AHL Milwaukee Admirals

Admirals Weekly

October 25, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release


THIS WEEK'S GAMES...

@UTAH & vs. UTAH: The Ads are 33-33-2-5 lifetime vs. the Grizzlies, including 14-15-1-3 in Salt Lake City and 13-10-1-3 at the E Center. Milwaukee won the season series in 2003-04 with a 7-3 mark, including 3-2 in Salt Lake City. The Admirals are 2-0 in the last two, 4-2 in the last six and 7-3 in the last 10 games played in Utah. Overall, Milwaukee has won two straight, five of the last six, and 15-4-1-2 in the last 22 games against the Grizzlies. At the Bradley Center, the Ads are 5-1-1 in the last seven and 8-1-1-2 in the last 12 contests. VS. SAN ANTONIO: The Admirals were 8-2 vs. the Rampage in 2003-04, including 3-2 at the Bradley Center outscoring San Antonio 16-10. Milwaukee is 13-5-2 in 20 lifetime encounters, including 7-2-1 at the BC. Milwaukee was the first opponent ever for the Rampage when the two teams met on opening night in the 2002-03 season.

LAST WEEK'S ACTION...Chicago's Travis Roche tied the game with just 2 seconds left and supplied the game winner 1:47 into the extra frame giving the Wolves a 3-2 overtime victory over the Milwaukee Admirals at the Allstate Arena. Darren Haydar and Dan Hamhuis scored for the Admirals, Simon Gamache dished off a pair of assists and Brian Finley stopped 25 of 28 shots. On Wednesday night, Timofei Shishkanov provided the game winner in overtime as Milwaukee staged a 4-3 come from behind victory over the Cleveland Barons at the Gund Arena. The Admirals fell behind 3-0 at the 10:42 mark of the second period, but Brandon Segal scored his first of two goals just 42 seconds later to put the Ads on the board. Segal's second goal with 33 seconds left sent the game into overtime. Dan Hamhuis added two assists and Seamus Kotyk stopped 24 of 27 shots for his first victory of the season.

LEADERS AT A GLANCE... Smith leads the Admirals with six points and four assists. Shishkanov tops Milwaukee goal scorers with three and Simon Gamache shares the assist lead with four. Smith, Shishkanov and Simon Gamache have all scored at least one point in three of the first four games. Vernon Fiddler leads the Admirals in plus/minus rating with a +5. Finley enters this week's action with a 2.93 goals against mark, a .905 save percentage and a 2-1 record in three games.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE...Prior to Wednesday's 4-3 triumph over Cleveland, the Ads hadn't posted a victory when trailing after two periods since January 18, 2003. That evening they rebounded from a 2-1 second period deficit to top the Grizzlies 3-2 in Utah. Last season, the Admirals were 0-17-3-1 when trailing after two periods of play.

CARDIAC KIDS...If the first four games are any indication Admirals fans shouldn't be heading for the doors until the final horn sounds. The last three games have all been thrillers filled with final minute heroics. On October 16th, it was Rochester's Jason Botterill scoring with 18 seconds remaining, but Shishkanov notched the game winner 2:21 into overtime. On Wednesday evening, Brandon Segal scored with 33 seconds left capping a thrilling comeback to tie the game at Cleveland before Shishkanov scored the game winner again, this time 29 seconds into overtime. On Saturday night, confident but foolish Admirals fans were heading for the Tollway when Travis Roche netted the equalizer with just two ticks left on the Allstate Arena clock. Roche then provided the game winner just 1:47 later. The Admirals were 2-3-7 during the regular season in overtime games last season and went on to win six straight and were 6-1 overall during the 2003-04 Calder Cup playoffs.

PENALTY KILLERS...The Admirals penalty killing units have been efficient through the first four games, successfully killing 26 of 27 opponents' chances for a 96.3% penalty killing ratio. The Hershey Bears lead the AHL with a perfect 100% (15 of 15).

LEADER OF THE PACK...Head Coach Claude Noel returns for his second season behind the Admirals' bench. The Kirkland, ONT native was selected as the AHL Coach of the Year last season after leading the Ads to a league best 43 wins and 102 points. The honor was the second consecutive year that Noel received his league's Coach of the Year award. In 02-03, he was the ECHL winner with Toledo. Assistant Coach Todd Richards returns for his third season with the team after serving as an assistant under Peter Horachek in 02-03.

MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME...Making his first appearance of the season, Admirals right wing Brandon Segal lit the lamp two times at Cleveland on Wednesday night. His first tally got Milwaukee on the board and his second mark, with just 33 seconds to go, tied the game at three and helped to force overtime. A native of North Delta, BC, Segal posted 11 goals and 10 assists in 44 games during his rookie campaign last season.

OVER THE AIR AND ON THE WEB...All Admirals' games home and away can be heard live on Joy1340 and SportsJuice.com. Web listeners can listen to the games from anywhere in the world through a link on the Admirals website (www.milwaukeeadmirals.com ). Kyle Schultz will call all the exciting action.

THE WEEK AHEAD

HOME

Saturday October 30th vs. Utah Grizzlies 7:30 p.m.

Monday November 1st vs. San Antonio Rampage 7:00 p.m.

AWAY

Friday October 29th @Utah Grizzlies 8:05 p.m.

****Hear all of the Admirals' games on Joy1340 (1340 am) and on the Internet at www.sportsjuice.com**** OVERALL... The Admirals (3-0-1-0) enter this week's action one point behind both the Grand Rapids Griffins (4-0) and Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (4-1) in the American Hockey League's West Division.




American Hockey League Stories from October 25, 2004


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