
DATE: Wednesday, April 2, 1997              TAG: 9704020716

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:  169 lines

VICTOR GERVAIS: ADMIRALS' STAR FINDS HAPPINESS, AND HOME, IN HAMPTON ROADS

Victor Gervais spent 2 1/2 hours last week buying a baby gift he could wear home. It was a tattoo, on his right bicep, of a cherub, its graceful wings flowing together to form a rectangle where the new arrival's name will be inscribed.

It is Gervais' first - tattoo and baby - and Gervais can't seem to contain his enthusiasm for either. These days, Gervais is as likely to tell you about his previous night's Lamaze class as he is the Admirals' power play. They'll name the baby Dominique if it's a girl.

``If it's a boy, I'd like to call him Michael Jordan, but Cheryl's not too convinced on that one,'' he says, smiling. ``I can't wait for the baby to come. My mom's coming here for the first time to help out. It's going to be a great time for us.''

As for the tattoo, ``I may get another one,'' the Hampton Roads Admiral star said recently, showing off his prize purchase. ``I feel kinda off-balance.''

Actually, Gervais' life has never been more on track. His return to the Admirals this season has been a blessing for him and the team. In just 52 games, Gervais logged 88 points, second-best on the club, 17th best in the ECHL. Only two players in the league had more than his 60 assists - and Louisiana's Ron Handy and John DePour played in 14 and 11 more games than Gervais, respectively.

``He's the best playmaker in the league,'' forward and linemate Dominic Maltais said Tuesday, the eve of the Admirals' playoff-opening series with Roanoke. ``He's so smart and he's so patient, and he sees everybody . . . With his experience in the IHL, he's the big leader here, in the locker room, on the ice.''

More than most, George and Ann Laughner of Norfolk know how Maltais' comment touches Gervais. He lived with them during part of the 1993-94 season and he is the son they never had.

``Victor's just like everyone else,'' says Ann Laughner, a teacher and swim coach at Maury High School. ``He's interested in playing and being happy. And I think he likes the limelight a little, too.''

Following season after frustrating season of seeking approval and attention from the IHL and the NHL, Gervais says he has everything he wants right here. Friends. Fun. Respect.

Last week, 50 members of the Admirals' booster club threw a baby shower for Gervais and wife Cheryl. It's something he's certain never would have happened in Cleveland or Washington, the two cities that once stood at the end of his long road from Prince George, British Columbia.

Growing up, hockey was Gervais' life. As a youngster, he slept in his uniform the night before his team's once-weekly practice so he wouldn't have to get up so early. It never worked. Gervais would rise hours before the scheduled 6 a.m. practice and beat everyone to the rink.

That wasn't easy to do. Prince George is a mill town of about 100,000 hockey fanatics, 500 miles from Vancouver but joined at the heart. Townsfolk paint their faces and rush to the bars to root for the Canucks. They're so rabid about the game that the area's two junior-league teams average about 5,000 fans a night.

As much as Gervais adored hockey - even now he has to watch every televised game - his passion was matched by his mother Denise and stepfather Maurice, a farmer who joined the family after Gervais' biological father died when Victor was 3.

``I wasn't allowed to play anything but hockey,'' Gervais said. ``He wanted me to make the NHL so, so badly. He wanted me to make it more than I wanted to make it - and I wanted to make it bad. He was good in that way. He kept me working hard, focused.''

At 17, Gervais left Prince George for Seattle and junior hockey. Four years later, he was spending his offseason back in Prince George, umpiring a community league ballgame, when he saw his mother running towards him, yelling something about him having been drafted by the Washington Capitals.

``I stopped the game. My mom was crying, 'cause that was their goal in life, to see me get drafted,'' Gervais said. ``I remember it like yesterday, 'cause it was the best thing that had ever happened to me.''

Much of what followed wasn't very good. Ask five people why Gervais isn't in the NHL and you'll get five different answers. He says he wishes he'd have worked harder at becoming a breakaway skating threat.

Admirals coach John Brophy says Gervais has all the necessary skills, except uncommon strength. Gervais doesn't argue.

Assistant coach and general manager Al MacIssac, who played with Gervais with the Admirals, cites maturity as a factor, but also points to injuries and says ``He never got the breaks the guys who make it get.''

And then there's love.

