OVERALL…The Admirals enter this week’s action with a 24-12-2-6 record and 56 points, which is good for a second place tie in an extremely tight West Division where all the teams are over .500 and first through seventh is separated by just four points. Peoria leads the division with 57 points while the Ads, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, and Houston all have 56 points and Texas sits in sixth with 55. The Admirals have just two games this week, Friday at home versus Peoria and Saturday at Rockford, before the All-Star Break commences on Sunday.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING… The Admirals loss Friday night to San Antonio marked the first time all season that the team had dropped a game when they had scored more than three goals and it was also the their first regulation loss when leading after either the first or second period. The Ads had been an impressive 25-0-4-5 when they took a lead into an intermission. This was also the first time this year Milwaukee had allowed more than five goals in a game.

THREE’S COMPANY…While the Admirals came out on the short end of the stick last night, both Linus Klasen and Blake Geoffrion matched the Ads season high with three points. Klasen had two goals and an assist, giving him six points in his last three games, while Geoffrion had a goal and two assists on the night. The duo joins Matt Halischuk, Aaron Johnson and Chris Mueller in the three-point game club for Milwaukee.

GO WEST YOUNG MAN…After recently finishing a span of five straight games against teams from the North Division, the Admirals are on a lengthy stretch of intra-divisional games. Milwaukee will play West Division foes for their next five games and 14 out of their next 15. Considering the close pack the division has turned into, this is certainly a stretch that carries increased importance for the Ads. So far this season the Admirals have compiled an 11-8-2-5 record against the West.

WORKING OVERTIME…The shoot-out loss Thursday night to Oklahoma City snapped a three-game shoot-out winning streak for Milwaukee, who has already played 11 shoot-out contests and 15 games that have needed more than 60 minutes to determine a winner, both second most in the AHL. The Ads are 7-8 in games decided past regulation with a 2-2 mark in OT contests and a 5-6 record in shoot-outs. The Ads are just off pace of the team-record 29 OT/shoot-out games they played in 2006-07.

BACK ON TRACK…Admirals forward Andreas Thuresson looks to be back on track after working through a career long 30-game scoring drought earlier this season. Thuresson scored goals in back-to-back games for Milwaukee, including his fifth of the year Thursday night that broke a 1-1 third period tie. Thursday’s contest was the first back for the Sweden native after earning his first recall of the season to Nashville where he played in three games with the Preds. In his fourth season in Milwaukee, Thuresson has 96 points (42g-55a) in 240 games with the Admirals.

HOME, SWEET HOME…The 19 home games that the Admirals have played are the 2nd fewest in the AHL, but that will change over the next couple of weeks. Milwaukee hits the Bradley Center ice for a stretch of eight of 11 games, including a season-high four-game homestand from February 9-18. The Ads hope to replicate the success they have had at home during the first half of the season as they sport a 12-3-2-2 record at the BC thus far.

COUNTRY STAR…Friday night’s game is the Admirals annual FM106/Miller Lite Country Music Night with a special post-game concert by national recording artist Rodney Atkins. A born and raised Tennessean, Atkins made country music history when his 2006 album If You’re Going Through Hell became the first album with four number one hits in four years. The lead track from the album entitled “If You’re Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)” was the first number one hit and it became the number one country song of the year in 2006. The following year the follow-up song “Watching You” earned him a second consecutive number one hit as well as the number one country song for 2007.

OVER THE AIR AND ON THE WEB…For the fourth consecutive season Sportsradio 1250 WSSP will serve as the Admirals flagship station with Aaron Sims calling all of the hard-hitting end-to-end action. In addition, the team has a one-hour hockey magazine dubbed “Milwaukee Admirals Center Ice” that airs every Monday from 6-7 pm on WSSP. Fans can watch all Admirals games, home and on the road, live on the internet via NeuLion. Simply go the Admirals website at milwaukeeadmirals.com and click on the AHL Live banner.