Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, November 9, 1993                   TAG: 9311090006
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

EXPRESS HAS MADE ITSELF RIGHT AT HOME

If the expansion Roanoke Express has proved anything in the first three weeks of the 1993-94 season, it has shown it can produce at home.

Heading into tonight's game against the Charlotte Checkers at the Roanoke Civic Center, the Express is one of only three ECHL clubs still unbeaten on home ice.

Counting two exhibition victories, the Express is 5-0 in the civic center.

"You can't slip up too often on home ice in this league," Express coach Frank Anzalone said. "You've got to win at home, then try to sneak a few on the road. That's the key to success in this league."

Until it can learn to perform consistently on the ECHL road, it's imperative that Roanoke gets the job done regularly at home. Roanoke (4-5) is 1-5 away from home, losing four straight after opening with a win in Charlotte on Oct. 28.

The expansion Checkers (4-6) also have learned quickly about the perils of the ECHL road, losing all three starts away from home.

\ "MOOSE" IS LOOSE: Express captain Dave "Moose" Morissette practiced with the club Monday in Winston-Salem, N.C., and will be in uniform tonight. Morissette was injured in Roanoke's 6-3 loss at Charlotte last Wednesday and sat out Friday's 5-3 loss at Raleigh.

Morissette, no doubt, will be anxious to visit with Charlotte's Jason Clarke. It was Clarke who slashed and then kneed Morissette in Charlotte, leaving the Express left wing with a deep bruise below his right knee.

"Believe me, the Moose is really fired up for this one," Express public relations director Tim Woodburn said Monday.

\ ICE CHIPS: The ECHL schedule did Roanoke no early favor. Eight of the Express' first 12 games are on the road. Roanoke travels to Richmond on Wednesday and to Raleigh on Friday before the schedule turns in its favor, providing eight home dates among the next 10 games. . . . Knoxville's Manon Rheaume became the second woman goalie to win a pro game, making 32 saves in the Cherokees' 9-6 win over Johnstown on Saturday. Toledo's Erin Whitten, who became the first female goalie to win a pro game on Oct. 30, made her first start Friday, picking up her second win in a wild 11-10 victory over Louisville. . . . ECHL Commissioner Pat Kelly reportedly spent Monday in Huntsville, Ala., meeting with embattled Blast owner Larry Revo. Kelly's trip added more fuel to speculation that the league soon may assume operation of the Huntsville franchise, which is averaging a league-low attendance of 1,041 per game.