Milwaukee Admirals ecstatic to play at Panther Arena

Sixty-five minutes of regulation and overtime play wasn’t enough to determine a winner between the Milwaukee Admirals and the visiting Chicago Wolves at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Nov. 4.

With 3,474 fans in attendance, this game came down to a shootout between these two AHL rivals, with the Admirals securing a 3-2 win after going 2-1 in the shootout.

This victory was the Admirals first at the Panther Arena since 1986. The Admirals originally played at the Panther Arena – formally known as the MECCA – from the mid-1970s through the 1986-87 season and moved back to the building prior to this season, after playing across the street at the Bradley Center since 1988.

Read what head coach Dean Evason and two star players had to say after the game about the playing in the Arena:

Head coach Dean Evason

On the Panther Arena giving the Admirals a home ice advantage:

“We are just getting our feel here. It’s such a wonderful building. So disappointed we couldn’t get it done in our home opener. The guys are jacked to get it done – 100 percent. This is our building. That’s the cool part now. The Bradley Center was wonderful, but that wasn’t our building. This is our building. Teams have to come into our building. We practice here almost every day.

“This is a home ice advantage for us. The crowd is into it. They are energetic. I don’t care how many people were here, it’s still loud. The guys are excited. This ice is fast. The crew here has the ice in great shape. It’s such a character building. That’s our club – we’re a character team. It goes with this building for sure.”

On the attitude of the team regarding the building:

“It’s incredible. What (owner) Harris Turer has given us with the locker room, and they have a lounge area where they eat breakfast there, they watch their film there. It’s awesome. They want to be here. It is a great facility with a great workout room. It builds team chemistry. It builds team atmosphere. They come together as a group. They do that off the ice and then they take it on the ice. We are going to give ourselves an opportunity to have success.”

Forward Pontus Aberg

“I like this a lot more than the Bradley Center. It is smaller and it feels like there is more people here watching us. A lot more noise. It’s fun to be here.”

Goalie Juuse Saros

“I think so. It’s a great, great rink. The atmosphere is good. The locker room is good. I think we want to make this a tough place to play.”

Related Posts

• 
  Packers vs. Seahawks: Preview, Prediction
• 
  Packers vs. Lions: Preview, Prediction
• 
  Packers vs. Bears: Preview, Prediction