“They’re stepping up their game as much as we are.”
Those were the words of Milwaukee forward Zach L’Heureux, speaking about the importance of the Admirals having their home fans behind them as their Central Division finals series against Grand Rapids opens tonight.
UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena has been very good to the Admirals this season. They went 27-9-0-0 on home ice in the regular season, the second-best record in the league. Then after dropping the first two games of their division semifinal series in Texas, the Admirals rescued their season back home with three consecutive wins against the Stars.
L’Heureux, who turns 21 today, helped create a lot of that noise, putting up five goals and eight points in the last three games with his team facing elimination. He had a strong rookie season with Milwaukee, finishing with 48 points (19 goals, 29 assists) in 66 games while serving as an abrasive, disruptive presence for opponents.
Milwaukee finished 11 points ahead of second-place Grand Rapids in the Central Division, giving them home-ice advantage in this series.
“I feel like a big part of playing at home is having that crowd behind you,” L’Heureux said. “They motivate you. They get you wanting to play better when you score a goal, and they’re screaming. Or when you need a goal, and they’re on their feet, and they’re cheering you on, it’s a special feeling that you get as a player.
“Being at home is huge…to start and set the tone early. I think it’s going to be a good series.”
The Ontario Reign were one of the few teams to have success going into Acrisure Arena this season, taking three of their four trips to Coachella Valley against the Pacific Division champions.
The Firebirds will host Game 1 of the teams’ best-of-five Pacific Division final series tonight.
So far through two rounds of playoff hockey, the Reign have gone 5-0. Two of those wins have come on the road. They also went 23-12-1-0 on the road, a performance that ranked third in the AHL during the regular season. Both teams have fans bases that travel well, and there are sure to be plenty of visiting fans in both clubs’ buildings with only 80 miles separating the two markets.
“We’re excited,” two-time AHL most valuable player and Reign captain T.J. Tynan said. “Playing in [that] building is always fun. They have a great set-up there. The fans are great. So are ours. We have the best fans in the league. I know they’re going to be supporting us, so it will be a lot of fun.”
Tynan knows what postseason hockey feels like. He won the Calder Cup with Lake Erie in 2016 and was a finalist in 2019 with Chicago. He has been through the playoff grind and anticipates more of that against the Firebirds.
“They have a great team, and so do we, so it should make for a great series.”
The Firebirds have much bigger plans than just one series win.
“The mood right now is more just a reset,” forward Devin Shore said this week. “Everyone is back down to zeroes. They’re a really good team over there, too. It will be a great challenge. I think both teams deserve to be here, and it should be a fun battle.”
It will also be a difficult test. For their part, the Firebirds are counting on their exceptional roster depth against a heavy, physical opponent like the Reign, a team that also possesses a top-tier power play.
“I think when we’re playing our best, the depth of our team is a huge strength,” Shore said. “In stretches of a game where we’re playing our best, we seem to just be rolling line after line in the offensive zone and just continuing that pressure and creating chances. Some of them go in, some of them don’t, but it’s just that flow of taking it to the opponent and playing fast.
“We’re going to try to do that.”
The Firebirds have also added another young talent to their roster in advance of the series, as the Seattle Kraken reassigned defenseman Ty Nelson from North Bay of the Ontario Hockey League to Coachella Valley. The 20-year-old Nelson, a 2022 third-round draft pick by Seattle, had 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) in 54 games for North Bay during the regular season before tacking on 14 more points (five goals, nine assists) in 16 playoff games. He also represented Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship this season.
― with files from Patrick Williams
