Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 21, 1993 TAG: 9311210077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Until this season's emergence of the two female goalies, the sixth-year ECHL had bumped along relatively unnoticed on a national scale.
In the past six weeks, though, things have changed. USA Today. The New York Daily News. The Boston Globe. ESPN. Even the heavies know the ECHL now.
"I think the two girls' stories have been very important for our league," said Ted Cox, ECHL marketing director. "The exposure has helped our league in the fact that it has reached innumerable amounts of people who until this point may not have been familiar with the ECHL. Both are good human interest stories that have supplied a new vehicle for us to expose the name of our league and our teams to people who aren't even hockey fans."
Cox, head of the ECHL's six-month-old marketing department, couldn't have been given a better tool to work with.
"We've had a lot more calls from mediums that normally wouldn't be calling," Cox said. "Sometimes an unusual story is your break in trying to gain more media exposure. So you have to recognize when those breaks come along and go with it."
Like everyone else in the ECHL, Cox has Feb. 10, 1994, circled on his calendar. That's when Rheaume's Knoxville team and Whitten's Toledo team square off, raising the possibility the nets could be 100 percent occupied by women for the first time in a pro game.
"If that unique matchup comes off, the pressbox in Toledo won't be big enough," Cox said. "It's a long way off, but if it happens, yeah, the promotional value could be immeasurable."
Thus far, the two women have played only sparingly. Whitten has seen action in four games, posting a 2-0 record with an 8.01 goals-against average. Rheaume has played once, going the distance in a 9-6 win over Johnstown.
Nevertheless, both have earned the respect of their teammates and coaches.
"Damn right [Rheaume] did," said Knoxville defenseman Scott Metcalfe. "We're happy to have her on our team."
Toledo coach Chris McSorley was sold on Whitten in training camp, when the rest of the Storm players started putting her to the test, firing shots harder and harder.
"They almost chased her from the rink," McSorley said. "They didn't want her on the team. They wanted to embarrass her, and it didn't happen."
Still, the other league clubs and players claim the women were kept only for their promotional value. Knoxville and Toledo arenas were sold out when the women were in net.
McSorley bristled at the suggestion, saying the last thing he needed to do was turn his Riley Cup champions into a sideshow.
"The guys on this team know I'd swim the Maumee River in the middle of January if it would help us win a game," he said.
\ BOYS WILL BE BOYS: Suspensions, fines and untidy conduct have ravaged the ECHL the past few weeks.
Nashville assistant coach George Kozak, subbing for ejected coach Nick Fotiu, was suspended indefinitely by ECHL Commissioner Pat Kelly for his "failing to control his players . . . and deliberately trying to intimidate the Knoxville team" in the Knights' 5-1 home loss to the Cherokees last Saturday.
Nashville's 181 penalty minutes broke the league's single-game record. The mark was 170 minutes, set by Greensboro in 1992.
Louisville coach Warren Young was suspended for one game for "accosting" Terry Ruskowski as the Columbus coach came off the ice after a game on Nov. 6.
Earlier, Johnstown's Eddie Johnstone and Erie's Ron Hansis were suspended for a game each. A water-bottle war was the reason, although Kelly said videotape replays could not pinpoint the culprits.
Hampton Roads' John Brophy was slapped with a three-game suspension in October.
"We fine coaches $1,000 for these type incidents," Kelly said.
At current pace, the ECHL may be able to hold its 1994 summer meeting in Maui. All proceeds from fines go into a coffer that finances the league's annual summer getaway.
\ SKATING AROUND THE ECHL: After playing their first 11 games on the road, the Greensboro Monarchs finally opened at home on Monday, drawing 8,645 for a 3-2 shootout win over Raleigh.
Huntington, the league's laughingstock the first 2 1/2 weeks, is improving. The Blizzard knocked off West Division-leading Birmingham 4-1 on Thursday, giving the franchise its first-ever back-to-back wins.
East Division-leading Raleigh is playing defense like never witnessed before in the run-and-gun ECHL. Heading into Friday, the IceCaps had yielded only 39 goals in 15 games. Raleigh's three goalies - Matt DelGuidice (1.77), Stan Reddick (2.29) and Chad Erickson (2.82) - ranked 1-2-3 in the league in goals-against average.
by CNB