THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 26, 1996 TAG: 9610260474
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LAFAYETTE, LA. LENGTH: 70 lines
Goaltender Marc Delorme served up a special treat for the Louisiana IceGators' home opener Friday at the Cajun Dome: pan-blackened Admiral.
Before a roaring crowd of 11,700, the largest ever to see an ECHL home opener, the IceGators rode Delorme's shoulders to a 3-2 shootout victory over the Hampton Roads Admirals .
Delorme, recruited away from Brantford of the Colonial Hockey League, turned away 28 Admirals shots in regulation before Hampton Roads mounted an improbable comeback, scoring twice in the final three minutes.
And he stopped the Admirals on three of five shots in the shootout as Ryan Mulhern and Denis Lamoureaux scored for Hampton Roads. The IceGators, meanwhile, got three shootout goals on four shots, including the game-winner from Mikhail Kravets.
The Admirals outshot (30-22), outhit and outskated the IceGators. But they could not find a way to beat Delorme.
``We were all over them all night long,'' Admirals coach John Brophy said. ``We just couldn't get the puck in the net. We got some bad bounces and their goalie was good.
``We had some great chances and our defense didn't give up anything. Not a thing.''
With Louisiana apparently content to play defense as the game wore on, the final period resembled an Admirals power play. Hampton Roads (1-2-1) took 16 shots in the final period, and most of them were quality scoring chances, especially in the final minutes.
Delorme dove and gloved Andy Weidenbach's wrister at 8:15, saving a sure goal.
At 11:45, Delorme got between the goal and five consecutive Admirals shots, gloving the last one to draw a standing ovation.
At 15:24, he blunted a breakaway wrister from Lamoureaux and, at 17:18, a wrister from Mulhern.
The Admirals finally got through when a Weidenbach shot was deflected into the net by Aaron Downey at 17:47.
Just 10 seconds later, Mulhern picked off a pass in front of the net and fired it underneath Delorme's outstretched stick, quieting the stunned crowd.
``It was just a matter of time that we'd score,'' Brophy said. ``We had so many chances. I knew we'd knock some in.''
The contest was physical and emotional but lacked the crudeness of the rivalry last season, when the teams combined for 503 penalty minutes in three games. Just 20 penalty minutes were called Friday as the teams concentrated on hockey rather than fighting.
The businesslike play favored the IceGators early on. Ryan Shanahan took a pass in front of the Admirals' net and, though facing the wrong direction, flipped a backhand wrister past goalie Darryl Paquette at 2:40 of the first period. The goal came on a power play.
Almost three minutes later, the Admirals appeared to score as well, when Delorme gloved a Rick Kowalsky shot. Replays showed that Delorme appeared to catch it inside the net.
But the goal was disallowed and, two minutes later, defenseman Ken Ruddick wristed a shot from just inside the blue line that Paquette, screened by several IceGators, never saw, to make it 2-0.
Brophy said his team may have fallen early behind because of a 45-minute pregame wait in the locker room necessitated by Louisiana's opening ceremonies.
The IceGators were allowed to skate and thus remain warmed up during some of the ceremonies. The Admirals hit the ice cold.
``It seemed like we were sitting around for two hours, waiting for I don't know what,'' Brophy said. ``I'm (bleeping) proud of our guys for coming back the way they did. We played hard.
``They (the IceGators) are a good team. But we're going to have a great team if we keep playing like that.'' by CNB