(Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)The month of January was not a pretty one for the Milwaukee Admirals. The team put together a 6-7-0-0 record. It was the first time since the opening month of the 2015-16 season that the Admirals had a record that featured more regulation losses than wins in a month of play. The Admirals went 2-4-1-0 in October 2015. That was a team stumbling out of the starting blocks but they found their feet and never seemed to stop running. This year’s Admirals have had wild swings of change and travel. It all seemed to finally bend the team this month past its breaking point.
It is always far easier to decide Admiral of the Month when there were strings of wins or key performers showing up night in and night out. You almost can’t say that for the Admirals due to how erratic things were in January. I must say, out of all that took place and all the ups and downs, there was a constant. And that constant was in net.
Marek Mazanec started in all but a single game for the Admirals in January. He held a record of 6-6-0-0 while producing a 0.919 save percentage, 2.24 goals against average, and earning 3 shutouts. He also managed to deliver 2 assists at the start of the month which both came on the Admirals power-play. He was calm and composed in and around his net. And he has been making big strides forward with goaltending coach Dave Rook ever since rejoining the Admirals from the Nashville Predators full-time in the middle of December.
It hit home that Mazanec will be the “go-to” option for the Admirals for the rest of the season when following his last shutout he said in an on ice interview following his third shutout of the season that he’ll be spending the AHL All-Star break emptying his apartment in Nashville. It sounds very sad and everything but you’d never know it really hurt Mazanec by the way he came to the Admirals with a big smile and has been working like mad in the off chance the Predators might need his services.
Mazanec has made quantum leaps over the goaltender that was being jostled around back and forth in the first two months and a half of the season. Now that he has the opportunity to settle down, focus, and log consistent time in the net you’re seeing his play benefit and confidence soar. There were bad games for the Admirals this month that dented Mazanec’s numbers. It wasn’t down to him anywhere near as much as the defensive effort of the team let him down. This past month may have been one of the best looking and consistent runs that Mazanec has had as a member of the Admirals.
It may not be where Mazanec would have hoped to have been this season but he is making the most of his time in the AHL. It is on him to make the rest of the time this season has to offer count. His contract is up and the Predators might not exactly need a spot for him next season. He needs to get himself on other teams’ radars if that is the case and the only way to do that is to play at an incredibly high level. The Admirals can greatly benefit from him doing that. And Mazanec is certainly doing all that he can to see that happen for the team and for himself moving forward.
Other players who did stand out to me this month that deserved a mention: Jimmy Oligny has stepped up in a time where the defense has been beaten up and he is now the “seasoned veteran defenseman” at the age of 23. Pontus Åberg has been -by miles- the best and most consistent Admirals forward and is putting himself back into contention for a call-up to the NHL. Kevin Fiala made a return to the Admirals at the AHL level and has looked tremendous. And Alex Carrier, similar to Oligny but to a lesser extent, has stepped up huge for the Admirals defense when they have badly needed consistency in approach.
~Admiral of the Month Award~
October: Juuse Saros November: Alex Carrier December: Harry Zolnierczyk January: Marek Mazanec
Who do you feel was the top performer for the Milwaukee Admirals during the month of January? Was it Mazanec, Oligny, Åberg or someone else? Tell me who your Admiral of the Month was in the comment section below.
The Milwaukee Admirals haven’t been short of quality players drafted by the Nashville Predators over the years. You can just about view the Predators roster now and get the idea. The organization scouts and develops as well as any in the game. Even then there are very pleasant surprises to be seen up close at the American Hockey League level when seeing that process at its earliest stage.
When Colton Sissons and Juuse Saros made their arrival to Milwaukee it took some serious convincing that they were actually younger than they behaved. Both entered with such veteran-like poise and maturity from Day 1. Sissons was voted by his teammates as an alternate captain of the Admirals when he was 20-years old after playing one full-season of pro hockey. The next season his teammates would name him to be the Admirals captain. And Saros? Let’s just say that he has done so well that at 21-years old, having played 51 games in the AHL in just over one season, he is already cemented into the Predators roster behind the man he one day hopes to succeed, Pekka Rinne.
Alex Carrier doesn’t quite come across a wise old veteran in a 20-year old’s body when you chat with him or ask him how he is handling his first season as a pro hockey player. I don’t mean that as a negative, either. He speaks and acts in a way you’d imagine a kid would in realizing that he is living his dream of playing hockey for a living. His face lights up and he can’t really stop smiling about it. Considering how his first pro season has been going, who can blame him?
(Photo Credit: Sara Stathas)
At this point in time, at the AHL All-Star break, I’d pen Carrier down as the best Admirals defenseman this season without much of a second thought. He is the top scoring defenseman on the team as well as the top scoring rookie. Yet, it isn’t the offensive stats that are the real standout element to his game. It is how he looks, moves, reads, and defends the position precisely as a Predators style defenseman is groomed to play the game and he is doing it from his arrival to the pro scene. Carrier can be the happy go lucky kid off the ice but his on-ice performance screams someone who looks like they’ve been developing in Milwaukee for several years already. He was 19-years old when this season started. He joined the Admirals at the end of last season to get a look around at the pro lifestyle, meet the coaches and some of the players he would play alongside this season, but he didn’t log a game like Jack Dougherty or Aaron Irving did. He sat out, practiced a bit, and processed his eventual destination.
