With all the scrambling going around topside this news shouldn’t come as too much of a shock. The Nashville Predators were stricken by food poisoning last night and it should mean several Milwaukee Admirals getting recalled ahead of tonight’s game with the same being said out of the team’s ECHL affiliate the Cincinnati Cyclones.
The major notable here would be Kirkland who should be expected to make his AHL and Admirals debut in tonight’s game. Kirkland was reassigned by the Admirals to the Cyclones in order to log some playing time while the numbers at forward in Milwaukee were stacked against him. He did manage to get his pro debut out of the system this past Tuesday. The Cyclones lost at home to the Toledo Walleye 5-0 in the contest but all signs pointed to an active and good performance by Kirkland in his debut.
As for what this all means for the Admirals and Predators? It’s a wait and see process right now. There have already been a number of current Admirals spotted arriving to the Bridgestone Arena ahead of the Predators game against the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight: Frédérick Gaudreau, Austin Watson, and Matt Irwin. With Visentin, and especially Grumet-Morris, being brought in it would be extremely safe to say both Juuse Saros and Jonas Gunnarsson are in the group brought in to assist during Nashville’s food poison woes as well.
Great news! Mike Liambas is no longer aligned with the baddies. (Photo Credit: Todd Reicher)
With all due respect to the San Antonio Rampage and Chicago Wolves tonight’s game should be a far better barometer on how the Milwaukee Admirals stack up right now. The Rockford IceHogs had a terrific season last season that simply pitter-pattered apart towards the finish. Much has changed in the Chicago Blackhawks organization which impacts how the IceHogs now look -but- they are just as strong of a team as they were a season ago.
Some big hitters are out and moved on, yes, but I feel the IceHogs have filled back out real well. Abbott and Carrick have a combined 249 points (91 goals, 158 assists) from 385 games in their AHL careers. Having well-rounded players such as these to complement an already good veteran group. The IceHogs still have Jake Dowell, Pierre-Cédric Labrie, and received familiar names after the passed through waivers in Brandon Mashinter and Mark McNeill. It’s a very established group of players and that should make the an incredibly tough test for the AHL this season.
Where a question mark can be thrown to the IceHogs this season is in net. Leighton was marvelous for the IceHogs last season: 46 games, 28-8-5-3 record, 2.44 goals against average, 0.918 save percentage, and 5 shutouts. He is now with the Carolina Hurricanes organization where he is with the Charlotte Checkers. Stepping into his place? A tandem between first year North American pro Johansson and a familiar face in Carruth.
Johansson is a 29-year old goaltender who has logged a lengthy career in his native Sweden before making his splash to the North American scene this season with Rockford. Looking at what he accomplished last season with Frölunda HC you can get the idea just why the Blackhawks wanted to bring him in:
Johansson, has played the last three seasons with Frolunda HC in the Swedish Hockey League, posting a 56-27-0 record with 11 shutouts in 93 games. During the 2015-16 season, he recorded a league-leading 1.74 goals-against average alongside a save percentage of .927 while going 27-6-0. Johansson picked up league honors for Goalie of the Year last season as Frolunda captured the league championship. In 10 playoff games last season, Johansson recorded a 1.27 GAA with a save percentage of .934. A native of Avesta, Sweden, Johansson also played professionally in Sweden’s Allsvenskan league with Mora IK (2008-11) and VIK Vasteras HK (2011-13).
As always, the European to North American transition is a different process for all who go through it. But I often find that the biggest trouble area for those going through it come at defenseman or in net. Why? That’s where the pace and style of the game can twist and turn you inside out the most. So far, he has hit the ground running with the IceHogs: 2 games, 1-1-0-0 record, 1.52 goals against average, and a 0.946 save percentage. His first win came last night in the IceHogs’ 2-1 victory of the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Carruth? This season is really his first chance to get a long AHL run. In the Blackhawks organization he has essentially bounced around between the AHL and ECHL 50-50 in his career. He’s been decent enough when given the opportunity for the IceHogs in his career: 28 games, 10-9-2-1 record, 2.53 goals against average, 0.912 save percentage, and 3 shutouts. That stat-line still comes through sporadic playing time and while going through the AHL/ECHL roller coaster. Can he stick and push for first choice goaltender? Or will he struggle alongside a netminder going through the motions of the North American pro game for the first time? That’s the true gray area on the IceHogs season to me.
