Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 21, 1995 TAG: 9510230104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Jeff Jablonski was tired of getting denied on the doorstep.
That's why he decided to get out of hockey.
That's also why he decided to get back into hockey.
Jablonski, a winger for the Roanoke Express, retired from professional hockey following the 1993-94 season because he was frustrated with how his hockey career was going. He un-retired because he was frustrated with how his sales career was going.
So, last winter, Jablonski called Express coach Frank Anzalone, who had known Jablonski for nearly 10 years. Anzalone coached Jablonski for four years at Lake Superior State University and for one season with the Nashville Knights of the East Coast Hockey League.
``I called Frank back in March to see how he was doing,'' Jablonski said. ``I dropped a hint that I was looking to get back into hockey and I was interested in playing for him. He asked me why I was doing this. He was worried that I was coming back because I didn't have anything else to do. He wanted to make sure I wasn't leaving a good job.''
In fact, Jablonski had already left the sales job he held for just three months in Marinette, Wis.
``It was brutal,'' he said. ``I was selling Polk City Directories [a guide of local businesses] and was just dealing with businesses. ... On my very first sales call by myself I went into this business, it was a steel fabricator, and I meet the supervisor, who's kind of grubby, kind of dirty. He took one look at me and started yelling, `That's that [bleeping] Polk book! Get the heck out of my office!'
``And that's how I got started. You want to start defending yourself. It was discouraging. You want to say, `Hey, I'm just trying to meet a quota.'''
Jablonski worked as a personal hockey instructor for youth players. Then, something happened that prompted him to get back to hockey.
The East Coast Hockey League playoffs started. For a guy who had won a Riley Cup championship with his hometown Toledo Storm in 1993, sitting on the bench while the playoffs were going on was too much to handle.
He longed to leave the shirt-and-tie world of a sales job and re-join a life of games, practices, long bus rides and fast-food dinners.
It's a tough job. But it's even tougher to domesticate a hockey player.
``This is all I've ever known,'' said Jablonski, whose twin brother Pat is a goalie who has seen time in the NHL. ``It was harder going back to a regular family life than it was coming back to hockey. This is home. It feels better now than it has in my four years as a pro. I feel great about myself as a player and about this team.''
That's quite a statement for a guy who had 82 goals as a pro in parts of four seasons coming into this year. Jablonski, who was a sophomore on the Lake Superior State team that won the 1988 NCAA championship, played nine games in the IHL and AHL before becoming one of the ECHL's premier forwards. He was an ECHL all-star in 1992-93 when he netted 36 goals and 39 assists for the Storm.
But after playing only 20 games and scoring just 11 goals for Raleigh in 1993-94, Jablonski decided it was time to call it a career.
``I was frustrated,'' he said. ``I'd played three and a half years in the East Coast. I thought that was enough. I wasn't getting any offers or tryouts [with higher leagues]. If I wasn't going to get where I wanted to go, I didn't want to play anymore.''
He's back now and beginning to play well for the Express, scoring goals in each of his first two games in Roanoke.
``We kid around and say that when you get out of hockey, you're in the `real world,''' said Anzalone, ``but this is real, too. This is hard. For a guy like Jeff to come back, it takes character.''
ICE CHIPS: Express strongman Jason Clarke, who didn't score his first goal of last season until Jan.1, has four goals in his first three games, including his first professional hat trick on Wednesday at Charlotte. Clarke, who set an ECHL record with 467 penalty minutes last season, said he wants to score at least 20 goals this year and cut his penalty minutes to 200. ... Marty Schriner, who began the season with a three-game suspension because of a penalty-box fight with Hampton Roads' Jason MacIntyre during the exhibition season, played his first regular-season game Friday in Richmond. ... In a move to get under the salary cap, the Express waived rookie left wing Mike Staachi this week. Staachi, who scored 15 goals for Dartmouth last season and earned a tryout with the Express after writing letters to several professional teams looking for a chance to play, was not claimed off waivers and may stay in Roanoke while considering his options. ... Hampton Roads is the only East Division opponent with a winning record against the Express (11-9) over the past two seasons.
by CNB