Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 1, 1992 TAG: 9202010259
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
REBELS FEAST ON EX-TEAMMATE
Goaltender Mike Mudd has finally paid dividends for the Roanoke Valley Rebels.Mudd, whose less than efficient work in goal sparked his trade from Roanoke Valley to Raleigh a month ago, proved to be an inviting target for his old teammates Friday night at the LancerLot as the Rebels rolled to a 6-3 victory.
The Rebels, who have been having trouble offensively, were salivating at the opportunity to fire at Mudd, whose goals-against average while in Roanoke read just shy of the local area code.
"Yeah," said Rebel forward Brett Stewart, "we were a bit excited that Mudder was going to play tonight.
"He had some trouble playing for us and we knew he'd be nervous back in this building. The guy must hate this place. It's got to be some kind of jinx for him."
Their offense working on a quicker gear, the Rebels peppered Mudd for the game's first four goals, including three in the first 2:18 of the second period, and coasted past a Raleigh team that rolled into town with six-game road winning streak.
The loss was only the fourth in the past 15 games for Raleigh (18-23-2). Three of those setbacks have come at the expense of the Rebels (15-24-3), who have beaten only two other clubs - Winston-Salem and Dayton once apiece - in their past 19 games.
The Rebs' game plan against the quick-skating IceCaps was the usual one: pound the IceCaps with the body early and often.
"If you don't hit 'em, you're in for a long night," Rebels coach Roy Sommer said. "Big Frankie [Bialowas] came out like a man possessed. They were looking over their shoulders the rest of the night."
Six players scored goals in Roanoke Valley's biggest offensive feast at home since an 8-5 win over Greensboro on Dec. 14.
"Our eyes were pretty big tonight," said forward Mark Woolf. "We pretty well thought that this was going to be an offensive shootout.
"We knocked it up to fast-forward tonight. We've got some guys back, some scoring punch back."
The Rebels overcame the loss of starting goaltender Mike James, who left the game at 10:24 of the second period because of a slight groin pull, and killed off all seven Raleigh power-play opportunities.
"I thought we played a hell of a game," Sommer said. "We lost our big goalie, but Dan Bouchard came right in and didn't miss a beat. He made some unbelievable saves."
\ ICE CHIPS: Bouchard will likely get the start tonight when Western Division-leading Toledo makes its only visit of the regular season to the Lot tonight. Coach Chris McSorley's expansion club owns the best record in the 15-team ECHL at 32-9-1. . . . James, who has been playing his best goal of the season lately, is expected to miss minimum time. . . . The win moved the Rebels into a tie with Knoxville (14-26-5) for sixth place and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Division. . . . Despite the win, Sommer was infuriated about Friday's news that ECHL Commissioner Pat Kelly had rescinded a season-long suspension handed to Columbus' Jason Taylor for defacing Hampton Roads' Harry Mews with a stick back in the season's first week. "If we have a guy who is suspended, he's going to play again," Sommer said. "What's [Kelly] going to do? Shut the whole team down? Hey, we can do anything we want now. There are no more rules." \
see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
HOCKEY