Worth more than a Nichol (January 12) - Admiral fans will be seeing a new player on the ice for Milwaukee as of tomorrow. Nashville Predators center Scott Nichol has been sent here on a conditioning assignment. He hasn't played a game since breaking his foot on November 5. Nichol hasn't played in the minor leagues since suiting up for the IHL's Detroit Vipers in 2001. Prior to that season, he spent 6 seasons in Rochester earning only 5 games of NHL time with Buffalo in that time. Nichol spent two seasons with the Calgary Flames and one with the Chicago Blackhawks before signing as a free agent in Nashville after the lockout. Wisstah Shawks (January 9) - The AHL announced that the San Jose Sharks will move their franchise currently playing in Cleveland to Worcester (Mass.) for the upcoming season. Worcester had an AHL team (the IceCats) until the St. Louis Blues moved the franchise to Peoria after last season. Cleveland has had a long history with the AHL, winning 7 Calder Cups with a Barons team that began play in 1940. After the Cleveland Lumberjacks folded along with the IHL in 2001, the Barons were reborn thanks to the San Jose Sharks, who moved their franchise to the Gund Arena. The Barons were 2nd to last in attendance this season with only 3172 people per game. Light the Lamp... Torch (January 8) - Six former Admirals will represent their countries in the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. Tomas Vokoun (Czech Republic) Martin Erat (Czech Republic) Kimmo Timonen (Finland) Ville Peltonen (Finland) Karlis Skrastins (Latvia) Jan Lasak (Slovakia) Happy New Year (we hope) (January 1) - Oh patient readers, thanks for your perseverance. It's been a busy few months for me, and parts of my web site have gone neglected, including this news column. I work as a mail carrier for the USPS, and I survived the holiday rush... a little worn out mentally and physically, but I'll recover. I'll try to give a brief recap of the past 2 months, much of it old news to most every reader of this site, but I figure it would be appreciated later in archive form. - The Admirals rose to 2nd place in the division, behind Houston, in November, and have remained there since. This despite losing several key players to the Nashville Predators, who have had several injuries in the first few months of their season. Vern Fiddler, Jerred Smithson, Scottie Upshall, and Jordin Tootoo have been in Nashville for the long term, while others such as Brian Finley, Pekka Rinne, Kris Beech, Greg Zanon, and Kevin Klein enjoyed shorter stays in the NHL. - The Predators tried to send Simon Gamache to Milwaukee (shortly after a conditioning assignment with the Admirals expired), but he was claimed off waivers by the St. Louis Blues. At least the diehard Gamache fans are within a reasonable drive to see their diminuitive idol in action. - Due to the loss of several key players, Milwaukee has had to experiment with players from lower leagues (ECHL, UHL, CHL) to fill the roster vacancies while attempting to rebuild team chemistry with proven performers. Some (Rich Peverley, Chris Durno, Nathan Lutz) have stuck around, while others (Preston Mizzi, John Morlang, Chris Bala) have since been released. - It's pretty much been confirmed that the Admirals will be changing the look of the team (jersey/logo) in time for next season. It's probably being kept quiet in order to maximize souvenir sales of the existing colors. Let's hope the end result is not incredibly lame (i.e. green & gold/teal/neon/eggplant/purple/orange/pink) - Former UW hockey announcer Aaron Sims was hired on to replace Kyle Schultz in the broadcast booth. Sims was immediately used on an interrim basis following the death of Schultz, but he came to terms with the team to do the job permanently a few weeks later. - Former Admiral John Slaney became the highest scoring defenseman in AHL history after recording his 454th point on December 30. None of those points came with Milwaukee, as the Admirals were part of the IHL when Slaney was here. - The game originally scheduled for March 19th against Omaha has been moved to March 20th to allow for a concert at the Bradley Center. - Paul Brown recently returned to action. He had missed the entire season due to a concussion suffered in training camp. After playing six games in the past two weeks with Milwaukee, he was sent to Rockford on a conditioning stint while the Admirals enjoy a 5 day span without a game. - Speaking of Rockford, an affiliation deal with the Icehogs was made official within the Nashville and Milwaukee systems. The Admirals and Predators have been sending players to and from Rockford for the past two seasons without a formal deal in place. Rockford is a natural fit for a lower affiliate to Milwaukee, as it's only a 90 minute drive away. If you haven't checked it out already, I have updated the 'Photos' section of the web site. It had gone untouched for over a year. With a new digital camera gift to myself about a month ago, I've been able to take some halfway decent pics to