July 2009 - Posts

• What's wrong with this picture?

  Posted Jul 31 2009, 06:54 PM by cjerina

  After the guys over at T3I caught a gaffe by the Milwaukee Admirals crew here, its time for payback (with a prize!).

   

  This picture (previously seen as we groaned over the outcome of Game 7) has a something wrong it (and no, I did not edit/photo-chop the image in any way)... and the winner will receive a signed 8x10 of last year's leading scorer Mike Santorelli. (Unless you'd rather an unsigned 8x10 of ex-Admiral/Aero Matt Beaudoin!).
  

   Without further adieu,

   

   

   

  If there is no true winner by Sunday @ 9 am, the person with the most creative answer will be declared the winner! (And don't feel bad, Ryan couldn't find it either!)
  

  Congratulations to Johnny B who correctly identified that Tony Hrkac's RBK patch on the back hem was indeed upside down. Thanks to everyone who played. More proof here:

   

  
   

   

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• Hornqvist Just Made The List

  Posted Jul 31 2009, 10:40 AM by Eric W. Kent

  Patric Hornqvist still has a shot to make Team Sweden's Olympic team in 2010 and defend the gold medal.

  The Swedish Ice Hockey Association today released a list of 34 names that are in consideration for the final 23-man roster. All 34 players nominated have NHL ties, and some of the names are very impressive: Nick Lidstrom, Henrik Lundqvist, Henrik Zetterberg,

  Of course, there are some impressive names NOT on the list, too: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Nicklas Backstrom, Johan Franzen. That indicates that Hornqvist's chances aren't exactly one-in-34. The team can nominate as many players as they want, and can apparently add to the list at any time.

  But this still has to be a pretty good honor for the man we call The Moth.

  2010 Swedish Olympic candidates
  Goaltenders (5): Jhonas Enroth, Erik Ersberg, Jonas Gustavsson, Daniel Larsson, Henrik Lundqvist
  
  Forwards (16): Daniel Alfredsson, P.J. Axelsson, Fabian Brunnstrom, Loui Eriksson, Tomas Holmstrom, Kristian Huselius, Patric Hornqvist, Joel Lundqvist, Fredrik Modin, Robert Nilsson, Michael Nylander, Samuel Pahlsson, Alexander Steen, Rickard Wallin, Tom Wandell, Henrik Zetterberg
  
  Defensemen (13): Alexander Edler, Tobias Enstrom, Jonathan Ericsson, Jonas Frogren, Nicklas Grossman, Carl Gunnarsson, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Niklas Kronwall, Nicklas Lidstrom, Douglas Murray, Johnny Oduya, Mattias Ohlund, Anton Stralman
  

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  Filed under: Patric Hornqvist

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• Assistant Coach Possibilities

  Posted Jul 31 2009, 09:04 AM by Ryan Miller

  While we wait for the official word on who Coach Lambert's new assistant will be, we thought we'd profile some head coaches in the ECHL that might possibly (or possibly not) have been in the conversation at some point.  We don't have confirmation that any of these guys were under consideration...but it wouldn't surprise us if they were.

  The main connection between all of these coaches?  They are on teams that the Admirals borrowed players from for one reason or another last season.

  Meet Kevin Colley -- Head coach of the Utah Grizzlies.

  - The youngest head coach in the ECHL, Colley lead the Grizz to a 28-28-6-20 record, and a playoff appearance in his first year as head coach and director of hockey operations.

  - Admirals connection last season -- the man, the myth, the legend...the Sixsmith.

  - Played for Coach Lambert for one season while Lane was an assistant coach for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

  - He is a winner -- he was the MVP of the 2003 Kelly Cup playoffs, and his Atlantic City team won the title.

  - Signed a multi-year contract extension this past spring...don't know how easy those are to get out of should an opportunity to advance present itself.

