, he would get into his first career pro fight in the scrum that followed. He paired up with Matt Lorito and proceeded to knock the tar out of him. It was a decisive 10-8 win in the fight cards as he out-struck Lorito and earned the knockdown. Richard earned a Gordie Howe hat trick in the space of 10:02 in the second period.

“We were all biting our lips,” laughed Evason. “I had my card in front of me because the guys were so excited. We asked him if he had done it before and he said, “yeah, I know what I’m doing.” So, he knows what he is doing. Clearly he is not afraid to do it.”

Almost forgotten about in the melee was the fact that Svechnikov gave the game its first power-play chance of the night after 38:55 of play. The Admirals momentum kept rolling and a no-look spinning backhand feed by Trevor Smith rolled back into Pontus Åberg’s sweet spot in the low left wing circle for a one-timer that roared by Pasquale for his team leading twenty-fifth goal of the season with just 2.7 seconds remaining in the second period.

In the late goings of the third period Tangradi would net his second of the night to cut the Admirals lead to 5-3. He had a puck right on the doorstep of Mazanec but peeled back out before turning around in the low left wing and roofing a shot over the glove hand to record his fourteenth goal of the season.

The Griffins went empty net and extra attacker in the final minute. Mazanec attempted to score a goalie goal but missed out. That was salvaged quickly as Kamenev passed off to Adam Payerl to score the empty netter, earn his fifteenth goal of the season, and seal the Admirals 6-3 victory against the Griffins.

Next on tap for the Admirals will be some rest time before traveling up North to play on the road against the Manitoba Moose at the MTS Centre on Thursday and Friday night. Both of the games will be played at 7:00 PM CDT. The Admirals will then travel back to see the Griffins once again at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena for a Sunday tilt.

“I think it’s important not to dwell on this win,” said Jack Dougherty. “We see what happens when we play a certain way and stay out of the box and play how the coaches want us. I think it is important for us to get a lot of rest after this. We’re looking forward to going to Manitoba and getting ready for playoffs here.”

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals play last night there were no roster moves made in the organization. Tonight’s line combinations were: Richard-Ribeiro-Gaudreau, White-Smith-Åberg, Perfetto-Kamenev-Payerl, Florek-Army-Liambas, Oligny-Carrier, Murphy-Granberg, O’Brien-Dougherty. Tonight’s scratches were: Tyler Kelleher (healthy), Justin Kirkland (undisclosed injury), Adam Pardy (broken left arm), and Rick Pinkston (healthy). Tonight for the Grand Rapids Griffins forward Dominik Shine made his professional playing debut.

What were your thoughts on tonight’s game and this weekend’s three-in-three? Where did that second period explosion for the Milwaukee Admirals come from?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Scouting

Griffins: Scouting the Enemy
(Photo Credit: Sam Iannamico)

Normally, I would like to say that I am an eternal optimist. Tonight’s game is one I’ve looked at on the schedule for awhile and thought it just didn’t look great. The Milwaukee Admirals split the deck with the Iowa Wild in the first two legs of this three-in-three weekend. That meant having a lengthy bus ride back after a 4-1 loss in Iowa to come home where a dominant Griffins team awaits. By all accounts this feels like it sets up harshly for the Admirals. If they are able to flip last night’s script to defeat the Griffins tonight? It could be one of the best results of the season.

What will be a factor for both teams is they are both at the end of a three-in-three. The Admirals had the Wild for two games. The Griffins played twice against the Chicago Wolves, first-leg at home and second-leg on the road, and won both times in games that each required overtime. Fatigue will very much play a factor in how this game can go. And -if it stays tight- it will likely be a test to see who has anything left in the gas tank in the third period to make a difference.

The Griffins will arrive to Milwaukee with a record of 40-17-1-4 (85 points, 0.685 points percentage). They are in the lead of the Central Division and saw their gap to second place ever so slightly grow with the overtime wins against the Wolves (0.656). The Admirals right now rest nestled in third place (0.619) as they have for quite some time now.

