| March 2009 Archives | |||||||||||||||||
milwaukeehockey.com |
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I've gone from bad from worse. My toothache is still bothering me, but now I have a lousy, good for nothing flu bug. Runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, and a killer headache. It started to come on last night during the Admirals 4-3 shootout loss to Iowa, and by the time I got home from a white-knuckle drive home on an icy highway, I was in no mood to touch the web site. |
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Hey gang. I'm suffering from a killer toothache. It took all I had to listen to tonight's game.... so, I just want to make this a brief recap. |
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Here are my photos from Wednesday's game against Houston. |
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26 March 2009 |
Did you notice something different about the Bradley Center last night? If not, then you didn't wash your hands after going to the bathroom. Shame on you.
They installed new paper towel and soap dispensors. The old towel contraptions were an engineering failure. I'd often see non-regular fans struggling to figure them out if the towels would not feed automatically. The new ones appear to be of a better design.
Today, I read of the Bradley Center receiving $5 million from the state for "building maintenance and upgrades". The money will be spread out over 10 years ($500,000 per year). I wonder if the towel and soap dispensors were paid for from this windfall. Now if they can just do something about the lack of ventilation and the clumsy sinks.
The key part of this story is that the money is tabbed for building upgrades. Every spare cent the BC makes is currently going to the Bucks to keep them from leaving for a new arena in another market. Let's hope none of the state's gift is somehow deferred to the Bucks Bling Bling Fund.
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26 March 2009 |
I met another fan at last night's game with a great camera who is willing to share some of his photos with the readers of my site.
His name is Paul Oetlinger, and he got a great shot of Kelsey's goal. I'm looking forward to posting more of his pics as the season unwinds.
Click here to see some of his photos from last night.
If you have not noticed, I added a new link to the right column for Fan Photos. If you would like to have your photos displayed on the site, click here and send me a message.
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26 March 2009 |
16 shots on goal. That's all the Admirals could muster in 60 minutes against the Houston Aeros in a 4-1 loss on Wednesday. It's the third loss in the last four games for Milwaukee.
The Admirals were without center Cal O'Reilly. According to the Admirals Short Shifts blog, he was on his way to Nashville as a precaution for tomorrow night's game against San Jose, but he was not yet officially called up.
You could also say the Admirals were without about 17 other guys... at least that's what it seemed like since no one came to play tonight. Houston was quicker. Houston was tougher. Houston played smarter. This could easily have been an 8-0 game.
When Milwaukee did gain the Houston zone, they struggled to get the puck to open ice. When Milwaukee needed a line change, they would often get nailed with icing from lazy dump-ins. When Milwaukee would get a turnover, they would be outnumbered by the time they reached the Houston blue line. This was a frustrating game to watch.
Down 3-0 after two periods, the small Bradley Center crowd was given some hope of a comeback after Kelsey Wilson poked the puck past Nolan Schaefer. The Aeros argued that the puck did not go in, but the overhead camera replay showed it zipped in and out. Instant replay is not used in the AHL, but the referee stuck to his original call after talking it over with the linesmen.
Houston's Krys Kolanos iced the game with a goal with just over three minutes remaining. Afterwards, he did an awkward Lambeau Leap into the glass behind the goal. If you ask me, that celebration was in poor taste, but none of the Admirals had the energy to do anything about it.
Tony Hrkac made his first appearance at the Bradley Center since coming out of retirement two weeks ago. Fortunately, he didn't embarrass himself. Other than being a little slow on quick transistions, he seemed to fit in with his new teammates.
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25 March 2009 |
Here are my photos from Sunday's game against Hamilton.
During the game, I sat in a lower row than usual (row J). That got me closer to the action, but the top of the glass cut through the middle of my view of the rink, so the only decent pics I could get were of action along the far boards.
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24 March 2009 |
My photos from last Friday's game.
After the first intermission, I decided to sit in the upper deck for a change of scenery.
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23 March 2009 |
The Admirals made the short trip to Rockford on Monday. I listened to the game, but I really didn't listen to it, so I don't have too many observations to share.
Nick Spaling missed his first game of the year. Geoff Peters was also scratched, while Mark Santorelli and Brad Zanon dressed. Drew MacIntyre manned the Admirals crease across the ice from Rockford's Antti Niemi.
Former UW Badger Jack Skille gave the Hogs an early 1-0 lead. He beat MacIntyre with a high wrist shot at 4:35 of the first period.
The game remained 1-0 until Ryan Maki converted on a power play late in the second period. It was the first power play goal of his pro career.
Pete MacArthur crashed the net and scored with less than five minutes left in regulation in what was the game winning goal. Niemi held on to deny Milwaukee's attempts to tie the game in the final moments of the game.
Final score: 2-1.
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23 March 2009 |
Forgive me, but this is getting to be old news. I've been busy the last fews days, but I wanted to share this clip with all of you.
