THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 4, 1996 TAG: 9606040457
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 72 lines
Mark Garcea met for three hours Monday with John Brophy amid increasing indications that the Hampton Roads Admirals' new owners will retain Brophy as head coach.
Garcea and Page Johnson have agreed to buy the Admirals from Blake Cullen. The purchase, approved last week by the ECHL, becomes final this afternoon when the two sides meet for the formal closing.
On Monday, Garcea met at Scope with Admirals public relations director Amy Dyches, had lunch with Brophy in Virginia Beach, then returned to Norfolk for a staff meeting with the remaining front-office personnel. More meetings are scheduled for today.
``Things went real well,'' Garcea said. ``Nothing's been totally decided about John yet. . . . I got to know him pretty well today and was very impressed with him.
``We're going to try to wrap up'' negotiations with Brophy today, he added. Johnson, out of town Monday, will attend today's meetings.
On Wednesday, Cullen is expected to have a press conference, to be followed by a press conference Thursday for the new owners.
Sources say Brophy has asked for a two-year contract. He coached the last seven seasons without a contract. Raleigh IceCaps officials have asked permission from Garcea to speak with Brophy if the Admirals do not rehire him.
Brophy would say little about the meeting. ``We talked about everything in general, the team, the league,'' he said. ``It was a good meeting. He seems like a very straightforward guy.''
Garcea and Johnson say they plan to hire a general manager and apparently will have two additional employees to hire.
Trainer Rick Burrill has an offer from the IHL's Long Beach IceDogs and is negotiating with an AHL expansion team in Philadelphia. He is expected to choose between those positions this week, though he has not ruled out staying.
Also, longtime office manager Anna Shin is leaving next month for New York, where she will pursue a career in ballet.
Garcea met with Dyches, a South Carolina native, to try to dissuade her from accepting a job offer from the South Carolina Stingrays. He may also have some recruiting to do with assistant coach and assistant general manager Al MacIsaac.
MacIsaac, coach of the Philadelphia Bulldogs roller hockey team in the summer, is negotiating with Philadelphia's AHL team about an assistant coaching job and said a Southern Hockey League team, which he would not name, has offered him a head coaching job.
MacIsaac said via telephone from Philadelphia that he hopes to return to Hampton Roads and wants to meet soon with Garcea and Johnson.
``I've learned a lot under Blake's and John's tutelage the last three years,'' MacIsaac said. ``I know that John and I can put together an excellent team.''
MacIsaac was in charge of overseeing much of the team's recruiting and arranging practice, travel plans and training camp last season.
MOVIN' ON UP: Later this week, Cullen will forsake his cramped, damp Scope office for new digs in the swanky Main Street Tower in downtown Norfolk, where he will share space in the offices of Wayne Souza, his attorney.
Cullen said he will not immedi ately announce his future plans, though he has said he's investigat ing the acquisition of several sports franchises.
On Monday, ex-Admiral David Buckley, Admirals MVP Rod Tay lor and members of the Admirals Booster Club were among many to drop by to pay their respects to Cullen. The Booster Club presented him with a plaque.
``I'm going to miss that,'' Cullen said of his relationships with play ers and fans.
COMMISSIONER EMERITUS: Pat Kelly, the ECHL commissioner in the league's first eight seasons, has been named commissioner emeritus and will hold no substan tive executive duties next season.
Kelly held almost exclusive executive power until last season, when many of his powers passed on to president and CEO Rick Adams. Kelly continued to supervise referees and to levy fines and suspensions to players and coaches, but those duties will be assumed by a new assistant commissioner still to be hired, Adams said.
The ECHL has renamed the Riley Cup championship trophy the Kelly Cup. by CNB