ADMIRALS

The Journal Sentinel staff

Rosemont, Ill. The Milwaukee Admirals have an outstanding loan on their hands.

They owe the debt to the San Jose Sharks, who lent them the services of goalie Trevor Robins for the rest of the year. Robins paid off immediately as he helped the Admirals post a 2-1 shootout victory over the Chicago Wolves Friday night at the Rosemont Horizon.

Robins, who was lent to Milwaukee on Thursday, made 25 saves on the night and swatted away four Chicago attempts during the shootout.

Milwaukee's Brian Dobbin and Trevor Sim each beat Chicago goalie Grant Sjerven during the shootout to clinch the victory for the Admirals.

Robins admitted that he wasn't looking forward to the shootout.

"I don't really care for the shootouts,' " said Robins, who spent most of the season with the Kansas City Blades. "The biggest thing is that you get one point out of it either way.

"But things went well. I can't complain. It was a total team effort."

Admirals Coach Phil Wittliff was clearly impressed with Robins' debut.

"Trevor was terrific," Wittliff said. "He played a solid game and that's what we needed. It's great to have Trevor as a solid backup."

Milwaukee trailed, 1-0, heading into the final period. Tony Hrkac created a 1-1 tie at 1:11 of the third period when he drilled a shot past Chicago goalie Ray LeBlanc, who started the game.

LeBlanc left with 14:47 remaining because of a jammed right thumb. The Admirals, though, got out of a jam thanks to Robins.

"It was a real nice win for us," said Wittliff. "The guys just sucked it up and played a great game."

The first period of play appeared to be a Don King promotion as three players were excused for the evening for their parts in separate bouts. Milwaukee lost the services of Robin Bawa and Dave Mackey. Chicago's Al Secord was ejected as well just 6:41 into the game.

When the teams finally decided to focus on hockey, Chicago got on the scoreboard first. Defenseman Frank Evans rammed a rebound past Robins to make it 1-0 with 7:10 left in the period.

LeBlanc, who entered with a 4.25 goals-against average vs. Milwaukee, pitched a shutout through two periods. He had to make just 18 saves in that span and finished with 21 saves.

Notebook: Wittliff spent the afternoon wheeling and dealing as the Admirals had to have their final playoff roster turned in to the league office by 2 p.m.

In addition to Robins, the Admirals picked up defenseman Dave MacIsaac and left wing John Varga, who was released by Milwaukee in training camp. Both players signed 25-game tryout contracts.

MacIsaac, a 6-foot-2, 215- pounder, just completed his final season with the University of Maine. Varga was playing with the Tacoma Rockets in the Western Hockey League and had 37 goals in 56 games.

"MacIsaac is a real big, strong, tough kid," said Wittliff. "He likes a physical style of hockey. He'll be a nice physical presence.

"Varga had a great year at Tacoma. We wanted to add some youth to our lineup. I don't know how much they'll play in the playoffs, but we expect them both to be able to step in if we need them."

To make room on the roster, Milwaukee released goalie Tom Cole, defenseman Gary Miller and left wing Don Martin.

Copyright 1995
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