THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603170277
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
After an afternoon spent soul-searching, the Hampton Roads Admirals won what their coach called a ``sanity-saving'' hockey game Saturday night at Scope.
Shootout goals by Mike Barrie and Bob Woods, rock-solid netminding by Corwin Saurdiff and a third-period comeback that had a crowd of 7,583 screaming like they were watching a championship prize fight highlighted a 5-4 shootout victory over Richmond.
``We needed that game for everyone's sanity,'' admitted coach John Brophy, gleefully displaying a green knit St. Patrick's day cap tossed his way after the game. ``To come back like that was great to see, especially against that team of crying, sniveling, whining dogs.''
Brophy used stronger language than that on the Admirals during a Saturday morning gathering at Scope. When he left, the team held a players-only meeting, during which they spoke openly about on-ice troubles that had led to 17 losses in the last 23 games.
``It was a big gut check,'' said Saurdiff, who allowed Trevor Senn to score on the first shootout shot, then stoned five consecutive shots in his first full game since Oct. 18.
Senn's goal made it 1-0, after which Sandy Allan - replacing Trevor Robins, ejected for spearing Ron Majic in the stomach with his stick in the third period - stopped Dany Bousquet, David St. Pierre and Serge Aubin.
Barrie then beat Allan on the glove side to tie the shootout, after which Saurdiff beat Brendan Flynn and Greg Hadden.
Woods then beat Allan and celebrated by falling onto his back and pumping his fists as he was mobbed by teammates pouring onto the ice.
``I made a mistake on the first shot,'' Saurdiff said. ``I came out past the hash mark and I wasn't adjusted to the quickness of the whole thing. But after I made a minor adjustment - skating only to the hashmark, then back - I felt more comfortable.''
The Admirals trailed 4-1 five minutes into the third period before mounting a wild comeback.
The key goal was Majic's, coming 39 seconds after Martin Roy had staked the Renegades to a three-goal lead.
Twenty-eight seconds after Majic got the Admirals back in the contest, Aubin scored on passes from Claude Fillion and St. Pierre.
Then, with the Admirals on a two-man advantage, Rod Taylor, Sergei Voronov and St. Pierre refused to let the puck out of the Richmond zone. Taylor finally scooped it past Allan at 12:45 to tie the game and turn the spotlight on Saurdiff.
``The amazing thing about him was he was so stale,'' Brophy said. ``Unbelievable performance. He gave us the saves we needed to stay in the hockey game.''
With an Admirals-Renegades playoff series a distinct possibility, he also may have made the Hampton Roads season a lot more interesting.
NOTES: Saturday night's game against Richmond was not the final regular-season home game, as reported Saturday. The Admirals and Renegades play again March 23 at Scope. . . . Richmond set hockey's all-time record for most penalty minutes in a season. The Renegades had 51 penalty minutes against the Admirals, giving them a season total of 3,095, shattering the record of 3,077 set by the IHL's Indianapolis Ice in 1988-89. . . . Tonight's Admirals-South Carolina game from Charleston starts at 6:05 p.m.(WTAR-AM 790) by CNB