Chatterbox April 3, 2016

Chatterbox, Vol. 123

The year long odyssey of a world without the Milwaukee Admirals being a playoff hockey team is over. The Admirals took care of business last night with a 2-1 win over the San Antonio Rampage to complete a season sweep of the Rampage, extend their point streak to eight-games, and lock themselves up into a playoff spot.

This season marks the Admirals fifteenth season as members of the AHL. Their inaugural season in the league came and went without a playoff run. The Admirals then proceeded to go to the playoffs for twelve straight seasons. That streak ended last year and, at that time, so much chaos was taking place. The Admirals did more than just sputter to the finish line last season they crawled to it while on fire. So many things that could go wrong did go wrong and they finished in last place of their division for the first time since that inaugural 2001-02 season. To put it lightly, this season has been massively different and it all boils down to consistency of solid team play yielding results. A season removed from being last in their division the Admirals are out in front of their division with a legitimate chance of winning it. What a difference a year makes, eh?

At the moment the Admirals have been playing smart, defensive, well-rounded, and playoff style hockey for the better part of a month. The upcoming schedule will have them getting fairly out of a normal routine with a road trip to Manitoba followed by a journey to Charlotte all the way from Canada. If there were to be a nice test for the Admirals I’d say this upcoming jolt to the system over the next week could be it. This coming week could go a good ways in deciding if the Admirals could do more than just push for a divisional crown but even go as far to overstep the Ontario Reign for the best record in the Western Conference. The Admirals will need a solid finish to the season to leapfrog them. Any small bumps in the road could squash that. In fact, with the teams in the Central Division being who they are, it could hinder that bid for a divisional title. The games in Manitoba and Charlotte shouldn’t be taken lightly. They should be taken as these last few weeks of games have been: as playoff style games.

~Chatterbox~

After last night’s game I had the chance to speak with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. I also spoke with: Jamie Devane, the man with the game-winning goal last night… A.J. White, who made his professional hockey debut with the Admirals last night… and Max Görtz who is always up for a fun and honest interview on the team. Here is what everyone had to say after last night’s win.

Comments from the comments? How excited are you to have playoff hockey back here in Milwaukee? What are some of the significant changes that you have noticed from last year’s team to this year’s team?

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

Game Recaps April 2, 2016April 3, 2016

Playoff Hockey Is Back In Milwaukee; Ads Clinch With 2-1 Win

The Milwaukee Admirals won 2-1 against the San Antonio Rampage Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

The Admirals have officially punched their ticket for the 2016 AHL Calder Cup Playoffs. Their run of twelve consecutive AHL playoff appearances came to an end last season but, with the win tonight, they’re right back in. The Admirals are just the second team in the Western Conference to clinch a spot. The Ontario Reign were the first Western Conference team to clinch and did so on 3/27/16.

“It was frustrating last year,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason of returning to the playoffs. “I think everybody remembers it. A lot of guys were here, a lot of guys weren’t, but we certainly were. It’s nice. We’re clearly a proud franchise. It’s nice to get back for sure.”

It wasn’t the best of starts for the Admirals. The Rampage quickly earned three power-play opportunities to rack up shots on goal early. Juuse Saros and the Admirals penalty kill were able to weather the early storm and the first period ended on a high note with Max Reinhart polishing of a breakaway on the backhand to score his team leading twenty-first goal of the season. The goal was eerily similar to the one Reinhart scored against the Grand Rapids Griffins on Tuesday night.

Midway through the second period the Admirals got on the board from an unlikely source. Pontus Åberg rifled a puck low to the net but was aiming for the backdoor run of Jamie Devane who got the easy tap in while both skates were in the blue of the crease. The goal for Devane was just his fifth of the season and ended a goal drought of fifteen games.

Under the three-minute mark, down a pair of goals, the Rampage sent Reto Berra to the bench to bring on the extra attacker. With 2:32 remaining the Admirals burned their timeout ahead of an in-zone face-off and the Rampage would score from a behind the net play by Mikko Rantanen to tee up Borna Rendulic for a shot that stayed low and got underneath Juuse Saros to deny the Finn’s shutout bid. The tally for Rendulic was his fourteenth of the season.

The game would end right there and it was yet another brilliant effort in net for Saros. He stopped 25/26 shots on goal to earn his twenty-fifth win of the season. His best work came in a first period that saw the Rampage mount a hot start with three power-plays that ended in eleven first period shots.

“He won the hockey game for us,” said Evason of Juuse Saros performance in net. “Simple as that. We weren’t good in the first. They were real good. Juuse kept us in the hockey game, not only in the first, but all throughout.”

