Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 13, 1992 TAG: 9203130008
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
If things go as planned, the Rebels will sew up their first East Coast Hockey League playoff berth in three years.
"I'd like to think it will be all done after Saturday," Rebels coach Roy Sommer said Thursday. "But I'm not going to say it's over yet. Hey, there are too many things that can happen."
If Knoxville, which trails Roanoke Valley by three points, loses in regulation at Hampton Roads tonight, the Rebels can lock up the sixth and final Eastern Division playoff spot with a victory over Richmond on Saturday at the Vinton LancerLot.
Saturday's contest is the regular-season home finale for the Rebels. They conclude the season on Tuesday at Raleigh.
Knoxville (19-34-8) has three games left: at Hampton Roads tonight; at Greensboro on Sunday; and Cincinnati at home on Wednesday.
"I definitely like our chances because Knoxville has three really tough games to go," Sommer said.
\ The Rebels earned a big point in the standings at Erie on Tuesday, but they had to pay a price.
After losing 4-3 in a shootout to the Panthers, the Rebs saw their bus break down twice on the ride home, turning a normal 9-hour trip into a 34-hour adventure.
"We left at 11 o'clock after the game on Tuesday and got home at 9 [Thursday] morning," Sommer said. "We were beginning to wonder if we'd ever see Vinton again."
The bus had brake problems in Mars - Mars, Pa., that is - 4 1/2 hours after leaving Erie.
"We hung out at the Denny's from 3:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.," Sommer said. "Then, the manager came over and said, `I'm sorry, but you'll have to clear out of the place because our lunch crowd is coming in.'
"So we got back on the bus, but it was too cold. So we checked into a motel and defrosted for three, four hours. Then we get back on the bus, go another couple hours, and it breaks down again."
The trip was especially long for Rebels captain Bill Whitfield, who broke a cheek bone in the game. Sommer said the veteran defenseman will wear a faceguard and continue to play.
\ On-ice peacemaker Frank "The Animal" Bialowas is back on the shelf again. Bialowas was placed on the two-week injured reserve list, retroactive to last Sunday, because of a broken finger, Sommer said.
Sommer hopes the injury-prone defenseman will be ready for the playoffs, if necessary.
\ If the Rebs do make the playoffs, they will catch a break because their first-round opponent, the Greensboro Monarchs, do not have ice available for the first two dates of the playoffs.
So instead of opening the best-of-seven series on the road, the Rebels, if they qualify, will get Games 1 and 2 at home next Friday and Saturday. Games 3, 4 and 5, if necessary, are scheduled for March 24, 25 and 27 in Greensboro. A sixth game, if necessary, would be played in Vinton on March 28. Game 7 would be in Greensboro at a yet undetermined date.
\ The highest scoring line in Rebels history is cooking again. Since Sommer put Mark Woolf, Brett Stewart and Peter Kasowski back together two games ago, they have teamed for seven goals and 13 assists.
Woolf, the franchise's first-ever 100-point man, has 49 goals and 51 assists in 61 games; Stewart has 31 goals and 57 assists in 62 games; and Kasowski has 25 goals and 48 assists in 34 games.
Kasowski missed two months of the season when he was called up to Salt Lake (IHL) and then when he was hurt, costing him any chance at leading the league in scoring. His 34-game numbers figured for a 64-game season calculate to 137 points (47 goals, 90 assists).
\ The Rebels continue to shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to shootouts. They haven't won a shootout in four tries this season.
Working overtime usually means bad news for the Rebels, who are 2-7 in OT games. Likely first-round playoff opponent Greensboro is a league-best 12-4 in OT this season.
\ ICE CHIPS: The Rebs finished 8-11-3 vs. the Western Division. With two games left, they are 13-23-4 vs. the Eastern Division. . . . Inside their division, the Rebs are a combined 3-19-4 vs. Greensboro, Hampton Roads, Richmond and Knoxville; 10-4-0 vs. Winston-Salem and Raleigh. . . . Although their average home attendance is up from last season's numbers by nearly 500 fans per game, the Rebels will once again finish last in the ECHL turnstile race. Winston-Salem (2,092) and Roanoke Valley (2,024) will be the only two clubs in the 15-team league to fail to average 3,000 fans a game. . . . At the other end, Cincinnati has obliterated all league attendance records, averaging 9,431 per game with two dates left. . . . Greensboro's Phil Berger appears to have a lock on the league's scoring title.
by CNB