THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 12, 1996 TAG: 9601120621
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
Nicknames. Steve Richards of the Hampton Roads Admirals has a bunch of them.
There's ``Tattoo,'' after the vertically-challenged character on Fantasy Island. It fits, because at 5-foot-9, Richards is the shortest player in the East Coast Hockey League.
There's Little Richie and Little Richards, natural plays on one of rock 'n' roll's earliest stars. And there's Weasel, which doesn't bring the greatest image to mind until you consider that they are incredibly quick, darting creatures Webster's dictionary calls ``very active, bold and blood-thirsty.'' Aren't all hockey players?
But the one Richards says he likes best is ``Iceman.''
`` (Teammate) Bob Woods gave me that one,'' Richards said after a recent practice. ``Early in the year, I had a groin problem. He said every time he saw me, I had ice on it.''
But Richards has a different reason for thinking that nickname fits better than the others. When the Admirals' defense corps was severely weakened by injuries and players lost to call-ups, the team's brass decided to move Richards from the frontline to defense. At that position, he stands out, if not up, as the league's shortest backline performer. And he has earned coach John Brophy's respect as a gutty guy who won't back down, a kid with ice water pumping through his veins.
``He's great with the puck, and smart,'' Brophy said. ``He's been everything we were hoping for, probably more.''
Ask Admirals assistant coach Al MacIsaac where the team - one that has won six of its last seven games heading into tonight's 7:30 home faceoff with Wheeling - would be without Richards and he describes a certain plumbing fixture found in every bathroom.
``He got the opportunity to play there and he just stepped up and took advantage of it,'' MacIsaac said. ``Now, he's a big part of what we're doing. He's played a lot. He's gutty; not a big man, but he plays the game big.
``He's by far the smallest defenseman in the league, with the biggest assignment. He's trying to move a 210-pound guy from in front of the net - and he's only about 170.
``He plays hard and he's got a great sense of leverage. He's probably dealt with it all of his life; you know, being the little man. He's adapted to his role.''
He has. Actually, Richards says he weighs 185, which may make him the only professional athlete who wanted to make sure his boss knew he weighed MORE than the coach thought.
And he wonders, quite sincerely, what the fuss is all about. Defense is where he wanted to play all along.
``I liked it. I feel more comfortable there,'' he said. ``Most of my four years at Ohio State were spent playing defense. I was happy when they made the switch because I didn't feel I was playing well up front.''
The move was made without a lot of discussion, if any. One day, Richards came to Scope for practice, walked into the locker room and saw a black sweater hanging in his stall. Black is for defense.
``That's how I found out,'' he says, shrugging. ``I put it on, went out and started playing.''
Richards would argue that his size hasn't been much of a detriment on defense. Yes, there's the unpleasant task of clearing men weighing 30 pounds more out of the crease, but the trick is not to get in that situation in the first place.
``I can't allow myself to get tangled up out front with the really big guys,'' Richards says. ``I try to anticipate when they're going to shoot or when they're going to get the puck, and get my stick on their's first, take away their opportunity to shoot.''
So far, so good. Richards, who has been paired with relative newcomer Mike Larkin, has a plus-10 plus-minus rating, meaning the Admirals have scored 10 more goals than they've allowed when he's been on the ice. That's the sixth-best number on the club.
Part of that can be attributed to Richards' superior puck-handling skills. The 24-year-old rookie from Philadelphia has but three goals, but 15 assists. The latter figure is sixth-best on the team.
``I think one of my strengths is skating with the puck, getting out of my own end and getting it moving up ice,'' he said. ``I feel good about getting involved with the rushes.''
Richards' ability to help generate offensive chances is even more imperative now that ECHL scoring leader Trevor Halverson, last week's ECHL player of the week, has moved up to Portland.
``We've got to be more aware of what we do on defense because we aren't likely to score as many goals,'' he said. ``The guy was averaging a goal a game. Now, when we get chances, we've got to take advantage of them to keep this streak going.''
If the Admirals are as successful at taking advantage of their chances as Richards has been at taking advantage of his, they'll be just fine. ILLUSTRATION: Steve Richards, center, who plays a game dominated by 6-footers
like teammates Ron Majic, left, and Sergei Vornov.
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