The road ahead for the Admirals is a length road trip and one with a solid travel schedule. Monday morning the Admirals will travel to Manitoba where they will play on Tuesday and Wednesday. They will then travel to Charlotte for games on Saturday and Sunday.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played on Tuesday defenseman Stefan Elliott was recalled by the Nashville Predators under emergency conditions. The Admirals also signed forward A.J. White from UMass-Lowell to an ATO Contract. He made his professional hockey debut tonight wearing Mark Van Guilder’s old #29. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, A.J.-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, Devane-Bass-Pendenza, Oligny-Potter, Näkyvä-Aronson, Murphy-Mullen. Tonight’s scratches were: Kevin Fiala (healthy), Cody Hodgson (upper-body), Johan Alm (lower-body).

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Is Juuse Saros starting to cement himself as the Admirals first choice netminder? What did you think of A.J. White in his professional playing debut?

Scouting April 2, 2016

Rampage: Scouting the Enemy

There was a chance for the Milwaukee Admirals to clinch a playoff spot all while relaxing last night. The Admirals needed the Texas Stars to defeat the Charlotte Checkers on the road in regulation. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen as the Checkers won by a final score of 6-3. That leaves the business end of things to the Admirals tonight as well as the variety of games that are going to take place. Easiest thing to do though? For the Admirals to just take care of who is in front of them and not worry about what the Grand Rapids Griffins, Rockford IceHogs, or Lake Erie Monsters are up to.

With that thought in mind let’s look at some in-house news. I attended practice yesterday and got a good look at possible lines for today’s game:

Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg
A.J.-Kamenev-Payerl
White-Girard-Görtz
(Fiala) Devane-Bass-Pendenza

Just so you folks don’t get confuse because there are now two players with the last name White, Matt White and A.J. White, I have made things easier for all of us to come to grips with. I’ll further that in answering the other question you probably asked when looking at the lines, “why is Kevin Fiala bracketed out of his normal line with Vladislav Kamenev and Adam Payerl? Well, that is because Fiala was skating on his own yesterday with the newbie from UMass-Lowell taking his place.

So, there is a slight chance that what you see up top are the lines for tonight’s game with Fiala missing a second straight game after violating team orders. Do I know what he did? No, and it isn’t something that the team publicizes as it happens. In due time the reality of the situation may come to light but that’s not the case for what happened to Fiala right now. This was his first instance of a team violation this season. Stevie Moses, Pontus Åberg, and Max Görtz have all been slapped on the hands with a violation of team rules and those came down to being late to or missing a practice or team meeting.

What of the newest White in town then? Well, lucky for us, I stopped by to get to know a bit more about the newest member of the Admirals yesterday as well as had a conversation with the CCM/AHL Goaltender of the Month Juuse Saros.

~The Other Guys~

The San Antonio Rampage enter tonight’s game with a record of 29-33-8-0 (66 points). Their 0.471 points percentage has them in last place of the Pacific Division and thirteenth in the Western Conference ahead of only the Manitoba Moose (0.393) and Iowa Wild (0.377).

The Rampage might be a lowly team but right now they are on a five-game winning streak having collected wins at home over the Grand Rapids, Bakersfield, Texas, and last night on the road in Rockford. They have outscored teams during this five-game streak 15-5 with two shutouts from Spencer Martin who has since seen himself be rewarded with a swift demotion to the Fort Wayne Komets (ECHL).

Now, the winning streak is no joke. They’re on a roll. But this also happens to be a Rampage team that lost eight-games straight prior to this current winning streak. All of those losses came in regulation and in that time they had been outscored 28-16. Of note, that span included five straight losses on home ice. The Rampage fair much better on the road (0.542) than they do at home (0.397). But, in saying that, their road goal differential is still -16 (101 GF, 117 GA). That is the ninth most goals allowed by an AHL on the road this season. For comparison’s sake the Admirals have only allowed 82 goals on the road this season having played one less road contest than the Rampage.

~Season Series~

If you’re like me you probably feel like it has been ages since the Rampage last visited Milwaukee. And you’d be right. The first game between these two came back on 11/24/15 in Milwaukee and ended with a 6-3 Admirals win. The two then met up in San Antonio when the new look Admirals defense, with Patrick Mullen and Stefan Elliott, formed and made their debuts to the team. On 1/15/16, Mullen made his debut and the Marek Mazanec recorded a shutout for a clean 3-0 win. 1/16/16 saw Elliott make his debut and the offense explode early for what would be a cruise controlled, and yet another, 6-3 Admirals win. Dating back to last season, when the Colorado Avalanche’s AHL affiliate was Lake Erie, the Admirals hold a four-game winning streak against this outfit.

~Who What Now?~

The Rampage have high end prospect Mikko Rantanen leading the charge of their offense. The 19-year old from Finland, who beat Kamenev’s Team Russia in the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships Gold Medal Game back in January, currently has 55 points (22 goals, 33 assists) in 46 games with a plus/minus rating of +21 and 40 penalty minutes. He is the top scoring rookie in the AHL this season. The next closest to him is Austin Czarnik of the Providence Bruins who has 52 points (15 goals, 37 assists) in 60 games. It might be worth noting Czarnik’s rookie teammate on the Bruins Frank Vatrano who has a ridiculous 49 points (33 goals, 16 assists) in 33 games.

