AHL Milwaukee Admirals

Admirals Playoff Preview

April 20, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release


History: The teams have a long standing rivalry that spans two leagues and thirteen years. Though many players have come and gone, the animosity between the clubs and their fans have never waned.

"There's been no love lost between both organizations," said Admirals Coach Claude Noel. "It's pretty deeply ingrained [in us], and I think the fans feel pretty much the same for each other."

The Admirals have an all-time 71-46-1-14 record against the Wolves with a 6-2-1-1 record against Chicago this season.

Up until this date, the rivals have met three times in the playoffs. Two out of the three times the winner went on to win the league championship. Milwaukee defeated Chicago in route to their 2004 Calder Cup title, while Chicago knocked out the Ads on their way to their 1998 Turner Cup title.

Milwaukee's Three Stars:

Rich Peverley- has been the most consistent player for the Admirals all season and leads the team in almost every scoring category, despite missing thirteen games while on assignment in Nashville. He boasts five goals and two assists in the seven games he played against the Wolves this season.

Pekka Rinne-has had varying results against the team south of the Wisconsin border, but that has less to do with his individual play and more to do with the challenges of trying to stop the league's best offense. Rinne will hope he can come through as he did in the last year's playoffs when he backstopped the Ads to a four-game sweep against last season's best offense, Grand Rapids, earning a shutout in the first game of the series.

Cal O'Reilly-may be the youngest player on the team, but that hasn't stopped him from being one of the best forwards on the Ads' roster since the all-star break, as he rides into the playoffs on an eight-game scoring streak. No one player in the Western Division gave the Wolves more trouble this season. O'Reilly was responsible for five goals and ten assists registered against Chicago goaltenders this season. The Toronto native has scored a goal in the teams' last three meetings, including the game winner the last time Milwaukee made it down to the Allstate Arena.

Milwaukee's X-Factors:

Ramzi Abid- was great against his old team this season, tallying three goals and eight assists in seven games. A recall to Nashville on Tuesday has pulled the forward out of the lineup. Abid's departure doesn't necessarily mean the Ads are also on their way out, but if Abid were return mid-series he would definitely give the squad a boost.

Brandon Segal- scored more than one third of his goals this season against Chicago. His seven goals were the most goals anyone one player put on the Wolves this season. Segal was able to score in six out of the nine games in which he played against Chicago, and if he can match those numbers in the playoffs, he could be a deciding factor in the series.

Defense- What's the most important thing the defense must do in this series according to Captain and defenseman Sheldon Brookbank?

"[Being] responsible with the puck, not trying anything too crazy offensively and turning it over. That's kind of what they look for. We've just got to play our style and that will turn into good defense for us."

Milwaukee is facing the most prolific offense in the league and the play of their defense in their own zone may very well be what causes the Admirals to sink or swim. In this series, it's all up to them.

Chicago's Three Stars:

Darren Haydar- finished a 122-point MVP season that is ranked as one of the top-ten highest scoring seasons in AHL history. Haydar's four goals and eleven assists for fifteen points are the most points against the Admirals by any Chicago forward this season. As always, the Admirals defense will have to keep a close eye on Haydar all series.

Brett Sterling- was named rookie of the year by registering the league's only 50-goal season, finishing with 55. Sterling recorded a Wolves' high, six goals against Milwaukee this season. Sterling has the best shooting percentage (.192) amongst any player with 200+ shots in the league, a stat made even more impressive when you consider he has the second most shots in the league.

Jason Krog- has played on four NHL teams, including 21 games in 2003 NHL playoffs on a Mighty Ducks squad that found themselves in the Stanley Cup Finals. Krog has been the pinnacle of consistency as he has registered a point in 39 out of the 42 games he played in this season.

Chicago's X-Factors:

Cory Larose- was named a potential x-factor by Brookbank who noted that the player hadn't done too much to hurt the Ads this season, but had the potential to in the playoffs. Larose is third on the team in scoring and has eleven points against Milwaukee this season. Only one of those points is a goal, and if the center would increase that stat he could possibly give the Ads more offensive pressure than they can handle.

Defense- Chicago has three defensive players with 15-goals or more in Nathan Oystrick, Mark Popovic, and Andy Delmore. That gives them three of the leagues' top five highest goal scoring defensemen. According to Brookbank it's up to the teams' forwards to shut down Chicago's high scoring blueliners.

"They are going to have to know where they are, and they are going to have to pick them up," he said after Tuesday morning's practice.

If they don't, the Admirals will have a tough time staying ahead on the scoreboard.

Goaltending- Chicago's goaltending hasn't been great this year, and they've been even worse against the Admirals as ex-NHL goalie Fred Brathwaite went 0-4-1 against the Ads with a 3.60 GAA while Michael Garnett had a good record, 4-1-0 but his goals against was 4.10. With those numbers, there is no telling who their likely starter will be, but at any rate this may be Chicago's only weakness. If one of the members of the goaltending staff get hot, coupled with a high powered offense, it would be hard for any team to stop them.

All Things Note Worthy:

1. Home-Ice Advantage?

Chicago may get four of the seven games in the series at home, but so far this season that has not helped them. Milwaukee is a perfect 5-0-0 at the Allstate Arena.

"That's not enough to hang your hat on," said Noel explaining how, in this case, the past doesn't always reflect the present. "We've started a whole new scenario here. Players are motivated, and driven to make more sacrifices. Those are the little details that make the difference in the game."

2. Very Special Teams

Chicago finished the season with the league's third best power play team. Milwaukee finished the season with the league's third most efficient penalty-kill. More notably, Milwaukee was responsible for five out of the Wolves' twelve shorthanded goals against this year.

3. Ads Must Strike Early

Milwaukee didn't lose a game in regulation this season when leading going into the third period, with a record of 21-0-1-1. Making that stat more critical, Chicago lost all eighteen of the games in which they entered the third period trailing by a goal.

4. Youth Movement

The Chicago Wolves have seven AHL rookies on their team which includes top forward Brett Sterling and high scoring defenseman Nathan Oystrick.

Milwaukee has eight AHL rookies on their team which includes set-up man Cal O'Reilly and the team's penalty minutes leader Kelsey Wilson.

5. What the Playoffs are all About

Noel lists one of his team's great assets are their ability to succeed in tight games.

"A lot of times," he explained. "That's what the playoffs are about."

Milwaukee's record in those games this season is 24-8-4-9 compared to Chicago's 12-6-3-6.

Chalk Talk:

"We would like to counter their scoring by making them play in their end. That's not an easy task, [but] if we are able to do that then I think we have a chance to have some success."

--Claude Noel

"They are a highly skilled team. Obviously we are going to have to work hard as a team and play really well defensively if we want to beat them. Their offense is their strength. They have two good lines over there. They can be really dangerous on their transition game. We're going to have to limit the turnovers and play tight defensively."

--Ramzi Abid

"We're going to try and shut down their top two lines and just outplay their 3rd and 4th line."

--Sheldon Brookbank

"You're going to have to check well without the puck so you get it back and keep the scoring chances down. When you deal with them, you have to deal with scoring chances. If you give them a lot of scoring chances then you're going to be in trouble. If they've got the puck two-thirds of the game you're going to be in trouble there too, because they are a skilled group that feed off that type of play."

--Claude Noel

"We've got to concentrate on our own game--a team game--we don't rely on one line or one or two people, and that's how we need to beat them."

--Ramzi Abid

"We feel we can get out of the division, but so do the other four teams."

--Claude Noel

Check out the Milwaukee Admirals Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from April 20, 2007


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