Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 19, 1994 TAG: 9410190077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
This one owns a mask and a big stick, not a trucking firm and a hockey team.
Proving as good as advertised, veteran goaltender Dave Gagnon turned aside 26 of 29 shots to propel the Express to a 5-3 win over Hampton Roads in its 1994-95 East Coast Hockey League opener Tuesday before 4,722 fans at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Gagnon's sweet Roanoke debut was spiced by the fact that it came at the expense of the club he helped carry to the '90-91 ECHL title.
``It's nice beating anybody, but especially when it's Broph,'' said Gagnon, referring to Admirals coach John Brophy.
``I consider him a good friend of mine, but it's always nice to come back and show him you still got a little of what you had when he had you four years ago.''
Gagnon kept the jittery Express in the game in the first period, when it easily could have crumbled under the weight of five Hampton Roads power-play chances. Instead, Roanoke wriggled out of the period with a 1-1 tie.
``That's what a veteran goalie does for you,'' said center Pat Ferschweiler, who led the Roanoke offense with two goals and an assist.
``Gags held us in the game when we were making some mistakes. Then, we sort of took it from there.''
All three of Hampton Roads' goals came via the power play. The Admirals couldn't solve Gagnon at even strength.
``I thought I had an OK game,'' Gagnon said. ``The second goal I should have had. Any time you don't give up an even-strength goal you know the defense played pretty well.''
Ferschweiler, off a feed from defenseman Michael Smith, beat Admirals goalie Patrick LaLime with an acrobatic move from the slot 49 seconds into the third period to give Roanoke a 3-2 lead it never relinquished.
``Smitty and I were going in a 2-on-1, he fired it on net and I just came in and swung my stick as hard as I could,'' Ferschweiler said. ``If you want to know the truth, it was probably the luckiest goal of my life.''
Roanoke stretched the lead to 4-2 with 11:19 left on Jeff Jestadt's 20-foot slap shot right of the circle just moments after Gagnon had stoned Brian Goudie at the other end.
Hampton Roads closed to 4-3 on Rick Kowalsky's rebound goal with 6:27 to play. Ferschweiler sealed it with 13 seconds left, popping in a power-play goal.
The Express, thanks to some strong penalty-killing and several key stops by Gagnon, got out of the first period tied 1-1.
After Carl Fleury's backhand rebound of Smith's drive off LaLime's stick gave Roanoke a 1-0 lead at the 4:58 mark, Hampton Roads spent much of the rest of the period on the power play.
After being denied on its first four power plays, including a 5-on-3 for 1:54, Hampton Roads finally capitalized on advantage No.5. After Gagnon made the initial save on Chris Phelps' blue-line drive, John Porco slipped free and banged home the uncovered puck from the slot.
After both goaltenders swapped saves for the first 13 minutes of the second period, Roanoke regained the lead working the power play. After Hampton's Jason MacIntrye went off for holding, Express captain Dave Stewart cashed in the advantage at the 13:21 mark, ripping a 50-foot howitzer over LaLime's right shoulder.
The lead was short-lived, however. With Roanoke's Robin Bouchard in the penalty box, the Admirals drew even 72 seconds later when Phelps' smoking drive from the top of the left circle eluded Gagnon and trickled into the net.
``It's a great way to start off,'' said Frank Anzalone, Roanoke's coach. ``Face it, beating Hampton should give our young guys some confidence down the road. ''
ICE CHIPS: Smith, the fifth-leading scorer among ECHL defensemen last year, picked up right where he left off, tallying three assists. ... Russian rookie Ruslam Tyzhikov was the odd man out for Roanoke. ECHL teams can dress only 17 players. ... Hampton Roads' roster included eight players off last season's 41-19-8 East Division champion squad. ... Express management is forecasting crowds in the neighborhood of 6,500 for this weekend's home dates with Greensboro (Friday) and Raleigh (Saturday). After opening with three straight at home, Roanoke hits the road next week for two games in Huntington and one in Knoxville.
by CNB