The Admirals get a little bit of good news today - courtesy of some off-ice happenings.

Milwaukee is set to play two games against San Antonio next week. The Rampage started out this season on...well...on a Rampage. They begain the season with a 6-1-1 mark

Sine then, the Rampage have plummeted in the standings. They currently possess a 9 game losing streak - and are tied with Milwaukee for last place in the division.  To make matters even worse for the Rampage - they just lost some of their best players. The Third Intermission pointed out an article from Peoria that explains what happened. (Well, not really explains...more like they list what happened).

San Antonio is the primary AHL affiliate for the Phoenix Coyotes. However, they also had an agreement to develop players for the Anaheim Ducks (who do not have a primary affiliate). Apparently, the Ducks have decided to pull out of that agreement.

LW Matt Beleskey, LW, Ryan Donally, RW Troy Bodie and D Brett Festerling were all pulled from the Rampage roster and re-assigned through the minor leagues.

No reason was given for the sudden movement. It my be that the Ducks were unhappy about the playing time their players were given. Maybe they just weren't happy with the way San Antonio was playing in general. That's pure speculation, though.

Regardless, the team is in quite a bit of turmoil...and should be an easier target this week because of it.

The Admirals begin their Thanksgiving Texas Trip tomorrow night in Houston, with their first rematch against the Houston Aeros after the disappointing playoff loss last May.

Now, I could scour the Interwebs and offer up some thoughts on how their season is going so far....but we elected to delegate to someone who has actually watched them play this year.

So please welcome guest columnist, aspiring goaltender, and Golden Globe Award nominee, Ms. Conduct.  She writes for The Third Intermission blog, and has been nice enough to provide us with the following scouting report.

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You want the good news about the Aeros first, or the bad news? Let's get the bad news, at least for us (good for you) out of the way.

These are the problems:

• Call ups of Danny Irmen and Robbie Earl, who had both been on hot streaks, to the Minnesota Wild.
• Injuries to rookies JP Testwuide and Cody Almond, both of whom were impact players until their injuries, and to Andy Hilbert who brought NHL experience to the team.
• As a result, two natural defensemen, Jamie Fraser and Brandon Rogers, have been playing forward and there are no healthy bodies in the stands.
• Apart from a recent 3-game scorefest, the team just can't get the puck in the net. And it's not for lack of trying. The "quality chance"-to-"shots on goal" ratio is pretty darn good. But they whiff, they hit posts, they go just wide, they hit a hot goalie, there's a skate in the way, yada yada yada.

But there are good things:

• Overall, the Aeros are deeper than they used to be so the absence of these top players isn't AS devastating. It's not like, other than that 3-game scoring blitz, they were running up the score before they lost those guys.
• For the longest time, the Aeros couldn't score on the power play, and went something like 45 opportunities without a PP marker. Now, that seems almost like the ONLY way they can score.
• The penalty kill is #1 in the league. It's a sight to behold and they make it look damn near effortless.
• They're a mature team that doesn't rattle or fluster easily, and as such, have shown the ability to come back from a deficit AND hold a lead.
• They've got plenty of grit and character and are tough to play against when they're on their game (and even when they're not quite on it, they'll still do a pretty good job thwarting whatever you're trying to do to them).

Barry Trotz says he has decided to send Colin Wilson to the Mlwaukee Admirals on a conditioning assignment once he is healthy enough to be activated.

Wilson would only get 14 days on a conditioning assignment. Assuming that Wilson is ready to go this week, his 14 days would just about be up when the Admirals play their next home game on December 2nd.

As we discussed yesterday - this decision doesn't really do anything. It buys the Preds more time to make a decision, that's all. After 14 days, they could recall Wilson. They could recall Wilson and send down Santorelli or Thuresson (or anyone else, really). They could, also, decide to leave Wilson down in Milwaukee and simply re-assign him.

When all is said and done, though, it's a distinct possibility that Wilson comes to the Admirals and goes back to the Preds before we even get the chance to see him.

And that would make me a sad panda.

It's become the hottest topic in our comments section - and it's something that really can't be ignored. Does the goaltending situation need to be re-evaluated?

The sample size continues to grow larger and more significant. It is getting to the point now where the questions about Mark Dekanich's play aren't "When will he revert to form?", but rather "Was last year a fluke?"

