THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 11, 1996 TAG: 9608110232
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 64 lines
The Hampton Roads Admirals say they plan to move their preseason training camp to Portland, Maine, in part to work more closely with their American Hockey League affiliate, the Portland Pirates.
Pirates officials invited the Admirals to train in Portland during a meeting with Admirals management 10 days ago in Maine. Admirals co-owners Mark Garcea and Page Johnson have tentatively accepted.
``All we're waiting on is confirmation that we have ice time and hotel space,'' Johnson said. ``We don't anticipate any problems.''
The Admirals have been unable to find a suitable site to train in Hampton Roads. When the Pirates suggested moving camp to Portland, they noted that more than half of the Admirals would be in camp there already.
The Pirates, who begin training camp a week before the Admirals, have guaranteed that they will provide Hampton Roads a minimum of eight players. Moreover, up to half a dozen rookies signed by the Admirals also will be in camp with Portland, whose training camp ends when the Admirals' camp begins.
The Admirals trained at Scope six of the last seven seasons, but Scope is booked and isn't available for camp, which begins Oct. 6. Negotiations to move the camp to a new rink in suburban Newport News were unsuccessful. Iceland, the Admirals' practice facility when Scope isn't available, isn't large enough for training camp.
The team will stay in Portland about a week, then bus to Hampton Roads, perhaps playing an exhibition game or two along the way. The Admirals open on Friday, Oct. 18, against defending ECHL champion Charlotte at Scope.
INTO ECHL TERRITORY: The Central and East Coast hockey leagues signed an agreement this spring that prohibits teams in each league from raiding players from the other. But that apparently has not ended competition between the two leagues.
The Central moved into ECHL territory in a big way this summer when it sent an expansion franchise into Nashville, Tenn., and took in three teams from the now-defunct Southern Hockey League - Macon, Ga., Columbus, Ga., and Huntsville, Ala. Nashville and Huntsville are former ECHL cities.
BERNIE'S GONE: Although the Admirals lost goalie Mark Bernard to an English hockey club earlier this summer, some fans held out hope he might return. Many players who go to Europe get dissatisfied and return to play in North America.
But if that happens with Bernard, he won't return to Norfolk. The Admirals left Bernard unprotected in the recent expansion draft, and he was taken in the first round by Mississippi.
Bernard, nicknamed ``Saint Bernard'' by fans, was one of the team's most popular players. Fans barked after saves by Bernard, who was MVP of the 1992 playoffs when the Admirals won the ECHL title. He also holds the Admirals' career records for victories and playoff victories.
ICE CHIPS: The ECHL and the Professional Hockey Players Association, as expected, have signed a three-year agreement that includes comprehensive medical insurance, provided by the union, and small annual increases in the salary cap. . . . Jeff Brubaker, the coach Admirals fans love to hate, has been named head coach of San Antonio's expansion International Hockey League team. Brubaker coached the Greensboro Monarchs, the Admirals' former archrivals, for six seasons, and took Jacksonville to the finals last season. . . . Garcea and Johnson will be the guests on ``Time Out With Jack and Chic'' at 5 p.m. today on Cox Cable Channel 11. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MIKE HEFFNER/The Virginian-Pilot
Clive Charles, assistant coach of the gold medal-winning women's
U.S. Olympic soccer team, was at Old Dominion University Friday,
attending the Olympic Development Program under-16 camp. by CNB