ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 7, 1997 TAG: 9702070031
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: EXPRESS NOTES
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
Even though Ilya Dubkov's hockey resume now includes three games of American Hockey League experience, he's coming back to his previous job with the Roanoke Express.
Dubkov was let go by the Hamilton (Ontario) Bulldogs of the AHL following Wednesday night's game in Rochester, N.Y. He returned to Roanoke on Thursday and is expected to be with the Express when it plays Knoxville at 7:30 tonight at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Dubkov played in three of Hamilton's four games during his week-long assignment, a deal that was brokered by Dubkov's agent, Eric Kuperman. He had one assist in his first taste of AHL action.
While Roanoke is affiliated with the Saint John Flames of the AHL and the Manitoba Moose of the International Hockey League, Kuperman independently sought the AHL contract for Dubkov, who is Roanoke's all-time leading scorer, with 91 goals and 171 assists in 3 1/2 seasons.
``We have hoped all along that Ilya would get a chance to play either in the AHL or the IHL,'' said Express general manager Pierre Paiement. ``We just hoped that it would be with one of our affiliates.''
DOWN ON THE FARM: Saint John Flames assistant coach Jeff Perry has been in town this week and will attend this weekend's games. Saint John is the AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames, Roanoke's NHL affiliate.
The Express has four players on its roster who are contract with either Calgary or Saint John: rookie wing Jeff Cowan, rookie defensemen Matt O'Dette and veteran defensemen Michael Smith and Dave Stewart.
ICE CHIPS: The Express plays three consecutive games this weekend, including a home game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against the Toledo Storm, which will be without goaltender David Goverde, last season's ECHL player of the year. The ECHL suspended Goverde for seven games and fined him an undisclosed sum for swinging his stick at a referee during a game Feb.1 in Peoria, Ill. According to a news report, Goverde, 25, apparently was upset after being bumped several times by Peoria players early in the game, and he also received a penalty for shooting the puck at referee John Lively early in the game. When Lively assessed a slashing penalty against him later in the period, Goverde swung his stick at the referee and was given a game-misconduct penalty. ...
Roanoke is hoping to break its single-game attendance record Saturday. No special ticket rates will be offered, but popular entertainers the Blues Brothers will be at the civic center. The largest crowd to see the Express is the 8,661 fans who watched Roanoke beat Hampton Roads on March 11, 1995. ...
The Express plays at 7 p.m. Sunday at Richmond in a game that originally was scheduled for Jan.12 but was postponed because of a fire at the Richmond Coliseum.
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