THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610090561
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: YORK LENGTH: 30 lines
The Admirals received yet another defenseman from their AHL affiliate Tuesday when the Portland Pirates assigned Alexander Alexeev to Hampton Roads.
Alexeev, a 6-foot, 216-pound native of Kiev, Ukraine, played in 34 games for the Pirates last season, with three goals, 10 assists and 30 penalty minutes. Alexeev previously played two seasons for the Western Hockey League, a junior league in Canada.
Alexeev is the third defenseman under contract to Portland or the Washington Capitals in the Admirals training camp. Chris Phelps (Portland) and Joel Theriault (Washington) are also under contract and thus will make the team.
That leaves the final three or four defensive positions to seven others players, all of whom came to training camp with impressive credentials.
``I guess that puts more pressure on those guys trying to earn spots,'' said general manager and assistant coach Al MacIsaac.
``Alexander is a very solid defenseman who moves the puck well, skates well and has good size. He has a year of AHL experience. He should definitely help our club.''
The Admirals now have seven players under contract from higher leagues. Others include right wing Rick Kowalsky (Portland), center Andy Weidenbach (Cleveland), center Dominic Maltais (Portland) and goalie Darryl Paquette (Portland). by CNB