Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 20, 1994 TAG: 9412200081
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Now, Roanoke must play without them when it faces the Charlotte Checkers tonight in a battle of East Coast Hockey League East Division rivals. The puck drops at 7 p.m. at the Roanoke Civic Center.
League rules permit teams to carry 18 players on their rosters, and 17 can be in uniform for games. Since the Express has received no replacement from Kansas City for Ferschweiler and the team has not replaced Clarke, Roanoke will be one player short.
``Whenever you have to play a man down, it's like I'm coaching without both socks on,'' said Frank Anzalone, the Express' coach. ``It doesn't feel right.''
Anzalone will be fully attired tonight, but if he loses any more players, he might want to get fitted for a hockey uniform.
As it is, Anzalone has had to change his lineups in the past five days more often than he's changed his socks. Both of them.
Darwin McClelland, who had never played center before Friday, has taken Ferschweiler's spot on the Express' first line between Derek Laxdal and Jeff Jestadt. Laxdal has been handling the faceoff duties, a chore usually reserved for the center.
``Laxdal and Jestadt are trying to help Darwin out,'' Anzalone said. ``Darwin's been placed in a tough situation. We lost a major player [in Ferschweiler]. Our guys are working hard to stick together. They're helping each other out.''
Even Chris Potter, the Express' extra defenseman, is pitching in to help the team. Potter will fill in for Clarke on Roanoke's third line with Marty Schriner and Craig Herr. Clarke received an automatic two-game suspension when he was hit with his fourth game-misconduct penalty of the season during the waning moments of Saturday's 6-3 victory over Raleigh.
Express management feels Clarke should not have received the misconduct penalty. Anzalone said he believed Clarke was penalized because of his reputation as a roughhouser and should have received a lesser penalty.
Now the Express must pay the penalty, as Anzalone has to go without his best players at their best positions against a Charlotte team that leads Roanoke by four points in the East Division. Richmond leads the division with 41 points, followed by Charlotte's 36 and Roanoke's 32.
It's unclear how long the Express will have to play short-handed. As of Monday evening, Anzalone still had not heard if Kansas City - with whom the Express has a working affiliation - would send a player to replace Ferschweiler, who led Roanoke with 30 points on eight goals and 22 assists.
It's a situation that harkens back to last season, when the Express loaned Lev Berdichevsky, its top goal-scorer, to the American Hockey League's Adirondack Red Wings for a ``weekend look'' that lasted the rest of the season.
``There's sort of an unspoken courtesy [among teams] that you'll get something in his [Ferschweiler's] place,'' Anzalone said. ``If he's a good enough player to play in the International Hockey League, fine. We'd love to see them [the Blades] assist us and send someone in his place.''
TOP HAT: Keep an eye on Charlotte's Darryl Noren tonight. Noren has three consecutive hat tricks. He is the second player in the history of professional hockey with such a streak, joining former Hampton Roads player Brian Martin, who did it during the 1991-92 season.
NETMINDING: Roanoke's Dave Gagnon has started a franchise-record nine consecutive games in goal. Anzalone said he would decide this morning whether to start Gagnon again tonight or go with Dan Ryder, who recently completed a three-game hitch with Kansas City. ... When Charlotte beat Roanoke 5-2 on Dec.9, Checkers rookie Rob Tallas turned away 42 of Roanoke's 44 shots.
MOOSE IS LOOSE: Former Express captain Dave ``Moose'' Morissette, now with the IHL's Minnesota Moose, will return to Roanoke tonight for ``Moose Morissette Poster Night.'' Morissette, the first player selected by Roanoke during the 1993 ECHL dispersal draft and still one of the most popular players in the Express' short history, will autograph posters after tonight's game.
Following the second period, the Express will auction off 20 Minnesota Moose jerseys embossed with Morissette's name and his No.20.
Morissette still is looking for his first goal with Minnesota, but he has a Moose-like 92 penalty minutes in 20 games.
ICE CHIPS: The Greensboro Monarchs received a scare Sunday when Dwayne Gylywoychuk was knocked headfirst into the boards near the end of a 3-1 victory over Hampton Roads. Gylywoychuk had no feeling from the neck down when he was taken off the ice and he still was without feeling in his legs late Sunday. He regained the feeling in his legs early Monday, but still was in intensive care at a Greensboro hospital. He could be released by Thursday, a Monarchs spokesman said. ... Tonight is the next-to-last Good Neighbor Fund Night co-sponsored by the Express and the Roanoke Times & World-News. Fans who use the coupon in the newspaper will receive a $1 discount off any $6 reserved seat. In addition, $1 from each discount ticket will be donated to the Roanoke Good Neighbors Fund.
Express vs. Charlotte
7 p.m., today, Roanoke Civic Center. Tickets are $8.50, $7.50, $6 and $5 for senior citizens and students and $4 for children younger than 12.
by CNB