The Admirals had some interesting young talent coming in, from Johnson to Palat to Richard Panik, Radko Gudas (now with the Panthers) and Mark Barberio. And it pissed you off.Ĭooper: That sounds like something I would do. I don’t know who put it up, but it was motivating.Ĭory Conacher: Every time you had to pee, you saw it. It had like preseason predictions for the AHL, and had us in next-to-last place. Cote: I remember there was a newspaper clipping put over the urinal in the bathroom in the locker room. Phillips: But nobody would have ever expected them to win 28 games and a Calder Cup.
When he spoke, you could tell this guy was going to be something special. People came in and said, “Oh, this guy wins at every level.” Right away, you could see it. And that’s what we did.Īthletic trainer Brad Chavis: When Coop came in, we didn’t know who he was. When you put those young kids in a winning environment, it was going to be what we wanted. In Cooper’s first year with Norfolk, they made the playoffs but got swept in the first round.Ĭooper: Our belief was if you want to develop hockey players, the best way to develop players was winning. But he and then assistant GM Julien BriseBois had to rebuild Tampa Bay’s AHL program from scratch. Cooper won a title at every level with his colorful style. Cooper, the former attorney, took an improbable path, from a Hofstra lacrosse player to high school coach in Michigan before making stops in Texarkana, St. The Admirals had missed the playoffs in their first three years under the Lightning’s affiliation - and hadn’t made it past the second round in the previous decade - before they decided to bring in Cooper in 2010. This is the story of that group, who made hockey history 10 years ago. “I swear they didn’t drive me into priesthood,” Phillips said. As the bus whizzed past the arena on Granby Street, a few fans chasing behind, Keith Phillips - then a 29-year-old PR man, now a pastor - was freaking out. They’d do one more shot (of Crown Royal) and beer as a team, then sing and dance to their ‘We Are Young” win song for a while.
They were ready to rage.īut coach Jon Cooper told the driver, a retired Marine nicknamed “Solly,” to first take the 30-bed sleeper bus to their go-to bar: Hell’s Kitchen.
#Best single player games 2012 pro#
The Norfolk Admirals had won the Calder Cup, capping off their pro hockey record 29-game winning streak. There were many more fans, and news crews, waiting for them at the arena. Hundreds lined the hallway near baggage claim wearing navy and red jerseys, holding signs, giving high fives. Two fire trucks sprayed hoses at the commercial 747 jet they were on as it pulled into the tarmac. The best team in American Hockey League history was coming off a two-day celebratory bender in Toronto, including racking up a $10,000 bar tab at Madison Ave Pub, when they arrived back in Norfolk, Va., to a heroes’ welcome on June 10, 2012.
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