Jarnkrok scoring immediately after joining team
Predators fans may be sad that David Legwand, an all-time favorite, is no longer on the team. However, one piece that came back in the trade is already making a name for himself in Milwaukee. Through two games Calle Jarnkrok has scored three goals and an assist, and as helped shake Filip Forsberg and Taylor Beck out of their scoring slumps.
When Nashville acquired Jarnkrok they knew it would be a move that would have an immediate effect on the Admirals. The Red Wings second round pick in 2010 was the Grand Rapids Griffins third-leading scorer before being moved to Milwaukee. He certainly didn’t disappoint in his first weekend, as he and his linemates left a mark in two blowout wins.
On Friday night the Admirals hosted the first game of the team’s home-and-home battle with the Rockford IceHogs. For the second time in two weeks Milwaukee scored eight or more goals, winning 8-3. Jarnkrok scored his first Admirals goal, a shorthanded tally, 59 seconds into the third period. He added his second in garbage time at the 15 minute mark, the seventh of the team’s eight goals on the night.
Saturday night didn’t go much better for Rockford, as the Admirals blew them out again 6-2. Jarnkrok had an assist on Forsberg’s ninth of the season early in the second to give Milwaukee a 2-1 lead in the second and scored a goal of his own in the last minute of the second period.
“[He] played a little defense there at the end just to see if he could do everything for us,” said Dean Evason. “He’s a real good player, both ends of the rink. He’ll kill penalties, win faceoffs, play on the PP, [and] 5-on-5 he’s sound.”
In the past two games Beck, Forsberg, and Jarnkrok have ten points total. It’s a very good sign for Milwaukee that the chemistry seems to be there so quickly.
Milwaukee loans Henderson to Texas, Texas loans Wathier to MKE
The Admirals made one roster move yesterday, loaning forward Kevin Henderson to the Texas Stars in exchange for Texas loaning Francis Wathier to Milwaukee.
Henderson hasn’t been playing to the level that he did last season, when he scored 17 goals and 12 assists for Milwaukee. Through 50 games this season he has seven goals and seven assists. Henderson has played three seasons in Milwaukee, scoring 54 points.
Wathier, a 29 year old winger, has five goals and four assists in 48 games this year. He has played in ten NHL games, all for the Stars, with zero points. He isn’t one to shy away from the rough stuff, racking up 639 penalty minutes in nine AHL seasons. His best season statistically came in 2010-2011, when he scored 18 goals and 24 assists for Texas.
The loans mean that while the players are switching AHL teams, their respective NHL teams (Nashville for Henderson, Dallas for Wathier) retain their major-league rights.