THE PLAN SEEMED SOUND: Sign some veteran free agents to mentor a young nucleus. Lean on a hotshot young goalie. Watch the victories pile up. So how did the Norfolk Admirals, the team with that plan, get mired in the worst season in franchise history?
THE APOCALYPSE?
Early on, there were three indications Norfolk’s season was in trouble.
WE HARDLY KNEW YOU
When they were signed last summer, indications were that Craig MacDonald, the Admirals’ 2006-07 captain, and Mathieu Darche, one of the AHL’s top scorers last season, would fortify the team, playing its first season as the top affiliate of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning . Problem was, they played so well that when the Lightning broke training camp, MacDonald and Darche went to Tampa . It left Admirals fans wondering, “Who’s going to score the goals?’’ Several weeks into the season, they were still wondering.
RAMO GOES DOWN
Without much firepower, the Admirals pinned their hopes on young goalie Karri Ramo, the franchise’s top prospect. But after one game, Ramo suffered a high ankle sprain. Initially, the hope was that he would miss three weeks or so. He wound up sitting out twice that long, then played just five more games in Norfolk before being summoned to Tampa Bay for the rest of the season.
REALITY HITS
On Oct. 19, the Admirals opened their home schedule with a rousing 5-1 rout of Binghamton that was reminiscent of the dominant form they displayed throughout last season. The next night, in the same arena against the same team, they stumbled through a 5-1 loss to the Senators that exposed the flaws and inconsistency that would plague this outfit throughout the winter.
SO HOW BAD WAS IT?
The gory details of a season gone awry.
- Entering Saturday’s finale, the Admirals record stood at 28-44-2-5 – 27th in the 29-team AHL. No Norfolk Admirals team had ever won fewer than 35 regular-season games.
- Entering Saturday, the Admirals had 63 points. A year ago, they amassed 67 just in home games.
- The Admirals will miss the playoffs for the first time; that includes eight years in the AHL and 11 more in the ECHL.
-Norfolk’s 18-19-1-2 mark at Scope marked its first losing season at home.
THEY STILL CAME
For years, many wondered whether Admirals fans would support a losing team. Well …
- The Admirals averaged 4,241 a game this year, short of last year’s 4,684 but higher than any of the previous three seasons before 2006-07.
- Norfolk’s attendance was more than 400 a game greater than the Rockford IceHogs, whose roster includes many of last season’s Admirals .
- Norfolk’s feel-good 5-2 victory against Albany last Saturday, the home finale, drew 6,627 fans – the seventh-highest mark in franchise history.
STOCK UP
Despite the team’s woes, these players still distinguished themselves:
- Vladimir Mihalik: The 6-foot-8, 21-year-old former first-round pick overcame shaky conditioning and a mistake-filled first half and developed into a surprisingly steady defenseman.
- Paul Szczechura and Junior Lessard: Two forwards acquired in separate deals from Iowa in mid-January sparked an offensive renaissance . Szczechura was scoring at virtually a goal-a-game pace until going down with a groin injury, while Lessard earned an extended call-up to Tampa Bay. Lightning management says it is intent on re-signing both.
- Bracken Kearns: Hard-working center earned an “A” – alternate captain – for his sweater by consistently turning in honest, solid efforts in even the most disastrous Admirals performances.
- Brandon Segal: Took advantage of a depleted roster and re-invigorated his career by emerging as one of the Admirals’ best players after being traded to Norfolk in late February.
STOCK DOWN
Three who endured a rocky campaign:
- Jonathan Boutin: The popular goalie had some strong performances but was unable to consistently fill the void created by Ramo’s injury and could be the odd man out as the Lightning makes goaltending plans for next season.
- Kyle Wanvig: The veteran forward has talent to spare and will end the season as the team’s leading scorer. But he never assumed a leadership role on the team and was called out publicly by coach Steve Stirling for not playing hard late in the season.
- Steve Stirling: Fairly or not, Stirling took the brunt of the fans’ ire for his seemingly laid-back in-game style during the team’s struggles. It’s obvious that Stirling’s Admirals were undermanned most of the year. Still, his fate appears to be uncertain; Admirals general manager Claude Loiselle would only stay that the coach will be evaluated at season’s end.
SO, WHAT’S NEXT?
Some elements of the latest grand plan for Admirals’ success:
- The Lightning has another top goaltending prospect in the organization, former first-round draft pick Riku Helenius. There’s also talk that Ramo could spent at least part of next season continuing his development in the AHL.
- The Lightning won the lottery for the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft. Canny selections should at the very least provide depth for an organization that has been exceptionally shallow in recent years.
- Next season will mark the 20th year of Admirals hockey, and the series of celebrations marking the occasion – including another Hall of Fame induction and the return of the alumni game – should help create a festive atmosphere.
- The much-anticipated new scoreboard at Scope is expected to be in place for the season opener, according to Admirals vice president Mark Bernard. The scoreboard was originally slated to be unveiled at midseason, but Bernard said the city asked for upgrades that delayed its arrival.
Then again, it’s likely many failed to notice. Given the way the season went, Admirals fans likely didn’t spend too much time looking at the scoreboard.