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AHL Milwaukee Admirals

Grand Week For The Admirals

October 27, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release


OVERALL...The Admirals enter this week with a 2-4-0-1 record which puts them in seventh place in the AHL's West Division. Milwaukee is currently in the midst of a five day break without a game, their longest such stretch of the season. This week the Ads will play just two games, a home-and-home series against the Grand Rapids Griffins. It is the first of 12 times this season that the Admirals will battle the same opponent in consecutive games.

VS. GRAND RAPIDS...The Admirals and Griffins play a home-and-home set this Friday in Milwaukee and then Saturday night in Grand Rapids. It is the first two of eight meetings between the two rivals this season. Last year the Ads posted a 6-2 mark against the Grifs, with identical 3-1 records at the Bradley Center and the Van Andel Arena. In 90 regular season contests between the two squads, the Admirals have a 38-36-7-9 record. Former Admirals star Darren Haydar has seven points so far this year for Grand Rapids.

LAST WEEK...The Admirals recorded a 1-2 record last week, falling to Lake Erie 4-3 on Wednesday before topping Peoria 6-3 Friday night and then falling to Chicago 5-3 on Saturday. Wednesday in Cleveland, after the Ads went up 1-0 in the first period, Lake Erie scored four consecutive goals to build a 4-1 advantage that the Admirals could not overcome. Friday the Ads got goals from six different players and Mark Dekanich made 22 saves for his first professional win to help the Ads snap a four-game losing skid. Finally on Saturday night Milwaukee took a 3-2 lead on Geoff Peters second goal in as many games, but then surrendered three straight and lost to the Wolves.

POLITICAL POLLING...At Friday night's 7:00 pm game against the Griffins the Admirals will get into the political spirit with their own version of a presidential straw poll. The first 5,000 fans to the game will receive a mask with presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain on either side, courtesy of WisPolitics.com At a yet to be determined break in the game the team will have the fans put their masks on with their presidential choice indicated by the face on their mask.

QUICK STRIKES...Milwaukee right wing Andreas Thuresson picked up his first goal of the season just ten seconds into the third period Friday night against Peoria. It was the quickest goal from the start of a period for Milwaukee since Josh Langfeld scored only seven seconds into the second stanza on February 1st, 2008 vs. Chicago. The team's franchise record for fastest strike from the start of a period is five seconds, set by Brian Dobbin on November 25th, 1993 at the Fort Wayne Komets.

SPREADING THE WEALTH...In Friday night's win over Peoria six different Admirals players accounted for the team's six goals and 11 of team's 18 players found their way onto the scoresheet. It was the most players that the Ads have had collect a point in one game since 13 players did it exactly one year prior. On October 24th, 2007 Milwaukee had a baker's dozen players pick up a point in an 8-1 win over Quad City at the Bradley Center. Out of the Admirals 19 goals this year, ten of them have come from different players.

AND THE BEAT GOES ON... With his first period goal Friday night against Peoria, Antti Pihlstrom extended his goal scoring streak to four games. He is the first Admiral to accomplish that feat since Simon Gamache did it from March 20-25, 2006. So far this year Pihlstrom has five goals on the season, which ties him for seventh in the AHL. In each game that the Admirals have scored, Pihlstrom has picked up at least a point. Last year, the Vantaa, Finland native's first in North America, he posted 27 goals and 18 assists in 78 games. Pihlstrom's streak ended at four, however, as he was unable to find the back of the net Saturday night against Chicago.

SPECIAL TEAMS...After failing to score a goal in their first 18 power-play opportunities of the season, the Admirals PP has been strong as of late converting on nine of their last 21 chances, a 42.9 % conversion rate. Milwaukee is currently fifth in the league on the man-advantage at 23.1 percent. The Ads penalty kill has also been solid thus far, killing off 39 of 46 penalties, an 84.8 success rate.

ALUMNI WATCH... Former Admirals defenseman and captain Greg Zanon scored a goal for Nashville in their 5-3 loss to Calgary on Thursday night. It was his first goal since March 31, 2007, a streak of 87 consecutive scoreless games. The Burnaby, BC native has 17 points (4g-13a) in 155 career NHL contests, all with the Predators. Zanon played parts of four seasons in Milwaukee and was the captain of the 2005-06 squad that made it to the Calder Cup Finals.

PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF II... Admirals center Cal O'Reilly has continued the point-a-game pace that he has scored at in two previous seasons in Milwaukee. O'Reilly has eight points (3g-5a) in the Ads first seven games, and is currently riding a five-game point streak. Last year the Toronto, ON native was fifth in the AHL with 79 points, while playing in all 80 regular season games. In his Admirals career, O'Reilly has posted 152 points (37g-115a) in 165 games.

THE FIRST TIME... Highly touted prospect Nick Spaling picked up his first professional goal on Saturday night against Chicago and finished the week with five points in three games. After being held scoreless in his first three games, he now has six points in his last four contests, placing him third on the Ads roster in points. Spaling, who was a second round pick by the Predators in the 2007 draft, is the highest drafted player on the Admirals roster. Last season the Palmerston, ON native recorded 72 points on 38 goals and 34 assists in 56 regular season games for the Kitchener Rangers. Spaling then posted 30 points (14g-16a) in the post-season, while helping Kitchener capture the 2008 OHL Championship and reach the Memorial Cup Finals.

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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