THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 4, 1994 TAG: 9411040909
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
The Hampton Roads Admirals lost standout forward Trevor Halverson Thursday when he was called up by the AHL's Portland Pirates.
Halverson is the Admirals' leading scorer with 11 points and was named team captain when Dennis McEwen went down with an ankle injury last week.
The Pirates, who have three players sidelined with injuries, first inquired about defenseman Brian Goudie, who is under contract to Portland. However, they decided to take Halverson after learning Goudie has a sore back suffered in Wednesday's 5-4 victory over Johnstown.
Goudie is listed as questionable for tonight's game with Charlotte at Scope, for Saturday's game at Charlotte and for Sunday's contest at Richmond.
Halverson left Norfolk Thursday afternoon and will be in a Portland uniform tonight.
Admirals president Blake Cullen was philosophical about losing Halverson.
``It couldn't have come at a worse time,'' he said. ``We're getting ready to play three games in three days.
``But that's why he came here. He wanted to come here, get in shape and get a chance to move up.''
PORCOED OUT: Ever woke up at 4 a.m. wondering where the heck you'd been and what the heck you'd done for the last 12 hours?
It happened to center John Porco last Friday, and not because he'd tied one on.
Porco took a head first, third-period tumble on the ice in a 6-5 shootout loss to Richmond.
He went to the bench for the rest of the game, ate a postgame meal with his teammates and sat around talking with Halverson, his roommate, late into the night.
But he remembers none of it. Porco suffered a severe concussion.
``I was never knocked out completely,'' he said. ``But somebody would say something and a minute later I couldn't remember what they'd said.
``About 4 a.m. I thought to myself where the hell am I and how the hell did I get here?
``I had no memory of the game and still don't. Things started to come back little by little, but even the next morning I had a short memory span. It was awful.''
He showed up for practice on Saturday, but was immediately sent to Chesapeake General Hospital for tests. A CAT scan revealed no permanent damage.
Porco doesn't remember how he got hurt.
``Nobody saw it,'' he said. ``All I know is that I hit my head on the ice.
``All of my teammates have given me a hard time. They were razing me for three days. I guess I was asking a lot of stupid questions.''
SLOW START: Admirals coach John Brophy says there is a logical explanation for the slow start many talented teams, including Hampton Roads, often have in the ECHL.
Simply put, after just nine days of preseason practice, a team is not yet a team.
``When everybody starts to understand how we can play and what our system is, then we'll win lots of games,'' he said.
``Our players come from all kinds of systems. They don't learn how to play defensively (in junior hockey). A lot of them don't even bother to try. Now all of a sudden they have this burden on their backs, they have to learn to play defense.
``Once they stay in position more and more, we'll get better. We've never given up many goals. We've always led the league in goals against.
``We will again this year.''
GOALIE'S GOAL: Remember Nick Vitucci, who in his short time as a goaltender with the Admirals tried so hard to score a goal?
During every empty-net play, he would shoot the puck down the ice with gusto.
Vitucci, now with Toledo, finally succeeded in an exhibition game when he skipped the puck the length of the ice into an open net.
Though it was only an exhibition, it earned him a place in the ECHL record book. No other goalie has scored in the ECHL. by CNB