AHL Milwaukee Admirals

Admirals Hit The Road Again

March 9, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release


OVERALL...The Admirals enter tonight's action with a 40-16-3-4 record and 87 points, which puts them in first place in the West Division. The Ads lead a log-jam of team in second through fifth place in the division. Houston is currently in second with 71 points, followed closely by Rockford (70), Chicago (69), and Peoria (68). The Admirals have picked up at least a point in four-straight games and are 6-3-0-1 in their last ten contests. Milwaukee has just three games this week, but all of them are on the road as the team continues a five-game road trip. The Ads will start the week in Rockford on Wednesday, before traveling to Chicago on Saturday and Grand Rapids on Sunday.

VS. ROCKFORD...The Admirals and IceHogs do battle on Wednesday night for the eighth time this season and the third match-up at the Metro Centre. So far this year the Ads are 4-2-0-1 against the Hogs, including a 4-1 loss the last time the two teams met on February 19th at the Bradley Center. The IceHogs won the first match-up this season with a 4-3 shoot-out win on October 18th in Milwaukee, then the Admirals posted a 2-1 shoot-out win in Rockford on November 12th before the Hogs took a 5-2 win at the BC on November 15th. The Ads won 4-2 on December 12th in Milwaukee, took a 4-2 win in Rockford on January 24th, and won 4-1 on February 6th at the BC.

VS. CHICAGO...The Admirals travel to Chicago on Saturday night, the seventh game of the season between the two clubs and fourth at the All-State Arena. The Ads are 3-2-0-1 this season against Chicago, including a 1-0 win the last time the two rivals squared off on February 20th at the All-State Arena. In the first game this year between the two rivals, 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 Admirals have compiled a 78-51-1-18 record in 148 lifetime meetings with Chicago. Out of those 148 contests, 110 of them, including all six this season, have been decided by one or two goals.

VS. GRAND RAPIDS...The Admirals and Griffins do battle on Sunday for the eighth and final time this year. Milwaukee has compiled a 5-2 record against the Grifs so far this season, including a 4-3 win the last time the team's met on February 10th in Milwaukee. Milwaukee won the first four games this season against the Griffins, sweeping a home-and-home set October 31st and November 1st and then winning 5-4 on November 16th and 3-2 on November 18th, before Grand Rapids won two in a row in two straight days: 6-3 win on December 19th and a 2-0 victory the next night, both at the Van Andel Arena. In 97 regular season games between the two squads, the Ads have a 43-38-7-9 record.

LAST WEEK...The Admirals went 2-0-0-1 last week completing a sweep of the Iowa Chops at the Bradley Center on Thursday and Friday night before falling in a shoot-out on Sunday in Quad City. Thursday Iowa went up 1-0 and 2-1, but each time the Ads answered with a power-play tally to tie the score. Scott Ford gave Milwaukee a lead they wouldn't relinquish on his third tally of the season with just nine seconds left in the first. Six different Admirals lit the lamp, while Andreas Thuresson, Kelsey Wilson, and Hugh Jessiman each notched a goal and an assist. Then on Friday the Admirals scored a pair of power-play tallies in the first 7:15 of the game and never looked back. Mike Santorelli scored a pair of goals, while Drew MacIntyre recorded his fourth shutout of the season by stopping all 27 shots thrown his way. Yesterday, the Ads dropped a 4-3 decision in a marathon 15-round shoot-out to the Quad City Flames. The Ads trailed 3-1, but goals by Nolan Yonkman and Patric Hornqvist helped the team tie the score before eventually losing in the shoot-out.

SEVEN HEAVEN...Admirals forward Patric Hornqvist extended his goal scoring streak to an Admirals AHL record seven games when he tied the score at three in the third period Sunday afternoon at Quad City. The Sollentuna, Sweden's goal scoring stretch is the longest current streak in the league and the second longest in the AHL this season. So far in his rookie campaign, Hornqvist has posted 31 points (16-g-15a) in 44 games for the Ads, and notched two goals and five assists in 20 games with Nashville.

MARATHON SHOOT-OUT...The Admirals lost to Quad City in a 15-round shoot-out on Sunday in Quad City, which was four rounds longer than their previous longest shoot-out since joining the AHL. The 15 rounds meant that each shooter for both teams had three attempts. Mike Santorelli, Robert Dietrich, and James Sixsmith each went 1-for-3, while Nick Spaling and Patric Hornqvist were 0-for-3. Milwaukee netminder Mark Dekinich stopped 11 of Quad City's 15 tries, and made eight saves when the game was on the line. Long as yesterday's shoot-out was, it fell far short of the franchise record set on March 9th, 1991 when the Ads and Peoria Rivermen needed 21 rounds to decide a winner.

SLUMP BUSTER...The ten goals that the Admirals have notched in their two games against Iowa last week snapped a scoring drought that had seen the team post just 16 goals in their previous nine contests. The Admirals failed to score more than three goals in any of those games and managed just one red-lighter in four of those contests. In addition, the two power-play goals the team has recorded in the last two contests marked the first time since February 6th, a span of 13 games, that the Ads have struck twice on the man-advantage during a game.

MAKING THEM COUNT...Admirals defenseman Scott Ford has scored just three goals this season, but two of them have been of the game-winning variety, including last night's marker that put the Ads up 3-2 with nine seconds left in the first. Ford's other GWG came on January 3rd, when he scored on a breakaway to snap a scoreless game and help Milwaukee to a 2-0 win over Peoria.

WELCOME BACK...The Admirals got significant contributions in their last week from Cal O'Reilly and Alexander Sulzer, each of whom was reassigned to Milwaukee by Nashville on Wednesday night. Sulzer posted four points on the week, including a pair of assists on Friday against Iowa, while O'Reilly chipped in three helpers on Thursday and followed that up with assists on Friday and Sunday. Sulzer has now compiled 35 points in 46 games with the Admirals, while O'Reilly leads the team with 62 points.

HIT THE ROAD JACK...Sunday's game marked the start of a five-game road trip for the Admirals, their third five-gamer of the season. The swing continues with games in Rockford, Chicago, Grand Rapids, and Lake Erie. The Ads don't return to the Bradley Center until Friday, March 20th against Lake Erie. So far this season Milwaukee has posted a 17-10-2-1 record away from the BC, including a 7-2-1 mark in their other two five-game swings combined.

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 March 9, 2009


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