5 minute read
Norfolk: The Puck Drops Here
By Jimmy Hunt
PHOTOS BY DAVID POLSTON
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THE ADMIRALS DIG DEEP WITH A MOTIVATED LEADER AT THE HELM
The Norfolk Admirals—the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes and the Chicago Wolves—opened their 2022-23 schedule at Norfolk Scope Arena on October 21st against the South Carolina Stingrays with a disappointing loss. But leading the charge is the dynamic Norfolk Admirals’ President Billy Johnson, who is about to complete his first year in charge of the organization.
ADMIRALS PRESIDENT & CEO Billy Johnson
amed President and Chief Operating Officer by Admirals owner Patrick Cavanaugh in November of 2021, Johnson describes his first year as “terrific, busy, and terrifically busy!” The bright and enthusiastic leader clearly lives to challenge himself and his team and praises his front office staff as young and hungry as well as eager to learn and collaborate. He loves to ask his team, “What if…?” Johnson has received multiple honors as a professional sports executive, and when asked about his vision for Admirals hockey, he says, “I’m a lucky lad. It’s about problem solving and knocking down walls for talent and drive. Early on, I see a real opportunity to re-connect the team to the entire Hampton Roads market. A consumer universe is often generational, so getting back to basics of who the Admirals are, why they exist, and what’s in it for the community is a vital square-one approach.” “My overall drivers,” says Johnson, “all support being a champion for the communities that give a professional sports team permission to represent them. I view my position as a caretaker of the community asset. It’s an asset that does not work unless it supports businesses, quality of life, the arts, and so forth.” He goes on to say, “Yes, the Admirals play professional hockey. But as an organization, our real job is to be a community asset; a meeting place. A place where memories are made and all who gather share the truth of who the good guys are. And the good guys are the ones who represent Hampton Roads. Johnson has a reputation for outside-the-box- promotions, and fans both new and old will enjoy exciting new promotions coming this season to Scope Arena when the Admirals take the ice. The centerpiece promotion is called the City Series. One weekend a month the Admirals are representing a Hampton Roads city on the ice in the uniform specific to that city—the Hampton Admirals, Chesapeake Admirals, Virginia Beach Admirals, and so on. Langley Federal
Credit Union and WAVY TV saw in that idea the long-term vision and jumped right on board to support it, looking toward multi-year traditions. Also, on January 16, the ECHL Warrior All-Star Game presented by Optima Health, Sentara, and 13 NEWS NOW brings a national television audience to Hampton Roads. Additionally—for the first time in a few seasons—the Admirals will have a proper promotional giveaway calendar. Johnson states, “We’ll see what people like this year and go from there. And of course—for a select crowd—we are excited to get behind $2 beer nights at every Wednesday home game.”
Creative Force in Sports Johnson is no stranger to success. A proven leader in professional sports management, he led the startup of the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers and navigated the organization as President and Chief Operating Officer from 2003 through 2014. Under Johnson, the Wranglers became the most prominent professional resident team-sports organization in Las Vegas’s history. Johnson was nominated four times for the ECHL’s Executive of the Year Award. Johnson sees the rare longevity of the Admirals and the historic Norfolk Scope Arena as two key factors that make Norfolk’s hockey team special. “It’s rare for any team to be around since 1989. A large part of that credit goes to the city of Norfolk. The city values the team, and values that the team plays downtown at Scope. The feeling is mutual. Getting to know the players in the city and at Scope has been a wonderfully unexpected joy. They are fans as much as they are hosts. And they are honoring us by sharing their excitement for our next three seasons.” Johnson’s message to the Hampton Roads community is that gathering at Scope to experience professional ice hockey has great potential to create memories and build relationships. He states, “I have a comedian friend in Las Vegas who says he once got a compliment from a woman, ‘Your show was the best show I never wanted to come to,’ and I think that sums it up. As a society we identify reasons to not do things. We negative scout. Norfolk Admirals hockey isn’t 100% about the game. It’s a rare place where everyone shares a truth. We see our kids laughing, cheering, and smiling. And everyone is doing those things for the same reasons: the shared truth. Our relationships get better. For a couple hours we forget the coworker that rubs us the wrong way, or the D-minus little Johnny got in math, or that hassle we may be having with an insurance adjuster. It all just goes away and is replaced with a sense of community. We are left with great memories of each other.” The Admirals are led on the ice by head coach and general manager Rod Taylor, who Johnson describes as, “determined, tireless, and loyal.” Taylor is a former Admirals player and a 2009 inductee into the ECHL Hall of Fame. Jeff Carr, who in his own right has been a successful head coach, joined the staff as assistant coach last August, but anything can happen once the puck drops. After a few weeks on the road, the Admirals return to Norfolk to take on the Worcester Railers on November 23. Says Johnson, “There is nothing like professional hockey live and in person. Fans will be screaming and out of their seats at the end of nearly every game.”
Jimmy Hunt is an avid sports fan who recently retired from Virginia Beach City Public Schools after 32 years as a health and physical education teacher and baseball coach. He now teaches at StoneBridge School in Chesapeake.