I always hear from players how beneficial it is to arrive at the end of the season from juniors or college and get a look around – even if they don’t play. It checks so many boxes and answers so many questions before a players can cut loose and play. It isn’t a matter of hockey questions anywhere near as much as it is day-to-day life questions or learning the pro hockey lifestyle. There is far more time spent away from the game than in it but getting the happy medium measured between the is a key that can settle a mind down.
“That was great because, when I got here this year, I wasn’t as awkward. I knew everyone, I knew the coaches, I knew the staff, the players,” said Carrier of his time spent around the Admirals following his junior playing career coming to an end. “Even if I didn’t play a game I still felt more comfortable this year.”
Even with that all making for a smoother transition to living in Milwaukee and knowing your co-workers for an upcoming season – you still have to play. Going from the junior to the professional ranks is a test of not only precision in mechanics but doing it at a far higher rate of speed. Carrier didn’t get that pro debut out of his system with the Admirals at the end of last season. Heck, even his fellow Gatineau teammate in juniors Yakov Trenin was able to get involved during the Admirals playoff series and he’s back in juniors this season. Carrier was entering his first pro games of the 2016-17 season with a clean slate and relying upon the player that he already is. It was a slow and steady tip-toe progression but it didn’t paint a picture as large as what it would become.
(Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Where Carrier’s season started to take leaps forward came in the form of the injury bug that was hitting the Predators early in the season. Matt Irwin was the veteran defenseman option for the Predators kept in reserve down with the Admirals and he was recalled for good far sooner than I’m sure the Predators could have anticipated. When Irwin went up it left lots of gaps open with the Admirals defensively. That is where Carrier was given an early opportunity to succeed and he did. His roles expanded on special teams and showed poise across the board. Carrier’s confidence seemed to grow with more experience and his natural ability started to shine with extended playing time. That confidence didn’t stay limited to him. It spread out to his teammates when he took to the ice and clearly the coaching staff for wanting him out there more and more. He’s been anchored as a first choice style defenseman on the power-play or penalty kill ever since.
With Irwin doing so incredibly well for the Predators the organization needed to go back to the well and get a new veteran defenseman for depth purposes. The Admirals made an AHL trade to acquire Adam Pardy from the Springfield Falcons in exchange for Eric Robinson, Teddy Doherty, and Brandon Whitney. Pardy and Carrier would be paired from Pardy’s Admirals debut and the two had immediate chemistry.
“I think our games complement each other,” said Pardy after his first weekend playing with the Admirals alongside Carrier. “He’s a good player. He is heads up and he sees plays. He makes a great first pass coming out of a zone. So, that’s what we need from both of us. And working together and playing solid positioning back there. We don’t want to get running around and he is good at that. He doesn’t panic. He’s got composure. He’s good with the puck. And he is smart. He pays attention to the details. I think it is a great pairing. I really like the kid. I’m looking forward to playing more with him.”
The confidence was already growing for Carrier. Add a veteran with such quality NHL experience such as Pardy on your left-side and he blossomed even more. In the 13 games that Carrier played after the arrival of Pardy he was producing at a point per game clip: 13 points (3 goals, 10 assists). His all-around game was looking polished and smooth. He didn’t look like someone who was the second youngest player on the Admirals roster to only Anthony Richard. He looked NHL good. And, on 1/12/17, the Predators thought he did too.
On that day, Carrier was walking to get a meal when he received a phone call from Washington D.C. that he didn’t recognize. He ignored it as a wrong number and fifteen minutes later he received a text from the same number. It was Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason who told him he was going up and to call back as soon as possible.
Carrier was able to do a little bit of what he did at the end of the 2015-16 season in Nashville. He got to take a look around. When the Predators hosted the Boston Bruins the day of his first career NHL recall he was on the ice for pre-game skate and was able to view the Bridgestone Arena in a regular season game environment for the first time.
“It felt the same as when I came [to Milwaukee] last year,” said Carrier. “I thought the thought process maybe was that. I wasn’t expecting to play. At first, when I got there, I was the seventh [defenseman]. Everyone was healthy except for [P.K. Subban]. I wasn’t expecting to play. I was there for the experience like last year.”
That night he would be a healthy scratch. The following game would see him make his NHL debut on the road against the Colorado Avalanche on 1/14/17. He would suit up once more for the next game, on the road against the Vancouver Canucks, before returning back to the Admirals in the AHL. He became the first member of the Predators 2015 NHL Draft Class to earn a recall and log a game.
“It was amazing,” Carrier said of his first experience in the NHL. “It was a dream come true for me to play my first NHL game. “I think the most exciting part, I was feeling so nervous, before the national anthem I was sitting on the bench looking.. it was sold out in Vancouver.. so I was looking around like, ‘oh my God, this is it.’ I was really thrilled about it, very nervous, but then when I got my first shift it was just another game.”
