THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 10, 1995 TAG: 9509100172
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
The Hampton Roads Admirals' plans to move their offices from Scope to a more prominent location in downtown Norfolk apparently have been scuttled for this season.
The Admirals have outgrown their small, drab Scope office and last spring asked for more space. City officials instead offered space in a city-owned building on Granby Street just north of the World Trade Center. The Admirals agreed, but set Sept. 1 as a deadline for the move. Work has yet to begin on the new offices.
Scope director Bill Luther said the new offices should be ready before Christmas.
``We hope to have that space designed and have it approved in the next couple of weeks,'' he said. ``We will not have it ready for the opening of the season but will have it ready early during the season.''
Admirals president Blake Cullen said that will be too late.
``I don't think I want to move during the season,'' he said. ``It would be confusing for the fans and would be difficult for our staff.''
Meanwhile, the Admirals have not signed a new lease for the use of the Scope arena, and the current one-year deal expires Sept. 30. But Luther said a three-year deal has been verbally negotiated.
``We haven't been in any hurry to sign, but it's all agreed to,'' Luther said.
Though terms haven't been announced, past contracts have been generous to the city. Last season the Admirals forked over 19 percent of their ticket sales, and Scope pocketed all concession and parking revenues - an estimated $800,000 in all.
However, Cullen said he has no complaints.
``When I came here, Bill gave me a deal that I thought was extremely fair,'' he said. ``He said if we hit a home run, they would hit a home run. They've been very supportive from the beginning.''
ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP: Richmond Renegades coach Roy Sommer raked in another championship trophy last Friday when the San Jose Rhinos bested the Montreal Roadrunners, 2-1 in overtime, in the Roller Hockey International championship game.
The victory came four months after Sommer's Renegades defeated Greensboro for the East Coast Hockey League championship. Four players won championship rings for both teams - Darrin Wetherill, Mike Taylor, Jay Murphy and Blaine Moore, who was the ECHL playoff MVP.
All three RHI championships have been won by ECHL coaches. Chris McSorley, then coach of the Toledo Storm, won titles in 1993 with Anaheim and 1994 with Buffalo.
Moreover, ECHL players figured prominently on all 19 RHI teams this past season. Five former or current Admirals played in Philadelphia, which was coached by Hampton Roads assistant Al MacIsaac. Philadelphia was eliminated in the semifinals by Montreal. Seven of the top 10 goaltenders and five of the top 10 scorers in the RHI played in the ECHL last season.
AROUND THE ECHL: The Tallahassee Tiger Sharks have signed Arvid Rekis, a 16-year-old defenseman from Latvia, who would be the youngest player in ECHL history if he makes the team. The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder played for the Latvian National Junior team last season and had 57 goals and 20 assists in 40 games. Rekis will attend high school in Tallahassee - he'll be a junior - if he makes the team. He is playing this summer for the Las Vegas Thunderbirds junior hockey team. . . . The Raleigh IceCaps were sold Friday to a group headed by North Carolina furniture magnate Ed Broyhill. ECHL officials expect a turf war with the American Hockey League in Raleigh once a new arena opens in the late 1990s. Groundbreaking for the new arena, which would seat 12,000 for hockey, is scheduled for January. Broyhill thinks he has the political clout to obtain a lease in the new building and met with the Centennial Sports Authority, the group that will run the new arena, Friday afternoon. Broyhill also owns the ECHL's Wheeling franchise and would have to divest himself of that team. . . . Scott Burfoot, the ECHL's leading scorer last season, has signed with Flint of the Central Hockey League. Burfoot had 87 points in 56 games last season in Erie. The Panthers could not match Flint's salary offer because of the ECHL salary cap. by CNB