Former Admiral Jordin Tootoo fought San Jose's Brad Staubitz last week. Tootoo got bloodied up. Staubitz did not register a point in the 3-2 game, but he was named the Third Star of the Game for his efforts.
In the slow-mo replays, you can see that Staubitz nailed Tootoo with some forearms to his face, which probably did a lot of the damage to Jordin's nose.
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23 March 2009 |
I received a batch of photos from Jay last week. He went on the road trip to Chicago and Grand Rapids earlier this month.
Here is a link to his Chicago pics.
Here is a link to his Grand Rapids pics.
Here is a link to his photos from Friday's loss to Lake Erie.
I will post my photos from Friday and Sunday in the next couple of days.
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22 March 2009 |
The Admirals rebounded from a disappointing loss on Friday to defeat the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-2 Sunday evening at the Bradley Center.
The game featured the return of Alex Henry, last season's captain of the Admirals. He's not wearing the 'C' for the Bulldogs, but he is an alternate captain. He was called up for a pair of games with Montreal earlier this season, which is two more than Nashville ever did in his two seasons with Milwaukee. And for what it's worth, former Admiral T.J. Kemp (2 games in 2005-06) also played with the Bulldogs.
Hamilton was the first to light the red lamp when Ryan White surprised Admirals goaltender Mark Dekanich with a shot from near the top of the circle a few minutes into the game. It appeared as if Dekanich either didn't see it, or thought it was going wide. He didn't react until it was in the net. Milwaukee's Kelsey Wilson tied the game later in the period with his 14th goal of the season.
Realizing that he didn't send a single player to the penalty box in the first period, referee Zac Weibe spent the final 40 minutes arbitrarily sending guys to the box on tic-tac calls, while completely ignoring obvious calls. During a 4-on-4 session, Mike Glumac put the Bulldogs up 2-1 early in the second period. While drving hard to the net, he one-timed a pass from Doug Janik. Glumac is tied for third in the league with 31 goals.
The game dragged on with an uneven tempo as the special teams units were kept busy. Midway through the third period Milwaukee tied it up. A Cody Franson shot from the point was deflected in by Mike Santorelli.
A few minutes later, Santorelli got perhaps the easiest game winner of his career when the puck came to him with a wide open net on a power play. It was his team-leading 22nd goal of the season.
With the referee losing control of the game, tempers flared with about five minutes left on the clock. Triston Grant, whose full-face shielded helmet was having trouble staying on, got into a fracas behind the Admirals goal. Ben Maxwell was bloodied during the big shoving match. Wiebe decided it qualified as a fight, sending Grant and Maxwell to the box for five minutes.
Hamilton players and coaches complained, perhaps rightfully so, that they deserved a power play from the ordeal. Bulldogs Coach Ron Wilson said the magic words while venting to Wiebe and earned a bench minor penalty, thus cutting down on the time Hamilton would have to rally.
In the end, the Admirals kept the puck away from Dekanich in the final minutes to earn the win.
After the game, Hootie performed some generic country music that I was unfamiliar with. He also played a few of the Blowfish hits, but with a country flavor to them. The encore - Keep Your Hands to Yourself (Georgia Satellites) and Purple Rain (Prince). Yeah. Woohoo. Whatever.
And on a side note - I've got a bunch of photos to share from this weekend, and a batch sent to me from a fan. My work schedule is hectic this week, but I hope to have them all online by the middle of this week.
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20 March 2009 |
There's only one good piece of good news to report after tonight's 2-0 Admirals loss to Lake Erie. With Chicago's loss tonight, Milwaukee clinches a playoff spot.
Tonight was the first game I was able to drag my brother to this season - mainly with the Shea Weber bobblehead as bait.
He used to go to every game, but certain things over the past few years have turned him sour from going to the games. The logo change and Karl Goehring were two main factors. In the past two seasons, I've convinced him to go to an occasional game. Unfortunately, the team has always stunk it up in those games. He has now seen 12 straight scoreless periods of Admirals hockey. But don't worry, he said he will not go to any of the playoff games.
Tonight's Three Duds of the Game:
3. Cody Franson - continues to fall over when changing directions.
2. Mark Santorelli - he looked lost and committed some costly turnovers.
1. Cal O'Reilly - the worst game I think I've ever seen him play.
If you really want to know more about the game, here is the box score link. I'm not going to spend any more time on it.
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18 March 2009 |
The Admirals finished off their five game road trip in Cleveland tonight against the Lake Erie Monsters. I'm going to keep this brief with some bullet points...
- Mark Dekanich started as Milwaukee's goaltender across from Jason Bacashihua. Andreas Thuresson and Alexander Sulzer were scratched with injuries, and Patrick Hornqvist in the NHL. Mark Santorelli, Geoff Peters, and Ian McKenzie dressed for Milwaukee.
