DATE: Friday, November 28, 1997             TAG: 9711280163
SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: HARRY MINIUM

LENGTH: 84 lines

ADMIRALS REPORT

Admirals will return

to local TV Saturday

after 3-year hiatus

NORFOLK - The Hampton Roads Admirals end a three-year absence from local television when they visit the Richmond Renegades on Saturday night at the Richmond Coliseum. The contest will be broadcast on WPEN-TV.

``I hope this game is better than the last time we were on TV,'' Admirals general manager Al MacIsaac said of a 6-1 loss to Greensboro on Nov. 12, 1994, in which future NHL goalie Patrick Lalime played so poorly that coach John Brophy yanked him in the third period.

That game was one of several ECHL contests aired by Home Team Sports to replace Washington Capitals broadcasts during the NHL lockout. Since then, the Admirals have been on TV only in other markets, which officials say may have been a factor in a gradual attendance decline the last few seasons.

``We knew we had to be on television this season,'' Admirals co-owner Page Johnson said recently. ``It's an integral part of our strategy to market this team.''

Business manager Brian Kelley put together a six-game package on WPEN - four games with archrival Richmond and two with defending league champion South Carolina. The Richmond games will also be televised in Richmond and the South Carolina games in Charleston.

Admirals radio voice Tom Grace will have double duty, doing both TV and radio play-by-play, on Saturday, and Andy Davis, radio voice of the Renegades, will do color analysis and between-period interviews. Their roles will be reversed during games in Norfolk.

Though most professional teams scramble their game signals so that people can't pick them up on home satellite dishes without paying a fee, the Admirals and Renegades agreed to send the signal unscrambled. That means anyone in North America with a satellite dish can watch the game.

The satellite coordinates: Telstar K5, Transponder 24.

A full plate on Thursday

meant turkey Wednesday

The Admirals celebrated Thanksgiving early with a team dinner Wednesday night at the Quality Inn in Roanoke after a five-hour bus ride from Norfolk and a quick practice at the Roanoke Civic Center.

Roanoke traditionally plays hockey on Thanksgiving Day, and the Admirals are usually the Express' opponent of choice. So Thursday was just another game day, with a brief morning skate at the Civic Center, a game Thursday night, then an overnight drive back to Scope, where the Admirals host Roanoke tonight.

``We had turkey, mashed potatoes and all the fixings,'' MacIsaac said. ``It wasn't home-cooked, but under the circumstances, it's the best we could do.''

After dinner, the players headed for their rooms to watch television or go to sleep.

``It's one of the many sacrifices you make to play professional hockey,'' forward Rick Kowalsky said. ``You learn early on that there's no such thing as holidays during hockey season.''

An ever-changing

cast of characters

Call-ups by Portland and Syracuse of the AHL necessitated some roster moves by the Admirals.

Defenseman Kayle Short and forward Joel Theriault are in Portland, and Syracuse called up defenseman Chad Ackerman. Portland also returned goalie Jason Saal and defenseman Jason Mansoff.

The net effect left the Admirals two players short of the 18-man ECHL limit, but Hampton Roads narrowed it to one Thursday when forward Joel Poirier came off injured reserve and played. Poirier has been on injured reserve since the season began after undergoing surgery in the offseason.

The call-up by Syracuse is unusual in that the Crunch is affiliated with the Raleigh IceCaps.

Said MacIsaac: ``Syracuse called their ECHL affiliate and their affiliate refused to send them a player. Chad has played very well this season and deserves a shot in the AHL, and when they called, we didn't hesitate to say yes.

``We've never held our players back, which is one reason why we've always had good teams. Good players come here because they know they have the chance to move up.

``Syracuse appreciates what we did. At some point, Syracuse will do us a favor.''

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