ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512270055
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-7 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: HOCKEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR.
Another holiday season is upon us, and again the Minnesota Moose has left the Roanoke Express off its gift list.
For two seasons, the Express has waited for presents from its International Hockey League affiliate in the form of player reassignments. No, Roanoke, Va., there won't be any wandering Moose coming home for the holidays.
Minnesota is the lone affiliation the Express has left since the working agreement with the NHL's San Jose Sharks ended during the summer. This affiliation has been like having no agreement at all.
Last season, the Moose called up Express goalie Dave Gagnon and defenseman Michael Smith a total of 10 times, returning only Smith for the final couple of months of the season. Minnesota has been in better shape from a personnel standpoint this season, but the Moose signed Express captain Dave Stewart to a 25-game contract and could call him up if he's needed.
Express officials are crossing their fingers the Moose won't be needing anyone. It's also becoming obvious Minnesota won't be able to help the Express fill its needs.
Basically, the Moose is just trying to get through the season, then move to Winnipeg, Manitoba, next season - a move that likely will end the affiliation with the Express. The Moose, which has no NHL affiliation, is expected to lose $2 million to $3 million this season.
Pierre Paiement, the Express' general manager, visited St.Cloud, Minn., last week to meet with Moose coach Frank Serratore. Paiement was told not to expect much help from the Moose this season.
Serratore did all he could to help the Express in the preseason by allowing Roanoke to send eight players to Minnesota's training camp, a gesture Express coach Frank Anzalone used as a recruiting tool when trying to sign players.
There are teams in the ECHL with worse affiliations than Roanoke. Unfortunately, none seem to be in Roanoke's division. Despite the fact teams like Richmond and Hampton Roads have watched some of their best players called up by Springfield and Providence of the American Hockey League, teams in the East Division usually get ample help from their NHL, IHL and AHL affiliates.
It would be nice if the Express could expect the same. Just in time for the holidays, too.
HOLY GOALIES!: Usually, the job of a goaltender is to keep the puck out of the net. But last week in the ECHL, two goalies made news for their ability to put the puck in the net.
In a span of five days, Olie Sundstrom of Erie and Sean Gauthier of South Carolina became the second and third ECHL goalies, respectively, to score goals in a regular-season game. All three scores by goalies have come in the past nine months.
Sundstrom scored on Dec.15 in a 6-4 victory over Wheeling when the Thunderbirds pulled their goalie in favor of an extra skater late in the third period. Sundstrom collected the puck near his own net and sent it the length of the ice to score at 18:03.
On Dec.19, Gauthier pulled the same stunt in a 6-2 victory over Raleigh when he scored into an empty net at 18:28 of the third.
Hampton Roads' Corwin Saurdiff was the first ECHL goalie to accomplish the feat when he scored March 18, 1995, in a 5-2 victory over the Charlotte Checkers. Charlotte's Nick Vitucci scored in a preseason game a couple of years ago when he was with the Toledo Storm.
``SUDDEN DEATH'': Several ECHL players hit the silver screen when the new Jean-Claude Van Damme action movie ``Sudden Death,'' which takes place during the final game of the Stanley Cup playoffs, was released nationwide this weekend. Members of last season's Erie Panthers and Johnstown Chiefs portrayed the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Players from those NHL teams were supposed to appear in the film, but could not because of the NHL's work stoppage last season. The footage was shot at Pittsburgh's 17,323-seat Civic Arena in January, with approximately 3,000 fans attending. Many of the empty seats were filled by cardboard cutouts of fans.
``You couldn't even tell,'' said Wheeling player/assistant coach Tim Tisdale. ``It looked like a full stadium.''
Several former and current Chiefs are featured prominently in the movie. Former Johnstown enforcer Brandon Christian portrayed long-haired Pittsburgh superstar Jaromir Jagr, which was quite a stretch for Christian, considering his head had been shaved just before the filming. Matt Hoffman, now with Mobile, played former Penguin Luc Robitaille and scored two goals.
``It was a great experience just being there,'' Hoffman said. ``It [was] a thrill to be part of the making and to know that millions of people are going to see you, even if they think I'm Luc Robitaille.''
AROUND THE ECHL: Johnstown's Trevor Jobe was named the league's player of the month, an award sponsored by Sherwood Hockey Company. Jobe, who became the ECHL's all-time leading scorer in November, scored 14 goals in 11 November games. Jobe holds ECHL records for career points (533 and counting), career goals (277 through Thursday), goals in a season (85) and points in a season (161). ... South Carolina continues to win and continues to bring in new players. Heading into the weekend, the Stingrays had won five consecutive games and were five points behind fourth-place Roanoke in the East Division. Last week, South Carolina received forward Mikhail Volkov from the AHL's Rochester Americans and Mark Bavis from the AHL's Providence Bruins. ... Raleigh was winless in 11 consecutive games heading into the weekend. The IceCaps' 4-18-4 record and 12 points were worst in the ECHL. ... Marquis Mathieu, who was acquired by Birmingham in a trade that sent Craig Lutes to Johnstown, has played with eight teams in his professional career - Birmingham, Johnstown, Toledo, Raleigh and Wheeling of the ECHL, Fredericton and Worcester of the AHL and Houston in the IHL.
KILBURN FOLLOW-UP: In last week's story about former Roanoke Valley Rebels coach and general manager Colin Kilburn, it was incorrectly stated that Tom Anderton was the majority owner of the Rebels when they began playing games at the Roanoke Civic Center in 1973. While Anderton, who had been the team's owner for several years, still was a part owner, the majority owner then was Gene Hawthorne.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for statistsics.
LENGTH: Long : 106 linesby CNB