AHL Central Division logjam

The nice thing about covering the six Midwest-based teams in the American Hockey League is that they are all in the same division. Of course the bad thing about that is only four of the eight teams in the Central Division will qualify for the post season.

In recent seasons, this division has seen its standing sometimes flipped upside down over the course of a couple of months and the parity is evident again this year as all but the Iowa Wild have moved into and out of playoff positions over the first half of the season.

Heading into play tonight (Dec. 29), the top four in the division is all-Midwest as the Milwaukee Admirals hold down the top spot with a 21-9-1-0 record through 31 games for 43 points and a two point edge on the 18-8-2-3 Rockford Ice Hogs. The Lake Erie (Cleveland) Monsters are next with 36 points and a 16-9-2-2 record putting it one point up on both the Grand Rapids Griffins who are 17-9-0-1 after a 2-8 opening to the regular season and the Charlotte Checkers (17-11-1-0).

Just outside of the playoff cut is the Chicago Wolves at 14-12-1-2 and the Stars are currently even in points with the Manitoba Moose at 7-22-2-3 and seven more games played than the Winnipeg squad.

Milwaukee Admirals — The Ads are the latest team to take a turn on top of the division, its 22-9-1-0 record for 45 points ranking it four points up on second place Rockford. After a so-so start to the month of December saw it sitting at 4-4, the Admirals have ripped out five straight wins, including its latest, a 3-0 win on home ice against the Grand Rapids Griffins Tuesday night. The same two teams will go at it again on New Years Eve, back in Michigan.

Offensively, the Admirals, the AHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators are led by Frederick Gaudreau, a 22-year-old forward from Quebec who has put up 22 points (9g, 13a) in 30 games while Max Gortz, also a 22-year-old forward from Sweden, has collected 18 points (6g, 12a) in 27 games and Max Reinhart, 23, from BC has 17 points (10g, 7a) in 31 games.

Marek Mazanec, a 24-year-old native of Czech Republic picked up the shutout win against the Griffs but he and 20-year-old Juuse Saros of Finland have split the work in goal evenly so far, both with 16 starts to their credit. Saros also has registered a shutout and little separates these two statistically, Saros sporting a .919 Save Percentage while Mazanec is at .916 following his latest win.

The Admirals had a long string of playoff appearances brought to a close last season and the team intends to start another run this spring. So far the players are on target to make it happen.

Rockford Ice Hogs – The 18-8-2-3 Ice Hogs have been consistently at or near the top of the division standings for most of the season so far, but the team is closing out the year looking to bring an abrupt stop to its longest skid of the season — just two points out of its past four games — all losses.

In its latest test, the Ice Hogs — AHL Affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks fell 3-1 at Des Moines to allow the Wild just its seventh win of the season. The Ice Hogs will wrap up the calendar year on home ice against the Chicago Wolves Wednesday night and plays a return match in Chicago on Saturday night.

Offensively, the team spreads out its scoring well, a pair of veterans with experience in Chicago leading the way. Jeremy Morin has 20 points (9g, 11a) in 27 games while Jake Dowell is right behind with 19 (6g, 13a) and 21-year-old Ryan Hartman has 18 (10g, 8a).

In goal veteran Michael Leighton is getting a bulk of the minutes, appearing in 23 games and posting a rock sold 15-4-2 record with a .922 Save Percentage. After a couple of seasons with the Portland Pirates, affiliate of the Phoenix Coyotes, Mark Visentin, 23, has also played nine games, posting a 4-1-1 record and carrying a Save Percentage of .908. Mac Carruth, 23, has also appeared in a game for the Ice Hogs.

Lake Erie Monsters – There has to be some excitement in Cleveland this season as a new affiliation with the Columbus Blue Jackets gives the Monsters a more local flavor and the team is finding itself north of .500 for the first time in a long while.

The Monsters snapped a four-game losing skid with an impressive 3-2 win against the visiting Grand Rapids Griffins Sunday night and added a 2-1 win against the Toronto Marlies two nights later to boost its record to 17-9-2-2. The team will wrap up the 2015 calendar year with a New Years Eve contest back in Toronto kicking off a massive 10-game road trip.

T.J. Tynan, a 23-year-old forward has led the team offensively so far, putting up 21 points (2g, 19a) while Kerby Rychel sits next with 17 points (5g, 12a) in just 17 games, the 21-year-old winger also spending 11 games in Columbus with the mother squad. Josh Anderson, 21 with 15 points (8g, 7a) and Daniel Zaar, 21, with 14 (9g, 5a) have both been regular contributors as well.

