Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 10, 1992 TAG: 9201100050
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Randy King
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
REBELS COACH GOT WHAT HE ASKED FOR: A BUNCH OF DOGS
Back in October, Roanoke Valley Rebels head coach Roy Sommer made no bones about what kind of hockey team he planned to put on the ice."I want a bunch of doooggggs!" Sommer barked.
Now, three months later, those words, seemingly innocent enough at the time, are coming back to bite the first-year Rebels coach.
While Sommer's connotation of "doooggggs" was simple hockey talk for "hard-working, hustling, never-back-down players", the Rebels, in their current state, are proving to be closer to the worthless variety.
Want to see some dogs? Just go to the LancerLot. It's the resident kennel of the East Coast Hockey League.
After a road swing in which they took an 0-for-6 collar, being outscored 46-23, the Rebels find themselves locked in the pound, scratching and pawing for a way back to respectability.
"I never expected this," Sommer said. "We've just played so poorly. It's unbelievable, really."
Barring some kind of sudden turnaround, the Rebels show signs of riding on their leashes right out of the ECHL playoffs, for which 12 of the 15 teams will qualify.
Suddenly, these Rebels without a cause find themselves in a dogfight with the expansion Raleigh IceCaps for the sixth and final playoff berth in the seven-team Eastern Division. Roanoke Valley (11-17-3) and Raleigh (12-21-2) play tonight at the LancerLot.
If you would have told Sommer a month ago that his team would be worrying about Raleigh, he would have laughed first, then crammed a dog biscuit down your throat.
What's happened to the Rebels? Roy Sommer - or is it Roy Somber? - would like to know.
First, the club wasn't that talented to begin with.
Except for an exceptional first line that was broken up when playmaking center Peter Kasowski was called up to the International Hockey League, the team has lacked goal scorers.
Defensively, the Rebs have performed like Snoopy & Co. They have yielded five or more goals 21 times in 31 games, six or more 15 times, seven or more 10 times, eight or more seven times. The club's 5.58 goals-against average ranks last in the league.
In a league filled with many fine, young goaltenders, the Rebel netminders have performed well below par. Of course, it hasn't been all their fault. The Rebs' well-peppered masked-men could qualify for some sort of hazardous-duty pay for all the flying pucks they've seen this season.
The Rebs' efforts on the road, where they are 3-12-1, have been so horrendous lately that it's become the butt of at least one joke.
"What do the Rebels have in common with possums?" one fan asked earlier this week. "They both get killed on the road."
Although it is Sommer's responsibility to find the talent, it's not his fault that some of his better players have been crippled by injuries. More than half the roster has spent time on the injury list.
Another factor has been the lack of help from the team's so-called NHL affiliate, the Calgary Flames. Roanoke Valley is the only club in the league yet to have at least one NHL-contracted player.
To make matters worse, the club lost one of its better players Thursday when defenseman Mike Barlage was forced to return home because of the death of his father. Sommer said Barlage probably would not return.
To his credit, Sommer has refused to cry publicly and confesses to making some personnel mistakes.
"I think I sat on a couple moves that I wish I had made before," he said. "I thought the guys I had were going to do the job."
Sommer's job is going to get harder before it gets easier. At this point, about the only players available are the competition's discards.
"Players, good players, are not easy to find. They just don't grow on trees, you know," Sommer said.
"Hey, it's tough, but I haven't given up on this team. We can pull out of this."
If it doesn't happen, the next step will be simple. Just order the muzzles, Fido.
\ AUTHOR Randy King covers hockey for the Roanoke Times & World-News.