Happy Wednesday, everybody. The Milwaukee Admirals 2016-17 regular season is nearly upon us. Today was the second to last practice the team will have in Milwaukee before traveling to San Antonio on Friday for their first two games of the season on Saturday and Sunday.

Yesterday provided a really solid look into how this year’s Admirals team could look on opening night. All reinforcements from the Nashville Predators, including two that passed through waivers, were on hand and the same can be said for early this afternoon. Today saw the exact same line combinations used.

Zolnierczyk-Kamenev-Watson
Florek-Smith-Åberg
Richard-Gaudreau-Görtz
Liambas-Girard-Payerl
(White-Kirkland)

Irwin-Granberg
Oligny-Carrier
Murphy-Dougherty (Diaby)

Saros
(Gunnarsson)

I’m extremely curious as to how Justin Kirkland and Matt White will fit in. They were again used as flex options that rotated in and out with different groups and in a few different situations. I would have expected the two odd-men out to actually be Mike Liambas and Justin Florek but, per practice, it looks like this could be what you get this weekend.

After practice I had the opportunity to swing by the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and get a close up look at the new Admirals locker room. It is simply stunning. The look and feel of the place is NHL quality. Players seem just as awestruck as those of us who have been around the team at the BMO Harris Bradley Center for a number of years. It’s remarkable. And it is still in the process of being fitted with more bells and whistles that will make the place that much more world class.

Once I got the shock factor of my new environment relatively in check I managed to round up a good chunk of interviews. Inside today’s Chatterbox we have: Frédérick Gaudreau, Jack Dougherty, Austin Watson, the aforementioned Kirkland, and Admirals head coach Dean Evason. Here is what everyone had to say this afternoon from the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Apologies if the audio for today’s interviews came in on the loud side. Tried editing that as best I could without distorting things but it just seemed like a hot mic with all the goings on around the locker room construction zone today.

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