Cheryl left Prince George with Victor. First stop: Baltimore and the AHL Skipjacks. Gervais rarely played that first season, and Cheryl hated the city. Her mood brightened toward the end of the year when Gervais was sent to the Admirals, but he blew out his left knee and was returned to Baltimore for rehabilitation.

The next season he split time between Baltimore and Hampton Roads, but it was clear that Cheryl was far happier in Hampton Roads than Baltimore.

``It was tough on Cheryl, hard to make friends when you're here one day, somewhere else the next,'' he says. ``That's why, especially with a baby on the way, the most important thing is to be stable, stay in one spot. In hockey, that's almost impossible.''

By the 1993-94 season, Cheryl had returned to Prince George. Gervais began the season with the Admirals and living with the Laughners in Ghent.

``He needed someone he could talk with, discuss his feelings with,'' said MacIssac, who made the initial arrangements. ``He's a great guy, and they're great people. It seemed like a natural fit to me.''

Gervais and the Laughners agree. For reasons she still can't understand, Ann immediately allowed Gervais to drive her van to practice and games.

The family's 300ZX was another matter.

``George didn't want me anywhere's near it,'' Gervais jokes, ``but in the end, I wore him down and he let me drive it. Occasionally.''

The Laughners' 13-year-old daughter Melissa remembers Gervais coming home from practice and playing tag or hide-and-go-seek with her. Even now, he invites Melissa out to a movie.

``Last time, it was 101 Dalmations,'' she says, giggling. ``And we had plans to see Space Jam.''

``He's going to love seeing this in print,'' Ann Laughner chirps, rolling her eyes. ``But the truth is he was like a big brother to Melissa, and we love them both.''

``He's graduated,'' George Laughner says. ``When he comes over, I let him sit in my easy chair.''

During the '93 season, Gervais signed a three-year contract with Cleveland of the IHL. When he returned for the ECHL all-star game that was played at Scope that year, he stayed with the Laughners. The night of the banquet, the Laughners flipped him the keys to the ZX and he chauffered the family to the event.

By last season, Gervais was tired of the IHL. He wasn't seeing a lot of ice time in Cleveland. He began talking to the Admirals about a return. Those plans stalled briefly when he was traded to Grand Rapids and he hoped he could make a fresh start.

But neither he nor Cheryl, now his wife, had any fondness for Michigan. She longed for the beach and an area where people made her feel at home. He longed for a consistent shift and a role of prominence in a team's championship drive.

``I think I've lost the chance (to make the NHL),'' he says. ``Now, it's more just being happy, just playing where I know I'm going to have fun and play a lot. That's why I made the step to come back.''

``I never thought I'd see him back here,'' Brophy says. ``But I couldn't have been happier the day he arrived.''

Neither could Maltais. When he scored his 40th recently, he pointed to playing on the same line with Gervais as a primary reason.

``So many times, he puts the puck right on my stick where I like it,'' Maltais said. ``He always helps you score.''

Gervais says he can't wait for the day he and Cheryl have their own home and he can display the memorabilia he's collected during his career. The jerseys, cards, sticks, hats, programs, skates. Everything but pucks. He doesn't have any.

``They give those out for scoring goals,'' he says. ``That's not important to me. I'd rather have a championship than be a 20-goal scorer.''

Growing up, he idolized Montreal's Guy LaFleur, then, of course, Wayne Gretzky. No one on the Admirals, least of all Gervais, is foolish enough to compare the two, though MacIssac says that, at this level, Gervais has Gretzky-type stature.

``When we need a goal, everyone looks to Vic,'' MacIssac says. ``He's our Gretzky. Match his skills to any player in the league and Vic's two-fold better.

``At this level, he can leave defensemen standing still. He's talked about being a big fish in a little pond, about going where people appreciate him as a complete player. He's found it.''

Only two things could make Gervais' life better - a healthy baby and a championship banner. Both could happen this month. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot

Victor Gervais says he and his wife, Cheryl (and dog Chelsea), have

everything they want in Hampton Roads. They even got a baby shower,

courtesy of the Admirals' booster club.

Color Staff file

In 52 games, Victor Gervais scored 88 points, second-best on the

Admirals. His 60 assists rank third in the ECHL. ``He's the best

playmaker in the league,'' says teammate Dominic Maltais.

Graphic

Admirals vs. Express Playoff Preview

For complete copy, see microfilm KEYWORDS: PROFILE