Life in the minors: Manchester Monarchs at Norfolk Admirals (26 March)
by Cassie McClellan on Mar 28, 2011 10:00 AM EDT
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PrintI attended the Norfolk Admirals game Saturday night (26 March), and here are some of my thoughts about that game. The Admirals beat the Manchester Monarchs (Los Angeles Kings affiliate) in the third period. Norfolk scored two goals in 38 seconds to win the game 2-1.
- In the press box that night was the Director of Player Personnel for the Philadelphia Flyers, Dave Brown. He's also a former player with the Flyers, as well as a former assistant coach. I'm not sure if he was there to scout the Monarchs or the Admirals. We chatted briefly before the game about the Phoenix Coyotes situation, but that was it. He seemed like a very nice guy.
- The game had a lot more energy and speed than the previous games that I'd attended. I think it was because they're gearing up for a playoff run. The Ads are vying for one of the last spots in the Eastern Conference of the AHL. If they make it into playoffs, I've been told that this will be the very first playoff appearance for a Tampa Bay Lightning AHL affiliate - ever.
- In net was Dustin Tokarski, and he looked very confident and played very well. Nothing fazed the guy. But I suppose that's how it should be considering that he's carried the load for the team this season since Cedrick Desjardins has been out for part of the season. Saturday's game was his 41st this season.
- Manchester was playing a trap kind of game, so Norfolk was playing a lot of dump and chase hockey - particularly at first. It didn't work out very well for them. They did best in the offensive zone when they were able to carry the puck in themselves.
- The Admirals looked very much like the Lightning have the last part of this season. Except them didn't look quite so tired at the end of the game as the Lightning have. And this particular game was the second of back-to-backs at home. Which, from what I was told, they played much better in the second game than they did the first one on Friday.
- On this night, the defense wasn't terribly spectacular. In fact, they looked pretty much like the Lightning's defense has recently. They got a bit tighter as the game went along, but they weren't playing in position for a lot of the game - not in Guy Boucher's much talked about 1-3-1. Especially in their own zone, which is just what the Lightning themselves do.
- Overall, it was just a sloppy game by Norfolk. The passes were there, but guys either weren't ready for them or weren't paying attention. Missed passes seemed to be the story of the night. Or, at least, were what I noticed went wrong the most.
- The on-ice officiating didn't help the Ads' cause much, either. They gave up five power plays on the night - some justified, others not so much. It was actually worse than the NHL.
- Speaking of officiating, there was one instance where there was a scrum near the benches but there was a wrestling match in the Manchester offensive zone. Three on-ice officials were concerned with what was going on at the benches, but one was watching this wrestling match between Stefano Giliati of Norfolk and Patrick Mullen of Manchester. Mullen wanted to fight, but Giliati clearly did not. Giliati immediately tied up Mullen's arms so he couldn't throw any punches, and that's how it went for most of their "dance". None of the refs tried breaking that up, even after they were both down on the ice. When all was said and done, however, they were the only ones to get penalties out of the whole situation. Well, them and another Manchester guy who tried to break it up - who could've technically been called for third-man in. One Manchester guy got interference, while the other Manchester player and Giliati got roughing...and on top of that, those three all got 10-minute misconducts. Go figure.
- I've been to four or five Admirals games this season, and the guy that I always notice is Paul Szczechura. I don't go looking for him; I'm usually watching the defensemen. But in every game I've seen in Norfolk this season, he's consistently been the guy who's always trying to make things happen. And usually, James Wright is right there with him. Playing for the Lightning last season really has helped them out. It's really too bad that the Lightning are currently really deep at center.
- The three stars of the game, all Norfolk Admirals, were 1. Chris Durno (scored the game-winning goal), 2. Dustin Tokarski (stopped 28 of 29 shots), and 3. Troy Milam (scored the game-tying goal).
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Great Sum-up
I was going to write up a summary of my time in Norfolk—well, as far as watching the Admirals go anyway—but since Cassie provided such a great lead-in, I thought I’d just add my thoughts to hers.
