Admirals and Wolves Face-Off for Second Straight Year
Published on April 15, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release
OVERALL... The fourth-seeded Admirals and top-seeded Wolves hit the ice Wednesday for game one of their best-of-seven West Division Semifinal match-up tonight at the All-State Arena. This is the sixth consecutive year that the Admirals have qualified for the post-season and the 28th time in 31 professional campaigns that Milwaukee has secured a playoff berth. The Admirals all-time playoff record stands at 81-112, but since joining the AHL in 2001 they have a 35-25 mark, good for a .583 winning percentage.
REGULAR SEASON...The Admirals posted a 4-4-2 record against the Wolves this season, with an even 2-2-1 record at both the Bradley Center and the All-State Arena. The two clubs split a pair of overtime games to begin the year, with the Wolves winning the first meeting of the season, 2-1 on October 13th in Chicago and the Ads besting the Wolves 1-0 in extra time on October 27th in Milwaukee. The Wolves then won the next three contests, 4-3 December 28th at the Bradley Center, 4-1 January 2nd in Chicago, and 6-3 January 5th in Milwaukee, before the Ads grabbed a 4-0 win January 16th in Chicago and a 5-4 victory February 1st in Milwaukee. Chicago then won 3-1 at the All-State on February 9th and 3-2 in OT at the BC on February 14th before Milwaukee ended the regular season meetings with a 6-4 win in Chicago on March 1st. In 142 all-time regular season contests the Ads have a 75-49-1-17 record including a 41-25-0-7 mark at the Bradley Center.
SERIES SCHEDULE... Following game one, the two teams will hit the ice in Chicago on Friday, April 18th at 7:30 pm before returning to Milwaukee for a pair of contests on Sunday, April 20th at 5:00 pm and then on again on Wednesday, April 23rd at 7:00 pm. If necessary, game five of the series will be at the All-State Arena on Thursday, April 24th at 7:00 pm with game six taking place at the Bradley Center on Saturday, April 26th at 7:30 pm. Should the teams go the distance, game seven would be in Chicago on Monday, April 28th at 7:00 pm.
PLAYOFF FOES... The Admirals and Wolves do battle in the post-season for the second consecutive season and a fifth time in the past 11 years. The Wolves won two battles in the IHL's Western Conference Semifinals, 4-games-to-2 in 1998 and 4-games-to-1 in 2001, before the Admirals got revenge with a 4-2 series win in the 2004 AHL West Division Finals. However, last season Chicago swept the Ads 4-games-to-0 in the West Division Semifinals. The Wolves or Admirals have been the AHL's Western Conference Champion in four out of the last six seasons with each franchise winning the Calder Cup once (Chicago in 2002 and Milwaukee in 2004) and losing in the final once (Chicago in 2005 and Milwaukee in 2006).
SPECIAL TEAMS...Certainly one of the keys to the series for the Admirals will be their ability to stay out of the penalty box and subsequently keep the Wolves off the power-play. Chicago finished the season with the AHL's third best power-play converting 107 of 514 tries, good for a 20.8% conversion rate. The Admirals scored 74 goals in 429 opportunities, a 17.3 success rate. Milwaukee and Chicago were equally proficient on the penalty kill, with each team vanquishing 84.4% of their shorthanded opportunities, good for sixth and seventh place in the league.
GOALTENDER MATCH-UP...This series features a match-up of two of the AHL's top goaltenders in the Admirals Pekka Rinne and the Wolves Ondrej Pavelec. The duo finished the regular season first and second in the league in wins with Rinne notching 36 victories and Pavelec posting 33. Rinne finished the season with a 36-24-3 record, a 2.47 goals against average, a .908 save percentage and five shutouts. A two-time AHL All-Star, Rinne became the just the second player in Admirals history to record two 30-win seasons after also hitting the 30-win plateau during his rookie campaign of 2005-06 and his 36 wins this year tied an Admirals franchise record. Pavelec ended the year with a 33-16-3 record, a 2.77 GAA, and a .911 save percentage. The Kladno, Czech Republic native was the AHL's Goaltender of the Month in February and he also played in seven games with the Atlanta Thrashers where he went 3-3 with a 3.11 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.
90-40 LEVEL...Milwaukee finished the season with 44 wins and 95 points, marking the 17th time in franchise history, and fifth consecutive, that the team has topped the 40-win and 90-point plateaus. The Admirals are just one season shy of tying the AHL record for most consecutive 40-wins seasons, set by the Cleveland Barons, who won 40 or more in six straight campaigns from 1947-48 through 1952-53. The Hartford Wolfpack also has a five-year 40-win streak that runs concurrent with the Ads' run. Only twice prior in Admirals history has the team won 40 or more games for at least three consecutive seasons. The team record for wins and points in one season is 54 and 113, respectively, set in the 1988-89 season when the Admirals posted a 54-23-0-5 mark.
IRON MEN...The Admirals had four players on their roster who played in every game this year. Defensemen Alex Henry and Janne Niskala and forwards Cal O'Reilly and Mike Santorelli each suited up in all 80 contests. This was the second time in franchise history that the team had as many as four players play in all of the Ads' games. The only other time it occurred was back in the 1995-96 season when Gino Cavallini, Sylvain Couturier, Ken Sabourin, and Mike Tomlak played in all 82 games.
HATLESS SEASON...On 21 occasions this season the Admirals had a player score twice in one game, but the team is still looking for its first hat-trick of the year. Both Josh Langfeld and Antti Pihlstrom have tallied a pair of goals in the same game four times this year, while Janne Niskala has each done it on three occasions. The last time an Admiral posted a hat trick was March 10th of last season when Chris Durno did the deed against Chicago. The 2004-05 season was the only other campaign that no Admiral lit the lamp three times in one game.
American Hockey League Stories from April 15, 2008
- Admirals and Wolves Face-Off for Second Straight Year - Milwaukee Admirals
- Tardif Signs Two-Year Deal With Detroit - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Monarchs Sign Two Draft Picks - Manchester Monarchs
- Beckford-Tseu, Reaves, Neilson Head To Alaska - Peoria Rivermen
- Amerks Equipment Sale Set For Saturday, April 19th - Rochester Americans
- Aeros' Brust Named Rbk X-Pulse/AHL Goaltender Of The Month - Houston Aeros
- Brassard Named Rbk Edge/AHL Rookie Of The Month - Syracuse Crunch
- Corey Locke Named CCM/AHL Player Of The Month - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Marlies Release Grennier From ATO - Toronto Marlies
- Crunch's Brassard Named Rbk Edge/AHL Rookie Of The Month - AHL
- Aeros' Brust Named Rbk X-Pulse/AHL Goaltender Of The Month - AHL
- Bulldogs' Locke Named CCM/AHL Player Of The Month - AHL
- Columbus Assigns Right Wing Stefan Legein - Syracuse Crunch
- Moose sign Zack Smith to ATO - Manitoba Moose
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