share with all of you. In the past, I would have to pay (and wait) to develop my film to a CD in order to post pictures. That proved to be too tedious, but my new camera makes posting pix much easier. Enjoy. Goodbye dear friend (October 25) - The Admirals lost a member of their family this past weekend. Radio play-by-play broadcaster Kyle Schultz passed away Saturday evening in Hartland. He was 41 years old. Schultz was on his way home from an adult league hockey game when his car left the road a few blocks from his home and struck a tree. Authorities believe he died from a medical condition, as there was little damage to the car. Autopsy results are pending. He was in his 13th season as a broadcaster in a career that covered the Utah Grizzlies, Augusta Lynx, Tallahassee Tiger Sharks, and the Milwaukee Admirals. He was the voice of the 2004 Calder Cup Admirals as well as the 1996 Turner Cup Grizzlies and the 1997 ECHL All Star Game. In addition to hockey, he did indoor soccer games while in Tallahassee, earning the Eastern Indoor Soccer League's broadcaster of the year in 1997. He replaced Brian Manthey in the Admirals radio booth in 2003. The Milwaukee area native made his radio debut in 1993 handling sports updates for Milwaukee's Public Radio Station WYMS. He was a graduate of the Kettle Moraine High School and the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. He was married to Allison and had a 5 year old son Tanner. He is also survived by his parents Judith and Leyton, brother Jud, and sisters Tracey and Dana. This was looking to be a year that we the fans would get to know Kyle better, as he began hosting a live Tuesday night call-in show in addition to calling all of the games. He also began writing a column for the Admirals new web site called "Kyle's Corner". He will be missed. NHL and AHL seasons underway (October 5) - Today is the day North American hockey fans have been long waiting for. The NHL (and AHL) seasons begin today. All 30 NHL teams are in action, while the AHL has one game on their calendar. The Outdoor Life channel will have their first televised NHL game this evening at 6pm. Here is a list of former Admirals beginning the season in the NHL: Nashville - Mark Eaton, Martin Erat, Vern Fiddler, Simon Gamache, Adam Hall, Dan Hamhuis, Chris Mason, Jeremy Stevenson, Ryan Suter, Kimmo Timonen, Jordin Tootoo, Tomas Vokoun Atlanta - Mike Dunham, Tomas Kloucek Buffalo - Rory Fitzpatrick Calgary - Brannt Myhres (injured) Carolina - Andrew Hutchinson Colorado - Karlis Skrastins Detroit - Mark Mowers Minnesota - Randy Robitaille Montreal - Raitis Ivanans Tampa Bay - Timo Helbling (I'm not kidding) Toronto - Nathan Perrot Vancouver - Wade Brookbank More than half of the Predators 23 man roster has experience with Milwaukee. I'm guessing the 24 ex-Admirals at one time in the NHL is a new milestone. Affiliate this. (October 3) - Here's a look at how the AHL teams currently align with teams in other leagues through affiliations and working arrangements. Incomplete as I'm having trouble finding up-to-date info. on the UHL teams. AHL NHL ECHL UHL/CHL Milwaukee Nashville Rockford Albany New Jersey Binghamton Ottawa Bridgeport NY Islanders Mississippi Chicago Atlanta Gwinnett Cleveland San Jose Fresno/Toledo Youngstown Grand Rapids Detroit Toledo Hamilton Edmonton/Montreal Greenville/Long Beach Odessa Hartford NY Rangers Charlotte Memphis Hershey Washington South Carolina Houston Minnesota Austin? Iowa Dallas/Edmonton Idaho/Greenville Lowell Carolina/Colorado San Diego Manchester Los Angeles Reading Manitoba Vancouver Columbia Norfolk Chicago Greenville Omaha Calgary Las Vegas Peoria St. Louis Alaska Philadelphia Philadelphia Trenton Portland Anaheim Providence Boston Rochester Buffalo/Florida Florida Shreveport San Antonio Phoenix Laredo Springfield Tampa Bay Johnstown Adirondack? Syracuse Columbus Dayton Toronto Toronto Pensacola Wilkes Barre Pittsburgh Wheeling Just aboot time to drop the puck, eh? (September 27) - It's been a long summer without the sights, sounds, and smells of hockey to satisfy all of you hockey junkies out there, but the wait is almost over. Tomorrow marks the beginning of the Milwaukee Admirals preseason as they host the Grand Rapids Griffins at Hartland Arrowhead's high school rink. For those of you relatively new to the fandom of Admirals hockey, the preseason games feature a mix of players we will see in Milwaukee this season along with several UHL/ECHL hopefuls who are trying to impress the AHL coaches for hopes of a midseason callup. Last season's preseason was an abnomally due to the NHL lockout, as the games featured very few "hopefuls". Expect fewer Admiral players to participate in the preseason games this time around, because a segment of our roster is still in the NHL training camp in Nashville. In the month or so since I've typed in this space, several things have happened: - Forget the story listed in the next section below... The current team colors and logo will be back this season... next year, who knows? - The