Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 1, 1994 TAG: 9402010130
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When the 1993-94 East Coast Hockey League schedule was released last summer, the eyes of Roanoke Express president John Gagnon and countless other area hockey fans fast-forwarded to Tuesday, Feb. 1.
"The first thing I looked for was when we would be playing Huntsville," Gagnon said in August. "The Roanoke Express and the hockey fans of Roanoke will be waiting for Huntsville and owner Larry Revo."
Well, the red-letter date is here. Only problem is Revo won't be.
When the Huntsville Blast, masquerading as last season's Roanoke Valley Rampage, blows into the Roanoke Civic Center tonight, Revo will be nowhere in sight. In an agreement worked out with the ECHL in November, Revo agreed to surrender the daily control of the struggling expansion franchise to a Huntsville management group.
Revo still owns the Blast, but the management group is expected to finalize a deal to purchase the franchise at the end of this season.
"Nobody has seen the guy [Revo] lately," said Scott Burfoot, Huntsville's lone representative in last week's ECHL All-Star Game in Norfolk.
Revo, who moved the Rampage to Huntsville in April, ran into many of the same problems in Alabama that he did in Virginia - dreadful attendance numbers and losing record among them.
ECHL insiders contend that Revo made the same mistake in Huntsville that he did in Vinton - he refused to spend money to properly promote and market the franchise.
"It's been a tough situation. Not a whole lot changed," Burfoot said.
Like the Rampage, the Blast has been a big loser on the ice (16-24-6) and off (1,670 average home attendance).
Besides Burfoot, who has had a great season (22 goals, 52 assists) under some adverse circumstances, there will be few familiar faces on the Huntsville bench. The only players still with Huntsville who played for the Rampage are right wing Ken House, defenseman Joe Dragon and goaltender Todd Chin.
Head coach Steve Gatzos, the coach of last season's 14-49-1 team, was fired several days after the management group took over daily operations from Revo. Player-assistant coach Vic Posa replaced Gatzos, under whom the Blast was 2-9-2.
\ ICE CHIPS: House (32 goals, 58 points) and Chin (11-9-3 record, 3.83 goals-against average) have posted good numbers for Huntsville, which lost eight games in a row until winning in Erie on Wednesday. . . . Saturday's crowd of 7,324 boosted Roanoke's average attendance to 4,358 through 22 home dates. Roanoke ranks 10th in the 19-team ECHL at the turnstiles. . . . Roanoke's Tony Szabo, who has scored at least one point in 24 of his past 25 games, has cracked the top 10 in the ECHL scoring race. Szabo is 10th with 69 points (27 goals, 42 assists). . . . Express goalie Dan Ryder has seen his goals-against average drop below 4.00 for the first time this season at 3.96. . . . After tonight's game, Roanoke doesn't play again at home until Feb. 11 against Richmond.
by CNB