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Tagged: hamilton

Marlies Unable To Mess With Texas

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By on Mar 25th, 2012

Fan Photo from @melissakania

As much as a game against a last place team seems like a “gimmie”, you can never take it with anything less than the utmost of seriousness. Look at the Marlies last foray into facing the lowest of the low – a school day game against the Binghamton Senators. That game saw the team shut out by Robin Lehner, in one of the more disappointing efforts of the season on paper. Today, the Texas Stars are the league’s whipping boy (though Binghamton is still worse by percentage).  Dead last in the West Division, Western Conference, and the AHL, the Stars had lost six straight games leading up to today’s game. Would the Marlies make that seven? No, they certainly wouldn’t – a slow start gave Texas the game, 4-2.

The first period was a highly disciplined one, with neither team taking a single penalty. Unfortunately for Toronto, the midway point saw Texas opening the scoring. Taylor Vause was the man to put the first puck past Jussi Rynnas, for the first of his pro career. That would be all for notable moments in the first, though it was a first dominated by the Marlies, with a shot count of 11 to 5.

The second period featured more Texas control, a lot of nasty Toronto giveaways by several players (not even worth trying to call anyone out, it was across the board). As well, a few penalties occured, Toronto earning a couple of bench minors for too many men over the 20 minute frame. They also had a powerplay opportunity, but nothing came out of it. More importantly though, was the fact that Mike Hedden widened the gap to 2-0, slowly fading the game away from the Marlies.

The third period was much better for the Marlies. On top of outshooting the Stars 15-6, Marcel Mueller broke Campbell’s shutout at the four minute mark. Mark Fraser further made things interesting with a mid period fight, but minutes later, the Stars took back their two goal lead. With two and a half minutes to go, Greg Scott scored his eighteenth of the season, but not only could the team not score with the extra attacker, the Stars added one to end the game at 4-2.

Other Notes

Jussi Rynnas made 18 saves on 21 shots. Statistically, not the best of games, but he looked decent. Hung out to dry a lot in the second, and made huge saves.

Nazem Kadri and Ryan Hamilton returned to the lineup tonight. Both earned assists, but bothw ere also minus players (-1 for Kadri, -2 for Hamilton).

The special teams were Toronto Typical – a flawless penalty kill, and an unsuccessful powerplay. Two for two and zero for one.

Attendance was an impressive 6220, further boosting the team’s surge in that regard.

It’s really awkward seeing this team seemingly only lose at home to bad (standings wise) teams.

The next game for the Marlies is on Friday in Rochester, part of a three day weekend for the team. Sunday is your home game to catch, on AM640, LeafsTV, and at Ricoh.

The Captain’s Big Break

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By on Mar 23rd, 2012

When Ryan Hamilton was named captain of the Toronto Marlies at the start of the season, there was very little debate on whether or not he was the right choice. After all, this was a man who was a clear leader on the ice, who played in all situations, and performed well in those situations. In any given year, he was good for a 25-30 goal pace. But that last sentence, as good as it sounds, contains his key flaw of the past few years – pace.

We are, after all talking about a guy who was an obvious leader and scoring talent, would only be that for half the season before succumbing to something that would set it back. Be in the time where he went face first into the glass, acquiring enough stitches to make the average person cringe. Or his knee injuries. Or the time where he had to have an operation done for an irregular heartbeat. It goes without saying, that his body hasn’t exactly been his career’s best friend over the past few seasons. That was my one doubt when it came this year – sure, he may wear the C, and he may be the best person to wear it, but how wise of a choice is it to make if he’s playing only 45 games yet again this season?

I know I wasn’t the only one to think that, and thankfully, he’s spent the year proving a lot of people, both detractors and cautious supporters, wrong. For one, he has a comfortable team lead in goals, with 23 being just one of the career highs he has to his credit this year. Perhaps more impressive is that he’s matched that in assists as well – something that hasn’t happened in his time with Toronto. Usually, the ratio between the two statistics is rather evident – scoring 1.8 goals for every assist in 2009/10, and 1.3 last season. Being able to dish the puck more this year is just one example of many of the growth he’s shown as an all around player.

Like always, he’s been a staple on both sides of the special teams. While not the go-to weapon when up a man or down, its perhaps that that’s made him even more effective. He’s the guy that creeps in on the powerplay, and the one who has the energy to close off the final seconds of a rough penalty kill. It’s an impressive versatility on a team that’s already has plenty of it. That’s without even speaking about his skating ability – he can skate with the best of them, particularly in his acceleration.

And perhaps the best stat out of all of them, is the one that’s the most important – the Marlies have played 65 games this season, and he’s played in every single one of them. The various issues of the past few years, at least at the moment, appear to have gone away and given a chance to really prove himself as a player and a leader, which he has, and then some. It’s clearly caught the eye of the big club, because with the team in need of forwards on emergency recall, Hamilton finally got the nod that he’s been waiting for his whole career – his NHL shot. Granted, due to the nature of the call up, it may not be very long. He could even be back with a C and a Marlies logo on his chest a few days from now. But he can say something that millions have dreamed of but few have been able to accomplish – “I’ve played in the NHL.”

