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AHL Milwaukee Admirals

Schedule Lightens Up For Admirals

December 7, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release


OVERALL...The Admirals enter this week's action with an 11-8-1-4 record and 27 points, good for a three-way third place tie in the tightly packed West Division where six points separates second through sixth. Rockford currently occupies second place in the division with 31 points while the Ads, Peoria and Houston are tied for third with 27, followed closely by the Chicago with 25 points. Out of the five teams clustered in second through sixth in the division, Milwaukee has played the fewest number of games (24). The Admirals have a light week on the schedule front with just two games. The Ads host San Antonio on Friday night at the Bradley Center before traveling to Grand Rapids on Saturday to battle the Griffins.

LAST WEEK...Milwaukee finished last week with a 1-1-0-1 record. The Admirals dropped a 4-3 shoot-out decision on Wednesday to Peoria, and then suffered a 5-1 loss to Texas Friday night before bouncing back with a 4-2 win over Manitoba on Saturday evening. The loss to the Rivermen was the third of the season in a shoot-out to Peoria, all by a 4-3 score. Milwaukee battled back from a 3-1 second period deficit to tie the score and earn a point. Andreas Thuresson, Peter Olvecky and Ben Guite all lit the lamp for Milwaukee. Friday night former Admiral Matt Beaudoin scored a hat trick to lead the Stars in their first ever trip to Milwaukee. Chris Mueller posted the lone goal for the Ads. Then Saturday night Triston Grant posted two second period goals to help the Ads sweep Manitoba on Bradley Center Ice this season. Mike Santorelli posted three assists for the Admirals, while Hugh Jessiman and Peter Olvecky also lit the lamp.

GOING UP...The Predators have recalled forward Ryan Jones and Cal O'Reilly from the Admirals. O'Reilly leads the team and is tied for second in the Western Conference with 21 points (4g-17a) in 17 games with Milwaukee. The recall is the second of the season for O'Reilly, who did not post a point in six games with Nashville earlier this year. Last season he notched 69 points (13g-56a) in 67 games with the Ads and three goals and two assists in 11 games with the Preds. Jones played in eight of Nashville's first ten games in 2009-10, averaging 9:01 while being held pointless. He has accumulated four goals and an assist and 15 penalty minutes in 15 contests with Milwaukee this year after registering 22 points (13g-9a) in 25 games for the Admirals in 2008-09. The University of Miami alum had seven goals and ten assists in 46 games for the Preds last season as well.

WELCOME BACK...The Predators have reassigned forward Mike Santorelli to the Admirals. Santorelli scored his first NHL goal against San Jose on November 10 and has totaled three points (2g-1a) in 21 games with Nashville. The Vancouver, BC native has 11 points (4g-7a) in six games the Ads in 2009-10, including a three assist night in the team's 4-2 win over Manitoba on Saturday night.

GOALIE SWAP...The Predators have reassigned goaltender Jeremy Smith to Cincinnati (ECHL) and reassigned goalie Mark Dekanich from Cincinnati to Milwaukee. Dekanich played a pair of games with the Cyclones last weekend, picking up wins in both contests and stopping a combined 51 of 52 shots including a 27-save shutout of Florida on Saturday night. Dekanich is 5-5-2 with a 2.78 goals against average and a.891 save percentage in 13 games with the Admirals this season. Smith has posted a 6-4-1 record with a 2.45 goals against average, a.903 save percentage and one shutout with the Cyclones in his first professional season. The Dearborn, MI native made his AHL debut in relief last Friday night, making one save in five minutes of action.

A GOOD START...Admirals leading scorer Cal O'Reilly made the most of his recall, picking up an assist and logging 8:49 of ice time in Nashville's 4-1 win over the Blackhawks Friday night. There must have been a little sense of déj=E0 vu for O'Reilly, as he found himself centering a line between Ryan Jones and Patric Hornqvist. The point was the first of the season for the Toronto native at the NHL level, after he totaled five points (3g-2a) in 11 contests with Nashville last year. O'Reilly leads the Ads with 21 points (4g-17a), which is also good for second place in the AHL's Western Conference.

POWER OUTAGE...After leading the league on with the man advantage earlier in the season the Admirals power-play has fallen on hard times as of late, posting just one PPG in their last 40 opportunities. The team's power-play struggles were particularly evident last week as they went 0-for-20, including an 0-for-9 performance against Manitoba. In their last 13 games the Ads have recorded a PPG in just three of them and on the season they are 15 of 104, a 14.4% conversion rate, good for 19th in the league.

SHOOT-OUT STRUGGLES...The loss to the Rivermen was the fourth defeat in four tries for Milwaukee in the shoot-out this season, with three coming against Peoria. Unfortunately for the Admirals they have struggled to both score in the shoot-out and stop the other team's chances. Milwaukee shooters have converted on just four of 18 shoot-out tries, and Mark Santorelli is the only player to have converted on more than one attempt. Conversely, Admiral netminders have allowed opposing shooters to score on ten of 17 chances, a.412 save percentage. Incidentally, the team record for most shoot-out losses to one team in one season is five when the Admirals went winless in five shoot-out games against Las Vegas in the 1993-94 season.

CLOSE CONTESTS...Friday night's loss to Texas bucked the trend that the Admirals have had this year for playing close games, as 19 of their 24 contests have been decided by just one or two goals. Eight out of the team's last ten games has been decided by just one goal, including three that finished with a final score of 2-1. The Ads record in one-goal contests stands at 7-3-1-4 and they are 2-2 in two-goal games. Ironically, in spite of all the close games, the Admirals have played in just one contest where an empty net goal was recorded by either squad.

OVER THE AIR AND ON THE WEB...For the third consecutive season Sportsradio 1250 WSSP will serve as the Admirals flagship station with Aaron Sims calling all of the hard-hitting end-to-end action. In addition, the team has a one-hour hockey magazine dubbed "Milwaukee Admirals Center Ice" that airs every Monday from 6-7 pm on WSSP. Fans can watch all Admirals games, home and on the road, live on the internet via NeuLion. Simply go the Admirals website at milwaukeeadmirals.com and click on the AHL Live banner.

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