Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 3, 1991 TAG: 9103030235
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Facing elimination Saturday night at the LancerLot, the Rebels kept alive their flickering hopes of making the East Coast Hockey League playoffs with a 4-3 overtime shootout victory over Winston-Salem.
In the shootout - the format that pits five skaters from each club going one-on-one against the opposing goalie - the Rebels came close to shooting themselves out of the playoff picture.
But defenseman Rob Wilson and forward Brian Bellefeuille - the final two Roanoke Valley shooters in the five-man rotation - came through in the clutch to erase the visitors' one-goal lead and keep the Rebels breathing.
"No doubt about it," said Wilson, "we had to win and get two points. One point [awarded for an overtime loss] in the standings would have done us no good.
"No one wants to say it's over. Besides, it's much too early for me to start worrying about my golf game."
The victory, coupled with Saturday losses by Louisville, Erie and Nashville - three of the four teams the Rebels are chasing - gives Roanoke Valley at least some hope with only five games left in the regular season.
Roanoke Valley (24-28-7) trails Nashville by one point, Erie by four and Richmond and Louisville by five each. The Rebels must catch at least two of those four to gain one of the two wild-card playoff berths.
It won't be easy since Roanoke Valley plays four of its final five games on the road, where it has won only nine of 28 games.
"We've got five games left, and we've got to win all five, at the very least four," Wilson said. "Know what? I think we're going to do it."
They will have to play better hockey than they did Saturday night. The Rebels didn't exactly overpower a Winston-Salem club that is last in the 11-team ECHL with a 18-38-3 record and is in a nine-game losing streak.
"We didn't play very intelligently defensively," said Rebels coach Claude Noel. "But we won the game and got the two points. That's what counts, I guess.
"We can't afford to lose a game right now. We go to Hampton Roads [Wednesday] and then get Richmond twice at their place [Friday and Saturday]. Those two Richmond games appear to be the real critical ones.
"We're just trying to find a way to stay in this thing."
Gus Morschauser, who was reassigned from Roanoke Valley to Winston-Salem last week by the NHL's Vancouver Canucks in order to get the goalie more playing time, tried his best to dig the Rebels' grave.
Morschauser came up with one big save after another to keep the Thunderbirds close. And when Don Martin scored to tie the game 3-3 with 5:59 to play, the Rebels found themselves in big trouble.
But Wilson and Bellefeuille took away Morschauser's shovel when each beat him high to the stick side.
"And," said Wilson, "we're still kicking."
\ ICE CHIPS: Gary Callaghan, Steve Gatzos and Marco Fuster had the first three Roanoke Valley goals. . . . Defenseman Henry Dunn, in his second game back in the lineup after injury, registered two assists. . . . The game was the Rebels' next-to-last home game of the season. The LancerLot finale is next Sunday night against Erie. . . . Roanoke Valley took the season series from Winston-Salem 5-1, the only loss coming in an overtime shootout. The Rebel outscored the Thunderbirds 23-9. . . . Former Rebel Ron Aubrey, who was traded to Louisville two weeks ago, signed a contract with the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs and has been assigned to Newmarket of the American Hockey League. . . . Thunderbirds forward Keith Gretzky, younger brother of NHL superstar Wayne Gretzky, didn't make the trip. His wife went into labor before the team bus headed north.
see microfilm for box score
by CNB