- Hugh Jessiman left the game after being injured in the first period. He never returned.
- Former Admiral Chris Durno fed Philippe Dupuis on a first period power play for a 1-0 Lake Erie lead.
- Mike Santorelli scored early in the second period to tie it up. He is the first Admiral to score 20 goals this season.
- The game went to overtime tied 1-1 after Milwaukee failed to register a shot on a power play in the final minutes of regulation.
- The teams played a rare 3-on-3 as two penalties in overtime overlapped for 50 seconds.
- Cal O'Reilly is the hero with a wrap-around goal with 20.3 seconds left in overtime. It was his 14th goal of the season, extending his point streak to 8 games.
- The team is on a 6-0-2 streak and will clinch a playoff spot with their next victory, unless they get help by other teams losing beforehand.
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17 March 2009 |
Nashville called up Admirals forward Patric Hornqvist today.
He will join the team on their current west coast road trip. Wade Belak suffered an injury in Monday morning's practice, and J.P. Dumont left last night's game after being hit into the boards by Anze Kopitar with less than four minutes left in the game. Jason Arnott (concussion) and Radek Bonk (upper body) also remain sidelined by previous injuries.
Hornqvist has split time between the Admirals and Predators this season. He has 17 goals in 47 games with Milwaukee and 2 goals in 20 games with Nashville.
Nashville reassigned Ian McKenzie from Cincinnati to Milwaukee to fill the gap on the Admirals roster. McKenzie played 12 games in Milwaukee without registering a point early this season. He has 12 goals in 40 games with Cincinnati.
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15 March 2009 |
The Admirals hoped to rebound from a shootout loss last night against the Wolves with an afternoon matchup against Grand Rapids on Sunday. The Griffins came into the game with the third best record (38-29, 88 pts) in the conference behind Manitoba (44-23, 93 pts) and Milwaukee (41-24, 90 pts).
Milwaukee was without defenseman Alexander Sulzer, who suffered an upper body injury the night before against Chicago. He returned to Wisconsin last night. Andreas Thuresson missed his second game in a row. Geoff Peters and Mark Santorelli both dressed as emergency replacements in today's game.
Drew MacIntyre played for the second day in a row... still looking for win #30 on the season. Grand Rapids started rookie All Star netminder Daniel Larsson.
The Griffins outshot the Admirals 11-3 in the first period, but the score was 0-0 at the first intermission. The second period was also scoreless, with a 10-7 shot advantage by Grand Rapids. According to Aaron Sims on the radio, it was an exciting game up to this point, despite the lack of scoring and fighting.
Milwaukee benefited from a couple of power plays in the third period. On the first power play early in the period, the puck found it's way into the Griffins net, but the play was whistled dead by referee Kyle Rehman when he lost sight of the puck.
Darren McCarty was sent to the box with less than four minutes left in the game. Late in that power play, Cody Franson beat Larsson to break the scoreless tie. Justin Abdelkader was tossed from the game moments before the goal with an abuse of official misconduct penalty.
Franson made it 2-0 on an empty netter with 41 seconds left on a 190 feet long shot.
MacIntyre's shutout bid was killed with 15 seconds left, when Ville Leino scored for the Griffins. A last second flurry in front of the Admirals net made it a nail biter until the horn sounded.
Milwaukee's Magic Number for a playoff spot drops to 5. The Magic Number for a division title is 10.
Next up for the team is a trip to Cleveland for a game against the Lake Erie Monsters on Wednesday. Lake Erie won the only previous meeting between the teams 4-3 back in October.
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14 March 2009 |
The Admirals boarded the team bus for the first of three road games in the next five nights. They began this set of games in the depressing village of Rosemont, Illinois. Land of exhaust fumes, traffic jams, toll booths, and the Chicago Wolves. Every doctor in the area is a practicing proctologist - otherwise, they would have no patients.
Scratched from the Admirals lineup was Andreas Thuresson, who was replaced by Geoff Peters. Since Peters is not on the Clear Day roster, I'm guessing that Thuresson is injured. Drew MacIntyre manned the Milwaukee crease, while Chicago went with Ondrej Pavelec.
The teams traded goals in the first few minutes. Chicago's rookie center Riley Holzapfel put the Wolves on top 74 seconds after the opening faceoff. Mike Santorelli answered with a tying goal 64 seconds later.
Referee Terry Koharski, whose brother really likes donuts (link NSFW), gave Chicago a gift-wrapped opportunity by dishing out three simultaneous penalties against Milwaukee 5:37 into the game. Milwaukee was eight seconds away from killing off the two man disadvantage when Chicago's resident geezer Steve Martins found the back of the net to give the Wolves a 2-1 lead.
