Along for the Ride

Sports stats



ECHL ECHL

Along for the Ride

by Jason S Rufner
October 18, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)


Looks like fun.

Ten skaters wearing practice jerseys frolicked about on the ice, pranking and chuckling amidst loosely organized drills. Occasionally a whistle was heard, and the participants went from one thing to another, still joking. Coach Perry Florio, laughing with the rest between banter with the assembled on-lookers at the open practice, directed traffic, such that it was.

Sprinting. One-on-one. Florio teaching a surreptitous holding technique. Assistant coach Tony MacAulay demonstrating agility drills. Something like a scrimmage. A scoring contest. The affable Mike Peron taking a bow and blowing kisses to the several hundred fans after emerging victorious in said contest. Two hours of fun on the ice, new teammates getting to know each other, old ones reacquainting. Chemistry.

In this, the first practice for the Roanoke Express in a cramped, damp ice rink on the outskirts of the Star City of the South, a good time was had by all.

Almost. The two men lugging around hockey's tools of ignorance were deadly serious. One of them would be given something he'd never had before - a starting job as netminder for a professional hockey team.

"Perry!" a fan yelled as loudly as she could from the balcony at the Ice Station, a public rink which serves as the Express' practice facility. "Hey, Perry!"

The head coach looked up from the ice.

"What's his name?" she bellowed, pointing at the young man clad in goalie gear across the ice.

Florio tried to follow the pointing finger, then looked back up again. "Who?" he rasped in a Long Island accent, drawled somewhat by years in Roanoke.

"The goalie!" came the response.

Florio gazed, then returned. "Evan Lindsay!" he projected up to the fan and her companions.

She nodded and smiled. "He's good!" she cried enthusiastically down to the head coach.

Florio laughed. "I'll note that!" he replied, then mocked writing something on his pad. Then, smiling winsomely at her, he skated away to supervise shooting drills.

For five years -- a full one-half of the club's existence, the Express have boasted one of the finest goaltenders in minor league hockey in Daniel Berthiaume. In a league and a sport where consistency is hard to come by and fluctuations in performance are the norm, Bert helped Roanoke perennially stay in contention, sometimes diving deep into the play-offs, other times sneaking in and out after the first round, but always exciting, always competitive, always in the hunt. Rare were the times when the Express were blown out when Bert wore the mask.

It's daunting, to say the least, to replace a local legend, a veteran of 215 NHL games and winner of 105 contests for the hometown team. It is particularly daunting when the public outcry at Bert's release (necessitated due to ECHL veteran restrictions) generates an open letter from Florio by way of explanation.

"To me, the words not spoken are usually the words heard the loudest," Florio wrote. "To those of you writing letters and e-mails, you can say what you want in support of Daniel and you should; your loyalty to him as a friend is admirable. The bottom line is from this day on we are moving forward."

Lindsay and Rob Garrick, young goaltenders each, battled in the pre-season for the starting job, with the knowledge that the loser may be unemployed entirely with the likelihood of netminder assistance coming from above with the AHL Norfolk Admirals or the NHL Chicago Blackhawks.

Perhaps on the advice of the gleeful fan at the Ice Station, Florio has chosen Lindsay, a third-year professional who has seen action at the AHL level. Starting both pre-season contests against the despised Richmond Renegades, Lindsay allowed a total of three scores in winning each game by six goals. The stinginess continued even when the bell rang and the games counted, as Roanoke's brand new goalie permitted only two of 35 shots to get through before losing in a shoot-out in Atlantic City.

The Norfolk Admirals, once a cross-state rival and now the AHL partner of the Express, sent down NHL-prospect Sebastien LaPlante to see ice-time. Garrick was released to make room for LaPlante, who was solid in the season's second game, beating the formidable Trenton Titans in New Jersey in overtime.

Two games, both on the road in hostile territory against substantial competition, and the team has earned three points. The season is young, but the promise is omnipresent.

Tonight is Opening Night in Roanoke. The dearly departed Terence Tootoo will have his number 22 permanently retired. Daniel Berthiaume, who still makes his home in the blue mountains of the Roanoke Valley, will be honored for his years of service. The national anthem will be sung, and the puck will drop between the Roanoke Express and the Greensboro Generals. The long season will begin in earnest; two points will be at stake, and the Kelly Cup will be the goal.

The laughing is over for now, but it remains to be seen as to who will be able to laugh at the end. Sit back and enjoy. The Express will take us on a hell of a ride.

It should be fun.

The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central.

Check out the ECHL Statistics

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from October 18, 2002


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central