Rantanen is followed in team scoring for the Rampage by Maxim Noreau who has 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) in 58 games. He is currently tied for fifth place among the highest scoring defensemen in the AHL.

In net, the Rampage currently have a tandem of Reto Berra and Roman Will. Berra has spent most of his time this season in the NHL with the Avalanche where he logged 14 games, earned 5 wins, and commanded a very respectable 2.41 goals against average with a 0.922 save percentage with 2 shutouts. In the AHL, Berra has played in 10 games and not found entirely the same individual success: 3.36 goals against average and 0.905 save percentage. He was the goalie of record in the Rampage’s win in Rockford last night stopping 26/28 shots on goal. Should they see fit to ride him again it would make sense. His battery-mate Will has a 3.42 goals against average and 0.896 save percentage from 29 games of AHL work this season.

What are your expectations for the Milwaukee Admirals tonight against these currently streaking San Antonio Rampage? Not to be out-done themselves – the Admirals do currently have a seven-game point streak. Will that streak continue on and see the Admirals get their playoff spot clinched this weekend?

News April 1, 2016April 1, 2016

Juuse Saros Named AHL Goaltender of the Month

First came the Admiral of the Month distinction. Now comes one from the league itself. Juuse Saros has just been named the CCM/AHL Goaltender of the Month for his performance in the month of March.

Press Release via AHL:

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins right wing Carter Rowney, Providence Bruins center Frank Vatrano and Milwaukee Admirals goaltender Juuse Saros have been selected as the league’s award winners for March.

Rowney, the CCM/AHL Player of the Month, tallied seven goals and 10 assists for a league-high 17 points along with a plus-8 rating in 12 games for the Penguins, who closed in on a berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Rowney notched all 17 points during a nine-game scoring streak that ran from Mar. 5-25. He recorded his first career hat trick on Mar. 6, scoring once at even strength, once on the power play and once shorthanded to lead Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a 5-4 win over Hershey. On the morning of Mar. 9, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced they had signed Rowney to his first NHL contract; he celebrated that night with two goals and an assist – including the overtime winner, in Wilkes-Barre’s 6-5 defeat of Lehigh Valley. Rowney later registered two assists on Mar. 12 vs. Bridgeport for his third consecutive multiple-point effort, picked up three helpers in a 6-5 OT win at Hershey on Mar. 20, and scored the game-winning goal in a 5-0 shutout of Binghamton on Mar. 23.

A third-year pro from Sexsmith, Alta., Rowney has set career highs in goals (21), assists (31) and points (52) for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season, and his plus-26 rating ranks second among all AHL forwards. Rowney, who played four seasons at the University of North Dakota, has skated in 158 career regular-season games in the AHL, totaling 34 goals and 54 assists for 88 points, and has added two goals and four assists in 15 Calder Cup Playoff contests.

In recognition of his achievement, Rowney will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Penguins home game.

Also see: Past winners, AHL Player of the Month

Vatrano, the CCM/AHL Rookie of the Month, found the scoresheet in all eight AHL games he played last month, totaling eight goals and five assists for 13 points while maintaining his remarkable scoring pace for the season.

Vatrano’s month was highlighted by his performance vs. Portland on Mar. 6, when he became just the third player in AHL history to score three unassisted goals in a single game; he completed the hat trick – his third in the AHL and fourth overall this season – with the winning goal in a 4-3 overtime decision. On Mar. 11 vs. Hartford, Vatrano scored the tying goal in the final minute of regulation, and he picked up a goal and two assists on Mar. 13 vs. Utica. He scored again on Mar. 19 at Toronto and Mar. 20 at Rochester before earning another recall to the parent Boston Bruins on Mar. 22.

Vatrano leads the American Hockey League with 33 goals despite appearing in just 33 games for Providence this season, and his 49 points are tied for sixth among AHL rookies. The 22-year-old native of East Longmeadow, Mass., is also pacing all AHL rookies in power-play goals (12) and shots on goal (172), and owns a team-best plus-17 rating as well. Vatrano signed as a free agent with Boston on Mar. 13, 2015, and has seven goals and three assists in 34 NHL games this season.

In recognition of his achievement, Vatrano will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Bruins home game.

Also see: Past winners, AHL Rookie of the Month

In eight appearances last month, Saros, the CCM/AHL Goaltender of the Month, went 7-1-0 with a 1.61 goals-against average, a .936 save percentage and two shutouts, lifting the Admirals into first place in the tight Central Division.

