The man Scope fans simply love to hate

NORFOLK

He will be the last Hershey Bear onto the ice tonight – and the first whom Norfolk Admirals fans will seek out to direct their venom.

“Robitaille, you sissy!”

“Go home, Robo-turtle!”

“You suck, Robitaille!”

In short, another typical welcome to Norfolk for Hershey forward/agitator Louis Robitaille, Public Enemy No. 1 to the denizens of Scope.

“They love to hate me here,” a laughing Robitaille said Thursday upon arriving in Norfolk. “They boo me and yell stuff at me. But, hey, I’m just doing my job.”

A five-year AHL veteran, the 25-year-old Robitaille has just 18 goals in 269 career games. But when it comes to  annoying the heck out of opponents, the Montreal native has few peers. He’s a master  of the perfectly timed stick to the back of an opponent’s legs – when the referee’s not looking, of course. And the well-disguised glove and/or elbow to the face.

And he never shuts up. Robitaille’s motor mouth runs with a fury until a steamed opponent finally drops his gloves to shut it up.

Then Robitaille skates away.

“He doesn’t have the 'stuff’ to put his dukes where his mouth is,” longtime Admirals fan Tony Bruner said. When he does stick around and fight, the result often isn’t pretty. Earlier this season,  6-foot-5 Admirals enforcer Jay Rosehill delighted Norfolk fans by  peppering Robitaille with punches.

Too often, though, the real tough guys can’t get Robitaille to throw down. Instead of fighting, the Bears forward is renowned for dropping to the ice and bowing his head, or “turtling.”

Some might call a person  who starts a fight but won’t stand up and finish one a punk. Robitaille notes that at least he’s a smart punk.

“I’m no heavyweight,” the 6-2, 207-pound Robitaille said. “I’m just an agitator.”

Robitaille was at his agitating best in Game 3 of the 2006 Calder Cup playoffs, when he goaded Admirals star Shawn Thornton into drawing two game misconducts and a fighting major. The Admirals led 2-0 at the time of the infractions; they went on to lose 5-4 in double overtime.

“He almost single-handedly knocked us out of the postseason that year,” Bruner said.

Robitaille’s “performance” in that series only ramped up Admirals fans’ ire. Signs began popping up  at Scope professing their abject disgust:

“Puss in Skates”

“Robitaille’s Afraid to Fight”

“Why Don’t You Fight Me, You French Sissy?”

Tony Cicero even named his MySpace page “Die Robitaille.

”I requested to be his friend three times using that profile,” Cicero said. “Never heard back from him.”

That’s actually surprising, for Robitaille usually plays along with the fans’ disgust. He’ll acknowledge a particularly clever insult and will actually pause during his pregame skate to read some of the signs.

“I complimented him on his haircut one time,” Paulette Mathews said. “And he goes, 'Thank you!’”

He can also give  as well as take. Once, when fans sprayed beer on  him in the penalty box, the Bears antihero directed his water bottle at the crowd and showered them back.

Another time, when a fan dumped a full beer cup into the penalty box, the Bears forward picked up the empty container and pretended to chug its contents.

“I’m just out there having fun,” Robitaille said. “Playing hockey and having fun.”

Robitaille’s ability to roll with the insults has actually earned him some praise among the taunts.

Mathews said that while she can’t stand the way he plays, he’s “absolutely precious” off the ice.

Lars Bogie, who sits near Mathews in the raucous Section 11 near the opposing penalty box, said Robitaille actually signed the “Puss in Skates” sign.

And then there’s Ken Peacock, who says the worst part about Robitaille is that he isn’t the Admirals’ pest.

“It’s pretty good when one man can anger the opposing team, but even better when he gets the fans hating him, too,” Peacock said. “At the end of the game and the end of the season, you can’t hate the guy for doing his job.”

Paul White, 757-418-1447, paul.white@pilotonline.com