ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 3, 1995 TAG: 9512030002
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: HOCKEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR.
Brian Gallentine still is waiting to hear some good news.
A little more than a month after getting hit in the face with a stick, the Roanoke Express wing still has not regained most of the sight in his right eye, and it appears doubtful he will return to the East Coast Hockey League team this season.
Pierre Paiement, the Express' general manager, spoke with Gallentine on Friday, one day after the rookie had visited a specialist in his hometown of Jackson, Mich.
``It's not very good news,'' Paiement said. ``Some scar tissue has developed behind the retina. He doesn't have any frontal vision [in the eye]. The only sight he has is when he looks down or sideways. When he looks up, there's a black spot.''
Gallentine, who was developing into one of Roanoke's top rookies, was injured during an Oct.29 game at Wheeling when he took a high stick from the Thunderbirds' Brock Woods. The Wheeling player received a minor penalty on the play and later was suspended for three games.
Gallentine will visit another doctor Friday. Surgery may be an option, but not for several months, Paiement said.
The Express placed Gallentine on the 60-day injured reserve list a few days after the injury. Roanoke will have a decision to make when the 60-day period ends in early January.
``It's very sad,'' Paiement said. ``Hopefully, there will be other options for Brian once he has a second opinion.''
ATTENDANCE BOOM: The Express is on pace to break last season's franchise attendance record.
Average attendance has hovered around 6,000 per game, with the winter months still ahead. Historically, Roanoke has drawn larger crowds after Christmas.
``At the beginning of the season, we had two goals,'' Paiement said. ``We wanted to sell 1,800 season tickets and average around 6,000 fans per game. We sold about 1,860 [season tickets], and we should reach our goal'' of 6,000 fans per game.
The Express went into Friday's games ranked sixth in attendance in the 21-team ECHL, despite playing in the league's sixth-smallest market.
Roanoke's attendance total is more impressive considering overall attendance for the league is down. Some of the ECHL's marquee teams - such as Charlotte, Hampton Roads and South Carolina - are drawing fewer fans than they did a year ago.
WE KNEW 'EM WHEN: Former Express goalie Dan Ryder has resurfaced with the Detroit Flames of the Colonial Hockey League. Ryder, who played for the Express in each of its first two seasons, was 1-1 with a 3.43 goals-against average through Thursday. The San Jose draft pick remains under contract to the Sharks. ... Former Express gunner Oleg Yashin has cooled considerably for the International Hockey League's Fort Wayne (Ind.) Komets. Heading into the weekend, Yashin had seven goals this season, four of them in his first four games. ... Dave Gagnon had won four of his past six decisions with the IHL's Minnesota Moose. Gagnon, who tended goal for the Express for much of last season, was 7-9 overall with a 4.53 GAA through Thursday.
ADMIRALS' LIFE PRESERVER: When Hampton Roads' No.1 goalie, Darryl Paquette, was called up by the Portland (Maine) Pirates of the American Hockey League, the Admirals had to sign Todd Hunter as an emergency backup for Tuesday's game against Richmond.
Hunter, who played for the Admirals a couple of seasons ago and was with the Lakeland (Fla.) Prowlers of the Southern League this season, was just supposed to sit on the bench and hope starter Mark Bernard didn't get hurt against the powerful Renegades.
Bernard didn't get hurt, but he got tossed for fighting seven minutes into the game. After giving up back-to-back breakaway goals, Bernard took off across the blue line to fight Richmond's Greg Hadden, who had slashed a Hampton Roads player.
Down 2-1 and down to their emergency backup in net, the Admirals appeared to be sinking fast, but Hunter gave a stand-on-his-head performance by turning aside 25 of 27 shots and getting the Admirals into a shootout, which they lost 5-4.
Hunter played so well, he is expected to stay with the team for a while - at least until Corwin Saurdiff returns. Saurdiff, who has missed most of the season after being hospitalized with colitis, will begin practicing again this week and could return to action in mid-December.
BLIZZARD WATCH:Morris Jeffreys, the president and co-owner of the Huntington Blizzard, is denying rumors he wants to move the team to Pensacola, Fla., or Winston-Salem, N.C.
``We have no intent to move,'' said Jeffreys, a former Greensboro Monarchs executive who took over the team less than a month before the season began.
The Blizzard is one of several ECHL teams that has been rumored to be looking for a new home in the past couple of seasons. In the spring, it was believed the Erie Panthers were on their way to West Palm Beach, Fla., before improvements were made to the Erie Civic Center.
Even though the Blizzard had the worst record in the ECHL (2-12-5) through Thursday and the lowest average attendance (2,012), Jeffreys said the third-year franchise can survive in Huntington.
``I wouldn't be here if I didn't think it could,'' Jeffreys said. ``There's no reason why a market this size can't support an ECHL franchise.''
AROUND THE ECHL: Hampton Roads ended its string of 13 consecutive overtime losses with a 3-2 shootout victory at Raleigh on Nov.26. ... After failing to convert on 47 of its first 50 power plays, Louisville has gone 20-for-111 with a manpower advantage. Nevertheless, the RiverFrogs remain last in power-play percentage (14.28).
LENGTH: Long : 101 linesby CNB