Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 18, 1993 TAG: 9311180146
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In the wake of Roanoke captain Dave "Moose" Morissette's well-chronicled scrap last week with Charlotte's Jason Clarke, Anzalone said Wednesday that he has informed the Express enforcer "that the carrying-on has gone too far."
"Dave is going to have to toe the line," Anzalone said. "I will not have a goon on my team. [The club and media] has portrayed Dave Morissette as a goon in this city and it has to end."
Morissette received a one-game suspension from East Coast Hockey League Commissioner Pat Kelly for jumping and pummeling Clarke during Charlotte's 3-1 win at the Roanoke Civic Center on Nov. 9. Six days earlier, Clarke had kneed Morissette in a game in Charlotte, injuring the Roanoke left wing.
In addition, Kelly fined the Express $250 for what he deemed to be a "premeditated attack" by Morissette on Clarke.
"Pat Kelly has told me I'm next on the suspension list," Anzalone said. "I've been told I'm not controlling my players. Well, [goalie Dan] Ryder did it [fought and got suspended] and Moose did it. The Moose was told before the game not to do what he did. So I'm next and that means Pierre [Paiement, Express general manager] will be coaching.
"If Dave is involved in a spontaneous scrape, that's fine. But any preplanned scrap by him, the fans or the media is just not acceptable to the commissioner. Pat Kelly is saying that if he reads something, then it happens, he's going to come down real hard, and I believe him."
Morissette said he has no problem with Anzalone's edict.
"I came down here to play hockey first," Morissette said. "Hey, I can do more than just fight; I can play hockey, too. But like I said before, I'm still not going to let the other teams come in here and push my team around."
"Frank was really upset with me over this. Yeah, I could have been smarter in handling this thing with Clarke. It was a heat-of-the-battle type deal. Now all the refs are looking for me. I'm going to have to be more careful."
\ NEW HELP IN NET: Anzalone is hoping that new acquisition Jim Mill will bolster the Express' goaltending, shaky at times in the club's 5-7 start. Mill, who was 16-7-2 with a 3.97 goals-against average last season in Raleigh, was acquired from Birmingham on Monday in exchange for an undisclosed cash sum. Mill replaces Bryan Schoen (1-4-0, 4.94 GAA), who has been designated for reassignment by the San Jose Sharks.
"We felt we needed a little change," Anzalone said. "We felt stagnant in goal and felt that Jim's attitude-type might fit in better [than Schoen's]."
Mill, who was acquired by Birmingham from Raleigh in preseason, has yet to see live action this season. A bone in his left hand (glove hand) was shattered by a hard slap shot in the Bulls' preseason camp. During emergency surgery, doctors inserted three metal plates and 15 screws to piece Mill's shattered bone back together.
"I'm close to being back to 100 percent," Mill said Thursday after working out the with the club. "I don't think Frank brought me here to sit, but I've got to earn my spot. I can help this team, I know it."
Mill will be teamed with San Jose farmhand Dan Ryder, who is coming off his best effort of the season - a 3-2 win in Raleigh last Friday.
\ GET THE POINT, OK?: On his club's goaltending and overall play to this point, Anzalone said: "Our goaltending has been OK. When's it's OK, you're less than .500. We're OK a lot of nights. We're an OK team. But OK can get better; OK can get worse. We're not bad and we're not great; we're OK."
\ ICE CHIPS: Lev Berdichevsky, the Express' leading goal scorer with 10, did not break his right thumb Friday as originally feared. His thumb remains very sore but the Russian forward is expected to see action in Roanoke's three-game home stand that begins tonight. . . . Knoxville, featuring female goalie Manon Rheaume, visits the civic center tonight at 7. The Cherokees have given no indication as to whether Rheaume will play. . . . The home stand continues Friday with South Carolina and Saturday with Nashville. The Nashville contest will be Roanoke's first of only eight Saturday dates on the 34-game home schedule.
by CNB