ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 6, 1995 TAG: 9512060089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
ROANOKE'S OFFENSE on fire in record-setting 11-3 victory over Wheeling.
To paraphrase an old saw, ugliness truly was in the eye of the beholder when the Roanoke Express ground up Wheeling like hamburger Tuesday night.
Roanoke's 11-3 demolition job of the Thunderbirds at the Roanoke Civic Center was ugly as sin even before the third-period brawl for which the game likely will be remembered.
To the Express, though, the outcome was downright beautiful, as the team set a rink-full of records, including team marks for goals scored in a game. All this against a team that had the East Coast Hockey League's best regular-season record in 1994-95.
``Oh, never in my days would I have ever expected us to score this many goals,'' said Roanoke's Jeff Jestadt, a guy who has been around in each of the Express' three years of existence.
There were plenty of individual accolades to go around: Jeff Jablonski had a hat trick and an assist (his first assist since October); Ilya Dubkov had two goals and three assists, with the five points tying the team record he co-owned with former Express player and Russian comrade Lev Berdichevsky; Craig Herr had two goals; and Jon Larson and rookie Tim Christian each had a goal and three assists.
It was an unexpected outburst from a team coming off two emotional shootout victories over Richmond during the weekend.
``We were flat Monday'' during practice, said Frank Anzalone, the Express' coach. ``The weekend [victories] took a lot out of us. I thought we might be flat tonight, but we were very professional.''
The game's finale consisted of third-period fireworks - and not the kind resulting from Roanoke's five-goal barrage in the final 20 minutes.
Since the game was the first meeting between the teams since Oct.29, when Roanoke rookie Brian Gallentine suffered a serious eye injury when he took a high stick from Brock Woods, many observers felt retaliation might be on the Express players' minds. Gallentine, who still is without most of the sight in his right eye, is undergoing therapy in his hometown of Jackson, Mich.
But with ECHL president Rick Adams in attendance, both teams were on their best behavior until a fight broke out between Wheeling's Tony Prpic and Roanoke's Jason Clarke at the 12:23 mark of the final period. When Express forward Louis-Phillippe Charbonneau got into a vicious scrap with former Roanoke player Gairin Smith, Woods went after Charbonneau, who was being held by an official.
It was an ugly scene: Sticks, helmets and gloves were strewn about the ice; a DrPepper bottle was hurled from the stands; from the bench, Anzalone, with a stick in his left hand (he held it low, but never brandished it threateningly) yelled at Woods; and security was called to the Thunderbirds' penalty box.
``After I pointed the stick at Woods, which I was wrong for [doing], everything cooled off,'' Anzalone said. ``I lost it. I shouldn't have done it. I was hot.''
Roanoke (15-9-0), which has won six of seven games, prevailed by scoring four goals in less than seven minutes during the first period. Clarke scored off a pass from Marty Schriner at 5:08. Then, in a span of 1:21, Herr scored shorthanded after Jestadt stole the puck, Christian scored on a power-play rebound and Larson drove home a 60-foot shot from the left point.
Jablonski scored twice in the second period, both times after Wheeling trimmed its deficit to two goals, and the Express posted a five-spot in the third on two goals from Dubkov and goals from Dave Holum, Jablonski and Herr.
As if the offense wasn't good enough, the Express killed all seven of Wheeling's power plays. Goalie Daniel Berthiaume won his sixth consecutive decision to improve to 6-1-0.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: MIKE HEFFNER/Staff. 1. Express center Ilya Dubkovby CNBcontrols the puck during Roanoke's easy victory over Wheeling.
Dubkov contributed two goals and three assists Tuesday night at the
Roanoke Civic Center. color. 2. Roanoke goaltender Daniel Berthiaume
watches the bouncing puck during action Tuesday night.