Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 12, 1994 TAG: 9411170033
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Run into Jason Clarke off the ice and you'll find one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.
You'd swear the guy just stepped out of the neighborhood church choir. He's clean-cut, polite and friendly.
But bump into Jason Clarke on the ice and you've jarred the lid on a huge can of trouble.
Just sending one look or uttering one word his way makes you an instant candidate to be modeling a shiner the next morning.
``A lot of people tell me I have the classic Jekyll and Hyde personality,'' the 21-year-old Roanoke Express forward said.
``I guess that's true because I'm a much different person on the ice than off. Off the ice, I'm just like the kid next door. But put me on the ice and I become a time bomb just ready to explode.''
Clarke's fuse is short and easily lit. The Express' resident enforcer has played in seven games this season. He's fought at least once in six of those games, and on two occasions has had two bouts. Entering Friday's game, Clarke's 93 penalty minutes ranked third in the East Coast Hockey League.
Of course, spending time in the penalty box is nothing new to the 6-foot, 240-pound Ontario native. With what best could be described as limited offensive skills, Clarke's ticket to professional hockey continues to be validated for one reason - he can fight. Uppercuts, jabs and a mean right cross have carried Clarke from Canadian Juniors to the ECHL.
``Every team has to have a heavyweight to survive,'' Clarke noted. ``I'm not here to score goals. That's not my job.
``Some guys in the league are obviously tougher than other guys and that's why I'm here. I'll go every night if I have to.''
Clarke, who hones his boxing skills during the summer in Canada, maintained he doesn't know the meaning of the words ``back down.''
``Guys just have to say the wrong thing or look at me wrong and I'll be after 'em,'' Clarke said. ``You look a guy in the eyes and if he looks away, you know he's not going to fight you.
``Fighters know the fighters. I'll never back down from a fight from anyone, I don't care if his name is Bob Probert [noted NHL thug].
``I don't care if I get beat up because I'll come right back and fight 'em again until I beat 'em. If I ever back down, I might as well quit hockey because I'm not doing my job.''
Clarke bristled at the suggestion he could be categorized as a hockey goon.
``I never take a cheap shot at anyone, which a goon does,'' he said. ``If you're not man enough to step up face to face ... that's just the way I've always been.
``A tough guy isn't a guy who does little cheap shots and gets two minutes for slashing and it adds up to 300 minutes at the end of the season. It's guys who go to bat all the time and don't take crap from no one. That's the type of player I am and always will be.''
Clarke hasn't always been the big bully on the block. In his younger years, he spent most of his time receiving the blows.
``I used to get beat up all time going to school at age 7 or 8,'' he said. ``It got to be so bad that my parents had to drop me at the front door so I wouldn't get beat up. I used to come home with black eyes, a broken nose about every day.
``I didn't like fighting back then and the others used me as punching bag. I was really scared to fight and afraid of getting punched. But when I started playing hockey, that changed. Then, I didn't really care anymore. Then, it became, `c'mon big boy, give me your best shot.'''
It didn't take Clarke long to get even with the world. The burly Canadian stockpiled more than 800 penalty minutes in three seasons of junior hockey before going pro last season. Clarke ran up 421 penalty minutes in split duty last season between the ECHL (Charlotte and Erie) and the Colonial League.
``Yeah,'' Clarke conceded, ``when I look at the stats sheet, I do look at the PIMS [penalties in minutes] and get a little chuckle. It sure beats looking at the goals column with that big goose egg (0) still there.''
When Roanoke lost tough guy Dave ``Moose'' Morissette to the International Hockey League this summer, Express coach Frank Anzalone immediately starting pursuing Clarke to fill the club's peacemaker's role.
Clarke replacing Morissette was more than a tad ironic, since the two were involved in a well-publicized feud last season that eventually led to both players being suspended in November.
``I had mixed emotions about coming to Roanoke because of the Morissette thing,'' Clarke said. ``I thought maybe I'd get booed. But the fans have been absolutely great so far to me.''
Anzalone said Clarke is adequately filling Morissette's spot.
``Jason is not the level fighter that Moose was,'' Anzalone said, ``because when you talk about Morissette, I think you're talking about maybe one of the best five fighters in all of pro hockey.
``But Jason has a little more offensive skill than Morissette did. He just hasn't shown it yet. So far, Jason has done everything he's had to do. He makes the rest of our guys feel safe out there.''
Clarke's penchant for pugilism has made him an instant fan favorite in Roanoke, where some people still judge a hockey game on how many haymakers are scored instead of goals.
``Let's face it, some fans come to see fights,'' said Clarke, appropriately nicknamed the ``Battleship'' by his teammates.
``You've got to keep bringing fans to the rink, and if that's what you've got to do, I don't mind doing it.
``I love to be like an entertainer for the crowd. If the crowd needs to hear a big hit or Frank needs me to fight, I do it, no questions asked.``
And when the game is over, Clarke unlaces his skates, puts his stick away and turns back into a big, likeable teddy bear.
``I'll talk to any of our fans anytime,'' Clarke said. ``I'm not one of those big-shot guys who think they're too good for everyone.
``When I'm playing hockey, yeah, I want to kill the guy. But off the ice, I'm a nice, ol' average Joe, just like everyone else.''
Keywords:
PROFILE
by CNB