In goal, the Monsters have received a somewhat even split between Anton Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo — at least until recently when Korpisalo was called up to Columbus with the recent groin injury suffered by Sergei Bobrovsky.

Forsberg has appeared in 19 games for the Monsters, posting a record of 11-5 with a Save Percentage right at .900 and Korpisalo has a record of 5-4 in 11 starts with a .928 Save Percentage. With the call up, veteran Brad Thiessen has stepped in to play a couple of games as well.

Grand Rapids Griffins — It was unexpected to see the Griffins, just over a year removed from claiming the Calder Cup championship stumbling out of the starting blocks with losses in its first four games of the season and sitting at 2-9 in early November. That is ancient history now though as the team followed that abysmal start up with a franchise record 15-game winning streak finally snapped in Cleveland as the host Monsters held on for a 3-2 edge on Sunday.

The Griffs went on to lose its next start as well, shutout 3-0 by the first place Admirals on Tuesday night to wrap up a 1-2 road trip. The Griffins will ge a shot at redemption Thursday night though as it plays host to the same Admirals in a New Years Eve return match on home ice.

As usual, a number of Griffins players have spent time with the affiliate Detroit Red Wings already, but this deep club never misses a beat it seems.

Offenisvely, Andy Miele, a 27-year-old veteran leads the team with 24 points (6g, 18a) and another vet, Eric Tangradi, 26 is next with 22 points (13 g, 9a). He is also the latest call up by the Wings. Anthony Mantha is having a rebound season after a rough rookie year that saw him on the sidelines with a broken leg to start. So far, Mantha has collected 18 points (7g, 11a).

In goal, Jared Coreau, 24 has been called on the most, starting 19 games with a record of 13-4-1-1 and posting a .926 Save Percentage. Veteran Tom McCollum has played 10 games and sports a 4-6-0 record with a .924 Save Percentage. Jeff Lerg played part of one game for the Griffs as well.

Chicago Wolves —Despite a decent 14-12-1-2 record for 31 points in 29 games, the Wolves find itself on the outside looking in if the playoffs started today. A 5-6-1 run through the month of December hasn’t helped. The Wolves managed to put three wins together recently, but followed that up with defeats on home ice to Iowa and At Milwaukee in the past week.

The AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues will wrap up the month and calendar year Wednesday night (Dec. 30) at Rockford and begins the New Year on home ice against the same Rockford team on Saturday.

The Wolves are led offensively by veteran defender Andre Benoit who has put up 23 points (3g, 20a) in 29 games while 22-year-old forward Ty Rattie has collected 22 points (9g, 12a) in 24 games and veteran forward Pat Cannone has collected 20 points (8g, 12a) in 27 games.

In goal, the chores are split almost evenly between a pair of young prospects. Pheonix Copley, 23,  has appeared in 16 games, posting a record of 8-7-0-2 and a Save Percentage of .915 while Jordan Binnington, 22, has been in 13 games with a record of 5-2-0 and a Save Percentage of .901.

Iowa Wild — It has been another tough season for the AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild. The team currently sits eighth in the eight-team Central Division with a 7-22-2-3 record, tied with the seventh place Manitoba Moose, but with a total of seven more games played.

The Wild is already 16 points out of a playoff position, but there have been some positive signs for the team which has won four times in December, including its two most recent games at Chicago (Dec. 26, 2-1) and a night later at home against Rockford (3-1). The Wild will look for its first three-game winning streak of the season when it travels to Winnipeg to face the Moose in a pair on New Years Eve and New Years Day.

The Wild has been outscored by a wide margin of 107-66 through its first 34 games and its top scorer, 21-year-old winger  Christoph Bertschy has just 17 points (4g, 13a) in 31 games. Michael Keranen, a 25-year-old Swedish forward has picked up 16 points (5g, 11a), the same as defenseman Mike Reilly, 22 (also 5g, 11a).

Despite dismal won/lost numbers both veteran Leland Irving, 27 and Jeremy Smith, 26 have put up respectable totals between the pipes, but have clearly been overworked.

Irving has appeared in 20 games so far, facing an average of 32 plus shots per game. He carries a 4-12-3 record overall, but also a respectable .916 Save Percentage.

Smith has also played in 16 games and carries a record of 3-10-2, but a solid Save Percentage of .911 as he faces an average of 34 plus shots per game.

It wouldn’t be unheard of for the Wild to turn things around — just ask the Griffins about that. But they need to continue this string of wins and play at a high clip the rest of the way.