Milwaukee Admirals

The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

History
The Admirals first took to the ice in the winter of 1970 as an amateur club known as the Milwaukee Wings. They lost their first game on January 25 when the Madison All-Stars beat them 17–7. They got their first win five days later when they defeated the Milwaukee Winter Club 10–8.

The next year the team was sold by the original owner Reed Fansher to a group of investors. One of the investors, Erwin J. Merar, owned an appliance store. The team was renamed the "Admirals" after a brand of refrigerators sold in Merar's store.

Beginning with the 1973-74 season the Admirals joined the newly formed United States Hockey League. Their first season in a league was not particularly successful as they ended the season in last place in their division. They won only 11 games, lost 35 games, and tied 2 games that season.

The Admirals won the USHL league championship in 1976, winning seven straight games in the league's playoffs. In the off-season, the team was purchased by former Chicago Blackhawks announcer Lloyd Pettit and his wife, Jane Bradley-Pettit.

For the 1977-78 season the Admirals joined the International Hockey League as the USHL was becoming a strictly amateur league. The Admirals appeared in the IHL's Turner Cup finals only once (1983), where they lost to Toledo in six games.

They stayed a part of the IHL until it joined the American Hockey League for the 2001-02 season when the IHL ceased operations. Five other IHL franchises also joined the AHL that season.

They won their first Calder Cup in 2004 when they defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Prior to the Finals, Milwaukee needed seven games to defeat the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in the first round. Then the Admirals defeated the Chicago Wolves in six games to advance to the Conference Finals. The Admirals then eliminated the Rochester Americans four games to one. Milwaukee then swept the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to win the Calder Cup. The Admirals completed a rare postseason run in which they needed one fewer game to eliminate their opponents in each subsequent series.

The Admirals were purchased in June 2005 by a group of investors, led by Harris J. Turer, including Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, assistant general manager Gord Ash and pitcher Ben Sheets. The Brewers subsequently became the sole uniform sponsor of the Admirals, and the Admirals wear a Brewers logo patch on their sweaters.

The Admirals won their second division title as a member of the American Hockey League in 2006, clinching the title on the last day of their schedule with a win over the Grand Rapids Griffins.

After narrowly winning a seven-game playoff series over the Iowa Stars, Milwaukee swept both the Houston Aeros and Grand Rapids Griffins to advance to their second Calder Cup final series. To their disappointment, the Admirals would lose 4–2 to the Hershey Bears.

On August 1, 2006, the Admirals unveiled their newest logo to the public at the Henry Maier Festival Park (also known as the Summerfest grounds). The logo came with a radical color change for the team, away from red and blue hues to one of black, white and light blue. They also unveiled their new slogan, "Never Say Die".

NHL affiliation
The Admirals have been the top-level affiliate of the Nashville Predators since that team's founding in 1998. On February 22, 2010, the clubs signed a new agreement that extended that relationship through the 2011–12 season with a mutual option for 2012–13.
 * "I like to say that for our players, the road to Nashville runs through Milwaukee and a look at our roster illustrates this. (T)his is the kind of environment that we want our prospects to develop in."

Coincidentally but unrelated, the two cities' baseball franchises shared a reverse affiliation, as the Nashville Sounds were the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers from 2005 to 2014.

During the 2006–2007 season, the Admirals were also part of an unusual affiliation agreement with the Edmonton Oilers, who used five partial affiliates in the AHL for the 2006–07 season. These five affiliates included the Milwaukee Admirals, the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Iowa Stars, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and the Hamilton Bulldogs. This arrangement lasted one season, as the Oilers announced a three-year affiliation with the Springfield Falcons on March 19, 2007. The Oilers are now affiliated with the Bakersfield Condors.

Retired numbers

 * 9 Phil Wittliff, C, 1973–77
 * 14 Mike McNeill, C, 1992–98 and Fred Berry, C, 1980–84, 85–87
 * 26 Tony Hrkac, C, 1994–97, 2003-05
 * 27 Danny Lecours, LW, 1975–84, 85–87
 * 44 Gino Cavallini, C, 1993–96 and Kevin Willison, D, 1981–84, 85–86

Notable alumni

 * Fred Berry, Gino Cavallini, Don Gibson, Chuck Kennedy, Tony Hrkac, Danny Lecours, Mike Mallinger, Yves Preston, Ken Sabourin, Bruce Saulnier, Rich Sirois, Phil Wittliff, Dale Yakiwchuk, Pete Peeters, Shawn Antoski, Buzz Schneider, Marc Crawford, Bob Mason, Gino Odjick, Darren Pang, Ronnie Stern

Season-by-season results

 * Milwaukee Wings 1970 Independent team
 * Milwaukee Admirals 1970–1973 Independent team
 * Milwaukee Admirals 1973–1977 (United States Hockey League)
 * Milwaukee Admirals 1977–2001 (International Hockey League)
 * Milwaukee Admirals 2001–present (American Hockey League)

@ - The Admirals, already down 3 games to none, refused to take the ice in the closing minutes of game 4 due to the severity of the violent style of play employed by the Gears, forfeiting the game (and the series). They were fined $15,000 by the IHL for doing so. Many credit this decision with bringing increased scrutiny, and subsequent control, over in-game violence not just in-league but throughout the sport globally. In any case, the game4/series record is technically "loss by forfeit".

Team records

 * Single season
 * Goals: 75 🇨🇦 Danny Lecours (1982–83)
 * Assists: 100 🇨🇦 Dale Yakiwchuk (1982–83)
 * Points: 138 Dale Yakiwchuk (1982–83)
 * Penalty Minutes: 381 🇨🇦 Don Gibson (1992–93)
 * GAA: 2.09 🇨🇦 Mark Dekanich (2008–09)
 * SV%: .923 Mark Dekanich (2008–09)

Career
 * Career Goals: 444 Danny Lecours
 * Career Assists: 379 🇨🇦 Fred Berry
 * Career Points: 813 Danny Lecours
 * Career Penalty Minutes: 1233 🇨🇦 Ken Sabourin
 * Career Goaltending Wins: 119 🇨🇦 Rich Sirois
 * Career Shutouts: 11 🇨🇦 Brian Finley
 * Career Games: 641 Danny Lecours

Current roster
As of April 17, 2010.


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