NORFOLK — The Norfolk Admirals began their 2025-26 campaign last week, and Scope Arena will come alive tonight for the first weekend of home games as the boys in blue and gold, led by head coach Jeff Carr, look to bring an ECHL title to the 757.
WYDaily recently sat down with Carr and center Brandon Osmundson ahead of the home opener puck drop.
Last year, the Admirals went on an early win streak before dealing with some injuries and adversity. By the regular season’s end, the team had earned a 40-25 record and notched six overtime wins.
Going down to the final game of the season, the Admirals secured enough points to earn a Kelly Cup Playoff spot and won the first round. The Admirals were bounced from the playoffs in the second round by the eventual overall winner, Trois-Rivieres Lions.
Ahead of the 2025-26 season, Carr, along with the front office staff, have been adding key pieces to the Admirals bench.
“In any league, you can’t acquire high, high-level talent unless your team is good, your fanbase is good, everything is in a good spot, because highly talented players don’t come to underrated teams. For us, that’s a huge feather in our cap to our ownership, front office and our fans,” Carr said.
Carr enters his fourth season leading the Admirals.
A hometown product, Brandon Osmundson of Chesapeake, remains a key part of the Admirals lineup. Osmundson began playing hockey as a young boy and came up through the ranks of the Hampton Roads Whalers hockey program. After delaying his college years, Osmundson relied on a junior hockey program to continue sharpening his skillset before landing a DIII offer to play at Utica University.
Osmundson, who was on the 2024-25 roster, feels that the squad left a lot on the ice last year.
“That second round of the playoffs was a tough division battle. We kind of knew in the back of our minds that the winner of that series was going to go on and win the whole thing. It was tough, we had a couple injuries that we played shorthanded during the last few games. It’s no excuse, but we really want to focus on overcoming that adversity this year,” Osmundson said.
With a championship on his mind, Carr spent much of the offseason building up the Admirals talent pool.
“We have to be cognizant of the fact that when you are going for a championship, you are throwing everything you’ve got. After trades and players heading to different levels, you are left with a very base model of a team. We had to build off that. Right now, I’ve never built more. Every second of the day is spent on acquiring new talent. We need to bring more talent into our building,” Carr said.
While the team has lost some key players due to trades, Carr is approaching the new season with the idea that every player has their responsibilities.
“Everyone has a job to do and they are here for a certain job. If they think that we have momentum from last year, they are kidding themselves. The momentum is going to start with them doing their job. We’re the most hated team in this league and we need to embrace that and continue on that type of trend. Nobody is going to give us anything. There are no free lunches in this league. We need to be competitive and continue to be on the edge,” Carr added.
Both Carr and Osmundson also spoke about the importance and impact of the Admirals fanbase.
“It’s a long season, we play 72 games and it can be tough when maybe we aren’t playing our best game. To hear the fans, still screaming, still sticking by you, it really helps you when you are down to find that next level of energy. It’s not cheap to come to these games and for these fans to bring their kids and to spend their hard-earned money, you just want to put on a show for them and make sure you bring your best every single time. When this place is loud and we are performing well, it feels like the roof is going to fly off,” Osmundson said.
The Admirals will open the home slate on Oct. 24 at 7:05 p.m. against the Worcester Railers. The team will play the Saturday game on Oct. 25 at 7:05 p.m. Tickets and more information can be found at norfolkadmirals.com.