As high powered as the Wolves offense might be it is actually the Griffins who are the most lethal attacking team in the division. They score 3.48 goals per game while only conceding 2.47 goals against per game. The Griffins are one of the most balanced and well structured teams in the AHL. And, against the Admirals this season, are 5-3-0-0 with a pair of wins from three contests in Milwaukee.

The leading scorer for the Griffins is Matt Lorito who has 52 points (19 goals, 33 assists). He is followed very closely by Ben Street who has 50 points (23 goals, 27 assists) which includes last night’s game-winning goal in overtime against the Wolves.

Those two are clearly not standing alone. The Griffins have three other players with 40 points or more: Martin Frk, 45 points (22 goals, 23 assists)… Evgeny Svechnikov, 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists)… and Tomas Nosek 40 points (15 goals, 25 assists).

By comparison the Admirals have no players at the 50 point plateau and only three players at the 40 points or more threshold: Frédérick Gaudreau, 42 points (20 goals, 22 assists)… Pontus Åberg, 41 points (24 goals, 17 assists)… and Trevor Smith, 40 points (12 goals, 28 assists).

Vladislav Kamenev could join that group tonight. The Russian currently has 39 points (14 goals, 25 assists). It would take a bit of puck luck for it to be done tonight -but- Matt White is also close to reaching that mark, too. White has 37 points (12 goals, 25 assists) right now.

In net the Griffins have a tandem of Jared Coreau and Eddie Pasquale. Coreau made his NHL debut this season and has made 14 appearances this season with the Detroit Red Wings. He participated in both contests against the Wolves on Friday and Saturday night to push his season total in the AHL up to a record of 14-7-0-2 from 23 appearances with a 2.29 goals against average, 0.922 save percentage, and 2 shutouts.

If the Griffins decide to go a different route and not see Coreau work all three games of the weekend set it would give the reigns to Pasquale. As nice as that might sound the veteran netminder has won all three starts he has made against the Admirals this season and has a spectacular 0.99 goals against average, 0.968 save percentage, and 2 shutouts in the process.

What are your expectations for tonight’s game? Is this Milwaukee Admirals team capable enough right now to compete with this Grand Rapids Griffins team? How important will the start to this game be for the Admirals?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Game Recaps

No Luck Tonight in Iowa; Ads Lose 4-1
(Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

On the road tonight the Milwaukee Admirals lost 4-1 against the Iowa Wild at the Wells Fargo Arena.

Whenever there are more fighting majors than goals scored you are either looking at a highly explosive game or a loss. Tonight the Admirals came up on the wrong side of a Wild team that did a solid job of out-battling them to the point of attack tonight. Their efforts were backed by a quality effort from Steve Michalek in net who stopped all but one of the Admirals twenty-eight shots on goal.

Tonight’s game started pretty much where last night’s left off between Jimmy Oligny and Ryan Carter. The two dropped the gloves eleven seconds into the contest which was trickle over after a rough exchange in front of the net last night in Milwaukee. It was primarily a jab fest with with a few over-hand rights getting through. There was not much separating the two in the fight cards.

After a high sticking minor against Matt White the Wild were able to score from the night’s first power-play chance. Pat Cannone delivered a pass from the low left wing into the high right wing circle for a one-timed shot by A.J. Jenks. Jonas Gunnarsson was able to defend the shot by Jenks but the puck laid flat in the crease for Gerald Mayhew to score on a tap in and earn the first goal of his professional playing career.

Less than three minutes later the Wild were able to make it a 2-0 first period lead. The Wild were able to keep a cycle going and Sam Anas chipped a puck down the right wing wall for Zack Mitchell. It didn’t seem like there was any angle to shoot but Mitchell snuck a shot from below the goal line deep in the right wing pocket that rolled up off the skate of Gunnarsson as he hugged the near post to give Mitchell his tenth goal of the season.

