Disclaimer - the words/graphics on this page do not reflect the views of anyone other than the moron who runs this site. If you're easily offended, go away.
Rewriting history
January 30, 2008
I received an interesting email this week. Someone noticed that the Wikipedia entry on the Dayton Gems stated that the Gems became the Admirals after the 1976-77 season. That reference has since been removed, but I was asked if I could clarify if there was any substance to that statement.
My first reaction was "no way". The Admirals were formed in January 1970. The Pettit's bought the team in 1976. Just another Wikipedia mistake. But then a possible scenario hit me...
1977-78 was the first season for the Admirals in the International Hockey League. They stepped up from a lower-tiered United States Hockey League. The Gems stopped playing after the 1976-77 season.
Is it possible that the Admirals had to buy their way into the IHL in 1977? Perhaps they purchased a dormant franchise license from the Gems to gain entrance to the IHL. It's the only possibility that gives some bit of truth to the since removed Wikipedia entry.
It's not an unheard of situation. Just look at the Rockford IceHogs. They purchased the dormant Cincinnati Ducks franchise in order to join the American Hockey League. History books will show that the IceHogs have been around since 1999, but it will also be mentioned that the Cincinnati Ducks "became" the IceHogs in 2007.
I dug out a few 1977-78 programs that I own to see if I could prove or disprove this theory. Nope. Some interesting reading, but nothing that helped to answer my question.
If I have to, I'll try to plan a trip to the library to pour through reels of microfilm to find an answer... a time consuming task for which I don't have the time. So I'm hoping someone reading this can shed some light on any connection between the Gems and Admirals. Let me know.
------------
While paying some attention to the history of the Admirals, another thought came to mind. Milwaukee had several hockey teams in the 40s, 50s, and 60s before the Admirals came around in 1970. The Clarks, Sea Gulls, Chiefs, Falcons, and Metros played in various leagues, such as the IHL and USHL.
My question... where did those teams play? The Milwaukee (U.S. Cellular) Arena opened in 1950. I'm curious to know what other rinks existed back then.
------------
Recently, I missed my first Admirals game in years. Not by choice. Sunday, January 20th, that frigid cold day on which the Packers would lose to the Giants in the NFC title game later that evening.
I just hopped onto I-94 in Kenosha to make my way to the game, when I saw a cloud of steam in my rear view and a climbing temp gauge on my dash. I quickly turned off the engine and coasted down an off ramp. I found that my upper radiator hose had slipped off my radiator, leaving me stranded on the shoulder.
Adding to my misery... I didn't exactly bundle up before leaving the house. I figured I would be ok with my regular winter jacket as I would just have a quick walk to and from my car in Milwaukee... and my car had not been running long enough to heat up the car, so I didn't have much protection from the bitter cold temperature as I waited for help to arrive. Yep... I was frozen, miserable, and pissed off.
Just a few days before, I had my radiator flushed at a place that rhymes with 'Sniffy Boob'. Turns out, they left my hose clamp loose, and a few days and a few potholes later, the hose worked itself free from the radiator, spilling all of the antifreeze I just paid for all over the highway. They later denied responsibility, so I will deny them my future business.
My brother arrived to help about an hour later, and we spent about fifteen f'n frozen minutes trying to reattach this hose, which is in a real tight spot under the hood. One broken socket adapter and a few scraped up knuckles later, I was ready to roll. A little hesitant on the reliability of my car, I chose not to risk driving to the BC for the last half of the game, instead settling in to watch 6 hours of football with my brother.
------------
Although it really doesn't affect me, I have to raise a practical question. Why do so many of the in-game giveaways at Admirals games only involve people sitting in rows C-H? T-shirt tosses seldom get more than a few rows up, and Roscoe always makes his way down to those rows for whatever he has to hand out.
Sure, the blimp drops coupons (and whatever else) in the higher rows, but I feel like a butthole if I grab one while a mob of unsupervised kids are climbing over seats around me in a fit to get at whatever is falling from the blimp.
I don't go to games to get free stuff. I do not need a t-shirt or a pizza. I'm fine if I leave the game with what I brought with me. Still, the people who prefer a clean view over the scuffed up glass should be shown the same amount of love as the up-close crowd. Am I wrong here?
------------
Former Admiral Kris Beech had a busy month. The Columbus Blue Jackets tried to send him to their farm club in Syracuse, when the Vancouver Canucks claimed him off waivers on January 10th. Two weeks later, Vancouver waived him, and he was claimed off waivers by the Washington Capitals (meaning that Columbus passed on reacquiring him). Over the All Star break, Washington tried to send him to their farm club in Hershey, when the injury-plagued Pittsburgh Penguins claimed him off waivers.
