There just seems to be something about playing in Grand Rapids that is an absolute nightmare experience for the Milwaukee Admirals. In the Dean Evason Era they are now 5-15-1-0 in Grand Rapids and have been shutout by the Griffins 5 times with a current losing streak of 10 games (0-9-1-0). Last night’s 3-0 loss was the Admirals first shutout defeat of the season and the first time they had been shutout in 49 games dating all the way back to March of last season.
It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t fun. But it was last night in Grand Rapids. Tonight, mercifully, the Admirals aren’t in Grand Rapids. They’re finishing up their four game road trip against the Amtrak Rivals.
The Chicago Wolves enter tonight’s game with a record of 13-11-3-2 (31 points, 0.534 points percentage). If you think you have it bad as an Admirals fan last night – a Wolves fan would have an edge in the bickering department today. They lost 6-2 last night on the road against the Rockford IceHogs. That was the most goals scored by the IceHogs this season and the Wolves are now winless in their last four games (0-2-1-1).
Sticking to that game for the Wolves last night. It sounds like it would have been a joy to watch from an outside perspective as the Wolves had a meltdown. Without even going into video highlights (1) how often do you see a penalty for throwing equipment? (2) how often do you see a goalie fight? (3) how often do you see a goalie fight a skater instead of another goalie? (4) how often do you see a goalie get slapped with a game misconduct for fighting off the puck drop?
Both the throwing equipment and goalie fighting infractions happened after the Wolves were already down 6-2. Jordan Binnington came on in relief of Pheonix Copley. After Binnington’s fight, and wrasslin’ level heel turn, it meant Copley coming back in net for the final 1:07 of regulation.
Again. You think the Admirals had it bad last night? It could be a lot worse. What will be a point of note is that the Wolves, barring a total emotional dump from that episode last night, could be fired up off of that game and coming out hot for tonight’s game. These will be two teams looking to right the ship. The Admirals after a shutout loss. The Wolves after another spike in a series of poor efforts of late. It’s the last game for both before the Christmas break. Despite being the last in a two-in-two stretch expect both to empty the gas tanks tonight.
The key player to watch out for in tonight’s game is the AHL’s new leading scorer, Kenny Agostino. The 24-year old now has sole possession of the league lead in scoring with 31 points (9 goals, 22 assists) in 29 games. Matt Lorito and Taylor Beck are right behind him with 30 points.
Theatrics of last night aside the story in net for the Wolves has been more positive than it has been negative. Both Binnington and Copley have performed well but it is Copley who stands out. This season Copley has a 2.32 goals against average and 0.915 percentage which are improvements from his first year with the Wolves last season. Binnington’s numbers continue to decline from what they were two seasons ago as he has a 3.02 goals against average and 0.905 save percentage this season.
Expectations for tonight’s game? Just what sort of Milwaukee Admirals performance are we in for tonight? Which team handles the previous night’s efforts better?
The Milwaukee Admirals lost 3-0 on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins Wednesday night at the Van Andel Arena.
This game started off poorly for the Admirals, got worse with a match penalty against Cody Bass, and they never got into a groove offensively. Following the highest of highs, winning 9-1 in Texas, the Admirals hit a low with their first shutout loss of the season. Eddie Pasquale stopping all twenty-seven shots on goal tonight. The Admirals skid in Grand Rapids, including last year’s trip in during the playoffs, is now up to ten straight games (0-9-1-0 record). Under Dean Evason the Admirals are 5-15-1-0 in Grand Rapids.
It took the Griffins twenty-six seconds to get on the board tonight. After a face-off win in neutral ice Yevgeni Svechnikov was able to sneak behind Jimmy Oligny and Alex Carrier to race off on a breakaway. The Russian forward stickhandled and then flipped a backhander above the left pad of Marek Mazanec to quickly make it a 1-0 Griffins lead.
Joe Hicketts has made sure he is on the Admirals naughty list this season. In the first meeting of the season Hicketts low bridged Harry Zolnierczyk at the knees with a check that had him landing on his head. Tonight Hicketts walloped Mike Liambas towards the head near the penalty box area. It instantly caught the ire of Jonathan Diaby who flew over and dropped the gloves with the Griffins defenseman. Diaby was issued an instigating penalty and misconduct for doing so but the Admirals did kill off the minor penalty that created.
The first period heat intensified when Cody Bass delivered a big hit to Kyle Criscuolo that sent him face first towards the boards. Bass was issued a five minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. Criscuolo stayed down for a bit after the hit and went off to the locker room for repairs. He would return quickly enough to contribute on the Griffins major power-play.
Diaby was out for his misconduct for instigating a fight. Bass was out for the game due to his boarding major. Blake Kessel was serving Bass’ penalty. This may have sparked a bit of gamesmanship with Mitch Callahan grappling Jimmy Oligny after a whistle that had the two sent to the box for matching roughing minors that would leave the Admirals to just three defensemen to kill the remainder of the major penalty.
Moments after the roughing calls the Griffins had their breakthrough. Svechnikov and Criscuolo played a one-two pass to each other and it allowed the Russian to get a quick shot off down the slot to score his second goal of the first period and seventh goal of the season to extend the Griffins lead.
