THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 13, 1996 TAG: 9601130470
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Streisand or Sinatra wouldn't have done it any differently.
The Hampton Roads Admirals saved their best show of the season for the season's biggest crowd, ripping the Wheeling Thunderbirds 7-0 Friday night.
A rowdy contingent of 8,990 - the team's first sellout of the season - watched goalie Mark Bernard stop all 23 shots Wheeling threw at him.
In all, six Admirals scored, led by left wing Rod Taylor, who had two goals, and center Serge Aubin, who scored a goal and added a pair of assists in a solid performance.
``Our best effort of the year,'' a highly satisfied coach John Brophy said after his team's seventh win in eight games, one that should have the second-place Admirals energized for tonight's showdown at first-place Richmond. ``From start to finish, that's as good as we've played all season. Wheeling, that's a good team.''
The Thunderbirds came in with 51 points, just one less than the Admirals, good for second in the North Division. But the Admirals peppered starting goalie Martin Brochu with 15 first-period shots, three of which landed in the net behind him.
He was lifted at the end of the first period for Tomas Vokoum, who surrendered a goal to Aubin on the first shot he faced, 1:59 into the second period. That made it 4-0 and ended any questions about the Thunderbirds making a game of it.
``When the game started, I knew we would play well,'' Aubin said. ``I had a feeling about tonight and the rest of the team carried my game along with them.''
After Mark McFarlane scored by rebounding in his own shot, Aubin went to work. He and Dominic Maltais set up Jeff Kostuch, whose wrist shot beat Brochu at 14:21.
Then he and defenseman Steve Richards set up Rick Kowalsky, who scored just 16 seconds before the first period expired.
After Aubin greeted Vokoum by knocking the puck past him, Taylor netted his 16th of the season on a power play. Again, Aubin had a hand. So did All-Star defenseman Chris Phelps, playing his first game for the Admirals since Dec. 16.
``We got a couple of easy early goals,'' said Taylor, ``and that really helped. One went off someone's skate, another went off Kowalsky's pants. Those were big goals. They put wind in our sails. They took wind out of theirs. They had a hard time fighting back.''
Bernard's second whitewash of the season didn't have a lot of anxious moments. The worst came four minutes into the second period when Derek DeCosty blasted a shot off Bernard's leg, sending him to the ice. But he was all right and remained in the game.
Whatever other trouble the Hampton Roads' goalie might have had were taken care of by his alert defensemen.
In the second period, Wheeling's Tim Tisdale was wide open in front of the net, but the puck slid off his stick and bounced harmlessly into the corner.
Later, Bernard wandered away from the goal and defenseman Bob Woods stood in the crease, deflecting Steve Gibson's point-blank shot.
``I didn't have that many tough opportunities,'' Bernard said. ``The guys played great in front of me.''
The night wasn't without its misery for the Admirals. Twenty-two seconds into the game, Adam Downey of Hampton Roads and Brock Woods of Wheeling began swinging at each other. When the officials inspected Downey's hand after the fisticuffs, they found a bandaid on the right pinky.
ECHL rules prohibit a player from ``taping'' his hands. Downey was given a match penalty, which carries with it an automatic suspension. The length and date of the suspension will be decided by commissioner Pat Kelly.
``I had some bleeding and I put the bandaid on it to stop it,'' Downey said. ``I guess I should have known better, but I forgot to take it off.''
Brophy was none too happy with the call or Downey.
``Terrible call,'' he fumed. ``We know better than to tape a hand - but a bandaid? We can't afford to be losing players to that kind of call.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Motoya Nakamura, The Virginian-Pilot
The Admirals' Aaron Downey, right, and the Thunderbirds' Brock Woods
go at it during first-period action at Scope.
by CNB