Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 16, 1994                   TAG: 9401160026
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: E3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RANDY KING
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long

ECHL HAS TO WRESTLE WITH IMAGE PROBLEM AFTER BRAWL

Maybe the Hampton Roads Admirals should head-butt coach John Brophy and bring in Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.

Maybe the Greensboro Monarchs should put a sleeper hold on coach Jeff Brubaker and summon Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart.

Since its Great Slugfest at the Scope on Jan. 7, the ECHL has become WWF2. The ECHL says its looking for television exposure. How about Monday night's right after Hulk Hogan & Co. on USA cable?

The script for the Greensboro-Hampton Roads game, won 5-4 by the Monarchs, must have been written by Brute Bernard.

It went like this: Two seconds after the opening faceoff, Greensboro's Jamie Nicholls jumped Hampton Roads' Brendan Curley at center ice. Seconds later, players everywhere swapped punches. Richie Walcott came off the Hampton bench and performed a swan dive on three Monarchs. Even the goalies tracked each other down to exchange pleasantries.

Twelve ejections and 249 penalty minutes later, the brawl of all ECHL brawls was over.

Then, as all pro rasslin' fans know, came the real show - the post-fight interview with the combatants, complete with finger-pointing, taunts and threats.

Brubaker spoke first, and right off the bat he revealed a possible motive behind the mischief. He yanked a newspaper clipping out of his pocket and recited a Brophy quote from nine days earlier, when the Admirals beat the Monarchs 6-1 in a game in which Greensboro's bus arrived late after being tied up by a traffic accident.

In the article, Brophy said: "[The Monarchs] probably weren't hung up in traffic at all. They probably sat out in the parking lot debating whether they wanted to come in [to the Scope] and take a beating."

Brubaker said it was bad enough his short-handed club played with only eight healthy bodies.

"[The Admirals] absolutely mopped the ice with us . . . they were picking fights . . . I remember Shawn Wheeler standing 10 feet from our bench inviting guys to come out and take a whipping . . . they were laughing at us. Then John Brophy opened his great, big, huge, enormous, giant, fat mouth. "

Brubaker denied his players were responsible for triggering the Jan. 7 brawl, though.

"If you're looking at someone to blame, look right at John Brophy," said the Monarchs' coach. "The only tactic he knows is intimidation."

Then, it was Brophy's turn. He quickly pointed the finger at Brubaker, who played for Brophy in the NHL with Toronto in 1985-86, recording no goals, no assists and 67 penalty minutes 21 games before being waived.

"He wasn't there to score goals, and nobody's ever done what he did any better," Brophy said. "His team is doing exactly what he was hired for all his life. Greensboro's got a nice little team, but it's no more than a good second-place team. Obviously, Brubaker's pushing the panic button to the floorboard."

Brophy, whose white hair makes him resemble a poor man's Ric Flair, then started to promote the rematch. Sounds like Texas Death Match stuff coming Jan. 23 in Greensboro.

"We will kick the [expletive] out of them the next time we see them," Brophy said. "If Brubaker thinks we won't show up next time, he's crazy. I will guarantee you this much: We will be there like a big dog at dinner time."

The "Nature Boy" himself couldn't have said it any better.

\ BRAWL FALLOUT: Admirals owner Blake Cullen maintains the wild free-for-all cost him about $5,000 when one advertiser, 10 season-ticket holders and 15 to 20 individual game ticket-holders requested and received refunds following the melee.

Tom Love, branch manager for Wheat First Securities in Norfolk, requested that his firm's advertising be removed from the boards at the Scope.

"I can't afford to have my firm associated with that kind of behavior in any way," Love told The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot. "I realize that when two guys square off, that's hockey. But when it becomes two-on-one and players are jumping other players . . . those guys deserved to go to jail."

Cullen, who accused Brubaker and the Monarchs of precipitating the brawl, said the incident "hurt our reputation."

"Brubaker, in my opinion, has torn down 4 1/2 years of work," Cullen said. "Maybe his plan was to ruin our franchise."

\ ICE CHIPS: It's a good thing Wheeling right wing Vadim Slivchenko can't speak English. There's no telling what the Russian would say to ECHL coaches and media members who snubbed him on their All-Star ballots. Slivchenko is tied for the league lead in goals (33) and ranks fourth in scoring (68 points), but he failed to make the East team for the Jan. 25 game in Norfolk. . . . Former NHL All-Star Dennis Hull, brother of Bobby Hull, will be the guest speaker at the ECHL's All-Star Banquet. Several NHL clubs have inquired about sending scouts to the game. . . . Fans leaving early in Knoxville, Tenn., on Jan. 9 missed the biggest comeback in ECHL history. The Cherokees scored three times in the final 60 seconds to stun Dayton 6-5.