THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 27, 1996 TAG: 9601270413
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
The Hampton Roads Admirals on Friday were treated to two sounds rarely heard at Scope.
First, a sellout crowd of 8,990 booed the home team lustily much of the evening as the Admirals were beaten by last-place Raleigh, 5-3.
Then, at game's end, John Brophy gave his players a pep talk worthy of Knute Rockne.
``I'm proud of you guys,'' said the Admirals coach. ``I don't want any of you hanging your heads.''
Excuse me? Was this the same Brophy who last year skated his players through wind sprints after a game, who once called reporters in to the locker room and berated the team live and in color?
Yes it was. The Admirals tensed when Brophy walked into the locker room, then sat in shocked disbelief as he heaped praise upon them.
``You keep playing like that, you keep playing that hard, and we're going to win some bleeping hockey games,'' he said, as smiles spread around the room.
Brophy then gave the media an emotional defense of his team, whose lineup has been pocked by the loss of All-ECHL forward Trevor Halverson and half a dozen other players.
Brophy noted that a pair of All-ECHL defenseman - Chris Phelps and Ron Pascucci, returned to the team this week. Pascucci has been playing in Portland of the AHL and Phelps has been with his critically ill daughter.
Moreover, goalie Corwin Saurdiff (out with colitis) played the first time since October.
``Halverson left a hole as big as a battleship, Phelps is going through hell trying to play defense, Pascucci was just sent down,'' said Brophy, whose team is at Roanoke tonight in the first of three road games.
``There's a lot of things that have happened in the last two weeks that have made things tough on this hockey club. I'm proud of the way we played tonight. We played bleeping hard tonight. I'll guarantee you we'll win on this bleeping road trip if we continue to play like that.''
The Admirals almost won Friday. They fell behind, 4-1, at 8:49 of the third period on Lyle Wildgoose's second goal, then stormed back on goals by Rod Taylor at 11:23 and Serge Aubin at 16:39.
The Admirals poured it on in the final three minutes, but goalie Geoff Finch held them off, netting five late saves. Finally, after Brophy pulled Saurdiff to give the Admirals a man advantage, Wildgoose picked off an errant Admirals pass and tossed it into the empty net at 19:18. The goal gave Wildgoose, the top scorer for the 9-24-9 IceCaps, a hat trick.
The Admirals (24-11-10) outshot Raleigh 17-4 in the third period and 41-25 for the game, though you could hardly tell if from the crowd reaction. The fans booed loudly between each period and at game's end, much as they had in Wednesday's 8-6 loss to Richmond.
``I've never heard (booing) like that before,'' said Taylor, who set a franchise record by playing in his 247th game. ``I've heard it the last couple of games. Tell the fans to be patient. Things will work out.''
A point echoed by Brophy.
``We're had so many changes, things that take time to adjust,'' he said. ``We're not going to walk through teams like we did at the start. They're booing us at home. . . . But that was just our third (regulation) loss at home. How many teams can say that in any league?'' by CNB