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Midseason report card
January 16, 2008
Tonight marks the midpoint of the regular season for the Admirals. 40 games down, 40 to go... and this is typically a good time to reflect on what's passed, and look forward to the stretch run towards a playoff berth.
The team finds itself in a crazy divisional fight. Unlike the other divisions, the West does not have a couple of obvious doormats. Rockford and Chicago have pulled away from the rest of the pack, but the other six teams have pretty much won about half of their games. Because of this, Milwaukee's games within those other five teams are crucial if they are to climb to at least fifth place in the eight team division. Four teams from each division make the playoffs, but because there is an extra team in our division, the fifth place West division team with a better record will replace the fourth place team in the North division, which appears very likely.
So what will the Admirals have to work on to extend the season beyond 80 games? Plenty.
1. Eliminate defensive meltdowns. There have been 10 periods this season in which Milwaukee has allowed three or more goals... six times in the third period. Only once did they manage a win after a meltdown. The team doesn't light the world on fire on the offensive end, so when the puck gets into their own zone, they need to get the job done.
2. On the flip side, the team doesn't have a killer instinct on offense. Only four wins by more than 2 goals, and only two since October 24. Injuries haven't helped... Shane Willis, Josh Langfeld, and Jason Guerriero have missed a combined 70 games, but the team has enough talented players who could step up to fill the void, but it hasn't always been carried out. And no one on the team has notched a hat trick.
3. Power up the power play. The team ranks 21st in the league with a man advantage. I do not see enough creativity. Not enough one-timers or slick back door passes. More often than not, the team's intentions seem to be easy to read, and thus easy to defend. The team also lacks a big cannon from the blue line.
4. Two Europeans have defected. Are they the only ones, or will someone else abandon ship? How many other players on the team don't give a shit? The Admirals need to find a few depth guys with some heart.
What is working?
1. The penalty killers have been great... ranked fifth in the league. They've only allowed more than one power play goal in six games.
2. The team is one of the least penalized teams in the league, largely because the team only has one guy (Kelsey Wilson) willing to drop the mitts on a regular basis. Still, I do not see too many stupid penalties.
Some player evaluations... - Maxime Daigneault has not gotten many opportunities (6 games played), and it's hard for backups to excel in that situation... he has a 2-4 record and a 2.56 GAA - Matt Ellison is having a career year offensively. His pro career milestone is 14 goals, and he already has 10. - Cody Franson has been a slight disappointment. He's still young and is improving, but I expected more from him based on his reputation in juniors. - Jason Guerriero's season has not lived up to last season (2 goals in 24 games). With the Cinderella story of an undrafted teammate making it to the NHL (Peverley), I'd expect him to be motivated to follow that lead. - Alex Henry appeared to step up as a veteran leader after being named captain. His game remains consistent... not real flashy, but effective. - Josh Langfeld has missed half of the season due to injury, but has been as effective as I had hoped... 11 goals in 21 games. - Ryan Maki has not shown much... in fact nothing at all on the scoreboard, but he's not getting very many minutes, and is after all a rookie. - Mark Matheson has often been a healthy scratch and has an average game at best when he does play. - Janne Niskala has performed up to his reputation... if Nashville wasn't fully stocked with defensemen on one way contracts, he probably would have gotten a brief callup to the NHL. - Cal O'Reilly... I really like the guy, but he's in a sophomore slump. Still one of the better playmakers on the team, as 4 of his 7 goals have been shorthanded, but a disappointment with only 2 even strength goals. I really thought he would elevate his game to the next level this season. - Antti Pihlstrom has been the best new player... he has used his blazing speed to score a team high 16 goals... I was disappointed he was not named to the All Star team. - Pekka Rinne has been the workhorse goalie on the team... still doing a great job, but his numbers are off a little from last season. - Mike Santorelli is having a decent rookie season with 10 goals. - Bryan Schmidt has been alternating with Matheson as the team's sixth defenseman... average at best. - Alexander Sulzer seems to be adapting to the North American game... he plays confident and usually makes a good pass out of the zone. - Andreas Thuresson... he looks like he's doing a lot, but he's not... seemingly out of control on the ice. - John Vigilante has matched his rookie scoring totals already and is playing more confidently in season number two. - Kelsey Wilson seems to be getting more minutes than last year... although he's scoring less, he seems to be making fewer mistakes with the puck than last year. - Nolan Yonkman is staying healthy (knock on wood), and is playing at about the same level as last season.
It's not too late for the team to gather steam to make a strong postseason run, but I'm not too confident it will happen. Perhaps Nashville will acquire a player or two at the trade deadline that will make a difference. Anything can happen - just look at Hamilton last year.
In case you didn't see it, here's a clip of a fight between former Admirals Raitis Ivanans and Zack Stortini from last night.
