November 13-15

A blustery and very chilly Friday started the weekend, for me it was a perfect day to stay in and warm. There were various high school football playoff games around the area but since neither JPM or LCHS qualified for the postseason I was singularly unconcerned (I'm very provincial that way: once my team has played its last game the season is OVER). On Saturday we had lunch in Quarryville, in the afternoon it was on to Reading for evening hockey at the Arena. Norfolk, Virginia has a rich hockey history dating back to the early '70s when the Virginia Red Wings were in the AHL. In 1999 the region received an ECHL franchise known as the "Hampton Roads" Admirals, from 2000 to 2015 the "Norfolk" Admirals played in the AHL. That franchise fell victim to the AHL's western migration during the off-season which allowed the ECHL to reenter the market. On this night the Ads were making their first of five appearances at the Arena. There was no score until the midpoint of the second period, Norfolk struck first but Mike Pereira countered quickly to tie the score at 1-1. The Admirals took a 2-1 advantage into the third period, that lead held until Justin Crandall found the net to knot matters at 2-2. In the final minutes the Royals were awarded a 5-on-3 power play chance, an apparent go-ahead goal was disallowed when it was ruled to have been kicked into the net. The Royals responded by scoring one that counted, Adam Comrie's slap shot from the blue line gave the club the lead. From there Connor Knapp closed the door as the Royals picked up the tough 3-2 win. On Sunday the teams met again in the back end of the doubleheader, the first period alone featured more penalty minutes than the entire Saturday game. The scoring pattern was eerily similar to Saturday night as well, once again the Ads scored first but the Royals equaled it thanks to Matt Hatch. Norfolk went up 2-1 in the second but Adam Comrie replied to make it 2-2. Early in the third period Robbie Czarnik lit the lamp to give the Royals the lead, in the closing moments Matt Hatch scored into the empty net to cement the weekend sweep at 4-2. Martin Ouellette was the Royals goalie of record. The club's record stands at 8-4-0, the next game at home is on Friday the 20th against Elmira. Take care, thanks for reading.