Fresh off the all-star break, the Admirals return to the ice when they host the Chicago Wolves on Friday at 7:00 pm at the Bradley Center in the fifth game of the Amtrak Rivalry Series between the two clubs. The first 5,000 fans will take home a bobblehead of Admirals Captain Nolan Yonkman, courtesy of Potawatomi Bingo Casino.

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 household appliances 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.