AHL Milwaukee Admirals

Milwaukee Admirals Game Day Notes

Published on April 19, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release


Admirals vs. Texas Stars

West Division Semifinals, Game 3

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

7:30 pm at the Cedar Park Center, Cedar Park, TX

Aaron Sims broadcast on 1250 WSSP begins at 7:10

Game 1 - Milwaukee 5, Texas 2

Game 2 - Texas 3, Milwaukee 1

Game 3 - Tue., Apr. 19 - Milwaukee at Texas, 7:30

Game 4 - Wed., Apr. 20 - Milwaukee at Texas, 7:30

*Game 5 - Fri., Apr. 22 - Milwaukee at Texas, 7:30

*Game 6 - Mon., Apr. 25 - Texas at Milwaukee, 7:00

*Game 7 - Tue., Apr. 26 - Texas at Milwaukee, 7:00

OVERALL...The Admirals and Stars return to action tonight at the Cedar Park Center in Austin, TX for game three of their best-of-seven West Division Semifinals with the series tied one game apiece. Milwaukee finished the regular season with 102 points and earned the first seed, while Texas captured the fourth seed with 92 points. This is the ninth consecutive season the Ads have qualified for the post-season and the 31st time in 34 years that Milwaukee has hit the ice in the playoffs. Including Thursday's game the team's all-time playoff record stands at 94-124 and since joining the AHL in 2001 the Admirals have tallied a 48-38 mark with a 21-21 record on the road.

THE SERIES SO FAR...The teams split the two games in Milwaukee as the Ads took a 5-2 win in game one, while the Stars responded with a 3-1 victory in game 2. Gabriel Bourque finished the first game with two goals and three assists, while Chris Mueller chipped in a pair of goals and two assists as well to pace the Milwaukee offense. On Saturday night the Admirals jumped out a 1-0 lead, but Texas scored three unanswered goals to earn the win. Richard Bachman stopped 29 of 30 shots to earn the win.

ROAD WARRIORS...The series shifts to Austin for the next three games, but that might not be a bad thing for the Admirals. Milwaukee was one of the top road teams in the AHL this season, posting a 21-10-4-5 record, which was the third most points earned in the league and the fewest number of regulation losses. The Ads broke a league record by picking up at least a point in 16 consecutive road games (10-0-4-2), a streak that begin on January 15 and continued through the end of the regular season.

SCORING FIRST...Ironically, the team that has scored the first goal of each game as gone on to lose. The Stars got on the board first in game on an Aaron Gagnon tally, while Teemu Laakso opened the scoring in game two. It marked just the fifth time in 41 Calder Cup Playoff games that the Admirals lost when scoring the first goal. During the regular season Milwaukee managed a 27-3-3-4 record when scoring first, while the Stars posted a 28-7-2-2 mark.

STATS AND STUFF...All-time in game number threes the Admirals hold a 19-22 record with an 8-11 mark on the road. The Ads are 9-3 in their last 12 game 3s, including a 6-0 win over Chicago last season. When Milwaukee has won the first game in a playoff series they have gone on to win it 12 times and lost eight and when a series is tied at 1-1 the Ads are just 6-14 all-time.

MAN IN THE BOX...The Admirals and Stars finished the regular season as the two least penalized teams in the league and that held true in game one where there were just ten minutes of penalties whistled. However in game two, the team combined for 26 PIMs and 13 power-plays. The game started with three straight penalties against Texas, before the Ads committed six infractions in succession and then the Stars ended the game with four in a row. The Admirals finished the night just 1-for-7 on the power-play, while Texas was 2-for-6.

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER...Playing in his first playoff game as a professional, Gabriel Bourque tied an Admirals franchise playoff record with five points in game 1, as he had a hand in all of the team's tallies. He tied the mark established by Libor Pivko, who had a hat trick and two assists on May 7 2004 against Chicago. The Rimouski, PQ native is no stranger to playoff success, however, as he scored 19 goals in 21 games last year to lead the Moncton Wildcats to the QMJHL championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup. Bourque finished the season with 38 points and was tops among Admirals rookies and third on the team with 18 goals.

WEARING THE CROWN...With a 44-22-6-8 record and 102 points the Admirals claimed both the West Division and Western Conference regular season title. This is the second division crown in the past three years and the team's fourth in the last eight seasons, but it's the first time they finished the season with the best record in the conference since the 2003-04 season. In addition, the Admirals point total marks the fifth time in the past eight years that Milwaukee has surpassed the century mark. Earlier this month the Admirals became the first team in AHL history to post eight consecutive seasons of 40 or more wins and 90 or more points.

REGULAR SEASON VS TEXAS...While the Admirals finished first in the division and hold the home ice advantage in this opening round, it was the Stars who held the advantage during the regular season meetings between the two clubs. Milwaukee had just a 1-3-1-1 mark against Texas this season, their only opponent this season who they had a losing record against. However, five of the six games were decided by just one goal and the other was a two-goal game. The Ads struggled to find the back of the net against Texas, scoring just seven goals in the six contests and only three players (Jon Blum, Grant Lewis, and Roman Josi) finished the year with more than one point against the Stars. Sean Backman and Greg Rallo led the Stars scoring against Milwaukee as they both finished with two goals and an assist on the year.

OVER THE AIR AND ON THE WEB...For the fourth 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.

Check out the Milwaukee Admirals Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from April 19, 2011


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.

OurSports Central