NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Hampton Roads is the best when it comes to embracing their own.
Brandon Osmundson embodies the 757 and what it means to be from here. Hard work, a dedication to your craft and an unwillingness to take no for an answer or, simply put, give up.
Osmundson, a Chesapeake native, started watching hockey when he was a year old, and he didn’t even grow up in a hockey house.
“My dad was a basebalI player, but he had season tickets,” Osmundson said. “I would just be watching in section 210. When you go to so many, you want to start playing for that team. I became so attached to the game, because I was so wired into it at that time.”
The memories that sparked his passion for hockey was when the Ads won the Calder Cup during the 2011-12 season.
“I remember, I was 9,10-years-old. I remember when they went on that 28-game winning streak,” Osmundson said. “It was a special team and a special environment.”
Osmundson was called up to Norfolk from the Hunstville Havoc. He said it’s grartifying knowing his good play on the ice led to this, and not just because of his three digit area code.
“It’s good because you don’t want to make a team based on the fact that you’re from here,” Osmundson said. “We’re on the come up.”
Now that he’s here, he’s been red hot, especially over his last 10 games, tallying three goals and five assists.
“When he was born, he would just lay on my shoulder, and we would just enjoy the games with our friends,” said his parents, Brian and Karen Osmundson. “Always thought he was going to play baseball, never thought this would happen. We’re so extremely proud, and just wish him all the best in what he can do and be. He’s living out his dream and that’s not something a lot of people can do. For him to do that, I’m extremely proud.”
Said Admirals owner Patrick Cavanaugh: “There aren’t a lot of times in life when you can see a 20-year-old objective come to be. When I was told he was coming here, all those memories, all those mornings on the ice. His journey came to realization.”