Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
The Milwaukee Admirals entered the Calder Cup Playoffs with a special opportunity.
And if this team winds up going deep into the postseason – or even to the franchise’s first championship since 2004 – that moment will be that much sweeter.
With one caveat: They have to win tonight when they visit Rockford in Game 3 of their Central Division semifinal. After back-to-back home losses, including a 6-1 defeat in Game 2, the regular-season division champions have been pushed to the brink.
Escaping this predicament will require a careful, patient extraction. Win tonight, and Game 4 is Friday at Rockford. Take care of Friday, and it’s on to Sunday back in Milwaukee.
Head coach Karl Taylor went directly to the point following Game 2.
“We need to play better,” Taylor said. “It’s pretty simple… We got what we deserved. It’s not insurmountable. It’s a challenge. We haven’t made it easy on ourselves.”
It sure is, and they certainly have not. The Admirals lost a 2-0 third-period lead in Game 1, going on to fall in overtime. And Game 2? They were down 3-0 by the 21-minute mark of the game, and it only worsened from there. Rockford came into UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and walked away with two wins against an Admirals team that had tied for the second-best home record in the regular season (23-8-3-2, .708).
It’s often difficult to take too much from past postseason performances. Rosters change, and younger players can show dramatic differences from one season to the next as they get a better grasp on the pro game. But the Admirals did reach the Western Conference Finals the past two years. And in doing so, they won a total of eight games when facing elimination.
So, even though many of these players have not been through this experience in Milwaukee colors, Taylor has. So have captain Kevin Gravel, blueliner Spencer Stastney and forward Joakim Kemell. Forward Navrin Mutter did not play two years ago in the postseason, but jumped into action last year. So did defenseman Ryan Ufko, plus forwards Fedor Svechkov and Ozzy Wiesblatt. And then there’s also Cal O’Reilly, of course, and he has been through nearly everything this league can throw at a player.
“I can’t stress enough how much I believe in this group, how confident I am in this group,” Gravel said this week at practice. “It’s going to take our best effort, but all we’ve got to do is win a game. And then we take a step back, we reassess and get ready to go again. This time of year, there’s nothing you can do but focus on the next game.
Said Taylor, “The good news is we still have life, and we have an opportunity. It’s just the margins are a little tighter now.”
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
