The Norfolk Admirals are a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, the team plays its home games at

Norfolk Scope Norfolk Scope is a multi-function complex in Norfolk, Virginia, comprising the 11,000-seat Scope Arena, a 2,500-seat theater known as Chrysler Hall, a modular exhibition hall, and a 600-car parking garage. The arena was designed by Italian arch ...

. The Admirals replaced the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) team of the same name, which played from

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

until

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, after which they moved to

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, and became the current incarnation of the San Diego Gulls.

History

On January 29, 2015, the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confere ...

announced that they would be moving their AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals, to San Diego as one of five charter members of the AHL's new Pacific Division. The next day, the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

announced that their outgoing ECHL team, the Bakersfield Condors (who would also be supplanted by a new Bakersfield Condors in the AHL), would move to Norfolk and take on the Admirals name and logo. The Oilers Entertainment Group had originally purchased the ECHL Condors in January 2014, one year prior to the announcement of the relocation. Admirals hockey in Norfolk actually began in the

, where the

Hampton Roads Admirals The Hampton Roads Admirals were a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL, East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). They played in Norfolk, Virginia at the Norfolk Scope Arena from 1989 until 2000, when the owners purchased an expansion American Hockey ...

played from

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

until

, when the ownership group purchased an AHL franchise license, changed the name to the Norfolk Admirals, and began play as an AHL expansion team starting with the 2000–01 season. The original ECHL Admirals' run was very successful, winning three titles – the Riley Cup in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and the Kelly Cup in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, an ECHL record which has since been tied by the Alaska Aces and the South Carolina Stingrays. After one season, the Oilers announced they had sold the Admirals franchise to the Mango Media Group. The Admirals continued the Oilers affiliation under the new ownership for the rest of the 2016–17 season. In 2017–18, the Admirals left the Oilers' organization and affiliated with the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

. On June 1, 2017, the Admirals revealed their new logo, which is similar to the logo of the original Admirals ECHL team and had similar colors to their new NHL affiliate. However, on November 28, 2017, the team announced that it has ended its affiliation agreement with the Predators after only 19 games during the 2017–18 season. The Admirals finished the season independent of any official affiliations and failed to make the playoffs for the third straight season. Prior to the 2018–19 season, the Admirals re-signed head coach Robbie Ftorek on a two-year contract and affiliated with the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

. Following an average attendance of 2,602 in 2017–18, the lowest recorded attendance in any iteration of the Admirals' history, the Admirals saw increased attendance in its fourth ECHL season to an average of 3,590 in 2018–19. After the 2018–19 season, former Hampton Roads Admirals' player Patrick Cavanagh led a group that purchased the Admirals from Mango Media Group. Cavanagh then named another Hampton Roads' player Rod Taylor as the head coach, while releasing Ftorek from his contract. The Admirals entered the 2019–20 season as the only ECHL team without an official NHL affiliate and were in last place when the season was curtailed due the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The team then opted out of participating in the 2020–21 season due to the ongoing restrictions on arena capacity. On August 27, 2021, the Admirals announced an affiliation agreement with the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Con ...

for the 2021–22 season. The addition of the Savannah Ghost Pirates moved the Admirals into the North Division in the 2022–23 season. On August 25, 2023, the Admirals announced a new affiliation with the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

of the NHL and

Manitoba Moose The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre. The fran ...

of the AHL for the 2023–24 season.

Season-by-season records

Players

Notable NHL alumni

List of Norfolk Admirals alumni who played more than 25 games in Norfolk and 25 or more games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

. * Ian White *Olaf Kolzig

References

External links

* {{Hampton Roads Sports ECHL teams Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) players Ice hockey teams in Virginia Ice hockey clubs established in 2015 Nashville Predators minor league affiliates 2015 establishments in Virginia Sports clubs and teams in Norfolk, Virginia Edmonton Oilers minor league affiliates Arizona Coyotes minor league affiliates