Milwaukee Admirals, Nashville Predators affiliation extended

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(Courtesy: Milwaukee Admirals)

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee Admirals owner and CEO Harris Turer and Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Wednesday, May 3 that the two clubs have extended their affiliation agreement for two years – taking the long-standing partnership through the 2024-25 season.

Since joining forces with the Predators, the Admirals have accumulated a 979-636-31-104-115 record, good for a .592 points percentage. The Admirals have won five division titles, two conference crowns and won the Calder Cup Championship in 2004. Milwaukee became the first team in AHL history to record 40 or more wins in 10 straight seasons and since 1998, they have 15 40-win campaigns, including 2022-23. In addition, the Admirals have qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs in 21 of the 24 seasons that the playoffs have been conducted.

Counting this season, the Admirals have accumulated the second-most points in the AHL, behind only Hershey, since joining the league in 2001-02 after 24 seasons in the IHL.

The Predators and Admirals have functioned as affiliates since Nashville’s inception in 1998-99, the third-longest active streak in the AHL, and 172 players have played for the Admirals and then been recalled by Nashville. Additionally, seven of Milwaukee’s head or assistant coaches have graduated to the NHL level, including current Predators Assistant Coach Todd Richards, Minnesota Wild Head Coach Dean Evason, New York Islanders Head Coach Lane Lambert and Winnipeg Assistant Coach Brad Lauer.

Many of Nashville’s core franchise players spent time with the Admirals, including Pekka Rinne, the only players in Predators history to have his jersey retired. The three-time Vezina Trophy finalist spent his first three seasons in North America with the Admirals from 2005-08, while fellow Finn and perennial Vezina candidate Juuse Saros played 62 games for Milwaukee over parts of three seasons as well. In addition, Nashville Team Captain Roman Josi cut his teeth in Milwaukee from 2009-10, while Filip Forsberg, the only player in Predators history to pot 40 goals in a season, had 34 points (15g-19a) for the Admirals in 2013-14.

Admirals, Predators announce extension of affiliation (Courtesy: Milwaukee Admirals)

In addition, roster mainstays for the Predators like Colton Sissons, Yakov Trenin, Cody Glass, Cole Smith, and Alexandre Carrier all spent time developing in Milwaukee before becoming full-time players in Nashville.

This season alone, 15 players skated for both the Admirals and Predators and many were key contributors for the Predators as they made a run for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Those players included Tommy Novak, Juuso Parssinen, Phil Tomasino, Luke Evangelista, Kiefer Sherwood, Mark Jankowski, Michael McCarron, Jordan Gross, Zach Sanford, Spencer Stastney, John Leonard, Egor Afanasyev, Kevin Gravel, Roland McKeown and goalie Yaroslav Askarov.

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Statement from Poile:

"We are happy to continue our longstanding and successful partnership with the Milwaukee Admirals for another two seasons.

"We say all the time that the road to Nashville goes through Milwaukee, and that couldn’t have been more true this season. The winning culture and tradition that has been cultivated in Milwaukee for so many years – led by Harris Turer and his ownership group; President Jon Greenberg and his front office staff; and GM Scott Nichol and Head Coach Karl Taylor – has resulted in a professional, high-level environment for our players in the system that we are able to reap the benefits from. With our two organizations working together, we are positive that this partnership will continue to be valuable for both of our teams and passionate fans."