THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 14, 1995 TAG: 9510140408
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Are the Hampton Roads Admirals really as dreadful as they looked in three exhibition games?
The answer may come at 7:30 tonight at Independence Arena when the Admirals open the regular season against the Charlotte Checkers.
The Admirals were 0-3, were outscored by a combined tally of 19-9 and developed a penchant for blowing leads during their worst exhibition season ever. In an 8-3 defeat at Richmond they lost a 3-1 lead. In a 4-3 loss at Roanoke they choked away a 3-0 advantage.
Their special-teams play was abysmal. They mustered few offensive flurries. Even their goaltending, which is supposed to be the team's strength, was spotty.
About the only area in which the Admirals have excelled is with their fists, where Aaron Downey, a rookie, has emerged as the team's tough guy.
So what's wrong?
Mostly, the team has suffered from a lack of practice, the players say. The nucleus of the team arrived last Friday from Portland of the American Hockey League. That was six days after training camp opened and the last day before the Admirals were forced out of Scope by a 10-day church convention.
After hitting the road for two exhibition losses, the team bused Wednesday to Winston-Salem, N.C., where the entire 20-man team finally held its first full-fledged workout.
The Admirals skated three times, nearly three hours per session, in Winston-Salem before busing to Charlotte on Friday. Assistant coach Al MacIsaac said the time together, off the ice as well as on, has transformed the 0-for-3 gang into a solid hockey team.
``We've spent a lot of time going over our system, going over all the things that make the club work like clockwork,'' MacIsaac said. ``When we played in Richmond, our guys had hardly skated together. We had players in the same uniforms but not a team. They didn't know the system. They hardly knew each other.
``We like our club. We've got a good group. We've got two lines that stack up with any in the league.''
Yet he acknowledges that the team has holes.
``We're still short two to three solid players,'' he said, adding that he and coach John Brophy are still scouring other leagues for help.
The biggest hole likely will be scoring, which was a major problem last season, especially in the playoffs. The Admirals had hoped to replace John Porco, the team's best player last season, with a comparable player. That hasn't happened.
There are 11 newcomers, the best of whom are expected to be forwards David St. Pierre, who played in the AHL and for the Canadian National Team last season; Bob Woods, an AHL veteran who played in Austria a year ago; and Dominic Maltais, who led Fort Worth of the Central Hockey League in scoring. All are under contract to Portland.
St. Pierre (right wing) and Maltais (center) are expected to combine on the first line with Trevor Halverson (left wing), a key returnee and a late cut by Portland.
Left wing Rod Taylor, the team's top returning scorer and a fifth-year veteran, will join center Jeff Kostuch, a rookie, and All-ECHL right wing Rick Kowalsky on the second line.
Steve Richards, a rookie from Ohio State, centers the third line, which also features a rotation of Downey, Tom Menicci and newcomer Sean Selsmer. Richards will see much time on the power play, his strong suit.
Woods and Chris Phelps, another All-ECHL returnee, anchor the first defense. Rookies Claude Fillion, who is under contract to Portland and is another feared fighter, and Martin Woods are on the second line. Rob Strar is the fifth defenseman.
The Admirals have four goaltenders, only two of whom will dress tonight. Corwin Saurdiff, who was 13-6-2 last season for the Admirals, is expected to start. He is under contract to Portland and stopped all 22 shots he faced Tuesday in Roanoke.
The other goalies: Mark Bernard, who was signed away from San Antonio of the Central Hockey League and played on two ECHL champions for Hampton Roads; Darryl Paquette, a rookie from the University of Cape Breton and a late cut by Portland; and Shamus Gregga, who played for the Admirals last season and is under contract to Cleveland of the International Hockey League.
Expect Paquette to back up Saurdiff tonight.
Charlotte, the only East Division team last season with a winning record against the Admirals, is perhaps more talented this season. Player-coach Shawn Wheeler and goalie Nick Vitucci, who was obtained from Toledo, are former Admirals stars. Forwards Matt Robbins, who is under contract to the Boston Bruins, and right wing Darryl Noren head a high-powered offense.
``It's a tough opener,'' MacIsaac. ``This will be a good test of how far we've come.''
And how much farther they have to go. by CNB