The Milwaukee Admirals are in the thick of one of the most remarkable winning streaks in Wisconsin professional sports history.
The Admirals have won 17 consecutive games, which is tied for the second-longest winning streak in American Hockey League history with the 2004-05 Philadelphia Phantoms and the 2018-19 Bakersfield Condors.
The league’s all-time winning streak belongs to the 2011-12 Norfolk Admirals, who won an unfathomable 28 consecutive games.
Monday’s contest saw the Admirals down the Manitoba Moose 4-3 at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg to extend Milwaukee’s streak.
ANOTHA ONE‼️
— Milwaukee Admirals (@mkeadmirals) February 19, 2024
1️⃣7️⃣ STRAIGHT‼️ #MILhockey | @LandmarkCU pic.twitter.com/RtAtvaYnDh
The Admirals next game is against the Chicago Wolves at 11 a.m. Thursday. The team’s next home game on the ice at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther Arena is Saturday, also against Chicago. The Admirals, who are the top-level affiliate of the NHL’s Nashville Predators, have compiled a 19-4 record at home this season.
Architects, interior designers, renovators and landscapers: Submit your best work for consideration!
The streak, which started on Jan. 5, is among the best-ever regular season marks for professional sports teams in the state. The Milwaukee Bucks, led by Lew Alcindor (who later took the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Oscar Roberston, had a 20-game winning streak in the 1970-71 season, a league record at the time. The Bucks would go on to win the franchise’s first NBA title, a feat that wouldn’t be repeated until 50 years later.
The Milwaukee Brewers, with stars and fan favorites such as Paul Molitor and Robin Yount, won 13 straight games to start the memorable 1987 season. As a result of the streak, George Webb restaurants handed out nearly 170,000 free hamburgers, making good on a pledge that dated to the local chain’s founder, George Webb himself, in the 1940s. Webb predicted that the Brewers, who played in the American Association at the time, would win 12 consecutive games. If that happened, Webb hinted – he apparently never promised – that the restaurants would give away free burgers. The prediction remained with Milwaukee’s major league teams, first the Braves and then the Brewers.
The Green Bay Packers, led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, were victorious in their first 13 games in 2011 and finished the regular season at 15-1 before a shocking loss to the New York Giants in the divisional round of the playoffs.
The Admirals hold down first place in the AHL’s Central Division with a 34-10 record (which includes one overtime loss), good for 69 points. The Texas Stars sit a distant second in the division, with 53 points. Despite the extended winning streak, the Admirals don’t own the league’s best record. That honor goes to the Hershey Bears, who have compiled an incredible 39-9 record (with two shootout losses), good for 80 points and the top spot in the Atlantic Division. Hershey, which has played five more games than Milwaukee, has the second-longest winning streak in the league this season at nine games.
During this historic run, the Admirals set an AHL record with a road shutout streak that reached 294 minutes and 22 seconds before ending in Monday’s game when Manitoba scored a first-period goal. The streak included four consecutive shutout road wins.
The Admirals top player this season is Mark Jankowski, who leads Milwaukee and is third in the AHL in points with 47 over 40 games played. Jankowski was named the AHL’s Player of the Month for January after recording 18 points in 11 games, helping the Admirals go undefeated during the month.
But as can be the case when serving as an affiliate team for an NHL franchise, Jankowski’s success led to him being recalled this week by Nashville and he will be suiting up for the Predators. Originally drafted by Calgary in the first round (21st overall) of the 2012 NHL draft, Jankowski previously appeared in five games for Nashville this season.
Goaltending duties for the Admirals this season have been split between Yaroslav Askarov and Brookfield native Troy Grosenick.
The winning streak has fans hyped that the Admirals can make a run for the AHL title and the coveted Calder Cup. The Admirals captured their lone Calder Cup in the 2003-04 season when they defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the championship series.
The franchise has been on the ice since 1970, originally as an amateur team known as the Milwaukee Wings. The team changed its name to Admirals after their first season and played as an independent until joining the semiprofessional United States Hockey League in 1973. The Admirals joined the professional International Hockey League in 1977 and became members of the AHL in 2001 when the IHL folded.
