ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 22, 1996 TAG: 9612230154
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
For nearly two months, Dave Stewart would have given the shirt off his back just to score a goal.
Saturday night, he scored the goal then gave up the jersey and promptly was dismissed from the premises for disrobing publicly, although he was around long enough to see his Roanoke Express teammates put away the Raleigh IceCaps 5-2 and win their fourth consecutive game.
Stewart lost his jersey in a fight with Raleigh's Doug Mann, got a game-misconduct penalty because of a little-known rule stemming from the fight and had to watch the game's final 11:51 from outside the plexiglass surrounding the Roanoke Civic Center ice.
Before that, he had given the Express a lead with his first goal since Oct.30 and had performed some of his best defensive work since an ankle injury robbed him of more than two weeks of playing time.
``It's still not 100 percent,'' he said of the ankle. ``It still hurts me in the morning, but it's getting better. I've got to play and not worry about it. If I worry about getting hurt, it'll hurt the team.''
Being knocked out of commission also meant Stewart had to yield his captain's ``C'' to Jeff Jablonski. Since returning to action three games ago, he's been wearing the alternate captain's ``A'' on his jersey, the same mark he received for his play Saturday.
``This was the best Dave Stewart has played in quite awhile,'' said Frank Anzalone, the Express' coach. ``He played very smart. I'm talking about things like the way he dinked the puck off the glass, the way he didn't make unnecessary plays. Then there was the goal.''
Ah yes, the goal that was his second of the season and nearly two months in the making. With the score tied 1-all in the second period, Stewart ripped his patented power-play, net-scorching slap shot from the right point with 9:52 left.
``I've always put lots of pressure on myself on the power play,'' said Stewart. ``I'm not highly skilled, but I can shoot the puck.''
He can swap punches, too, which he did with Mann midway through the third period with the Express up 4-2. During the scrap, Stewart's right sleeve got tugged over his arm and eventually the entire shirt came over his head when the players tumbled to the ice.
Since East Coast Hockey League rules state, as they do in the NHL, that a player cannot take off his own shirt or his pads during a fight, Stewart was given a game misconduct by referee Chris Cozzan, who turned a deaf ear to Stewart's contention that his jersey had been ripped off by Mann.
``As far as I can tell, if your jersey comes off, you're out,'' said Stewart.
Stewart's early dismissal came on a day when the Express already was without two key players. Defenseman Michael Smith is still on assignment with the American Hockey League's Saint John Flames and second-leading scorer Jeff Loder was called up by the International League's Manitoba Moose late Friday for the second time in less than two weeks.
It seems, though, that as long as Ilya Dubkov and Jablonski are on the ice, the Express has enough firepower. The sizzling combo combined for eight points Saturday, with Dubkov netting two goals and two assists and Jablonski registering four assists. The two have combined for 24 goals in 14 games.
``I don't want to read too much into things,'' said Jablonski, ``because I don't want it to stop.''
Jablonski has 18 goals and 21 assists, which is one short of his entire assist total last season.
``That's a great line,'' said Raleigh coach Kurt Kleinendorst, who coached Jablonski when he was with the IceCaps in 1993-94. ``Jablonski is playing as well as anyone I've seen in the league right now.''
Roanoke (15-10-3) outshot Raleigh 49-29 one night after the IceCaps had clobbered Hampton Roads 7-3. Dave Gagnon made 27 saves for the Express, although he gave up a bizarre goal in the second to tie it at 2 when Raleigh's David Cuniff scored on a 90-foot blast from near the red line. Gagnon apparently didn't see the puck until it was too late.
Jablonski assisted Dubkov's first goal 4:47 into the game and Raleigh (13-15-2) tied it with a shorthanded goal off an assist from Lee Leslie at 3:14. The Express scored the game's final three goals after the IceCaps knotted the score again.
Eric Landry, who teams with Dubkov and Jablonski, scored the go-ahead goal on a rebound shot with 3:08 left in the second. Jeff Cowan made it 4-2 by tipping in Matt O'Dette's shot with 35 seconds left in the second, and Dubkov put it away by taking a Jablonski pass and beating goalie Bill Horn on a breakaway with 3:29 remaining in the game.
ICE CHIPS: Former Express enforcer Jason Clarke was at the civic center Saturday night, watching the game from center-ice seats in Section 26. Clarke, who gained favor with Roanoke fans for his pugilistic abilities and who is now with the Birmingham Bulls, has not played since suffering a broken jaw in a fight with O'Dette when the Express visited Birmingham on Nov.5. There was a rumor circulating in the league that Clarke was considering retiring, but he said he plans to return to Birmingham on Tuesday and return to action when the Bulls play Baton Rouge on Thursday. see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: NHAT MEYER STAFF Roanoke's Eric Landry (left) andby CNBJeff Jablonski (right) react after the officials disallowed an
apparent goal against Raleigh during the second period when the
score was tied at 1.