Expectations for tonight’s game? How do you feel the Admirals match-up against the IceHogs? Will the penalty minutes issue continue to be a problem for the Admirals?
The Milwaukee Admirals won 2-1 on the road against the Chicago Wolves Wednesday night at the Allstate Arena. The Admirals were able to hold to a power-play goal in the second period by Austin Watson all the way to the finish line to start the season off with three consecutive 2-1 victories.
The penalty woes that turned an ugly head in San Antonio manifested in Chicago early. The Admirals found themselves shorthanded four times in the first period and the Wolves were able to cash in off one of those opportunities. A feed from the left point by Brad Hunt went over to the right wing circle where Kenny Agostino hammered a one-timer on goal. His short appeared to deflect a touch off of Admirals defenseman Matt Irwin before getting past Juuse Saros to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead from a power-play goal.
The Wolves lead didn’t last long at all. Just thirty-nine seconds after the Wolves scored on the power-play a skillful piece of puckhandling by Pontus Åberg ended with a wicked shot at the top of the right wing circle. Pheonix Copley blockered the Åberg shot in front of the net and Ads captain Trevor Smith was able to pop home the rebound to level things at 1-1.
Penalties continued to mount and finally the Admirals were able to cash in for their second power-play goal of the season. Vladislav Kamenev completed a circle-to-circle pass to Austin Watson in the right wing. Watson measured up his wrist shot and beat Copley to the far post and in to record his first AHL goal since 4/7/15.
The Admirals would hold to that 2-1 scoreline yet again to secure their third win from three games to start the season. All wins have come at the 2-1 scoreline. Saros came up really big down the stretch in tonight’s contest. He ended the night with thirty saves and quite a few big time stops as the Wolves went empty net and extra attacker in the dying seconds.
As nice as these wins have been for the Admirals a major talking point remains to be the issue with taking trips to the penalty box. Last season the Admirals through three games had sixty penalty minutes from nineteen infractions with a 7/13 penalty kill. This season the Admirals have fifty-nine penalty minutes from twenty-eight infractions with a 21/24 penalty kill in their first three games of the season. That penalty kill has been fantastic, no doubt, but the amount of penalties being taken is laboring to the penalty kill and breaks up so much of the flow for the offense to roll when so much of the game is spent on special teams. In short: it has to change.
Next up for the Admirals will be a road tilt against the Rockford IceHogs this Saturday night at 7:00 PM CDT. They will then get a relatively nice spot of downtime before a home-and-home between the Iowa Wild with a game in Iowa next Friday. That sets the stage for the Admirals home opener against the Wild next Saturday at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Sunday the team assigned forward Justin Kirkland to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. Kirkland made his pro hockey debut last night in the Cyclones 5-0 shutout defeat to the Toledo Walleye. The line combinations for the Admirals was exactly the same as it was in the weekend opening set in San Antonio. That meant healthy scratches for Matt White and Jonathan Diaby. Austin Watson’s goal tonight was his sixty-ninth career AHL goal and it was scored in his two-hundred and thirty-second AHL appearance. All AHL goals scored by Watson have come with the Admirals. He is fourth in the team’s AHL history in goal scoring behind Darren Haydar (110), Chris Mueller (87), and Mike Santorelli (74).
Are you concerned by the volume of penalties being taken by the Milwaukee Admirals out the gate this season? How impressive has Juuse Saros looked in net these first three-games? Are you underwhelmed at all by the lack of offensive output thus far?
The first Amtrak Rivalry game of the 2016-17 season is upon us. Last season saw the Amtrak Trophy awarded to the Milwaukee Admirals after a successful 9-3-0-0 record over the Chicago Wolves. It was the first Amtrak Trophy the Admirals secured over the Wolves since the 2012-13 season when they were AHL affiliates to the Vancouver Canucks.
With such success against the Wolves last season one wonders what a difference a year makes? The Admirals scored 32 goals in the 12 games against the Wolves last season. There are 19 goals worth of offense not returning to the Admirals lineup from that Amtrak Trophy winning group, namely Max Reinhart (8 goals) and Kevin Fiala (5 goals).
