Milwaukeehockey.com

Rewriting history

January 30, 2008

I received an interesting email this week. Someone noticed that the Wikipedia entry on the Dayton Gems stated that the Gems became the Admirals after the 1976-77 season. That reference has since been removed, but I was asked if I could clarify if there was any substance to that statement.

My first reaction was "no way". The Admirals were formed in January 1970. The Pettit's bought the team in 1976. Just another Wikipedia mistake. But then a possible scenario hit me...

1977-78 was the first season for the Admirals in the International Hockey League. They stepped up from a lower-tiered United States Hockey League. The Gems stopped playing after the 1976-77 season.

Is it possible that the Admirals had to buy their way into the IHL in 1977? Perhaps they purchased a dormant franchise license from the Gems to gain entrance to the IHL. It's the only possibility that gives some bit of truth to the since removed Wikipedia entry.

It's not an unheard of situation. Just look at the Rockford IceHogs. They purchased the dormant Cincinnati Ducks franchise in order to join the American Hockey League. History books will show that the IceHogs have been around since 1999, but it will also be mentioned that the Cincinnati Ducks "became" the IceHogs in 2007.

I dug out a few 1977-78 programs that I own to see if I could prove or disprove this theory. Nope. Some interesting reading, but nothing that helped to answer my question.

If I have to, I'll try to plan a trip to the library to pour through reels of microfilm to find an answer... a time consuming task for which I don't have the time. So I'm hoping someone reading this can shed some light on any connection between the Gems and Admirals. Let me know.

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While paying some attention to the history of the Admirals, another thought came to mind. Milwaukee had several hockey teams in the 40s, 50s, and 60s before the Admirals came around in 1970. The Clarks, Sea Gulls, Chiefs, Falcons, and Metros played in various leagues, such as the IHL and USHL.

My question... where did those teams play? The Milwaukee (U.S. Cellular) Arena opened in 1950. I'm curious to know what other rinks existed back then.

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Recently, I missed my first Admirals game in years. Not by choice. Sunday, January 20th, that frigid cold day on which the Packers would lose to the Giants in the NFC title game later that evening.

I just hopped onto I-94 in Kenosha to make my way to the game, when I saw a cloud of steam in my rear view and a climbing temp gauge on my dash. I quickly turned off the engine and coasted down an off ramp. I found that my upper radiator hose had slipped off my radiator, leaving me stranded on the shoulder.

Adding to my misery... I didn't exactly bundle up before leaving the house. I figured I would be ok with my regular winter jacket as I would just have a quick walk to and from my car in Milwaukee... and my car had not been running long enough to heat up the car, so I didn't have much protection from the bitter cold temperature as I waited for help to arrive. Yep... I was frozen, miserable, and pissed off.

Just a few days before, I had my radiator flushed at a place that rhymes with 'Sniffy Boob'. Turns out, they left my hose clamp loose, and a few days and a few potholes later, the hose worked itself free from the radiator, spilling all of the antifreeze I just paid for all over the highway. They later denied responsibility, so I will deny them my future business.

My brother arrived to help about an hour later, and we spent about fifteen f'n frozen minutes trying to reattach this hose, which is in a real tight spot under the hood. One broken socket adapter and a few scraped up knuckles later, I was ready to roll. A little hesitant on the reliability of my car, I chose not to risk driving to the BC for the last half of the game, instead settling in to watch 6 hours of football with my brother.

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Although it really doesn't affect me, I have to raise a practical question. Why do so many of the in-game giveaways at Admirals games only involve people sitting in rows C-H? T-shirt tosses seldom get more than a few rows up, and Roscoe always makes his way down to those rows for whatever he has to hand out.

Sure, the blimp drops coupons (and whatever else) in the higher rows, but I feel like a butthole if I grab one while a mob of unsupervised kids are climbing over seats around me in a fit to get at whatever is falling from the blimp.

I don't go to games to get free stuff. I do not need a t-shirt or a pizza. I'm fine if I leave the game with what I brought with me. Still, the people who prefer a clean view over the scuffed up glass should be shown the same amount of love as the up-close crowd. Am I wrong here?

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Former Admiral Kris Beech had a busy month. The Columbus Blue Jackets tried to send him to their farm club in Syracuse, when the Vancouver Canucks claimed him off waivers on January 10th. Two weeks later, Vancouver waived him, and he was claimed off waivers by the Washington Capitals (meaning that Columbus passed on reacquiring him). Over the All Star break, Washington tried to send him to their farm club in Hershey, when the injury-plagued Pittsburgh Penguins claimed him off waivers.

In other former Admirals news, enforcer Raitis Ivanans signed a two year contract extension with the L.A. Kings. He is one of just a handful of true enforcers left in the NHL.

Former Admirals goaltender Tomas Vokoun and defenseman Kimmo Timonen represented the Eastern Conference in the NHL All Star game this past weekend. Vokoun stopped 18 of 20 shots in the second period of the 8-7 victory.

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Some of you may have caught a recent item in the news about an Admirals employee who has been charged with several counts of felony sexual assault of a child. The media has chosen to make mention that he was an Admirals employee, thus casting some unjust negativity towards the hockey team.

The Admirals, or any employer for that matter, can only do so much when hiring a person. Background checks work to a degree, but they do not weed out every potential criminal.

If someone commits a crime, their employer shouldn't be dragged into it, unless they are part of the story. In this case, the Admirals are innocent victims of an overzealous media.

posted by Todd # 3:49 PM

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