(Photo Credit: Sara Stathas)
“What is this Carrier kid up to tonight,” you ask. Why, he is playing in the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic where he acts as the lone representative for the Milwaukee Admirals. It is the first proper distinction of what could be many to come in his pro career as the Québec native continues to press forward with his mature game on the ice combined with his great work ethic and joyful “aw-shucks” nature off the ice. While so many prospects can be grinding up and down under an immense spotlight, or perhaps under no scrutiny or expectations at all, there is a charm to the way Carrier has come in as a first-year pro at 19-years old and become what he is already. He made his NHL debut effectively three-months into his pro career. He’s the Admirals top all-around defenseman. He is still only learning the game at the professional level and can fill out physically to become even stronger than he currently is.
Saros arrived with hype and expectations. He’s meeting them. Carrier didn’t seem to arrive with any and he should be slapped on the Predators radar moving forward. He has all the talent to be the type of defenseman they pride themselves on having as well as developing. This level of performance that he is showing has been him while in a very early stage of his development. Carrier is becoming the type of player in Milwaukee I enjoy kicking back and watching just to watch him play. He’s good. And he is still growing.
Disappointing is the word that comes to mind the most when I think back to last night’s 4-2 loss against the San Jose Barracuda at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. The Milwaukee Admirals had looked so good on Friday night when they earned a 3-0 shutout over the Stockton Heat that it seemed that the ship had been righted. The next test was seeing it set sail for a few games. I’m still not entirely sure if the Admirals crashed the ship of if the Barracuda sank it. Either way, it was a deflating feeling going from one day into the next.
What stood out to me the most was a Barracuda team that really threw their weight around against the Admirals and dictated the action. I never feel the Admirals are at their best when they are the ones left to chase the game. I don’t purely mean that as them being down on the scoreboard. I mean that as the Admirals are best suited as the team managing the puck and directing a North-South game that puts the opponent on their back heels a bit. That didn’t happen near enough last night. And what seemed to happen more often then not was the Barracuda making it a gritty and dirty style game where they were out-muscling the Admirals to the puck.
There were areas of last night’s game where you can see some great strides being made among both individuals and the team. There were also some spotty moments that act as reminders as to why the group was drilled so hard at Wednesday’s practice just to get a message of “defense first” across. It was a mixed bag game of the Admirals being good – but when they weren’t the Barracuda made full advantage of the bad.
(Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
I do hope like crazy that when the AHL reviews the “elbowing major” against Admirals captain Trevor Smith that there isn’t any further action taken. In the moment, much like how the officials see it, I was raising my eyebrows thinking it didn’t look good. When you start seeing replays? Adam Helewka was receiving a pass, had his head down the entire way, and Smith caught him clean with a right shoulder check through the chest and partially Helewka’s left shoulder. It was a clean play upon one replay – and for others with good angles in attendance it may have been squeaky clean as it happened live. But to call it an elbowing major when the elbow isn’t being used? A game misconduct? To quote someone you’ll hear say it in post-game interviews in a moment – I just don’t get it.
Ideally, after games like last night, a team wants to jump right back at it and redeem themselves or get the bad taste out of their mouth. That won’t be happening though. If the Admirals played the Barracuda game on Friday and the Heat game on Saturday – we might all be feeling way better going into the AHL All-Star break. Instead, it played out as it did and now there is a small lingering feeling of “still struggling” clouding over the group.
(Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
What I would say is that this All-Star break does come at an opportune time for the Admirals. They are struggling a bit. They’ve had some fatigued bodies – every team does. I think more than most teams though the mental exhaustion of all the road games combined with the roster fluctuations has made it hard for consistency to be a thing when the team’s constant is being on the road with bodies going up and down out of the lineup. Of their final 33 games of the 2016-17 regular season the Admirals will be playing 20 home games including homestands of 3 games or more 4 times. This current break will be about R&R. The rest of the season they have a chance to settle down like most other AHL teams in the league won’t have the chance to en route to the playoffs. The Admirals will need to make the time moving forward count. They can get on a serious run with the way the schedule is set in front of them.
After last night’s game I had the chance to speak with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. I spoke with Alex Carrier before he takes part in this evening’s AHL All-Star festivities. I also chatted with Anthony Richard and Frédérick Gaudreau. There were their comments after the game.
Comments on the comments? The Milwaukee Admirals end the season with a vast majority of home games still to play. Do you feel that getting the group healthy and logging time in Milwaukee is the best cure for this team to start playing consistently well?
Yeah. It felt like that. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Milwaukee Admirals lost 4-2 against the San Jose Barracuda at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Saturday night.
As great as last night was it was as equally important for the Admirals to sustain the performance level that was shown. That hit a snag as the Barracuda extended their winning streak to three straight games.
“The things that we did real well last night we didn’t do real well tonight,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “Certainly early in the hockey game to give them momentum and obviously the lead. We talk about it. We’re striving for consistency and it’s not there yet.”