A similar painting can be made on the flipside of the canvas. The Wolves scored 23 goals against the Admirals last season. 14 goals of that aren’t back with sniper Ty Rattie‘s 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) in 10 games worth of offense no longer at the AHL level this season in the St. Louis Blues organization.
When looking in net for last season’s match up it also sets up a good picture. Juuse Saros made 9 starts out of 12 games against the Wolves and he earned 7 wins with a 1.98 goals against average, 0.934 save percentage, and a shutout.
As for the Wolves, last season it looked like the goaltending position was meant to be their strongest asset after such great 2014-15 seasons for both Jordan Binnington and Pheonix Copley. It looked like Binnington was primed to be the go-to with Copley in camp to really push hard for net time to keep the two razor sharp throughout the season. But that rarely, if ever, manifested itself. It’s probably why 21-year old Ville Husso is still knocking about at the start of this season on their AHL roster as a third choice option in net.
The fall of Binnington last season was one of the more eyebrow raising stories I followed from an outside perspective. It felt like he was one of those glorified Admirals Killers in net and specifically followed in the path of former Wolves goaltender Jake Allen in that respect. In Binnington’s 2014-15 season he was a perfect 7-for-7 against the Admirals and pitched a 1.94 goals against average and 0.930 save percentage. Last season though? 3 wins from 8 appearances with a 2.49 goals against average and 0.915 save percentage. His overall numbers year-to-year fell: 2.35 goals against average, 0.916 save percentage in 2014-15 to 2.85 goals against average, 0.907 save percentage in 2015-16.
I feel if the Wolves are going to amount to anything this season the stability between their pipes is everything. Binnington was very spotty a season ago and Copley, for the lack of a better term, was not good enough nor who he was thought to be when the Blues organization acquired him in a package deal when they sent T.J. Oshie to the Washington Capitals.
Elsewhere on the Wolves roster this season you find noteable losses from a season ago as well as returning or familiar names. Pat Cannone, who I felt was one of their most consistent and polished players the last three seasons, is now a member of the Iowa Wild. His absence, along with prospects that have migrated to St. Louis, left a rather big hole to fill. That’s where I suppose all these blokes step in: Brett Sterling (former member of the Wolves), Landon Ferraro (former member of the Grand Rapids Griffins), Kenny Agostino (Stockton Heat), Andrew Agozzino (former Lake Erie Monsters and of getting shown up by Fiala after an overtime winning goal fame), Wade Megan (former Cincinnati Cyclones product), and Brad Hunt (former Wolves, Barons, and Condors defenseman).
Long story short, too late, it is very much hit the nuke and reset button for the Chicago Wolves AHL roster. It is rather remarkable, really. How has it fared in their first two-games of the season? Well, not being a hard judge here, they lost two straight games to the Grand Rapids Griffins in a home-and-home series. They lost 3-1 on Grand Rapids followed by a 4-2 loss on home ice in Chicago. They were outshot 62-53 by the Griffins, went 7/10 on the penalty kill, and 1/7 on the power-play.
Much like the Admirals, the Wolves will be looking to improve off of those season opening mistakes and tightening up the details in their play. My hope is for minimized trips to the penalty box for the Admirals as well as making better use of their chances on the power-play. For all the Admirals looks on the power-play in San Antonio, which included some extended five-on-three time, they still only scored on their first power-play opportunity of the season. They went on to squander the next 12 power-play opportunities. That’s something that just can’t be allowed to fester on and on with a group of skilled scoring talent that the Admirals possess.
Expectations for tonight’s game? What do you think of the Chicago Wolves massive overhaul for the 2016-17 season? Do you feel like the Wolves have progressed or degressed because of those changes?
Among the newbies starting up with the young AHL season was defenseman Alex Carrier. He made his pro debut with the Milwaukee Admirals this past weekend in San Antonio. (Photo Credit: Daniel Lavender)
The Milwaukee Admirals returned back home after a successful weekend sweep in San Antonio to start the 2016-17 season. Practice today at the MSOE Kern Center, as you might have expected from those games, was offense and power-play centric.
A notable absentee for today’s practice was Justin Kirkland. That is because he was assigned to the Admirals ECHL affiliate the Cincinnati Cyclones where he is expected to make his pro hockey debut tonight.