Five players (two Admirals and three Wolves) started the second period in the penalty box as a result of tempers flaring up just after the horn ended the first period. Aaron Sims described the first twenty minutes as the most vicious period of the year, in part by several questionable hits delivered by Chicago's Scott Lehman. Koharski did not do enough to control the game up until that point.
With the teams skating at 4-on-4, Pavelec could not get his glove on a shot by Scott Ford, which tied the game with 5:20 left in the second period. It was number four's fourth goal of the season. He had only two goals in 101 career AHL games prior to this season.
Moments after killing off a Wolves power play, the Admirals took the lead on a goal by Kelsey Wilson with just under two minutes left in the period. Patric Hornqvist was looking to extend his 8 game goal scoring streak on the play, but his shot was stopped before Wilson put it home.
As I was listening to this game, I was watching the Atlanta-Buffalo game. The Thrashers called up Brett Sterling from the Wolves earlier today. He just got the game winning goal in the shootout. John Anderson almost lost his chew from celebrating afterwards.
Defenseman Alexander Sulzer left the game with an injury early in the third period. He was hit by Jordan LaVallee and went down holding his side. A few minutes elapsed before he was able to get off the rink. Fingers are crossed that it is not a serious setback for Sulzer, who just recently returned from an injury suffered in his first NHL game in January.
A few minutes later, LaVallee tied the game up as he knocked in a rebound from a Jamie Rivers shot. Moments later, things continued to go Chicago's way, as Cody Franson took a dumb penalty. Martins quickly scored on that power play to give Chicago a 4-3 lead.
With a power play on a bad call by Koharski, Robert Dietrich scored to tie the game 4-4 with 6:37 left in regulation. Neither team would score again in regulation or overtime, sending the game to a shootout.
All five Milwaukee shooters were denied in the shootout, while Joe Motzko was the only Wolves player to beat MacIntyre to give Chicago the extra point.
With the loss, Milwaukee's Magic Number for a playoff spot drops to 7. With Houston's loss tonight, the division lead grows to 17 points. Hornqvist's goal scoring streak ends at eight, but he has a nine game point streak intact.
The Admirals bus takes a trip up the eastern coast of Lake Michigan for a game tomorrow afternoon in Grand Rapids. It's a much nicer city than Rosemont.
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13 March 2009 |
It looks like the Quad City Flames are done after this season. The fans in the five city metro area did not support their team, as it ranked near the bottom of the AHL attendance barrel.
Calgary is looking at putting their prospects in Abbotsford, British Columbia (near Vancouver).
Read the details from their newspaper here.
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13 March 2009 |
The hot topic in the world of hockey right now has to do with the role of fighting in the game. It's been argued for many years, but a few things have happened to make it a headline story again.
One side does not want it... crying that it is an unnecessary distraction from the game. Others say it is a way for the players to police themselves of players taking cheap shots. The theory being that a player will think twice about taking an unnecessary run at a player if he knows it will result in eating a knuckle sandwich.
The fighting debate recently escalated after a Canadian amateur senior league player died from a fight earlier this season. His helmet came off during the fight, and his head hit the ice. He died a month later.
Now listen, I feel for the family of that player, but sometimes, stuff happens. In hundreds of thousands of fights (who knows, perhaps over a million) in the history of organized hockey, there is only one known death. You could argue that without fighting, another player could have died from an increase in blatant cheap shots.
The whole argument gets under my skin. I see efforts to ban fighting as part of the Pussification of America (see Carlin, George). I know one thing for sure... fights get fans on their feet. It sells tickets. A vast majority of the crowd enjoys it. Yet, the minority may get their way.
The NHL's general managers came out this week voicing their wish to get rid of "staged fights"... those which happen directly after a faceoff. Doing so would result in a longer penalty (5 + a 10 minute misconduct) if the GM's get their wish.
To me, if that is part of a future rules package, then it could eventually lead to a ban of fighting in the sport. Why? Because banning staged fights will not work! Players wanting to fight will simply wait until well after the faceoff... perhaps even running into each other on purpose to make it seem like a spur of the moment thing. At least, that's what the smart ones would do. After this experiment fails, the next step by the GM's (or whoever else is against fighting) would be to push for a complete ban of fighting altogether.
The other fallout from the death earlier this year has to do with fighting with helmets on. With the AHL's mandatory visor rule, I've felt that players should be forced to remove their helmets before the fists fly. Guys injure their hands and wrists more often when visors are in the way. And after the tragedy in Canada, many fighters are scared of hitting their head on the ice... whether they admit it or not. I've seen more guys refusing to remove their brain bucket before brawling.
In thinking of a solution to this quandry, I have come to wonder why hockey players insist on head shots. Why not throw a few haymakers into the other dude's gut? It would result in fewer concussions and broken fingers and would still entertain the crowd... perhaps more so.
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12 March 2009 |
A piece of news came out of left field today. Tony Hrkac signed with the Houston Aeros yesterday.