It took the Barracuda thirty-six seconds to do what the Stockton Heat could not all last night. Kevin Labanc was off on a breakaway down the slot and worked Marek Mazanec open to pop a shot five-hole for his fifth goal of the season to make it an early 1-0 game.
Fortunately, the Admirals were able to get a quick response minutes later. Anthony Richard made a heads up defensive play to keep puck possession in the Admirals favor in the attacking zone. His initial shot missed well wide of the net and wrapped around to the left point where Andrew O’Brien quickly shot on net. Troy Grosenick did shrug off the point shot but left the rebound for Richard to smack it past for his second goal of the season to make it 1-1.
In the second period the Barracuda scored twice to get ahead 3-1. Nikolai Goldobin worked off the rush to zip a shot with enough wheels on it that it still rolled through Mazanec. That was followed by a blast from the right point by Tim Heed whose slap shot screamed past high-glove.
The Admirals did draw one of those goals back in the sandwich stanza through a four-on-three power-play chance. Pontus Åberg made a silky smooth pass along the ice from the left wing circle right to the tape of Frédérick Gaudreau on the doorstep for a quick-fire redirect past Grosenick. That goal for Gaudreau was his sixth scored on the season and it narrowed the Barracuda’s lead to 3-2.
In the last stages of the third period the Barracuda regained their two-goal lead. Barclay Goodrow was open in the low left wing as John McCarthy passed from deep to the blocker-side of Mazanec. The Admirals goaltender may have been guilty of cheating too far on McCarthy and ended up allowing Goodrow plenty of net to fire on for his fourteenth goal of the season.
Trevor Smith was called for an elbowing major and a game-misconduct with 6:17 remaining in regulation. He had caught Adam Helewka right as the puck came to him with his head down. Replay showed it to be much more shoulder than elbow but the decision on the ice saw the Admirals captain ejected.
“It’s not a penalty,” said Evason. “It’s simply not a penalty. So, it is tough to take. You’re pushing. You’re trying to get back in the hockey game and you get a call like that. I just don’t get it.”
Kevin Fiala earned a penalty shot while the Admirals were in the five-minute major penalty kill. With his attempt he swung out wide right and slowly slid across to angle forehand to the blocker-side of Grosenick but the Barracuda netminder out-waited him until there was no shot to be had.
The game would finish there. The 4-2 loss for the Admirals leaves a slightly sour taste after a grueling week that saw promising steps forward last night in a shutout effort over the Stockton Heat.
“We had our opportunities to score,” said Evason of the Admirals effort late in the game. “We did enough things well to score but we got some different bad circumstances that didn’t allow us. We thought we were really pushing at the end.”
Next on tap is the AHL All-Star break for the league. The All-Star festivities begin tomorrow night at 6:30 PM CST with the AHL All-Star Skills Competition from the home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The AHL All-Star Classic is on Monday night at 6:00 PM CST.
The next game for the Admirals will be on home ice against the Rockford IceHogs on Friday night at 7:00 PM CST. They follow that up the next night by playing against the Grand Rapids Griffins on the road at the Van Andel Arena at 6:00 PM CST.
Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played last night there were no roster moves made within the organization. The Nashville Predators are on their NHL All-Star break and the NHL All-Star Skills Competition took place tonight in Los Angeles with the NHL All-Star Game taking place tomorrow at 2:30 PM CST. The Admirals lone representative this year is first-year pro defenseman Alex Carrier. Tonight’s line combinations for the Admirals were: White-Smith-Åberg, Florek-Kirkland-Fiala, Richard-Kamenev-Gaudreau, Liambas-Army-Payerl, Oligny-Carrier, Pinkston-Murphy, O’Brien-Dougherty. Tonight’s scratches were: Jonathan Diaby (healthy), Sean O’Donnell (healthy), and Adam Pardy (upper-body).
What is your reaction to tonight’s game? Would you view this as a major setback for what the Milwaukee Admirals gained Friday night or can credit be given to the San Jose Barracuda? Will the AHL All-Star break benefit the Admirals to mentally check out and physically rest up?
Since Marek Mazanec was reassigned by the Nashville Predators to the Milwaukee Admirals on 12/14/16 he has a 8-8-0-0 record from sixteen starts with a 2.45 goals against average and 0.915 save percentage. His three shutouts this season have come in his last six games. (Photo Credit: San Jose Barracuda)
If yesterday was meant to be one of the more important moments of the Milwaukee Admirals season and it was met with a 3-0 shutout over the Stockton Heat – think of today’s obstacle. Yes, earning that win and that win being well structured and a shutout is great. The problem is what if that is followed up with more of the same that proceeded that shutout? What if the Admirals fall flat on their face again today and are their own worst enemies?
What the Admirals did yesterday was an outstanding result. What stands in front of them is the true test: consistency. The Admirals brought “defense first” play back into their game, structure, and high attention to detail last night. Doing that on a regular basis is the real key that the team needs for it to be among the true top teams in the AHL. No, they don’t need a shutout every single night – but the philosophy and mentality of that high level performance is what needs to be on the ice, from everyone, on a regular basis. They were great last night. Can they be great -again- tonight?
