Game Day: Admirals and Icemen Meet for First Time

Game #20

Admirals (5-13-1-0) at Icemen (4-11-1-0)

Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena

7:30 pm

Last Time Out:

Trevor Mingoia led the Admirals scoring all three goals en route to an Admirals 3-2 overtime victory on Saturday night. The forwards last game prior to being recalled to Milwaukee was a big one as he netted his first professional hat trick, and the first since playing junior hockey with the Tri-City Storm in the USHL. Kenton Helgesen and Thomas Frazee added a pair of assists in the overtime victory.

Mingoia brought the Admirals from behind on two separate occasions to tie the game before netting his third game-winning goal with just 0:22 left in the overtime period. Jamie Murray, making his first start in six games, stopped 30 of 32 shots he faced.

Head to Head:

Thursday’s meeting will be the first ever between a hockey team from Jacksonville and a team from Norfolk despite both cities having ECHL teams during the last 1990’s. The Jacksonville Lizard Kings and Hampton Roads Admirals both played in the ECHL from 1995-2000, but never met on the ice. After the 1999-2000 season the Lizard Kings went defunct and the Admirals moved to the AHL.

Norfolk and Jacksonville will meet a total of eight times this season with five of the eight meetings at the Scope.

Scouting the Icemen:

The Icemen are led by Emerson Clark who is one of only four players to appear in all 16 Icemen games this season. The forward has 18 points (7g, 11a) in addition to 108 penalty minutes, which leads the ECHL. Rookie Alexandre Goulet is tied for the team lead in goals (7) and ranks second in assists (8) and points (15). Defensemen Dylan Blujus, Chase Harrison, and Scott Savage are the only other players to suit up for every game this season.

The Icemen are without netminder Jamie Phillips who was recalled on Monday to Manitoba. Phillips had started 12 of Jacksonville’s 16 games this season. His absence leaves Jacksonville with rookie goaltenders Colton Phinney (4 gp) and Alex Sakellaropoulos (1 gp). In four starts Phinney has posted a 2-2-0-0 record to go along with a 3.25 goals against average and a 0.883 save percentage.

New Faces:

The Admirals head into Thursday’s game with a trio of new faces in the lineup due to injuries and call ups. Forwards Nick Miglio, Max Cook, Michael Pontarelli and defenseman John Rey are all expected to make their Norfolk debuts on Thursday night. Miglio, who spent last season with Rapid City, and Pontarelli are the only players of the quartet with ECHL experience. A San Antonio, TX native, Miglio had 17 points 7g, 10a). Pontarelli, 23, played five games with the Admirals last season averaging a point per game (2g, 3a). Cook and Rey each will make their ECHL debut on Thursday.

Road Warriors:

After playing 12 of the last 14 games at home the Admirals will play eight of the next ten games on the road. Norfolk will only play four games at home in the month of December after ten home games in the month of November.  Over the next two months Norfolk will only play a total of seven home games, compared to 17 road games.