Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 18, 1994 TAG: 9402180097
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The Richmond Renegades have been riding the caboose in the East Coast Hockey League's East Division for two months now.
And if the Roanoke Express has its way, the Renegades won't secure a playoff ticket anytime soon.
In a game both head coaches are calling the biggest of the season, the archrivals face off for the final time at 7:30 today at the Roanoke Civic Center.
An Express victory seemingly would bury Richmond (23-21-4), which trails Roanoke (28-21-3) and South Carolina (27-20-5) by eight points in the race for the final ECHL playoff berth.
Richmond's only trump card - three games in hand on Roanoke and on South Carolina - won't be nearly so significant if the Renegades fall 10 points back in the standings. A six-point differential, though, is another story.
Besides playoff ramifications, tonight's contest contains some other interesting subplots.
First, it will be the clubs' initial get-together since Express president John Gagnon unloaded on Renegades coach Roy Sommer after Roanoke's 8-5 victory on Dec. 30.
Gagnon accused him of turning that game, which featured 199 minutes in penalties, into a "wrestling match" and also said Sommer "can't coach."
Sommer, who responded at the time by saying Gagnon "should stick to driving his trucks," still hasn't forgotten the verbal barrage.
"Roanoke said some things in the paper about our team, and I think we've got something to prove . . . our guys can't wait to play Roanoke," Sommer told the Richmond Times-Dispatch this week.
Anzalone has steered clear of the controversy.
"I think some comments were made when a person spoke that maybe shouldn't have," the Express' coach said. "I think it's a motivational tool they might use. There were a few fights in the game, but they were nothing, really.
"Now if everybody is going to get into a war, well, I suppose that's the way it has to be."
As if tonight's game needed anything else to fan the flames, the Roanoke lineup is expected to include captain-enforcer Dave "Moose" Morissette, who will be returning to action after knee surgery Jan. 4. The Dec. 30 rumble started when Morissette attacked Jon Gustafson from behind as the Renegades' goalie skated off the ice for an extra attacker.
"Wouldn't you just know I'd make my return against Richmond?" Morissette said. "I can't wait to get back out there again."
The Renegades roll into town playing their best hockey of the season. Richmond, seemingly dead a month ago, has rekindled its playoff hopes by going 9-1-2.
"Roy has done a hell of a job," Anzalone said. "He's kept the canoe afloat with one paddle, so to speak."
Richmond's surge has been paced by center Guy Phillips, who has 14 goals and 24 assists in a current 17-game points streak, and right wing Darren Colbourne, who has scored 12 of his ECHL-high 51 goals in the past six games.
\ BERDICHEVSKY FILE: Anzalone said he hopes his club can put the loss of top goal-scorer Lev Berdichevsky behind it. The Russian signed an American Hockey League contract with Adirondack on Tuesday.
"We've got to go on," Anzalone said. "Some other guys are simply going to have to step up in Lev's absence.
"Personally, I still disagree with the scheme. We loaned the guy for a weekend, and now he's gone for good.
"People say why didn't you get a player from [Adirondack] in return, but you can't do that. AHL teams won't hear of it. So we got nothing in return. . . . It's like they found a fortune in my back yard, and now they won't even give me $10."
\ POWER-PLAY OUTAGE: The Express continues to be hindered by a short-circuiting power play. Roanoke has failed to score on its past 23 power-play opportunities at home and is 3-for-38 in the past seven games.
"Our power play is atrocious," Anzalone said. "It's absolutely awful. It's so bad that it's become almost a running joke in the locker room."
While the loss of Berdichevsky, who had a club-leading 12 power-play goals, certainly hasn't helped matters, the Roanoke power play has fizzled because of too many lost draws and too many short-handed breaks by the opposition.
"We haven't been protective enough of the puck," Anzalone said. "We turn it over a lot on the power play, and by the time we get it back and try to set up, the penalty is over."
After his club gave up a key short-handed goal in Friday's 5-4 overtime loss to Raleigh, Anzalone said, "The way things are going, maybe I should have elected to decline the penalty."
Roanoke's power-play conversion rate of 21.2 percent (64-of-252) ranks 15th in the 19-team ECHL. The Express has also given up a league-high 17 short-handed goals, or nearly one every three games.
\ EXPRESSIONS: Jeff Jestadt's short-handed goal in Saturday's 3-2 victory over Louisville was Roanoke's first in 23 games, dating to Dec. 23. Jestadt has five of the Express' eight short-handers this season. . . . With Berdichevsky gone, Jestadt has become Roanoke's most potent scoring threat. The rookie forward has seven goals in the past five games and leads the club with nine multi-goal games. After scoring one goal in his first nine games, Jestadt has 30 in the past 43 games. . . . Tony Szabo, Roanoke's top points man with 74, needs to readjust his sights. After scoring 21 goals in 24 games, Szabo has one goal on 36 shots in the past seven games. . . . Checking-line center Reggie Brezeault has been plus or even in 11 consecutive games. Brezeault has one minus rating in 18 games with the club. . . . Roanoke is 21-10-3 since Dec. 1.
by CNB