In other former Admirals news, enforcer Raitis Ivanans signed a two year contract extension with the L.A. Kings. He is one of just a handful of true enforcers left in the NHL.
Former Admirals goaltender Tomas Vokoun and defenseman Kimmo Timonen represented the Eastern Conference in the NHL All Star game this past weekend. Vokoun stopped 18 of 20 shots in the second period of the 8-7 victory.
------------
Some of you may have caught a recent item in the news about an Admirals employee who has been charged with several counts of felony sexual assault of a child. The media has chosen to make mention that he was an Admirals employee, thus casting some unjust negativity towards the hockey team.
The Admirals, or any employer for that matter, can only do so much when hiring a person. Background checks work to a degree, but they do not weed out every potential criminal.
If someone commits a crime, their employer shouldn't be dragged into it, unless they are part of the story. In this case, the Admirals are innocent victims of an overzealous media.
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.
I've had a pet peeve for several years that comes out to piss me off from time to time. It has to do with the strategy of when to call a timeout in a hockey game.
Now, I do not pretend to be smarter than a hockey coach, and perhaps some things can be explained to me, but I gotta believe it's one of those things that is not given much thought by the coaching fraternity.
Why do almost all timeouts get used in the final few minutes of a game? Each team gets one to use in regulation, and it's fairly rare to see it used in the first 3/4 of a game.
I've heard it's good to use late in the game to give exhausted players a break before a last ditch effort to tie a game... but if you always save it until then, you may either be in too far of a deficit for a comeback, or on the winning end with no reason to slow down the game. I really believe it can be used effectively earlier in a game to turn the tables in a game that is not going your way.
In the game against Chicago last night, the Wolves scored three goals in less than four minutes in the second period. In my head, I'm screaming at Lane to use the timeout and get the team to regain it's composure... point out their flaws... or perhaps come up with a new game plan to stop the bleeding. Didn't happen.
Sure enough, it was used in the final minutes of the game as the Admirals yanked the goalie and attempted a panicked comeback attempt from a two goal deficit, ultimately resulting in an empty netter. Way too little, way too late.
------
One thing I liked about the pre-game Goo Goo Dolls concert arrangement was the on-ice tickets sold for twenty bucks to people who wanted an up-close view of the concert.
That created a less awkward experience for the band, who is used to having people in front of the stage. In past concerts, you can sense that many acts were uncomfortable in playing towards an empty sheet of ice.
And as those tickets did not gain admission to the game, that also results in a more pleasant experience for the hockey fans in attendance. I've seen friction in past crowds by non-fans making it a miserable night for the people who are there to see the game... people from upstairs moving down to sit in the lower level... people constantly getting up from their seats while the game is underway... people who generally show the sport no respect.
The team sold out of the on-ice passes (I'm guessing about two hundred). I hope that more on-ice passes are available for future concerts. Heck, fill the rink if possible. It's money in the bank.
------
A request was made for my opinions on the outdoor NHL game held on New Years Day between Buffalo and Pittsburgh. Held at the Buffalo Bills football stadium, a crowd of over 70,000 people braved a cold windy day with snow and sleet to see this much anticipated game.
As a native of the Pittsburgh area, I've been a Pens fan since the mid-80s, so I was geared up to see this game, even though the Pens wore the powder blue colors of the team's darkest era.
While I was watching it, I made a short mental list of positives and negatives of how this game affected the league...
On the plus side - Great national TV exposure on a holiday can lure in some new fans - The game created a buzz within sports media outlets that normally ignore hockey - It was a rewarding experience for existing fans, especially for those of the teams involved
And the negatives - the winter weather slowed down the play and resulted in a game that would not impress non-fans of the sport - there were several unfortunate delays due to problems with the temporary ice surface, as well as the extra stoppages to switch sides at the 10:00 mark of each period... the broadcast lasted about four hours
The uncertainty of winter weather makes this a gamble by the league if they choose to make it an annual event, and I would hope they can guarantee a better ice surface in the future, as it's also a gamble for the players to avoid injuries on less than ideal ice conditions.
A few suggestions - Instead of having the players walk a mile in their skates from the locker rooms to the rink, they should have created an icy path for the teams to skate in on (as seen in "Mystery, Alaska") - Play the game in a more intimate venue... football stadiums have plenty of seats to sell (ch-ching), but I'd prefer to see fans sitting closer to the action... perhaps using a baseball field, where the rink could rest along the infield wall, allowing for rinkside seats, and temporary grandstands can be set up along the far boards
Of course, I was happy Pittsburgh won. Appropriately, the face of the league, Sid the Kid, was the hero of the game in the shootout. Besides, they need every point they can get this year if they want a realistic shot in the playoffs.