In the second period the Admirals did have much better attacking pressure and scoring chances. They weren’t able to get anything through and that was in large part to some great work in net during the middle frame by Eddie Pasquale. At the other end, Mazanec came up huge to deny Martin Frk with a phenomenal glove save on a breakaway and keep the scoreline right where it was coming into the period.
Despite finding some momentum in the second period the Admirals would allow a goal less than three minutes into the third period. The Griffins won an in-zone face-off and Robbie Russo ripped a wrister from the left point right off the draw that sailed in top shelf for his fourth goal of the season to make it a 3-0 Griffins lead.
In an effort to negate a shutout the Admirals did bring Mazanec to the bench with 2:06 remaining in regulation. Their effort with the extra attacker didn’t crack Pasquale in net and the Griffins won 3-0 with their netminder earning a twenty-seven save shutout. It was the first time the Admirals have been shutout this season. The last time the Admirals were shutout came back on 3/1/16 on the road against the then named Lake Erie Monsters.
If there is any good news out of this game it is that it will not have to stay in the memory banks of the players for too long. The Admirals are right back in action tomorrow night on the road against the Chicago Wolves at 7:00 PM CST. They’ll look to end the current four-game road trip on a high note heading into the Christmas break.
Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Saturday the lone roster move made saw defenseman Adam Pardy recalled by the Nashville Predators. Tonight’s line combinations for the Admirals were: Florek-Smith-Åberg, Boucher-Gaudreau-White, Zolnierczyk-Kamenev-Bass, Liambas-Girard-Payerl, Oligny-Carrier, Murphy-Dougherty, Diaby-Kessel. Tonight’s lone scratch for the Admirals was Max Görtz who was a healthy scratch.
Reaction to tonight’s game? What is it about playing in Grand Rapids that just seems to flip the Milwaukee Admirals’ world upside-down? What do the Admirals need to change to start having success on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins?
Here we are again. The Milwaukee Admirals are on the road heading into the Van Andel Arena to face the Grand Rapids Griffins. The run of defeats in Grand Rapids now stands at nine straight games (0-8-1-0 record). For Admirals head coach Dean Evason his record in Grand Rapids is 5-14-1-0. Should the Admirals fail to win tonight it would mean their last win in Grand Rapids would be over two years ago coming on 1/31/15 in a 4-0 shutout with Magnus Hellberg in net. The Admirals aren’t in Grand Rapids again until the start of February.
If long term history isn’t your thing the short term history sets up well for this game. The Admirals and Griffins both enter tonight’s game on three-game winning streaks. The Admirals have a record of 17-5-2-1 (37 points, 0.740 points percentage). The Griffins are right behind them in the Central Division standings with a record of 17-7-1-2 (37 points, 0.685 points percentage).
What sets the Griffins apart from the Admirals this season is their offense. It’s a funny thing to say after the Admirals won 9-1 but even then the Admirals average 3.12 goals per game while the Griffins average 3.44 goals per game. Both teams allow practically the same amount of goals per game so it is on the Admirals defense to be smart tonight -especially- due to the Griffins home power-play that rakes in a goal 29.0% of the time.
The Griffins leading scorer right now is Matt Lorito who has 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) in 27 games this season. He is currently in a three-way tie for the AHL lead in scoring with Taylor Beck and Kenny Agostino. After finishing a four-year career at Brown University Lorito’s transition to the pro game has been nothing short of brilliant. Between his time with the Albany Devils and Griffins he has 96 points (31 goals, 65 assists) in 109 games at the AHL level for a 0.88 points per game average.
Behind Lorito there are still plenty of scorers for the Griffins offense: Mitch Callahan, 20 points (8 goals, 12 assists)… Kyle Criscuolo, 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists)… Ben Street, 19 points (5 goals, 14 assists)… Martin Frk, 15 points (10 goals, 5 assists)… Tomas Nosek, 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists)… and Robbie Russo, 14 points (3 goals, 11 assists).
In net the same old story of Jared Coreau doing well seems to continue. For what it is worth, in lesser appearances, Eddie Pasquale has also done real well for the Griffins this season.
Coreau has played in 17 games this season for the Griffins with a record of 11-6-0-0, 2.18 goals against average, 0.924 save percentage, and a shutout. Coreau also made a start for the Detroit Red Wings this season and lost in his NHL debut that saw him stop 32/36 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Pasquale has only played in 8 games this season and has had some hard luck results that see his record go 4-1-1-2. Despite some of the wins alluding him he has done well in net by posting a 2.32 goals against average and 0.923 save percentage.
What are your expectations for tonight’s game? Is this finally the end of the Milwaukee Admirals woes on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins? Do you feel the performances by the Admirals in Texas can spill into tonight’s game or will this be more of a playoff style atmosphere than a track meet?
The Nashville Predators have recalled defenseman Adam Pardy from the Milwaukee Admirals. The Predators play later tonight on the road against the Philadelphia Flyers.
This is the second time that Pardy has been recalled by the Predators. The veteran defenseman was acquired earlier this season in an AHL trade between the Admirals and Springfield Falcons. Pardy earned an NHL contract quickly with the Predators on the back of great play at the AHL level: 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) in 16 games with a plus/minus rating of +6. He has logged a single game so far for the Predators this season.