Standing in front of the Admirals are the San Jose Barracuda who are coming in after a lengthy bus ride after defeating the Grand Rapids Griffins on the road 4-1 last night. If you’re reading this you probably already know that winning in Grand Rapids isn’t exactly easy. Winning in that manner boarders on the absurd. The Barracuda conceded a single goal while allowing 44 shots. That tells me they’re playing high level defense to force chances that their goaltender is seeing clearly and from a good margin out of danger. That, or, Troy Grosenick played out of his mind good in net – something he is completely capable of.
Grosenick is a Brookfield, Wisconsin native who this season leads the AHL with 6 shutouts. He has a record of 11-8-1-1 in 24 appearances with a 2.10 goals against average and 0.929 save percentage. Prior to this season he had just 3 shutouts from 99 games in his AHL career. He has already matched the amount of wins he secured last season for the Barracuda and did it in 4 games less to do it with still half a season to be played.
You would think by looking a Grosenick’s numbers and then his win-loss record and assume the Barracuda simply aren’t providing enough goals this season. That isn’t the case. The Barracuda are averaging 3.42 goals per game compared to the Admirals 2.72 goals per game average.
Leading the charge in that department for the Barracuda is 22-year old first-year pro Danny O’Regan who has produced 37 points (13 goals, 24 assists) in 33 games. He is followed closely by the third highest scoring defenseman in the AHL this season, Tim Heed, who has 35 points (10 goals, 25 assists) in 32 games.
In the familiar face department the San Jose Sharks acquired a former Admiral by the name of Zack Stortini from the Ottawa Senators organization. Stortini had been playing for the Binghamton Senators where he was the team captain the past two seasons. He joins the Barracuda just in time to play the Griffins last night as a precursor to his ol’ stomping grounds tonight. Stortini played in the Nashville Predators organization during the 2011-12 season and played a game for the Predators but mainly stuck around the Admirals in the AHL: 15 points (9 goals, 6 assists) in 74 games with 146 penalty minutes and a plus/minus rating of +4.
What are your expectations for tonight’s game? Will the Milwaukee Admirals be able to sustain the form and attention to detail as they did last night? How important is it to win this game to head off into the AHL All-Star break on a very positive note?
I flagged last night’s game as one of the most important moments in the Milwaukee Admirals season after I took in Wednesday’s practice. The team had lost two straight games and it was the manner in which they lost that was the most devastating element: the Admirals were their own worst enemies time and time again.
That Wednesday practice was a combination of punishment and tough love. A message of “defend first” and “play as a team and not as individuals” was worked into each and every player until it sank in deep. But just because that practice was hard and physically, mentally, and even emotionally draining didn’t mean the Admirals were simply going to come out and be cured of their ailments. They were facing a Stockton Heat team that were very much in a similar position and needed to rebound.
To further emphasize the lesson at hand I find what the Admirals coaching staff decided to do next was a rather interesting one. I was fully aware that Thursday was meant to be a day of reflection and soul searching. What I wasn’t aware of was that the team scrapped morning skate and that the first time that the players and coaches really interacted since Wednesday’s practice was at pre-game skate at 6:30 PM CST. The coaches left systems meant for the game plan on the board and gave the locker room over to the men who wear the letters on the front of their jerseys. And the Admirals went out and took care of business from there.
For all that took place after the loss Tuesday night I find the Admirals earning a 3-0 shutout over the Heat to be an outstanding result. It needed to be good. It ended up being darn near perfect. There were still moments of heart in mouth for the Admirals that could have been cleaner defensively or less “flashy” on one-on-one skill plays moving the puck forward. It still was never allowed to truly hurt them. Every time there was a mistake someone was covering or quick to assist and create pressure once again.
What is now as equally as important as last night’s game is what sits in front of the Admirals today. Getting back on the right side of the win column is one thing through a performance like that but it can all be squashed if the Admirals fall back into bad habits and get thrashed 5-1. Last night’s game would become an oversight to a larger issue. It isn’t about getting one game under the belt. The first one of that was the key. It is getting a sustained run back in the form in which the team knows they can play when they’re all on the same page. They did it last night. They need to do it again tonight against a San Jose Barracuda team that did something the Admirals haven’t done in years: win on the road in Grand Rapids.
It won’t be an easy test, again. The Admirals must stay contained and focus on what they’re doing to achieve what they did last night. The message was sent on Wednesday. It was received on Friday. Now the real path that the team needs to be following begins.
After last night’s game I caught up with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason – who I accidentally got to drop an f-bomb. I then chatted with Trevor Smith, Marek Mazanec, and Jimmy Oligny just as the concert was beginning. So, apologies if there is a lot of background noise. These were all of last night’s post-game interviews.
