ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 25, 1997 TAG: 9701270096
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
Almost one year ago to the day that he was an East Coast Hockey League All-Star, Tim Christian settled for merely being the star for the Roanoke Express on Friday night.
Christian's hat trick helped the Express beat the Raleigh IceCaps 4-1 at the Roanoke Civic Center and snap a three-game losing streak. The Express also had lost a season-high three consecutive home games before gaining its first win in the civic center since Dec.27.
The second-year right winger stole the spotlight from veteran goaltender Dave Gagnon, who won for the 39th time in his Express career, tying Daniel Berthiaume's franchise record for most career victories.
It was Christian, though, who was the night's biggest star this side of Mill Mountain. After scoring 24 goals and playing in the league's All-Star game as a rookie, Christian reached the 12-goal plateau in his 37th game this season. A quarter of those came Friday.
With guys like Jeff Jablonski, Ilya Dubkov, Jeff Cowan and Jeff Loder providing much of the goal-scoring this year, Christian had taken on the role of defensive forward. Express coach Frank Anzalone would like to see him become a little more offensive.
``Tim Christian and I have talked many, many times about the need for him to explore his offensive possibilities,'' said Anzalone. ``The big thing for Timmy now is to keep it going.''
In fact, Christian hasn't scored a goal in back-to-back games this season. Don't think that he's disappointed, though.
``Last year, I was just learning the league,'' he said. ``This year, I try to take control of the puck a little more and try to play better. Maybe my numbers are down, but I'm better all-around.''
He's not far off pace from last year's numbers, when he was a surprise selection to last year's mid-season All-Star affair.
``That was kind of a surprise last year,'' he said of his All-Star honor. ``I never really considered myself an All-Star.''
He was a shooting star Friday, just the kind Anzalone's been waiting to see. He scored on a wraparound in the second period, added a pretty goal on the fly to break open a one-goal game late in the third, then capped it with an empty-netter with 36 seconds left.
The second-period goal resulted from a nice move. Stationed behind the Raleigh net, he waited for things to clear before coming around the left side and ramming a shot through Raleigh goalie Pat Charbonneau's pads at 14:34 to make it 2-0. Wayne Strachan had put Roanoke on the board with a power-play blast at 5:43 after he picked up the puck from Jeff Jablonski to the right of the net.
It looked like that would be enough for Gagnon, who finished with 37 saves. Raleigh's Darren Colbourne made things interesting when he tipped home a drive from Brad Dexter with 8:09 left in the game.
The Express opened up some breathing room when Bobby Brown sprung Loder with a feed, then Loder made a tape-to-tape pass to Christian, who buried the puck with 3:48 to make it 3-1. He ended it with an empty-net blast to give Roanoke its first win since Jan.10.
Gagnon, who won his 20th game, has a chance to break Berthiaume's record at 7:30 tonight when the Charlotte Checkers come to town.
``This team has bigger fish to fry,'' said Gagnon. ``If everyone plays the way they're supposed to, if we keep winning, everyone will achieve some personal mark. If you start thinking any other way, you're being individualistic.''
ICE CHIPS: Express right wing Eric Landry received an unusual suspension for his hit against Raleigh's Spencer Meany on Jan.18. ECHL senior vice president Andy Van Hellemond suspended Landry for three games, but only those games when the Express plays the IceCaps. In addition to Friday's game, Landry will not play when Raleigh comes to Roanoke on March 8 and will not play at Raleigh on March 15. He is eligible to play tonight against Charlotte, though. Meany suffered a cracked vertebrae when he crashed headlong into the boards on the play and will miss the rest of the season. ...There will be a public skating session today at the civic center from 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 linesby CNB