THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411180597
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The Hampton Roads Admirals acquired veteran defenseman Rob MacInnis on Thursday, and he will play tonight against Charlotte at Scope.
MacInnis, a 29-year-old native of Inverness, Nova Scotia, was obtained in a trade from Richmond two months ago that also sent Colin Gregor to the Admirals for Shawn Snesar and Daniel Chaput.
When MacInnis and the Admirals failed to agree on contract terms, he returned to Nova Scotia to play amateur hockey.
However, MacInnis agreed to terms with the Portland Pirates of the AHL Thursday and was assigned to the Admirals. He worked out briefly at Scope by himself and will be on the ice this morning at 10:30 with his new teammates for a short practice.
MacInnis, who has played in both the IHL and AHL, scored 27 points in 27 games last season for Richmond.
``He's a tough, experienced player who can score a lot of points for a defenseman,'' Gregor said.
MacInnis replaces defenseman Brian Goudie, who was called up by the Pirates on Tuesday.
Coach John Brophy says MacInnis' long-term status with the Admirals is undetermined.
``Right now he's just here for the weekend series,'' said Brophy, whose Admirals travel to Greensboro on Saturday.
``They (the Pirates) want to see how he plays, what kind of shape he's in. We'll know more about him next week.''
The acquisition of MacInnis gives the Admirals a potential overload of veterans - players in their fourth professional seasons. Rod Taylor and Trevor Halverson are both veterans on the active list. Team captain Dennis McEwen is also a veteran who becomes eligible next week when he comes off the 30-day injured reserve list.
NOT QUITTERS: Brophy accused his team of ``quitting'' last weekend during a 6-2 loss at Greensboro, and pledged this week to trade as many players as he could.
Well, he's made no trades (though he did acquire two players), and Halverson, the captain in McEwen's absence, says Brophy overstated things when he called the Admirals quitters.
``We don't have a quitting team at all,'' he said. ``We have some players who are just coming around. They may have been a little timid at first and weren't always giving all their effort. But they're not quitters.''
The Admirals haven't played since the loss to Greensboro and had two practices per day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Halverson said the team has used the practice time to jell.
``I think the problem has been fun. We weren't having enough fun,'' he said.
``But the guys are starting to have more fun in the dressing room. They're getting to know each other better.
``We had a good week of practice, a real good week. Sometimes it takes a while to get a team molded. We've got a great team. Things are going to turn around soon.
``We know we're losing, and we know Broph is going to work our butts off to try to get us going. We know it's our fault we lost those games, and we're going to have to win some.''
SHORT STICKS: Brophy says newly acquired goaltender Corwin Saurdiff has played well in practice but says he'll have to wait until tonight to make a judgment on Saurdiff. ``You can't tell about a goaltender until you've seen him in a game,'' Brophy said. Brophy says he'll wait until today to decide who he'll cut to make room for Saurdiff. Either Patrick LaLime or Shamus Gregga must go. . . . The Checkers arrived in Norfolk late Wednesday following a defeat at Raleigh and worked out Thursday at Scope. . . . The Junior Admirals will play between periods tonight. . . . Former Admirals star Trevor Jobe, the ECHL's career scoring leader, was called up from Nashville by the Atlanta Knights of the IHL. Jobe has scored 18 points in 11 games. by CNB