Comments on the comments? How is everyone feeling about Marek Mazanec as the Milwaukee Admirals goaltender for the rest of the season? It hasn’t been too long but what are your initial impressions of Andrew O’Brien?
The Milwaukee Admirals won 3-0 against the Stockton Heat at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Friday night.
After a two game losing skid, that caused a punishment level practice on Wednesday, the Admirals rebounded emphatically tonight with a shutout performance over the Heat that checked every box it needed to.
“Our practice was work, we competed, we battled, we played defense,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “That’s what we asked the group to do. We played defense today.”
Marek Mazanec was strong in net and stopped all twenty-two shots he faced. Yet, the defense was key to helping see not only his night go well but everyone’s night. The Admirals demanded getting their defensive effort back. It was stellar all night.
The grinding practice for the Admirals on Wednesday was followed by an off-day for the group to reflect individuals and as a team. That trickled into today as pre-game skate was canceled and the coaching staff left the locker room to their leadership group to get the team prepared for pre-game warm-ups. The first time the coaching staff and team were together in two days came during pre-game skate.
“They gave us the systems like they usually do, it was up on the board, but we took over a little bit,” said Admirals captain Trevor Smith. “That’s how it should be all year long, anyways. It is our dressing room. The coaches give us what they need system-wise. They’ve been great about that making sure we’re prepared every game. At the end of the day, we’re the guys on the ice and we need to preform the right way.”
After a defensive deadlock to open up the first period it seemed that Rick Pinkston and Austin Carroll thought it would be a good idea to have a fight for the sake of a igniting their teams. The post-whistle scrum built between the two and both showed very well in the scrap.
It was an awkward return to Milwaukee for Jamie Devane. In the second period, after seeing Mike Liambas hit Mike Angelidis, Devane went after his old team and tried to get Liambas into a fight. The only problem was that Liambas wanted no part of a scrap following a clean hit and Devane, who threw his gloves theatrically prior to anything being done, did. This saw Devane sit for an unsportsmanlike conduct.
“He’ll fight but, at that point in the game, there is no reason for Mike Liambas to fight,” said Evason. “Mike has come a long way with recognizing what is going on in a game. Probably five-years ago he would have not even thought about it and just fought.”
With that the Admirals had their first power-play of the night. It nearly went bust when Pontus Åberg and Kevin Fiala were caught in a slow change at the bench while a puck was nearly their skates. They made the swap cleanly and then saw a puck scramble out into the right wing path of Trevor Smith who smacked a shot by David Rittich for a power-play goal and his twelfth tally of the season.
As the second period horn sounded it seemed like Angelidis wanted some of Liambas for his earlier check. He instead was cut-off by Jimmy Oligny who proceeded to get some solid shots in before finishing the tilt off with a takedown. That fight, unlike the first one, felt like it had an obvious winner and that was a 10-9 round for Oligny.
It took the Admirals less than two minutes of the third period to extend their lead to 2-0. Andrew O’Brien took a stab on net while ranging down towards the left wing wall. His shot came high of the face-off circle and found its way through traffic to sneak by Rittich’s glove-side for his first goal of the season and first as an Admiral.
A late power-play offered the Heat a chance. That chance ended and the moment that it did Adam Payerl was off to the races on an odd-man rush with Fiala down the right wing. Payerl looked to be passing off to his right but the puck deflected off a skate and past Rittich for a goal to make it a 3-0 from Payerl’s seventh of the season.
The game would finish at the 3-0 scoreline with the Admirals improving their record to 24-14-2-2 (52 points, 0.619 points percentage). Mazanec’s shutout was his third of the season and third in his last six games. Mazanec now has recorded eleven career AHL shutouts as a member of the Admirals. He now only trails Brian Finley’s fifteen shutouts on the Admirals all-time AHL list.
“Frankly, that practice worked,” laughed Mazanec. “It was a good message. It worked. We sticked together. Boys defended really hard today. They gave me a chance to be successful. They didn’t give up any quality chances. They made it very easy for me.”
The Admirals will be looking to follow this game up tomorrow night at 6:00 PM CST when they face-off against the San Jose Sharks. As important as tonight’s game was it now comes down to sustaining what was delivered on the ice tonight.
“That’s exactly what we challenged [the players] after the game,” said Evason. “We have to be monotonous. It has to be again and again and again. This game is done. This game is finished. Yeah, it feels good. – way better winning than losing – but its gone. Tomorrow we have to bring the same game.”
Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Tuesday night there were no roster moves made around the organization. Of note though is that Miikka Salomäki has started skating once again in Nashville and could see a conditioning assignment with the Admirals in the near future. Tonight’s line combinations for the Admirals were: White-Smith-Åberg, Florek-Kirkland-Fiala, Richard-Kamenev-Gaudreau, Liambas-Army-Payerl, Oligny-Carrier, Pinkston-Murphy, O’Brien-Dougherty. Tonight’s scratches were: Jonathan Diaby (healthy), Sean O’Donnell (healthy), and Adam Pardy (upper-body).
What is your reaction to tonight’s game for the Milwaukee Admirals? Was this the response that the coaching staff would have hoped for after Wednesday’s punishing practice?