Already seeing a mixed bag response on that move I feel the need to chirp in by saying something very blunt: relax. The talent spectrum of hockey right now, in general, is astonishingly good. This means a stockpile of young and exciting talent is being groomed at not just the AHL level but is overflowing into the ECHL as well. Being sent to the ECHL isn’t some sort of a death sentence on a career. Especially this early in a player’s developmental process it can be largely beneficial. Kirkland wasn’t assigned to Cincinnati because of performance or ability. He was assigned because there are so many other talented forwards stationed in Milwaukee and that’s because the same can be said in Nashville. It is far better at this stage in his career for Kirkland to be playing that waiting on the outside looking in for a chance to play in the AHL. That time will come. It always does. Just look at how many PTO signings the Admirals had last season from specifically the Manchester Monarchs, three, just to field a lineup on certain stretched of the season because of injury accumulation. Patience is a great thing. Even more so, just being able to play and learn right here right now at any level will benefit Kirkland and many others in his situation.
Beyond that, everything else today was rather much business as usual. Today’s practice did see the inclusion of Matt White in and out of the fourth line for drills. It’s unclear whether or not he sees playing time for tomorrow night’s game over alternate captain Mike Liambas or not but I sort of have a hard time seeing him get tabbed over anyone else at the moment.
After practice I had the chance to speak with Admirals head coach Dean Evason. I also spoke with Harry Zolnierczyk who had a scary moment in today’s practice when he was hit by a shot from Vladislav Kamenev to the head. Everything in that department appears to be a-ok, though. Additionally, I spoke with Adam Payerl and Alex Carrier to get their thoughts from the opening games this past weekend. Here is what everyone had to say.
(Photo Credit: Marissa Baecker // Shoot the Breeze)
The first proper roster move of the season has been made. And it isn’t one that sees a member of the Milwaukee Admirals heading to the Nashville Predators. The Admirals are sending forward Justin Kirkland to their ECHL affiliate the Cincinnati Cyclones in order to log playing time. Kirkland is expected to make his pro hockey debut with the Cyclones tonight in Cincinnati when they face-off against the Toledo Walleye.
Kirkland was the Predators third round selection in the 2014 NHL Draft out of Kelowna (WHL). In his three full seasons with the Kelowna Rockets he produced 168 points (71 goals, 97 assists in 187 games. He split time between Kelowna and the Notre Dame Argos Midget setup between the 2011-13 seasons.
At the very least Kirkland is expected to make his pro hockey debut tonight with the Cyclones at the ECHL level. Past that? It isn’t certain how long he will remain with the club. The Admirals weren’t anticipating he would play a part in Wednesday’s game against the Chicago Wolves and, should the same be said of this weekend, Kirkland could find himself playing Saturday for the Cyclones as well. It’s a wait and see process for now with the goal in mind to have Kirkland being active rather than stationary in Milwaukee.
The news today from the Nashville Predators camp was a sad one. Both Anthony Bitetto and Miikka Salomäki are expected to miss extended time with upper-body injuries. The time tables at this point have Bitetto out for four to six weeks and Salomaki out for six to eight weeks. Bitetto was injured in a fight on opening night against Jordin Tootoo while Salomäki injured his hand blocking a shot the following night.
It would seem possible then to expect reinforcements to get brought up from the Milwaukee Admirals now that the depth topside is already being tested. While the short term fix of playing Cody Bass and Yannick Weber work fine enough the potential need for optional fits are likely. The question now, so early into a season for both the NHL and AHL outfits, who are those options?
The first thing you look to is the defensive depth option with Bitetto down. Weber, the other Weber, fills in for now but a more natural lefty for lefty plug in would work. It’s only been two games for the Admirals this season but already Matt Irwin has shown exactly why he was brought in as a veteran defensive option. He played incredibly well for the Admirals and was utilized in all situations and was basically the first choice d-man for those situations. He played on a defensive pairing with another possible recall option in Petter Granberg and both were great together in the Admirals weekend sweep of the San Antonio Rampage.
