THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411060382
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Twenty-four hours after thrilling a Scope crowd with a dramatic come-from-behind performance, the Hampton Roads Admirals sent another crowd home happy.
But this time it was an Independence Arena crowd of 8,774, which cheered as the Charlotte Checkers thrashed the sluggish Admirals, 5-2.
The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Admirals (5-4-1), who conclude a grueling stretch of five games in six days today at Richmond (3:05 p.m.).
This was by far the worst performance during that stretch for the Admirals, who were outshot, outchecked and outhustled by the Checkers (4-3-2).
``It was a miserable game,'' Admirals' defenseman Ron Pascucci said. ``You want to play your hardest every night, but sometimes it's just not there.''
It clearly wasn't there Saturday. That incensed coach John Brophy, who blistered his players during a short post-game team meeting.
Brophy refused to blame the heavy travel schedule, or the loss of leading scorer Trevor Halverson (called up by Portland) and top defenseman Brian Goudie (injury) for the poor effort.
``It was a helluva trip down here,'' said Brophy, whose team bused to Burlington, N.C., Friday night, then to Charlotte Saturday afternoon.
``We traveled one whole hour. That would kill anyone, wouldn't it?''
Right wing Kelly Sorensen agreed.
``Broph got mad at us tonight and he had every right to be,'' he said. ``None of us showed up tonight and it showed on the scoreboard.
``We have no excuses. We just came out flat. But I guarantee you we won't show up flat tomorrow.''
Charlotte took a 2-0 lead 10 minutes into the game and extended it to 4-1 late in the second period.
Jason MacIntyre scored at 18:27 of the second period to cut the lead to 4-2 and give a small contingent of Admirals fans on hand a glimmer of hope.
But unlike Friday, when Hampton Roads rallied from a 4-2 deficit to beat Charlotte, the Checkers dominated the third period.
Shawn Wheeler, the former Admiral, put the game away for the Checkers 31 seconds into the third period by flipping the puck over the head of goaltender Shamus Gregga and into the net. Wheeler shot after faking a pass, causing Gregga to momentarily turn away.
It was a long night for Gregga, who played well in a 2-1 loss to Charlotte two weeks ago in the same building.
But his teammates did little to help him Saturday. Gregga was pounded with 25 shots on goal in the first two periods.
Hampton Roads, meanwhile, got perhaps a half dozen good shots on goal from its seven power plays.
Worst of all, Brophy said, the Admirals weren't physical. Wheeler and teammate Eric Fenton spent much of the game intimidating the Admirals physically and verbally.
Fenton was penalized seven times, including a 10-minute misconduct. Wheeler was penalized for fighting after going after Tony MacAulay, a defenseman who is not considered a fighter.
Several seconds after the final buzzer, Ken Thibodeau lofted a hard shot at Gregga. Pascucci then went after Thibodeau, though the linesmen quickly separated them.
``The ref said he couldn't hear the horn,'' Pascucci said. ``I heard the horn.''
Brophy declined to comment on those incidents.
``Every time I say something I get in trouble,'' he said. ``You saw the game.
``All you can really say is that Charlotte was better than us, and deserves to be ahead of us in the standings.'' by CNB