Past the halfway point of the second period there was a moment of controversy from both sides of the ice. Hunter Warner delivered a huge hit on White as the forward had his head down. The check appeared to be targeted to the head and that drew the attention of Andrew O’Brien who went in for a fight. There wasn’t a call against Warner on the check. There wasn’t a call against O’Brien for instigating. And the Wild, if that fight didn’t whistle play dead, would have had a two-on-zip breakaway in attack. It was effectively left alone as a fight despite all that happened around it. Thankfully for the Admirals White wasn’t hurt on the play.

In the closing minutes of the second period the Admirals would get off the mark. A quick play in neutral ice between Anthony Richard and Frédérick Gaudreau sent the latter sprinting down the right wing wall. It appeared as if three Wild players were caught puck watching and Gaudreau labeled a pass for the back post to Stephen Perfetto that he took first time to beat Steve Michalek to score his first career AHL goal and make it a 2-1 game.

Out of the gate of the third period the Wild were able to notch a goal to take the wind out of the sails for the Admirals. Colton Beck passed out of the trapezoid to find Mayhew on the right face-off dot. His shot sailed back the net-front screen set by Tyler Sikura and beat Gunnarsson stick-side to make it 3-1 from Mayhew’s second career AHL goal.

Another fight would break out between these two teams as a result of a hard hit by the Wild. Trevor Murphy was clocked from behind and into the boards by Jenks. That had Adam Payerl after him and that fight, unlike the first tilt, has a decisive winner in Jenks who had the takedown after a quick flurry.

Before the Admirals pulled the trigger to bring Gunnarsson to the bench and bring the extra attacker on with under three-minutes remaining in regulation the Wild made it a 4-1 contest. Jenks ran clean through Murphy as he was breaking out of the defensive zone, corralled the loose puck, and proceeded to fire a wrister from the left wing circle low glove on Gunnarsson to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick with his first goal scored in the AHL this season.

It will be a long bus ride back tonight for the Admirals. They are heading home from Iowa right after this game and back to Milwaukee where they have a 5:00 PM CDT face-off tomorrow night on home ice against the Grand Rapids Griffins who just finished a two-in-two of their own against the Chicago Wolves. The Griffins won each of those games in overtime.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played last night there weren’t roster moves made in the organization but there was more roster shuffling as the team rotates through injuries. The line combinations tonight were: Richard-Gaudreau-Perfetto, White-Smith-Åberg, Payerl-Kamenev-Kelleher, Florek-Army-Liambas, Oligny-Carrier, Murphy-Granberg, O’Brien-Dougherty. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were: Justin Kirkland (undisclosed injury), Adam Pardy (broken left arm), Rick Pinkston (healthy), and Mike Ribeiro (rest).

What are your thoughts on tonight’s game? What happened to the Milwaukee Admirals in the first period? What is your assessment of Jonas Gunnarsson this season? Will the Admirals have enough in the tank to compete toe-to-toe with the Grand Rapids Griffins tomorrow?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Chatterbox

Chatterbox, Vol. 189
“Get out of here with that weak stuff,” said Vladislav Kamenev in perfect English last night allegedly. (Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch)

The test of this weekend’s three-in-three for the Milwaukee Admirals is a big one. The Iowa Wild have been playing great hockey and the Grand Rapids Griffins are always sharp. To see the Admirals find a way over the top of this mountain required a very strong start to the top and they went out and delivered on that with a 2-1 win last night.

As a scoreline, that win doesn’t feel flashy or overwhelming but that in a lot of ways is a reflection of what the Admirals did correctly last night. They were incredibly structured and detailed. It took a penalty shot from Sam Anas to finally get a puck past Marek Mazanec. The Admirals push for a  “defense-first” mentality showed up last night and with it came minimal quality scoring chances for the Wild – a team that was on a four-game point streak and three-game winning streak.