Of the two, while Granberg just cleared waivers and could easily be brought back into the mix, Irwin would be the guy you’d rather have playing in Bitetto’s role. At 28-years old he still moves around really well. He is polished and has 155 games of NHL experience. And, much to the way the Predators enjoy having active offensive defensemen, is more than capable of joining the rush if required to chip in on the offensive opportunity at hand.
The defensive area then is easy. There are really two top candidates with one very well suited to the role vacated for the here and now. As for the hole left when a Salomäki-type of player leaves your lineup? That creates a few different choices.
I feel Bass for the present time can fill the role alright. He’s more than just an enforcing presence on the ice. He is a terrific penalty killer and is so due to his abilities in the face-off circle. Yet, if you are looking for some added skill to the role you look no further than Frédérick Gaudreau.
You can find many items around this website about the terrific story of Gaudreau’s rise but the simplest summary of it is that he’s an undrafted talent that is getting to this near NHL opportunity because of a relentless work ethic paired with great all-around ability on the ice. He certainly won’t thump the opposition with hits like Salomäki would but don’t mistake his lack of hitting for a lack of defensive ability. His speed and pressure of the puck carrier is a joy to watch – especially when he’s out penalty killing with Félix Girard. Gaudreau’s offensive abilities started to really shine last season and did so right around the time when the Admirals decided to slot him in Colton Sissons‘ top line center spot after the then Admirals recall to the Predators. He did as good, possibly even better, than the now Predators fourth line center.
Other options in the mix stay out on the wing with candidates such as Pontus Åberg or Austin Watson. Åberg made his NHL debut with the Predators in the playoffs last season and is right on the edge of being an NHL talent. When comparing Åberg with Gaudreau you’re looking at a lack of defense for Åberg versus Gaudreau, sure, but Åberg has a much better knack for the net than Gaudreau. And then there is the Watson option. He just cleared waivers to reach the AHL but could easily be turned back around in favor of rotating alongside Bass. Yet, versatility of skill set of the four names mentioned favors Gaudreau and Åberg that little bit more.
Who should the Nashville Predators call up to fill the current Bitetto and Salomäki void? If the Admirals lose a defensemen while Bitetto is injured are you comfortable or concerned with Jonathan Diaby plugging into the third defensive pairing?
The Milwaukee Admirals won 2-1 on the road against the San Antonio Rampage Sunday afternoon at the AT&T Center. It was a similar feeling game as the opener and the result is just that. A late third period goal scored by Adam Payerl put the Admirals over the top in a tight penalty filled contest to complete the weekend sweep on the road.
Today’s scoring started off with a goal that mirrored last night’s game-winner for the Admirals. A great defensive play in neutral ice that speared a counter attack that ended with a goal. This go-round it was Matt Irwin who forced a turnover with a stick check and pushed the puck up ice in-line with Justin Florek. The newly signed Admirals forward went with a low wrister from the right wing that blazed against the grain of Spencer Martin to open Florek’s goal scoring account with the Admirals.
The penalty bug from yesterday’s contest trickled into today. And just like yesterday a 1-0 Admirals lead heading into the second period was erased by a power-play goal for the Rampage. The home-side were on their fourth power-play in the when A.J. Greer picked out Rocco Grimaldi in the low left wing circle who wired a wrister top shelf on Juuse Saros for his first goal of the season.
After a whistle during an Admirals five-on-three power-play the first fight for the Admirals in the 2016-17 season broke out. If you had Austin Watson as the man to do it? You probably had decent betting odds. Watson was grabbed by Duncan Siemens and Watson obliged. He never really managed to free himself up to throw anything flush and was subsequently taken down rather quickly in more of a scrum than a fist fight.
It was tough sledding for the Admirals in the third period. They weren’t able to record a shot on goal until 8:23 of the frame had elapsed. Despite that, much like yesterday’s game again, the Admirals found an edge. Adam Payerl provided a brilliant piece of puck control to maintain a backhanded stance as he carved past the front of the net before whipping a no-look backhander between the pads of Martin to score his first goal of the season and make it a 2-1 Admirals lead.
The Rampage’s late empty net push came with essentially five-on-five hockey taking place. Sergei Boikov was called for boarding when he caught his fellow Russian Vladislav Kamenev from behind as the Admirals were forechecking. Nothing came of the Rampage’s 1:50 worth of extra attacking play and the Admirals secured back-to-back 2-1 victories in San Antonio to start the season.
