ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 5, 1995 TAG: 9512050075
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
There wasn't a lot of optimism among Tim Hanley's Roanoke Express teammates when he took the ice in the 14th round of Saturday night's epic shootout against the Richmond Renegades.
Goalie Daniel Berthiaume, disgusted at allowing Richmond's Trevor Senn to score just seconds before and thinking he had just given up the game-winning goal, skated to the door where the players exit the ice.
Veteran wing Jeff Jablonski was thinking only a miracle could save the Express from suffering its first shootout loss of the season.
The Roanoke bench looked like the front pew of a church, with many of the players bowing their heads.
It wasn't that the Express didn't think Hanley was a good hockey player, because he's obviously a fine defenseman. But with only one goal as a professional to his credit, the 25-year-old rookie probably was the last player anyone expected to beat Richmond goalie Grant Sjerven and send the shootout to another round.
``Oh, I just tried to stay calm,'' he said. ``All I could think about was going straight at [Sjerven] and shoot.''
That's just what he did. Sjerven got a piece of the shot. The puck barely rolled across the goal line, the red light came on and the Express bench, disconsolate just seconds before, erupted in joy. Jablonski won it in the 16th round to give the Express a 3-2 victory over the Renegades.
It was the fifth victory - all via shootouts - in six games for Roanoke, which entertains Wheeling tonight at 7 at the civic center.
There were many heroes in what was one of the most thrilling games in the Express' three-year history. But Hanley's unlikely feat had to be the topper.
``It's great to see Tim Hanley go down there with all that pressure and see it roll in the net,'' said Frank Anzalone, the Express' coach. ``What a great experience for growth. But you know how bad he would've felt if it hadn't gone in.''
Actually, Hanley's glad just to be playing hockey again after being forced to take the past two years off. He had been looking for opportunities to play after his athletic eligibility was limited to two years of playing at Lake Superior State.
The Ontario native played junior hockey for a couple of years before deciding to go to Lake Superior State, where he had been recruited a few years earlier by Anzalone, the Lakers' former coach.
While playing junior hockey, he attended Lakehead University on a full-time basis. He had no idea his eligibility clock began ticking while he was there, even though he wasn't playing college hockey. He didn't find out he was nearly out of eligibility until his first year at Lake Superior State, where he played for coach Jeff Jackson.
``I thought maybe I should have just gone to college right away'' out of high school, Hanley said. ``But by then, of course, it was too late.''
In 1993, he went to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim training camp and later tried out with the ECHL's Columbus Chill, but couldn't work out a deal. Last year, he dedicated himself to getting his accounting degree from Lake Superior State and played in local recreation leagues.
He used his connections to get a look from Anzalone and made the most of it. The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder has been a solid defenseman for Roanoke.
``Believe me, it's a big difference going from men's leagues to professional hockey,'' Hanley said. ``I wasn't expecting any miracles when I started here.''
But he may have gotten one Saturday night.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Hanley. color.by CNB