Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 6, 1993 TAG: 9303060281
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
RAMPAGE SURPRISES JOHNSTOWN AGAIN
The Johnstown Chiefs must be glad they've seen the last of the Roanoke Valley Rampage.The Rampage, everybody's East Coast Hockey League whipping boy the past 3 1/2 months, reached out and bit the Chiefs for the second time in seven days Friday, winning 3-2 at the Vinton LancerLot.
The victory was only Roanoke Valley's fourth in the past 32 games. Half of those have come the past week against the Chiefs.
The Rampage finished the season 3-3 vs. Johnstown. It is 11-41 against the other 14 clubs.
"Hey, we're out of it, but we can sure mess up somebody else's season," said Roanoke Valley goalie Todd Chin, who shut out the visitors until the final 8:33.
"I don't know what it is with us against Johnstown. The main thing is we're playing good hockey right now."
Nobody on the ice played any better than Chin, who swatted away 43 of 45 shots to post his first win since Dec. 12. The 29-year-old Fort Wayne, Ind., native had lost his past 19 decisions and entered Friday with a 3-23 record and 6.04 goals-against average.
"I was beginning to wonder if I ever was going to win another game," Chin said. "When I call home tomorrow, finally, I'll have some good news to report. My parents won't believe it.
"It's been a tough year for everybody here. The transmission fell out and the tires fell off here a long time ago. Sure there were times when you wonder: `What am I doing here . . . is this what you really want to be doing?'
"This helps stop some of the bleeding, though."
The Chiefs (31-21-6), still battling to lock up a playoff berth, had to leave town red-faced. Not only did they lose their second straight to a team on track to set every ECHL futility record, but they lost to a team whose third line was made up of three emergency pickups out of a Winston-Salem (N.C.) adult league.
In order to fill his roster for this weekend's three games, Roanoke Valley coach Steve Gatzos brought in 39-year-old Cam Colbourne, 35-year-old Brian Clark and 21-year-old Chris Taylor, who drove up from Winston-Salem on Friday.
Colbourne and Clark both played with the old Winston-Salem Thunderbirds in the early 1980s, while Taylor had never played a professional game.
Taylor scored on his second shot, giving the Rampage a 2-0 lead in a first period in which they dominated unlike any this season at home.
"These guys played a hell of a game," Gatzos said. "It's just too bad we didn't get the shutout."
Dean Dorchak paced the Rampage with a goal - his team-high 38th - and two assists. Ken House had the other Roanoke Valley goal, his eighth in the past seven games.
\ ICE CHIPS: Injuries continue to cripple the Rampage. Captain Ron Jones sustained a broken ankle in the first period and will be lost for the season. Gatzos already has lost top performers Scott Burfoot, Jack Williams, Roger Larche and Darryl Mitchell for the season to injuries. . . . Forward Vaclav Nedomansky is leaving today to play in Sweden. "Now, I've got to go find two more players," said Gatzos, who has suited up a league-high 52 bodies in 58 games. . . . Dorchak's three-point night boosted his season's total to 59 and ensured him of the club's scoring title. Dorchak had been tied with Burfoot at 56 points. . . . The Greensboro Monarchs, currently in a desperate scramble to qualify for the playoffs as a wild-card entry, get the Rampage the next two nights. Roanoke Valley travels to the Greensboro Coliseum tonight. The two clubs hook up again on Sunday at 6 p.m. in Winston-Salem, in a game moved from Vinton by Rampage owner Larry Revo. . . . The Rampage has only two more Lot dates left - Thursday vs. Birmingham and next Saturday vs. Richmond. \
see microfilm for box score