Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 5, 1995 TAG: 9502090012
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Let this be the last word on those affiliations. For now.
Perhaps Roanoke hasn't fared well in its dealings with the Minnesota Moose and the Kansas City Blades of the IHL. The Express has sent players to both clubs with the hope of getting players in return. It hasn't worked that way. Yet.
Frank Anzalone, Roanoke's coach, recently said, ``there's been some dishonesty there'' when commenting on his team's treatment by Minnesota. There certainly is some truth to that - as of Friday, Minnesota and Kansas City had failed to live up to promises to send players to Roanoke, although there is talk of the Express receiving a player from the Blades soon - but a quick look around the East Coast Hockey League shows things could be worse.
At this level of minor-league hockey, most clubs can only watch as their better players are sucked up like pingpong balls through the tubes in a Lotto machine.
Nashville has sent six players to the American Hockey League this season. Four Knoxville players were called up to the AHL within three days of the ratification of the NHL's new labor agreement. The South Carolina Stingrays lost their leading scorer to the AHL just as they were taking over the top spot in the ECHL's South Division.
The Wheeling Thunderbirds have gotten players from their AHL affiliates in Cape Breton and Fredericton, but they also have lost players to call-ups. That's why they were forced to look to Roanoke's adult hockey leagues for a goalie when they came to town last week. They signed Roanoke resident Rick Kelley for the game as an emergency backup.
When they lost to the Express on Saturday, the Thunderbirds had a roster that contained nine players who had skated in the IHL or AHL this season. Following the game, Pierre Paiement, Roanoke's general manager, said: ``That's an AHL team we beat tonight.''
Roanoke hasn't been concerned with the number of players lost to call-ups. The problem has been in losing one player again and again. Michael Smith, an ECHL All-Star defenseman, has joined the Minnesota Moose six times this season. Goalie Dave Gagnon has been called up twice by the Moose, and goalie Dan Ryder pulled a hitch with the Kansas City Blades. Center Pat Ferschweiler was signed by the Blades and likely won't return.
The reality of affiliations is this: An ECHL team needs them if it wants to attract good players. A quality player will be reluctant to sign with a team that doesn't have an affiliate in the NHL, IHL or AHL.
What's more, any team that does not allow its players to go to the next level when called up will have a tough time signing players. In short, if the Minnesota Moose wants to call up Smith for a seventh, eighth or ninth time this season, Roanoke will not stop him from going.
Even though he has misgivings about his team's current affiliations, Anzalone will be able to use those connections when he goes on the road to recruit players during the summer.
He'll be able to say, ``I had four guys get called up last year. Come play for us and you'll have a chance to play at the next level.''
Affiliations are great to have in the off-season. They're not as helpful during the season.
RECOUNT: A recount following Roanoke's 4-1 victory over Wheeling on Jan.28 revealed Gagnon officially finished with 59 saves, the second-highest total in ECHL history.
Gagnon's 27 first-period saves ranked third for a single period.
Former Knoxville goalie Alain Morissette set the single-game saves record with 61 against Winston-Salem on Nov.24, 1991. Two other players have recorded 59 saves, Chris Harvey of Nashville in 1992 and Paul Willet of the old Carolina Thunderbirds in 1989.
The 60 shots against were a franchise record for the Express
EXPRESSIONS: Officials from the Express and the Roanoke Civic Center will begin negotiating a new lease agreement in the coming weeks. The Express will be seeking a longer deal, possibly a five-year agreement, to replace the two-year lease that expires after this season. ... Roanoke plays home games on the next five Tuesday nights, beginning with a game against Tallahassee. The Express is 16-4-0 in Tuesday night games in its history. ... Heading into Saturday night's game at Charlotte, the Express had lost six of its past seven shootouts, including the past three at home. Roanoke leads the ECHL with seven overtime losses, all in shootouts.
AROUND THE ECHL: The ECHL topped the 2 million mark in attendance with a huge turnout Jan. 28. The league should easily eclipse last season's mark of 3,185,236. ... Richmond played two games last weekend without forward Scott Gruhl, who was suspended by Pat Kelly, the ECHL's commissioner, for ``verbally abusing'' referee Gord Buchanan during a game with Wheeling on Jan.25. Gruhl's absence from the ice didn't make for a more peaceful encounter with Hampton Roads on Jan.29, as the Renegades whipped the Admirals 8-3 in a fight-marred game. Even the goalies - Duane Derksen of Richmond and Corwin Saurdiff of Hampton Roads - scrapped in the second period. ... The South Carolina Stingrays, riding the crest of a franchise-record eight-game winning streak heading into Friday's game at Birmingham, are putting some distance between themselves and the rest of the South Division. The Stingrays led second-place Nashville by eight points in the ECHL's weakest division. Their 57 points would have them in third place in either of the other two divisions.
by CNB