The Predators game starts at 6:00 PM CST tonight. At midnight tonight the NHL roster freeze will take place. The Predators are then in action on Tuesday night at 6:00 PM CST on the road against the New Jersey Devils before returning home on Thursday night for a 7:00 PM CST face-off against the Los Angeles Kings. That finishes off their slate before the Christmas break. As for the Admirals they’re on the road for the next two games with the Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday night at 6:00 PM CST and the Chicago Wolves on Thursday night at 7:00 PM CST.
This organization has provided some truly special stories in recent years. What can make them that much better is that they hit across all levels: Cincinnati, Milwaukee, to Nashville.
The recent NHL debuts for Mike Liambas and Frédérick Gaudreau were tremendous success stories. They were both undrafted players that achieved ECHL status and earned their chance to play in the NHL for the Nashville Predators. Mark Van Guilder played 387 games professionally between the AHL and ECHL before finally earning his one NHL game at 30-years old.
With the current stockpile of talent situated in Milwaukee there are even more potential success stories just waiting for the call from Nashville. And I believe I have another unsung player on the cusp of following the likes of Van Guilder, Gaudreau, and Liambas in suiting up for the Predators. That man is Adam Payerl.
Before quickly pointing out that Payerl has already achieved the dream of playing in the NHL its very much worth understanding the journey he has been on to get back.
When Payerl was at his over-age season of junior hockey with the Belleville Bulls he was a free agent invitee to the Columbus Blue Jackets camp in the hopes of getting signed. He did well enough to get into pre-season games for them but they didn’t lock him up do a deal. Instead, he returned to the OHL and produced a career best 47 points (22 goals, 25 assists) in 61 games. What the Columbus organization skipped over was Pittsburgh’s to gain.
The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Payerl to a three-year entry level contract following the end of his final junior playing season in 2011-12. During his first pro season he had spells between the AHL and ECHL but mainly stuck around with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Something that he’d do until the end of his entry level contract in 2014-15. Being with that team, as a young up and coming forward, provided an opportunity to be around one of the AHL’s best players and leaders: Tom Kostopoulos.
“He is a great guy,” smiled Adam Payerl when speaking of Tom Kostopoulos. “He was huge in my development for sure. He was just a great guy on and off the ice. A good guy that I tried to learn a lot from and soaked in everything he talked about. He always had little pointers and habits. You were always watching and learning from him.”
The standout moment for Payerl’s time in the Penguins organization was getting his chance to contribute at the NHL level. It was at the end of his sophomore season as a pro when the Penguins recalled Payerl. He made his NHL debut on 4/6/14 on the road against the Colorado Avalanche.
“That was a pretty surreal experience,” said Payerl. “I have a lot of fond memories. It was only half a week but I played a couple games, met them on the road in Colorado. I played pretty well, actually. I had a handful of chances. I probably should have had a goal but [Semyon Varlamov] was playing a pretty good game.”
With his family watching on in attendance Payerl and the Penguins won a 3-2 shootout that night over the Avalanche. Payerl played sixteen shifts for 9:33 of ice-time while on a grind line with Craig Adams.
“It was pretty anxious the night before,” commented Payerl of the build up to his NHL debut. “I had a hard time falling asleep – pretty anxious. I was pacing around my hotel room. The rest of the team wasn’t there yet because they had played the night before in Minnesota. So, I got to Colorado before they did. I was in the hotel that night watching the clock waiting for bed time to come and for the next day. Once the first couple of shifts are out of the way I kind of got in a rhythm and it felt like another game. But, when you’re on the bench, you look around and there’s 20,000 people. It’s pretty surreal.”
Payerl’s NHL time wound extend one more game. That contest took place in Pittsburgh against the Detroit Red Wings in a game that also was decided in a shootout. The Penguins took that one as well. After that game Payerl would go back down to the AHL where he would play out the rest of his entry level contract with the Penguins organization. When it came time to work out what was next the Penguins opted to not re-sign Payerl and he became a free agent.
“It was kind of mixed feelings leaving there,” said Payerl. “It was kind of bittersweet because I had good experiences there but then I left. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go.”
Summer of 2015 was a long one for Payerl. The wait for another NHL contract came and went. Then the wait to field AHL contracts came and went, as well. Payerl quickly set his sights on signing an ECHL deal with the idea of fighting his way back to an AHL spotlight. He signed an ECHL contract with the Cincinnati Cyclones. One of the perks of joining the Cyclones is being afforded the opportunity to join the Milwaukee Admirals Training Camp and get a chance to audition for an AHL opportunity.
“Every year we try to help Cincy out with bringing a couple guys that they feel have a shot at playing for us at some point,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “It’s a nice recruiting thing for Cincinnati to have the ability to say you can come to the American Hockey League training camp – and [Payerl] was one of the guys.”
From the moment Payerl arrived to Admirals Training Camp ahead of the 2015-16 season he looked like a perfect fit with the Admirals group. He had a very professional approach to both the on and off ice aspects of the game. He was also impressing the Admirals coaching staff for how hard he was competing day-to-day.
“The first practice we were really impressed of how he played the game,” said Evason. “How he skated, how he shot the puck, his skill level, and then getting in the couple of games that he did we decided right away that we wanted to get him under contract. It was almost immediate that we knew he was going to be on our team.”
