ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 14, 1997 TAG: 9702140040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: EXPRESS NOTES
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
At least one East Coast Hockey League coach doesn't think the Roanoke Express plays boring hockey. Then again, he could afford to be kind in his analysis because his team won.
Charlotte coach John Marks saw his squad escape Roanoke with a 6-5 victory Wednesday night after the Checkers blew a five-goal lead.
Actually, Charlotte didn't blow the lead as much as the Express obliterated it. After falling behind by five, Roanoke scored five goals in a span of 18 minutes bridging the second and third periods - two from Ilya Dubkov and one each from Dave Stewart, Wayne Strachan and Jeff Jablonski - before Charlotte's David Brosseau stole a clearing attempt by Roanoke goalie Larry Moberg and scored the winning goal with 2:10 to play.
``We were lucky tonight,'' said Marks, whose team was outshot 50-21. ``Roanoke is really so much stronger than us. Physically, they're better than us. They jammed us up in front of the net and just killed us. All their goals came from the crease.''
In recent weeks, the Express' style of play has been called ``boring'' by Richmond coach Scott Gruhl and Knoxville coach Barry Smith. Marks didn't share that view, even though his team was victorious.
``Right now, they're the stronger team,'' he said.
ICE CHIPS: Roanoke's next two opponents, Richmond (7:30 tonight) and Knoxville (7:30 p.m. Saturday), made a trade this week. The Cherokees sent defenseman Dan Chaput to the Renegades for defensemen Dallas Ferguson and Matt Garzone. Chaput was part of Richmond's Riley Cup championship squad in 1995, but did not play last season. ... Knoxville also dealt forward Olie Kjenstad to Tallahassee for forward Claude Jutras. In September, the Express acquired Kjenstad from Birmingham in the Jason Clarke trade, but he never reported to Roanoke. Express coach Frank Anzalone eventually worked out a deal that brought forward Sean Brown and defenseman Doug Searle to Roanoke for Kjenstad.
LENGTH: Short : 43 linesby CNB