THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 15, 1994 TAG: 9412150587
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: ADMIRALS NOTES
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
Ask the Hampton Roads Admirals why they've pulled out of their worst slump ever and you'll likely get 17 different answers.
But here are a few reasons most of the players and coaches agree have been keys to the team's resurgence, including a 3-0-1 record in the last four games:
Goaltending. The Admirals strengthened themselves considerably when they acquired Corwin Saurdiff from Kansas City of the IHL. The Admirals' goalies performed poorly early this season, and Saurdiff helped on two counts.
First, he has tutored goalie Patrick LaLime, a rookie from Quebec. LaLime played well in his last two outings and credits Saurdiff, who is under contract with the San Jose Sharks, with much of the improvement. ``He has worked with me a lot,'' LaLime said.
Saurdiff has improved his own game since playing poorly his first few times on Scope ice. Because of an injury last season and poor play in Kansas City earlier this season, Saurdiff had spent most of the last year and a half on the bench. He was out of shape when he came to Norfolk.
It took him a dozen practices and a few games to get back into shape, but as he showed in a 38-save, 3-2 victory over Richmond last Friday, San Jose made a wise choice in signing him.
``Good goaltending is the key,'' Admirals coach John Brophy said. ``You've got to have a guy step up and make some great saves if you're going to win.''
A reshuffled lineup. Brophy made a tough choice two weeks ago, moving Rod Taylor, the team's top scorer last season, to the same line with John Porco, the team's top scorer this season.
It was a tough choice because it separated Porco from Trevor Halverson. They are roommates and close friends who played in the same junior league and played well together this season. But the move worked. Taylor has scored goals in four consecutive games, and the Admirals are winning.
``Halverson might not be happy with it, but it's a move we had to make,'' Brophy said. ``It's been good for Taylor and good for the team. We're winning, and that's what counts.''
Better forechecking. The Admirals' forwards often allowed 3-on-2 breaks in the first few weeks of the season, leaving the defensemen and goaltender in a tough situation. That's not happening nearly as often. The Admirals' forwards are picking up their men and sticking with them down the ice.
``We're playing a little more physically than we were,'' defenseman Ron Pascucci said. ``That knocks some teams off their games and helps get us in the flow of our game.''
The team has pulled together. This sounds trite, but center Brendan Curley is among those who says this may be the key change in the last few weeks.
Case in point: With four minutes left in the first period of the Admirals' contest Sunday at Richmond, three of the Renegades engaged in shoving match with Colin Gregor and Kelly Sorensen. That didn't sit well with Jason MacIntyre, who charged several of the Renegades with fists flying. That began a round of fisticuffs that resulted in both MacIntyre and Sorensen getting chased from the game.
Curley said MacIntyre's decision to come to the aid of his teammates is an indication of how the players now stick up for one another.
``We're playing harder and that's helping, but the main thing is that we've gotten closer,'' he said. ``When one guy gets in trouble on the ice, there are four guys out there looking out for him.
``This is a great bunch of guys. We've done a lot of talking in the locker room. We've come together.''
Curley, however, cautions that the winning streak might be short-lived.
``I'm not sure whether four games is the end of anything. We'll see Friday (when the Admirals host Raleigh).''
MINUS-12: There are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics, or so the saying goes. In the case of Kelly Sorensen, statistics tell a damn lie.
Nobody skates harder or hits with more gusto on the ice for the Admirals than Sorensen. Yet, in 19 games he has a plus-minus ratio of minus-12, worst on the team.
The ratio is one statistic most hockey players swear by. Basically, each time you're on the ice when your team scores, you gain a point; and each time you're on the ice when the other team scores, you lose a point.
Brophy says the statistic is misleading in Sorensen's case.
``He's playing hard and playing well,'' the coach said.
However, that didn't stop Brophy and assistant coach Al MacIsaac from making light of Sorensen's plight. Earlier this week they presented him a pink sweatshirt with the number -12.
QUICK STICKS: Former Admirals defenseman Wade Bartley has been traded from Tallahassee to Raleigh and will make his debut for the IceCaps on Friday in Norfolk. Bartley played on the Admirals' 1992 ECHL championship team. He was traded for defensemen Todd Reirden and Rodrigo Lavinsh. . . . The most surprising score of the year in the ECHL might have been Greensboro's 8-4 loss Tuesday to Tallahassee, which is last in the Southern Division and had won just seven games. Greensboro had won three in a row. . . . Admirals defenseman Rob MacInnis is quickly rounding into shape. He missed training camp and a month of the season before coming to contract terms and admitted to being woefully out of shape when he played for the first time Nov. 18. But in less than a month he's cut 17 pounds with a combination of diet and riding a stationary bike. . . . Center Trevor Jobe, the ECHL's career goal-scoring leader and a former Admiral, has been optioned from Atlanta of the IHL back to the Nashville Knights. . . . Pascucci and center Jim Brown will be featured on the Admirals Report call-in show tonight at 7 on WTAR, AM-790. by CNB