AHL Milwaukee Admirals

Admirals Finish With Light Week

April 6, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release


OVERALL...The Admirals enter this week's action with a 47-22-3-6 record and 103 points and have secured the West Division Title. Milwaukee will face-off against the fourth-place team in the division in the first round of the playoffs. Currently Rockford and Houston are tied for fourth place with 84 points. However if the season ended today the Admirals would face Houston, as Rockford holds the tie-breaker (total wins) over the Aeros. The Admirals have a light week on the schedule front as they will play just two games. Milwaukee will travel to Peoria on Wednesday night and then complete their 80-game schedule with a home game against Chicago at 7:00 pm on Friday evening.

VS. PEORIA...The Admirals travel to Peoria Wednesday night to battle the Rivermen. It is the eighth meeting of the season between the two clubs and the fourth at Carver Arena. The Admirals have notched a 5-2 record against Peoria this season, including a 5-4 win on February 8th in Milwaukee the last time they met. Peoria won the first contest of the season between the two clubs, a 4-1 decision on October 17th, and then the Ads took home a 6-3 win on October 24th at the BC, a 4-1 win on November 26th in Milwaukee, a 3-1 win in Peoria on New Year's Eve, and a 2-0 victory on January 3rd at the Bradley Center. The teams have split the last two meetings with the Admirals winning 5-4 on February 8th in Milwaukee and the Rivermen taking a 4-3 win on March 27th in Peoria. Since the Rivermen joined the AHL in 2005-06, Milwaukee has a 22-7-2-2 mark against them.

VS. CHICAGO...The Admirals host Chicago Friday night at the Bradley Center in the regular season finale for Milwaukee. The Ads have compiled a 5-2-0-2 mark this season against their I-94 rivals, including a 3-2 win last Sunday at the Bradley Center. In the first game this year, the Wolves took a 5-3 decision on October 25th at the Bradley Center, before the Admirals got revenge with a 5-3 win at the All-State Arena on December 27th and a 5-4 win on January 31st in Milwaukee. Chicago then won the next two: a 3-2 shoot-out win on February 13th in Milwaukee and a 2-1 win on February 7th at the All-State. The teams have alternated win in the last three meetings with the Admirals winning 1-0 on February 20th, the Wolves taking a 5-4 shoot-out win on March 15th, and the Ads took a 5-2 decision on Sunday March 30th in Chicago The Admirals have compiled an 80-51-1-19 record in 151 lifetime meetings with Chicago. Out of those 151 contests, 112 of them, including all eight of nine this season, have been decided by one or two goals.

THE CENTURY MARK...The Admirals win over Rockford Saturday night put them over the 100-point plateau for the eighth time in franchise history and the first since the 2005-06 campaign. This is also the fourth time they have eclipsed the century mark since joining the AHL in 2001. The team record for most points in a season is 113, set in the 1988-89 season when the Ads posted a 54-23-5 record. Earlier this year the Admirals became the first franchise in American Hockey League history to record six consecutives seasons of 40 or more wins and 90 or more points. The Admirals still have three games to play in the regular season and are chasing the Manitoba Moose (104 points) for the best record in the Western Conference.

WELCOME BACK...Nashville has reassigned forward Mike Santorelli to the Admirals. In his second recall of the season, the Vancouver, BC native played in one contest and did not record a point. Santorelli has on fire for the Ads during March, posting 22 points (11g-11a) and a +6 rating, including his first career hat trick last Sunday against the Wolves. In eight of the team's 15 games, he posted multi-point games, registered at least a point in all but three contests, and scored the game-winning goal in four games. On the season Santorelli leads the Admirals with 70 points, 27 goals, and five game-winning markers.

TAYLOR TIME...Milwaukee newcomer Justin Taylor lit the lamp twice Saturday night in the Ads win over Rockford, scoring the game's first goal and also the contest's final marker. The Edmonton, AB native signed a PTO with the Admirals last Monday and has skated with both Houston and Chicago in the AHL this year. He has played most of the season with the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL, scoring 30 points (13g-17a) in 36 contests.

ALL-STAR CALIBER...Admirals defenseman Cody Franson and goaltender Drew MacIntyre were both selected as AHL Second Team All-Stars. Franson leads Milwaukee defenseman and is third in among AHL rearguards with 52 points on 11 goals and 41 assists in 74 games with the Ads. He has not gone more than five games this season without a point and in the month of March he posted 14 points (2g-12a) in 15 games. Just the fourth goaltender in Admirals history to record 30 wins in one season, MacIntyre has posted a 32-14-4 record to go along with a 2.36 goals against average, a .918 save percentage, and four shutouts in 53 games. He has established career highs in wins, games played, and shutouts and posted six consecutive wins from December 26th to January 13th. During January the Charlottetown, PEI native notched an 8-3 record with a miniscule 2.02 goals against average and a .932 save percentage and a pair of shutouts.

IRON MAN...With just two games left to play this year, left wing Kelsey Wilson is the lone Admirals player to have skated in all 78 of the team's games. Currently in his third season with Milwaukee, Wilson has established career highs in goals (15), assists (17), and points (32), scored the first game-winning goal of his career, and he leads the club with 151 penalty minutes. Last season, the Ads had four players, Cal O'Reilly, Janne Niskala, Alex Henry and Mike Santorelli, who played in all 80 games.

WHO'S TIRED...The Admirals win over Chicago gave the team a perfect 8-0 record in the third contest when the team plays three games in three nights. It was just the second time in franchise history that the team has gone undefeated in one of the three games over the course of the season. The only other time was back in the 2003-04 campaign when the Admirals were a perfect 4-0 in the first game of three-in-three sets. In eight three-in-three this year the Admirals posted a 14-7-1-2 record in three-in-threes, including a 3-4-0-1 mark in the first game, a 3-3-1-1 record in the second, and the perfect 8-0 mark in the final contest.

A HEROES WELCOME...This weekend the Admirals wore special hero jerseys this past weekend that featured Milwaukee Police and Milwaukee Fire Department insignia. The jerseys were auctioned off via a silent auction on Sunday and over $20,000 was raised for the Admirals Power Play Foundation.

OVER THE AIR AND ON THE WEB...For the second consecutive season Sportsradio 1250 WSSP will serve as the Admirals flagship station with Aaron Sims calling 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 Monday from 6-7 pm on WSSP. Fans can watch all Admirals games, home and on the road, live on the internet via NeuLion. Simply go the Admirals website at milwaukeeadmirals.com and click on the AHL Live banner.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 6, 2009


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