Admirals Brad Winchester fighting for another shot with NHL
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- When he gets the puck, a hockey player is taught to try to score a goal. For one Milwaukee Admirals hockey player, the goal is not just on the ice.
It is hard not to notice Brad Winchester on the ice for the Milwaukee Admirals. First of all, he is 6'5" tall before putting on his skates. Secondly, he is easily the senior skater on the squad.
Winchester has played in 390 National Hockey League games with five teams, including two dozen Stanley Cup playoffs. When you play that long at that level, you get into your share of scrapes, and now, Winchester is fighting for another shot at the NHL, while helping the Ads in the process.
"You go through ups and downs throughout your career and it doesn't matter what the situation is. Once you get to the rink and once you step out for the game or practice or whatever, you're a hockey player and that's the way you have to approach it," Winchester said.
Easing the sting of being in the minors for now is the fact that Winchester is playing close to home. He is a Madison native and a former Wisconsin Badgers hockey player.
"Certainly being in the proximity to Madison is a positive thing. A lot of support there. The organization here has been fantastic and being in Wisconsin is always a good thing," Winchester said.
Winchester has played in front of bigger crowds and for higher stakes, but he's not looking down at this opportunity. He made that clear before he ever got to Milwaukee.
"The first thing, when we made phone calls inquiring about him and wondering if he wanted to come play for us. The first thing he said is 'I'm going to come in with a good attitude,' and that's all you want. You want a guy to come in and you know that he's got aspirations to not be here, to go play in the NHL, but yet his attitude is terrific and that allows him to lead by example on our hockey club," Admirals Head Coach Dean Evason said.
Just about every player on Milwaukee's roster hopes to one day be in the NHL, so they are looking to Winchester to lead them in any number of ways.