AHL Milwaukee Admirals

Admirals Get Busy In February

February 4, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release


OVERALL...The Admirals enter this week's action with a 25-18-2-2 record and 54 points, good for fifth-place in the West Division. The Admirals have picked up points in nine of their last 11 games and are 6-2-1-1 in their last ten. The Admirals play Manchester tonight in the first of five contests during the week for Milwaukee, three of which are on the road. Following this evening's game the Ads will play in Providence on Wednesday, before taking on Manitoba at the Bradley Center on Friday, traveling to Chicago on Saturday night, and finally hosting Peoria on Sunday.

VS. MANCHESTER...The Admirals and Monarchs battle tonight for the second time this season, and the first ever at the Verizon Wireless Arena. The Monarchs topped the Ads 1-0 on January 18th at the Bradley Center in the teams' first encounter. Manchester defenseman Joe Piskula is a native of Antigo, WI and played three seasons for the University of Wisconsin and was a member of the Badgers 2006 NCAA Championship team, as was fellow Monarch blueliner Jeff Likens.

VS. PROVIDENCE...The Admirals make their first trip to Providence for the first time since the 2001-02 season, the Ads first in the American Hockey League. That year Milwaukee beat the Bruins 4-1 in Providence and the two teams tied 1-1 in their only meeting at the Bradley Center. Boston's farm club will make a trip out to Milwaukee on February 29th.

VS. MANITOBA...The Admirals and Moose hit the ice for the fourth and final time this season on Friday night at the Bradley Center. Manitoba has captured two of the first three games this year, downing the Admirals 6-3 last November 2nd at the Bradley Center and winning 4-3 at the MTS Centre on November 10th. The Admirals got their lone win against the Moose with a 2-1 victory on November 9th in Manitoba. All-time versus the Manitoba/Minnesota Moose the Admirals have a 47-27-1-1 record, including a 22-7-1 mark in one-goal decisions.

VS. CHICAGO...The Admirals and Wolves renew their rivalry for the eighth time this season and the fourth at the All-State Arena. So far this year Milwaukee is 3-3-1 against their neighbors to the south, including wins in each of previous two outings. 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. The Wolves then won the next three contests between the two clubs before the Ads grabbed a 4-0 win January 16th and a 5-4 victory last Friday. In 139 all-time regular season contests the Ads have a 74-48-1-16 record including a 34-23-1-9 mark at the Bradley Center.

VS. PEORIA...Milwaukee and Peoria square off for Sunday afternoon for the sixth time this season and the second at the Bradley Center. The Rivermen won the first two games against the Ads, posting a 4-2 win on opening night and a 3-2 victory January 4th before Milwaukee got a 5-4 win on January 20th. The two clubs have split the last two games with the Rivermen winning 4-3 on January 26th and the Ads taking a 7-3 decision on February 2nd. While this is just the third season for Peoria in the American League, the Ads and Rivermen/Prancers have a rivalry that dates back to their days in the International Hockey League where the two teams battled 163 times with the Ads posting an 82-69-3-9 mark in those games.

LAST WEEK...The Admirals won both of their games last week, topping Chicago 5-4 on Friday night and beating Peoria 7-3 on Saturday. In a back-and-forth game against the Wolves, Cal O'Reilly put Milwaukee up for good when he scored his ninth goal of the season at 14:15 mark of the third. The Wolves spent the last two minutes of the game with an extra attacker, but couldn't even it up. Then on Saturday night the Admirals scored six consecutive goals, including four in the second period, and rolled to their first win in Peoria of the season.

GETTING BUSY...Hopefully the Admirals players got some rest over the All-Star Break as the team now faces the busiest month of the season. In 29 days during February the team will play 16 games, with an even eight coming on the road and eight at the Bradley Center. The team will spend every Saturday night on the road and they will make their first ever trip to New Hampshire when they battle Manchester this evening. After playing Peoria and Rockford just once in the first three months of the season, Milwaukee will battle those two teams a combined seven times.

GOING STREAKING...Admirals forward Cal O'Reilly has picked up at least an assist in six consecutive games, matching the team's longest assist and point streak this season. Since being held scoreless against the Monarchs on January 18th, the Toronto, ON native has 13 points (2g-11a), including three-point performances in each of the last two contests. He has certainly made his goals count as well as both of his red lighters during this steak have been of the game-winning variety.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS...The Admirals have been embroiled in some tight affairs this season as 35 of the team's 47 games has been decided by just one or two goals. Milwaukee has recorded a 12-7-2-2 mark in 23 one-goal decisions, while posting a 7-5 record when the game has been decided by two goals. Last season the Ads set a team record by playing in 63 one- and two-goal games.

ALL-STAR PERFORMANCE...Admirals goaltender Pekka Rinne was the Admirals lone participant in the AHL All-Star Game. The Kempele, Finland native represented the team well, earning Rbk XPulse Top Goaltender award during Sunday's Skills Competition by stopping 16 of the 19 Canadian shots (and two gloves from Rockford forward Martin St. Pierre) that he faced in three different competitions: the CCM U+ Rapid Fire contest, the Rbk 9K Pump Skate Pass and Score, and the Toyota Breakaway Relay. During the actual game itself, Rinne turned aside nine shots, but his PlanetUSA squad fell 9-8 in a shoot-out.

PLAYOFF PEEK...There are still over two months to play in the regular season, but it is never too early to take a peek at how the post-season is shaping up. The Admirals are currently in fifth place with 54 points in the AHL's West Division and the top four teams will qualify for the post-season. Milwaukee currently trails Rockford (68 points), Chicago (65), Peoria (64), and San Antonio (61). Because of the AHL's cross-over rule, the Ads would make the playoffs if they finish in fifth place, but have more points than the fourth place team in the North Division.

ALUMNI WATCH...The Nashville Predators announced last Thursday that they had signed former Admiral Jordin Tootoo to a two-year contract extension that will keep him in a Preds uniform through the 09-10 season. The first play of Inuit decent to play in the NHL, Tootoo has 40 points (18g-22a) and 365 penalty minutes in 210 NHL contests. He played parts of two seasons for the Admirals and helped to them reach the 2006 Calder Cup Finals.

OVER THE AIR AND ON THE WEB...The Admirals have a new home for their radio broadcasts this season on Sports Radio 1250 WSSP 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 B2 Networks. Simply go the Admirals website at milwaukeeadmirals.com and click on the B2 logo.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2008


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