THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 27, 1994 TAG: 9412270165
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Officials say the ECHL's controversial scheduling format almost surely will be nixed once the season has ended.
League owners voted last summer to limit play primarily within the league's three divisions in order to cut travel expenses and to foster divisional rivalries.
But officials around the league agree that some of the most intense rivalries have lost some of their zing because teams are meeting so often. The Admirals, who play 54 of 68 games against their five East Division foes, will have met archrival Greensboro nine times (in 31 games) by the end of this week.
Said Admirals president Blake Cullen: ``We play them so often that it's no longer as special. Fans are getting bored seeing the same teams over and over. It would be a sad day when our fans didn't get excited when Greensboro played at Scope, and I'm afraid it could get to that point.''
Cullen warned other owners that they would hate the new scheduling policy once it became reality. They didn't listen, and most are sorry they didn't.
``Our fans are tired of seeing the same teams over and over,'' said South Carolina coach Rick Vaive, whose Stingrays hosted Tallahassee for the sixth time last Friday. ``It's ridiculous to play Tallahassee in our building six times before the end of December. It's hurting attendance here and I'm sure in a lot of other places.''
Added Admirals coach John Brophy: ``It's like we've been split into three separate leagues. We don't play Toledo, the defending league champion. We should play them. We should play everyone.''
Although league attendance is up, that's largely because Huntsville, the ECHL's worst draw last season, moved to Tallahassee, where the team is drawing respectably.
Overall, 11 of 18 teams are behind last season's attendance figures, including the top three draws - South Carolina, Charlotte and Hampton Roads.
Cullen hopes the league replaces the scheduling format by merging three divisions into two and expanding inter-division play. Regardless, change appears to be coming.
``At this point,'' Vaive said, ``I don't know anyone who's in favor'' of the current scheduling policy.
TOBACCO ROAD: The Admirals will play at Raleigh tonight at 7:30 in the fifth of eight consecutive games against North Carolina teams. They will host Greensboro on Wednesday, travel to Greensboro on Friday, then host Raleigh on New Year's Eve at 6 p.m.
It's an important week for the Admirals, who are 14-11-3 and fourth in the East with 31 points. They are trying to put some distance between themselves and fifth-place Greensboro (13-13-3, 29 points) and last-place Raleigh (11-15-5, 27 points).
Wednesday's contest will mark the season debut of Phil Berger in Norfolk. The Monarchs' career leading scorer, and perhaps the most unpopular visiting player ever to come to Scope, recently returned to the team as a player/coach.
CAREER OVER? Monarchs defenseman Dwayne Gylywoychuk, injured in a 3-1 victory over Hampton Roads last week in Greensboro, has been placed on the 30-day injured list, but his hockey career appears to be over.
Gylywoychuk suffered a spinal injury and temporary paralysis when checked by Admirals forward Jason MacIntyre.
He suffered a similar injury last season while playing with Brandon of the Western Hockey League.
Monarchs coach Jeff Brubaker told the Greensboro News & Record that he doesn't expect Gylywoychuk to return.
``The main thing right now is to make sure he recovers fully,'' Brubaker said.
Added Greensboro team doctor Robert Wainer: ``He's had two episodes like this. These are warning signs.''
Brubaker said game films showed MacIntyre's check to be clean.
``It did not appear to be an attempt to injure,'' he said. ``It was just an unfortunate turn of events.''
Brophy would like to view the videotape to see the check - and the rest of his team's worst loss in nearly three weeks. But the tape provided by Greensboro was less than illuminating.
``It was a Nixon tape,'' Brophy said. ``Not a thing on it. It was blank.'' by CNB