The Admirals were so close to starting the season with four straight wins, but a slight hiccup in Chicago on Sunday has them sitting at 3-0-1. It’s been a solid week for a lot of players in Milwaukee, and we’ve got all you need to know below!
Headlines & Standings
- Eeli Tolvanen’s first AHL goal was everything we expected it to be. With that kind of space and time, Tolvanen rarely misses.
- Troy Grosenick’s second outing for the Admirals was much better than what we saw last week. He was tight on the posts, tracked the puck well, and held his blue ice.
- Tinordi and Mathieu Olivier lead the team in penalty minutes.
- Rocco Grimaldi leads the Admirals with 6 points (4 goals and 2 assists) in 4 games. Are you surprised?/
Weekly Game Recap
October 9: Milwaukee Admirals @ San Antonio Rampage
This game was pretty back-and-forth, and the highlights below don’t do it justice. The Admirals jumped out to an early lead and then fell asleep at the wheel for a bit. Both teams excelled on the penalty kill but not particularly at even strength.
October 13: Milwaukee Admirals v. Hershey Bears
The Admirals were able to easily pick apart the lowly Hershey Bears in a rare meeting with the Eastern Conference mainstay, and Grosenick came so close to his first shutout on the season.
Eeli Tolvanen (02:53) and Yakov Trenin (00:40) scored their firsts of the season, and Baptiste added another. Tyler Gaudet really impressed me offensively this game with a goal, three shots on net, and noticeable possession dominance.
October 14: Milwaukee Admirals @ Chicago Wolves
This one was an all-out offensive affair. The Admirals had another dominant start only to let things slip in the third period and ultimately lose in overtime.
Tolvanen provided a nice screen with Baptiste on the first goal and manned the power play point with Alexandre Carrier.
Rocco Grimaldi scored a beauty of a third goal over the left shoulder of Oscar Dansk; Justin Kirkland provided a nice move for the Admirals’ last goal of the night.
Most importantly (kidding), Brian Cooper saw his first action of the season.
Trending Up
Anthony Richard: Richard has continued his strong play and looked absolutely electric. He’s always moving and always shifting no matter what zone he’s playing in and uses some creative footwork to elude defenders. He’s second on the team in points with four in four games.
Yakov Trenin: I’ve been disappointed to see Trenin demoted to the third line to start the season, but he’s made the most of it and his time on the power play. He’s spending more time in the high-danger areas which is where he made his living in the QMJHL. Rachel notes:
“Yakov Trenin’s play along the boards has greatly improved. He uses his size to win puck battles and feed the puck where it needs to go. That will be an asset once he jumps to the NHL.”
Trending Down
Jarred Tinordi: This one isn’t so much about trending down but just being bad. Tinordi is slow-paced and makes some dumb decisions. In terms of pure, on-ice ability, he hasn’t looked great at all. Rachel puts it:
“He either makes really good passes or really bad passes. There’s no happy medium there. I found myself screaming at him to move his feet.”
Zachary Magwood: Magwood played his first game of the season on Sunday and looked okay – mostly a non-factor. Rachel writes:
“Rookie camp standout Zachary Magwood has only played one game with Milwaukee so far. He has not been visible. He might end up on loan to the Atlanta Gladiators in the ECHL for more game time.”
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt that Karl Taylor has this Admirals squad off to a much different start than previous versions of Milwaukee. Aside from the Hershey game, they’ve never been wholly dominant for a game, but that’s not to be expected.
There have been some line decisions that I’m not too thrilled about mostly concerning the third unit – I don’t love Justin Kirkland and would prefer him on the wing and not weighing down Yakov Trenin. But it does seem that there has been a heavy dose of in-game line mixing.
Keep an eye on Colin Blackwell, Connor Brickley, and Joonas Lyytinen. The former has only played one game, and the latter two have been generally quiet.
And, now, your actual final thought: