THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 25, 1994 TAG: 9411250145
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
Both the Hampton Roads Admirals and Greensboro Monarchs will feature beefed up lineups when they meet tonight at Scope at 7:30.
Defenseman Rob MacInnis has been assigned to Hampton Roads from the Portland Pirates of the AHL and will play for the Admirals tonight, say team officials.
Greensboro officials say Phil Berger likely will play for the Monarchs, as will two other newcomers obtained in trades.
MacInnis is a 29-year-old veteran who played well for the Admirals in two games last weekend after being hurriedly recruited from a Nova Scotia senior league. He returned home on Monday to get his car and pack more of his belongings.
He was supposed to play Wednesday for the Admirals against Raleigh, but Hampton Roads officials say he was recalled for a game by Portland.
MacInnis is scheduled to return to Norfolk today, said assistant coach Al MacIsaac.
Berger was scheduled to arrive today in Greensboro and then bus with the team to Norfolk.
Berger, perhaps the least-popular Admirals' opponent ever to come to Scope, played the last five seasons for Greensboro and is the Monarchs' career scoring leader. He is best known in Hampton Roads for the many times he has exchanged taunts with Admirals fans.
He began this season in Germany, then played for the Detroit Falcons of the Colonial Hockey League.
Generally, Colonial players are not eligible to be signed under by ECHL teams. ECHL rules forbid league teams from even contacting Colonial players.
However, Greensboro managed to forge an agreement with Berger, who apparently cleared waivers in the Colonial.
He scored 25 points in 14 games with the Falcons.
Long time Greensboro assistant John Torchetti was named head coach of San Antonio of the Colonial League on Sunday. That allowed the Monarchs to name Berger a player/assistant, which means he'll be paid considerably more than the average of about $350 per week paid most players.
The Monarchs cleared a veteran spot for Berger by trading popular forward Darryl Noren to Charlotte for Howie Rosenblatt. Noren is tied for seventh in the ECHL in scoring with 23 points.
Noren is bitterly disappointed about the trade. But Greensboro coach Jeff Brubaker said, ``Phil is one of the guys who gave us our identity as a team. You can say anything you want to about him, but he's one of the toughest guys I've ever coached.''
Like Hampton Roads (6-8-2), which is last in the East Division, Greensboro is a traditional ECHL power off to a poor start. The Monarchs are 8-7-2 and in fifth place, five points ahead of the Admirals.
``We're not going to stand pat with a .500 team,'' Brubaker said. ``We've got high standards here. Our fans have come to expect a win every night.''
Berger, a Detroit resident, told the Greensboro News and Record that he intends to play in Norfolk tonight.
Hampton Roads has only won once in its last seven games - a 2-1 overtime victory last weekend at Greensboro.
Hampton Roads fell to Raleigh, 6-5, in a shootout in its last outing. The absence of MacInnis and defenseman Brian Goudie, also called up by Portland, has taken its toll.
``That has to hurt,'' coach John Brophy said. ``But that's no excuse. When you lose players at this level you have to adjust.''
PRETTY PLAY: The loss to Raleigh was a bitter disappointment for the Admirals, but it produced perhaps the best-looking goal of the season.
The Admirals were playing short-handed in the second period when Brendan Curley swiped the puck from an IceCap at the Raleigh blue line.
He then passed to Trevor Halverson on his right, who passed back to Curley, who then skated to his left and forced goaltender Brad Mullahy to commit. Curley then skipped a look-away pass to Halverson, who flipped the puck into the empty net on the run.
All that action took perhaps five seconds.
MANON RETURNS: Goaltender Manon Rheaume, who became the first woman to play for the NHL in 1992 when she appeared in a preseason contest for the Tampa Bay Lightning, has returned to the ECHL.
Rheaume will be added to the roster of the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks for games tonight and Saturday in North Charleston against the South Carolina Stingrays.
Rheaume, a 5-foot-6, 122-pound native of Beauport, Quebec, had been on the roster of Las Vegas of the IHL.
Rheaume was 0-1 in Las Vegas and was 5-0-1 last season while splitting time between Knoxville and Nashville.
The Admirals won't get a chance to play against her unless they meet in the playoffs. Tallahassee is one of four teams (Toledo, Nashville and Birmingham are the others) the Admirals don't play during the regular season.
RICHMOND ROLLS: The Richmond Renegades keep pinching themselves, wondering when their fast start will end.
Richmond is 13-0-3, including three shootout losses, and has taken a commanding lead over the East Division field with 29 points.
Signing 35-year-old player/assistant coach Scott Gruhl, the IHL's career goals scoring leader, has helped. He has 27 points in 15 games and has added an element of toughness to the Renegades.
But coach Roy Sommer says the addition of the Ice Palace, a skating rink in nearby Chesterfield County, has also been a key to Richmond's early success.
``In the past, when the Richmond Coliseum was closed for three or four days, we'd just go to the gymnasium,'' he said. ``Now we've got ice every day. I think it makes a big difference.
``The (winning) streak is just great. Not too many guys get to ride one of these.''
QUICK STICKS: Erie's Scott Burfoot has taken a big lead in the ECHL scoring race. He has 11 goals and 24 assists (35 points) in 15 games. The Admirals John Porco, moving steadily up the list of scoring leaders, is tied for fourth with 24 points. He is second in the league with 14 goals. ... The Admirals are in good company in having lost to Raleigh at home. Raleigh has won seven of nine road games, a league high. by CNB