Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 15, 1994 TAG: 9403150022
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Responding to requests by Express general manager Pierre Paiement and coach Frank Anzalone, the Red Wings agreed Monday to send high-scoring forward Lev Berdichevsky back to Roanoke. The Russian flew into Roanoke on Monday night and will be in uniform for tonight's game against the South Carolina Stingrays at the Roanoke Civic Center.
The Red Wings gave the Express no guarantee on how long Berdichevsky will remain in Roanoke, Paiement said.
"Basically, it's a game-by-game deal," Paiement said. "[Red Wings general manager] Doug MacLean said they might need Lev back on Thursday. If they don't, I assume Lev will be making the road trip with us [Huntsville, Birmingham and Nashville] this weekend. Right now, I have the assumption that Lev will stay with us at least until the end of the regular season [next Tuesday].
"Even if he's here only one night, if Lev can help us win one game, then it's worth it to have him back down here."
Adirondack coach Newell Brown said Monday night he suspected "Lev will be there just for one game."
Paiement included Berdichevsky on Roanoke's playoff roster he submitted to the league Monday afternoon.
Paiement said MacLean told him Berdichevsky could be sent down for games two and three of a possible playoff series on March 25-26.
Berdichevsky had 39 goals in 43 games with Roanoke before being loaned to Adirondack on Feb. 5. The 28-year-old Russian scored four goals in his first five games with the Red Wings and was signed to an AHL contract on Feb. 14. Since then, Berdichevsky has cooled off, recording just one assist in the past 11 games.
Paiement said he called MacLean last week to plead for Berdichevsky's return.
"I figured I had nothing to lose," Paiement said. "I told Doug that we had lost four games in a row, Richmond was tracking us down, and we were beginning to worry about making the playoffs.
"In the meantime, Frank called Newell Brown and asked him how Lev was doing. Newell told Frank that Lev had seemed to have lost some confidence and was only playing a couple shifts. Frank mentioned to Newell that he thought it might be a good idea if they sent Lev back down to see if he could regain some confidence."
Paiement said MacLean called him back on Monday and said the Red Wings would send Berdichevsky down if the Russian wanted to go. Berdichevsky agreed to return.
"I don't think this happens very often," Paiement said. "But I said, `Doug, I feel like I've been stabbed in the back. We lost our best player, we got no compensation and now we're struggling to make the playoffs.'
"I think Adirondack felt like it owed us a favor after all that had happened."
The Express certainly can use Berdichevsky. During the weekend, Roanoke (33-27-3) saw its eight-point cushion on Richmond (31-27-5) dwindle to two. The Renegades defeated Wheeling 7-6 on Friday, won 8-6 in Greensboro on Saturday and nipped Greensboro 4-3 again on Sunday in Richmond.
With eight days left in the 68-game regular season, fifth-place South Carolina (31-23-9) leads Roanoke by two points and Richmond by four in the ECHL East race. One of the three clubs won't make the playoffs.
Each club has five games left. After tonight's game, Roanoke's remaining schedule includes road games against Huntsville (Friday), Birmingham (Saturday) and Nashville (Sunday) and the home finale with Huntington next Tuesday.
After tonight, South Carolina plays at Richmond (Wednesday), returns home to face Richmond (Friday) and Raleigh (Saturday) before finishing next Tuesday at Hampton Roads.
After its home-and-home dates with South Carolina, Richmond finishes with games at Charlotte (Saturday), at home against Huntington (Sunday) and at Raleigh next Tuesday.
\ ICE CHIPS: Roanoke's magic number remains eight. Any combination of Roanoke wins (two points), overtime losses (one point) combined with Richmond losses (two points) and OTLs (one point) totaling eight will eliminate the Renegades. . . . Because of no ice at the civic center, the Express was forced to ride a bus to Greensboro, N.C., for practice Saturday and Winston-Salem, N.C., for practice Monday. . . . Roanoke is 6-3-0 against its final five opponents. Richmond is 10-6-2 and South Carolina is 10-6-5 against their final opponents. . . . Richmond, which has won four in a row to charge into contention, beat Greensboro for the second time in two days Sunday without two of its top three scorers, Guy Phillips and Brendan Flynn. Phillips has a separated shoulder and may miss the rest of the regular season. Flynn has a bruised right wrist, but is expected to return before the end of the regular season.
NEXT UP: South Carolina Stingrays vs. Express, 7 p.m. today, Roanoke Civic Center. Ticket prices: Adults $6, $7 and $8; senior citizens and students $5; children 12 and under $4. 940315 HOCKEY-TUES STORY #25808 TOPIC KEYWORD DESK AUTHOR:KING03/15/94 SPORTS, B1HOCKEY FOR TUESDAY headline byline
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