Carolina Hurricanes: Norfolk Admirals become the new ECHL affiliate

Who remembers how the Greenville Swamp Rabbits were the Canes ECHL affiliate not too long ago? That’s changed. Today the organization has announced that they have signed an affiliation deal with the Norfolk Admirals, and the Virginia-based hockey club will serve as the Canes affiliate in the ECHL for the foreseeable future.

Now, the Norfolk Admirals have an interesting history, competing in both the ECHL and the AHL in that time frame, they started off as the Hampton Roads Admirals back in 1989. For the next 11 years, they would compete in the ECHL and find a lot of success, developing a strong following in southern Virginia.

They would capture back-to-back ECHL titles in 1991 and 1992, as well as another one in 1998. To this date, that is their last ECHL title, but not their last success. As you may recall, I said they competed in both the ECHL and the AHL, and in 2000, they joined the American Hockey League as the affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Yes, this hockey club helped develop the players that formed the core of the Blackhawks dynasty in the early 2010s. But in 2008, they became the affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning. They worked with great prospects from two of the model organizations in the league during their time in the AHL.

In 2012, the winds of change blew heavily in Norfolk, and the team would find themselves winning the 2012 Calder trophy as the best team in the American Hockey League. But they would also find themselves with a new affiliate, this time it was the Anaheim Ducks. Don’t ask me why a California team was sending their players across the country, they just trusted the Admirals.

Anaheim was also a model organization at the time, having sustained success in the playoffs but never being able to push over that barrier and capture the 2nd Stanley cup the franchise craves. In 2015, the Ducks gained a new affiliate and the Admirals’ time in the AHL came to a conclusion. Norfolk would rejoin the ECHL in the following season, where they have remained since.

This is an organization with a history of winning in whatever league they are in, and to do that as a development team, you have to get the best out of the players you have around you. To say that they have worked with the prospect pools of contending teams, who are constantly trading prospects away, and still found success is a statement of success for this hockey club.

While this isn’t major news, it’s exciting to think that there’s now a history of a winning culture in the ECHL affiliation of the Carolina Hurricanes and that maybe the prospects who find themselves that far down the pecking order will have the help they need to push their way back to the Chicago Wolves and get themselves in the conversation for call-ups to the big leagues one day.

This is a minor move, not worth a lot of notice, but if prospects in the ECHL start to find themselves with a little more hope, that very well might be down to this switch. It’s an unusual feeling. It’s a very minor move, yet the possible effects could be great for the Hurricanes organization and the players coming through it.

Question for Cardiac Cane readers: Are you excited to see the Norfolk Admirals join the Hurricanes affiliates?