Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 20, 1991                   TAG: 9104200098
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NOEL WILL NOT RETURN AS COACH OF REBELS

Claude Noel confirmed Friday that he has resigned as coach and general manager of the Roanoke Valley Rebels. Noel said he submitted his resignation to club owner Henry Brabham earlier this week.

Noel's resignation means the local franchise will have its fifth head coach in as many seasons when the 1991-92 East Coast Hockey League campaign begins in late October.

Noel, 35, who was named coach last July 20, said his decision to resign was based on "personal reasons." He said Brabham had asked him to return next season.

"My decision not to return to the Roanoke Valley Rebels was one that my family and I spent a great deal of time agonizing over," Noel said. "Stability and continuity were factors in our decision and having two young children added to the complexities of this decision."

Brabham could not be reached for comment Friday night. Immediate speculation on Noel's successor focused on Steve Gatzos, an ex-NHL player who joined the Rebels' roster late in the season. Gatzos, 29, has strongly hinted he would like to get into coaching on the ECHL level.

Noel, who still owns a home back in his hometown of North Bay, Ontario, said he appreciated the opportunity Brabham gave him.

"I owe a lot to Henry and he stuck with me," Noel said. "I must say that the treatment of Mr. Brabham, our staff and the people of Roanoke has been extremely good and this made [my decision] much more difficult."

Because of his July hiring date, Noel got a late start in recruiting players. Nevertheless, the Rebels played well early and were in first place in the ECHL's Eastern Division five weeks into the season before a rash of player call-ups and injuries helped send the club falling in the standings.

Roanoke Valley lost 23 of its final 32 games to finish last in the five-team Eastern Division with a 25-32-7 record. The Rebels were one of only three clubs that failed to qualify for the 11-team league's postseason playoffs.

The Rebels were stymied by a juggling roster, necessitated by the call-ups and injuries, and a lethargic offense that netted a league-low 3.63 goals per game.

"Obviously," said Noel, "the season was disappointing, especially in the fact that we didn't make the playoffs."

Noel said he hopes to remain in coaching, either back home, where he coached the North Bay Centennials of the Ontario junior league for two seasons before coming to the Rebels, or with another ECHL club.

Noel refused to speculate on his plans, saying only, "I'll resurface somewhere."

The Rebels' post was Noel's first professional head coaching job. He spent 14 seasons as a minor-league player in the North American, American, International and European leagues. Noel, a one-time IHL defenseman of the year, had a brief seven-game fling with the NHL's Washington Capitals in 1979-80.

\ Chris McSorley continues to make his rounds in the ECHL.

McSorley has been hired to coach the expansion Toledo Storm, which joins the ECHL this season.

McSorley coached at Winston-Salem in 1989-90 and at Richmond this past season. He failed to last an entire season with either team before being fired.

McSorley, who was replaced in Richmond by former Virginia Lancer coach Dave Allison, has filed a civil suit against Renegades owner Allan Harvie, claiming $7,000 in unpaid wages.

\ Reports out of Buffalo, N.Y., persist that head coach Rick Dudley's job is in jeopardy after the Sabres failed to advance past the first round of the NHL playoffs for the fourth straight season.

Dudley, who got his coaching start with Winston-Salem in the old Atlantic Coast Hockey League, just completed the second year of a two-year contract. If Dudley is fired, former Virginia Lancer coach John Tortorella, now a Sabres' assistant, also figures to become unemployed.

Dudley told The Associated Press, "Everybody wants to rip the organization apart, and I know I'm probably the guy who gets [fired] first, and that's fine."