In a lot of ways last night’s game previewed playoff style hockey. That first period was a little wide open at times, made all the nuttier by the lack of whistles or stoppages in play, but the work rate and specifically defensive work rate for both sides was very good. It took a heads up play by the Admirals on a three-on-two rush to get a goal for Justin Florek and then a bounce off of Mike Reilly‘s skate for them to get the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal on the power-play. Even for the Admirals it was tight. The different was, after the Florek goal, they really settled down and started to dictate the game.

I’m expecting plenty more of the same tonight. If anything, with the game taking place in Iowa with the loss hanging over their head -plus- Sunday off unlike the Admirals, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Wild up their physical efforts and be even more aggressive. The desperation that the Wild started to play with towards the end of the third period, and the way they started the game, did get the Admirals caught up a little bit and caused turnovers to keep the Wild cycling in attack. The Admirals are going to probably need to weather a first period storm or find a way to silence the Wells Fargo Arena crowd.

After last night’s game I had the chance to speak with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. I then chatted with Pontus Åberg, Tyler Kelleher, and Anthony Richard. These were last night’s comments following the win over Iowa.

Comments on the comments? What are the chances that Jimmy Oligny and Ryan Carter drop the gloves tonight following the fracas between the two at the end of last night’s contest? With the Grand Rapids Griffins looming in the shadows Sunday: how important is it for the Admirals to get the victory tonight?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Game Recaps

A Complete Game; Ads Win 2-1
(Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch)

The Milwaukee Admirals won 2-1 against the Iowa Wild at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Friday night.

It’s been awhile since the Admirals played a very well structured sixty-minutes of hockey but they accomplished that tonight against the Wild. They received goals from Justin Florek and Pontus Åberg to get them out in front. It was only a Sam Anas penalty shot that got the better of Marek Mazanec in the Admirals victory tonight.

“It was a real quick game,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “No penalties. So everything was going really fast and both teams were working their butts off. That team works hard. Our team works hard. We have good games against them. Can’t see it being any different.”

Early into the first period the Admirals opened up the scoring with speed and numbers behind them. Mike Liambas had the puck down the right wing on a rush and was attempting a centering pass for Justin Florek that lofted a touch wide. Thankfully, Derek Army was also flying down the left wing and then opened up to deliver a picture perfect pass for Florek down the slot which he would bury past Alex Stalock for his ninth goal of the season.

“The goal was a big lift for us,” commented Evason. “We knew they had been playing very well. We knew they were very confident. One of our keys was to start well and hopefully take that confidence out of their game. We did not -but- we got the goal and the goal kind of did that for us.”

In the second period the Admirals extended their lead thanks to a power-play goal from the game’s first special teams exchange. Maxime Fortunus had been called for hooking and the Admirals top power-play group took care of business in twenty-four seconds. Pontus Åberg delivered a shot-pass from the left wing that looked to tag Frédérick Gaudreau en route to the net down the slot. Instead, the puck dinked into the net off of Wild defenseman Mike Reilly’s skate. It was Åberg’s twenty-fourth goal of the season.

“I’m trying to find Gaudreau in the middle there,” smiled Åberg. “It went under his stick and they scored a nice goal for me.”

Tonight marked the professional playing debut for Tyler Kelleher. Things were going swimmingly until a moment in the third period that he would like to have back. Sam Anas had a breakaway and his shot was stopped by Marek Mazanec. Yet, Kelleher took a slash across the right side of Anas to draw a penalty shot. Anas would swoop left wing and pull a backhand to forehand move that opened up the Czech goaltender to the stick-side for his eleventh goal of the season to deny Mazanec’s shutout bid.

Following a double-minor for slashing against Ryan Carter with 1:52 remaining in regulation it felt like the Admirals had a sure road to victory. The Wild still pushed and were able to get Stalock to the bench for the extra attacker just seven-seconds later. That wouldn’t get them much more that puck possession around the boards and the Admirals would get the clear and win when all was said and done.

Mazanec was in the right place at the right time whenever he was required tonight. He probably could feel hard done with the penalty shot that denied a shutout for him but his twenty-five saves on the evening gave a great foundation for the Admirals to build off of en route to their second consecutive win.

