NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- It was a strong road trip through Georgia to open the season for the Norfolk Admirals.
Jeff Carr's squad began its schedule 2-1 with a win at Savannah and splitting two contests at Atlanta. It was a great way to open things up.
"The guys did a really good job of surviving and overcoming and bouncing back and showing," Carr said. "We had to be a survival mode-type team and we got rewarded for it."
Now the Admirals get to take their home ice as they return to Scope for the first time in the fall of 2026. Norfolk opens a three-game set with Trois-Rivieres on Friday night, the first of five consecutive home games for the team.
"There's a different element that Scope brings," Carr noted. "There's some tremendous rinks and cities and fans all over this country at different levels, but there's a different opening night Scope feel that's like no other."
Goalie Matt Vernon is new to the Admirals this season. He picked up both victories in net during the opening road trip and he's eager to experience his first game in Norfolk wearing the home sweater.
"I'm really excited to see how the home crowd is here," said Vernon. "I've played here on the road and it's been pretty good here so far, but I'm very, very excited to get out there."
Trois-Rivieres and the Admirals have grown into quite the rivalry over the course of the last several years. Norfolk knocked the Lions out of the playoffs in the opening round in 2024, with Trois-Rivieres returning the favor in the 2025 North Division finals. Neither team advanced to the postseason in 2026.
2025-2026 saw the Admirals finish with 30 wins and 64 points, good enough for seventh place in the ECHL's North Division and well out of the playoff picture. That has stuck with Carr and many who were part of the organization last season.
"I'm still mad about it," Carr exclaimed. "It made me sick to my stomach every single day, living through it, watching what was happening. There were so many positives in the review of it, though, myself included as coach and GM of what I needed to do better and lines that we needed to stand on and believe."
Now the team has turned the page and is ready to put together a strong 2026-2027, hoping that's on full display Friday night.
Norfolk and Trois-Rivieres drop the puck at 7:05 p.m.