Hrkac has not played since retiring in 2005. He was a key member of the Admirals Calder Cup winning team in 2004. Milwaukee retired his #26 last year. Recently, he worked as the head coach for the new hockey program at Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin.
The Aeros web site mentions that the team kept in touch with him all season about a possible return. If that's the case, I'm sure he's been working out to get back into game shape before accepting the challenge. He will wear #14 when Houston visits Milwaukee on March 25.
At 42 years and 8 months old, he is now the oldest current player in the league. Only one other AHL player is from his generation - Manitoba's Mike Keane, who is less than a year younger. In fact, only a handful of players in the league were born before Jimmy Carter became President. Milwaukee's two oldest players (Geoff Peters and Jed Ortmeyer) are 30 years old.
I wonder if Houston is entertaining the thought of having Hrkac as an assistant coach for next season. Get him in now to familiarize himself with the team and their system. It would make sense.
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11 March 2009 |
Mark Dekanich got a workout tonight. His 46 saves helped Milwaukee defeat the third place Rockford Icehogs 3-2 at the MetroCentre. It was the busiest night by an Admiral goaltender since Dov Grumet-Morris stopped 50 on April 2, 2008.
Drew MacIntyre did not play as he spent the day returning from a one game stint with the Nashville Predators. He was called up for yesterday's game because Pekka Rinne was sick. He watched as Dan Ellis only allowed one goal from the Washington Capitals in 60 minutes, only to lose in overtime. Dekanich started his second straight game for Milwaukee.
O'Reilly was the first to light the red lamp with a goal midway through the first period. The teams combined for 31 shots (16-15) in the first period, but the scoreboard only read 1-0 at the first intermission.
The game tightened up in the second period, but each team was able to find the back of the net. Tyler Mosienko tied the game at the 12:27 mark. On the power play 50 seconds later, O'Reilly put the Admirals back on top with a blast from the top of the left circle.
Patric Hornqvist extended his scoring streak to eight games with a goal early in the third period. He also added two assists to the back of his hockey card, as he figured in on both of O'Reilly's goals.
Bryan Bickell scored just after an Admirals penalty expired to make it a 3-2 game with just under 8 minutes left in regulation. In the final few minutes, Rockford pulled their goalie for an extra attacker, but they could not send the game to overtime.
The Magic Number for a playoff spot is 10. Their lead in the division (over Houston) is now 16 points.
A few more notes from tonight's broadcast...
- The Shea Weber bobble head figurine to be given away at the next home game will feature the plaid 'Uecker' jersey worn on February 17-18, 2006.
- It was mentioned that Milwaukee is only the 2nd team in the 73-year history of the AHL to have six straight 40 win seasons. The other being the Cleveland Barons (1947-53). I got super excited about this stat until I realized the league did not adopt an 80 game schedule until 1976. Still... it's a damn good accomplishment by the different players and coaches we've had in the last 6 years. All the 'fans' who bitch and whine at every game need to realize that we've had it pretty good lately.
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11 March 2009 |
In the American Hockey League, today is known as Clear Day. Every team had until 2pm to submit a roster of 22 players that will be eligible to play for the remainder of the season. Teams are not allowed to stray from that roster for the rest of the regular season and playoffs, with exceptions allowed for emergencies (injuries or callups) or to tryout rookies on amateur contracts.
As the deadline approached, Milwaukee was in decent shape with seven healthy defensemen and two goaltenders, but they had a difficult decision to make at forward. They needed to choose 13 forwards, with 14 healthy guys on the team. The decision is made harder if guys in Nashville are made eligible to return to Milwaukee.
Because the Admirals are an NHL development team, the Nashville Predators want their contracted players to get valuable playoff experience. So, the guys without NHL contracts (Geoff Peters, James Sixsmith, and Oren Eizenman) appeared to be on the hot seat.
The league releases every team's Clear Day roster on Thursday, but news of the Admirals decisions was discussed on tonight's pregame radio broadcast of the Admirals game in Rockford:
- Sixsmith is sent back to the ECHL (BOOO!!)
- Ryan Jones and Antti Pihlstrom (both currently in Nashville) are added to the list
- Eizenman makes the list, despite being a recent arrival to the team.
- Mark Santorelli and Geoff Peters are named as emergency alternates - they will not dress unless the current roster takes a hit
D-man Teemu Laakso and forward Stephen Werner were not added to the Clear Day list because neither are expected to return from their injuries anytime soon.
Some good news from tonight's game... Triston Grant got back in the lineup. He's been out since breaking his jaw on January 13.
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8 March 2009 |
WSSP disappoints again. Their web site lists today's Admirals coverage starting at 4:45pm. It's 5:05, and I've been listening to Moriarty and Kennedy of FSR talk about golf and college basketball for the last 20 minutes.
