Admirals Weekly: January 15, 2018

Last Week:

Tuesday, Jan. 9 at South Carolina, OTL, 5-4

Wednesday, Jan. 10 at Atlanta, L, 4-1

Friday, Jan. 12 at Wheeling, OTL, 4-3

Saturday, Jan. 13 at Wheeling, L, 4-2

This Week:

Friday, January 19 vs. South Carolina, 7:00 pm

Saturday, January 20 vs. South Carolina, 7:00 pm

Quick Hits:

Monday afternoon the ECHL All-Star Classic will take place in Indianapolis, IN. The Admirals had their eight-game point streak snapped on Wednesday night in Atlanta, but finished the five-game road trip by collecting at least a point in three of five games. Norfolk currently sits eight points back from the fourth and final playoff spot in the South Division.

ECHL All-Star Classic:

Grant Besse headed to Indianapolis after the Admirals game on Saturday night to take part in the ECHL All-Star Classic. A first-time all-star, Besse has tallied 31 points in 33 games with the Admirals this season. The Plymouth, MN native is in his first professional season after a four-year career at the University of Wisconsin.

The forward will represent Team South in the three-on-three tournament, beginning at 1:05pm on Monday afternoon. Each division will be represented by a team. Besse and Team South will play Team North in the first round, while Team Central will play Team Mountain in the second game. The winning teams will face off in a winner take all game.

Besse will also be participating in the fastest skater competition which will take place between games. All three games as well as the Skill Competition will be televised on NHL Network.

Week Ahead:

Friday and Saturday the Admirals will play their only consecutive home games of the month of when they host the South Carolina Stingrays on Friday and Saturday nights. The meetings will be the fourth and fifth of eight this season. South Carolina has won each of the first three matchups including last Tuesdays 5-4 OT victory in Charleston. Including Tuesday’s game the Admirals and Stingrays will play five times in the next 21 days.

The Boys From the South:

The Admirals enter a stretch in which 18 of the next 22 games will take place against South Division opponents. In that span the Admirals will face second place South Carolina more times than any other opponent (5). The upcoming stretch will conclude season series with Atlanta, South Carolina, and Orlando. In the last 13 games of the season the Admirals will only play six games within the Division.

Past the Half-Way Point:

Friday’s game in Wheeling marked the half-way point of the Admirals season. At the mid-point the Admirals currently sit eight points out of the fourth and final playoff spot in the South Division.

Norfolk finished the first half of the season with a record of 13-18-4-1. Norfolk played 18 of the first 36 games against non-South Division opponents. The Admirals were 3-9-1-0 against the North Division and 2-3-0-0 against the Mountain. In their own division the Admirals were above .500 posting a record of 8-6-3-1.