Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 23, 1994 TAG: 9403230094
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Now that the Express has reached the postseason, that "do-or-die" tune will be blaring louder in the Express' ears tonight at the Roanoke Civic Center.
"We've got to win Game 1," said forward Jeff Jestadt, referring to the 7 p.m. opener of Roanoke's best-of-three first-round series against the Raleigh IceCaps.
"When you've only got one at home in a three-game series, I think you have to win that one. If you do, then you've got two pops to win one in the other guy's building.
"But if you don't win the first one at home, then you've got to win two at the other guys' place. That would sure make things awfully difficult."
Game 2 of the series will be played Friday night in Raleigh, N.C. Game 3, if necessary, would be played in Raleigh on Saturday.
The Express (37-28-3) had its troubles with the IceCaps (41-20-7), who stole second place in the ECHL East Division from Greensboro by beating Richmond 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Roanoke, which finished fifth in the East, lost five of six games against Raleigh, including all three at home. Two of the Express' home losses to Raleigh were in overtime. Four of the six games were one-goal decisions, another was decided by two.
"Our biggest thing with Raleigh is that they probably feel they can beat us," said Roanoke coach Frank Anzalone. "Somehow we've got to bury the misnomer we can't beat them.
"Certainly we're the underdog against Raleigh. I think if Raleigh had had two more weeks, they'd have won the East Division, based on the roster they have now.
"Personally, I think we match up better with Raleigh than we would have Greensboro. Sure, we had a better record against Greensboro [5-2-1], but that's because we got good goaltending against them. Our goaltending against Raleigh hasn't been good. Thirty-five percent of the goals we gave up against Raleigh could have been stopped."
The IceCaps finished as the ECHL's best defensive club, allowing 221 goals, and feature some of the best team speed in the league.
"They're by far the best team in the East Division right now," said Huntington goalie Jim Mill, whose club was drilled 10-3 in Raleigh on Friday.
"They're loaded right now. You guys [Roanoke] won't beat Raleigh."
After Roanoke scrapped so hard the past few weeks simply to earn a playoff berth, one has to wonder if the Express can find enough steam to produce any playoff magic.
"We played the whole season to make the playoffs, so it would be stupid to say, `Now we've got here, let's take it easy,' " said Express center Roger Larche. "We want to keep playing hockey. The only way we can do that is keep winning."
\ ROCK AND HARD PLACE: Roanoke, which concluded its regular season Tuesday, had no choice but to open the playoffs tonight. The Roanoke Valley Boat Show will be moving into the civic center Thursday and runs through Sunday.
If Anzalone had his druthers, the Express would have had at least one day off before starting the playoffs.
"For that very reason, it wouldn't have been so bad to me if we could have played the first game on the road because we would have probably played it Thursday," Anzalone said.
"But what could we do? We had no ice except for Wednesday. So there was no choice."
\ RYDER RETURNS: Goalie Dan Ryder, sent back to the Express on Monday after a two-week stint with Kansas City of the International Hockey League, was in good spirits upon his arrival in the locker room Tuesday.
When hearing that Paul Cohen had said "the club really needs to get Dan Ryder back" after Roanoke's 3-2 victory in Birmingham on Saturday, Ryder couldn't resist taking a shot at his 28-year-old teammate.
"The old man can't take it, can he?" Ryder said, smiling.
When noticing his No. 30 jersey, worn by Russian rookie Andrei Mezin in his absence, didn't have his name on the back, Ryder said: "Just look at that. No name on my jersey. How soon they forget, I guess."
Ryder, who was 1-1 with a 4.73 goals-against average in three games with KC, said he didn't mind coming back to Roanoke.
"Really, I was glad to come back," he said. "I like it here. I'm going to be here through the playoffs and do whatever I can to help this team win."
Anzalone said that Cohen would get the starting nod in tonight's playoff opener.
"After Game 1, we'll take a look at things," Anzalone said. "No matter who's out there, it's imperative that we get good goaltending."
\ ICE CHIPS: The Express will be without Lev Berdichevsky, who won't be joining the club until at least Friday, if then, from Adirondack of the American Hockey League. . . . Express officials are expecting a crowd of 5,000 to 6,000 fans for tonight's game. . . . Raleigh's goaltending duo of Matt DelGuidice (2.94) and Chad Erickson (3.26) ranked first and third, respectively, in the ECHL in goals-against average heading into Tuesday's finale. . . . Raleigh finished 25-7-2 at home and 16-13-5 on the road. . . . Raleigh's 5-2 victory over Richmond, combined with South Carolina's 4-3 triumph at Hampton Roads, eliminated the Renegades from the playoff picture. Hampton Roads faces South Carolina and Greensboro meets Charlotte in the other two East first-round series.
by CNB