The Decision Has Been Made

Just like the title of this blog says.  The decision has been made.

I will not shutdown The Rant Norfolk Admirals completely.  This site will remain open for readers.  It will also act as an archive site in the future.  For this summer though it will be a place for Norfolk Admirals fans to go and read old blogs about a great new team.

All future blogs will be posted on the Rant.  You can click here to go to the Rant.

**The Rant Norfolk Admirals is in no way affiliated with the AHL or the Norfolk Admirals organization. The views and opinions in this blog do not reflect the views and opinions of the AHL or the Norfolk Admirals organization. For the fans by the fans.

Confidence Comes From Andersen

Photo By: Angie Hamilton

I hate writing game recaps.  Anyone can sit down and write a play-by-play of what happened during the game.  Some of those same people may even give a few observations.  Most of the time those observations aren't because they really observed them but because someone else mentioned it and they just happen to agree.  I am neither of those people.

Yesterday I put a blog together that explained what Anaheim wants out of the Norfolk Admirals.  Tonight I could write almost the same blog as last night, with a few changes.

There was a big change for tonight's game over last night and it wasn't the fact the Admirals finally pulled points at home.  It was Frederik Andersen.  Everyone who reads my blogs knows my opinion on our goal tending situation.  If you don't you are going to hear a little of it now.

***If you are sensitive to a fan criticizing their team you may want to stop reading now and pick up later in the blog.***

I am some what on the same side as Anaheim when it comes to the role of the Norfolk Admirals and the AHL should play in hockey.  The AHL is the top developmental league that should be used to create future stars for a particular team depending on the affiliation.  The AHL is not the start of development though.  This should be a league used to fine tune skills of players who are almost there not make huge strides to develop lower level players.  This is the case with Igor Bobkov.  Don't get me wrong, Bobkov is a good goalie but he has a lot of development issues.  The easiest way to sum up Bobkov is "When he's on, he's on but when he's off he is REALLY off.  And he's off a lot."  You can see every time Bobkov gets in the net he is working on the areas he needs to improve on.  But at best right now he is an ECHL goalie.  That is where he should be making improvements to his game.  When the skaters get on the ice in front of Bobkov you can see they don't have the confidence to play without worry.  The defense pulls close to the goal to create more traffic knowing it is better to block the shot then to give Bobkov the opportunity to make the save because they know Bobkov has huge rebound control issues.  The forwards don't get a chance to push deep into the offensive zone for a good hard forecheck because they know they need to get back faster to help block shots.  The skaters lose the opportunity to develop the skills they have so they can contribute to the future of the Ducks.

***Sensitive fans can start reading again.***

Then you have Frederik Andersen.  Norfolk plays with confidence when Andersen is in goal.  Andersen allows for a good forecheck from the forwards and doesn't require as much coverage from the defense.  He is a perfect example of a goalie who needs development but at a more fine tuning level.  This is the kind of goalie you expect to see in the AHL.  By no means is Andersen perfect.  He has movement problems.  He needs to work on speed from post to post.  He also needs to work on his ice vision when he is being screened.  But he is at the level where a good year will give him what he needs to be valuable as a future NHL goalie.

There was something else I liked seeing during the game.  I heard an interview with the Ducks head coach talking about Emerson Etem.  He said he was very impressed by the way Etem can move the puck and pretty much skate circles around any teams defense.  He also went on to say he feels Etem needs to be a little more aggressive on the ice.  That is where the AHL comes into play.  Tonight I saw an Emerson Etem I have never seen before.  He played a little harder and was aggressive pushing through the defense instead of around them and was rewarded for it with several good scoring chance.

Again, I am not a coach.  I am not a manager.  I am a guy... no... a FAN who sites in the stands and watches these young men become great athletes.

With that said... Rabbi out!

Email any questions to hockeypocket@hotmail.com and I will try to get some of them into the Rant's Weekly Video Blog.  You can also become a writer for the Rant Norfolk Admirals by just sending your fan writing to jack_miceli.norfolkadmirals@blogger.com.  Follow the Rant on Twitter @HockeyRabbi and make sure you follow Brad @AdmiralsUnited.