Houston Aeros added two more former Admirals to their roster, signing goaltender Seamus Kotyk and Bryan Lundbohm. - Peoria has made it easy for other AHL fans to hate them real quick this year, as they signed Rocky Thompson, who is disliked by most every Admiral fan. - The new Admirals ownership came up with a doozy. They have a Friday night home game promotion in which fans who purchase $15 tickets in the upper rows of section 221 will receive a free shirt. That section of the Bradley Center will be called the "Poop Deck", instantly supplying fuel to other AHL fans to laugh their collective asses off at us. The promotion is great, I just wish it had a better name (Crow's Nest, for instance) - Nashville signed a few new players to supply the Admirals. Some we know, some we may not know. Greg Classen returns for a 5th season in Milwaukee after spending a year away from the organization in Europe. Former Pittsburgh/Wilkes Barre Penguin center Kris Beech will play here if he clears waivers. Tough guy T.J. Reynolds will try his best to secure a spot on the team as he hopes to take his career beyond the ECHL level he's been at recently. Another ECHLer who hopes to be with Milwaukee is Robert Snowball. Former Cincy Duck Sheldon Brookbank (Wade's brother) will hopefully make the Admiral fans forget the early playoff exit he helped make possible this past spring. Admiral fans will also see a new backup goalie as Pekka Rinne will play his first season in North America after playing in his native Finland. Also, the AHL rules package was announced: - They did away with the wider blue and red lines, returning to the standard 12" size. - Two line passes will now be legal, allowing for more fast breaks to occur as defensemen will now be able to feed a streaking forward with a longer pass. - The blue lines will be moved four feet closer to center ice, expanding the size of the attacking zones, which will allow offenses to keep the puck in the zone more often. - No-touch icing has been done away with, going back to the old version which forces players to race after the puck. - A team guilty of icing the puck will not be permitted to make a line change on that stoppage of play, effectively making it harder for teams who are clinging to a one goal lead late in the game to make a line change. - Instigating a fight in the final five minutes of the game will earn more punishment. An automatic game misconduct, one game suspension, and fines to the team and coach will be assessed. Punishment doubles with each subsequent offense. - Goaltender equipment will be made slightly smaller in an effort to increase scoring. - Rule changes from last season that will remain the same are the tag-up offsides, restricted area for the goaltenders to play the puck, and the best-of-5 shootout to decide tie games. New logo and colors for the upcoming season (August 22) - The Milwaukee Business Journal is reporting that the new owners of the Admirals have hired a firm to design a new logo and color scheme for the team. They want to get away from the "Cap'n Crunch" type logo and come up with something more appealing to kids. In the meantime, the launch of the new Admirals web site has been delayed, possibly put off until the new look of the team is announced. In other recent news, the Admirals could see the return of Randy Robitaille this season if he doesn't find a stable roster spot in Nashville. Robitaille lit up the opposition during a short stay with the Admirals in 2001, scoring 10 goals and 23 assists in 19 games. Admiral fans will get to welcome back Curtis Murphy to the Bradley Center this season, but not in an Admirals uniform. He will be a part of the Houston Aeros, a divisional rival of Milwaukee. The diminuitive defenseman was a key part of the Admirals 2004 Calder Cup winning team. Murphy spent last season playing in the Russian Elite league. Where have I been?!? (August 3) - Apologies to the faithful readers of my site for being away so long. Those who know me realize that as soon as the Admirals season comes to an end, my free time is spent going to race tracks to enjoy various types of motorsports. Thus far this summer, I've visited 24 races at 17 tracks in 4 states. Add to that working 2 jobs, and I am left with less free time to work on this website than I usually have in the summer. Here's a quick summary of what's happening in the world of Admirals hockey: - With the NHL and the NHLPA coming to an agreement to resume playing this season, there has been a hurricane of activity amongst all 30 teams. A new lower salary cap forces NHL teams to either cut ties with expensive free agents, or attempt to re-sign them at a lower cost. Therefore, an unprecedented free agent marketplace is currently underway. - The NHL held a draft last weekend, with the Predators choosing 7 players. Four defensemen and three forwards. Four Canadians, one American, one Swede, and one from Finland. - Nashville traded away Milwaukee defenseman Andrew Hutchinson for a draft pick, and they chose not to offer a contract to