Fortunately, the Flames have an online feed for their broadcast of the game.
Notes from tonight's game:
- Referee Jeff Smith did not give Iowa a single power play against the Flames in last night's game. Only ten seconds elapsed in this game before he sent a Flame to the box.
- According to the Flames broadcast, the Admirals were in Moline yesterday and attended the game between Quad City and Iowa. (Moline is not known for it's night life).
- About six minutes into the game, Hugh Jessiman put the Admirals up 1-0 on what was described as a "goal scorer's goal". Whatever that means.
- The Quad City announcer is already blaming the Flames poor performance on having played four games in five nights. Milwaukee has outshot QC 7-0 about halfway through the period.
- Late in the period, Nolan Yonkman goes to the box for a high stick. Kyle Greentree scores on the power play assisted by former Admiral John Vigilante. Greentree is second in the league with 32 goals behind Hershey's Cherrypicker Giroux with 45.
- 1-1 at the first intermission. Milwaukee outshot the Flames 15-10. The Admirals will begin the second period with 1:27 left in a power play.
- I guess I should mention that Mark Dekanich is between the pipes for the Admirals. Quad City is using Leland Irving.
Geoff Peters and Tim Ramholt are scratched from the lineup, along with all of the guys who have been injured (Laakso, Werner, Grant).
- Hugo Carpentier gave the Flames a 2-1 lead about four minutes into the second period. The radio announcer gave credit to Brandon Roach, so there may eventually be a change to the box score.
- Quad City goes up 3-1 with a goal by Justin Bowers about halfway through the second period.
- Nolan Yonkman scores from the high slot to draw the Admirals to within one goal with 6:40 left in the period.
- Wow. This announcer's nasally voice is getting to me. Thankfully, it's the second intermission, so I can turn it off for awhile. Still 3-2. The Admirals held a 10-9 edge in shots in the period. Both goalies made key saves to keep their team in the game.
- Hornqvist scores! It's all tied up folks. 12+ minutes left in the game.
- We're going to overtime. The Admirals earn at least a point.
- We're going to a shootout. This game just...will...not...end.
Mike Santorelli - scores!! Five hole on Irving
John Vigilante - scores. Beat Dex glove side.
Nick Spaling - shot wide on the backhand.
Justin Bowers - denied by Dex
Robert Dietrich - scores!!!
John Armstrong - Dex stops his backhand shot.
Patric Hornqvist - Irving kick save.
Kyle Greentree - Dex knocks away his shot.
James Sixsmith for the win... - couldn't get the shot off...
Adam Cracknell - scores to tie it up
Santorelli - stopped by Irving
Vigilante - Dex knocked it away.
Dietrich - no goal.
Greentree - deflected over the net.
Spaling - denied.
Cracknell - hit the post!
Hornqvist - stopped by Irving.
Bowers - Dex stopped it.
Sixsmith - SCORES!!
Armstrong - dammit.
Hornqvist - hit the post.
Vigilante - stopped by Dex.
Santorelli - diving save.
Armstrong - Dex!
Sixsmith - knocked away.
Cracknell - stopped.
Dietrich - stopped.
Greentree - denied.
Spaling - denied.
Bowers - wins the game.
Wow, that sucked. 15 rounds - not a record, but it seemed like it would never end.
Peoria beat Chicago in regulation tonight, thus the Magic Number is now at 12.
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8 March 2009 |
After Saturday night's games from around the league, the Admirals Magic Number for a playoff spot is now at 14. Milwaukee plays at 5pm tonight in Moline.
Here are some pics from Friday night's game against Iowa.
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7 March 2009 |
Photos from Thursday's game against Iowa... I'll share Friday's pics tomorrow.
The fifth pic shows Jessiman's goal.
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6 March 2009 |
That really looked easy!
After defeating Iowa 6-2 the night before, Milwaukee won the rematch 4-0 tonight at the Bradley Center.
Here's a quick bullet point rundown of the game:
- 11 seconds into the game, Scott Ford and Ryan Donally dropped the mitts and energized the crowd with a pretty decent fight.
- Minutes later, Milwaukee went on their first power play. Mike Santorelli poked in a puck that landed in the crease after a high lazy deflection.
- The Admirals made it 2-0 on their third power play about seven minutes into the contest. Patric Hornqvist scored, extending his scoring streak to six games.
- The score remained unchanged until the third period, when Santorelli scored his second of the night. Andreas Thuresson got the game's final goal with about ten minutes left in the game.
- Drew MacIntyre saved 27 shots for his fourth shutout of the season.
- It is the 40th win of the season for Milwaukee, which guarantees that the team will not have a losing record for the 6th straight year.
- The Admirals extend their lead in the division to 17 points.
- Milwaukee's Magic Number for a playoff spot is 15.
