ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 16, 1997 TAG: 9702180014
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-7 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: HOCKEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR.
The Roanoke Express' recipe for success has been simple: For nearly four seasons under coach Frank Anzalone, the team's primary goal has been to limit opponents' scoring chances, rely on solid goaltending and squeeze out a goal or two.
Certainly, the Express still depends on defense and netminder Dave Gagnon. That's why Roanoke has given up the second-fewest goals in the East Coast Hockey League's East Division.
However, this fourth edition of the Express is as fine an offensive squad as any Anzalone has put on the ice in Roanoke. With four players having reached the 20-goal plateau through the season's first 47 games, the Express could approach the franchise record of 300 goals set in 1994-95.
Ahead of the pack is veteran left wing Jeff Jablonski, who had 32 goals in 46 games and is on a goal-scoring pace that would break the team's single-season record of 43 set by Jeff Jestadt in 1993-94.
Ilya Dubkov, Jeff Cowan and Jeff Loder also have surpassed 20 goals. Dubkov joined the Express a month into the season and Loder spent some time with the International Hockey League's Manitoba Moose, or both would have been nearer to the 30-goal mark.
``We're not a great offensive team,'' Anzalone said. ``We're a team that has to work hard for every goal we get.''
That has been evident in the number of second-chance goals the Express has scored this season. Roanoke has a solid blend of size and speed that enables it to collect more rebounds than past Express squads.
In Wednesday's 6-5 loss to Charlotte, three of Roanoke's goals came on second-, third- or even fourth-chance rebounds.
``That all comes from work ethic,'' Anzalone said. ``If we have that ethic, we can get some goals. If we don't, we can't.''
THE GREAT SIBLING: Brent Gretzky, the youngest brother of New York Rangers superstar Wayne Gretzky, was demoted to the Pensacola Ice Pilots by the IHL's Las Vegas Thunder this past week.
Brent Gretzky, 24, had five goals and 12 assists in 40 games with Las Vegas.
``He wasn't having the best season'' with Las Vegas, said Pensacola spokesman Paul Kahalley. ``He's hoping to come here and get his game back on track.''
Gretzky, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound center, played for Ice Pilots coach Al Pedersen with the IHL's Atlanta Knights during the 1995-96 season.
Gretzky was a 1992 draft pick of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning and played 13 NHL games from 1993-95, collecting a goal and three assists.
Wayne Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading scorer, is third in the league in points this season with 16 goals and 59 assists, but he had not scored a goal in 18 games through Thursday, the longest drought of his career.
``It's at the point where it's a little bothersome, especially when I get opportunities and especially in close games when I can get us back in the hockey game,'' Gretzky told The Associated Press after he failed to score in Thursday's 4-1 loss at St.Louis. ``Tonight, I had two really good chances and again, nothing.''
COLUMBUS ON LOVE BOAT: The Columbus Chill had the perfect prescription for a Valentine's Day hockey game against archrival Dayton. Bernie Kopell, best known for his role as Doc Bricker on the 1970s television show ``The Love Boat,'' was the host for between-periods events.
Fans competed for the chance to win a dinner, a limousine ride and a cruise for two.
``Because Bernie's character was always a romantic, to have him here giving away a cruise is very fitting,'' said Chill spokesman Gary Kohn,
Columbus has come up with some of the most creative promotions in minor-league hockey. This season, the Chill featured ``Beavis and Butthead Do the Chill,'' complete with a look-alike contest, a ``Turn Back the Clock Night'' highlighted by a concert from the '80s band A Flock of Seagulls and a male bathing-suit contest.
In another ECHL Valentine's Day promotion, six Birmingham, Ala., couples were married between periods of the Bulls' game against the Louisiana IceGators.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for statistics.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB