The Nashville Predators officially signed forward Eeli Tolvanen to a three-year entry level contract this morning. The native of Vihti, Finland was selected thirtieth overall by the Nashville Predators in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft. He spent this season in Russia’s KHL with Jokerit where he set a league record for the highest scoring season by a teenage player.
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Alex Carrier burst onto the scene last season during his first full run of professional hockey. The defenseman from Québec handled everything with such maturity, poise, and precision that it was often times hard to believe he was only 20-years old and fresh off a major junior career with Gatineau Olympiques.
It was all such a blur. He was selected as an AHL All-Star representative for his efforts with the Milwaukee Admirals. He earned an NHL recall in January and would suit up twice to enjoy in his first ever experiences with the Nashville Predators. He would even end his season being around the Predators to watch their run to the Stanley Cup Finals.
“I mean, that was pretty awesome,” smiled Carrier. “Obviously at the end of the season I looked back. I had a great year. I was really happy with it.”
Unfortunately, this season hasn’t been that way. It has been difficult. And it hasn’t been as effortless as Carrier appeared to make it look. That doesn’t mean that this has been a bad season. This sophomore season for Carrier has been one long learning process.
The 2012 NHL Draft was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It would be the first chance for a then 18-year old forward from Sundsvall, Sweden named Emil Pettersson to be selected by an NHL team. How were his nerves doing to mark the occasion?
“I didn’t really care actually,” smirked Emil Pettersson. “I knew I wasn’t going to get drafted.”
At the time Pettersson was predominantly competing at the Junior-18 level with Timrå IK. He had time with the Junior-20 squad competing in the J20 SuperElit league in Sweden but he was flying under the radar as a wiry framed youngster. The 2012 NHL Draft came and went. Pettersson went undrafted. His aspirations would be to make it to the NHL but he never truly had expectations of ever being drafted.
Jump ahead to the late stages of the 2013 NHL Draft held in Newark, New Jersey. The Nashville Predators chose Pettersson in the sixth round with the 155th overall selection. It would still take a further four-years before Pettersson would arrive to North America.
Last night, the Iowa Wild made the trek up from Des Moines after having battled Friday and Saturday against the Grand Rapids Griffins. No one in our area enjoys using the term “tired” as an excuse but it is one I feel the Wild can easily be afforded without shame. The Milwaukee Admirals pounded them 7-2 and did so taking advantage of some serious mental lapses on the part of the Wild and otherwise just burning them with added energy and pace.
The Milwaukee Admirals won 7-2 against the Iowa Wild at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Sunday night.
It took the Admirals sixteen seconds to get the jump on a tired Wild team. That set the tone for a Sunday thrashing that saw the Admirals put up a touchdown and smack home the extra point for good measure. Anders Lindbäck did his part again but the Admirals secured one of their better outings of the season in style to close within two points of the Wild.
“We played good, there’s no question, but we caught a team playing three-in-three,” stated Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “They didn’t have the jump, especially early, and we were able to start correctly. I think we were able to take them out of the game early because they didn’t have the jump.”
On Friday night the Milwaukee Admirals found a much needed spark. Their offense in the third period surged and they were able take a 5-2 win on the road against the Rockford IceHogs. Today the Admirals face an Iowa Wild team that is trending down but desperately trying to maintain their place.
The Wild are in fourth place of the Central Division standings. It’s the final playoff spot on offer from the division and what is the Admirals target with ten-games remaining in their season. Including today’s game the Admirals and Wild will face-off four times including the final two-games of the regular season schedule. If the Admirals are to stay in the hunt for their playoff lives they can’t afford to drop points to the Wild.
During the Milwaukee Admirals three-game losing streak it wasn’t that they were playing poorly. What was happening was their offense was stuck in neutral most of the time. The opponent last night was the Rockford IceHogs who had previously held the Admirals to twelve shots on goal inside of regulation in consecutive games. It was starting to feel like last night’s game was falling ever so slightly slat again. And then Anthony Richard scored twenty-five seconds before the end of the second period. It was the jolt the Admirals needed.
The Milwaukee Admirals won 5-2 on the road against the Rockford IceHogs at the BMO Harris Bank Center on Friday night.
In the final game of the regular season against the IceHogs the Admirals managed to rally back and claim yet another win to secure a sweep of all five-games held in Rockford. The Admirals snapped the three-game losing skid behind a fabulous effort in net by Anders Lindbäck as well as two goal nights by Mark McNeill and Anthony Richard. The Admirals went 8-2-0-0 against the IceHogs this season.
“I think the first two periods we were nervous about the game,” suggested Anthony Richard. “We knew that was a huge game for us and for them too. I think we were squeezing our sticks a little bit too much and trying to make a nice play. We have to play a simple game for the rest of the season and in the third period we did that.”
The Milwaukee Admirals were on an upswing following big changes around the NHL Trade Deadline. And then they hit a snag offensively. The Admirals are on a three-game losing streak where they have only averaged a goal per game and their power-play has gone 0/12. Tonight they will play against a Rockford IceHogs team that has held the Admirals to 12 shots in regulation in the last two meetings. The Admirals need to reignite their offense is urgent if they are to keep their pursuit of playoff hockey alive.
For much of last night’s game I was confused. Both the Milwaukee Admirals and Grand Rapids Griffins were stumbling around, sputtering, crashing into themselves, and having issues connecting passes. It looked an awful lot like a pre-season game more than it did two teams towards the end of a regular season with playoff implications hanging in the air. And then the Griffins scored. And scored again.
The Admirals were flat at a time when they couldn’t be. The Admirals lost 2-1. They are now 6 points back from the final playoff spot and even then would still need to inch above where the Griffins are based on regulation wins. There are 11 games remaining in the 2017-18 season for the Admirals. They’re running out of time for lag, lulls, and an inept offense.
Admirals Roundtable 