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Admirals, Predators Ink New Deal

April 16, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


Nashville Predators Executive Vice President/General Manager David Poile and Milwaukee Admirals Executive Vice President/General Manager Phil Wittliff have jointly announced today that the American Hockey League's Admirals will continue to serve as the Predators top developmental affiliate through the 2003-2004 season. Per conditions of the agreement, the Admirals will continue to receive the majority of their players from the Predators.

"The Admirals and their fans benefit from the Predators commitment to developing a winning atmosphere with young players acquired primarily through the draft," said Wittliff. "We enjoy a great relationship with David Poile and his staff and are delighted to continue this mutually beneficial relationship for at least another two years."

The Admirals are 147-132-10-40 (.521) through the first four years of their affiliation with the Predators and have qualified for postseason play in three of those four seasons.

"The Admirals have a proud and storied tradition in Milwaukee," added Poile. "Another major goal of this extension is to produce a Calder Cup contender that the fans of Milwaukee can be proud of."

Many of the current Predators such as Denis Arkhipov, Tomas Vokoun, Kimo Timonen, and Vitali Yachmenev have spent significant time in Admiral uniforms over the past four seasons. This season alone 16 players including Bubba Berenzweig, Greg Classen, Steve Dubinsky, Nathan Perrott, Petr Tenkrat and Reid Simpson skated for both the Admirals and Predators.

"The success of our affiliation with Milwaukee can be seen in the number of Predators who developed with the Admirals," said Poile. "Our players are treated in a first-class manner and play in a first-class facility. Those factors, combined with the stable direction of General Manager Phil Wittliff and his staff, insure that our player development is an integral component of the Milwaukee operation."

Racine, Wis., resident Craig Leipold owns the Nashville Predators. Leipold has been active in many local civic and corporate groups including the Wisconsin Sports Authority, where he was a past chairman. Leipold is a current director of the Wustum Museum and Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer. He was instrumental in the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Stadium Board as the vice chairman. He is also the former director of the Racine Area United Way and past president of the Taylor Children's Home.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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