THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 28, 1995 TAG: 9503280384
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TALLAHASSEE, FLA. LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
The Hampton Roads Admirals arrived Monday in Florida. Alas, most of their baggage didn't.
Boxes of equipment and bags of uniforms, pads and skates had to be unloaded in Charlotte on the final leg of a daylong journey to Tallahassee. Seems the equipment was too heavy for the plane, whose departure already had been delayed an hour because of mechanical problems.
Under the circumstances, the Admirals were happy to watch handlers unloading the blue-and-yellow baggage.
``Let's just hope it arrives tomorrow,'' trainer Rick Burrill said Monday.
Ready or not, the Admirals will meet the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks tonight at 7 in the first round of the ECHL playoffs in the Tallahassee Leon County Civic Center. Game 4 is Wednesday at the same site.
The teams split the first two games of the best-of-five series in Norfolk. The Admirals must win once in Tallahassee to send the series back to Norfolk, in which case the teams would meet Friday at Scope.
``We'd like to end the series here,'' goaltender Corwin Saurdiff said.
Tallahassee has the league's best road record, and one of the worst home marks. The Tiger Sharks are 15-13-6 at home, though the record is misleading. Tallahassee was 2-6-4 after its first 12 home games.
``We played a lot of home games early, when we were putting our team together,'' Tallahassee coach Terry Christensen said.
After losing Friday on a goal with 10 seconds remaining, the Admirals were more aggressive Saturday and prevailed, 5-3. That contest ended with several players from both teams exchanging punches and shoves.
Admirals coach John Brophy said his team must replicate and improve on Saturday's physical performance. Only by knocking the Tiger Sharks off balance can the Admirals penetrate Tallahassee's stingy defense, he said.
Christensen, who frowns on fighting in hockey, said the Admirals didn't win just because they got physical.
``People want to look at what happened at the end of that game and say they were more aggressive,'' he said of the Admirals. ``I don't think that made any difference in the game.
``Teams have tried to run us, teams have tried to hit us. One of the many reasons our guys don't push back or get involved in fights is because I won't let them, pure and simple. I don't want Darren Schwartz fighting, I don't want Ron Dumas fighting. Why would I want those guys fighting? Darren Schwartz is my leading scorer. Ron Dumas is on our power play.
``That's my philosophy. If it looks like our players aren't responding to a challenge or acting in a manner that some people would, it's not because they don't want to. It's because I won't let them. That's just my philosophy.''
That's not exactly torn from the pages of the Brophy guide to hockey. Said Brophy after Saturday's game: ``Maybe now our guys understand that you've got to be mean and dirty and rotten in the playoffs.''
UPSETS GALORE: Toledo, the league's two-time defending champion, is gone. Wheeling is on the ropes. So is Charlotte.
What's going on here?
``Crazy things happen in the playoffs,'' Brophy said.
Wheeling, seeded first in the playoffs and winner of the Brabham Cup, which is given to the ECHL's regular-season champion, is down, two games to none, to No. 16 seed Birmingham.
Seventh-seeded Charlotte, which lost twice at home to Greensboro, travels to the Greensboro Coliseum tonight down 2-0. A loss would end the Checkers' season.
No. 6 Toledo was knocked off by No. 11 Nashville. No. 2 Dayton lost to Huntington in its first playoff game despite outshooting the Blizzard, 60-21.
FANS PRAISED: Newspapers from Ohio to New England recently credited the Admirals' overnight success at the gate six years ago with spurring the current minor league hockey boom.
Rarely, however, has team owner Blake Cullen been among those who claim that his franchise was a pioneer.
But when asked recently about the Admirals' attendance this season - it was up slightly to an average of almost 7,600 - he spoke with emotion.
``The fans of Hampton Roads are the reason for the minor league hockey boom,'' he said. ``I've never made that statement, and people can take it for what they want. But our fans showed everyone that it can be done.
``That's been the biggest story of this franchise since we opened for business. I'm always asked my secret as to how we do this year after year after year. I give away my secret: I open the doors and get the hell out of the way.'' by CNB