ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9604020009
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: HOCKEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR.
Their numbers may not stack up against those put up by Tony Szabo, Jeff Jestadt and Ilya Dubkov two years ago, but Tim Christian, Dave Holum, Karry Biette and other rookies likely will be a big part of the Roanoke Express for a couple of years.
The Express laid its foundation two years ago with an exciting crop of high-scoring rookies that included Jestadt and Dubkov, both of whom will be considered ``veteran'' players next year under East Coast Hockey League guidelines. League rules classify any player with more than three years of professional experience as a veteran, and limit a team to three such players (a fourth, if he's a goalie).
The Express has 10 players on its roster who will be veterans next season. Even though the league may slightly modify the veteran rule, Roanoke likely will wave goodbye to some of the players who led the team to three consecutive winning seasons and playoff appearances.
That's why it will be important for some of this season's rookies to improve their play. Christian scored 24 goals during the regular season, the most by an Express rookie since Jestadt had 43 two seasons ago, and played in the ECHL All-Star Game. Holum, a center, slumped at midseason, but played well during the stretch run, as did Biette, a wing who scored eight goals in 31 games after coming to Roanoke in a trade with Erie.
Rookie defenseman Duane Harmer may have been Roanoke's best defensive player the last two months of the regular season. Harmer got off to a slow start, but wound up with five goals and a plus-2 rating. He and Chris Potter were the only Express players with positive plus-minus ratings.
It appears most of the team's six rookies will return to Roanoke next season.
``I think that most of the guys are planning on coming back here,'' said Holum, who finished with 12 goals and 22 assists. ``I know I plan on coming back here to help this team achieve a championship.''
Two seasons ago, Szabo, Jestadt and Dubkov combined for 110 goals. This season's top three rookie scorers - Christian, Holum and Biette - combined for 44, but there's reason to be optimistic.
All three are swift skaters who just need to develop more consistency. If they improve, they could be the foundation for future winning Express teams.
SCHOOL'S OUT: Because of the rising costs of maintaining ice at the Roanoke Civic Center during the summer and the lack of another ice rink in the area, the Express will not be sponsoring its youth hockey school this year.
Civic center officials estimate they lost as much as $4,000 during last year's weeklong hockey school, which attracted approximately 80 youngsters. Rent for the civic center's ice was $1,500 per day, a figure that was going to rise to $2,150 this year.
The actual cost of having ice in the building during the summer is about $2,850 per day, according to civic center assistant manager Jim Evans, but officials were willing to give the Express a discount.
``At that cost [of $2,850], we could cover our out-of-pocket expenses, but not make any money,'' Evans. said ``In the summertime, it's a lot more expensive [to maintain ice] because of the temperature outside. When you factor in the cost per day divided by the number of available rental days, it costs $1,554 just for power alone.''
Express management, which covered some of its own expenses last summer by holding public skating sessions, decided it couldn't pass on the added costs to students by charging a higher registration fee.
``It was going to be way too expensive to run a hockey school,'' said Pierre Paiement, the Express' general manager. ``I asked Jim Evans to check out what other civic centers are doing [in terms of daily rent], and they feel they're very competitive with their prices. With that increase, it was going to be too risky for us.''
Evans said this is another example of why the city needs a full-time ice rink.
``We can't be all things to the ice community,'' said Evans, speaking for civic center officials. ``The interest in those activities is growing. If the area had another ice facility, it would make everybody's lives a lot easier.''
ATTENDANCE DROP-OFF: Even though the ECHL attracted a league-record 3,602,249 fans, the average per-game attendance dropped for the first time in league history, a decline of 8 percent from 5,312 in 1994-95 to 4,931 this season.
The league attracted more total fans because three teams joined the league, but 13 of the 18 teams that played last season saw attendance drop. Huntington was down 1,500 fans per home game, the biggest drop in the league. South Carolina and Raleigh each declined more than 1,000 fans per home game.
This season's ECHL average attendance was the worst since 1992-93, when 15 teams averaged 4,501 fans per game.
Roanoke's home attendance increased 1.5 percent, from 5,591 in 1994-95 to 5,679, this season.
LENGTH: Medium: 89 linesby CNB