American Hockey League Wiki
Norfolk Admirals
250px-Norfolk Admirals.svg
City: Norfolk, Virginia
League: American Hockey League
Conference: Eastern Conference
Division: East Division
Founded: 2000
Home Arena: Norfolk Scope
201 E.Brambleton Ave
Norfolk, VA 23510
Colors: Blue, red, gold, white

                   

Owner(s): Ken Young and Tides Baseball, LP
General Manager: Vacant
Head Coach: Trent Yawney
Media: The Virginian-Pilot
WXTG-FM
Affiliates: Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Franchise history
2000–present: Norfolk Admirals
Championships
Regular Season Titles: 1 (2011–12)
Division Championships: 3 (2001–02, 2002–03, 2011–12)
Conference Championships: 1 (2011–12)
Calder Cups: 1 (2011–12)

The Norfolk Admirals are a professional ice hockey team that plays in the American Hockey League. They became affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks after being dropped from the Tampa Bay Lightning following their 2012 AHL champion season. The Admirals play in Norfolk, Virginia at the Norfolk Scope.


Official Norfolk Admirals Website: http://www.norfolkadmirals.com/

History[]

The Admirals were admitted to the American Hockey League as an expansion franchise for the 2000–01 season. The team name pays homage to the area's long naval history.

Norfolk is one of two franchises in the AHL named the Admirals, sharing the nickname with the Milwaukee Admirals. The Milwaukee franchise transferred from the defunct International Hockey League, and were allowed to keep their previous moniker.

Norfolk's geographically closest rivals are the Hershey Bears, Charlotte Checkers, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The Admirals have two mascots, a dog named Salty and a rabbit named Hat Trick.

On March 19, 2007, the Chicago Blackhawks announced that their affiliation with the Admirals would end after the 2006–2007 season. On March 29, 2007, the Tampa Bay Lightning officially announced the Admirals as their new affiliate. On June 14, 2012 Tampa Bay announced their separation from the 2012 Calder Cup champions in favor of the Syracuse Crunch. Owner Ken Young announced he was close to a five year agreement with the Anaheim Ducks.

The market was previously home to:


2010 Stanley Cup Finals[]

In the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals, sixteen former Admirals competed for the championship. Bryan Bickell, Dave Bolland, Troy Brouwer, Adam Burish, Dustin Byfuglien, Corey Crawford, Jake Dowell, Colin Fraser, Jordan Hendry, Duncan Keith, Danny Richmond, Brent Seabrook, Jack Skille, and Kris Versteeg were on the Chicago Blackhawks active roster. Michael Leighton and Lukas Krajicek played for the Philadelphia Flyers.


2011–12 season[]

During the 2011–12 season, the Norfolk Admirals set a professional hockey record for the longest winning streak, winning their 28th consecutive game on April 15 against the Adirondack Phantoms, 4-2 in regulation with 2012 League MVP Cory Conacher notching his first career hat trick. The streak far surpassed the previous AHL record of 17 straight wins set by the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2004-05, as well as the pro hockey record of 18 games set by the Peoria Rivermen of the original International Hockey League in 1991.

The streak garnered international media attention for the Admirals and the American Hockey League, including highlights on NHL Network and ESPN's SportsCenter.

The 28-game streak includes 15 home games and 13 road games. The win streak started on February 10 against Adirondack. Before their 3-2 OT win against Binghamton on April 14, the last 20 games were all won in regulation.

The winning streak translated into a deep playoff run for the Admirals, where they would win 15 of 18 playoff games, including back to back four game sweeps in the Eastern Conference and Calder Cup Finals. On June 9, 2012, the Admirals captured their first ever Calder Cup with a 6-1 win over the Toronto Marlies.

Season-by-Season Results[]

Regular Season[]

Season Games Won Lost Tied OTL SOL Points Goals
For
Goals
Against
Standing
2000–01 80 36 26 13 5 90 241 208 3rd, South
2001–02 80 38 26 12 4 92 222 205 1st, South
2002–03 80 37 26 12 5 91 201 187 1st, South
2003–04 80 35 36 4 5 79 172 187 5th, East
2004–05 80 43 30 6 1 93 200 188 3rd, East
2005–06 80 43 29 4 4 94 259 246 3rd, East
2006–07 80 50 22 6 2 108 301 257 3rd, East
2007–08 80 29 44 2 5 65 213 267 7th, East
2008–09 80 33 38 4 5 75 236 269 6th, East
2009–10 80 39 35 3 3 84 208 214 4th, East
2010–11 80 39 26 9 6 93 265 230 4th, East
2011–12 76 55 18 1 2 113 273 180 1st, East

Playoffs[]

Season Prelim 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Finals
2001 W, 3–1, Cincinnati L, 1–4, Hershey
2002 L, 1–3, Hershey
2003 W, 3–0, San Antonio L, 2–4, Houston
2004 W, 2–0, Binghamton L, 2–4, Philadelphia
2005 L, 2–4, Philadelphia
2006 L, 0–4, Hershey
2007 L, 2–4, Wilkes-Barre
2008 Out of playoffs.
2009 Out of playoffs.
2010 Out of playoffs.
2011 L, 2–4, Wilkes-Barre
2012 W, 3–1, Manchester W, 4–2 Connecticut W, 4–0 St. John's W, 4–0, Toronto