Saros began the month by stopping 25 shots and both shootout attempts in Milwaukee’s 4-3 win at Lake Erie on Mar. 3, then made 22 saves as the Admirals shut out Chicago, 1-0, in overtime on Mar. 5. Saros earned his sixth consecutive winning decision on Mar. 11, turning aside 23 of 25 shots in a 4-2 win over Iowa, and earned his fourth shutout of the season on Mar. 23 with 28 saves in the Admirals’ 2-0 victory at Texas.

A 20-year-old rookie from Forssa, Finland, Saros has appeared in 32 games with Milwaukee this season (24-7-0) and ranks fourth in the AHL with a 2.22 goals-against average to go with a .920 save percentage and four shutouts. Saros was a fourth-round pick by Nashville in the 2013 Entry Draft, and made his NHL debut with the Predators on Nov. 28, 2015, vs. Buffalo.

In recognition of his achievement, Saros will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Admirals home game.

Also see: Past winners, AHL Goaltender of the Month

I spoke in great length about Saros’ month of March during the Admiral of the Month award talk yesterday but the short and sweet of it is this. In March the Admirals logged fourteen games to match a season high for games played in a month. During that time Saros took eight of the Admirals fourteen games in net and responded with a 7-1-0-0 record, 1.61 goals against average, 0.936 save percentage, and 2 shutouts. He was lights out and played his most calm and composed hockey to date in his first full-season of professional hockey in North America.

Of note, I attended practice this afternoon and just so happened to be conducting interviews as this news was about to be announced. I had the chance to speak with Saros and this is what he had to say:

News March 31, 2016

Admirals Sign A.J. White to ATO Contract

For those looking around the rest of the AHL you’ve probably noticed that the term ATO has been getting thrown around a lot lately. An ATO is an amateur try-out and that’s coming in bunches lately with both the college and junior hockey playing season coming to an end. This morning the Milwaukee Admirals have made their first ATO signing by bringing aboard forward A.J. White from UMass-Lowell.

Press Release via Milwaukee Admirals:

Milwaukee, WI—The Admirals announced today that the team has signed forward AJ White to an Amateur Try-Out Contract (ATO).

White joins the Admirals after finishing an impressive four-year career at UMass-Lowell where it totaled 79 points (28g-51a) in 153 career games. During his senior season he was tied for third on the team with 11 goals and fourth with 25 points and served as an alternate captain. The Dearborn, MI native was teammates with current Admirals forward Joe Pendenza for two seasons with the River Hawks.

White, who will wear number 29, will look to make his Admirals debut when the team hosts the San Antonio Rampage on Saturday night at 7 pm at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

As noted above, White was a teammate at UMass-Lowell with current member of the Admirals roster Joe Pendenza. The two were teammates from 2012-14 during which time UMass-Lowell won the NCAA (Hockey East) Championship and had the best regular season record in 2012-13.

White is a 23-year old native of Dearborn, Michigan. A home to former Admiral John Vigilante and Wisconsin Badgers defenseman Brian Rafalski. During White’s four-year career with UMass-Lowell he played 153 games, produced 79 points (28 goals, 51 assists), had a plus/minus rating of +42, and 28 penalty minutes. He is coming off of a 2015-16 season in which he produced career highs for goals and assists: 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) from 40 games. When he joins the team he will wear Mark Van Guilder‘s old #29.

News March 31, 2016March 31, 2016

Jimmy Oligny Named Admirals Man of the Year

The AHL has just announced every team’s choice for the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year. This year’s choice from the Milwaukee Admirals is defenseman Jimmy Oligny who now can be considered a nominee for the 2015-16 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award.

Press Release via AHL:

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today the individual team winners of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year awards, selected by their respective clubs for their outstanding contributions to the local community and charitable organizations during the 2015-16 season.

From this list of finalists, representatives from IOA/American Specialty and the AHL will choose the winner of the 2015-16 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award. The AHL’s annual Man of the Year award is named after the late Yanick Dupre, who died in 1997 at the age of 24 following a 16-month battle with leukemia. Dupre, an AHL All-Star in 1995, played four seasons with the Hershey Bears and also skated in 35 National Hockey League games with the Philadelphia Flyers.

This year’s winners of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year awards are:

