ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604220043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Jack Bogaczyk
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYk
A reporter showed up Friday afternoon at the Roanoke Express' offices. They were closed. That was strange.
What was going on inside the Southwest County suites was more bizarre. The door was briefly opened slightly to tell a visitor he couldn't come inside.
Two men were going through files. Cabinet drawers were open. A hand-truck stood nearby.
``It was,'' said one who was there, ``like Watergate.''
Roanoke hockey fans, having become accustomed to meltdowns, have to hope this isn't another Waterloo.
At a board meeting, club president John Gagnon and secretary Pierre Paiement - easily the most visible executives with the club - were voted out as Hockey Roanoke Inc. officers by the other five board members.
You could say it's the kind of power play the Express could have used during its three-and-out series with Charlotte in the recent ECHL playoffs, but this is a far more serious matter.
Seeking public comments on the board's divisiveness was like trying to find a parking space in the Roanoke Civic Center lot at one of the Express' crowded Saturday dates.
Restaurateur Richard Macher is the new president, but someone who answered the phone at his home Saturday said he would have no comment until after the weekend.
Blacksburg lawyer Joe Steffen, a 15-percent owner and board spokesman, said he wanted to reserve comment.
``We're still in a state of flux,'' Steffen said. ``We're trying to work some things out between now and Tuesday.''
Another club source who didn't want to be identified said Paiement ``was more than shocked'' by Friday's developments. Paiement said Saturday the board coup ``was like a bombshell to me.''
More than his board office may be at stake. A board member said Friday that Paiement may be asked to step down as general manager. Another club source said Saturday ``it isn't far-fetched to see that as possible in the next few days.''
Asked Saturday afternoon if he were still the Express' GM, Paiement said, ``I don't know.''
The problem is the Express can't shake the Biloxi blues. When Gagnon announced he was putting an ECHL expansion franchise on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, some fellow Roanoke investors were steamed about not being in on the deal. Still are.
Paiement was to buy into Biloxi until the Roanoke board said correctly that to have a paid front-office executive of the Express investing in another club would be a conflict of interest.
Paiement then said he was backing away from Biloxi and the Express announced that, but some board members are not convinced.
Does the board majority have knowledge or physical evidence Paiement still is involved in Biloxi?
Was that what the office search was about Friday?
``I'd like to ask them what I can do to convince them I'm not involved, and I hope to do that Monday,'' Paiement said. ``There's nothing at this point I feel I'm guilty of. I've been completely devoted to the Roanoke franchise.''
The Express has called a news conference for Tuesday, and the guess is good that it won't have anything to do with an NHL affiliation or practice rink.
Less than two years ago, Gagnon and Paiement shared the ECHL's executive of the year award, and deservedly so. They and coach Frank Anzalone have done just about all of the right stuff to make hockey skate here.
In one of the league's smallest markets, the Express ranked in the top one-third in attendance this season. The club is turning a profit, more than $600,000 this season by one insider's guesstimate.
One opinion being floated is that the five investors besides Gagnon and Paiement will try to buy out the pair, who are at least deposed until next month's board meeting.
It doesn't seem likely the strong-willed and deep-pocketed Gagnon will go for that. He owns 50 percent of the club - Paiement has 10 percent - and one board member said he thinks Gagnon will try to buy out at least one other investor to wrest controlling interest.
A club source said the board majority's raised eyebrows are directed more at Paiement than at Gagnon, but that as club founders most responsible for making hockey work here, they are linked as more than friends with French Canadian roots.
Whatever happens from here, it isn't likely the Express can skate on as if nothing happened. There are hard feelings that likely can't be soothed by record ticket sales, already 400 season seats ahead of last year at this date.
There is one notion that if Paiement exits as GM, perhaps Anzalone will take on that job, if not the title. He already was the primary source for player procurement.
However, he has no idea where he stands with the club, either. Anzalone talked with Paiement about his contract Wednesday and Thursday. He has one season left and a one-year extension was being bounced around.
Paiement said Saturday he had planned to make a presentation to the board about Anzalone at Friday's meeting. The subject, obviously, never came up.
Anzalone said Saturday that when he stopped by the office Friday, a club lawyer told him the partners were `` hoping to start ironing some things out, and they'd get with me in a short period of time on the direction of the hockey operation.''
However, Anzalone knows his contract isn't even an issue at this point. Meanwhile, Express supporters, figuring the club was on the verge of stepping into the league's upper division on the ice, are left to wonder about who's in charge.
If there is something good in the latest off-ice incident in Roanoke's hockey history, it is that at least it's proven that people with money do care passionately about the club.
The Express is far from a train wreck. However, it's going to take more than a Zamboni to smooth over this icy surface.
LENGTH: Long : 107 linesby CNB