ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602190107
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: HOCKEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR.
The East Coast Hockey League continued its Southern invasion this past week, with Roanoke Express president John Gagnon leading the charge.
The league owners gave Gagnon approval to put an ECHL expansion franchise in Biloxi, Miss., next season. The expansion fee of $1.5 million is triple the amount Gagnon and a group of investors paid to start the Express in 1993.
Hockey is a growth industry in the South, and many ECHL observers see the potential for more growth. While the East has endured a harsh winter and many Northern ECHL teams have watched their attendance suffer, the forecast in the South remains sunny.
The first-year Louisiana IceGators lead the 21-team league in attendance, with an average of a little more than 9,000 fans per game. Nine of the top 10 ECHL teams in home attendance are based below the Mason-Dixon Line.
Also during the past week, the Erie (Pa.) Panthers announced plans to move to Baton Rouge, La. The next ECHL team to announce its relocation likely will be the Nashville (Tenn.) Knights, who are working on a move to Pensacola, Fla.
As early as next season, as many as eight teams could be playing in the Deep South: Louisiana; Mobile; Baton Rouge; Biloxi; Pensacola; Birmingham, Ala.; Tallahassee, Fla.; and Jacksonville, Fla.
Next season, five ECHL teams - Louisiana (Lafayette), Biloxi, Mobile, Jacksonville and Tallahassee - will be playing in cities located along Interstate 10
``This is the continuation of the development of wonderful rivalries along the I-10 corridor,'' Gagnon said Thursday.
At least one team owner has suggested the league should consider a name change. Judging by the location and success of the new teams, the East Coast Hockey League is rapidly becoming the Gulf Coast Hockey League.
Or maybe the I-10 Hockey League.
RENEGADE RUMBLINGS: Richmond appears to be loading up for the stretch run. During the past week, the Renegades made a big trade and received three players from their affiliates to shore up any potential weakness before the Riley Cup playoffs.
Richmond dealt defensemen Mike Burman and Kurt Mallett, along with future considerations, to Jacksonville for goalie Trevor Robbins. Goaltending had been the Renegades' Achilles' heel since Grant Sjerven was called up to the American Hockey League midway through the season.
The Renegades also received right wing Todd Sparks and defenseman Nolan Pratt from Springfield (Mass.) of the AHL and welcomed back defenseman Darren Wetherill, who was called up for one game by Orlando (Fla.) of the International Hockey League.
All this means the best team in the ECHL just got a little better.
COACH PARSON: Former Express goalie Mike Parson has had a difficult time on the ice since he was shipped to Johnstown in November, but he may have a future behind the bench.
When the Chiefs played at Columbus on Feb.2, they lost coach Nick Fotiu midway through the game when his nose was broken by a wayward puck. Parson, who wasn't playing, began pacing behind the bench like a de facto coach.
Apparently, he didn't do a bad job. The score was tied at 2 late in the third period when Johnstown goalie Scott Bell took a shot to the head that cracked his helmet, forcing him to leave the game.
That was bad news for Parson, who surrendered a goal on the first shot he saw and lost the game 3-2. Parson, who was made expendable when the Express signed Daniel Berthiaume, is 4-22-2 this season as a goalie.
BULLED OVER: Bir-mingham's Phil Roberto became the first coaching casualty of the ECHL season. Roberto was replaced by former Cincinnati Cyclones coach Dennis Desrosiers, who began the season as coach of Saginaw (Mich.) in the Colonial Hockey League. Desrosiers also coached the Cyclones when they moved up to the IHL in 1992.
After Roberto was fired, player-assistant coach Jerome Bechard served as interim head coach for three games and went 2-1.
PUCKS IN THE 'NET: The ECHL opened a home page (http://www.echl.org) on the Internet this past week. WebServe, an Internet service company based in Charlotte, N.C., created a web site where ECHL fans can access league information, schedules, standings and statistics and where they can voice their opinions through an e-mail bulletin board. A merchandise page allows fans to buy ECHL products.
Several ECHL teams have established web sites in the past year. Even though the Express does not have an official home page, there is an unofficial Express web site that can be reached on the Internet, in addition to several hockey chat groups.
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