Wyatt Smith or Tony Hrkac. They also have not offered Vladamir Orszagh, Andreas Lilja, or Mark Eaton contracts (but they could be re-signed at a lower cost). The Predators also traded Shane Hnidy for a draft pick, released Jim McKenzie, and obtained Darcy Hordichuk and Danny Markov in trades. - Offers were made to Simon Gamache, Darren Haydar, Vern Fiddler, Jeremy Yablonski, Greg Zanon, Libor Pivko, Jerred Smithson, and Brian Finley. Andrei Mukhachev, who refused to report to Milwaukee last year, was also given a qualifying offer. - It appears likely that three European prospects in Nashville's system will be able to play in Milwaukee after all. The NHL/NHLPA talks went beyond the deadline for European prospects to choose whether to play in Europe or North America, but the International Ice Hockey Federation and the NHL are close to coming to an agreement to extend the deadline. Goaltender Pekka Rinne (Finland), and forwards Oliver Setzinger (Austria) and Daniel Widing (Sweden) are three names that the Predators have mentioned to be headed to the Admirals. All of this recent activity of players being signed, traded, or not offered contracts will play tricks on the minds of most minor league hockey fans. Remember, be patient. There are about 9 weeks until the puck drops on the season, and much can happen between now and then to determine who plays in Milwaukee, who plays in Nashville, and who will be elsewhere. Until then, keep enjoying your summer! AHL summer meetings underway (June 28) - Representatives of every AHL team are at the annual summer league meeting this week taking place at Amelia Island, Florida. Expect news to trickle out this week on a few matters that the teams will vote on. We will likely learn the uncertain fate of the San Antonio Rampage later this week. (I'm betting on them forming an affiliation with Phoenix) It's expected that the Admirals will remain in a 7 team division, most likely with Chicago, Peoria, Iowa, Omaha, Houston, and hopefully San Antonio. This alignment will provide fans in Milwaukee with a look at three new teams (Peoria, Iowa, Omaha) on a regular basis. The AHL extended the contract of league president and CEO Dave Andrews. His new contract extends through the '09-10 season. He's been the AHL head since 1994. Update Hours after posting this news clip, some things were learned. - The divisional format I mentioned above came true. Looks like San Antonio will be back, although an official announcement on a deal with Phoenix has not been made. - The schedule matrix was released. Milwaukee is one of 3 AHL teams (Providence, Norfolk) without an interconference opponent. The Admirals play 10 games against Chicago, Iowa, and Omaha; 8 games against Houston, Peoria, San Antonio, Cleveland, and Grand Rapids; 4 games against Manitoba; and 2 games against Hamilton, Rochester, and Toronto. Absent from the Admirals schedule will be Syracuse, who will have a schedule loaded with extra Eastern conference games. - The playoff format from last season remains intact with one amendment. There will be a 'crossover' rule for the Eastern Conference. Because the Atlantic division has one more team than the East division, if the 5th place team in the Atlantic division has a better record than the 4th place team in the East division, then the 5th place team will take the playoff spot of the 4th place team. For instance, if Albany finishes in 5th place in the Atlantic division with 79 points and Wilkes Barre finishes in 4th place in the East division with 78 points, then Albany would replace Wilkes Barre in the playoff picture. (Veteran Admirals fans might remember the IHL doing this when the Eastern Conference had fewer teams than the West, and in 1995 it allowed Kansas City to make the playoffs as an East team, making a stunning run all the way to the Finals.) Early summer roundup (June 24) - Time crawls during the summer months, and because of the continuing NHL lockout, so does news about the upcoming season. Teams are cautious about making decisions until they have a better idea of the economics they will face, therefore there are virtually no decisions being made on player contracts at this time. However, here are a few bulletins from the past few weeks. - The Philadelphia Phantoms swept the Chicago Wolves in four games to capture the Calder Cup - The Trenton Titans, with Admirals player Paul Brown, won the Kelly Cup - The AHL is down to 27 teams as Cincinnati, Edmonton, and Utah are bowing out of next season's action. Utah moved their team to the ECHL, Cincinnati expects to be back in 2006 with a new affiliation, and Edmonton chose not to compete with their NHL team in the same city despite previously saying that having both an AHL and NHL team in the same city wouldn't be a problem (see Philly and Chicago). - Although nothing has officially been said, San Antonio appears to be out of the AHL next season as well. They have talked with Phoenix (who lost their farm club in Utah) to replace Florida. If that deal doesn't happen, then I expect rumors