That's all for now. Time for my nap before my early morning alarm. I'll get photos up from both Iowa games Saturday night or Sunday.
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5 March 2009 |
That looked easy.
Down 2-1 late in the first period, it looked like the Admirals would have a tough time overcoming a hungry Iowa team. The Chops were doing a good job forechecking in the Admirals zone and created some turnovers in the first period, which led to a few extra scoring chances. Milwaukee made adjustments and rattled off five unanswered goals to win 6-2.
The Admirals benefited from three key players returning to the lineup. Goaltender Drew MacIntyre bounced back from a brief stint on IR. Cal O'Reilly came back from a brief stint in the NHL. Defenseman Alexander Sulzer spent almost six weeks on IR after being injured in an NHL game in late January.
A rare feat occured as, not one, but two Admirals recorded Gordie Howe Hat Tricks. Kelsey Wilson and Hugh Jessiman each recorded a goal, an assist, and a fight.
Jessiman tied the game 1-1 in the first period by deflecting in a shot by Cody Franson on a power play. Andreas Thuresson buried a rebound on a power play late in the first frame to tie the game at two. Fifty-nine seconds later, Scott Ford gave the Admirals an improbable lead going into the first intermission.
In the second period, Patric Hornqvist beat Iowa goaltender David LeNeveu on the short side after he skated in alone from the right circle to make it a 4-2 game. He has scored in five straight games. A few minutes later, Ryan Maki chipped in a loose puck just under the cross bar.
Iowa yanked LeNeveu in the second intermission and replacing him with Jean-Philippe Levasseur. The first shot JPL saw fooled him - a slap shot by Kelsey Wilson in the first minute of the third period. That made the final score 6-2, but the crowd was entertained by Jessiman's and Wilson's fights before the game eventually ended.
By beating the Meat, the Admirals guarantee they have won the season series over Iowa. After 8 of 10 games between the two teams this season, Milwaukee holds a 6-2 edge. The win extends the lead in the West Division to 15 points. Three teams are tied for second place (Houston, Chicago, Rockford), but Milwaukee has at least a game in hand on all three.
Milwaukee and Iowa square off again Friday night at the Bradley Center.
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4 March 2009 |
Former Admiral Scottie Upshall was traded to Phoenix today. Last night, I enjoyed this clip of him getting a stick to the nuts vagina on Versus' Sports Soup. Enjoy!
And Nashville wasn't able to get rid of any dead weight before today's trade deadline. I was hoping they would get a couple of good minor league prospects for someone like Hamhuis or Smithson.
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4 March 2009 |
Today is the NHL Trade Deadline. Dozens of deals, large and small, will be made across the league today with the possibility of shaking up the Admirals roster for better or worse.
In my experience, the best place to follow the news of the day is on TSN - Canada's version of ESPN. Last year, they were consistently the first site to announce each trade (I nearly wore out my F5 key that day). You're a fool if you turn to America's ESPN for in-depth hockey news.
TSN's live coverage begins at 7am. The NHL Network will carry today's trade news in a special program airing from 2-5pm. I'll post news of any deals involving Milwaukee after I'm done at work.
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3 March 2009 |
Former Admiral goaltender Pekka Rinne was named the NHL Rookie of the Month for February. In 12 games, he was 9-2-1 with a 1.72 GAA, 94.4 save percentage, and 2 shutouts.
He has replaced Dan Ellis as the Predators #1 goaltender on the strength of several strong outings earlier in the season. He is second in the league in goals against average (2.15) and third in save percentage (92.6). His 6 shutouts are tied for second in the league.
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3 March 2009 |
Former Admiral Brandon Segal was called up to Tampa Bay today. Assuming he plays, you can watch him tonight on Versus when the Lightning take on the Penguins. at 6:30.
Segal played 3 1/2 years with Milwaukee (2003-07). He appeared in 300 regular season and playoff games and scored 61 goals and 45 assists. He was a late addition to this season's AHL All Star Game. He has scored 21 goals for Norfolk this season.
Other former Admirals in that game are Mark Eaton, Adam Hall, and Mike McKenna.
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3 March 2009 |
Photos from Sunday's game against Houston. I included a few more than usual. Why? I don't know. For the most part, my pics did not turn out well.
The sixth pic is of Houston's second goal. I took one of Houston's first goal, but I didn't share it because it looks like Ford is shoving his butt in Dex's face... and this is NOT one of those types of sites.
Photo 12 is of Hugh Jessiman's game winner. Number 13 shows Mitch Love getting a warning from the ref for bitching about an offsides call. The 11th pic looks like something from one of my hockey video games. If someone gets near my goalie, I'm tapping away at the 'punch' button.
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2 March 2009 |
Photos from Friday's game against Quad City.
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1 March 2009 |
Now that's a little more like it. Milwaukee earns a 3-2 victory over the Houston Aeros Sunday evening, and they did it by their largest shot margin of the season (38-12).
