THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997 TAG: 9701310750
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 48 lines
It wasn't the 4-3 loss to Huntington on Wednesday that so angered John Brophy. It was the way the game was lost that infuriated the Hampton Roads Admirals' coach - and he said so Thursday.
``What they did to us was a mortal sin,'' Brophy said, referring to a home loss that, combined with South Carolina's road win over Baton Rouge, knocked the Admirals out of first place in the ECHL's East Division. ``We weren't ready to play. The whole team wasn't ready to play, as opposed to the three or four guys we usually have who aren't ready. There wasn't one guy on the team who would have broken an egg out there. We didn't challenge anybody. We stunk up the joint.''
He expects to see a much different performance tonight when the Admirals return to division play against the Knoxville Cherokee at Scope.
``I hope everyone on Knoxville punches us in the face on the very first shift,'' Brophy said. ``Those guys hack and slash at us every time we play them, so we shouldn't have any problems getting up for them. Then again, we're one point out of first place. If we can't respond to that, what can we respond to?''
Huntington, in its only game against Hampton Roads this season, took leads of 3-1 and 4-2, before holding on the last 10 minutes of the game to snap the Admirals' six-game winning streak.
``Nobody from our team checked a soul in our end all night,'' Brophy said. ``We just ran around chasing the puck. If you get beat, but you've played as hard as you can. I can accept that. But for the whole team to decide not to play . . . how you can play a team you're never going to see again without challenging them even once. How does that happen?''
Brophy spent additional time working on the Admirals' power play Thursday. Hampton Roads was 0-3 against the Blizzard.
``When you put the puck in their end, you have to hit someone to get it back,'' Brophy fumed. ``Our power play is (bad) because we don't move after the puck. Four guys stand around and watch one guy try to get the puck back.''
With 26 regular-season games left, the Admirals play four of their next five games at Scope, where they are 15-6-1. On Feb. 15, they leave on a six-game road trip before returning home Feb. 28 against Richmond.
``Every game we play from here to the end of the year is crucial,'' Brophy said. ``We can't afford any more nights where we lose at home and South Carolina or whoever wins on the road. That was a four-point night, the two we didn't get, but should have, and the two they got. We can't afford to have that happen.''