Tokarski has benefited from the time he spent as the #1 choice when Desjardins went down with injury. In the latter half of January he seemed quick for sure, but jumpy and let in a lot of softish goals. On the other hand, he seemed completely in charge of the game lately (as mentioned by Cassie’s review above).
I managed to see Janus in a couple of games (I saw about 8 in the last 10-12 weeks). He seems to have a lot of promise—very composed in net, despite the increase in opposition skill from the ECHL to the AHL. When Desjardins moves to the Bolts next year (as I’m believing he will), Janus will be a very good #2 for Tokarski in Norfolk.
The player I like the most from watching is Radko Gudas. Drafted just this past year (3rd round), he’s already very good defensively. He does make the occaisional defensive mistake (either reading the attack or positioning), but those are teachable corrections. He’s an effective checker on even those to whom he gives up size (Gudas is 6’, 210-ish). I believe Gudas will be an NHLer in the next few years.
Other players with whom I’m impressed, but didn’t merit long description: Troy Milam, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Blair Jones
On the complete opposite side of things, D Vladimir Mihalik is a liability on the ice. Even the switching of the lines seems to point to the coaching staff’s lack of faith in his ability. During the games I watched, Mihalik started his shifts with Gudas, but halfway through Gudas’ shifts, Mihalik was off to the bench, replaced frequently with Mike Vernace. Mihalik can’t skate, he has no speed, and seems afraid to use his 6’8" frame to his advantage physically. I started this season believing he was going to be trade fodder for Yzerman to bring in someone else. I was wrong. After seeing him play in person, I think a team would be more willing to trade for Mike Smith than for Mihalik. Tough assessment, to be sure, but his 1 goal, 6 assists and 103 PIMs in 56 games in Norfolk speak for themselves.
Overall, if anyone finds themselves in the Hampton/Norfolk/Newport News area the Admirals are definitely a great show for the Lightning fan. Tickets start at $11, and a prime seat will run only $15. A great bargain to see some potential future Bolts.
Not sure I completely agree
Spot on with “Chewy,” hope he gets a shot somewhere next year, be it in TB or elsewhere. Hate to see him go, but he’s deserved a call-up for a long time…
Defense on Saturday, as it has been for the last 10-15 games, was outstanding. The guys get in the lanes, block shots, and play a tight, physical game. On some guys I don’t know how they would have a spot on their bodies that isn’t black and blue. Tic has nothing but great things to say about them, the coach constantly praises them.
Norfolk’s play on Saturday was not “sloppy”—it was playoff hockey. Manchester is a good team and plays hard on the defensive side of the game. They put up a purple curtain in front of their goalies and provide all kinds of support. Manchester in general gets sticks in the lanes and their style of play forced Norfolk to change their game and play Manchester’s. Saturday was a game in which Norfolk stuck to their game, came out with energy and desire, and it paid off. Again, not sloppy, simply playoff hockey.
And finally, when you have Linesmen who love having their picture on the scoreboard and being the focus of everyone’s attention you get a ridiculous accumulation of time waiting for puck drops.
It did take forever for them to drop the puck on faceoffs, didn’t it? But the sloppiness I was talking about was the passing. There were so many missed passes that it wasn’t even funny. And it was the guy who was supposed to receive the pass, too, that wasn’t ready for it. The guy doing the passing was fine. Just mental mistakes like that.
The ways of Jedi Master Yzerman are not the ways of others.
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.
by Cassie McClellan on Mar 29, 2011 10:08 AM EDT up reply actions
The worst linesman I saw had a propensity to hold the puck for eons before he dropped it. I was watching a faceoff Blair Jones was taking and through my telephoto lens I saw Jonesy say “are you going to drop the f***ing puck?” Hilarious. Too bad the picture didn’t turn out (I had the ISO too low on my camera).
That linesman, by the way, had the physique of a Monday Morning Quarterback, rather than an AHL linesman. Body by Budweiser.
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