THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 29, 1994 TAG: 9410290358
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Scott Gruhl, a 35-year-old left winger, showed a heartbroken Scope crowd of 8,072 on Friday why he is the International Hockey League's career goals-scoring leader.
Gruhl stroked a lefthanded shot through goaltender Patrick's LaLime's legs in a shootout to give Richmond a 6-5 victory over the Hampton Roads Admirals.
It was the second goal of the night for Gruhl, who was acquired from the IHL's Milwaukee Admirals in the offseason, and the only goal scored in the shootout.
Richmond upped its East Division-leading record to 4-0. Hampton Roads, which visits Richmond tonight at 7:30, fell to 2-2-1.
Odds are, it won't be a pleasant trip up Interstate 64 for the Admirals. Coach John Brophy ushered reporters into the locker room immediately after the game and invited them to take notes while he blasted his players.
The expletives have been deleted.
``They outplayed us, they outskated us, they outhustled us,'' he said. ``Not a guy in here came to play, not one. You show me one guy in this room who came to play hockey and tell him to stand up. Show me one, just one.
``They (the Renegades) deserved to win and kicked the out of us in our own building. Richmond played great. They beat us everywhere on the rink.''
Then, in an apparent reference to Richmond's poor attendance, he said: ``If we go up to Richmond tomorrow and stink up the place, at least nobody will be there to see us.''
With that, Brophy stormed out of the locker room. Later, he returned to inform the players that they will practice this morning at 10:30.
The players agreed with Brophy that their effort was poor, especially on defense. Richmond scored three quick goals to take a 3-1 lead and was ahead, 4-1, early in the second period.
The Admirals scored four of the last five goals and outhustled the Renegades in the final minutes of regulation to tie the contest. Defenseman Ron Pascucci scored his second goal of the game at 19:09 of the third period to force overtime.
Pascucci's goal, which followed a deflected shot by Tom Menicci, was caught by goaltender Grant Sjerven. But referee Terry Koharski ruled that Sjerven's glove was over the line when he caught it.
The comeback may have left the Admirals out of gas. Richmond outshot Hampton Roads, 4-2, in the five-minute overtime, in which the Admirals were called for icing three times. Then it went to a shootout.
Rod Taylor, Matt Mallgrave, Jim Brown, Trevor Halverson and Brendan Curley all went one-on-one with Sjerven, who stopped four shots with his pads. A hard slap shot by Halverson, the fourth player to shoot for Hampton Roads, hit the post.
LaLime stopped shots by Jan Benda, Shane Henry, Steve Bogoyevac and Chris Tucker, two on diving saves. But he didn't stop Gruhl, who carried the pack almost to the goal and made him commit.
``The scouting report (on LaLime) is that he's a butterfly goalie,'' Gruhl said. ``Once he committed himself, that's when I got off a shot.''
LaLime, a rookie who had never been involved in a shootout, said he didn't get his stick down quickly enough.
``I should have known better,'' he said.
His teammates say LaLime never should have been put in that position.
``We didn't come ready to play,'' said Halverson, who, ironically, played briefly with Gruhl in Milwaukee last season. ``We've got a bunch of guys who just think they can show up and things will happen. But you have to come ready to play, and we weren't.
``I'm just a guilty as the rest.''
Brophy had blasted his team, though in milder terms, following a 9-5 victory over Greensboro on Wednesday in which the defense also played poorly.
``This game was a lot like the Greensboro game,'' Taylor said. ``But this time, it just caught up with us.''
Added Pascucci: ``We're a long way from where we want to be defensively. We've got to have a better effort. We've got to buckle down and try to stay out of the (penalty) box.
``The game at Richmond's a big game now. That's a must win for us now.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Gary. C. Knapp
Ex-Admiral Shawn Snesar barrels past Dennis McEwwn, center, and
Brian Goudie. Richmond won before 8,072 at Scope. by CNB