Juuse Saros made twenty-nine saves for the Admirals today. He came up really big on a number of occasions and especially when the Admirals were penalty killing. It was yet another rough game in that regard, as far as penalty accumulations are concerned, but the Admirals penalty kill still did a strong job. In two games the Admirals have 14/16 on the penalty kill. I’m certain getting the amount of trips to the box minimized need to be addressed but the penalty kill has had a decent workout and performance out the gate.
The Admirals next game will be this Wednesday where they’ll travel to Chicago for the first Amtrak Rivalry game of the season against the Chicago Wolves. That game starts at 7:00 PM CDT. The Admirals will be hosting a viewing party of the game at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena that evening.
Ramblings: Tonight’s line combinations were the same as they have been the past week. That meant the healthy scratches named last night were repeated once again: Matt White, Justin Kirkland, and Jonathan Diaby. The Admirals winning streak over the San Antonio Rampage is now up to six-games. As mentioned yesterday, the Rampage’s last victory over the Admirals came on 3/25/15 in Milwaukee on a 4-3 shootout victory when the Rampage were part of the Florida Panthers organization.
All things considered, are you happy enough with the Milwaukee Admirals taking wins in their first two games of the season? What are some of the more glaring problems that stood out to you this weekend? Do you think the penalty bug is concerning or is it simply early season sloppiness?
The Milwaukee Admirals won 2-1 on the road against the San Antonio Rampage Saturday night at the AT&T Center. Vladislav Kamenev scored the game-winner midway through the third period off a partial breakaway from a neutral ice turnover and the Admirals would hold to that until the final horn sounded.
Things kicked off with a bang as the Admirals were able to capitalize off of their first power-play opportunity of the season. An incredible series of passes by the second power-play unit was finished with a wing-to-wing feed from Trevor Smith right into Pontus Åberg’s wheelhouse for the first goal of the season.
It became apparent around the second period that the rarity to tonight’s game would be seeing these two teams playing at even strength. By the end of the second period both sides had six power-play opportunities and a total of fourteen penalty minutes.
Naturally, this wave of penalties eventually led to a breakthrough for the Rampage on, what else, the power-play. A shot by Mikko Rantanen knuckled in on Juuse Saros and trickled out for A.J. Greer to pop in the rebound and make this a 1-1 contest at the midway point.
In the third period the game finally saw a goal scored at even strength. Harry Zolnierczyk caught Chris Bigras with a check in neutral ice that freed the puck up for Vladislav Kamenev to race down the right wing on a partial breakaway. Former Admirals goaltender Jeremy Smith appeared to be leaning to his right as though Kamenev was going to pass to his left wing but he instead fired a shot on goal. The initial attempt was stopped by Kamenev shoved the rebound across for the go-ahead goal to make it a 2-1 Admirals lead with 11:22 left to play in regulation.
With 1:01 left to play in the third period the Rampage looked to take advantage of an icing from the Admirals by taking their timeout and pulling Smith to put the extra attacker on. Unfortunate for them nothing came of it. The best scoring chance in the final minute came with an empty netter bid by Admirals captain Trevor Smith spanking the crossbar off a shot from the blueline. The Admirals would basically cycle the puck in the offensive zone until time expired to secure win one in game one.
This was a slop fest of a game in the penalty department. The Admirals had seven power-plays while the Rampage had nine. The two teams combined for forty penalty minutes.
What can be taken away from the opener was a solid performance in net by Juuse Saros who, while not facing too much pressure, came away with a twenty-two save performance while just allowing the power-play goal that came off a rebounder. It was also a strong performance from defenseman Matt Irwin who looked every bit the part of the veteran defenseman he was brought in to be.
These two lock horns once again tomorrow afternoon in San Antonio. That game starts up at 3:00 PM CDT. I have to imagine both teams will be looking to minimize trips to the penalty box.
Ramblings: Tonight’s line combinations were exactly as they have been throughout this past week of practice. That meant that your healthy scratches on the night were Matt White, Justin Kirkland, and Jonathan Diaby. The Admirals have won the last five straight meetings against the San Antonio Rampage which spans tonight and all of last season. The last time the Rampage defeated the Admirals came on 3/25/15 in Milwaukee on a 4-3 shootout victory when the Rampage were part of the Florida Panthers organization.