Dan Kelly, Albany Devils (3rd-time winner)
Matthew Ford, Bakersfield Condors (2nd)
Zack Stortini, Binghamton Senators (2nd)
Matt Carkner, Bridgeport Sound Tigers (6th)
Kyle Hagel, Charlotte Checkers (6th)
Pat Cannone, Chicago Wolves (1st)
Tom McCollum, Grand Rapids Griffins (3rd)
Chris Summers, Hartford Wolf Pack (1st)
Nathan Walker, Hershey Bears (1st)
Kurtis Gabriel, Iowa Wild (1st)
Ryan Craig, Lake Erie Monsters (2nd)
Davis Drewiske, Lehigh Valley Phantoms (3rd)
Josh Morrissey, Manitoba Moose (1st)
Jimmy Oligny, Milwaukee Admirals (1st)
Sean Backman, Ontario Reign (1st)
Shane Harper, Portland Pirates (2nd)
Brandon DeFazio, Providence Bruins (4th)
Patrick Kaleta, Rochester Americans (2nd)
Michael Leighton, Rockford IceHogs (1st)
Zach Fucale, St. John’s IceCaps (1st)
Ben Street, San Antonio Rampage (1st)
Joe Piskula, San Diego Gulls (1st)
Ryan Carpenter, San Jose Barracuda (1st)
Domenic Monardo, Springfield Falcons (1st)
Bryce Van Brabant, Stockton Heat (1st)
Mike Angelidis, Syracuse Crunch (1st)
Derek Hulak, Texas Stars (2nd)
Andrew Campbell, Toronto Marlies (4th)
Carter Bancks, Utica Comets (2nd)
Will O’Neill, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (2nd)

The winner of the 2015-16 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award will be announced at a later date.

Chances are, if you’ve been to an Admirals event within the community, Oligny was there. He’s one of the more active members of the team in giving back to the local community and Admirals fans. He takes part in the Milwaukee Admirals reading program and always just seems to be around whenever the team is conducting an event. When the organization made the announcement that they would be moving to the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena he was one of the few active players to make a point to be on-hand as part of the present and future iterations. He’s always seemingly in a great mood and, to me, is the heart and soul of the Admirals now famed French Fries group alongside Frédérick Gaudreau and Félix Girard. And, as noted in Fifteen, Oligny is a tremendous family man.

Feature March 31, 2016

Admiral of the Month: March

The marathon month of March came to an end on a very positive note for the Milwaukee Admirals. Their 4-1 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins gave them an extra bit of wiggle room at the top of the Central Division and saw the Admirals extend their current point streak to seven-games. Quite an impressive finish when you consider that this month was tied with December for the most amount of games played within a month this season at fourteen games.

For all the constant movement, travel, and -oh yeah.. games- the Admirals level of consistency during both marathon months were outstanding. In December the Admirals went 9-5-0-0. In March the Admirals went 9-3-0-2. Both featured a point streak of five or more games and certain key individuals really standing out from the group. December was really the Frédérick Gaudreau breaking out party as he produced 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) while operating in the then absent Colton Sissons top center role. When looking at March another name stands out as well.

With fourteen games in March, and two back-to-back weekends of three games in three days, the work load in net for the Admirals was going to be grinding. It’s pivotal that the Admirals goaltending duo works as well as they do because it allows the team to not drive one into the ground during a month as hefty as March was. Both did their part really well. But this might just have been the best month of hockey that young Juuse Saros has put together in his first season of North American pro hockey. And it’s for that reason that he gets my nod for Admiral of the Month for March.

In March, Saros took eight of the Admirals fourteen games in net and responded with a 7-1-0-0 record, 1.61 goals against average, 0.936 save percentage, and 2 shutouts. Every game this month he has looked composed and played so smoothly in net that it calmed a lot of games down. There were games in which he actually played so well that the focus was less on him and more on what was simply going on in front of him. The win over the Griffins that ended the month of March was that type of performance. He was in control at all times. He helped bring the pace of the game in the Admirals favor by making smart plays with the puck – either gloving it down to get the whistle or making stops behind the net. It’s something that might get taken for granted as you’re watching the game play out but, when the final horn sounds, it adds up a lot to where the result came to.

As it stands today, Saros currently leads nearly all major goaltending categories as it pertains to rookie goaltenders in the AHL this season: goals against average (2.22 – which is good for fourth best in the entire league), save percentage (0.920 – which is eighth best in the entire league), and wins (24 – which has him seventh amongst all goaltenders in the league). The lone exception among rookie goaltending stats that alludes Saros comes in the form of Tristan Jarry (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins) who has one more shutout than Saros has. If you want to include “minutes” as one of those, alright fair enough, Saros trails: Eric Comrie (Manitoba Moose), Zachary Fucale (St. John’s IceCaps), Niklas Treutle (Springfield Falcons), Chris Driedger (Binghamton Senators), and Maxime Lagacé (Texas Stars).

There sure were plenty of great performers in front of the net. No doubt about that. But, the more I reviewed a lot of what everyone did I kept thinking back to how solid Saros really was for the Admirals in March. I feel ashamed to admit this but he really did play so smoothly this month that I probably overlooked how well he played – as he played – and just figured he was going to deliver as he had been. That’s just how good Saros has been this past month. He’s been so consistent and sharp that you’re not surprised by him delivering the way that he is.