of a move to the CHL to become reality. - AHL president Dave Andrews says to expect about the same rules package as this past season, although the league will likely follow suit with any new NHL rules that may be announced this summer - Andrews also said Syracuse and Rochester will not move to the Eastern Conference due to the loss of several Western teams this summer - Because of the NHL lockout, the Predator's Prospect Camp held every summer is being replaced by an Admirals Camp in Nashville July 6-12. Coach Claude Noel and Assistant Todd Richards will run the camp. - Former Admirals coach Dave Allison was named the first coach of the Iowa Stars - Former Admirals coach Curt Fraser was named an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues - Former Admirals player and Peoria player and coach Jason Christie was named the head coach for the new ECHL team in Utah - One of my all-time favorite minor league goons, Mel "from Hell" Angelstad, has taken his career to England Brown makes his courageous struggle public (June 24) - When Paul Brown missed a huge chunk of last season that was only explained as "for personal reasons", I thought he was going back to Canada to face charges and possibly punishment for a preseason incident in which he was in a bar fight in Kamloops. My hunch was close, but not exactly right. Paul spoke to the Prince George newspaper last week, and I learned of his recent struggles off the ice. Paul realized after a short time in Milwaukee that he needed to do something about his abuse of alcohol. He asked for and received permission to leave the team last season to get treatment and spent two months in rehab. After returning to Milwaukee, he was sent to the ECHL team in Trenton to work on his game. A late season return to Milwaukee showed me that he was a better player than I expected, which may be credited to him being sober. After Milwaukee's season ended, Paul went back to Trenton to help them win the Kelly Cup. He drank Gatorade instead of champagne from the Cup. It's expected that Paul will be back with Milwaukee this season, and I hope to see him take his game to the next level as a sober man. One degree of seperation to 5 titles (June 1) - Since the Admirals were knocked out of the playoffs a month ago, the hockey world has continued to wind down it's season, and the end is just about here. As you will read below, each pro minor league champion this season features a former Admiral player. In the AHL, the Chicago Wolves square off against the Philadelphia Phantoms beginning tomorrow night. The Wolves are looking for their second AHL title since joining the league four years ago. Philly is trying to win for the first time since they captured the Cup in their sophomore season in 1998. Each team has a former Admiral player... Chicago has Ben Simon and Philadelphia has John Slaney. In the ECHL, the Trenton Titans hold a 3-2 series edge over the Florida Everblades. Paul Brown, who rejoined Trenton after Milwaukee's season ended, has 5 goals and 5 assists in 11 playoff games and is leading the league with a 25.0% shooting percentage in the playoffs. Florida has a couple of "Matt's" with one Admirals game on each of their resumes - Pagnutti ('97-98) and Hendricks ('04). The UHL saw the Muskegon Fury defeat the Fort Wayne Komets in five games, earning them their second Colonial Cup in a row and three of the last four. The Fury featured former Admirals Jeff Nelson and Rustyn Dolyny. The only Admirals link to Fort Wayne that I could find was that Kevin St. Pierre was in Milwaukee's training camp several seasons ago (1999?). Speaking of the UHL... beginning in 2006, local hockey fans will have another option to see a nearby game when Milwaukee has a night off. Former Admiral and NHL goaltender, Darren Pang, has formed a team to play out of the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates (12 miles west of the Chicago Wolves). Pang played for the Chicago Blackhawks after leaving Milwaukee and is well known as an analyst for televised hockey games on ESPN and ABC. Former Admiral tough guy Ryan Tobler got to raise the Cup in the CHL with the Colorado Eagles, who defeated the Laredo Bucks. Tobler's game in the CHL has centered on more scoring (63 points in 51 games) and less fighting (119 PIM), as he tries to prove he can once again play at the next level. The SPHL saw Columbus defeat Macon for that league's title. Former Milwaukee and Madison defenseman Ryan Aikia played for Columbus. In amateur hockey, the London Knights won the Canadian junior hockey Memorial Cup on home ice by defeating Sidney Crosby and the Rimouski Oceanic. Denver won the NCAA title, Cedar Rapids captured the USHL title, Texas won the NAHL title, and Boston won the EJHL title. Also, in a followup on the news story from May 19, the possiblity of an AHL team moving to Orlando this summer appears to be gone. The Florida Panthers were hoping to move the defunct Utah franchise to Orlando, but they didn't have enough time to make things happen... perhaps next summer?