THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 1, 1996 TAG: 9601010113
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
What by all rights should have been a disastrous final five days of 1995 for the Hampton Roads Admirals had a delightful end on New Year's Eve.
Trevor Halverson netted the game-winner on a misfired shot in a 4-3 shootout victory over Charlotte that gave Hampton Roads three wins in four games over five days.
The Admirals were woefully short on defensemen during the stretch because of callups, injuries and sickness that sidelined five players. Only two true defensemen skated Sunday.
Yet their only loss was a 6-3 defeat at Roanoke on Saturday.
``And we should have won them all,'' said Halverson, whose game-winner was his 28th goal this season. ``We had a 3-0 lead in Roanoke and blew it.''
Nonetheless, the Admirals appear to have kicked their habit of blowing shootouts. They lost their first seven shootouts of the season, running their overtime losing streak to 10 dating to 1994-95, but since have won five of their last eight.
Sunday's shootout started poorly for goaltender Todd Hunter, who allowed goals on shots from Jeff Connally and Dennis Maxwell on Charlotte's first two tries.
``Fortunately,'' Hunter said, ``we were scoring, too.''
Indeed they were, as Steve Richards and Bob Woods both wristed shots over the shoulder of goalie Nick Vitucci to make it 2-2 after the first two rounds.
Halverson then gave the Admirals a one-goal lead on the team's fourth shot, one that he intended to slap between Vitucci's legs. However, the stick first hit the ice and just nudged the puck, which slid slowly to Vitucci's left.
Expecting a shot to his right, Vitucci had committed to that direction and watched helplessly as the puck went into the net.
Hunter then kicked away a shot from Scott Kirton and got a stick save on a Matt Robbins wrister to salt away the victory.
``For us to have as many people not playing and win this thing is a bleeping great effort from this hockey club boy,'' Admirals coach John Brophy said. ``Everybody on this hockey club should be proud of themselves because they sure as hell won it under tough circumstances. They played they arses off.''
And fought their arses off, too. The contest was more brawl than hockey game in the first period, and was brutally physical throughout. There were four fights in the first two periods and 102 penalty minutes in the first period alone.
The fisticuffs ended after Charlotte's Rick Willis and Aaron Downey dropped their gloves at 18:18 of the second period for a confrontation strictly rated NC-17. Downey opened a gaping gash on the left side of Willis' face that left blood along a 20-yard trail on the ice.
At game's end, Brophy made a muscle with his arm and pointed to the blood as many in an Independence Arena crowd of 7,991 jeered.
``It got physical and we won all that,'' Brophy said. ``They got the big bear (Downey) upset. That No. 20 (Willis) was looking for all he could get.''
The Admirals (18-7-10), meanwhile, were looking for all the points they could get. They are second in the East, eight points behind Richmond, and extended their lead over third-place Charlotte to four points.
``To win three of four games under these circumstances is a great way to end the year,'' Woods said. ``We sucked it up and pulled together.'' by CNB