Payerl’s time with the Cincinnati Cyclones for the 2015-16 season never happened. He started the season with the Milwaukee Admirals on a professional try-out contract and quickly earned a standard AHL contract. At the time he was scoring a point every other game, 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in 8 games, and that included scoring a game-winning overtime goal and an assist in his Admirals debut.
As the 2015-16 season progressed the decision for the Admirals to bring in Payerl looked better and better with every game. He could play in all situations. He was very polished defensively. And, for Payerl, he was reaching offensive production that he hadn’t been able to hit since his time in junior hockey.
In Payerl’s time with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton he scored 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 130 games. In Payerl’s 2015-16 season with the Admirals he scored 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) in 74 games. It was an all-around game and effort level that simply wasn’t ignored on the Nashville Predators. Come the end of April 2016, Payerl had signed that NHL contract that had alluded him the summer prior and it all came off of signing an ECHL contract and then competing on a PTO contract at the AHL level to earn his AHL deal.
“It’s a great story,” said Evason of Payerl. “Doing all the right things being not only a good hockey player but a good person, a good teammate. He’s now worked himself into a leadership role on our hockey club. He’s just an all around good guy and he plays the game the right way.”
The next time Payerl suits up for the Admirals it will be his 100th game with the organization. This season he has hit the ground running across the board and is on pace to surpass his pro-best offensive output from a season ago: 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists) in 25 games. The question next seems to be if his hard work has him on Nashville’s radar give how hard he has been knocking on their door.
“He is,” quipped Evason. “He is on their radar. We’ve already talked about it a couple of times this year when they’re going into play a bigger stronger team. Different people that there’s an opportunity to get called up that [Payerl] is a guy, whose big, strong and grinds, and has a great start to his season. I think in the right circumstance there is no question that he could get a shot at getting called up this year.”
It has been two years, eight months, and ten days since Payerl last played in the NHL. 985 days of work with a combined 161 AHL regular season and playoff games played. His time spent with the Admirals has shown plenty of organizations just what they missed out on two summers ago when he was a free agent up until September. Now all that would be left is to follow the likes of Gaudreau and Liambas as incredible success stories that have taken the road to Nashville from Milwaukee.
“It would be unbelievable,” smiled Payerl of a possible return to the NHL. “I don’t want to get my hopes up. I’m just trying to take care of my day-to-day business here. But, that’s the end goal. To try to get there. And do everything I can to get there.”
The next time the Texas Stars face the Milwaukee Admirals they will be out for blood more than a win. That sounds like something of a problem, head coach Derek Laxdal. Perhaps you shouldn’t have suggested as much. (Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski // Texas Stars)
Last night’s performance to the Milwaukee Admirals is one that slightly has me frozen. Was it that the Admirals were that good or were the Texas Stars simply that bad? The feeling heading into the weekend was that these two teams play with great pace in transition, both had plenty of skill, and both could end up playing a very wide open contest. It felt like it could be a track meet type of a match-up for the Admirals and Stars. Basically, the hype going in was matched Friday and Saturday night.
On Friday, the Admirals and Stars provided a rather relentless back and fourth game. The Admirals won 4-3 with the biggest bright spot coming defensively by holding the fort for whole of the third period with Marek Mazanec stopping seventeen shots in net for the final twenty minutes. As for what happened last night? That is a far different story.
The Admirals and Stars did have a track meet sort of a game last night. The problem was nobody seemed to inform the Stars that they were involved. The Admirals won 9-1. It’s their biggest win since winning by 9-1 on 2/28/14 against the Iowa Wild on home ice. It is the most amount of goals scored on the road by the Admirals since 11/14/06 when they defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins by the final score of 8-2.
“Pretty tough to assess,” said Texas Stars head coach Derek Laxdal of his team’s performance. “We got a pretty good ass kicking tonight. I think right from the get-go they were the better club and we didn’t have a response for it.”
That is a pretty short and sweet recap of last night’s game from the Stars group. There is just one area of Laxdal’s press conference last night that makes my eye begin to twitch and that’s why this is an Open Letter to him. Because I simply don’t know what on Earth he’s getting at.
Laxdal was asked to elaborate on the following, “I’m not sure if there’s any history between these two teams really but it seemed that it was more physical than last week’s series.” His response:
“There will be probably history next game because guys aren’t going to forget you’re down 8-1 and they’re putting their first power-play unit on the ice. Guys don’t forget that. Guys are upset. They’re getting shown up in their own building. So, there’s going to be a little bit of emotions there. Guys are stepping up for teammates. That’s good to see. At the end of the day it wasn’t a good night for us. Last night we played pretty well in the third period and had a chance to get some points and we didn’t. Tonight they were the better team.”
Before I get into the whole inciting or insinuating that the Stars are out for blood next time they play the Admirals. Because he very blatantly did and you can buy tickets to that game here. I want to address the trigger that made him say that which is the Admirals, who were leading 8-1 at the time, being put on a power-play with 4:33 remaining in regulation and putting their first choice power-play unit on the ice.
Firstly, you’re losing 8-1 at this point coach Laxdal so more than a few things have gone completely wrong at this point. I’d be more annoyed at that on an internal basis. Secondly, if it were up to the Admirals at that point, I feel as if they’d have preferred cruising out to the finish line and winning by that already astonishing scoreline. There was just one problem which was that Bryce Van Brabant decided it would be a good idea to hit Jimmy Oligny in the numbers into the end wall behind the Admirals net and get called for boarding.