Admirable Mentions: Kevin Fiala, 14 points (6 goals, 8 assists)… Pontus Åberg, 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists)… Taylor Aronson, 11 points (0 goals, 11 assists)… Max Görtz, 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists)… Matt White, 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists)… Vladislav Kamenev, 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists)… Marek Mazanec, 6 starts (2-2-0-2 record, 2.11 goals against average, 0.918 save percentage)… and a worthy mention to the non-statistically inclined but defensively sound group of the French Fries (Jimmy Oligny, Félix Girard, and Frédérick Gaudreau) and Cody Bass for countless great plays in the defensive zone or on the penalty kill.

~Admiral of the Month Award~

October: Félix Girard
November: Viktor Arvidsson
December: Frédérick Gaudreau
January: Marek Mazanec
February: Colton Sissons
March: Juuse Saros

Who do you feel was the Milwaukee Admirals top performer during the month of March? Was it Juuse Saros, Kevin Fiala, or someone else? Answer in the comment section below.

News March 30, 2016

Stefan Elliott Recalled by Nashville

During last night’s Nashville Predators game Ryan Ellis was injured and did not return. With one right handed shot down topside it opens the door for the now influx of right handed shooting defensemen that the Milwaukee Admirals to help out at the NHL level. The man that the Predators have pegged for this assignment will be Stefan Elliott who tonight has been recalled under emergency conditions.

Press Release via Nashville Predators:

Nashville, Tenn. (March 30, 2016) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Wednesday that the club has recalled defenseman Stefan Elliott from Milwaukee (AHL) under emergency conditions. He will wear No. 7 for the club.

Elliott, 25 (1/30/91), has 24 points (8g-16a) in 82 career NHL contests with Colorado and Arizona since the 2011-12 season. Prior to being acquired by the Predators on Jan. 15, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound blueliner notched six points (2g-4a) in 19 games with the Coyotes, and since the trade, he has 17 points (6g-11a) in 29 AHL games with the Admirals. Colorado’s third selection, 49th overall (second round), in the 2009 Entry Draft was a 2015 AHL All-Star, the 2011 recipient of the Bill Hunter Trophy as the WHL’s top defenseman and the 2009 CHL Scholastic Player of the Year while with the Saskatoon Blades.

The Nashville Predators can clinch a spot in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Thursday night when they face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins at CONSOL Energy Center (6 p.m. on FOX Sports Tennessee; 102.5 The Game). Thursday’s broadcast will highlight the emerging partnership between the Nashville Predators and the YWCA in the quest to end domestic violence through the MEND initiative. The broadcast will shed light on some alarming statistics concerning domestic violence and introduce the platform of MEND, which is to make Nashville the safest city in the United States for women and girls.

Elliott was acquired by the Predators in what effectively became a three-team trade. Elliott was playing with the Arizona Coyotes at the time. The Coyotes received Victor Bartley who was then shipped along with John Scott, of 2016 NHL All-Star Game fame, to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Jarred Tinordi and Stefan Fournier.

Since joining the Predators organization Elliott’s existence has been in the AHL with the Admirals. Prior to the trade he had spent the entirety of his 2015-16 season playing with the Coyotes in the NHL where he played in 19 games and produced 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists). In his career he has logged 82 games of NHL experience having also played a part as a member of the Colorado Avalanche from 2011-15. In his NHL career he has 24 points (8 goals, 16 assists) and a plus/minus rating of -5 with 16 penalty minutes.

As a member of the Admirals, Elliott’s reintroduction to life in the AHL was actually a rather amusing one given the first two teams that he played against. Elliott’s first game as an Admiral came in San Antonio where he faced his old teammates that he played alongside the years prior when the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate was the Lake Erie Monsters before moving shop to the San Antonio Rampage organization. After that series the Admirals then played against the Monsters in Elliott’s old stomping grounds of Cleveland.

Elliott’s entry to the team, along with Patrick Mullen who was acquired a day prior to Elliott from the Ottawa Senators organization in exchange for Conor Allen, was a signal of a a restructuring of the defense to have three lefties and three righties. This balance is something the Admirals really haven’t experienced under the reign of Dean Evason as a head coach as Taylor Aronson has been one of the lone righties in the system from last season up until these two trades took place. Since, the team actually added another right handed defenseman in Corey Potter to make the right-handed defensemen split overwhelm the left-handed side. This has seen the likes of Elliott and Mullen actually sharing a defensive partnership in recent games with Elliott operating as the left-side defenseman.

Elliott has played in 29 games for the Admirals since his arrival in mid-January. He has 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) which includes scoring 5 power-play goals. His first goal that wasn’t scored on the power-play came last night when the Admirals beat the Grand Rapids Griffins 4-1. He has a plus/minus rating of +12 with the Admirals which is currently the best among all defensemen on the roster. He also has totaled 14 penalty minutes.

Chatterbox March 30, 2016

Chatterbox, Vol. 122

If last night’s 4-1 win from the Milwaukee Admirals over the Grand Rapids Griffins wasn’t enough of a feel good “huzzah” type moment as you left the BMO Harris Bradley Center last night I’m going to try and guide you to what I felt was even bigger than the result itself. Because it’s not so much the win itself as much as it was the manner in which the Admirals earned the win that left me feeling giddy.

