THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 24, 1994 TAG: 9408240679
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
The player Hampton Roads Admirals fans love to hate says he's leaving the East Coast Hockey League to play in Germany.
Phil Berger, a five-year veteran with the Greensboro Monarchs, traveled earlier this week to Gelsenkirchen, where he will play for a second-division German team.
Berger says he'll finish his pro career in Germany, though the Admirals have their doubts. He began last season in the International Hockey League before returning to Greensboro, his off-season home.
``I wouldn't be surprised to see him back in Greensboro at some point again this season,'' Admirals president Blake Cullen said.
Berger was by far the most unpopular player with Admirals fans, with whom he often exchanged insults. One sign draped at Scope last season read: ``If it looks like a hot dog and smells like a hot dog, it must be a Berger.''
In Berger's last Scope appearance, he scored the winning goal with 1:06 left in a 4-3 Greensboro victory, one the Admirals say was marred by poor officiating. Berger circled the ice at game's end, taunting the sellout crowd of 8,990.
In a previous Scope game, also won by Greensboro, Berger circled the ice while riding his stick like a broomstick and gesturing with his middle finger to enraged fans.
``He's one of the dirtiest players in all of hockey,'' Greensboro coach Jeff Brubaker said. ``And if you tell him that, he'll say, `Thanks.' He'll take that as a compliment.''
Berger is also unpopular among ECHL players, given his propensity to use his stick when referees aren't looking, and his refusal to drop his gloves and fight.
``I've seen him throw more cheap shots than any player ever,'' Brubaker said. ``He loves it when he can get away with a good cheap shot.
``It's almost funny to watch when a team's got it in for Phil. They'll take a bunch of runs at him and he'll always slip out of trouble at the last minute. Then he'll skate by their bench and bait them some more. We're sorry to see him go.''
Not in Hampton Roads, where the sentiment is more like auf Niemehrwiedersehen - so long, and good riddance.
SUMMER MEETINGS: The ECHL's summer meetings begin today and conclude Thursday in Columbus, Ohio, where league owners finally will decide on a playoff format.
The rules committee, chaired by Cullen, has recommended a 12-team format. Other league owners are pushing for 16 of the 18 teams to make the playoffs. Cullen says he thinks his 12-team proposal will pass, but he won't know for sure until the meetings begin.
Cullen was surprised earlier this week to see the meeting agenda. It includes a proposed name change voted down by the league in May at its annual meeting in Puerto Rico. Some owners are still in favor of changing the name to the Eastern Continental Hockey League.
``I'm opposed to it,'' Cullen said. ``We've already got the East Coast Hockey League'' printed on season-ticket brochures. ``It doesn't make any sense.''
It also might not be against league rules. Cullen says league bylaws preclude such decisions from being made at the summer meetings.
Expected to receive routine approval is the sale of the Richmond Renegades to a new ownership group.
NO TRYOUTS: The inaugural ECHL Free Agent Tryout Camp died before it ever got started.
League officials had planned to charge aspiring ECHL players $450 for a weeklong tryout camp. It was canceled because only a handful of players signed up.
``When we agreed to hold the camp, I didn't realize we would be charging the players so much,'' Cullen said. ``If you know about a good free agent, you're not going to send him to this camp anyway. You'll bring him to your camp. There are so many teams out there trying to find players that there are very few surprises.'' MEMO: Landmark News Service contributed to this story.
by CNB