Reaction to tonight’s season opener? How did you feel the team played? Do you get the impression it is going to take a few games before this Admirals team will really start to dial everything in?
19 February 2016: San Antonio Rampage F Mikko Rantanen (96) during the second period of the AHL hockey game between the San Antonio Rampage and Lake Erie Monsters at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH. Lake Erie defeated San Antonio 4-3 in overtime. (Photo Credit: Frank Jansky // Icon Sportswire)
The 2016-17 AHL season has arrived. It’s going to be a special season for the Milwaukee Admirals with the venue change into the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. That said, the Admirals start the year off with a five-game road trip. Heck, in October the Admirals only have one home game from seven-games.
The funny thing is that the AHL schedule always manages to balance itself out nicely over time. If I had a preference? I actually really like that the Admirals have a heavy road trip to start the season off. Rather that get comfortable in the home surroundings the Admirals will be out as a team spending more time together during all this early travel. Everyone can start to really get to know each other away from the rink and bond. While the impacts of this might not necessarily be seen ASAP the importance of having a chance to group up early with these road games could prove well in the long run.
Standing in the Admirals way for this weekend’s opening games are the San Antonio Rampage. The Colorado Avalanche’s AHL affiliate finished last season with a record of 33-35-8-0 (74 points, 0.487 points percentage) which placed them in dead last of the AHL’s Pacific Division. Head-to-Head the Admirals more than took the edge over the Rampage last season. The Admirals won all four-games while outscoring the Rampage 17-7.
Curious about the season-to-season roster turnover? Well, yes, a decent amount of that team spills back into the fold for this season. Yet, the headline talent that you’ll recognize off the bat for obvious reasons isn’t one of those returning names. The Rampage will begin this season with former Admirals goaltender Jeremy Smith as part of the organization. The 27-year old will look for a far less dramatic season than he suffered a season ago with the Boston Bruins organization and will be side-by-side with 21-year old Spencer Martin who played in 18 games for the Rampage at the AHL level last season.
The real standout names from last season’s fixture won’t play a part in this weekend. Mikko Rantanen, last season’s leading scorer for the Rampage, was recently assigned by the Avalanche to the Rampage but the soon to be 20-year old Finn is fresh off an early season injury and it isn’t clear whether or not his reassignment is an indication that he will play. Borna Rendulic, who scored the most points and goals (3) in the head-to-head match up for the Rampage against the Admirals is now a member of the Vancouver Canucks and Utica Comets organizations. And Colin Smith was traded last season to the Toronto Maples Leafs organization.
Who picks up the slack then? Will it be former Stanley Cup winner Ben Smith? The eleventh overall selection of the 2011 NHL Draft, Duncan Siemens? Superior, Wisconsin native Mike Sislo who arrived from the Albany Devils? Or a returning face to the Rampage by the name of Rocco Grimaldi who scored 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists) in 64 games in the 2014-15 season?
The answer there is a murky one. While the Admirals really have three lines that could be considered the top line it’s hard to look at the Rampage and feel they have the depth that will see them and an AHL Calder Cup Playoffs caliber team this season. They will need to rely heavily on quality characters within the locker room and on the bench as well as tight defense to back-up their above average goaltenders. That’s all really needed to just keep things close with an offense that is a massive question mark. They scored 213 goals last season to sit right in the mid-pack of the AHL in that category at fourteenth. With who is on-board? That number should decline. At the very least, though, so too should their 240 goals allowed… which was the sixth most goals allowed in the AHL last season.
If you are the Admirals the hope is for last weekend’s exhibition games to have sunk in as a learning tool. The Admirals passing in those games was sloppy, execution lacking, and they conceded an opening minute goal in each game while losing to both the Rockford IceHogs and Chicago Wolves to a 4-1 loss. This week’s practices were passing drill heavy with an emphasis on maintaining pace in attack. We should all know just what sort of a game this could be if the Admirals start missing passes left and right in the opening few minutes of the period tonight.
Expectations for tonight’s season opener? How will the Admirals handle the San Antonio road trip this weekend? Should Juuse Saros start both games in net for the Admirals?
Admirals Roundtable 