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**The Rant Norfolk Admirals is in no way affiliated with the AHL or the Norfolk Admirals organization. The views and opinions in this blog do not reflect the views and opinions of the AHL or the Norfolk Admirals organization. For the fans by the fans.

Winning Not Required

Photo By: Adam Klepsteens

One of the reasons Syracuse didn't like the Ducks franchise as their affiliate is that the Ducks didn't put enough emphasis on winning at the AHL level.  That is also the main reason Syracuse decided to end their affiliation with Anaheim.

On many occasions the Ducks front office has said winning at the AHL level is not the priority for them and they will not feed players to their prospect development team if they are not serious about either signing them or serious about making them into NHL players.  The number one priority of the Norfolk Admirals is to develop players to play in the NHL.  If they win games that's great, but because the main goal for the Ducks is to have players that can contribute at a professional level and bring home Lord Stanley's Cup, winning is not required.

Tonight we saw another example of the mentality "winning is not a priority".  Norfolk was flat almost all night.  They played a great first period and even though shots weren't getting through to the net they were taking them.  After Referee Luxmore waved off the goal at the end of the first period Norfolk should have come out of the dressing room energized and ready to push hard and play a great second period.  That was the first 2 minutes of the second.  The rest of the game Norfolk played like they were doing exactly what Anaheim wants them to do.  They played like they were developing their skills.  There were a few times the same line would try to run the same play that failed three or four times in a row just to work on it in a game setting.  There were times the defense would push up in the offensive zone to harass any possibility for the other team to start a good forecheck.  You could see Bobkov was working on his rebound control in a game setting.

So, as for tonight, I am chalking up yet another home game without at least one point (and the 5th shutout against on the season) to the fact winning is a secondary goal.  And just as long as the players are pushing themselves to play better and developing their talents so they can some day make it to the NHL and bring the Stanley Cup home to Anaheim everything is good on the Ducks front.

POPPYCOCK!!!!!!!!  I can say the players themselves have gotten better (well most of them).  But as a team they are not playing well.  I would think part of development is to be able to play in a team environment and win a good stretch of games.  Who am I though?  I don't have a ring, or a cup, or play hockey.  I'm not a coach or a manager.  I'm just a guy who sits in the stands and hopes some day I can say I saw that guy holding the Stanley Cup up over his head, play in Norfolk as a prospect.  A few wins would be nice though.

I love the Norfolk Admirals and win or lose they are my AHL team and will always be my AHL team. Bottom line.

With that said... Rabbi out!

Email any questions to hockeypocket@hotmail.com and I will try to get some of them into the Rant's Weekly Video Blog.  You can also become a writer for the Rant Norfolk Admirals by just sending your fan writing to jack_miceli.norfolkadmirals@blogger.com.  Follow the Rant on Twitter @HockeyRabbi and make sure you follow Brad @AdmiralsUnited.

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**The Rant Norfolk Admirals is in no way affiliated with the AHL or the Norfolk Admirals organization. The views and opinions in this blog do not reflect the views and opinions of the AHL or the Norfolk Admirals organization. For the fans by the fans.

Norfolk Wins First Game After The Break

By Brenda Goodson

Norfolk went into the AHL All Star break with a 3 game win streak hoping to pick up where they left off when they came back.  That was easier said than done.  Even though the team seemed like it was clicking they dropped the first two games both in the third period.  That wasn't the case tonight, registering their first win after the All Star break with a 4-1 score over the baby Pens.

The story tonight was Jay Rosehill.  He opened up scoring in the first period with a great shot from the right face off circle a little over 7 minutes into the game (The assist was from Leblond).  I turned to a friend and said "Wouldn't it be something if Rosey got a hat trick tonight?"  Rosehill then played a good hard forecheck with the other members on the 4th line.  He played better hockey than I have seen him play in a long time.  Of course OLD Terry Koharski (and I say old because the guy is like 1,000,000 years old and needs to retire) made a bad call on a goal for the Pens late in the second period to tie up the game.  Can someone tell Terry that in regular play the rule is the puck has to cross the crease before the net comes off for the goal to be good.  He may want to know that for next time.  (For more goal rules you can review the blog "Rules Rules Rules".) 

