Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 9, 1991 TAG: 9102090463
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Before Knoxville took the LancerLot ice to face the Roanoke Valley Rebels, forward Stan Drulia pumped the numbers-hungry Cherokees with some unbelievable data.
"I'm pretty good with stats, and I noticed that this was the only building in the league that we hadn't won a game in this year," Drulia said. "We were 0-2 here. We decided it was time to do something about that."
Mission accomplished. Dominating from the opening faceoff, the Cherokees hammered the Rebels 7-1.
Knoxville, which has outscored its opposition nearly 2-1 in racing to a dazzling 39-10-4 record, made the Rebels look like something out of the Vinton Adult League. No contest.
"Tonight it looked like men playing against boys," Rebels coach Claude Noel said. "We didn't play well at all. We had been off for a week, but it looked we had been off for a month."
While most of the Rebels took an extended vacation, the Cherokees blew open a 2-1 game by scoring five goals in a 14-minute span bridging the second and third periods.
"Despite winning a lot and leading big in the standings, we haven't gotten complacent," said Drulia, who collected a goal and two assists to run his league-leading points total to 118.
"No team in this league has ever scored 100 points, and that's what we're gunning for," Drulia said. "We've got 82 now and we have 11 games left. We want 100."
Barring injuries, call-ups, etc., it appears the Cherokees can ship in their ring-finger sizes now. It's hard to imagine anybody beating this Knoxville team in the playoffs.
"If things go the way they should, I can't see another team beating us in a four-of-seven series," Drulia said. "It can happen, but I don't think so."
Knoxville coach Don Jackson wouldn't go that far, but he did say, "I like the cards I'm holding."
Noel, meanwhile, had a hand full of jokers Friday. The Rebels couldn't get anything going. They were outshot 51-22 and went 0-for-6 on the power play.
"We did nothing," Noel said. "We lost 7-1 at home and we're not going. I have to take some of the responsibility, too."
\ ICE CHIPS: Knoxville's Dan Gauthier had a goal and three assists, pushing his points total to 117, one behind Drulia. Bret Strot and Mike Murray each scored twice. . . . Marco Fuster scored the Rebels' goal on a second-period breakaway. The score denied goalie Dean Anderson his fourth shutout of the season. . . . Roanoke Valley has scored only once on its last 28 power-play opportunities. . . . The Rebels travel to Eastern Division-leading Hampton Roads tonight.
by CNB