Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 8, 1995 TAG: 9504110062
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The puck? Or the gloves?
It began as a fist Friday at the Roanoke Civic Center. Nancy DeMerchant's rousing renditions of the anthems were still rolling through the rafters when Trevor Senn must have posed this question to fellow ECHL penalty-box regular Jason Clarke:
``Like some punch?''
As fast as you can count to three, the Richmond-Roanoke Riley Cup roust was on. The Renegades' rumbler got a game misconduct. Didn't even get to stop at the Senn bin, or something like that.
Then, the rout was on as Richmond scored four first-period goals. It took only three seconds for a fight. It took the Renagades only a span of nine seconds longer to score their first two goals. The final meltdown was 6-1.
It truly was an Express ending to the season.
April hockey in the civic center has been an old notion. To chart it chronologically, it last happened the year before John Wooden's last national championship at UCLA. It was 1974, and the Rebels won the Southern Hockey League title.
If it was a bizarre - if expectedly contentious - start to the Express' finale of the franchise's second season, it fit the weird series that included more than a shutout by each team.
There was Roanoke club president John Gagnon somehow in a post-Game 1 altercation with a Richmond Coliseum clock operator. Maybe Gagnon was just getting in the spirit of the series. And we thought his deep pockets were why he's called ``Big Daddy Gags.''
A mace spraying and disorderly conduct charge were the Game 2 sidelights last weekend in an incident that began with the throwing of water. Yes, it happened in Richmond. No, there wasn't a homicide.
The Express had only 11 shots in that game. Some deer hunters get off that many in a November hour. Roanoke went more than a 90-minute span in the series without scoring. A fight in the civic center stands was a Game 3 lowlight. By midway through Friday's game, the only fighting among fans was to stay awake.
Roanoke's only victory in the quarterfinal best-of-five set came when goalie Daniel Berthiaume pitched a shutout Wednesday night. That's indicative of Roanoke's track record in 1994-95.
This season, the Express didn't succeed in the net. They won in front of it. This deep in the playoffs, Berthiaume had to be great every game. It was too much to ask a guy who is likely to play at a higher level next season.
In ex-NHL netter Berthiaume and the man behind the mask he succeeded, Dave Gagnon, the Express had the league's best No. 1 goaltenders. They combined for a 2.64 goals-against average in the Express' No.1 jersey. The club's .901 save percentage led the league.
Maybe the Express blew a home-ice advantage through two playoff rounds with an awful last week of the regular season when their power play was unplugged, but their fifth seed in the ECHL playoffs was an overachievement.
The Express prospered when coach Frank Anzalone's disciplined system was played. Roanoke couldn't - and wisely didn't very often - afford to get in an offensive mood this season.
The only 30-plus goal scorer was former NHLer Derek Laxdal. Roanoke took 442 fewer shots on goal than last year. Dave Stewart - a defensman - led the team in shots on goal.
Still, the Express went from the ECHL's 11th-best record to fifth. Anzalone's team had two more wins than a year ago and got 10 more points with a league-leading 10 overtime losses.
That's part of the reason the club averaged 938 more spectators per home game than last season, too, almost 5,600 per night.
Club management's goal for the season was the second round of the 16-team playoffs. The Express did that.
So, if you had the Express in the final four of your ECHL office pool bracket, you weren't asking for a Miracle on Ice.
You were asking Anzalone's offense-shy team to deliver what it did most of the season - more than there was good reason to expect.
by CNB