So, the Admirals are forced onto the power-play with 4:33 left to play in a game that they already won. Who do you roll out on the power-play? Well, as it happens, the Admirals continued on with the game as though it still was one and the Stars simply didn’t – story of the night. I can appreciate the idea of “don’t run up the score” but when you’re already trying not to and get forced into a power-play and have four forward lines that all have power-play level players on them I kind of don’t know what more the Admirals could have done but exactly what they did.
You would assume that Admirals fourth line would be the safe option for use in a moment such as a power-play, up 8-1, in the closing stages of a game. That isn’t all that true either. It’s not safe at all.
All Félix Girard seems to do is win face-offs to the point that the Admirals have no issue with attempting home run style stretch passes if he is on the ice knowing that he’d win the icing call face-off in their defensive zone should the pass not connect. Girard worked the Admirals power-play late last season leading into the playoffs for his effectiveness at winning face-offs. Him doing what he does wouldn’t help the Stars in that moment.
(Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski // Texas Stars)
While not known for goal scoring, so naturally he scored last night, Mike Liambas would have likely rotated into a like-role that Bass provides on the Admirals power-play that sees him as the net front presence. Bass had scored a net front deflection earlier in the game. Liambas, while not as known for it, would have been just as capable providing that net front ability. What he typically is known for by most other AHL organizations though is his fighting prowess. Given the scenario that played out to set the stage for that power-play would it really have been in the Admirals best interest to send out someone for the Stars to continue an altercation with? Even after the fact Dustin Stevenson dropped his gloves to fight an unwilling combatant in Liambas and grappled with him until Liambas finally gave in to fight. The officials should have stepped in and bailed Liambas out to prevent the fight from happening, it took a lifetime before Liambas decided to get involved, but alas – they fought. Why would that situation not have happened directly on the Admirals power-play, following a fight by the Stars between Van Barbant and Bass, considering it did later? The Admirals didn’t want to fight. They didn’t need to fight. They were simply choosing not to fight.
Then there is that third component to the Admirals fourth line by the name of Adam Payerl. He already is part of the Admirals power-play and this season has 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists) in 25 games including 6 points (1 goal, 4 assists) on the power-play. Clearly sending him out on the power-play, the fourth line winger, would have been bad.
This whole situation then is effectively a no-win scenario for the Admirals. If they could have put Jonas Gunnarsson in the game as a skater and had him running around on the power-play I’m sure they would have given it a go. Anything to have helped the Stars see their way out the door swiftly and without more damage.
(Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski // Texas Stars)
That’s I feel the biggest issue at hand for Laxdal, though. Finger wagging at the opposition for not doing enough to help them lose by more rather than his own team. I make no bones about it. I felt bad for both Stars goaltenders last night. Maxime Lagacé had a quick leash. Perhaps that was the proverbial wake-up call technique when yanking the starting goaltender. What’s sad is to do that, for it to fail miserably, and then Landon Bow – a guy who exited the middle of Friday night’s third period to throw up because he is battling flue-like symptoms – had to be in net for the rest of the game. The goaltenders were hung out to dry and forgotten about. The Stars were the inventors of their own peril last night. It never mattered who was going out on that final Admirals power-play. They were probably scoring regardless because they were playing a team a man short on the ice with their heads long elsewhere.
The next time the Admirals and Stars play, buy tickets here, will be April 1st. That is a date already notorious in Admirals lore for such a circumstance Laxdal seems to be suggesting the Stars wouldn’t mind having because “guys don’t forget.” The previous game that the Admirals played in when it was a 9-1 game featured a combined 141 penalty minutes with 10 fighting majors. Thanks to the AHL’s new Fighting Policy that simply wasn’t going to happen last night and, when it tried to, the Admirals players didn’t want to get involved – they already won the game anyways. I’d hope that the Stars and Laxdal do forget and rather do something regarding their ineffective and hopeless defense of their’s which has allowed 3.76 goals per game this season compared to the Admirals allowing 2.52 goals per game.
So, Laxdal and the Texas Stars, do yourselves a favor and relax on this your off-day. Practice for yourselves, as the head coach stated angrily a few times, is at 10 o’clock Monday morning. Though, I’d hope the team avoids doing what Laxdal also stated the team do after last night.
“It’s one of those games where you almost just take the video tape or you take the data drive and throw it out the window.”
Please don’t. You should be watching that footage until you’re all throwing up like Bow. Please take stock of all the mistakes, to which there were many – you don’t have a 9-1 scoreline without that, and fix them. I’m on the Admirals side of the fence and that was painful seeing two goalies so exposed last night. Focus less on “there’s going to be history next time we see the Admirals” and more of a focus on night allowing 9 goals against. The lessons of how not to play well are in the video tape and on those data drives. That should probably be saved, utilized, and bludgeoning players over their heads this week until they never play like that again.
Reid Boucher seems to score wherever he plays. That has been the case during his conditioning assignment from the Nashville Predators with the Milwaukee Admirals. (Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski // Texas Stars)
The Milwaukee Admirals won 9-1 on the road against the Texas Stars Saturday night at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.
