Peoria is too hot to handle

Milwaukee Admirals coach Phil Wittliff called it a good old- fashioned butt-kicking, and he wasn't going to get an argument from any of his players or the fans.

Admirals goaltender Bob Mason, who entered the game with a spotless 5-0 record as a starter, suffered through his first subpar performance of the season as the Peoria Rivermen scored the final six goals and cruised to a 7-2 victory before a crowd of 6,065 Wednesday at the Bradley Center.

"We got waxed," said Wittliff, whose team fell to 23-10-4, still tops in the Western Conference. "It's pretty hard picking out anybody that played well for us. I think it was a team effort from start to finish."

Peoria, which won its ninth game in row, improved its league-best record to 24-9-3.

"This is a good habit to get used to," said Peoria coach Paul MacLean, referring to his team's winning ways. "I don't expect to come in here and beat this team by five goals. That's a good team over there, and I have a lot of respect for what they can put on the ice."

At the start, it looked as if goals would be hard to come by, but Milwaukee finally lit up the scoreboard first when defenseman Pat MacLeod scored off a pass from Mike Tomlak with 33 seconds left in the first period.

However, on the ensuing face- off, the Rivermen put a strong rush on Mason, who stopped a pair of shots but was unable to deflect a third by Dan Laperriere with 12 seconds left.

"That was a big goal for us," MacLean said. "If they go into that second period leading, 1-0, it might be a whole different game."

Tony Hrkac gave the Admirals a 2-1 lead 58 seconds into the second period with an unassisted goal, but after that, Milwaukee could muster only 16 shots in the final 39 minutes.

The Rivermen grabbed a two- goal lead going into the second break on goals by former Admiral Steve Tuttle, Darren Veitch and Kirk Tomlinson.

The game was put out of the Admirals' reach early in the third period as Ron Hoover scored his first of two goals 9 seconds into the period on a shot from the top of the left circle. Then, Laperriere scored his second goal, this time on the power play, at 1 minute 33 seconds on a shot almost identical to Hoover's to make the score 6-2.

"We came out flat and that's just unacceptable, especially in a game for first place overall," MacLeod said. "It's very frustrating to play this way at home."

All-stars named: The International Hockey League All-Star Game rosters were announced Wednesday, and four Admirals were named in addition to Wittliff, who was appointed as a co-coach last week.

Forwards Gino Cavallini and Chris Govedaris and defensemen MacLeod and Brad Werenka were picked to represent the Western Conference in the game, which will be played Jan. 18 in Las Vegas.

For MacLeod, who will be making his third appearance in four years, the selection caught him a bit off-guard.

"This year it was a nice surprise because I think there are a lot of guys having good years," he said.

Wittliff said he thought one more Milwaukee player should have been named to the team.

"I was amazed that Hrkac wasn't picked," he said of his team's leading scorer and the league's third-leading scorer.

Copyright 1995
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