Following Milwaukee’s visits this season, it’s not uncommon to see Admirals forward Daniel Carr cross from his team’s dressing room to the area used by the Wolves. Last season with the Wolves, Carr scored 71 points in 52 games and was named the AHL MVP and enjoyed a career year under coach Rocky Thompson.
Unsurprisingly, Carr connected with Thompson and former Wolves teammates such as Curtis McKenzie, Tye McGinn and Gage Quinney.
“I think you build a relationship with people throughout your career,” said Carr, who didn’t score in the Wolves’ 5-2 win over the Admirals. “Obviously, you meet so many people and obviously you get along with some groups better than others. We’ve got a really good group here in Milwaukee. I know my wife and I are enjoying it, but last year was certainly a lot of fun.”
On Thursday, the final 20 minutes were fun for the Wolves, who outshot the Admirals 30-17 and hit three posts.
After entering the third down 2-0, the Wolves scored four times in 4:43 to take over. Quinney’s goal with exactly 11 minutes left was his 14th, and Dylan Coghlan drove home a loose puck with 8:51 remaining to even the game. Valentin Zykov then deflected a Jake Bischoff drive with 7:44 to go to give the Wolves their first lead.
Cody Glass, playing in his first Wolves game of the season after appearing in 37 with the Golden Knights, made it 4-2 with 6:17 remaining. Glass, who appeared in six regular-season and 22 postseason games with the Wolves last season, suffered a lower-body injury Jan. 4 with Vegas and was loaned to the AHL on Feb. 8.
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McGinn hit an empty-net with 21.4 on the clock to seal the win.
Carr, meanwhile, left the Vegas organization last summer and signed a one-year deal with Nashville. He played in 11 games for Nashville and scored one goal but has been in Milwaukee since Dec. 14. And like last season, Carr is one of the best players on one of the league’s best teams, leading Milwaukee in goals (19) and points (42) despite playing in only 39 of the Admirals’ 51 games.
That Carr sees the Wolves bothers Thompson, but not because of the challenge it presents his team.
“I think the only thing that hurt was to not see him stay in the National Hockey League,” Thompson said. “That’s what we were hoping for. We know that he can do that. Sometimes you don’t get the bounces. I thought he played well. I was watching a lot of those games when he was playing up there, more as a fan and kind of cheering him on.”
Carr is also a fan of Thompson.
“I think Rocky let me get back to having fun and going out there making plays and enjoying the game,” Carr said. “I really enjoyed playing for Rocky. He had a really good balance of letting us play versus holding us accountable. He would never let you cheat, would never let your game slip into bad habits, but at the same time did a really good job of letting you play and letting you relax.”
