Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 8, 1993 TAG: 9301080110
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
DEALS DON'T COME EASY FOR RAMPAGE
The pink slips didn't fly as advertised this week in Vinton.Roanoke Valley Rampage coach Steve Gatzos, who promised heads would roll after the club's eighth consecutive loss last Saturday, has discovered there is no quick fix available if you're in Vinton and you're the East Coast Hockey League's cellar-dweller.
"It's a very tough position here," Gatzos said Thursday. "First, a lot of guys don't want to report here for one reason or another. Second, who do I trade? I've got nobody to give up."
As of Thursday afternoon, Gatzos was able to make one roster move, picking up defenseman-forward Bill Wagner on waivers from Knoxville. Wagner, who had three goals and seven assists in 28 games with the 14th-place Cherokees, takes the spot of released forward Jim McCarthy.
Gatzos spent much of the week on the phone trying to swing one deal or another. The rookie coach has learned it's hard to get something for nothing.
"Face it, we don't have a lot to barter with," Rampage owner Larry Revo said. "Plus, there are not a lot of players available at this point. I understand Steve's frustration. From a general concept, why not lose with 17 different guys? But from a practical standpoint, there's not a lot out there who is going to help you."
The lack of an NHL affiliation continues to haunt the Rampage, Gatzos said.
"A lot of other clubs in the league have gotten better through the help of their affiliates," he said. "Without an affiliation you're going to get killed. Knoxville and us are the only two totally independent clubs. And we're both in similar situations."
Revo, who conducted one-on-one meetings with every player this week in search of answers, said the club's slide can't be pinned on any one factor.
"We can all share in the ingloriousness of it all," Revo said. "Everybody should share the burden. It's partly everybody's fault. Hopefully, when we do get it turned around, everybody will share in that, too."
The Rampage (10-23-1) will have to right its ship in a hurry in order to have any shot at making the ECHL playoffs. Only the top four finishers in each division and the two remaining teams with the most points make the playoffs.
"We've got to string a few games together or else we're going to be in big trouble," said Gatzos, whose club has lost 18 of its past 22 games after starting the season 6-6.
Revo said he is convinced from his meetings with the players that they haven't thrown in the towel.
"I guess I expected to hear a sort of give-up attitude, but that wasn't what I heard at all," Revo said. "I don't think these guys have given up. I think they believe they can turn it around.
"They all told me that this has been the best week of practice this season. So I think it will show up right away if we can turn this thing around."
\ BAD BOY BROPHY: No final word yet on the the case of Hampton Roads coach John Brophy, who was slapped with a warrant charging him with assault on a government official after a wild melee that followed the Admirals' loss at Raleigh on Dec. 19.
After being showered with debris from IceCaps fans while on a walkway to the Admirals' locker room, Brophy grabbed a hockey stick to try and shoo away the abusive fans. Public safety officer C.R. Ellis Jr., who tried to restrain Brophy, was shoved backward by the Hampton Roads coach.
"I wanted to slap the concrete [with the stick] to make [the fans] back off from the rail," Brophy told the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot & Ledger-Star. "The cop surprised me. . . . This is the stupidest thing I ever saw."
After the Admirals' bus was surrounded by more than a dozen law officers, Brophy was escorted to a police car, where officers took his name and address.
"They never told me they were filing charges," Brophy said. "This is a joke. I did nothing.
"[But] the way we played we should have all been arrested."
\ ICE CHIPS: The Rampage, whose 1-15-1 road record looks great only when compared with the NHL's Ottawa Senators' 0-20-0, visits Raleigh today. The Rampage is host to Hampton Roads at the LancerLot on Saturday. . . . Roanoke Valley's Dean Dorchak (13 power-play goals) and Jack Williams (seven short-handed goals) lead the ECHL.