Jay Rosehill Returns To The Norfolk Admirals

Rumor has it … Seen On The Ice At Camp wearing # 3…….Something that will sure make most of us Admiral fans happy. Former Admiral Jay Rosehill returns to the Norfolk Admirals. Most likely a training camp tryout, but lets hope he does well and earns a roster spot for the season. The former Toronto Maple Leaf / Marlies winger last saw action with Norfolk during the 2008-09 season before being traded to the Toronto organization.

Jay Rosehill was selected in the 7th round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft (227th overall) by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He continued to play for the Olds Grizzlys of the AJHL in the 2003-04 season. The next season, he played for University of Minnesota Duluth of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. For most of the next four

Photo: John Wright

seasons, he was placed in the Tampa Bay Lightning farm system, playing for both Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL and the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League in 2005-06 and 2006-07. Due to new Tampa Bay farm system affiliations, he played for Mississippi Sea Wolves of the ECHL and the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League in 2007-08 & 2008-09. On March 10, 2009, his was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization for future considerations.

Rosehill last faced the Admirals as a member of the Toronto Marlies Calder Cup finals team that fell to our own Calder Cup Champion Admirals. It will be nice to see Jay in an Admirals jersey once more. He is not the type of player to back down from anyone and would bring a physical presence to the ice. Rosehill and the Admirals kick of the pre-season this Saturday, October 6, at the Norfolk Scope. Tickets are still available. Get your today.

Calder Cup Game 4 – Admirals Vs. Marlies

The quest for the cup continues. Norfolk have the Marlies up against the wall in what could be the final game of the AHL season. The only plans you should have today should involve the Admirals. Get yourself in front of the TV, Computer, Radio. It’s time once more to support the Admirals. We Want The CUP!!!!

The game starts at 3pm today. You can follow the game on these media outlets:  WGNT CW27, CBS Sports Network, or AHLlive.com. Listen at 102.1-FM, 1490-AM or 1021TheGame.com . No excuses…..Support The Admirals!

The History Of The Calder Cup

The coveted Calder Cup has been a motivational force for American Hockey League teams throughout the League’s 75-year history. It is one of our sport’s greatest challenges and ultimate honors to hoist the Calder Cup in victory.

The trophy is named for Frank Calder, who served as the National Hockey League’s first President from 1917 to 1943. During the 1920’s, Mr. Calder was instrumental in guiding hockey into the mainstream of America’s major cities including Boston, New York, Detroit and Chicago, while helping in the formation of the American League.

The Calder Cup trophy itself was actually first awarded in 1938 to the Providence Reds for winning the second International-American Hockey League championship. (In 1996, George Parsons of the Syracuse Stars was presented the Calder Cup in a ceremony at the Onondaga County War Memorial, as it is believed the Stars never received a trophy for their 1937 championship.)

In 2001, the trophy’s base was changed to include two tiers of plaques, which feature the rosters of each of the last 20 Calder Cup champions; the plaques from all previous champions are on display in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. The entire Calder Cup trophy now stands 24 inches tall and weighs 30 pounds. The bowl, made of sterling silver, is 12 inches high and eight inches in diameter. The hardwood base is made of poplar.

A total of 27 different cities have had their AHL member club win the Calder Cup, led by Hershey with 11 following the Bears’ 2010 championship. Cleveland (nine), Springfield (seven), Rochester (six), Providence (five), Portland (four), Glens Falls (four) and Chicago (two) are the other active cities with more than one title.

Twenty-seven members of the Hockey Hall of Fame have won the Calder Cup in their careers, including Johnny Bower, Terry Sawchuk, Emile Francis, Gerry Cheevers, Al Arbour, Andy Bathgate, Larry Robinson, Doug Harvey and Patrick Roy.

Not only have great players won the Calder Cup, but outstanding coaches have also hoisted the AHL’s championship trophy. Hall of Famer Fred “Bun” Cook holds the distinction of winning seven Calder Cups in his career; no other AHL head coach has ever won more than three. Current NHL head coaches with Calder Cup titles on their resumes include Nashville’s Barry Trotz (Portland, 1994), the New York Rangers’ John Tortorella (Rochester, 1996), Philadelphia’s Peter Laviolette (Providence, 1999), San Jose’s Todd McLellan (Houston, 2003), Winnipeg’s Claude Noel (Milwaukee, 2004) and Anaheim’s Bruce Boudreau (Hershey, 2006).

