Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 21, 1992 TAG: 9202210125
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
REBELS WATCHING AMERICAN TEAM WITH KEEN INTEREST
Although their main focus these days concerns making the East Coast Hockey League playoffs, the Roanoke Valley Rebels certainly are not oblivious to a much larger pucks story being written at the 1992 Winter Olympics.When the United States takes the ice this morning in Meribel, France, against the favored Unified Team, coach Roy Sommer and the Rebels figure to be parked in front a television set.
"This will be the big game for the U.S.," Rebels forward Ken Moran said. "If they can win [today], I think they're going to pull off another miracle. The U.S. will definitely be the underdog, but with a hot goalie [Ray LeBlanc] and a bounce or two, you never know what might happen."
Moran, a 24-year-old native of Bristol, R.I., played four seasons with U.S. forward Dave Emma in youth hockey.
"Dave is living everybody's dream right now," Moran said. "My mom tells me he's the big talk of Rhode Island. If he brings back a gold medal, the whole state of Rhode Island will be lined up at his door to take a look. I'll be right there in line, too, I guess."
Sommer has seen LeBlanc's puck-stopping act before. LeBlanc, who played in the old Atlantic Coast Hockey League in 1984-86 for Pinebridge and Winston-Salem, was responsible for Sommer's early vacation in 1987-88 while in the International Hockey League.
"I was an assistant coach in Muskegon, and our team had lost only 16 games out of 82 all year," Sommer recalled. "LeBlanc was playing for Flint and they beat us four games to one in the first round. He was the major reason.
"He's a great goaltender, so I'm not really surprised at what he's done over there [stopping 199 of 207 shots]. But for that caliber of hockey, yeah, it kinda surprised me a little bit."
Sommer said a U.S. gold medal would be a huge boost for American hockey.
"Looked what happened when we won in 1980," Sommer said. "Hockey picked up all over the place and everyone was wearing Team USA jerseys. That helped minor-league hockey and helped USA hockey. It's good to see that the United States can compete at any level now, whether it be the NHL, International league, or even this league."
Rebels captain Bill Whitfield was 15 years old when the Americans pulled off the 1980 miracle in Lake Placid, N.Y. The Boston native remembers the scene like yesterday.
"What happened in '80 definitely influenced some kids back home because when the U.S. won it seemed like the numbers of kids playing the game jumped," Whitfield said. "It wasn't a great jump, but after they won the gold everybody wanted to play.
"It would be great for hockey in the U.S. because the numbers have been declining a lot the last five or six years at a pretty rapid pace. Hopefully, that would give us a little boost to get the interest back."
Sommer said the key for the U.S. team today against the former Soviet Union team will be LeBlanc and who is wearing a whistle.
"LeBlanc will have to have another hot game, but the big thing will be what referee they get," Sommer said. "A North American referee will be more to the advantage of the U.S. than a European ref. Those guys take dives and they call 'em there, where a North American referee will say, `Hey, get up.' "
Whitfield predicted the Unified Team will be too much for the Americans.
"I don't really think they're going to beat the Unified Team," Whitfield said. "I think they're over their heads in this one. I think they have reached the end of their rope."
When informed of Whitfield's prediction, Moran was slightly dazed. "Does he think that?" Moran said. "Well, you've got to have hope, don't you?"
If the gold medal comes down to the United States vs. Canada, which meets Czechoslovakia in today's other semifinal, the Rebels will be a house divided come Sunday. There are eight Canadian-born players on the club.
\ The biggest upset in the ECHL this season? A strong argument can be made for Game No. 378 Tuesday night in Toledo, where Roanoke Valley scored a shocking 3-0 victory.
Entering the game, consider:
Toledo had the league's best home record (23-3-1); Roanoke Valley owned the ECHL's worst road mark (4-18-3).
Toledo had won 15 of its previous 16 at home; Roanoke Valley had lost 16 of its last 17 on the road.
Toledo had outscored its opposition at home by an average of 6.70 to 3.33; Roanoke Valley had been outscored on the road by an average of 5.68 to 2.96.
\ ICE CHIPS: The Rebels continue their quest to qualify for the playoffs tonight when they entertain Greensboro at the LancerLot. Nashville visits on Saturday. . . . Rebels forward Mark Woolf's three points in Wednesday's 8-4 loss at Dayton enabled him to break the franchise's individual season scoring mark of 83 points, set by Mike Chighisola in 1988-89. Woolf, whose 44 goals are one short of Chighisola's franchise record of 45 in '88-89, has 85 points.