Admirals Weekly: February 6, 2018

Last Week:

Tuesday, Jan. 30 at South Carolina, W, 5-3

Friday, Feb. 2 vs Reading, L, 1-7

Saturday, Feb. 3 vs. Reading, L, 0-2

This Week:

Friday, Feb. 9 vs. Adirondack, 7:00 pm

Saturday, Feb. 10 vs. Adirondack, 7:00 pm

Sunday, Feb. 11 vs Adirondack, 2:00 pm

Quick Hits:

After going 1-2-0-0 last week the Admirals still sit six points out of the fourth and final playoff spot in the South Division. Norfolk began a nine-game home stand over the weekend dropping both ends of a back-to-back with the Reading Royals. Norfolk prepares for the fourth three-in-three of the season as the Admirals host Adirondack this weekend.

Week Ahead:

Norfolk welcomes the Thunder back to the Scope for a three-game set over the weekend. The games will be matchups three, four, and five of the six game season series. Adirondack won each of the first two meetings, topping the Admirals 3-2 on November 16, and 4-2 on December 9.

The Thunder head into the weekend as a part of a three-way tie for second place in a tightly contested North Division. Adirondack, Reading, and Wheeling are all tied with 56 points, four points back from division leading Manchester. Last weekend the Thunder split a pair of games, topping Worcester before falling to Manchester.

Salute to the Olympics:

The Admirals will celebrate the kick-off of the 2018 Winter Games over the weekend with a Salute to the Olympics, and Salute to Special Olympics on Friday and Saturday nights respectively.

Milestone In Reach:

Brodie Dupont is set to appear in his 600th professional game on Friday night when the Admirals host the Thunder. Dupont, 30, is in his 11th professional season after making his pro debut with the Hartford Wolf Pack during the 2007-08 season. The forward spent the first five seasons of his career almost exclusively in the AHL with Hartford/Connecticut and Milwaukee. After playing overseas for the majority of four seasons overseas Dupont returned to North America and has appeared in 86 ECHL games with the Admirals. Over the course of his career Dupont has recorded 363 points (136g, 227a).

Top Ten:

Four points (3g, 1a) last week helped Brodie Dupont keep pace with the league leaders, ranking sixth in the ECHL in scoring. Since the turn of the calendar the captain has notched five multipoint games in 15 tries. With 48 points in 46 games, Dupont is currently on six points back from Fort Wayne’s Shawn Szydlowski who leads the league with 54 points.

Netminder Ty Reichenbach has made the second most saves of any ECHL netminder this season (957). Tula’s Jake Hildebrand is the only goaltender who has stopped more pucks this season, and the only other goalie with more than 900 saves. Reichenbach ranks just outside the top ten (12th) in the league in save percentage (.916), while playing the sixth most minutes of any goaltender.

Bolstering the Blue Line:

Norfolk added defenseman Romain Chuard on Monday afternoon. The 6’6” blueliner joins the Admirals after beginning the season in the top league in Switzerland. Chuard, 21, has skated in 42 games with Geneve-Servette HC over the last two seasons, and is expected to make his North American debut on Friday.

Continuing the Home Stand:

The three home games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, continue the Admirals season long nine-game home stand. A pair of six-game home stands earlier in the season were the second longest home stands the Admirals hosted this season. Following the conclusion of the nine game stretch the Admirals will only play consecutive home games on three more occasions the rest of the season. The most consecutive home games Norfolk will play in the final month and a half of the season in three.

In the Hunt:

Despite going winless over the weekend the Admirals are still six points out of the fourth and final playoff spot in the South Division. Norfolk also sits four points behind the fifth-place Swamp Rabbits, on whom the Admirals have a game in hand. While 11 points back from third place Atlanta the Admirals have continued to keep the fourth-place Solar Bears within six points over the last few weeks.