One of the real strong character traits that the 2015-16 Admirals team has displayed throughout this season has been the exact same problem that overwhelmed them in 2014-15. During momentum shifts in games, or when the pressure builds up and an opponent starts getting more of the kind bounces going there way, this Admirals team stays within itself and sticks together. It hasn’t mattered who was in the lineup, who was called up, who was injured, or who was in net – the team shows up and competes hard. Last night’s game had a poor start. The Griffins had the better jump to their game and three power-play chances in the first period alone – including an extended five-on-three power-play. The Admirals battled through the first two penalty kills. The second penalty kill, in particular, was an igniter for the team to get the wave of pressure from the Griffins to stop dead. Frédérick Gaudreau and Félix Girard were at the end of their shifts when Gaudreau got a clearance and Girard raced down, won the puck, powered towards the front of the net, and earned a penalty against the Griffins to end the power-play. The abbreviated power-play that followed was nothing special but the full-length chance that came afterwards was.

This is where the next big momentum shift came into the mix. Adam Payerl was called for a slashing minor. On the penalty kill Jimmy Oligny clocked Mitch Callahan along the boards in the low right wing. It was a big hit. It seemed harmless enough and clean. But the call was made immediately. Oligny was handed a boarding minor. The Griffins were down 1-0 but had an instant chance to equalize or even take the lead thanks to 1:09 worth of five-on-three power-play. Spoiler: that didn’t happen. The Admirals initial five-on-three penalty kill group was Cody Bass, Vladislav Kamenev, and Taylor Aronson. The two forwards were cruising to control the angles. Aronson was incredible to watch the amount of movement, laying down to negate passes across the crease to the back post, and racing back to his feet so he could set up shop on the opposite post to do it all over again. The first period ended with the Admirals having an attacking zone face-off on that penalty kill and they would finish the rest of Payerl and Oligny’s penalties at the start of the second period. The Admirals penalty kill went a perfect five-for-five last night. After having the poor first period where they made frequent trips to the box – there were no Griffins power-plays in the second period. The Griffins next power-play wouldn’t come until they were down 4-1 6:59 into the third period.

That brings us to the next huge element to last night’s game which was the third period. The Admirals had a 2-0 lead reduced to a goal after Andy Miele‘s rocket wrister stuck a puck into the netting. As far as the scoring momentum goes. As far as the season history goes. The Griffins should have been the ones feeling confident that they could enter the third period, level the score at 2-2, and take the game to the Admirals as they have throughout this season. The Admirals opted to blitz the Griffins with a goal inside of thirty-seconds of the third period from Stefan Elliott. That level of deflation from the Griffins, combined with a skilled piece of pressure defense by Pontus Åberg to generate an awful turnover from Martin Frk to give Max Reinhart a breakaway and his team leading twentieth goal of the season only 1:12 of ice time following Elliott’s goal, was curtains.

This is the last and possibly most impressive part to last night’s game: the finish. The Admirals had those opening two-goals out of the gate for the third period, sure, but they shut the door on the Griffins. It’s around this point when the Admirals defense, and Juuse Saros in net, came to the forefront. The Grffins outshot the Admirals 10-9 in the final frame, and 29-28 in the contest, but the Admirals kept them quiet and only allowed one slick piece of speed and skill to get the better of them. Saros made twenty-eight saves, looked very composed once again, didn’t allow poor rebounds, made smart decisions to freeze the puck and get a defensive zone face-off for Girard or Bass to deal with, and made one of the more highly important games of the Admirals season to date look like it was easier than I’m sure it really was. That’s a credit to him and the defense playing in front of him. I refer you to all take a good look at that photo of Saros even more closely. That was the Admirals doing to the Griffins as the Griffins usually did to the Admirals. Clear out the net, force low quality scoring chances from deep in the zone, and allow the goaltender to make the save.

The Admirals are playing playoff hockey right now. Simple as that. They’ve not been doing anything flashy or put themselves into a track meet type of contest. They’ve been sound defensively which has allowed for better chances at the other end of the rink and the offense is finding ways to generate goals from many different contributors. This is what I was seeing out of the Admirals in that game last night which left me feeling all sorts of giddy on the way out of the building. It was played like a playoff game. The Griffins are as solid of a team as you’ll find in the AHL’s Western Conference. The Admirals came out in the third period and took it to them offensively and defensively. I’d consider that your playoff test run and a successful one at that. I cannot wait for playoff hockey to begin.

~Chatterbox~

After the game I had the chance to speak with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason as well as Aronson and Åberg. Here is what they had to say following last night’s win over the Griffins.

