ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603180029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
Karry Biette was once like a swift-moving prairie fire blazing through junior-league hockey rinks across the windswept Canadian plains.
A 5-foot-9 firecracker with a hockey stick, Biette once scored 101 points in the Western Hockey League and his scoring prolificacy was known far and wide. Biette lit lamps from Regina to Red Deer, from Swift Current to Saskatoon, from Moose Jaw to Medicine Hat.
Reports of his high-scoring days have just been a rumor in Roanoke, though. As a rookie center for the Roanoke Express, Biette has struggled at times to find the scoring touch.
Maybe if the town had a name like one of those WHL prairie towns. Maybe if the town were still known as Big Lick ...
``If I could answer why I haven't been scoring,'' Biette said, ``I would have 50 goals by now.''
Biette has scored six goals in 26 games with the Express since he was acquired in a trade with Erie in January. Projected over a 70-game East Coast Hockey League schedule, Biette's Express numbers would be on pace to reach 18 goals and 21 assists.
Through 62 games with the Express and the Panthers, Biette has 12 goals and 25 assists. That's quite a drop from his last season in the WHL, when he netted 40 goals and 61 assists for the Regina Pats.
``People keep asking, `Why can't he do that here,''' Biette said. ``Everybody knows I'm not having a big year. It's been a frustrating year, very frustrating.''
Perhaps Biette's frustration is about to end. He scored two goals in Roanoke's 4-1 win over Johnstown on Tuesday. It was his best outing since his first week with the Express, when he scored two game-winning goals.
Biette has been paired mostly with linemate Jeff Jestadt, who, like Biette, recently ended a scoring slump and who, like Biette, sports a short-coiffed head. If the Receding Hair Line can continue to contribute some offense, it could spark a Roanoke team that is trying to catch South Carolina for third place in the East Division.
Two years ago in Regina, Saskatchewan, Biette shared a line with Jeff Friesen, who now plays for the NHL's San Jose Sharks. After his big season in the WHL, Biette turned down a 25-game tryout with the International Hockey League's Houston Aeros to attend the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.
While there, he had 25 goals and 37 assists in 37 games in earning first-team All-Canada honors and the Canada West University Athletic Association rookie of the year award.
``I'm sure Karry Biette believes he can score more goals,'' said Express coach Frank Anzalone. ``He just needs to polish up some things about his game. For a while, he was just doodling around with the puck too much. Tuesday [when he scored twice] he just took the puck and shot it. Sooner or later, we're going to see him break out.''
ICE CHIPS: Roanoke's appeal of Jason Clarke's three-game suspension was denied by commissioner Pat Kelly. Clarke, who was suspended following a fight with Hampton Roads' Aaron Downey on Sunday, will miss tonight's game against Charlotte and Sunday's game against Raleigh. ... Defenseman Dave Stewart, who has missed four straight games with a sore right hand, should be ready to play tonight. ... Sunday's game against Raleigh has been switched to 6 p.m.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 linesby CNB