Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 8, 1995 TAG: 9501100014
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The coach will take quality over quantityany night, and that's just what his hockey team has been giving him lately.
Heading into Friday's game at Hampton Roads, Roanoke's 866 shots on goal ranked last in the East Coast Hockey League by a mile. The Express also was last in goals scored, with 112.
Roanoke was outshot by a 217-140 margin during the six games preceding Tuesday's 3-2 shootout loss in Charlotte, N.C. At the same time, Roanoke outscored the opposition 30-12 in putting together a franchise-record six-game winning streak.
These statistics prove a shot is a good shot only when it finds the back of the net.
``We definitely have been outshot,'' said Anzalone. ``However, in watching the game video, I don't see all those [opposing] shots coming from the slot. ... A lot of those shots are not grade-A shots. A lot are coming from the blue line or they're not straight-on. When we see a team taking 35 shots from the slot, then we'll worry about it.''
As it is, only the Express' goalies have to worry about those wild shots. Connie Chung took fewer shots from the Republican party than goalies Dave Gagnon and Dan Ryder have taken from opponents in recent weeks.
During the winning streak, Gagnon and Ryder combined for a gaudy .945 save percentage. Gagnon, who got the bulk of the work in goal, earned a 25-game tryout contract with the Minnesota Moose of the International Hockey League.
``Actually, Gagnon said he'd rather have a lot of shots [taken against him] than just a few,'' said Express forward Derek Laxdal, who also serves as assistant coach. ``He said it kept him fresh. Well, we kept him pretty fresh. I'll say that.''
PINCH GOALIE: His name isn't on the Express' roster, but Rick Kelley is a player Anzalone has come to rely on in a pinch.
Kelley, a 32-year-old Roanoker who tends nets in the city's adult hockey league, practiced with the Express on Thursday before the team left for Hampton Roads. With Gagnon gone and free-agent signee John Bradley unable to join the team until Thursday night, the Express needed a second goaltender for practice. Anzalone called Kelley.
``He's our secret goalie,'' Anzalone said.
For about eight years, Kelley has been the unofficial goalie-on-call for Roanoke's minor-league hockey teams. He even played in a game for the Virginia Lancers in the All-American Hockey League in 1988.
In December, when Ryder was called up by the IHL's Kansas City Blades, Kelley almost was pressed into duty as an emergency backup for Gagnon before the Express signed Rocco Trentadue.
``When they need a second goalie, they call me because it's hard to find a pro goalie around the corner in Roanoke,'' Kelley said. ``Really, I'm here just to help in practice. Anybody's better than nobody. I haven't been on the ice in three weeks. Without practice, I'm in over my head.''
WILL SHE SAY `DA'?: During a prerecorded segment that aired on the Express' radio broadcast last week from Charlotte, Russian forward Rouslan Toujikov announced his New Year's resolution was to ``marry an American.''
Tim Woodburn, the Express' play-by-play man, laughed and said, ``Mine, too.''
EXPRESSIONS: Roanoke's 10 road victories lead the league. The Express is 10-4-2 on the road (.687 winning percentage), 7-2-1 at home (.750). ... Roanoke forward Oleg Yashin is 1-for-9 in shootout opportunities this season. Last season, he was 7-for-8. ... The Express' 97 goals against are a league low.
OUCH!: Raleigh goaltender Brad Mullahy may be the first ECHL player to be found guilty of high-sticking his general manager.
After Mullahy gave up a short-handed goal in overtime in a loss to Richmond on Dec.17 in Raleigh, N.C., he whacked his stick against a wall as he left the ice. The blade snapped off and struck Pete Bock, the IceCaps' general manager, in the back of the head, dropping him to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
Bock was unconscious for nearly five minutes. When he came to, he had a nasty headache but otherwise was fine.
Apparently, Bock did not penalize his goalie for high-sticking.
AROUND THE ECHL: The career of Greensboro Monarchs defenseman Dwayne Gylywoychuk appears to be over. Gylywoychuk, who suffered a spinal injury in a Dec.19 game with Hampton Roads and experienced temporary paralysis from the neck down, has been placed on the 30-day injured list. Scott Brubaker, the Monarchs' coach, said he does not expect Gylywoychuk returning to the team. It was the second time Gylywoychuk has suffered an injury that caused temporary paralysis. ... In an attempt to beef up its offense, Raleigh acquired Trevor Jobe, the all-time leading goal scorer in ECHL history, in a trade with Nashville. Jobe, who has played for Nashville, Richmond and Hampton Roads since 1989, has 252 goals in 253 games. He picked up three assists in his first two games with the IceCaps. Jobe is second on the ECHL's all-time points list, with 476. ...
The South Carolina Stingrays, who are in a spirited battle with upstart Huntington in the ECHL's Southern Division, lost their leading scorer last week when defenseman Scott Boston was called up by St.John's of the American Hockey League. Boston had 38 points on 15 goals and 23 assists for the Stingrays. ... Hampton Roads closed an outstanding December by beating Raleigh 4-2 on Dec.31 for the Admirals' fifth consecutive victory. Hampton Roads went 10-2-1 during the last month of 1994. ``Who knows? The way we're playing, we might not ever lose again,'' said coach John Brophy, who coached the Admirals' New Year's Eve game wearing a tuxedo.
by CNB