Turns out, Milwaukee Admirals fans have it pretty good at Panther Arena.
The American Hockey League announced its annual Team Business Service awards on Friday, recognizing outstanding achievements in a variety of categories, and the Admirals won for Outstanding Fan Experience in the Western Conference.
"We are thrilled to accept this honor from the AHL," said Admirals President Jon Greenberg. "Our goal is to entertain fans both on and off the ice, creating 38 different events each season and this is testament to the hard work, dedication, and creative thinking that our staff puts in to make Admirals Hockey the best show around."
The Admirals have achieved success both on the ice, where they have made the playoffs in 13 of the past 15 seasons, and off it, with their world-class, family-friendly entertainment. Highlighted by the Admirals Concert Series, which brings free postgame shows featuring national recording artists like Brothers Osborne, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, Blake Shelton, and Styx, the team has been able to appeal to a wide range of fans.
The Admirals had giveaways at more than 20 games last season, such as winter hats and unique bobbleheads (like Martin Luther), in addition to intermission activities like the Pick ‘N Save Human Hockey Puck, Zamoni rides, Perkins Pie Eating Contests and more. The team also partnered with SpringHill Suites this year to offer the experiential #Milhockey VIP fan package.
The Laval Rocket were recognized for outstanding fan experience at home games in the AHL’s Eastern Conference.
The Admirals will play their home opener on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 6 pm at the UWM Panther Arena, with the rest of the schedule to be released later this summer.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
