The Norfolk Admirals is an ECHL professional hockey team proudly representing the Hampton Roads region and the 1.8-million-member community of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News and Northeastern North Carolina.
With 31 incredible years of success, including three ECHL Championships and one American Hockey League Championship, the Admirals are distinguished as one of the longest-standing ECHL teams to maintain the same team name and home location.
Under the direction of legendary head coach John Brophy for its initial 11 seasons, the Admirals earned three ECHL titles and secured numerous records in wins, championships and league-wide attendance. In recognition of his winning career, the ECHL later named its Coach of the Year Award in Brophy’s honor.
In 2019, the Norfolk Admirals was acquired by former Admiral Patrick Cavanagh. An “original Admiral” who played on the team from 1989-1991, Cavanagh contributed to the Hampton Roads Admirals’ first ECHL championship in 1991 before going on to play for the New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning NHL organizations.
After taking ownership of the team and looking to carry the Admirals’ exceptional history into the future, Cavanagh named Rod Taylor, the Admirals’ all-time most decorated player and Hall of Fame member, to Head Coach.
Always, our standard is one marked by excellence.