THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 9, 1995 TAG: 9507090039
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Greensboro has left the ECHL but most of its players apparently are staying, along with head coach Jeff Brubaker, who recently was hired by the expansion Jacksonville Lizard Kings.
The ECHL recently held a dispersal draft of Greensboro's players, 15 of whom were taken by six participating teams. The four expansion teams - Jacksonville, Fla.; Louisville, Ky.; Mobile, Ala; and Louisiana - as well as Raleigh and Erie, which didn't make the playoffs last season, were allowed to draft.
Phil Berger, the ECHL's career scoring leader with 532 points and perhaps the most unpopular opponent ever to come to Scope, was drafted by Louisville, as were Davis Payne (61 points last season) and Hugo Proulx (46 points in 40 games). Berger has an offer from a Central Hockey League team but is discussing a contract offer with Louisville.
Jacksonville's draftees were selected before Brubaker signed on as coach but nonetheless will fit in with Brubaker's physical style of play. The Lizard Kings got rugged defenseman Arturs Kupacs as well as right wing Howie Rosenblatt, who had 283 penalty minutes last season.
Right wing Jeff Gabriel (51 points), defenseman Sergei Stas and center Vyacheslav Polikarkin went to Raleigh.
Erie landed three solid players in right wing Glenn Stewart, who led Greensboro with 78 points in 57 games, defenseman Dean Zayonce and goalie Peter Skudra.
The four expansion teams also selected 21 players in a special expansion draft. The Hampton Roads Admirals lost left wing George Zajankala to Mobile. Bill Lang, cut by the Admirals last season, was drafted by Louisiana from Columbus.
UNION UPDATE: Representatives of the fledgling players' union will meet with ECHL officials this week in the first full negotiating session between the two sides. The union is to present its wish list for a contract, and the ECHL is scheduled to respond next week.
The players are expected to ask for year-around health insurance, an increase in the salary cap and an increase in the number of veterans per team (the limit is three).
ECHL owners admit they'll have to yield ground in most areas to get a contract before training camp opens Oct. 1. Most ECHL teams have raised ticket prices in anticipation of increased costs. (Admirals general-admission tickets will be $8, up from $7 and $6).
The two sides met informally for the first time last month. Richmond owner Harry Feuerstein is leading the ECHL negotiating team.
``I'm optimistic at this point,'' he said. ``But we won't know how things will go until we sit down with them.''
CELEBRATING: Feuerstein's front-office staff has had a busy summer. Since winning the ECHL championship, the Renegades have displayed the Riley Cup at a different Richmond-area site each day, including schools, businesses, shopping malls and recreation centers.
``It's been terrific,'' Feuerstein said. ``There's been a big demand (for the cup). Winning the championship has done a lot of good things for our franchise. Season-ticket sales and corporate advertising have increased. People are turned on to hockey in Richmond.''
WINNINGEST COACH: When Brubaker was named head coach by Jacksonville last week, the Lizard Kings issued a press release calling him ``the winningest coach'' in ECHL history.
Not true. He's No. 3 at 211-149-29. Admirals coach John Brophy is the winningest with a 224-132-32 regular-season record. Both he and Brubaker have coached six seasons in the ECHL. Erie's Ron Hansis (219-200-29) is second. He's the only coach to be in the ECHL all seven years it has existed.
BANNED: Admirals president Blake Cullen, a major league baseball executive for two decades, has attended only two big league games this season - in Seattle and San Francisco - and in both he saw stars sustain long-term injuries.
In Seattle he watched the Mariners' Ken Griffey Jr. break his wrist running into the outfield wall. A few weeks later in San Francisco, he watched the Giants' Matt Williams fall to the ground after fouling a ball off his foot.
Though he's a frequent visitor to Harbor Park to watch the Norfolk Tides, ``I've probably been banned from going to any more major league games,'' Cullen said. by CNB