DATE: Saturday, November 22, 1997           TAG: 9711220647

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER

                                            LENGTH:   53 lines

GERVAIS' SUCCESS IN MAINE MEANS HE MAY NOT RETURN THE FORMER ADMIRALS CENTER HAS MADE AN IMPACT BY IGNITING PORTLAND'S LAGGING POWER PLAY.

The Hampton Roads Admirals may have to get along for the rest of the season without standout center Victor Gervais.

Gervais, whom Admirals coach John Brophy calls his best player, appears to have won a spot on the roster of the AHL's Portland Pirates. He has six assists in just three games for the Pirates since being called up last week.

Gervais has resurrected the Pirates' woeful power play. It was 14 for 102 (13.7 percent) before his arrival and has been 7 of 18 (38.9 percent) since.

``He's made an impact not just for the team but for himself,'' said Portland coach Bryan Trottier, a former New York Islanders star who was inducted Monday into the Hockey Hall of Fame. ``He's a talented playmaker who plays hockey the way it's supposed to be played. He gives and goes, he darts, he finds holes, he moves the puck well and with confidence.''

Trottier, a first-year coach, has such confidence in Gervais that earlier this week he shipped longtime Pirates center Norm Batherson to Fort Wayne of the IHL. Gervais has taken Batherson's spot on the line with Andrew Brunette, an All-AHL selection and former Admiral who leads the Pirates in scoring.

``The players have really accepted me here,'' Gervais said. ``I think most of them think I belong here.''

Nonetheless, Gervais says he'll wait a bit longer before asking his wife and infant daughter to move from Virginia Beach to Portland.

``I've got six points in three games, but there's still a lot to prove,'' he said. ``They've told me they'd like to keep me here for the rest of the year, but the thing is, they have to play their players who are under contract (to the Washington Capitals).

``There are guys injured in Washington and guys injured here. I don't know what happens when they get well. I guess it depends on whether I keep playing well every game.''

It might also depend on the Admirals. Gervais said Trottier told him that Admirals owners Page Johnson and Mark Garcea have asked the Pirates to return Gervais to Norfolk. Gervais is on a two-way contract that commits him to play for either Portland or Hampton Roads.

``I understand why they want me back,'' he said. ``But I signed a two-way contract that obligated me to come to the American Hockey League if they need me. If I play well and they want to keep me, I should be able to stay as long as they want me to stay here.''

But he added: ``If I do go down there, I'm going to play my heart out. I won't come back and sulk. I'll play as hard as I can and try to win a championship.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Veteran center Victor Gervais notched six assists in just three days

after his call-up from Hampton Roads last week.

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