“He’s an NHL goalie,” said Åberg of Mazanec. “Good for us to have him down here. When we’re having our lowest he’s the one who is carrying the team back there. It’s nice to have him.”

Tomorrow night these two will lock horns once again but on the road at the Wells Fargo Arena in Iowa. That game will start at 6:00 PM CDT. Following the conclusion of that contest the Admirals will bus right back to Milwaukee for a Sunday clash against the Grand Rapids Griffins which starts at 5:00 PM CDT.

Ramblings: Prior to tonight’s game the Milwaukee Admirals announced the signing of University of New Hampshire standout Tyler Kelleher. The current Hobey Baker Award finalist is signed to an AHL contract with the Admirals through the rest of the 2016-17 season as well as the 2017-18 season and made his professional playing debut tonight. There was some shuffling with tonight’s line combinations: White-Smith-Åberg, Richard-Ribeiro-Gaudreau, Kelleher-Kamenev-Payerl, Florek-Army-Liambas, Oligny-Carrier, Murphy-Granberg, O’Brien-Dougherty. Tonight’s scratches were: Justin Kirkland (undisclosed injury), Adam Pardy (broken left arm), Stephen Perfetto (healthy), and Rick Pinkston (healthy).

What were your thoughts on tonight’s game? Was the penalty shot a correct call? How did you feel Tyler Kelleher looked in his pro debut and are you excited by what his time with the Milwaukee Admirals could be? How will these two clash tomorrow night in Iowa?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

News

Admirals Sign Tyler Kelleher to AHL Contract
(Photo Credit: John Corneau)

It’s that time of season when collegiate and junior hockey seasons are coming to a close. Typically you see amateur try-out (ATO) contracts signed first but the Milwaukee Admirals first instance this season will be a tad different. The Admirals have signed forward Tyler Kelleher to an AHL Contract that will be good for the rest of the 2016-17 season and extend into the 2017-18 season.

Kelleher just completed a four-year career at the University of New Hampshire where he produced 167 points (57 goals, 110 assists) in 153 games. He was recently named as a finalist for this year’s Hobey Baker Award given to the best collegiate hockey player. His 2016-17 season saw him tally 63 points (24 goals, 39 assists) in 40 games which was the most in Hockey East and his assists total was the most across the NCAA.

The native of Longmeadow, Massachusetts turned 22-years old at the start of the new year. He might be only 5’6″ on the ice but times are changing these days. Size isn’t everything if the pure ability and skill to play exist and that will be the upcoming test awaiting Kelleher as he begins his professional playing career as a member of the Admirals where he will wear his #16 that he wore at New Hampshire.

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Scouting

Wild: Scouting the Enemy
(Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)

Golly, it feels like ages since the Iowa Wild have fallen on the Milwaukee Admirals schedule. In fact, tonight and tomorrow night’s games are the first between the two sides in 2017. The last time they met was on 12/28/16 when the Admirals won 3-0 at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena behind a 25-save shutout from Jonas Gunnarsson.

The Admirals are 3-2-0-0 against the Wild this season and have won the past three contests straight. All games between these two teams have ended in regulation this season. Since moving to Iowa this head-to-head has seen no less than two overtime games per season. Though, times have clearly changed for the Wild as they’ve traditionally been among the worst teams in the AHL. That hasn’t been something you can say at all this season.

The Wild will be entering this weekend’s games with a record of 29-23-6-2 (66 points, 0.550 points percentage). They are currently right behind the Admirals in the Central Division which would see them in the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season when they were the then Houston Aeros.

As they arrive to Milwaukee the Wild do so on a four-game point streak and three-game winning streak (3-0-1-0). The winning streak, in particular, all comes with road victories over the likes of the Rockford IceHogs and Texas Stars.

It doesn’t take much to see why the Wild have done such a phenomenal turn-around in the AHL this season over years past. They have brought in highly respected veteran talent who bring with them a culture of success. Pat Cannone, Maxime Fortunus, Jeff Hoggan, and Mike Weber have all performed very well this season and have helped add quality depth to what has been a typically shallow prospect pool filled team.