More than 100 players and coaches have won both the Calder Cup and Stanley Cup in their careers, including Ace Bailey, Brian Engblom, Dick Gamble, Butch Goring, Adam Graves, Peter Mahovlich, Kirk Maltby, Ab McDonald, Patrick Sharp, Fred Shero, Brian Skrudland and 2011 Stanley Cup champion Dennis Seidenberg.

Two-time Calder Cup champion Darren Haydar is the AHL’s all-time leader in playoff goals (59), assists (76) and points (135), and three-time winner Bryan Helmer has played in more Calder Cup Playoff games (144) than anyone else. Marcel Paille’s 49 playoff victories are the most ever by a goaltender, and Bill McDougall set single-season records that may never be broken when he tallied 26 goals, 26 assists and 52 points during the 1993 postseason with the Cape Breton Oilers.

Four men share the honor of having won the most Calder Cups during their playing careers: Bob Solinger, Les Duff, Fred Glover and Mike Busniuk each skated to five titles.

Calder Cup-winning teams have impacted significantly on the success of their NHL parent clubs. On three occasions an AHL club and its NHL affiliate won their league championships in the same year: In 1976 and 1977, the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup while their AHL affiliate, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, won the Calder Cup, and in 1995, the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils saw their AHL affiliate, the Albany River Rats, win a title as well. In 2008, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and their parent club in Pittsburgh both reached their respective league Finals before bowing out, and in 2010 the Hamilton Bulldogs and Montreal Canadiens both reached the conference finals.

Only one team in 75 years has been able to win the Calder Cup in three consecutive seasons: the Springfield Indians, under the leadership of Hockey and AHL Hall of Famers Eddie Shore and Jack Butterfield, skated to Calder Cup championships in 1960, 1961 and 1962.

Fluke goal in OT puts Admirals just one victory from Calder Cup

Photo: Graig Abel

If the Norfolk Admirals are a team of destiny, as well as one of the greatest pro franchises in Hampton Roads sports history, the ending of Thursday night’s game proved it.

A fluke goal 9:09 into overtime by Mike Kostka gave the Admirals a 1-0 victory in Toronto and a 3-0 lead over the Marlies in the best-of-seven Calder Cup finals.

The Admirals can clinch the American Hockey League’s championship trophy by winning Saturday’s 3 p.m. game, which, like Game 3, will be shown in Hampton Roads on WGNT-TV 27.

Goalie Dustin Tokarski made 21 saves for the victory, which came oddly after more than 69 scoreless minutes.

Photo: Graig Abel

Near the red center line, Kostka dumped the puck into a corner, and Marlies goalie Ben Scrivens went behind the net to play the expected carom. But the disc took a weird bounce into the net and went just beyond the goal line to stun the crowd of 8,084 and TV-watchers around the U.S. and Canada.

Admirals coach Jon Cooper said, “I’m sick to my stomach for Scrivens.”

Norfolk Admirals 1 (OT) at Toronto Marlies 0 – Status: Final OT
Thursday, June 7, 2012 – Ricoh Coliseum

Norfolk  0 0 0 1 – 1
Toronto 0 0 0 0 – 0

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Holzer Tor (holding), 0:31; Tokarski Nor (interference), 2:45; Ashton Tor (slashing), 6:29; Smith Nor (boarding), 8:03; Dupuis Tor (cross-checking), 10:09; Segal Nor (cross-checking), 18:44.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Conacher Nor (goaltender interference), 10:25.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Barberio Nor (tripping), 6:10; Fraser Tor (holding), 15:06.

OT Period-1, Norfolk, Kostka 4   9:09. Penalties-served by Picard Nor (bench minor – too many men), 1:12.

Shots on Goal-Norfolk 6-8-10-7-31. Toronto 11-5-3-2-21.
Power Play Opportunities-Norfolk 0 / 4; Toronto 0 / 6.
Goalies-Norfolk, Tokarski 11-2-0 (21 shots-21 saves). Toronto, Scrivens 11-5-0 (31 shots-30 saves).
A-8,084
Referees-Marcus Vinnerborg (45), Jean Hebert (43).
Linesmen-Kiel Murchison (35), Mathieu Chenier (71).

