The Admirals sought revenge on the reigning Calder Cup champion Houston Aeros, who knocked the team out of the playoffs last year and defeated them, 5-1, Oct. 17 at the Bradley Center.

In the Admirals’ first win on the road, an 8-2 victory over Houston Nov. 6, forward Tony Hrkac lead the team to victory while notching four assists.

“We wanted to prove to them that we were better than what they saw,” head coach Claude Noel said. “I’m really happy with how we’ve played so far. We’ve been progressively getting better. I’m really starting to like our work ethic and our team play has been good. One of the reasons we’ve been doing well lately is because we’re managing to score a few more goals with the addition of Tony Hrkac and our improved power play.”

Hrkac, a free agent recently signed by Nashville of the NHL and reassigned to the Admirals, is no stranger to the organization. He led the Admirals in scoring in two of the three seasons he previously spent with the team (1994-’95 and 1996-’97) before going on to win the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999 and play for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks (1999-2001) and Atlanta Thrashers (2001-’03).

“Tony is just a really good veteran player,” Noel said. “He has six years of NHL experience since his last year in Milwaukee. He is a very smart, gifted, talented player who creates offense.”

Hrkac, 37, also contributed to the Admirals victory the next night against the San Antonio Rampage by scoring a goal in the 3-2 game.

“The guys were playing well before I got here, so I just kind of took my time and I just went out there and played their system and it went well the first couple of games,” Hrkac said.

Among the other contributors in the showdowns in Texas were Andrew Hutchinson, a defenseman, who scored one goal in each game, right wing Darren Haydar, who had one assist in each game, and left wing Libor Pivko, who scored one assist in Houston and the winning goal in San Antonio.

The Admirals are currently 5-1-3-1 with a .700 winning percentage, third best in the AHL, as they return to the Bradley Center tomorrow night to take on Grand Rapids in the first of eight meetings this season.

“We look to continue to play well and (tomorrow night’s) game is a division game, so it is a big game for us,” Noel said. “We expect to be challenged, but that’s what we need. That’s what we look to do every game, to play better than the game before.”