Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 29, 1995 TAG: 9509290091
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Dave Stewart and Craig Herr decided they didn't want to end their professional hockey careers after all. Both players said Thursday they will return to the Roanoke Express.
Stewart, a defenseman who served as team captain for the last half of last season, and Herr, a forward who scored 24 goals in 48 games for the Express, will join the team when training camp begins Sunday in Hillsborough, N.C.
``These are two guys who have certainly showed that they can help us,'' Express general manager Pierre Paiement said.
Both players were key members of last season's 39-win club which advanced to the second round of the ECHL playoffs. Both were considering giving up hockey, according to Paiement.
Their return comes three days after defenseman Michael Smith decided to rejoin the Express. Smith, an East Coast Hockey League All-Star in each of his two seasons in Roanoke, had been in camp with the Milwaukee Admirals of the International Hockey League.
Stewart and Smith anchored a Roanoke defense that had the second-best goals-against average in the ECHL last season.
Stewart, whose 60 points (14 goals, 46 assists) led Roanoke's defensemen, had signed a contract with the IHL's Indianapolis Ice, but he left camp last week and considered going to work at his family's auto dealership.
``Stewie felt he wouldn't see a lot of ice time [with Indianapolis],'' Paiement said. ``He feels he's got a couple of years of hockey left.''
Herr was expected to take a job in the legal profession in Huntsville, Ala., but decided to prolong his hockey career one more year.
``The job he intended to have won't be open for another year,'' Paiement said. ``He wants to play hockey. Both guys still have commitment to hockey. ... We wanted to make sure they weren't coming to Roanoke just to pass the time.''
by CNB