THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290478
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Not that he could hear them above the music, but John Brophy left the Scope ice after Wednesday's first period to applause from a gaggle of fans above the Hampton Roads Admirals' locker room.
``I love you, John,'' yelled a matronly woman in jeans and a sweatshirt, straining over a railing toward the plexiglass, behind which Brophy stepped gingerly along the ice. ``Way to go, Broph.''
That was about it. No banners. No roses. No cups of beer chucked from the upper deck. Simply no conspicuous signs of support or rejection for the white-haired, ruddy-faced guy behind the Admirals' bench.
In all, a paid crowd of 4,921 - maybe 4,000 were in the place -could not have given a broken hockey stick that it was Brophy's first home game since he set a Scope record for the hacksaw toss Feb. 14.
For reacting in that overwrought way to some foul-mouthed yahoo, the coach issued a brief written apology from the road a week later. Wednesday's answer from the stands seemed to be, hey, forget about it.
Of course, the crisp play of the Admirals probably had something to do with soothing the most savage Admirals fan. Led by new goalie Mike Torchia, who flicked a cat-quick glovehand with a showman's flair, the Admirals decked the South Carolina Stingrays 3-2.
It extended their winning streak to two games, before which the injury- and promotion-riddled Admirals had lost nine straight and 14 of 15. It also prevented them from dropping their fourth consecutive game at Scope, which would have tied the franchise record.
Torchia, a beefy 5-foot-11, 215-pounder from Toronto, played just his third game for the Admirals. That's half as many as the 23-year-old played in the NHL last season for the Dallas Stars.
But a knee injury and a string of unfortunate, for him, personnel shuffles this season suddenly plunked Torchia into the East Coast Hockey League for the first time and into the grateful Admirals' laps.
``I have no idea why he's here,'' Brophy said. ``But we're gonna enjoy him while he is.''
Torchia, who preserved the victory with a final pair of pretty glove saves in the last six seconds, sounded pretty stunned himself.
``No, I never expected to be here,'' Torchia said. ``It's frustrating. It's just one of those situations where you have to say, `Screw it,' and work your way back up. There's nothing else you can do.''
Speaking of expectations, Brophy said he anticipated no particular reaction from the crowd toward him. But he took an opportunity to touch on why that hacksaw went flying two weeks ago: defense of his players.
``Anybody can say anything they want about me,'' Brophy said, the words flying from his mouth in their usual rapid, profane bursts. (They are edited here to protect the innocent.)
``I've been spit at and (abused) by 18,000 every night. But when you start getting personal about the (ahem-ing) hockey club ... (ahem), these guys have got broken arms, they're (ahem-ing) hurt.''
Thankfully, sticks, stones or bad names caused no incidents Wednesday. And except for a half-dozen or so pucks, nothing extracurricular flew into the seats.
The Admirals skated hard. The Admirals skated clean. The Admirals won.
Peace reigned.
Way to go, Broph. by CNB