Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 11, 1993 TAG: 9312110140
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Coming off back-to-back victories, including a rousing 6-5 comeback triumph over Charlotte on Dec. 3, the Express will be searching for a franchise-record three consecutive victories when the Hampton Roads Admirals come calling at 7:30 p.m.
"It wasn't a great time to take a break, but we had to take it," said Frank Anzalone, the Express' coach. "Every athlete wants a Christmas break. It's like it's written into their spiritual contracts. So it was a good time for them to get away and see their dads, moms, girlfriends and all that good stuff. They should be rested and ready to go now."
Center Roger Larche, acquired from Richmond in a Thursday trade, and right wing Stephen Tepper, reassigned to Roanoke from Kansas City of the International Hockey League, will make their Express debuts against the Admirals.
"We've strengthened ourselves," Anzalone said. "We've definitely helped ourselves at forward. Larche is a feisty, offensive sort who can play defense. And we had our choice of several KC guys, but we chose Tepper because we felt he would fit in best. We don't want to upset things too much."
It will be an upset if Roanoke beats Hampton Roads. Coach John Brophy's Admirals are 22-1-3 vs. Roanoke's ECHL franchises since since the 1989-90 season. Hampton Roads shut out Roanoke 3-0 on Nov. 25, ending the Express' second two-game winning streak of the season.
Roanoke, which drew a franchise-record 5,524 fans on its first and only other Saturday home date, can surpass the total season's home attendance for the 1992-93 Roanoke Valley Rampage with a crowd of 4,350 or better tonight. The Rampage drew 45,988 for 31 home games. The Express has attracted 41,639 for 10 games.
\ MENDING THE ICE: Mark Collins, the Roanoke Civic Center's assistant manager, expressed hope Friday that workers this week have fixed 37 Freon leaks in the building's ice-making equipment.
The compressor that runs the ice-making equipment shut down twice in the past month because of low oil pressure created by Freon leaks, Collins said.
"We were losing about 650 pounds of Freon, which is roughly about 11 percent of the system's capacity [70,000 pounds]," Collins said. "At the rate it was going, it could have possibly exceeded the 35 percent factor of total capacity annually that the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] is concerned with. If it goes over 35 percent, the EPA wants you to do something immediately.
"There were other concerns, too. If we didn't fix it, we could have possibly ruptured a gasket and blown the entire system out, which would have been much more expensive to repair. And the down time for something like that could have cost the hockey team some home dates."
The fact that the ice has been put down and taken up six times since October likely was responsible for the leaks, Collins said.
"If we stay on line there's no problem," he said. "Taking it and up down creates a lot of wear and tear. It's sort of like an engine. The hardest thing on an engine is starting it. After it's running, there's not much wear and tear.
"Beforehand, our people did check the system to the extent they are capable of checking it. There are experts that do this for a living and no one on our staff claims to be an expert."
\ EXPRESSIONS: Finally, a Roanoke goaltender has gotten hot. Dan Ryder has stopped 92 of the past 101 shots (.910 save percentage) and seen his GAA drop 1.08 to 4.10 in the past five games. . . . Mike Smith leads ECHL defensemen with 23 assists. . . . Left wing Jeff Jestadt has eight goals in the past 11 games. . . . Center Ilja Dubkov has one goal in the past 12 games. . . . Russians Oleg Yashin and Lev Berdichevsky each have only two plus games (plus-minus) in the past 11. . . . Roanoke ranks fourth in the league in shot differential (750-643). . . . Roanoke's special teams both rank 15th in the ECHL in efficiency - power play (20.6 percent) and penalty-killing (74.5).
\ ICE CHIPS: Only in the ECHL. Former NHL player Bob "Battleship" Kelly, axed as head coach on Thursday in Huntington, has been replaced on an interim basis by the club's public relations director-minority partner, Bob Destocki. . . . The Greensboro Monarchs are the early Riley Cup betting choice. Coach Jeff Brubaker's bruisers were 9-0-1 at home and 18-4-2 overall heading into Friday's game. "They're playing at an NHL pace," Brubaker said. . . . Defending Riley Cup champion Toledo may have found the missing piece to its repeat puzzle. The Storm, which has been hurt in goal thus far, has picked up Nick Vitucci, the all-time ECHL leader in games played (168), victories (92), GAA (3.86) and saves (5,148). . . . Fortunes in Huntsville have done an about-face since embattled owner Larry Revo relinquished the daily reins of the club to a local marketing group. Under Revo, the Blast was 2-9-2 and averaging 1,010 per game. Since Revo, the Blast is 9-3-0 and averaging 1,870 per game.
by CNB