DATE: Friday, September 19, 1997            TAG: 9709190889

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: - BY HARRY MINIUM

                                            LENGTH:   57 lines

ADMIRALS REPORT [BRIEFS]

Penguins won't wait for Admirals, sign AHL affiliation deal

The Hampton Roads Admirals won't be signing an affiliation agreement with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The NHL team, which had been negotiating with the Admirals about an American Hockey League working agreement, has affiliated with an AHL expansion team in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

The Wilkes-Barre team will begin play in a new arena in 1999-2000. Until then, the Penguins will send players to the Syracuse Crunch. The Admirals are still negotiating with the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville's NHL expansion team.

The Admirals are expected to jump from the ECHL to the AHL next season, though team officials say one important task remains before they make a decision on changing leagues - a lease extension at Scope.

City officials had indicated that they would present a proposed lease to the Admirals by early September, but Admirals co-owner Page Johnson said Thursday that he has yet to receive it. The current lease ends after this season.

Norfolk is expected to offer a three-year extension that calls for cancellation if the Admirals don't move to the AHL next season. City officials planned to meet today to discuss their proposal to the Admirals.

Gervais leads Anaheim to roller-hockey title

After helping the Admirals to their best regular-season record ever last season, Victor Gervais has led Anaheim to the Roller Hockey International championship.

The Anaheim Bullfrogs beat New Jersey 12-4 and 9-5 in the best-of-three championship series. Goalie David Goverde was named playoff MVP, but Gervais (19 points) was the league's top playoff scorer.

Gervais was eighth during the RHI regular season with 17 goals and 45 assists. He appeared in only 17 of 24 games after undergoing surgery last spring.

New Jersey was led in goal by ex-Admiral Nick Vitucci. Ryan Mulhern, a rookie with the Admirals last season, had 30 points in 22 games for New Jersey.

Admirals' wedding bells

Marriage fever hit the Admirals this summer. General manager/assistant coach Al MacIsaac got things started in July when he married Dawn Grabb, a Virginia Beach native. Player-coach Rod Taylor then married Lorel Cayler, whom he had met playing junior hockey in Iowa.

The latest to tie the knot is business manager Brian Kelley, who married Mary Pendick, his college sweetheart from Notre Dame, earlier this month.

New TV schedule

The Admirals' television schedule has been altered. Two games with the Chesapeake IceBreakers have been replaced with games against Richmond.

The new schedule: Sat., Nov. 29, at Richmond; Fri., Dec. 26, Richmond; Tue., Dec. 30, South Carolina; Sat., Jan. 17, at South Carolina; Tue., Feb. 3, Richmond; Fri., March 20, at Richmond.

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