By Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter Published Oct 05, 2016 at 7:18 PM Photography: Bobby Tanzilo

The Admirals are inviting fans to help them celebrate their return, after nearly 30 years, to the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena by hosting a free open skate at the newly renovated venue on Oct. 19, team president Jon Greenberg announced Wednesday.

The open skate will be the first public event for the Admirals since they collaborated with the Wisconsin Center District on more than $6 million in upgrades to the arena this summer, in preparation for the hockey team’s first season there since 1987.

The event will showcase many of the improvements, while the Admirals, who begin their on Oct. 15 in San Antonio, are on the road.

The Admirals’ away game on Oct. 19, against the Wolves in Chicago, will be shown on the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena video board. Fans will be able to peruse the new offerings and purchase food and drinks at the concession stands. And the refurbished Arena Team Store will be open and selling merchandise from the Admirals and other tenants of the building, including the Milwaukee Wave and UWM Panthers.

The event is free to the public, but there will be no skate rental available so fans will need to bring their own skates. Those attending are asked to enter the arena through the main lobby off of Kilbourn Avenue.

If interested, fans can also take a look at seat locations for season tickets, and there will be Admirals ticket representatives available to answer any questions.

Milwaukee’s regular season begins with a pair of away games against the Rampage on Oct. 15 and Oct. 16, before the Amtrak Rivalry matchup with the Wolves. After two more road games, the Admirals’ home opener at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena will be on Oct. 29 against the Iowa Wild. 

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.