Last night was a track meet. Tonight was one as well but nobody seemed to inform the Stars about it. The Admirals offense absolutely exploded tonight. It is the first time since the 2013-14 season that the team has produced nine goals in a game. That last occasion came on 2/28/14 at home against the Iowa Wild which also ended in a 9-1 win. Pekka Rinne was the goaltender of record for the Admirals that night when he was making his comeback that season.
The Admirals played twenty-four games prior to tonight’s contest and scored four or more goals in six games. Tonight they dropped a four spot on the Stars in the opening fifteen minutes of the game.
Mike Liambas put the Admirals out in front inside of four minutes tonight. It was slightly controversial from the Stars perspective as there was a loose puck around Maxime Lagacé. The officials never blew a whistle and the Admirals kept at the puck with Liambas getting the vital touch to record his second goal of the season.
The Admirals then blasted two power-play goals from their first two power-play chances. Frédérick Gaudreau left a drop pass fall back to the left wing face-off circle for Trevor Murphy to step right through and hammer a slap shot to score his fifth goal of the season. That was followed by a Gaudreau face-off win that trickled back to Reid Boucher to picked up the puck, dragged it a bit, and unleashed a shot past Lagacé for his second goal of the season.
It was right there that the Stars decided to pull Lagacé from net. He only faced eight shots in the game and allowed three goals in just shy of ten minutes of work. Landon Bow, who left the middle of last night’s third period due to illness, entered in his place.
Harry Zolnierczyk took a hard ride into the end boards of the Admirals attacking zone and stayed on a knee for a slight bit. The Stars left him alone as the Admirals continued to press on. That defensive lapse allowed Zolnierczyk to dust himself off and station himself along the glove-side of Bow. Vladislav Kamenev put a shot-pass to him and Zolnierczyk deflected it in for his fourth goal of the season to give the Admirals a 4-0 lead just 14:52 into the contest.
The second period push from the Admirals continued and they wound up with two further goals to extend their lead to 6-0. A neutral zone turnover allowed the Admirals to break in with pace and Boucher netted his second of the night and third goal of the season. That was followed with a blast from the center of the blueline by Alex Carrier whose shot caught a deflection from Cody Bass in front of Bow for his second goal of the season.
It took a bit of puck luck for the Stars to finally get on the board. With 44.1 seconds remaining in the second period Jason Dickinson’s turn-around shot from the right wing hit Travis Morin in front of the net. The Stars captain was able to react quick enough to get the rebound off of himself to beat Marek Mazanec for his tenth goal of the season to make it a 6-1 game.
The third period saw the Stars night of horrors continue. The Admirals would score three more times to slam the door on this game. Justin Florek threw an innocent looking shot on net that rolled up the goaltending paddle of Bow and in for his fourth goal of the season. Florek then followed up with a primary assist from the left wing to catch Admirals captain Trevor Smith breaking down the slot for a five-hole finish and Smith’s eighth goal of the season.
The last goal of the night came following a scrap in which Bryce Van Brabant ran over Jimmy Oligny from behind. He was called for boarding but wanted even more and paired up with Bass for a fight he’d probably regret to have gotten involved in. That was a decisive win for Bass in the fight department. Moments after that Zolnierczyk zipped in his second goal of the night to make it an astonishing 9-1 Admirals lead from Zolnierczyk’s fifth goal of the season.
Some final drama did take place. Dustin Stevenson dropped his gloves and was grappling Liambas behind the Stars net. Liambas did not want to fight given the scoreline but eventually played along and continued the Admirals dominance with a tilt that ended in a judo hip-throw. The Stars were battered, beaten, and decimated tonight across the board.
For all that took place you nearly lose sight that Mazanec had yet another solid performance in net for the Admirals. He only allowed the one goal against but stopped thirty shots on goal for his second win in as many days against the Stars.
The Admirals record goes up to 17-5-2-1 (37 points, 0.740 points percentage). They remain the best team in the Central Division and Western Conference. The Admirals swept all four games on the road in the state of Texas this season defeating the Stars and San Antonio Rampage by a combined score of 17-6 in four games.
Next up for the Admirals will be a brief return home following this trip in Texas. They will travel to Grand Rapids on Tuesday and get the Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday night. They will play the Chicago Wolves on Thursday night before heading off on the Christmas break.
Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admiralsplayed last night there were no roster moves made in the organization. Tonight’s line combinations for the Admirals were: Florek-Smith-Åberg, Boucher-Gaudreau-White, Zolnierczyk-Kamenev-Bass, Liambas-Girard-Payerl, Pardy-Carrier, Murphy-Dougherty, Diaby-Oligny. Tonight’s scratches were: Max Görtz and Blake Kessel.
Thoughts on tonight’s game? Was this the Milwaukee Admirals offense playing up to potential or was this a Texas Stars defense playing up to its negative reputation? How do you feel Marek Mazanec looked this weekend?
The Milwaukee Admirals won 4-3 on the road against the Texas Stars Friday night at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.
This was looking like it would be a track meet coming into the weekend. The first of the two games delivered on just that expectation. The Admirals lead 2-0. The Stars lead 3-2. And the Admirals rally back strongly, backed by an outstanding effort by Marek Mazanec, to win a 4-3 game in Texas tonight. This really may have been one of Mazanec’s best outings as a member of the Admirals.