Picard And Scrivens Just Need To Settle Things…..

Calder Cup Finals Observations and Comments

By Ken Peacock

The Calder Cup Finals finally kicked off in Norfolk this past Friday night. The night started off with the raising of 4 new banners to the Norfolk Scope rafters. There was one banner each for the winning the East Division title, the AHL regular season points title, the Eastern Conference title. The fourth banner recognized the Admirals for their history making 28-game winning streak. There was also a trophy presentation that was rudely interrupted by the Toronto players pre-maturely skating onto the ice.

Photo: L. Todd Spencer – The Virginian Pilot

The game itself was fun to watch from the fans perspective. This was the first time that the Marlies and the Admirals have ever met in regular or post-season action. This was the game that would be used to feel each other out and see what could or could not be done. It was a penalty filled affair that saw the Admirals taking more penalties than we would normally like them to take. The upside to the penalties was that the Admiral offense managed to put the puck on net with over 40 shots. The Toronto media had stated that “Toronto has had the benefit of going into sparsely filled rinks and quickly taking out what little crowd atmosphere there has been. The Scope in Norfolk won’t likely sell out either.”    Well I can understand why they may have said that as Toronto has never been down here before. The end result was Norfolk packing the house with a loud crowd and taking a 3-1 victory over the Marlies.

Saturday night the Admirals played before a sellout crowd. It was noticeably colder in the arena than it was the previous night. The honeymoon was over and both teams got down to business. It was a tighter and faster game. The Admirals cut back on the penalties that they took and skated away from any retaliation penalties. Norfolk scored the first goal again and never looked back. The Admirals shut down the Marlies and won the match 4-2. The series now moves to Toronto for games 3,4, and 5 (if needed). Let’s hope they do not have to share this flight up north with the Marlies.

Photo: L. Todd Spencer – The Virginian Pilot

I was not too impressed with the Marlies. Yes they played well and made the finals. If they are as good as what I have read it did not show this weekend. I understand that they have some injuries to some key players, but then what team has not had that happen. The Admirals have had to pull thru some tough times. Cooper has had to Band-Aid the team up and they have answered the call. Ben Scrivens is a great goaltender and was responsible for keeping the Marlies within range of coming back. He was also a pest that should have been penalized a few times for his actions against Admiral players. Just ask Alex Picard what he thought about the goal stick across the eye in game 1 or the goalie interference call in game 2. Jay Rosehill did his best Louis Robitaille impersonation, but the Admirals did not fall for it.  I have never truly appreciated Carter Ashton. Yes he can play, but it’s the tough guy image that he tries to put on that makes me laugh. He did it here and still does it in Toronto. Ashton needs to stick to scoring and leave the tough guy thing to thugs like Rosehill. The Marlies as a whole were not able to adapt to the Admirals. Norfolk just outplayed them this weekend.

Future AHL referee

AHL officials……Hmm…..  I don’t know if it is AHL policy or not, but was it intentional to send the worst officials to the Calder Cup Finals? Embarrassing is one word to describe the officiating performance this weekend. Dave Andrew should be ashamed of what he saw. I understand that there is a tendency to let the boys “play”, but there were some really blatant blown calls. I really feel bad for Alex Picard. He found himself on the bottom of a pile and the Marlie goalie nailed him in the head with the stick and dragged the blade across his eye. In game 2 the goalie came out of the crease and blocked Picard and Alex got called for interference. Yes I am bitching about non-calls that would have benefited Norfolk. I am also bitching about calls made against the Admirals. Some may ask “Why are you bitching when your team won?” Well……The officiating blatantly sucked! There was no hiding that from the sellout crowd. I am just a passionate hockey fan.

Now let’s concentrate on the games ahead.  The Admirals need 2 more to win the Calder Cup. The quest resumes this Thursday in Toronto. There are plenty of options to enjoy this game. We have the radio, internet, and on WGNT TV in the Hampton Roads area.. Big Woody’s will be showing the game