Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503070069
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR.
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The Express didn't post a significant victory that day. In fact, the team didn't even play. That was the day, however, when the Express announced two player moves that have since allowed the team to play some of its best hockey. That was the day the Express announced that it had signed goalie Daniel Berthiaume and had acquired center Joe Hawley in a trade.
The Express raised eyebrows around the East Coast Hockey League when it traded leading scorer Oleg Yashin to the Charlotte Checkers for Hawley. Now, it's obvious that the Express got the better end of the deal.
Not to knock Yashin, who was one of the most exciting players to wear an Express uniform, but Hawley, a gritty grinder, was just the kind of player Roanoke needed for its stretch run.
Just check out the records. Since acquiring Hawley on Feb. 9, the Express has gone 8-2-1. Charlotte, meanwhile, has won just four times in 10 games since adding Yashin, who has yet to score a goal for the Checkers.
The Express has jumped the Checkers in the standings, as well. Heading into Friday night's game at Wheeling, Roanoke was in second place in the ECHL's East Division, just three points behind Richmond.
Hawley's aggressiveness, on and off the ice, has been contagious. The five-year pro was immediately welcomed as a team leader when he joined the Express and he has performed well in the role.
Following a 5-4 shootout loss to Greensboro on Feb. 14 - Hawley's third game after joining the Express - Hawley gave a post-game speech that railed against the team's work ethic and mental preparation for games. The Express, which was having difficulty holding leads before Hawley arrived, had blown a two-goal lead in losing to the Monarchs.
Roanoke has not blown a lead since. The Express won its next five games after Hawley's speech and had won six of seven games heading into its weekend games.
Even with Hawley's contributions, there's no denying that the biggest factor in Roanoke's recent successes has been the spectacular goaltending of Berthiaume, the former NHL netminder who has his sights set on playing in the International Hockey League next season.
Berthiaume had won six straight games for the Express heading into the Wheeling game and was 8-1-1 since joining the Express. He had allowed two goals or fewer in eight of his last nine games.
ROSTER CHOICES:Mike Krygier or Rouslan Toujikov?
Express head coach Frank Anzalone is asking himself that question this weekend, as he prepares to make his final roster move of the season. Playoff rosters must be set by Monday and the Express has to cut one player to get its roster down to the playoff limit of 18 players. That player will be either Krygier or Toujikov.
``Both players know that,'' said Anzalone. ``Unless there's an injury [to someone else], I'll have to let one of those guys go.''
The choice will be as philosophical as it will be practical. Toujikov is clearly the better offensive player - he has 16 goals in 39 games, Krygier has not scored a goal in 12 games with the Express. However, Krygier, whose brother Todd plays with the NHL's Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, is more physical than Toujikov and may be better-suited for the grind of the playoffs.
OFFICIATING RIPPED:Officials have been taking it on the chin from ECHL coaches in recent weeks. Coaches such as Richmond's Roy Sommer and Greensboro's Jeff Brubaker have been villifying officials on the ice and in print, and the league is beginning to take action against such behavior.
ECHL commisioner Pat Kelly fined Sommer $150 and reprimanded him for his actions after two games last week. Following the Renegades loss to Greensboro on Feb. 22, Sommer told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that he felt referee Gord Buchanan was ``being paid off'' by Greensboro. Sommer also ``verbally abused'' referee Terry Koharski during Richmond's 4-2 loss at Roanoke last Tuesday. Kelly indicated Sommer could be suspended if he gives a ref any lip.
Brubaker, who ripped Koharski following Greensboro's win in Roanoke on Feb. 14 (a game that saw the Monarchs assessed several penalties in the third period), was ejected from a game at Charlotte on Feb. 18.
Brubaker told the Greensboro News & Record: ``I just got irritated at the referee's lack of consitency and went barging into his locker room after the first period. I said, and I'm paraphrasing myself, `Gee, would it be at all possible for you to judge us in a more impartial manner?'
``After I had my say, I only heard one word from him, which was `Out!' Ten minutes later, I was standing at a concession stand buying a cup of coffee. Charlotte's timekeepers and seven burly cops came up to me and said, `Mr. Brubaker, we've been instructed to inform you you've been ejected from the game.' I don't know why they needed seven burly guys to tell me that.''
SINKING FEELING:As if officials weren't having enough problems with coaches, linesman Dave Spannaus had a run-in with MOther Nature last week. Last Tuesday, Spannaus was stuck in the two-hour wait on Interstate 81 caused when a sinkhole swallowed up two northbound lanes near Dixie Caverns. He didn't arrive in Roanoke until midway through the first period of the Express-Renegades game. Koharski and linesman John Horan worked as a two-man crew until Spannaus arrived.
BOMBS AWAY:Dayton may be a team to keep an eye on during the playoffs. The Bombers have trimmed Wheeling's seemingly insurmountable lead down to five points in the North Division. During a four-game winning streak last week, Dayton goaltenders Paul Taylor and Jeff Stolp allowed just six goals. Center Craig Charron had four goals and five assists in three games last week, including three game-winning goals.
BURFOOTIN':Erie's Scott Burfoot still leads the ECHL's scoring race despite the fact that he hasn't played in the league since January. Burfoot's 90 points were still 10 points more than the next closest players. Burfoot, who played with the Roanoke Valley Rampage two years ago, had 28 goals and 62 assists in 49 games for the woeful Panthers.
by CNB