With the championship in mind, the Admirals open the season on Friday evening

NORFOLK, VA (WTKR) – With a playoff appearance still fresh in their minds, the Admirals will drop the puck on a new roster Friday night.

Fourteen players who participated in the playoffs last spring return to this year’s squad. You will take the stage in a scope that features new ice, boards and glass. Now they get to work adding a new banner.

“We’re back at 0-0 and it’s a new year, so we’re going to take baby steps this year, but there are a lot of motivated guys in the locker room that are ready to get started,” head coach Jeff Carr said. “There is a big dividing line at the moment. We’re not quite on the right side of this. We have to prove that over the course of the year.”

“Having all these guys and all the experience goes a long way,” added forward Brady Fleurent. “We should hit the ground running, so to speak, and I think it helps when you have a lot of your team back from last year.”

Norfolk will welcome Adirondack to kick off a two-game series on Friday and Saturday nights. The Thunder ended the Admirals’ playoff run last season and the players were eager to deliver another blow to their ECHL North Division opponents. Sure, it’s only the first game, but starting the season with a win over the team that sent them home last year is an opportunity that motivates the boys a little more.

“We’ve definitely been circling this game since the end of last year,” said forward Brandon Osmundson, a Chesapeake native. “We’ve definitely been waiting for the chance to get some revenge and there’s no better feeling than starting right away in the first game of the season, especially in our barn. We’ll harness the energy of the fans and just play against the Norfolk Admirals again. “Ice hockey.”

“I don’t know how you can’t circle it,” Fleurent added. “In our home games, we kind of let them slip away here in the playoffs. So I think it will definitely be a bit of revenge for us to have them home on the first weekend.”

Norfolk finished second in the ECHL North Division last season and beat Trois-Rivieres in the first round of the playoffs. The Admirals won the first two games of their series with Adirondack before the Thunder got hot and rattled off four straight wins to send Carr and Co. home for the offseason.

Puck drops in Scope on Friday evening at 7:05 p.m. WGNT is your official home for the Norfolk Admirals in the 2024-2025 season, broadcasting nine home games starting November 16th. Click here for a complete schedule of games broadcast on WGNT.