Last month we took a look at Dex' struggles. Since October 29th, when that last piece was written, Mark Dekanich has gone 2-2-1 with a 2.77 GAA and .892 save percentage. Instead of "righting the ship", he has actually been measurably worse in November than he was in October. And it's not the just the amount of goals...it's the type and the timing.

Dex has given up at least one 1st period goal in every game except one, and that usually translates to the Admirals playing from behind. Too often after games, we're talking about a goal that "he would like to have back." There's also a lot of "flopping" that is going on; Chris Jerina has snapped a number of pictures like the one to the right - where Dex is off his skates...or waving at the puck like he's playing whack-a-mole.

When you ask the players, they will say all the right things about supporting their goaltender. When you ask the coach he will tell you the skaters aren't clearing enough pucks from the crease area. That's great and all - but from a human psychology standpoint, it has to be deflating to see another stoppable shot find the back of the net 5 minutes into the game. It's also easy to say that Dekanich did not look like this last year.  

So - enter Chet Pickard? At the time of our first article, there was no other viable option for the Admirals, as Pickard had played only one game and got shelled at Abbotsford. That may no longer be the case.  

His season numbers still look awful; a 3.64 GAA and .871 save percentage. But take out that horrible professional debut in Abbotsford - and Pick's got a 1.98 GAA and .925 save percentage. The difficulty in evaluating Pickard is still the small sample size; he only has three starts under his belt. But watch him play and you see the poise and the positioning that makes him a top prospect in the Predators system. As uncomfortable as Dekanich looks, Pickard is beginning to look like he belongs.

The big question here is: Can you really trust a 19 year old to be your primary goalie? Grand Rapids is the only AHL team giving regular playing time to a goalie so young. Thomas McCollum is actually younger than Pickard - by a week - and has started most of the Griffins' games. However, he has also provided the types of peaks and valleys that can usually be expected with youth. He surrendered only 1 goal three times this year; but he also gave up six goals in a game...and 7 goals in another game.

I don't expect Lane Lambert to actually flip the goalie designations. I think Dekanich will remain the 'Number One Goalie". However, for the time being, I think the playing time may actually tell a different story.

The Admirals play six games in Texas before returning home. Would anyone be surprised if Pickard starts in three of them?

(Photos from Chris Jerina)

As this week progresses without a game until Friday, here are some of the things that we're keeping an eye on (along with everyone else).

As we mentioned last week, Colin Wilson is close to returning for the Predators. While they do not have to make a roster move to accommodate his return, they probably will. The possibilities are pretty obvious:

• Send Colin Wilson to Milwaukee on a conditioning assignment
• Send Colin Wilson down on a demotion
• Send someone else down
• Do nothing and keep a 23 man roster.

It makes it tuff to guess what will happen when the options are so varied.  

I think the "safe" option (other than doing nothing) is to send Wilson down on a conditioning assignment. That would buy them up to 14 more days to make a decision (or for someone else to get hurt). Of course, the team could save more money and gain even more flexibility by simply assigning him to Milwaukee. He's not waiver eligible, so the only reason you wouldn't do that is to protect his confidence or psyche.

If they think Wilson can step right in and go, maybe they send Santorelli down again....since Wilson would likely take his third line center slot. They could also move Santorelli to wing....again.....and send Thuresson down. However, previous comments to us by Barry Trotz indicate that moving Santorelli back to wing is unlikely.

Additionaly, a columnist in Ottawa indicates that the Preds are shopping Ryan Jones. I would say file this under the "No Duh" category. However - I would hope that he has actually heard this info from some reliable source. We've all figured out that Ryan Jones is probably not a part of the Predators' future. The question remains who will possibly trade for a player on a two-year, one-way contract that isn't producing at any level?

Jones finally broke into the statsheet with a goal this weekend, but he has been one of the biggest disappointments on the Admirals' roster this year.

"The one thing we have to continue to try and get him doing is moving his feet," said Admirals Coach Lane Lambert. "He's got to maintain possession of pucks and protect pucks and come out of the corner with pucks. Certainly this is a guy that we count on for quite a bit of offense and there hasn't been any so far. We have to help him find his game."

It could turn out that his game is actually with another franchise.

We've seen what Ryan Jones can do and if he can get back there, he could be a bargain at less than $1 million. Who is going to take that gamble, though?