THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 28, 1996 TAG: 9610280155
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PENSACOLA, FLA. LENGTH: 50 lines
Marc Seliger's last time in goal for the Hampton Roads Admirals was nothing short of disastrous. Tabbed to start in the Admirals home opener, he surrendered four goals, two of them cupcakes, before being benched after two periods.
A near sellout crowd at Scope sent boos cascading down upon the 22-year-old Rosenheim, Germany, native. Many wondered aloud if the 5-foot-8 Seliger was playing over his head.
Seliger answered that question with a resounding ``Nein'' Sunday at the Pensacola Civic Center. Seliger snuffed four of six Pensacola shots in the shootout to lead the Admirals past the Ice Pilots 4-3.
With the shootout tied at 2-2, Admirals forward Dominic Maltais sent a backhand over goaltender Craig Brown's shoulder. Seliger then blocked a short wrister from Tom Costa to give the Admirals (2-2-1) their second victory in the last three games.
It was a night for the Admirals newcomers as Denis Lemoureux scored twice and Ryan Mulhern continued his hot pace (five games, six goals) with a goal.
But the hero this night for the Admirals clearly was Seliger, who had 24 saves, many on quality, point-blank shots.
Head coach John Brophy admitted Seliger looked weak in the opener, but said he never doubted the German would play well.
``I saw him play in the American League (with Portland) and he was super,'' Brophy said. ``This was a good game for him because it boosted his confidence.''
Seliger had never played in a shootout, and said he has a simple philosophy toward the uniquely American way of breaking ties.
``I think you don't have any pressure in a shootout,'' he said in heavily accented but fluent English. ``If you let in a penalty shot, nobody can be mad at you. So you just stand your ground and try to catch the puck.''
The Admirals dominated most of Sunday's game, outshooting the Ice Pilots 44-27, and following consecutive goals by Lemoureux, led 3-2 late in the third period. Seliger blocked four breakaway shots, including one at 5:34, after which he was bowled over. But he could not stop Tony Frenette's top shelf wrister at 13:53, tying the score at 3-3.
The Admirals led the shootout 2-1 with one shot to go when Pensacola's Tom McDonald slipped the puck underneath Seliger's stick. As a crowd of 4,050 roared its approval, Seliger momentarily looked shaken. But he seemed to garner strength from Maltais, who after beating Pensacola's Brown, raised his arms at the crowd and then pointed at Seliger, who then ended the game with a blocked shot.
``I'm happy for Marc,'' Maltais said. ``He made a lot of great saves tonight. This was a great game for him.'' by CNB