The Milwaukee Admirals and Stockton Heat are both in need of a quality performance and win tonight. (Photo Credit: Asvitt Photography)
Tonight’s game might be one of the more important moments in the Milwaukee Admirals 2016-17 season. They are coming off of two losses that were largely of their own fault and had a punishment driven practice on Wednesday that pushed them until the message got through. The Admirals need to start playing as a team again. They need to start simplifying their game and being far more defensively responsible. And all that stands in their way is a Stockton Heat team that are quite possibly looking to do the exact same thing for the exact same reasons.
The Heat enter this game with a record of 19-14-3-1 (42 points, 0.568 points percentage) which has them fifth in the Pacific Division and eighth in Western Conference standings. They have gone on a run of 3-8-2-0 in their last 13 games and have conceded 4 goals or more in 9 of those games. That included being outscored 11-3 in their last 2 games – both which were played on home ice.
For the Heat, much like the Admirals, that last game played is the one that stings the most. They were beaten 5-0 against the Barracuda in Stockton and composure went out the window early. For a game that ended with such a lopsided scoreline it could have been far worse if the Heat’s penalty kill didn’t go 5/6 on the night. The team had 67 penalty minutes in that game. And, like the Admirals again, they swapped out goaltenders in search of a spark that didn’t really turn into a fire.
They very much need a high level response from their group, as well. And they did match up well enough against the Admirals when the two met in Stockton earlier this month by earning a 4-0 shutout. David Rittich was the goaltender picking up the 35-save shutout that evening but he also happened to be the man yanked after the first period in the Heat’s last game after allowing 3 goals from 10 shots. Even that area of the last meeting has a dark cloud above it.
Rittich is still the better performing of the three goaltenders that the Heat have on offer. He has a 7-6-1-0 record from 15 appearances with a 2.21 goals against average and 0.923 save percentage. He is also second in the AHL this season with 4 shutouts trailing only the Barracuda’s Troy Grosenick with 6 shutouts. Rittich’s fellow goaltenders with the Heat are Jon Gillies and Tom McCollum. Gillies has made the most appearances for the Heat this season with 24 while McCollum has only logged a single start that saw him exit after two periods of work.
The leading scorer for the Heat this season is rookie Mark Jankowski who has 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) in 34 games. The Heat have one less player than the Admirals do with 20 points or more in scoring this season.
That said, because they are a Californian AHL team and therefore play less games because of reasons, that also means their top scorers are raking in points at a better “per game” clip than the Admirals. The likes of Hunter Shinkaruk (0.81 points per game), Linden Vey (0.81 points per game), and Morgan Klimchuk (0.72 points per game) have all done real well in their AHL time provided this season.
I’m walking into tonight’s game with no idea what to expect. I just know that the Admirals group that was pushed so hard in practice on Wednesday are likely going to need a first period that reflects the point that should have been learned. Should things stay sloppy, yes there is tomorrow and the San Jose Barracuda, but the idea is that the bad habits end now. This game and the opening period is a real key stage of this Admirals’ season.
How do you see tonight’s game unfolding? How crucial is it for the Milwaukee Admirals to have a strong start and to get the opening goal?
Today’s practice was going to be an intense one following last night’s game and subsequent interview with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. And was it ever. I’m not sure I can do justice do all that I saw but the image that sticks out to me is when the group was given its first water break. Everyone’s face was red. Everyone was breathing hard. Everyone was sweating buckets. They all looked like they had just completed a triathlon.
This practice may have been a long time coming. The message of the practice also may have been a long time coming. It wasn’t trying to single certain individuals out for mistakes but the collective group that keeps falling into bad habits and has for the last few weeks.
The Admirals at their official halfway point of this season had played the most road games and fewest home games in the AHL. Lost in that statement is the way that practices can really fluctuate and be diverted away in the form of travel days. From December to now the Admirals have played 24 games. Out of that stretch the Admirals have logged 16 road games and travel that spans Texas, Charlotte, San Jose, and Stockton.
Forget about the injuries that the Nashville Predators have had and the recalls up, down, and around. Forget about in-house injuries. Think of the mental strain from travel alone that the Admirals have battled the past seven weeks. When things aren’t going right in-game there isn’t much more left to do other than try and correct it in the next road game after a day’s worth of travel to get to it. Bad habits form. Bad habits of one individual can disperse into the rest of the group like a cold. No seriously devoted practice time? No serious solution other than miraculously curing it in the moment – in the game – where it manifested in the first place.
Watching today’s practice wasn’t fun. It wasn’t fun to spectate and -general consensus from everyone involved on the ice- it wasn’t fun to do. It was work. It was both a reality and gut check. Without naming names – it pushed sheer physical strain into mentally breaking down some individuals. Today was hard. It was very hard. But it was a necessary measure to get everyone on the same page.