The games he’ll get this year will play a huge part in his future next year. Even at his age, a decent effort can go a long way to making it into the NHL full time. One can argue that the single game that Tim Brent earned in 2009/10 as a “Thank You” from the team was enough to give him more of a look during training camp the next year – he’s been an NHLer ever since. With more extreme examples, Joel Ward, who was a teammate of Hamilton’s with the Houston Areos, was 27 years old when he got his first significant NHL shot, and is currently hin his fourth full season. You never know how these things work out for players.

One things for sure though, whether it’s a weekend, or a sign of things to come, the call up couldn’t have gone to a better person. Hamilton has shown to be an exemplary captain, a fantastic AHL player, and now, a healthy one. The NHL shot was the perfect reward to a great year for him, and one can only hope for the best for him as he lives it out. Hamilton plays his first NHL game tonight as the Leafs take on the New Jersey Devils.

Nazem Kadri was also recalled on an emergency basis. Of course, the Toronto media has already beat up this topic to death, so I wanted to put the focus on Hamilton – who I was writing this piece on before the call up anyway. Kadri has impressed in the past few games, so it’s no shock that he’s back up with the team. Matt Frattin and Clarke MacArthur are the Leafs that are currently out to make this possible.

Marlies Win Kadri Show 3-2

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By on Mar 17th, 2012

I have to admit, in most cases, two teams having similar names in the same league usually annoys me. There’s so much room for creativity, and organizations still attempt to confuse you. The AHL has a case of this, and it’s the only case where I’ll accept it. Why is that? Today, while the Marlies face the Admirals in a late season battle, it’s the ones from Milwaukee, not Norfolk, which invokes a sigh of relief in many people.

If you’re someone who likes to stay up to date with the Marlies, but don’t pay a ton of attention to the rest of the league, there’s a stark difference between the two teams. Milwaukee is fourth in their division, with 66 points in 61 games. In the past ten, they’re a decent team, being 5-4-0-1. By comparison, the Marlies have 77 points in 63 games, are first in their division, and are 6-3-0-1 in their past ten. It’s a matchup Toronto comes out as favourites in. Now, if they were facing Norfolk?

After looking like a decent team at the 48 game marks, they’ve turned into a team that nobody wants to face right now. In 65 games, they’ve racked up 91 points. Out of the last 34 points available to them, they’ve picked up 34. No lie, they’ve won 17 straight games, which ties an AHL record. Needless to say, Milwaukee is the lesser of two evils. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Toronto can coast through this game, and, finally getting to the point, they ultimately put in a solid 60 minute and took their fourth straight win, 3-2.

The first period started off stale, but the Marlies really found their opening groove midway through the second period. Jesse Blacker showed the first real sign of presence for the team, with a fantastic defensive effort that almost turned into the opening goal. A powerplay came out of that shift, and the man advantage gave the game its opening goal. Ryan Hamilton picked up a rebound started up by Philippe Dupuis and Mike Zigomanis, slapping home his 23rd goal of the season. The blue and white had one more man advantage at the end of the period, but didn’t succeed with it.

The middle frame opened on a high note, seeing Nazem Kadri sail in and whip home a wrist shot in the first minute. After that, the game became very back and forth, but with few shots – just fourteen combined in the second. The end ones were the most important, though, with Milwaukee bringing the game to within one with fifty two seconds left in the period. There were also five penalties over the course of the twenty minutes, Toronto’s coming courtesy of Jerry D’Amigo, and two from Juraj Mikus.

The third saw the lead evaporate at the eight minute mark. Kyle Wilson, not to be confused with the Marlies’ Kelsey, had a breakaway opportunity and made the best of it, tying the game. The Admirals continued to put on the throughout the period, but Kadri showed the crowd that he still had more in him, scoring his thirteenth of the season to give his team the lead in the final minutes. The team held onto the lead, and kept the score as it was until the final buzzer.

Other Notes

Jussi Rynnas was decent. That second goal he allowed was a bit of a bad judgement call, opting for a poke check instead of a typical save. In the end though, 24 saves on 26 shots is statistically sound.

Having Ryan Hamilton stay healthy this year has been nothing short of massive for the team. His 23rd goal of the year continues to separate him from his previous highs for the team.

Nazem Kadri was fantastic tonight. The “nifty mittens” were out in full force, carving through opponents at will. The pair of goals were just icing on the cake on one of his best showings this year. Just absolutely dominant stuff.

Mike Zigomanis showed up with a trio of assists, also building on a career high.

Jesse Blacker’s play to almost give the Marlies the opening goal before they actually did was probably the best play of the game.

The special teams were typical to slightly above typical. Rock solid penalty kill (3 for 3) and the powerplay even managed to score (1 for 4).

The Marlies play their next game tomorrow afternoon against the Chicago Wolves, at 3PM. You have a lot of options for this one – on top of my twitter, you can follow the game along on AM640, watch it on LeafsTV, or head down to Ricoh Coliseum to catch what looks to be a good potential matchup against the Canucks affiliate.

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