THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 7, 1995 TAG: 9501070373
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Time was when Hampton Roads and Roanoke carried on a sedate hockey rivalry. Roanoke mangaged just nine victories in 44 tries against Hampton Roads coming into this season and generally succumbed meekly to the Admirals.
But times have changed, as was evident Friday at Scope.
The Admirals and Express battled to the final bitter seconds before Hampton Roads emerged with a 5-4 victory. And the accent was on bitter.
Roanoke coach Frank Anzalone became embroiled in a brief shouting match with Admirals coach John Brophy and assistant Al MacIsaac between the second and third periods. He later accused linesman Kevin Kierst of calling him a ``little bastard,'' and the Admirals coaches of ``unprofessional bench behavior.''
When told of Anzalone's statement, Brophy reacted with shock. ``He said what?'' Brophy said. ``I've got nothing to say about that. I don't know what he's talking about.''
MacIsaac did comment, however.
``Their players were talking to us before the game,'' he said. ``They were talking to us during the game. Tell him to control his players.''
No opponent, it seems, can control the Admirals on the ice these days. Hampton Roads (19-11-3) tied a team record with its sixth victory in a row. The ECHL's hottest team also won for the 10th time in its last 11 outings, and tightened up the East Division race into a near-draw between four teams.
Richmond, a 5-3 winner over Charlotte, leads with 45 points. The Renegades (20-8-5) play the Admirals at Scope tonight.
Charlotte (44) is second, Roanoke (43) third and Hampton Roads (41) fourth.
Brophy, whose team won for the first time in three tries against Roanoke, was ecstatic with Friday's performance.
``It's another game we had to win to get on top,'' he said. ``We forechecked hard, we played hard. We outshot them (40-22). We played a great game.''
Chris Phelps had a goal and two assists as the Admirals bolted to a 4-1 lead midway through a second period that was explosive - in more ways than one.
There were five goals, including one each by Admirals Jason MacIntyre, Rick Kowalsky and Matt Mallgrave. There were also three fights, 19 penalties and 78 penalty minutes.
Roanoke's Mark Luger scored last, at 18:37, to pull the Express to within 4-2, and the period ended with bad feelings as Anzalone shouted at Brophy and MacIsaac on his way off the ice.
The Admirals appeared on the verge of putting the game away when Rob MacInnis scored a shorthanded goal at 1:49 of the third period to increase the margin to 5-2. But Roanoke slowly clawed its way back into contention.
Oleg Yashin scored at 2:34 to close the margin to two.
Anzalone then took a gamble by pulling his goaltender at 16:00. Thirty-three seconds later, Derek Laxdal scored to make it 5-4.
The Express rally ran out of gas, however, as the Admirals defense and goaltender Corwin Saurdiff turned away four shots in the final minutes.
Anzalone calmly but clearly blistered Brophy and the Admirals at game's end. He also blistered the officiating crew, which called him for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the second period that led to an Admirals power-play goal.
``I hurt my hockey team, that's the bottom line,'' Anazalone said. ``He (Kierst) called me a little bastard. That upset me.''
And why did he yell at Brophy and MacIsaac?
``I responded to their lack of professionalism, that's all,'' he said. ``There was a lot of yipping going on on their thoughts on how the game ought to be won. It goes on all the time here. I guess that's part of the excitement of playing in Norfolk.''
Will he hold a grudge when the Admirals venture to Roanoke twice in the next 11 days?
``Not me. I'm an educated, intelligent coach,'' he said. ``When they come to Roanoke, my game plan will be to try to beat them, not try to beat them up.'' by CNB