Milwaukee Admirals clinch sixth straight playoff berth with win over Iowa

Six straight springs, 20 playoff trips since 2001 and back-to-back conference final runs have turned Milwaukee’s postseason into a standard, not a courtesy. Isaac Ratcliffe supplied the clincher with both goals in a 2-1 win over Iowa on April 12, sending the Admirals to the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs for the sixth straight year and reinforcing a résumé that includes a series win in each of the last four seasons.

The berth is only the opening checkpoint. Milwaukee joined Grand Rapids, Chicago, Texas and Manitoba in the Central Division field, where the top three clubs get byes into the division semifinals and the fourth- and fifth-place teams are left with a best-of-three first round. With the regular season ending April 19, the next week is about seeding, health and keeping the roster stable enough to take advantage of the path Milwaukee has earned.

Iowa struck first when Ben Jones scored shorthanded at 4:04 of the first period, but Ratcliffe flipped the game with a power-play goal at 9:05, set up by Jake Lucchini and Cole O’Hara, then buried the winner at 11:53 with assists from Aiden Fink and Andrew Gibson. Matthew Murray handled 32 shots for Milwaukee, Samuel Hlavaj stopped 28 for Iowa, and Ratcliffe left as the game’s first star.

That kind of stability starts behind the bench. Karl Taylor became Milwaukee’s winningest AHL coach on April 13, 2025, and his 244-133-31-12 record with a .632 points percentage tells the story better than any slogan, four 40-win seasons and back-to-back Central Division titles baked into a program that keeps finding its level when the games matter most. The Nashville Predators wrinkle still matters too: a recent recall of defenseman Jordan Oesterle was another reminder that one NHL phone call can change the mix in Milwaukee before the bracket is set.