I tried taking notes on what little of Evason’s pre-practice discussion with the team that I could hear. I feel it is probably a speech that is best left kept for the team. All I know is what I did hear was from the heart, it was from a place of being a team, and of reflection. This practice was intense and such that there will not be one held tomorrow. Instead, Evason asked the group to focus and reflect on themselves ahead of this weekend’s games.
The way that I saw all of today’s grinding practice was that the first period of Friday night’s game might be among one of the more crucial moments of the 2016-17 season for the Admirals. The message was sent today and it was sent in the most brutal of ways to get people to focus on what is most important: being a team. After the first few shifts we should all have a better idea of not -if- that message has been received but -how- it was received. It clearly was received today. How will the team respond to it? That’s my question that won’t have an answer until Friday night.
Following practice I had the chance to catch up with Evason to get his thought process for today and the look ahead for the weekend. I also chatted with several players courtesy of fan requests on Twitter. The players I spoke with were: Kevin Fiala, Matt White, Anthony Richard, Adam Payerl, Jimmy Oligny, and Marek Mazanec. Here is what everyone had to say following Wednesday practice at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
Comments on the comments? How do you feel the Milwaukee Admirals will respond Friday night? Was this approach from Dean Evason the right one to take? If the team plays how it did Tuesday night this weekend – what becomes the next step?
Relentless is a word I often prefer to reserve for players who have earned it. Miikka Salomäki and Viktor Arvidsson are the first that come to mind. Players that are flying one-thousand miles per hour shift after shift, pressuring puck carriers, attacking the net, and scrapping around the dirty areas of the ice regardless if they’re the biggest dogs in the fight for a loose puck. Relentless is as perfect of a word to describe both of those two. And it has been the perfect word to describe the past two months of Milwaukee Admirals hockey.
The past two months have been relentless. Whether it be injuries up top for the Nashville Predators meaning bodies going up, coming back, or guys coming down on conditioning assignment. Whether it be the sheer volume of road games that saw the Admirals at the halfway point in their regular season schedule leading the AHL in most road games and fewest home games played. Whether it be injuries in house with guys like Cody Bass or Adam Pardy going down and causing more moves to be made. Whether it be trades that have taken away two of the Admirals top forwards from a season ago – both of whom were truly well thought of locker room guys. Whether it was any of that chaos – it simply can be summed up as relentless.
I’m not sure when the little world of the Admirals will be afforded to stop spinning. If there ever were a time best to do it you’d assume right here and right now. The 5-1 loss on Sunday to the Chicago Wolves felt like a black eye on what was more of a return to form in a a three game winning streak. That loss just seemed to trickle into the 5-2 loss last night against the Cleveland Monsters. It wasn’t so much what the opponent was doing as much as what the Admirals were flat out giving away. Last night may have been one of the roughest defensive outings I can remember actually watching for sheer volume of goals that were a direct result of completely avoidable plays. It was self-manufactured disaster.
During last night’s game recap I had brought up how the Admirals have tumbled ever since their explosive 9-1 win on the road over the Texas Stars which came on 12/17/16. 6-9-0-1 since that offensive explosion in Texas and have managed to produce 2.06 goals per game. They have been held to a single goal or been shutout entirely in 7 games out of that 16 game spell.
Admirals play-by-play broadcaster Aaron Sims also brought up a fantastic note following last night’s loss. The Admirals have allowed 5 goals or more seven times this season. They had allowed 5 goals or more last season just five times while managing to win a game in the process.
To put you into the headspace of just why this has all been the case I did speak with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason and forward Mike Liambas last night to hear what they think is going on at the moment and if being at home can remedy it. In short, I’ve never spoken with a more flustered or angry Evason since I’ve been doing this.
I’ll be at practice this morning. Without question. I’m there. I remember not too long ago the talk of “rock bottom” being brought up repeatedly at a practice at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and hoping that it is where they currently were and that there is only one way to go from that place. I’d say these last two games take the cake. This is rock bottom. The group can be so much more than these last two nights and I say that in the prototypical Evason style Admirals thought process in that: it doesn’t matter who is here, who is up, who is down, who is injured- just show up to play. I feel as if you could count on one hand the number of players the last two games that you could say are exempt from fault – and I’m willing to bet those players would disagree that they are.
The entire team right now is rattled a bit. I get that sense. But I by far prefer doing this short of insanity test now than before it is too late to have learned anything from it. There is quality there. This team can be great. That’s what makes moments as the past few weeks such a drag to watch knowing some of these results were avoidable. Yet, it is a learning process and one that demands learning today. Tomorrow can wait and tomorrow will be a heck of a lot of what today brings but the learning starts now. There is no reset button. Things need to be corrected for a good number of players and as a group.
What acts as the great equalizer here in this annoying stretch of games is that the Admirals are at home. It is a place they’ve been away from so much this season and with that comes hectic and erratic practice schedules. That changes now. And the emphasis of getting back to the basics -to me- could be as simple of a starting block as the Admirals need.
Comments on the comments? What did you think of both Evason and Liambas’ post-game interviews and do you think these next few days are enough time to correct the glaring mistakes made last night?
Admirals Roundtable 