Six minutes into the third period Norfolk was up 2-1 and Rosehill returned the favor from Leblond and fed the puck to him, where he buried the puck in the back of the net over Thiessen's stick side shoulder just under the cross bar.  So now Rosey has a goal and an assist.  Rosey's night got better when, at 8:59 into the third he registered his second goal of the night.  Rosey with two goals????  You have to be kidding me right.  It looked like I had a chance to have my prediction come true.  Of course Rosey ended up getting a hat trick of sorts.  At 9:25 in the third he dropped the gloves and gave Farnham (who mind you was being a D-bag for the minute before the fight to everyone around him) of the Pens a beating.  That, my friends, is a Gordie Howe Hat Trick.  My prediction came true... kind of.  I'll take it though.

What to look forward to for tomorrow????  The Pens will be back in Norfolk's house.  My pre-game prediction.  MacIntyre will go with Leblond but not before taking 6 minutes worth of unsportsmanlike penalties after Leblond plays with him a little.  Leblond will be able to hold his own against MacIntyre.  Let's just hope Mac doesn't lose it like he did last year against Hershey.  I still have nightmares of how they had to drag him off the ice after he fought 4 different people and tried to fight the whole Hershey bench all within 3 minutes of each other.  Look it up... Can we say Psycho?

I do have to say Jeff Smith (yes the guy who calls every game both ways consistently, meaning no calls at all) and Terry "The Megalodon" Koharski (The Megalodon because he's so F-ing old) did a good job calling this game.  They let the boys play and for the most part it stayed clean and the flow was great.  Tomorrow I think it will be Jeff Smith alone because Terry has his retirement party to plan (I hope).  If not it will be Terry and that is always fun for me (only because he knows how to heckle back).  With Jeff Smith the game will be fast with not a lot of penalties called.

With that said... Rabbi out!

Make sure you email your questions for The Rant Weekly Video Blog to hockeypocket@hotmail.com.  You can follow The Rant on Twitter @HockeyRabbi.  Follow Brad and Admirals United @AdmiralsUnited.  You can even become a fan writer by sending your stuff to jack_miceli.norfolkadmirals@blogger.com.  Who knows you may get published.

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**The Rant Norfolk Admirals is in no way affiliated with the AHL or the Norfolk Admirals organization. The views and opinions in this blog do not reflect the views and opinions of the AHL or the Norfolk Admirals organization. For the fans by the fans.

Hockey Central Bruce Boudreau Interview

Today on Sports Net Hockey Central @ Noon Daren Millard, Scott Morrison, Nick Kypreos and Doug MacLean interviewed Bruce Boudreau, the head coach of the Anaheim Ducks.  They talked a little about Viktor Fasth and Kyle Palmieri.

I'm not sure if in the beginning of the interview Boudreau and the Hockey Central staff were digging in on Norfolk or not but I can say this.  If Bruce would have came out to Norfolk more often during the lockout he would have seen first hand how fast Palmieri moves through the zone.

Video Edit by Jack Miceli

You'll be able to listen to the whole interview at Sportsnet.  They broad cast every weekday from 1200 to 1:00PM.  You can listen on the internet.  Just click here.  Enjoy!

Don't forget to email me your questions for The Rant Weekly Video Blog to hockeypocket@hotmail.com and as always you can follow The Rant on Twitter @HockeyRabbi. Follow Brad @AdmiralsUnited. You can also email The Rant at hockeypocket@hotmail.com. Submit Fan writing... jack_miceli.norfolkadmirals@blogger.com.

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**The Rant Norfolk Admirals is in no way affiliated with the AHL or the Norfolk Admirals organization. The views and opinions in this blog do not reflect the views and opinions of the AHL or the Norfolk Admirals organization. For the fans by the fans.