Playing in their third game in less than three days, the Admirals looked like a energized group. For much of the night, the guys on the bench were on their feet watching the game. On the ice, the team suffocated the Houston attack and kept a good tempo while getting pucks on the net.
The first period didn't go the Admirals way. Houston capitalized on two power plays and took a 2-0 lead into the intermission. Fortunately for the Admirals, the two man referee crew only gave Houston one more power play for the rest of the game. And better yet - that power play only lasted 25 seconds before a call against Houston evened it back up.
Milwaukee's comeback started in the second period, as Nick Spaling and Patric Hornqvist scored to tie it up. Both goals were even strength, with the tying goal coming with the teams playing 4-on-4. It was the fourth straight game Hornqvist has scored.
Speaking of Hornqvist, he was not (yet?) suspended for his abuse of an official misconduct the night before in Iowa. After tonight's game, I consulted my 07-08 rule book, which does not mention an automatic suspension for that infraction (Rule 40). I remember Darren Haydar getting a one game suspension in October 2004 for taking out his frustrations on a puck after a penalty was called. The puck went in the general direction of the referee. I remember it being said that his was an automatic suspension. Perhaps the rules were different back then.
Saturday night, the Admirals were outshot 14-1 in the second period by Iowa. Tonight, they flipped that number in the third period against Houston. The Aeros only managed one shot in the final 20 minutes, despite gaining the Admirals zone a few times with an extra attacker in the final minute of the game.
Hugh Jessiman got the game winning goal on a power play early in the period. It was his 15th goal since joining the team three weeks after the season began.
A few new faces were dressed for the game tonight. With Drew MacIntyre out with an unspecified injury, Milwaukee called up goaltender Ryan Nie from Cincinnati. Milwaukee also called up center Oren Eizenman from Stockton (ECHL). He played at the Bradley Center twice in the last 10 nights as a member of the Manitoba Moose and played one game with Milwaukee last year.
And for what it's worth, the Admirals magic number for a playoff spot is at 22. It would have been 18 with a regulation win in Iowa last night.
When I mentioned the magic number a few weeks ago, a few people asked me to clarify. Basically, you figure out the most possible points the rest of the divisional rivals can achieve for the rest of the season. Take the fifth highest number (four teams make the playoffs) and do the math to see what Milwaukee needs to exceed that.
Team Points Games Remaining Possible Points
Milwaukee 82 20
Rockford 69 19 107
Houston 67 19 105
Chicago 69 17 103
Iowa 63 20 103
Peoria 60 20 100
Quad City 58 20 98
San Antonio 56 16 88
104 points would guarantee at least a fourth place finish.
104-82=22
Of course, it would be impossible for the rest of the division to win out with teams playing each other more often than not. This is merely a simple formula to show how close a team is to clinching. Hopefully, I will soon be calculating the magic number for a division title. Yeah, I said it.
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1 March 2009 |
I had a choice last night. Listen to the Admirals game in Iowa and record the Predators-Red Wings game or watch the NHL game and blow off the Admirals. I made the wrong choice.
I really don't want to get into the Admirals game too much. It was a disappointment.
They lost 2-1.
Some bullet points:
- After Coach Lambert blasted the Milwaukee scorekeepers for inaccurate shot totals in his pregame interview, his team was outshot 14-1 in the second period. Is he going to blame the folks in Des Moines also?
- Patric Hornqvist will probably be suspended a game for his stupid abuse of an official penalty. He was upset at the timekeeper for not promptly stopping the clock after a whistle with a few seconds left in the game. He whacked his stick on the glass by the scorekeeper. From what I understand, it's an automatic suspension, but I haven't seen it mentioned yet.
- The ice rink was a dark shade of pink in Des Moines for charity this weekend. Milwaukee wore their white sweaters on the road for the first time this season.
- Cal O'Reilly was called up to Nashville Friday night. Drew MacIntyre stayed home with an undisclosed injury. Milwaukee called up Ryan Nie from Cincinnati to be a backup goaltender.
Now onto the Nashville game...
Saturday night is when I catch up on sleep after getting no more than a long nap after Friday night games, so I didn't get around to watching the Predators game until this morning. Watching this game certainly woke me up!
The Predators curb-stomped the Dead Things 8-0. Jason Arnott had a hat trick. Shea Weber had an even more impressive Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Weber had two long blasts find the back of the net, but one was tipped by right winger Ville Koistinen. Weber took offense to Andreas Lilja dragging him to the ice by his face and answered with several uppercuts.
Elbow to the face? Cue the video at :54 and tell me that was an elbow to the face.
Pekka Rinne made several key saves to get his 6th shutout of his rookie NHL campaign, which makes him tied for 2nd in the league behind Columbus' rookie phenom Steve Mason.
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