After what was a tremendous season that made the city of Norfolk extremely proud, the Norfolk Admirals extended their bench boss, Jeff Carr, to a multi-year contract. Carr led the Admirals to a winning season during the 2023-24 season, which was the first since they re-joined the league for the 2016-17 season. The Admirals collected 89 points in 69 games played to claim fourth place in the ECHL, second in the North Division of the Eastern Conference, just eight points back of the Adirondack Thunder, and their first appearance in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, the Admirals had a 43-point difference in the standings under Carr.
Carr led the Admirals to a round one series win over the Trois-Rivieres Lions where they had to fight through adversity not seeing a home game until game four. The Admirals would meet with the Thunder in the North Divison Finals but eventually fall to them four games to two.
Under Carr and the affiliation with the Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose, this Admirals team is one we have not seen since the 2012 Calder Cup winning team. The Admirals play an exciting, fast-paced game, and that is thanks to Carr’s system.
“The opportunity in continuing to help build a world-class team in a prominent pro hockey city was a no-brainer for me,” Carr said. “Working side-by-side with our first class ownership and affiliate’s to develop our players and bringing a winner to this city inspires me daily.”
Jeff Carr via the Norfolk Admirals Press Release
Carr has a long history of hockey, having played in the Minnesota Junior Hockey League with the St. Paul Lakers (2003-04) and Wisconsin Mustangs (2004-05), the Great Lakes Hockey League with the Eagle River Falcons (2005-08), and American Collegiate Hockey Association with the University of Minnesota-Crookston (2009-11).
He would go on to begin his coaching career in the Western States Hockey League with the Salt Lake City Moose and Ogden Mustangs as an assistant coach in 2012-13, then taking over the head coaching position beginning with the 2013-14 season. Carr would get his foot into pro hockey when he was given the opportunity to be an assistant coach during the 2016-17 season in the ECHL with the Utah Grizzlies. He landed a head coaching position in the Southern Professional Hockey League with the Knoxville Ice Bears from 2017-2022. Carr was named SPHL Coach of the Year for the 2021-22 season which caught the eye of ex-Admirals player and now owner, Patrick Cavanagh. Carr joined the Admirals as an assistant coach at the beginning of the 2022-23 season. When things were not going well in the 2022-23 season under ex-Admirals player and then head coach Rod Taylor, Carr was promoted to head coach for the remainder of the season and took the reigns to turn the team into what it is now.
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