AHL Milwaukee Admirals

Admirals continue homestand this week

March 6, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release


OVERALL...The Admirals enter this week's action with a 39-17-5-2 record, good for 85 points and second place in the West Division. The Admirals, who own the fourth best winning percentage in the AHL (.675) sit two points behind the Houston Aeros (87 pts), after they picked up six of a possible eight points last week. Milwaukee is 5-3-1-1 in their last ten games and is in the midst of a five game homestand. After this five game stretch ends, the Ads will have just three home games the rest of the season.

VS. PEORIA... The Admirals and the Rivermen do battle on Tuesday for the eighth and final time this year. So far this season Milwaukee is 4-1-1-1 versus Peoria, with a 2-0-1 mark on home ice and a 2-1-0-1 record in Peoria. Most recently the Admirals topped the Rivermen 6-4 in Peoria on the strengths of a hat trick and four-point night by forward Greg Classen. That win came on the heels of two straight 4-3 losses to Peoria on February 18th and 19th. On Saturday the 18th, Mike Glumac netted the game-winning goal just 55 seconds into OT, and then on Sunday the 19th Peoria converted three of five shoot-out attempts to get by the Ads.

VS. CLEVELAND... The Admirals and the Barons do battle for the final time on Friday night at the Bradley Center. After the season is done the Barons will move to Worcester, MA. So far this season the Admirals are 5-2 versus Cleveland, including a perfect 3-0 mark on home ice. The last time these two squads squared off was on January 27th and 28th when the Ads swept a pair of games in Cleveland. All-time versus the Barons, Milwaukee is 14-5-2 with a perfect 8-0-2 record at the BC.

LAST WEEK... The Admirals started the week on the right foot with a 3-1 win over the Iowa Stars on Wednesday night at the Bradley Center. The Stars led 1-0 after one period, but the Ads exploded for three second period goals on their way to the win. On Friday night Libor Pivko's second goal of the game at the 1:32 mark of overtime gave the Admirals a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Rochester Americans. Brian Finley stopped 28 shots to win his third straight game for Milwaukee. Greg Classen's hat trick led the Admirals past the Peoria Rivermen 6-4 in Peoria on Saturday night. All of the Ads goals came via special teams, including a season high five power-play tallies.

THE NEXT PLATEAU...The Admirals next win this season will be their 40th of the year and mark the third straight season that the team has made it to the 40-win plateau. Only two other times in franchise history has the team won 40 games in three consecutive years. The first time happened in the 1981-82 to 1983-84 seasons and the last occurrence was from the 1992-93 season to 1995-96 when they topped 40 victories for four straight years. The team needs just 15 points in their last 17 games to eclipse the 100-point mark for the third consecutive year as well, a feat never before accomplished in the organization's 19-year professional history.

HATS OFF TO GREG... Classen's three-goal performance last night was the fifth time this season that an Admirals player has recorded a hat-trick. Chris Durno was the last to do it, lighting the lamp three times on February 17th versus Manitoba. Kris Beech turned the trick on November 30th versus Peoria, while Scottie Upshall has done it twice this year: first on January 21st at Chicago and the second time on February 4th in Houston. The last time Milwaukee had five hat tricks in one season was back in the 1994-95 campaign when Admiral great Gino Cavallini had four by himself.

BOUNCING BACK... After the Admirals dropped two games to Houston last weekend they found themselves six points out of the top spot in the division. However, the Ads have responded by winning three of their last four games, which, coupled with the two Aeros' losses, put them just two points behind Houston. However, the Aeros do have two games in hand on Milwaukee. The Admirals and Houston do battle one more time this season: March 17th at the Bradley Center.

COMEBACK KIDS...Milwaukee's 3-2 win over Rochester on Friday night marked the fifth time this season that the Admirals have won a game when trailing after two periods of play. That makes more times this year that they have posted third-period comebacks than the previous two seasons combined. In addition, the Ads are 7-7-3 when trailing after one period of play and 14-14-3 when they have allowed the first goal of the game.

TRANSACTIONS...The Admirals have recalled defenseman Corey Hessler from the Rockford Ice Hogs of the United Hockey League. This is the third time that Hessler has been summoned by the Admirals this season. The Mendota Heights, MN native has two goals and an assist and is +3 in seven games with the Ads. He has accumulated 37 points (8g-29a) and is +12 in 46 games with the IceHogs this season.

BLUELINE HONOR...Two Admirals have recently been selected to Minor League News' FAB50, a ranking of the top 50 hockey prospects who have spent the majority of the season in the minor leagues. Shea Weber, who is currently playing for Nashville, comes into the rankings at number 19, while fellow defenseman Kevin Klein is ranked number 47. Weber has 27 points (12g-15a) and 39 PIMs with the Admirals this year and also leads AHL rookie Blueliners with nine power-play tallies. Klein, in his second professional season, is fourth on the Milwaukee roster in scoring with 37 points (8g-29a) in 57 games.

THREE-IN-THREE...For the eighth time this season the Admirals played three-games-in-three-nights last weekend. After hosting the Americans Friday night, the team hopped a bus to Peoria for Saturday night's game versus the Rivermen before re-boarding the bus to come back to Milwaukee for Sunday's contest with the Wolves. So far the Admirals are 6-2 in the first game of three straight, 4-1-3 in game two, and 4-3-0-1 in the third game, putting their total record at 14-6-3-1 in three-game-in-three-night sets.

THREE-QUARTERS DONE...The Admirals contest versus Iowa on Wednesday night was the 60th game of the season, marking the three-quarter point in the 80-game schedule. The team's 37-16-5-2 record and 81 points are slightly better than the 36-17-3-4 record and 79 points that the team had at this stage last season. Of the Admirals remaining 17 games, seven of them are on home ice, where they have posted a 23-8-2 mark, and 10 of them are on the road, where they are 16-9-3-2.

OVER THE AIR AND ON THE WEB... The Admirals have a new flagship radio station this season in Milwaukee's ESPN Radio 1510 AM (days)/1290 AM (nights). Aaron Sims will call all of the hard-hitting end-to-end action. In addition, the team has a one-hour hockey magazine dubbed "Milwaukee Admirals Center Ice" that airs every Tuesday from 6-7 pm on ESPN Radio. Fans can watch all Admirals games, home and on the road, live on the internet via B2 Networks. Simply go to the Admirals Website at www.milwaukeeadmirals.com

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American Hockey League Stories from March 6, 2006


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