ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 TAG: 9702120060
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: EXPRESS NOTES
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
The Roanoke Express sits in the middle of the East Coast Hockey League's East Division, behind three teams, ahead of three teams.
Roanoke's fourth-place showing in the standings belies how well the team has played against divisional competition since November. Since going winless in its first five games against East foes, the Express has won 22 of 31 games against divisional teams.
The only two East teams with winning records against the Express are division-leading Hampton Roads (4-2 against Roanoke) and second-place South Carolina (3-1-1). Roanoke is 18-7-1 against the other four teams, including a 6-1 mark against Knoxville and a 5-1 record against Richmond.
Playing well against the division is important, considering that the first round of the ECHL playoffs pits divisional teams against one another. The top five teams in each of the three divisions qualify for the playoffs. Of the remaining eight ECHL teams, the one with the best record will make the playoffs as a wild card.
The wild-card team will be the sixth seed in its own division. In the other two divisions, the No.1 seed will meet No.5, No.2 will play No.4 and the No.3 seeds from those divisions will meet each other.
The Express is solidly in fourth place with 57 points, seven ahead of Charlotte, which visits the Roanoke Civic Center at 7 tonight. The Express trails third-place Richmond by five points. Nineteen of its final 24 games are against East Division teams.
ICE CHIPS: Roanoke is 6-2 in its past eight games, but head coach Frank Anzalone was worried about his team's concentration following Saturday's 5-3 home loss to Toledo. He thought some players were distracted by the appearance of scouts from the American Hockey League's Saint John Flames last week and with Ilya Dubkov's promotion to and subsequent return from the AHL's Hamilton (Ontario) Bulldogs.
``Our focus has been different the past couple of weeks,'' Anzalone said. ``Too many guys are concerned with personal gains and with moving up. You've got to put your energy into what's happening today and let tomorrow take care of itself.'' ...
The Express rebounded with a 4-3 win at Richmond on Sunday behind Jeff Loder's hat trick. Loder is the fourth Express player to score three or moreO goals in a game. Three Roanoke goaltenders - Dave Gagnon, Larry Moberg and Paul Taylor - have either posted or combined on a shutout this season. The last time that happened was three years ago when Gagnon, Dan Ryder and Daniel Berthiaume did it. (*library note - this happened in the 1994-95 season.)
LENGTH: Medium: 52 linesby CNB