Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 2, 1993 TAG: 9304020098
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
HOCKEY GOOD BET FOR CITY
Professional hockey in the Roanoke Civic Center next season no longer appears to be a long-shot wager.John Gagnon, the primary investor behind a local bid to land an East Coast Hockey League expansion franchise for 1993-94, said Thursday night "it's almost a done deal" that minor-league hockey will resurface in the Roanoke Civic Center next season.
"I think we'll close a deal with the Roanoke Civic Center by next Tuesday or Wednesday," Gagnon said after leaving a two-hour meeting with civic center manager Bob Chapman on Thursday night. "We hope to have an NHL affiliation and a deal with the Roanoke Civic Center in the next 10 days. Then, we'll send in our application and money [$100,000] to the league office. Everything's looking good so far.
"The puzzle appears to be coming together. We've faced a lot of hurdles, but things seem to be getting solved rather quickly."
Gagnon and partner Pierre Paiement said Chapman has been very helpful in trying to supply the best dates available for the prospective team.
"The first time we talked with Bob there weren't enough spots available for a full home schedule," Paiement said. "The second time we met, there were no weekend dates. Now, it appears we might get as many as 13 to 15 weekend dates. The civic center has come a long way in this deal."
Gagnon said he and Paiement, who would serve as the club's general manager, have three coaching candidates and hope to begin interviews as soon as next week. One of the candidates is Gregg Pilling, who coached the Roanoke Valley Rebels for three seasons in the early 1970s.
"I can't release the names of the other two candidates," Paiement said. "Both are currently under contract. I will say that one is currently coaching in the ECHL; the other is in the American Hockey League."
Gagnon said he hoped to send his expansion application, a copy of a lease agreement with the civic center and $100,000 down payment to the league office in the next 10 days.
At that point, the league's board of governors will vote on Gagnon's application. Several league owners, including ECHL president Bud Gingher, owner of the Dayton Bombers, have gone on record saying they approve of Gagnon's bid.
The board of governors' next meeting is scheduled for May 5 in the Bahamas. A vote on an application for an expansion franchise in Baltimore also is expected to be conducted at the meeting.
"We've come a long way in a short time," Paiement said. "This is no longer just a fantasy, believe me. We've worked too hard for that now."
In other hockey:
\ RECORDBUSTERS: One couldn't blame the ECHL office if it billed Roanoke Valley Rampage owner Larry Revo for a new eraser. Revo's Rampage, which is moving to Huntsville, Ala., for next season, kept the league's record-keeper working overtime this winter, rewriting more club marks - all negative - than any outfit in league history. The Rampage's long list of dirty laundry:
Most losses (including overtime losses): 50. The old record was 44, set by Knoxville (1991-92) and Winston-Salem (90-91).
Least wins: 14. The old record was 20, set by Knoxville (91-92) and Winston-Salem (90-91).
Least points: 29. The old record was 43, set by Winston-Salem (90-91).
Longest losing streak: 16. The old record was 10, set by Louisville (90-91).
Longest road losing streak: 26. The old record couldn't be determined by league office. "We know the record now," a league spokesman said. "We do know for a fact that no team has lost 26 straight."
Worst road record: 2-29-1. The old record was 6-22-4, set by Roanoke Valley (91-92).
Most goals allowed: 393. The old record was 355, set by Knoxville (91-92).
Smallest crowd: 63. A mark that figures to stand forever. The old record was 548, set by Roanoke Valley (92-93).
Lowest attendance average: 1,439. The old record was 1,748, set by Roanoke Valley (88-89).
Other unofficial records: most players recruited from Adult Leagues (six); and most roof cave-ins (one).
\ OH, WHAT A RELIEF: Hampton Roads Admirals owner Blake Cullen breathed a huge sigh last week when an attempt to bring an American Hockey League expansion franchise into the Hampton Coliseum next season was turned down.
Saying he was "very concerned about bleeding off the Admirals," Hampton Coliseum manager Andy Greenwell shunned a proposal entered by Ed Anderson and Frank DuRoss, owners of the AHL's Providence Bruins, that would have put an AHL entry in Hampton Roads next season.
Cullen, whose ECHL Admirals averaged 8,000 per game and were among the top draws in all of minor-league hockey, said going head-to-head against an AHL entry would have "caused the death of two franchises, ours and theirs."
\ HEAT ON PETE: Roanoke-based referee Pete Messana reportedly was forced to call for a police escort to make his way to the officials' dressing room after working Game 2 of the Raleigh-Hampton Roads series at Norfolk Scope.
Messana was vilified by Hampton Roads fans after calling a slashing penalty on the Admirals in overtime that led to Raleigh's winning goal. Police were forced to resort to Mace while trying to fend off an unruly group of some 300 fans parked outside the officials' dressing room.