Comments on the comments? It hasn’t been clinched yet, but, let’s think 2016 AHL Calder Cup Playoffs for a moment. Who do you feel are the main threats coming out of the Western Conference that could give the Milwaukee Admirals troubles in the playoffs? Would there be a certain team that you wouldn’t want to face in the opening round or would there be one you think would be better to face right away?

Game Recaps March 29, 2016March 29, 2016

Admirals Edge The Griffins; Win 4-1

The Milwaukee Admirals won 4-1 against the Grand Rapids Griffins Tuesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

“It’s one game,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “Clearly we know where we’re at, the group knows where they’re at, and it was an important game. But we didn’t approach it any differently that any other game.”

In this showdown of the top two teams in the Central Division things were rather tight through two period of play. The score at the start of the third period was 2-1 with the Griffins having scored the last goal in the contest. In the opening 1:39 of the third period the Admirals raced out to score a pair of goals that would see them through to the finish line. The Admirals point streak is now up to seven-games. The Griffins losing streak is now up to four-games.

“Real happy the way we competed,” said Evason. “We did a lot of real good things in order to give ourselves a chance to have success.”

Despite a slow start the Admirals appeared to find their groove after a great play on the penalty kill by Félix Girard earned a penalty against the Griffins and changed momentum. The Admirals wouldn’t cash in on their abbreviated power-play chance that Girard provided but would on their first crack at a full-length power-play opportunity.

Martin Frk went to the box for a holding minor that took place in the Griffins attacking zone. Setting his sights from the right wing circle was Vladislav Kamenev and his slap shot buzzed through traffic, and Jared Coreau in net, to record his thirteenth goal of the season and provide the Admirals with an early lead.

The Admirals ended the first period on an extended five-on-three penalty kill. Adam Payerl sat down in the penalty box for slashing and he would be accompanied by Jimmy Oligny after a boarding minor against Mitch Callahan which put the Griffins on a 1:09 long five-on-three power-play. Taylor Aronson was laying out repeatedly in front of Juuse Saros to negate back-post passes from in-close and the Admirals were able to survive the rest of the opening stanza with a 1-0 lead. At the start of the second period, they took care of the last six-seconds of the two man advantage for the Griffins and the final fifty-one seconds of Oligny’s penalty to get out of an early jam.

“We had a lot of kills in the first,” said Pontus Åberg after the game. “That sucks for us guys that are not playing on the penalty kill but the guys did a good job out there and kept them from scoring. That was huge for us.”

After being part of a great penalty kill Aronson decided to add yet another primary assist to his night by helping see Matt White reach double-digits for goals this season. Aronson raced around the boards from the right wing and, just before he was about to wrap around the net, delivered a pass to the tape of White for a one-timer that Coreau never saw coming.

“We talked about it right before the draw,” said Taylor Aronson of the set play off the face-off. “We talked about where to go and made it work. Luckily it worked out.”

The Griffins were able to respond quickly to White’s tenth goal of the season. 2:22 of ice-time elapsed saw Mark Zengerle tag Any Miele to his opposite wing to give the Griffins leading points scorer add to his total. Miele’s wrister from the left wing circle was blistered into the top shelf past Saros’ glove side. So much so, the officials had quite a bit of trouble retrieving the puck that wound up getting stuck in the netting from Miele’s fifteenth goal of the season.

A mere twenty-seven seconds into the third period and the Admirals re-established their two-goal lead. Stefan Elliott hopped up from the blue line, faked out Eric Tangradi, and proceeded to fling a wrist shot through traffic for his sixth goal of the season and his first being scored not on an Admirals power-play.

Things went from bad to worse for the Griffins third period start. Pontus Åberg forced a really bad turnover out of Martin Frk and it sent Max Reinhart off on a breakaway where he dusted off Coreau with a backhander over the glove to score his twentieth goal of the season. The goals from Elliott and Reinhart were scored 1:12 apart from one another.

“Our group has been resilient,” commented Evason of the Admirals coming back strongly to start the third period. “That’s something that has been a real positive for us. When we’ve had situations where we could possibly have a let down we’ve been able to find something. Maybe it’s not even a goal. Maybe it’s a penalty kill – a momentum swing. Certainly a key factor is our leadership group.”

Ramblings: Prior to the start of tonight’s game the Milwaukee Admirals announced that they had signed goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris to a PTO contract to serve as an emergency back-up with Marek Mazanec out of the lineup. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Murphy-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, Devane-Bass-Pendenza, Elliott-Mullen, Oligny-Potter, Näkyvä-Aronson. Tonight’s Scratches: Kevin Fiala (suspended by team for a violation of team rules), Cody Hodgson (upper-body), Marek Mazanec (undisclosed), and Johan Alm (lower-body).

Thought’s on tonight’s game? Seeing this level of a performance against the Grand Rapids – what do you currently think of these Milwaukee Admirals? How important was this win against the Griffins for the race to win a division title?

News & Discussion Site For Your Milwaukee Admirals