ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 28, 1997 TAG: 9703280064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. THE ROANOKE TIMES
The Express may be at home or away for the playoffs and its opponent will be one of 10 teams.
In less than a week, the Roanoke Express will be playing in the East Coast Hockey League playoffs. It doesn't know where, it doesn't know against whom.
This will be a weekend of scoreboard watching for the Express and for area hockey fans, as the Express jockeys for home-ice advantage in the playoffs.
Roanoke plays three games in three days, beginning tonight against the Raleigh IceCaps at 7:30. at the Roanoke Civic Center. The Express plays host to the Hampton Roads Admirals - a possible playoff opponent - on Saturday, then closes the season Sunday at Raleigh.
At stake is a chance to open the first round of the playoffs with a pair of home games for the Express, which sits in fourth place in the East Division, two points behind Richmond. If Roanoke could get to third place, it could earn home-ice advantage.
In its previous three years of existence, the Express never has won a playoff series in which it did not have home-ice advantage, although it did beat Knoxville three games to one in 1995 by winning two road games.
``We still have a lot to play for,'' said Jeff Jablonski, who has scored a franchise-record 49 goals this season. ``We've gone through a couple of lulls. I think we've just come out of one. Third place gives us something to shoot for.''
Sixteen teams make the playoffs. The top five teams in the ECHL's three divisions qualify for the postseason. Of the eight teams that don't qualify, the one with the best record will be the wild-card team.
First-round games will be played almost exclusively within divisions, with the exception of one series that pits third-place teams from two divisions. The division from which the wild-card team qualifies will play its first-round games with the first-place team playing the sixth-place team, No. 2 vs. No. 5, and No. 3 vs. No. 4.
In the two remaining divisions, the first-place team will play the fifth-place team, and No. 2 will play No. 4. The two third-place teams meet each other.
The seedings could change drastically over the weekend. Roanoke only trails Richmond by two points and the Express has a game in hand on the Renegades, who finish their season with home games against Charlotte and Knoxville tonight and Saturday. In the North, third-place Dayton leads Wheeling by three points and Toledo by four points.
Roanoke's first-round playoff opponent most likely will be Hampton Roads (which trails first-place South Carolina by five points), Dayton or Toledo. Roanoke, which has 80 points, likely would have home-ice advantage over Dayton or Toledo.
As many as 10 teams are potential first-round opponents for Roanoke, which probably won't know who it will play until the final horn blows Sunday.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB