While we know the road to Nashville goes through Milwaukee, the road to the 2024-25 Calder Cup begins this Thursday night, and it requires the Milwaukee Admirals to go through Rockford.

The Admirals will open their AHL Central Division Semifinal series against noted rivals in the Rockford IceHogs on Thursday night at UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. Game two follows on Saturday at 6 p.m., before the best-of-five series shifts to Rockford for games three and four. If needed, a deciding game five will return to Milwaukee on Sunday, May 11th at 4 p.m.

The Admirals enter the series as the Central Division’s top seed after finishing the regular season with a 40-21-5-6 record. Rockford, however, secured the fifth and final playoff spot in the division with a sub .500 record this year, going 31-33-6-2. Milwaukee finished third overall in the Western Conference, and Rockford finished 13th. 

The Admirals have had some time to rest since closing out the regular season, while the IceHogs had to beat our other Chicagoland rivals, the Chicago Wolves, in the play-in round. 

The IceHogs are no strangers to Milwaukee, and they're certainly a welcome opponent. The Admirals beat the IceHogs seven times this season, including all five meetings in Milwaukee. Ads starting goaltender Matt Murray went 4-1-1 in six games against Rockford, and he'll look to get the series off to the right start on Thursday and Saturday night.

Tickets for games one, two and the possible fifth and deciding game are available now through the Admirals office, by phone at 414-227-0550, or on the Admirals website.

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