Milwaukee

Independent era

The Admirals first took to the ice in the winter of 1970 as an amateur club known as the Milwaukee Wings. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Citizens Benefit Association, they lost their first game on January 25 when the Madison All-Stars beat them 17–7. They got their first win five days later when they defeated the Milwaukee Winter Club 10–8. They finished the season with 8 wins and 7 loses.

The next year the team was sold by the original owner Reed Fansher to a group of investors. One of the investors, Erwin J. Merar, owned an appliance store and the team was renamed the "Admirals" after a brand of household appliances sold in Merar's store.

United States Hockey League era

Beginning with the 1973–74 season the Admirals joined the United States Hockey League. Their first season in a league was not particularly successful as they ended the season in last place in their division. They won only 11 games, lost 35, and tied two games that season.^[]

The Admirals won the USHL league championship in 1976, winning seven straight games in the league's playoffs. In the off-season, the team was purchased by former Chicago Blackhawks announcer Lloyd Pettit and his wife, Jane Bradley Pettit.^[]

International Hockey League era

For the 1977–78 season the Admirals joined the International Hockey League as the USHL was becoming a strictly amateur league. The Admirals appeared in the IHL's Turner Cup finals only once (1983), where they lost to Toledo in six games.^[]

American Hockey League era

The Admirals, along with five other IHL franchises, joined the American Hockey League for the 2001–02 season when the IHL ceased operations. The team was allowed to keep their nickname despite the presence of the Norfolk Admirals in the AHL, as Milwaukee had used the nickname since 1970, well before the Norfolk team was established as the Hampton Roads Admirals in the ECHL. (In the 2015–16 season, that AHL franchise moved to the AHL's Pacific Division as the fourth incarnation of the San Diego Gulls, and a Norfolk club was re-established in the ECHL.)

They won their first Calder Cup in 2004 when they defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Prior to the finals, Milwaukee needed seven games to defeat the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in the first round. Then the Admirals defeated the Chicago Wolves in six games to advance to the conference finals. The Admirals then eliminated the Rochester Americans four games to one. Milwaukee went on to sweep the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to win the Calder Cup. The Admirals completed a rare postseason run in which they needed one fewer game to eliminate their opponents in each subsequent series.

The Admirals were purchased in June 2005 by a group of investors, led by Harris J. Turer, including Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, assistant general manager Gord Ash, and pitcher Ben Sheets. The Brewers subsequently became the sole uniform sponsor of the Admirals, and the Admirals wear a Brewers logo patch on their sweaters.^[]

The Admirals won their second division title as a member of the American Hockey League in 2006, clinching the title on the last day of their schedule with a win over the Grand Rapids Griffins.

In the 2006 Calder Cup playoffs after narrowly winning a seven-game playoff series over the Iowa Stars, Milwaukee swept both the Houston Aeros and Grand Rapids Griffins to advance to their second Calder Cup final series. To their disappointment, the Admirals would lose in six games to the Hershey Bears.

On August 1, 2006, the Admirals unveiled a new logo and a change in color scheme from the traditional red-and-blue to black, white, and light blue. They used this logo until 2015, when the Admirals unveiled another new logo, keeping the Lake Michigan blue from 2006, but replaced black with navy blue. Also, the skeleton motif was kept with the hat that adorns the skeleton's head as a callback to the Admirals logos used from 1976 to 1997. This logo received very positive reviews, resulting in it becoming SportsLogos.net's 2015 Best New Primary Logo of the Year.

On March 16, 2016, Milwaukee Admirals owner/CEO Harris Turer along with Wisconsin Center District (WCD) announced that the Admirals signed a 10-year contract, bringing the Admirals to the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena for the 2016-17 AHL season. This 10-year contract also results in a $6.4 million investment to bring the arena up to AHL standards with the Admirals contributing two million and the rest being supplied by the Wisconsin Center District.

The team won its second regular season championship in the 2019–20 season, which was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the ongoing restrictions during the pandemic, the Admirals were one of three teams that opted out of the 2020–21 AHL season. After the Admirals announced their season was cancelled, team ownership also announced that all of their full-time employees would still be paid for the year.

On November 17, 2023, the Admirals made history when defenseman Luke Prokop made his AHL debut as the first openly gay player in the league's history.

During the 2023-24 season, the Admirals set a new franchise record of 19 consecutive wins, which is also the second-longest winning streak in AHL history as of 2024. The winning streak lasted from January 5, 2024, which was also their first game of the calendar year, until February 25.