  Meet Malcolm Cameron -- Head Coach of the Florida Everblades

  - Last season he coached the Everblades to a very impressive 49-17-5 record -- the best mark in the ECHL.  Think that's pretty good?  In 2007-08 as coach of the Texas Wildcatters, that ECHL squad accumulated a record of 52-9-0-11.  His teams have made the playoffs the last five years, advancing to at least the second round in every season.

  - Admirals connections from last season -- Defenseman Brad Zanon played 64 games for Florida, and had a cup of coffee with the Admirals for a handful of games.  And goaltender Kyle Gajewski spent some time in Florida as well.

  - Also coached Admirals playoff nemesis Anton Khudobin before he caught on with the Aeros.

  - Looks tough.

  Meet Ian Herbers -- Head coach of the Johnstown Chiefs.

  - In two seasons behind the bench for the Chiefs, he has compiled a 73-60-8-3 record. After making the playoffs in his first year, the Chiefs missed out on the playoffs by one point last season.

  - Admirals connections last year -- Goaltender Kyle Gajewski spent some time there on his Magical Mystery Tour around the ECHL.  And defenseman Russ Sinkewich played 16 games for the Chiefs before catching on with Milwaukee at the end of the season.

  - After a 12 year professional playing career that saw him make stops with the Oilers, Lightning, and Islanders, his first coaching gig was as an assistant with the San Antonio Rampage in 2003-04.

  - Likely knows who OWNS the Chiefs.

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  Filed under: Ian Herbers

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• Revisting Josh Gratton

  Posted Jul 30 2009, 02:26 PM by Eric W. Kent

  Good News! That is - if you've missed seeing Josh Gratton's smiling mug. The pugilistic forward has signd a deal with the Atlanta Thrashers today, which means he could suit up this year as a member of the Chicago Wolves.

  I figured this would be a good opportunity to revist the Josh Gratton effect on the Admirals ast season.

  Gratton was signed by the Predators just about a year ago. He was supposed to battle with Triston Grant for the enforcer role in Nashville. That never really panned out, though. In September, Nashville acquired Nick Tarnasky to be their enforcer. Once Tarnasky was healthy to join the Preds, Gratton was the odd-man out.

  The Preds sent him down to Milwaukee, and he played in 7 games for the Ads, registering 2 goals and 3 assists...and 10 PIMS.

  On October 30th he was traded to Philly for Tim Ramholt.

  Ramholt was a popular whipping boy early in his tenure (Coach Lambert's comment about Ramholt having to watch the games from the stands lives in infamy as Lane's first public flogging of a player - at least in front of us).

  But Ramholt developed into an almost serviceable player...and even played a little forward in times of need.

  Now Ramholt has fallen off the face of the Earth, expected to sign somewhere overseas.

  With Kelsey Wilson gone that route, too, it wouldn't have been half bad to see Gratton come back to Milwaukee.

  Now we'll have to see if he dons a Wolves jersey this year.

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  Filed under: Josh Gratton, Tim Ramholt

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• New Assistant Coach

  Posted Jul 30 2009, 10:11 AM by Ryan Miller

   

  Admirals Short Shifts has heard it through the grapevine that Brad Lauer's replacement has been hired.  We are trying to confirm the identity, but we believe an official announcement will be coming early next week.

  For the sake of discussion, who are you hoping for?  A former Admiral?  A former NHL player?  Someone with previous coaching experience in the minors?  Phil Wittliff?

  UPDATE From Eric: I've had a couple people mention to me that the head coach of the Cincinnati Cyclones would be a logical choice. While I must agree to a point, I don't think that's the guy (His name is Chuck Weber). It would makes sense to think that the organizational tree would go from Cincy to Milwaukee to Nashville, and Weber is a perennial Coach of the Year candidate in the ECHL. However, Weber signed a new contract in 2008 that also gave him the title of Vice President of Hockey Operations. Do you surrender that title in favor of assistant coach at the AHL level? Tuff to say. I think Weber would be a great addition, but I don't know if he makes that move. 

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  Filed under: Assistant Coach

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