Norfolk Admirals settle for No.3 seed

“We’re number one,” says a voice that echoes through a mid-size dressing room of the last Admirals regular season home game. The Admirals won the Southern Division for the first time in their brief history by defeating the Hershey Bears 3-1. However, they settled for the No.3 seed before Monday morning due to a 4-2 loss against the Philadelphia Phantoms on Saturday. The Admirals will have home ice advantage in a best-of five series starting on Friday night against the Hershey Bears. Head coach Trent Yawney says that it is all about habits. “ It is all about developing good habits and when you get into situations like this you want to continue want you’ve been doing,” says Yawney who seen his team finish with 92 points of the regular season.

Norfolk 3 Hershey 1

Norfolk- Enforcer ends drought: After a drought of 21 games without a goal, enforcer Shawn Thornton netted his seventh goal of the season on a pass from Nolan Baumgartner before the first intermission. “Yea, I waited all year just for this one goal and I couldn’t ask for it at a better time says Thornton, with grin, whose last goal was on March 16 against Cleveland.

Bears’ goalie Phil Sauve did not see his team post a shot until the last five minutes of the second period. The Admirals’ made its case, out shooting the Hershey Bears by 10 into the second period thus adding its second goal of the night from Steve McCarthy in front of an announced crowd of 4,738. However, after trailing in on the board in shots posted, the Bears’ started turning the numbers in their by favor out shooting Norfolk by 14 and adding goal by Yevgeny Lazarev in the third. But Michael Leighton walked away turning away 26 shots and added his 27th win of the regular season.