Milwaukee, WI—For the first time in nearly 10 seasons, an Admirals Alum will have their named engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup as the NHL’s Conference Finals begin Tuesday night.
Each of the teams in the final four have a player who skated for the Ads, including the Vegas Golden Knights who have two in Colton Sissons and Cole Smith. Mark Jankowski plays for Carolina and will face-off against Alexandre Carrier and the Montreal Canadiens while the Knights will take on Nick Blankenburg and the Colorado Avalanche.
Blankenberg is the most recent player to have worn an Admirals sweater as he tallied three goals and five assists for eight points in 13 contests at the beginning of the 2024-25 season. He was traded by the Preds to the Avalanche at the trading deadline this year and shows a goal and two penalty minutes in four Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Sissons served as the Admirals Captain during the 2015-16 season and collected 105 points (58g-47a) while playing in 176 games over the course of three years. Playing in his first season Vegas, he had 11 points (6g-5a) in 66 regular season games and has earned five points (2g-3a) in 12 post-season contests.
Meanwhile, Smith was also traded by Nashville at the deadline this year, tallying two goals in 21 regular season games with the Golden Knights and has four points (2g-2a) in 12 contests during the playoffs. He played one full season in Milwaukee where he notched 21 goals and dished out 20 assists for 41 points while playing in 59 games.
Carrier has played the most games for the Admirals out of these remaining players, skating in 276 contests between 2016-2020 which is the 10th most in team AHL history. His 141 points and 121 assists are the most by a Milwaukee defenseman since the team joined the league in 2001. The Quebec City native played in 73 games for Montreal in the regular season earning 22 points (7g-15a) and has a goal and four assists in 14 post-season games.
Jankowski was the Admirals leading scorer in 2023-24 when he was recalled by Nasvhille for the remainder of the season. At that point he had totaled 47 points on 15 goals and 32 assists in just 40 contests. For Carolina this year the Hamilton, ON native posted 21 points (11g-10a) in 68 regular season contests and has an assist while playing in all eight Hurricanes Stanley Cup Playoff games.
There have been 17 Admiral players to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup with the most recent being Patric Hornqvist with Pittsburgh in 2017.
