ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 2, 1995 TAG: 9512030017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
THE EXPRESS GETS a boost from defenseman Jon Larson's ice cannon.
Is that a hockey stick Jon Larson's carrying, or is it a rocket launcher?
Well, it's both.
Ask Roanoke Express players who has the hardest shot on the team, and most will tell you it's Larson, a third-year defenseman who takes a cannon with him onto the ice.
Sometimes he doesn't know where the puck is going to go when he detonates a rocket from the blue line. When he's accurate, though, he can nearly burn a hole in a goalie's glove.
He's never had his shot clocked officially because he never has taken part in a hockey skills competition, the kind of event that takes place during all-star weekends where players compete to determine things like who has the hardest shot or who is the fastest skater.
Once, when he was working a hockey camp at the University of North Dakota, his alma mater, a coach set up a radar gun like highway patrolmen use to nab speed demons on the interstate. When the gun pointed his way, Larson took a whack.
``Ninety-eight,'' Larson said sheepishly. ``It was really unofficial. Murray Baron [who was then with the Philadelphia Flyers] was working the camp and he had one shot at 102 [mph]. He said he's usually around 100.''
If that radar gun read true, it would mean that Larson not only has one of the hardest shots on the Express, but one of the hardest in the league.
The ``Larson Laser'' has turned into one of the Express' best weapons on its improving power play. After languishing in 18th place in power-play percentage early in the season, the Express has climbed to eighth (28-for-123, 22.76 percent).
The power play has improved behind the play of Larson and fellow blue-liners Michael Smith, Dave Stewart, Tim Hanley and Duane Harmer, and the puck-handling and grinding of forwards Dave Holum, Craig Herr and Tim Christian.
If there's a place where Larson can make the most of his left-handed missile, it's on the power play. He has scored a modest three goals in 18 games, all three goals coming with a man advantage.
``When Jon Larson catches the pass, controls the puck and gets the shot away,'' said Express coach Frank Anzalone, ``he can be very dangerous.''
That occurred on Tuesday, when Larson took a pass from Smith, one-timed it from the point and sent a tracer past Toledo Storm goalie Rob Laurie. He took the same shot later in the game and had it deflected into the net by Christian.
From a goalie's perspective, when a guy like Larson drops the hammer on a swift pass from a wing, it's like trying to hit a Nolan Ryan fastball while looking toward the first baseman.
Toledo players were abuzz in the locker room about Larson's two slapshots.
It was the same kind of shot that gained the attention of Anzalone two years ago when Larson played for the Knoxville Cherokees.
``We were playing Roanoke and I took a shot off the pass, one-timed it, and put it in the center of the net,'' said Larson. ``I think that's the reason Frank recruited me.''
He was miffed about being left off Knoxville's playoff roster in 1994 after the Cherokees were assigned some players from their affiliates. He signed with Roanoke that off-season and gained a measure of revenge when the Express beat the Cherokees three games to one in the first round of the Riley Cup playoffs. Larson even scored a goal in the first game.
``I guess I wanted to show them I could play some playoff hockey,'' he said.
Larson was a fine high school athlete in his hometown of Roseau, Minn., where young men play football as a way to get in shape for hockey season. Roseau is a small town in northern Minnesota; so far north, the nearest big city is Winnipeg.
That's where Larson honed his shot as a kid by setting up a practice goal on his parents' patio. In winter, he'd make his own ice by pouring water on the patio, which made the concrete crack.
``My mom hated that,'' he said. ``Since it seemed to help me, she finally thought it was OK.''
Anzalone said he may try some different strategies to improve the Express' penalty-killing, which ranks last in the ECHL (65.45 percent). ``We're aggressive when we need to be passive and we're passive when we need to be aggressive,'' said Anzalone. ``We're killing penalties with the same system we've used for two years. We've got to be confident out there. We'll try a few new matches and mixes, a few new twists. We're not going to change the philosophy. We'll add a few quirks.'' ...
The defensemen are doing a fine job of seeing that the puck gets in the net. Stewart has 15 points in his past 11 games on three goals and 12 assists, and Smith has 14 points in 12 games. ... Jeff Jestadt has scored at least one point in all but four of Roanoke's games. ... Herr leads the team with five multi-point games and has a three-game point-scoring streak. ... Jeff Jablonski has gone 13 games without an assist. Jablonski scored two goals against Richmond Friday after scoring one goal in November.
LENGTH: Medium: 92 linesby CNB