AHL Milwaukee Admirals

Milwaukee Admirals Game Day

Published on April 16, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release


Admirals vs. Texas Stars

West Division Semifinals, Game 2

Saturday, April 16, 2011

7:00 pm at the Bradley Center

Aaron Sims broadcast on 1250 WSSP begins at 6:40

Game 1 - Milwaukee 5, Texas 2

Game 2 - Sat., Apr. 16 - Texas at Milwaukee, 7:00

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 ‚¬Â¦

The Admirals and Stars are back at it tonight for game two of the West Division Semifinals. The Ads lead the best-of-seven series 1-0 after a 5-2 win on Thursday night in game one. 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 48-37 mark with a 27-17 record at the Bradley Center.

REGULAR SEASON VS TEXAS ‚¬Â¦

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.

THE SERIES SO FAR ‚¬Â¦

The Admirals drew first blood with a 5-2 win in game one of the series Thursday night. Gabriel Bourque finished the night 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, who managed just seven goals in six games against Texas during the regular season. Jeremy Smith stopped 22 of 24 shots in his first playoff start to earn the victory.

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER ‚¬Â¦

Playing in his first playoff game as a professional, Gabriel Bourque tied an Admirals franchise playoff record with five points Thursday night, 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.

NOT SO BAD YOURSELF ‚¬Â¦

While partial overshadowed by Bourque's five-point performance, Chris Mueller recorded a pretty impressive start to his post-season finishing the night with four points on two goals and two assists. The four-points is a new career high for the regular season or the playoffs. The Buffalo, NY native finished the season as the Admirals leading scorer with 50 points on 24 goals and 26 assists in spite of missing 13 games because of recall to Nashville.

ITS YOUR THANG ‚¬Â¦

Admirals forward Ryan Thang scored the game-winning goal in game one against the Stars, the third consecutive game that he has lit the lamp. The University of Notre Dame alum finished his rookie campaign as the team's third leading scorer with 41 points (14g-27a) and was tops on the squad with a +17 rating. He scored the game-winning goal last Saturday night against Peoria to help clinch the West Division regular season crown and in his final 15 games of the season Thang totaled 11 points and was an impressive +9.

BREAKING THE TREND ‚¬Â¦

Thursday night's game one victory for the Admirals was unusual in at least one sense: the Ads won after allowing the first goal. Since joining the AHL Milwaukee has won just 12 of 45 playoff games in which they have allowed the opponent to score first and all time their record stands at 31-87 in the post-season. However, those who followed the team during the regular season shouldn't be too surprised, as the Admirals were 15-19-3-4 when fell behind 1-0.

GAME TWOS ‚¬Â¦

Milwaukee

enters the second game of the series tonight with an all-time record of just 14-27 in game twos, including a 9-10 mark at the Bradley Center. Since joining the American Hockey League the Admirals have notched an 11-10 game two record, including a 3-0 loss to Chicago last season in the first round.

WEARING THE CROWN ‚¬Â¦

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 and tonight they will be presented with the Chick Trophy and Bud Poile Trophy for winning the division and conference crown, respectively.

OVER THE AIR AND ON THE WEB ‚¬Â¦

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

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American Hockey League Stories from April 16, 2011


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