It took the Admirals 3:46 of ice-time to get on the board tonight. It appeared as if the Admirals might have gotten away with a hand pass when Adam Pardy was operating around the right wing near the net and trying to get the puck down to his own stick. Instead, the puck squirted free over to Pontus Åberg on the back post who had plenty of net to fire home on to record his seventh tally of the season.
Jonathan Diaby played sixty-nine games in the AHL without scoring a goal. After tonight he now has a two game goal scoring streak that leaps him past Max Görtz for goals scored this season. It came during a delayed penalty call less than a minute after Åberg scored. Matt White was tripped up and passed over to Diaby on the left point where he let loose a howitzer of a slap shot for his second goal in as many games.
The first period would see the Stars draw all the way back level. Both times they scored it came with them having four men on the ice. During four-on-four play Remi Elie beat Jimmy Oligny with pace down the right wing, cut across the net, and dodged a poke check by Marek Mazanec to score his fourth goal of the season. The Stars then added a shorthanded goal for the eighth time this season when Justin Dowling raced off on a breakaway and beat Mazanec with a backhand-forehand move that beat him glove-side for his second shorty of the season and fifth goal overall.
The Stars would continue their run in the second period to take their first lead of the game. The Admirals had just finished up their second power-play of the night and, like the first chance, saw no shots on goal. The Stars continued the momentum off their penalty kill and had a puck in the low slot hopping around that Travis Morin settled and kicked over to Brendan Ranford in the right wing for a quick shot and his fourth goal of the season to make it a 3-2 Stars lead.
That advantage for the Stars would only last until midway through the second period. The Admirals power-play, which was more momentum killing in the first few looks, was able to get on the board when Trevor Murphy’s slap shot from the right point was knocked down in front of the net and the loose puck got a whack from Reid Boucher for his first goal of the 2016-17 season. Boucher is with the Admirals on conditioning assignment from the Nashville Predators after having been claimed off of waivers from the New Jersey Devils. That power-play goal for him came in the second game of his conditioning stint.
Last time out the Admirals finally saw a Goal of the Year candidate from Vladislav Kamenev. In tonight’s third period they may have received the Save of the Year courtesy of Mazanec. The Stars were able to create a turnover right atop their attacking zone as the Admirals were trying to get out of their own zone. Brandon DeFazio passed out of the left wing for Dowling who was breaking down the slot. Dowling had the puck, went forehand-to-backhand, and Mazanec laid out to make a stunning save with his left toe. Everyone in the building including the man in charge of the goal horn thought that was a sure goal. Mazanec stopped him cold.
If that save by Mazanec wasn’t enough the counter attack that came from that resulted in a goal for the Admirals. Jimmy Oligny made a neutral zone interception as the Stars looked to get back to work and raced along the right wing, dropped a pass back to Félix Girard, and his shot labeled off of the blocker side post of Bow and in for his third goal of the season to give the Admirals a 4-3 lead.
From then on out it was the Mazanec show. And what a show it was. This was a highlight reel level performance on the evening for Mazanec and he came up huge when it counted the most in the third period. The Stars poured it on the Admirals in the final twenty-minutes of regulation but Mazanec stopped all seventeen shots he faced in the third period to help see the Admirals across the finish line for a win tonight in Texas.
These two teams are back at it once again tomorrow night. Same place – but not the same time. Tomorrow’s game starts at a more typical 7:00 PM CST start time. After tomorrow’s game the Admirals will return home in Milwaukee briefly before hitting back on the road when they get the Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday and the Chicago Wolves on Thursday. They will then reach the Christmas break and play back on home ice on Boxing Day against the Wolves.
Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Monday night there were some roster moves of note. The Nashville Predators recalled Juuse Saros and reassigned Marek Mazanec. The Admirals then reassigned forwards Justin Kirkland and Anthony Richard to the Cincinnati Cyclones. Both participated in last night’s 3-1 victory over the Indy Fuel. Kirkland scored the first goal of his professional career in that contest. Both Kirkland and Richard have earned their first pro goals as members of the Cyclones this season. The Cyclones won 4-1 against the Fuel tonight in Cincinnati. Kirkland added an assist while Richard left the game with an apparent injury and did not return. Tonight’s line combinations for the Admirals were: Florek-Smith-Åberg, Boucher-Gaudreau-White, Zolnierczyk-Kamenev-Bass, Liambas-Girard-Payerl, Pardy-Carrier, Murphy-Dougherty, Diaby-Oligny. Tonight’s scratches were: Max Görtz and Blake Kessel. In tonight’s third period Texas Stars goaltender Landon Bow left the game due to injury and was replaced midway through the third period by Maxime Lagacé who remained in net until the final horn. According to Stephen Meserve of 100 Degree Hockey the reason behind Bow leaving in the third period was due to illness. The Admirals record has improved to 16-5-2-1 (35 points, 0.729 points percentage) which is still good enough for the best record in the Western Conference. The only team with a better record in the AHL at the moment are the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins who boast a record of 18-5-3-0 (39 points, 0.750 save percentage).
Thoughts on tonight’s game? How good did Marek Mazanec look in his return to game action tonight? Do you feel like Reid Boucher could end up returning to the Milwaukee Admirals should the Nashville Predators attempt to clear him through waivers?