The leading scorer for the Wild this season is Teemu Pulkkinen. Yet, he has long since been dealt to the Arizona Coyotes. That kicks the title over to 20-year old AHL All-Star Alex Tuch. In his first pro season after having a successful two-year spell with Boston College out of the USNDT he has contributed 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists) in 42 games in the AHL. He has also played 6 games for the Minnesota Wild in the NHL but has yet to earn his first career NHL point as of yet.

In their team scoring race Cannone is right behind the youngster with 30 points (9 goals, 21 assists) in 57 games. The 30-year old center, who played as a member of the Chicago Wolves the previous three-seasons, logged his first career NHL games this season as a member of the Minnesota Wild.

Alex Stalock has been at the helm in net for the Wild during this current run and could well be the best part about it. In the three-game winning streak for the Wild he has stopped 105/109 shots on goal for a sparkling 0.963 save percentage. On the season the 29-year old holds a 19-12-6-1 record from 39 appearances to go with a 2.38 goals against average, 0.923 save percentage, a 3 shutouts. This has been the best full-season of work in the AHL for Stalock in his career.

What are your expectations for these two games against the Iowa Wild? How important will it be for the Milwaukee Admirals to not get caught out looking ahead to the finale of this weekend’s three-in-three, against the Grand Rapids Griffins, and take care of the task in front of them? Is it realistic that the Admirals can pull off the three-in-three sweep?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Chatterbox, Feature

Fifteen with Derek Army
(Photo Credit: Charlotte Checkers // flickr)

One of the real treats of life in the AHL is the surprises that it can provide. There are roster shake-ups all the time and it can often require the services of players from outside the organization. When players are signed to professional try-out (PTO) contracts in the AHL it becomes a two-fold process. The team is getting an extra body in on loan from an ECHL based team but the player is getting to audition their on-ice résumé to show that they belong in the next level. Matt White was the pleasant surprise a season ago. Derek Army has been that story this season.

Army comes from a terrific hockey family. His grandfather, Tom, played for Providence College. His father, Tim, played for Providence College but also has a high level coaching career that has seen him be the assistant coach of the Anaheim Ducks, Washington Capitals, and has been with the Colorado Avalanche since the 2011-12 season. He has also been the head coach with USA Hockey and his alma mater. His uncle, Bill, played at Boston College. And his brother, Tim, played NCAA Division III hockey with Stonehill College.

As you might suspect then Derek’s path was always leading to this sport. He, like many in his family, turned to Providence College where he enjoyed a four-year collegiate career. He played 149 games and recorded 76 points (38 goals, 38 assists). He would join the Wheeling Nailers in the ECHL following the conclusion of his college career and that would be his main base of operations for numerous cracks at breaking into the AHL scene.

In his first full season of pro hockey Army would make the ECHL All-Rookie Team. He produced 66 points (29 goals, 37 assists) in 72 games which set the stage for a 2015-16 season that would have him entering four different AHL organizations on PTO basis. He played more games in the AHL (36) than he did in Wheeling of the ECHL (29) despite all the fluctuation of playing with the Portland Pirates, Ontario Reign, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and Texas Stars.

This season Army is approaching the 50/50 area of ECHL and AHL time. The different between last season and this one is he has found an AHL home with the Milwaukee Admirals. He was brought into the group in early December with the roster in a state of flux as the Nashville Predators were rattled by injury. That stint only lasted a week but he was brought right back in January and has yet to return to the ECHL. His time right now with the Admirals is the longest sustained time in the AHL of his career.

Cheers to Derek Army for taking the time to chat after practice last week. I wish those Wheeling Nailers fans let the world know sooner of how good of a hockey player and personality this guy is! Next in Fifteen is really dependent on who you want to hear from next. There are still plenty of players yet to be featured. Who do you want to hear from? Hit the comment section below with your suggestions.

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.