Milwaukee Admirals Host AHL's First-Ever ASL Night Friday Against Henderson

The Milwaukee Admirals will step into uncharted territory Friday night when they host the Henderson Silver Knights in what the team is billing as the AHL's first-ever American Sign Language Night, a partnership with Milwaukee-based accessibility company P-X-P Sports that transforms the in-arena experience for Deaf and hard-of-hearing fans.

The Henderson Silver Knights are an AHL team based in Henderson, Nevada, and serve as the primary affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights. Friday's matchup gives the accessibility milestone a league-pipeline backdrop, with two NHL affiliates sharing the ice while Milwaukee rewires how their arena communicates.

The centerpiece of the night is a live video board integration that has not been done before at this level of professional hockey. P-X-P Sports will provide ASL interpretation on the arena video board throughout the game, covering everything said by Admirals PA announcer Matt Moore, game hosts, and all other speakers. Interpreters will also be stationed throughout the concourse, including at the Arena Team Store and Special Spaces Fan Services, to assist non-speaking fans directly.

The man behind P-X-P is Christianson, a 42-year-old Milwaukee resident whose motivation traces back to family. Growing up with Deaf parents, he would sign announcements to his father at Lambeau Field just to make him feel part of the crowd. "It's paying homage to my Deaf parents," Christianson said. "My father, he instilled in me a passion of sports, and we grew up in an inaccessible world. I mean, it's still inaccessible, we're getting better, but P-X-P really is all about creating access for Deaf sports fans, for creating a community where people can celebrate their love for sports." His vision extends well beyond Milwaukee: "Ideally, I want to see more leagues and more sports buy into this," he said.

The Admirals have their own personal connection to the Deaf community in center Oasiz Wiesblatt, who grew up as a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), with both of his parents Deaf. "I think it's really special for him to involve everyone," Wiesblatt said of Christianson. "I think that's what needs to be done."

The Wisconsin School of the Deaf will perform the National Anthem, and two Deaflympians will be in attendance for autographs and photos. Taylor Koss, an ASL teacher who captured a silver medal in the 4x100 relay at the 2025 World Deaflympics in Tokyo, Japan, will be joined by Patrick Danen, a member of the gold medal-winning Team USA basketball squad from the Tokyo games. It was Koss's third time representing Team USA at the Deaflympics, and he has accumulated five total medals in track across his career.

Special ASL-themed merchandise, including hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and the team's signature cowbells, will be available inside the arena.

The broader significance of the night was captured by someone close to the P-X-P operation. "It not only was revolutionary in terms of accessibility for sports broadcast, but it was revolutionary in terms of opening up a whole part of the broadcasting industry to a new subset of people that would have not had that opportunity before," said Segal, who is connected to the effort. If the rest of the AHL is paying attention Friday night in Milwaukee, Christianson's blueprint already has a clear path forward.