Milwaukee, WI—Former Admirals head coach Claude Noel will return to the Bradley Center on Wednesday night as the bench boss for the Manitoba Moose when the Ads and Moose hit the ice at 7:00 pm in Milwaukee’s first home game since November 7.

Noel led the Admirals to two trips to the Calder Cup Finals and the championship in 2004, the only coach to guide the Ads to a league title. In his four seasons he accumulated an impressive 183-94-22-21 record, good for a .639 winning percentage, making him the second winningest coach in team history. During his tenure the Admirals had the second most points in the American Hockey League and became just the fourth team in AHL history to post 100 or more points in three straight seasons.

Adding to the intrigue of Noel’s visit is the fact that Lane Lambert was hired by Noel as his assistant for the 2006-07 season before Noel left to go to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the NHL and Lambert replaced him as the Admirals head coach. Noel spent three seasons in Columbus and was the interim head coach of the Blue Jackets at the end of last season, before heading to Manitoba.

The Kirkland, ON native was selected as the AHL’s coach of the year in 03-04 after he led the Ads to the league’s best regular season record and the Calder Cup Title, the only championship in team history. In addition, the team’s 49 wins in 2005-06 were the second most in Admirals’ history, while the 21 regulation losses set a franchise mark for the fewest in one campaign.

Noel has spent eight seasons in the Brew City, first as an assistant coach under Dave Allison from 1998-2002 and then as head coach beginning in the 03-04 season. He also skated for the Admirals, notching eight goals and 24 assists in 1987-88 before beginning his coaching career.

Fans can purchase tickets for Wednesday, or any Admirals game, by calling Ticketmaster at or logging on to milwaukeeadmirals.com. Season tickets for the 10-11 campaign are still on sale, starting at just $145. For more information or to purchase season tickets fans can call the Admirals office at (414) 227-0550 or visit milwaukeeadmirals.com. Don’t forget to follow the Admirals on Twitter (@mkeadmirals) and on Facebook!