Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9503210074
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
At least the Roanoke Express has another chance to clinch the East Coast Hockey League's East Division championship.
That was the only good news the Roanoke Express could extract from the 5-0 mauling it received at the hands of the Richmond Renegades on Saturday night before a crowd of 8,536, the third-largest crowd to watch a hockey game at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Like a slacker teen-ager who fails to turn in his science project on time, the Express is asking for a one-day extension to get its work done. Today is Roanoke's last chance to clinch the title on its own, as the Express, which leads Richmond by three points in the standings, travels to Raleigh to take on the IceCaps at 7:30 p.m.
Roanoke has failed to win its past three games, a streak that comes on the heels of eight consecutive victories.
The loss also came one night after it was mistakenly announced on the civic center public-address system that the Express had clinched the East Division championship following its 3-2 shootout loss to Charlotte, which earned Roanoke one point in the standings instead of the two it needed to claim the title.
``Everybody in Roanoke was saying they had won it,'' said Roy Sommer, Richmond's coach. ``Somebody didn't do their math.''
Richmond (39-20-7), meanwhile, gave a lesson in addition, as it poured on the goals. The Renegades scored four times in the first two periods and rode the goaltending of David Littman, a guy with three games of NHL experience who joined the Renegades two weeks ago and was playing his sixth game this season.
The Express was shut out for just the second time in the team's two-year history. The goose egg was Roanoke's first since a 3-0 loss to Hampton Roads on Nov.25, 1993. Littman stopped all 22 shots he saw.
``We were embarrassed,'' said Frank Anzalone, the Express' coach. ``Totally embarrassed.''
Roanoke's power play continued to fizzle. After an 0-for-7 performance Saturday, Roanoke has converted one of its past 23 opportunities. In three games, the Express dropped from first in the ECHL in power-play percentage to sixth.
Roanoke (39-18-10) has scored three goals in its past three games.
``This is a bad time to slump,'' Anzalone said.
The good news is that Raleigh's slump has been worse. The IceCaps were eliminated from the hunt for the last playoff spot by losing 5-3 to Greensboro on Saturday, their ninth consecutive defeat.
``I don't even want to talk about tomorrow,'' Anzalone said. ``It's not even a factor right now.''
Richmond played like there was no tomorrow. The close-checking Renegades set the tone early with their physical play.
Things began to unravel for the Express in the second period, during which Richmond went ahead 4-0 with a pair of power-play goals and the Express lost two players to game-misconduct penalties.
First, Jon Larson was tossed for joining a tiff between Roanoke's Derek Laxdal and Richmond's Scott Gruhl at the 1:31 mark.
Midway through the second, after Richmond's Michael Burman scored a power-play goal to make it 3-0, Jason Clarke was called for elbowing when he barreled over Littman on a breakaway, an incident that resulted in serious ramifications for the Express.
Following the play, as Clarke and Daniel Chaput scrapped on the end boards, Roanoke goalie Daniel Berthiaume was handed an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty for throwing his water bottle in protest of referee Dave Brown's call.
Berthiaume was given a game misconduct for continuing to argue and for squirting water in Brown's direction. Express defenseman Dave Stewart then was given a 10-minute misconduct for voicing his opinions.
``I told the referee what I thought,'' Berthiaume said. ``I thought he was horrible. I feel sorry for the fans who came out tonight to see a hockey game.''
With the Express down two men, Richmond made it 4-0 when Garrett MacDonald wristed a shot by Roanoke goalie Dan Ryder with 6:09 to play.
Richmond closed the scoring with an unassisted goal by Jan Benda in a skate-through-the-motions third period.
``We just wanted to win and go from there,'' Sommer said. ``We didn't want them to win this thing against us here.''
Richmond led 2-0 after one period on goals by Gruhl and Andrew Shier. With 11:05 left in the first, Gruhl skated in and knocked a backhand shot by Berthiaume after Larson lost the puck in the Express zone.
Shier scored on a power play by deflecting Burman's left-point drive into the net with 5:38 to play.
ICE CHIPS: Before the game, the Roanoke Valley Hockey Boosters Club announced its annual player awards. Stewart and Ilya Dubkov were named co-players of the year, Mark Luger was selected the team's rookie of the year and Clarke was given the unsung hero award. The club also made a presentation to team trainer Dana Maguane recognizing him for his service. Schriner's status for the playoffs became questionable after an examination showed there may be cartilage damage in his right knee. Schriner, who was injured Tuesday against Raleigh, will be examined again Friday, the day after the playoffs begin. ... During the week, the Express activated forward Rouslan Toujikov from the injured list, then waived him.
by CNB