AHL Milwaukee Admirals

Admirals finish regular season

Published on April 11, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release


OVERALL...The Admirals (45-22-4-5) enter this week's action in second place in the AHL's West Division, four points behind the division leading Chicago Wolves (48-22-5-2). The Ads have lost two straight, 3-2-0-1 in the last six games and 6-4-1-1 in the last 12 outings.

TRAGIC NUMBER...The Admirals don't control their own destiny in the battle for the West Division Championship. The Wolves magic number for winning the division is five points, but they actually win the division championship with any combination of two victories or two Admirals losses in regulation. The Wolves could pick up four points with a win and two overtime or shootout losses and still lose the division championship in a tiebreaker if the Admirals were to win all four games.

Milwaukee (4): Home (2): April 12 - Grand Rapids; 15 - Utah. Away (2): April 16 - Cincinnati; 17 - San Antonio. Chicago (3): Home (1): April 16 - Utah. Away (2): April 14 - San Antonio; 15 - Houston.

PLAYOFF BOUND...The Admirals have clinched a spot in the 2005 Calder Cup playoffs and a chance to defend their 2004 AHL Title. It's the Admirals third straight Calder Cup playoff appearance. The Admirals have now qualified for postseason play in 25 of 28 seasons, including three of the four seasons in the American Hockey League. Since 1977-78, the only three seasons the Ads failed to qualify for the playoffs were 1984-85, 1987-88 and 2001-02. The Admirals will begin playoff competition against the Griffins, Mighty Ducks or Aeros on Wednesday, April 20th and Saturday, April 23rd at the Bradley Center.

THIS WEEK'S ACTION...

VS. GRAND RAPIDS...The Ads lead the season series 3-2-1-1, including 1-1-1 at the Bradley Center. The Griffins need a victory to get back into the playoff picture.

VS. UTAH...Milwaukee is 7-2 overall against the Grizzlies, including 3-1 at the BC.

@CINCINNATI...This is a potential playoff preview and a rematch of last season's West Division semi-finals. The Ads are 3-4 against Mighty Ducks, including 1-2 in Cincy where they sport a lifetime AHL record of 2-6-5-0 at Cincinnati Gardens.

@SAN ANTONIO...The Ads are 4-4-0-1 against the Rampage this season, including 1-2-0-1 in San Antonio. The Admirals are winless in the last two at the SBC Center, but are 6-2-0-1 in the last nine.

LAST WEEK'S ACTION...The Wolves' Kari Lehtonen stopped 31 shots leading the Wolves to a 2-0 victory over the Admirals on Saturday at the Bradley Center. The Bulldogs scored two goals in a 25 second span in the third period en route to a 5-3 victory on Friday. On Wednesday, Jordin Tootoo scored a pair of goals leading the Admirals to a 4-3 shootout victory. The Ads began the week with a 3-0 shutout win on Tuesday over the Aeros behind Brian Finley's record setting 31 save performance.

SHUTOUT FACTS...On Saturday night, a Bradley Center crowd of 8,652 witnessed the Admirals franchise record eighth shutout of the season breaking the old record of seven, which was established during the 2001-02 season. The Ads have now been blanked in front of the two largest Bradley Center crowds this season. The first was a 2-0 setback to Philadelphia before 11,346 on February 19. The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks have blanked the Ads three times, the Houston Aeros twice and Chicago, Philadelphia and Grand Rapids once each. Last season, the Admirals were shutout only once.

THREE-IN-THREE...The Ads have completed seven stretches of three games in three days and are 14-4-1-2 in those 21 contests, including 9-2-1-2 on the road. They are 6-0-0-1 in game ones, 4-1-1-1 in the second games and 4-3 in game threes. The Admirals finish the season with three-in-three this weekend.

OVERTIME/SHOOTOUT NUMBERS...The Ads are 6-4 in 18 overtime games this season with eight shootouts. The Admirals picked up their first road shootout win of the season on Wednesday in Hamilton and are now 3-5 overall in shootouts. Six of the last 13 games overall and five of the last nine at the Bradley Center have gone into overtime.

GAMACHE...Simon Gamache was honored as a First Team AHL All-Star. Gamache leads Admirals scorers and ranks third in the AHL with 83 points. He has 56 assists and 15 power play goals to rank among league leaders in both categories. His 83 points and 56 assists are the most in a season by an Admirals' player since Tony Hrkac amassed 88 points and 61 assists during the 1996-97 campaign. Gamache's 15 power play tallies are the most by an Admiral since Peter Douris finished the 1996-97 season with 17.

FINLEY...Brian Finley has 35 victories sharing the franchise record for victories in a season, which was established by Lindsay Middlebrook during 1985-86. Finley's seven shutouts are the most in a season by a Milwaukee goaltender. He also has eleven career Admirals shutouts breaking the old record of ten, which he shared with Chris Mason. The 23-year old, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario native has made 61 starts this season just five short of the franchise record set by Danny Lorenz.

HAMHUIS...Dan Hamhuis, who is among the AHL's leading defensemen with 51 points (13g-38a), was named a Second Team AHL All-Star. He also ranks among leading blueliners with 13 goals, eight power play goals, and 38 assists. The Smithers, BC native was Nashville's first overall pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

ONLY FOUR REMAIN...The Admirals have 99 points (45-22-4-5) compared to last season's 98 points (44-22-7-3) after 76 games. On the road, the Ads had 48 points (21-11-3-3) after 38 road games last season compared to 47 points (21-11-2-3) this season. On home ice, Milwaukee is 24-10-2 this season compared to 21-13-4 after 37 home games in 2003-04. The Admirals have 21 road victories for the sixth time in franchise history. The team record for road wins in a season is 23, which was established last season.

GOIN' STREAKIN'...Scottie Upshall enters this week's action scoring in five of his last six games with seven points (3g-4a) over that span. Jordin Tootoo celebrated his return to the lineup from an injury by notching five points (2g-3a) over his last five games. Hamhuis has six points (1g-5a) over his last five games.

THE WEEK AHEAD

HOME

TUESDAY APRIL 12TH GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 7:00 P.M.

FRIDAY APRIL 15TH UTAH GRIZZLIES 7:00 P.M.

AWAY

SATURDAY APRIL 16TH CINCINNATI MIGHTY DUCKS 6:35 P.M.

SUNDAY APRIL 17TH SAN ANTONIO RAMPAGE 4:00 P.M.

****Hear all of the Admirals' games on Joy1340 (1340 am) and on the Internet at www.sportsjuice.com****

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American Hockey League Stories from April 11, 2005


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