I still believe that the Texas Stars uniforms look better than the Dallas Stars uniforms. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Milwaukee Admirals are back on the road again. This road trip will last four games and begins this weekend against the Texas Stars. Once they wrap up Friday-Saturday their sights will turn to a pit stop at home before venturing to Grand Rapids on Wednesday and then Chicago on Thursday. In other words: the marathon continues!
~Q&A with Stephen Meserve~
One of my favorite things about facing the Texas Stars is that they are always well represented by Stephen Meserve of 100 Degree Hockey. To help preview this weekends games against the Stars I reached out to him to get a look inside how they’ve been doing to start the 2016-17 season.
Admirals Roundtable: The Texas Stars are 13-8-1-1 (28 points, 0.609 points percentage) coming into this first meeting of the season against the Milwaukee Admirals. What’s the story been out of the gate?
Stephen Meserve: Texas stumbled out of the gate a bit with all the injuries in Dallas. Some of the players that they expected to see, like Adam Cracknell and Devin Shore, haven’t played a single game in the AHL this year. Others have been called up that weren’t expected, like Justin Dowling and Gemel Smith on forward and Julius Honka on defense. The lineup is just getting back to stable for the time being and that is having a positive effect on the overall winning nature of the team.
AR: I see you’re up to your old trick of scoring a lot and allowing a lot too. Is that on that defense or is having goaltending with less than a 0.900 save percentage more the issue?
SM: Ah, yes, a specialty. Not everyone can have stout Milwaukee D every year. The goaltending has been truly unspectacular. Three goalies have started for Texas already on the young season and only Landon Bow (in just two games of work) has truly impressed. Then again, Maxime Lagacé looked impressive in his first two games of the season. An ongoing struggle in the Dallas organization has been development of a backup goaltender. The Stars haven’t done that well since Mike Smith. Top prospect Jack Campbell left via trade this summer but was unlikely to be re-signed even if he hadn’t been traded. The defense is certainly not as stout as it has been in some prior years, but the goaltending is letting in soft ones and really putting the forwards behind the eight ball early. A common storyline early in the season was falling behind by 2 or 3 and then having to claw back to even by over-utilizing key players, leaving them tired for the 3rd period. Then the team, tired from the comeback, would lose in the 3rd. It was a really demoralizing time for the squad.
AR: 21 points (9 goals, 12 assists) in 23 games. Travis Morin doesn’t age does he?
SM: Morin is an ageless wonder. He’s never been known for his skating, but who cares with a shot like that? He’s on a more veteran line with Brendan Ranford and Matej Stransky and of course on the PP and PK as well. He’s the man for Texas and should be for several more years the way he’s going. He wants to retire a Texas Star and I would say he’s earned that right.
AR: Who are some of the new faces on the roster this season?
SM: Texas returned a lot of talent from last year. By all accounts, this is a pretty veteran team. There is just one rookie on defense and he was a recent callup from Idaho. The forward to watch though is Denis Gurianov. The first round pick of Dallas in 2015, he is a Russian skater with size and speed. He’s got 4-9=13 in 23 games as a rookie. Coach Laxdal really likes what he brings and touts Gurianov’s teachability and coachability. He is going to be a dangerous tool in the Dallas arsenal in a few years with the skills he is showing in raw form right now. In the mean time, perhaps the next year or two, he’ll be in Coach Laxdal’s toolbox to torture opposing defenses.
AR: Any other fun storylines going on for this year’s Texas Stars team that we Admirals peoples should know about for the weekend set?
SM: Fun? Certainly something interesting to watch is the appearance of Landon Bow on the scene. He came in for Maxime Lagacé last week in relief and stopped 34 of 35 and earned the win. He collected a shootout win the next night and now we’ve got a question of who starts at a 50/50 draw on a nightly basis, perhaps. Oh, and he’s only on an AHL contract. It will be a good story to watch to see who the Stars start in this weekend back to back set.
Cheers as always to Stephen Meserve! You can see his work at 100 Degree Hockey and follow along with him on Twitter. He also occasionally gets things up on the AHL website, too. It’s all good stuff. Do follow along.
Expectations for this weekend’s games? After having a lengthy road trip that ended on a rough patch what do the Milwaukee Admirals need to do early on this road trip to set themselves up for later success come Grand Rapids and Chicago? How do you feel Marek Mazanec will perform in his return to the Admirals? Should Jonas Gunnarsson get rotated in this weekend?
The Milwaukee Admirals have reassigned forwards Justin Kirkland and Anthony Richard to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. The two could be in the lineup tonight at 6:35 PM CST when the Cyclones face-off against the Indy Fuel in Cincinnati.
Kirkland earned his first pro point with an assist from his last outing for the Admirals. However, it has still been a slow start for both himself and Richard at the AHL level. This run with the Cyclones should place them in a much larger role and could get them the spark they need to return to the Admirals with extra confidence to their game.
Richard has played 2 games for the Cyclones this season and scored his first pro points at the ECHL level by getting a goal and an assist in his first game for the Cyclones. Kirkland has suited up once so far this season. This is Richard’s third trip to the ECHL and Kirkland’s second.
Admirals Roundtable 