Let’s assume that Alex Sulzer will be in Milwaukee (he has cleared waivers). That means the Admirals will have Sulzer, Aaron Johnson, Jon Blum, Grant Lewis, Brett Palin, Scott Ford, Teemu Laakso, Scott Lehman, Roman Josi and Julien Brouillette (pronounced “brew-yet”).

 

Let’s take a brief look at the resumes of these ten athletes:

 

Sulzer – two-time Olympian (Germany); led AHL defenseman in points per game (.83) last season; 22 NHL games

 

Johnson – Memorial Cup champion; past AHL All-Star; 225 NHL games

 

Blum – former 1^st round pick; ranked third among AHL rookie defensemen in points (11g-30a-41pts) and goals, and tied for second in power-play points (6g-14a-20pts) last season

 

Lewis- former 2^nd round pick; member of two Calder Cup champions (Chicago in 2008 and Hershey last season); 1 NHL game

 

Palin – Memorial Cup champion; AHL All-Star in 2008-09; Abbotsford captain last season

 

Ford – Admirals alternate captain; 124 games with Milwaukee last two seasons

 

Laakso – played with Team Finland in two Under-18 world championships and two Under-20 world championships; Ranked third among Admiral blueliners in plus/minus (+12) in 2009-10; 7 NHL games

 

Lehman – member of 2008 Calder Cup champions (Chicago); also a valuable forward; 1 NHL game

 

Josi – former 2^nd round pick; helped SC Bern win both the Swiss League regular season and playoff titles in 2009-10; Named to the Swiss team for the 2010 Olympic Games, but did not participate due to injury

 

Brouillette - finished last season 10th in the ECHL among defensemen in scoring with 33 points (13G, 20A) in just 47 games; 21 AHL games with Hartford and three AHL games with Providence

 

(You can find out more about these players by visiting your local library.)

 

Admirals head coach Lane Lambert and assistant coach Ian Herbers will have some tough decisions to make each night as to who will and will not dress. That’s a good problem to have.

 

Moving on…

 

The Admirals worked on special teams a bit in practice today. One group had Linus Klasen, Nick Spaling and Andreas Thuresson at forward with Lewis and Blum on defense. The other had Chris Mueller and Mark Santorelli rotating on a wing with Blake Geoffrion and Matt Halischuk. The defensemen with that group were Johnson and Laakso.

 

Former NFL quarterback Steve DeBerg was known as the master of the play-action pass: faking a handoff to a running back then throwing the ball. DeBerg confounded NFL defenses for many years. The Admirals may have a “DeBerg” like player in Klasen. His stick handling and creativity, albeit in practice, is as good as I’ve seen in Milwaukee.

 

By the way, Klasen will wear jersey number 86. Why? That’s the year he was born.

 

Josi told me he hopes to be playing in two weeks.

 

Just in case you don't know, the blue highlighted words can be clicked on to find out more information or watch cool videos about that specific topic. I hope you're clicking on the links. You're missing out on a lot of potential water cooler talk if you're not.

 

When do you know if you’ve “made it”? Well, if you’re former Admirals forward Zack Stortini, this may be “it” (playing in the NHL may top it, though).

 

Longtime Admirals season ticket holder and youth hockey coach Bill Stornello is the new head coach of the Brew City Blades, the top women’s hockey team in the area.

 

Before I wrap this up, I need to say GO MINNESOTA TWINS.

 

It’s time for the regular season, so I leave you with “The Hockey Song” by the incomparable Warren Zevon.