Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 1, 1994 TAG: 9403010031
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Because the Roanoke Valley Boat Show is scheduled for March 24-28 at the Roanoke Civic Center, the Express has only one available date - Wednesday, March 23 - to play host to a first-round playoff game.
If Roanoke makes the playoffs, it would open the best-of-three first-round series at home on March 23, then play the final two games on the road.
Boat-show organizers, in a deal consummated two months ago with Express management, agreed to move their show from this Thursday through Sunday to March 24-28 in order to free up this Friday and Saturday for home hockey games.
The only scenario in which the switch could come back to haunt the hockey team is if the Express rallies to finish among the top three clubs in the East. If that happens, the Express will have to surrender the advantage of getting two of three first-round games at home.
In such an occurence, it's likely the Express would elect to move its second home date to a neutral site rather than play another game in the opposition's building. The neutral site would likely be Winston-Salem, N.C., or Huntington, W.Va.
If Roanoke wins its first-round series, the club won't face any scheduling conflicts with the civic center in subsequent playoff rounds unless it advances to the ECHL finals, scheduled from April 18-May 1.
The civic center is booked on April 23, 29 and 30, but still it wouldn't create a huge problem since the two finalists have a 14-day window to play seven games, if necessary.
\ PLAYOFF POSSIBILITIES: Entering tonight's home game with Greensboro, Roanoke (31-23-3) stands two points behind fifth-place South Carolina (30-21-7) and eight points ahead of seventh-place Richmond (26-24-5) in the ECHL East.
Roanoke has played two fewer games than South Carolina. Richmond, meanwhile, has played two more games than Roanoke.
The top five clubs in the East automatically qualify for the playoffs. Barring the unlikeliest of circumstances, the sixth-place finisher in the East will qualify as the one wild-card entry in the playoffs.
Roanoke's playoff magic number is 18 points. Any combination of Express victories (worth two points each) and overtime losses (worth one point each) in combination with any Renegade loss (two points) and overtime loss (one point) totaling 18 points would eliminate Richmond from playoff contention.
If Roanoke goes 5-5-1 in its final 11 games, Richmond would have to go 10-3-0 in its last 13 to overtake the Express.
If Roanoke and Richmond finish tied in regular-season points, the Express wins the tie-breaker based on its 6-3-0 head-to-head edge over the Renegades.
\ ICE CHIPS: The Monarchs have their own worries at the top of the East. Greensboro (34-16-6) leads second-place Hampton Roads (33-15-7) by one point heading into the final three weeks. Greensboro has a huge schedule edge, playing eight of its final 12 games at home, where it's a league-best 20-2-4 thus far. Hampton Roads, which begins an eight-game road trip tonight in Toledo, plays 10 of its final 13 away from the Scope. . . . The Monarchs will be making their final visit of the season to Roanoke tonight. The Express, which lost 6-3 in Greensboro on Friday, has won all three previous meetings at the Roanoke Civic Center. The two clubs play again Wednesday in Greensboro. . . . Roanoke closes the week with its final weekend home dates of the regular season - Raleigh (Friday) and Wheeling (Saturday). After this weekend, the Express has three home games left - all on Tuesdays.
by CNB