NORFOLK, Va. (Courtesy Norfolk Admirals) — The Norfolk Admirals will face the Adirondack Thunder in the 2024 North Division Finals beginning Friday night in Glens Falls, New York.
The Thunder defeated the Maine Mariners in Game 7 of the North Division Semifinals earlier this evening to secure their spot against Norfolk.
The Admirals are coming off of a 4-2 series victory in the North Division Semifinals over the Trois-Rivières Lions. Carson Musser, Danny Katic, and Austen Keating all posted six points in the series. Yaniv Perets started in five games, going 3-2 in those contests.
After taking two of three in Quebec, the Admirals returned back to Norfolk Scope for the remainder of the series. Norfolk won Game 4 by a score of 6-3, then the Lions snagged Game 5 by a count of 4-2. Sunday, Carson Golder totaled four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in an eventual 4-3 victory over Trois-Rivières to advance to the North Division Finals.
Adirondack finished the regular season as the top team not just in the North Division, but the Eastern Conference as well. They finished with a record of 43-18-7-4 (97 points).
Their first-round matchup against Maine was a challenging one, but the Thunder prevailed in Game 7 on Wednesday night to advance to round two. Forwards Tristan Ashbrook seven points, while Issac Poulter received six starts in goal.
The Admirals and Thunder met eight times during the regular season (five in Glens Falls and three in Norfolk). The Admirals won five of those contests, including four at Cool Insuring Arena. Admirals forward Stepan Timofeyev led the charge for Norfolk with 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists) in seven games played against the Thunder, while Katic totaled ten points. For Adirondack, forward Yushiroh Hirano finished with eight points in eight games against Norfolk.
The winner of this series will face the winner of the South Division Finals between the Florida Everblades and Orlando Solar Bears.
Here is the full schedule for the North Division Finals of the 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs:
GAME 1: Norfolk @ Adirondack | Friday, May 3 | Cool Insuring Arena | 7 p.m.
GAME 2: Norfolk @ Adirondack | Saturday, May 4 | Cool Insuring Arena | 7 p.m.
GAME 3: Adirondack @ Norfolk | Wednesday, May 8 | Norfolk Scope | 7:05 p.m.
GAME 4: Adirondack @ Norfolk | Friday, May 10 | Norfolk Scope | 7:05 p.m.
GAME 5 (if necessary): Adirondack @ Norfolk | Saturday, May 11 | Norfolk Scope | 7:05 p.m.
GAME 6 (if necessary): Norfolk @ Adirondack | Tuesday, May 14 | Cool Insuring Arena | 7 p.m.
GAME 7 (if necessary): Norfolk @ Adirondack | Wednesday, May 15 | Cool Insuring Arena | 7 p.m.