Milwaukeehockey.com

Touch of grey

October 4, 2007

Oh well a touch of grey, kinda suits you anyway,
That's all I had to say, but it's all right.
I will get by, I will get by, I will get by, I will survive.
~ Grateful Dead

I've got to point out a correction to something I wrote in an earlier entry. After seeing the new Admirals RBK Edge jerseys in person for the first time, it appears as if the Admirals road colors feature the same shade of grey they used last season.

In an earlier entry, I displayed a screenshot of the new uniforms as seen in EA's NHL 08 video game, in which the grey appears to be a lighter shade. Well, that was either an optical illusion, or a mistake by EA. Honestly, I was hoping for a tweak of the road look.

My first impressions of the new jerseys are a little mixed. I'm not a fan of the vertical blue stripes. I like the idea of adding more blue to the color scheme, but those stripes appear awkward. The RBK design itself is growing on me. After seeing a handful of NHL games using them, I have accepted them. The fights seem to be 'cleaner'... less jersey pulling, which may lead to more punches thrown.

And although he hasn't suited up for a game yet, kudos have to go out to Brandon Segal. He made the opening night roster for Anaheim... the defending Cup champs. Mark Mowers is another former Admiral to play for the Ducks this season.

And Sheldon Brookbank was claimed off waivers by the New Jersey Devils, of all teams. As an offensive defenseman, I wonder how he'll adapt to the dull Devils defensive scheme. I wish him and Segal luck towards sticking with their new NHL teams.

The Admirals made what is probably their last roster move before the first game by assigning goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris to the team's affiliate in Cincinnati. That leaves Maxime Daigneault as the backup to Pekka Rinne.

Milwaukee's jersey numbers have also been released (see my players page). Alexander Sulzer will be possibly the first Admiral to ever wear #52. My historical records of the team are incomplete for uniform numbers, but I'm willing to bet he's the first.

And as promised, here's a brief opinion of some of the new players based on what I've seen in preseason play...
Mike Santorelli - a real play maker. Hard to say what line he'll be on as we have 5 great centers (along with Peverley, O'Reilly, Ellison, and Guerriero)
Richard Stehlik - scored twice from the blue line in the third preseason game with a heckuva slap shot. He didn't seem too physical for his size (6'4" 248 lbs.), but that's hard to judge as players sometimes take it easy in preseason.
Shane Willis - savvy veteran looked good. I expect a consistently solid game from him.
Cody Franson - reminds me of Shea Weber in his rookie year. But I won't be disappointed if it takes him a little while to get accustomed to this level of play.
Andreas Thuresson - hard worker with some speed and willing to throw his weight around a little bit.
Antti Pihlström - speedy blond kid will be easy to spot on the ice. He'll have to adapt to the North American style of game, as he seemed a little 'disconnected' in exhibition games. He could become a gem by midseason if he finds his game.
Maxime Daigneault - had a rocky game in Hartland, as he wasn't tested often, but allowed a few goals. He looked better in the next game against Chicago, so my opinion of him is undecided.
My thoughts on Alexander Sulzer and Oliver Setzinger are fuzzy. They played in the first game, but I didn't focus on their game enough to judge. Not to mention their names are a little too similar.
I also liked what I saw from relative newcomers Ryan Maki and Mark Matheson, both of whom joined the Admirals late last season.

But as enthusiastic as I am about this team, I have to remain cautious against high expectations, as Milwaukee is now in an 8 team division. Admiral fans are accustomed to being in 6 or 7 team divisions, and hoping for a division title is a lofty goal. You have to look all the way back to when the IHL was a 9 team league in 1984-85 when the Admirals played in a division this large.

And a reminder as we approach the first road game of the season. The Admirals are on a new radio station. SportsRadio 1250AM. But no worries... Aaron Sims returns as the voice of the team, and the new station has a stronger signal than previous Admirals radio outlets.

I'll leave you with a three part documentary on the 2006-07 season I found on YouTube. Made by two high school students. A job well done, worth saving to your hard drive. Total run time is about a half hour.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three

posted by Todd # 8:45 PM

Comments:

Thank you for the report.

# posted by

Anonymous : October 5, 2007 7:08 PM

Thanks for the report, much appreciated.

# posted by

Anonymous : October 8, 2007 4:21 PM

Archives