Sports stats

Roanoke Express weekly

January 26, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Roanoke Express News Release


ROANOKE, VA – The Roanoke Express finished this past week with a 1-1-1 record . The Express enters this week with a record of 21-18-3, (45 pts., 5th place in Southern Division).

LAST WEEK'S ACTION

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2004 at JOHNSTOWN 5-2 Win

The Express began the week with a solid effort in a 5-2 victory over the Johnstown Chiefs on Friday night at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, PA in the only game of the season between the two teams. Despite arriving just 45 minutes before face-off the Express came out with a strong game. Roanoke opened the scoring at 15:35 of the first period on Dan Carney's power play goal. Leading 1-0 entering the second period, the Express opened a two-goal advantage just 59 seconds on a slap shot by Bryan Perez that beat Chiefs goaltender Cory Campbell between the legs. After Johnstown cut the lead to one midway through the second period, the Express chased Campbell when Neil Posillico notched his first goal of the season in his first game with the Express, when he launched a slap shot from outside the blue line that again beat Campbell between the legs for a 3-1 Express lead.

Roanoke carried the two-goal lead into the third period when they again struck early. Rick Kowalsky notched his 19th goal of the season beating goaltender David Currie just 22 seconds into the period. Andrew McPherson closed out the scoring for the Express at 9:13 to take a 5-1 lead. The Chiefs collected their second goal of the night at 16:24 to cut the gap to 5-2.

Jason Wolfe got the start in goal for the Express and stopped 32 of 34 Johnstown shots. The win raised Wolfe's record to 10-8-0 on the season.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2004 at TRENTON 4-0 Loss

The Express suffered its third shutout of the season when the Trenton Titans collected 4-0 win on Saturday night at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ. The win gave the Titans wins in both games of the season series.

Trenton's tight trap system kept the Express at bay throughout most of the game, making it difficult for the Express to move through the neutral zone. Trenton opened the scoring just 2:40 into the game on a bad bounce for the Express. A shot by B.J. Kilbourne was saved by Roanoke goaltender Jason Wolfe, the rebound bounced off Express defenseman Tim O'Connell's skate and trickled across the goal line. The Titans still led 1-0 after the first period, but blew the game open with three goals in the second period to take a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes of play. Despite Roanoke's best efforts, the could not get a shot past Trenton netminder Andrew Allen who collected his second shutout of the season by stopping all 17 shots by the Express. The 17 shots by the Express was the fewest in a game by the team this season.

Wolfe suffered the loss, allowing the four goals on 39 shots to fall to 10-9-0 on the year. Roanoke had several opportunities on the power play, but finished the night 0-for-7 on the man advantage.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, 2004 vs. READING 4-3 OT Loss

Roanoke closed out the weekend with a 4-3 loss in overtime to the Reading Royals at the Roanoke Civic Center. The game marked the end of the season-series between the two former division rivals, with Reading winning all three games.

The Express fell behind early in the game, with the Royals scoring just 42 seconds into the game. The game remained 1-0 in favor of Reading until the 16:41 mark, when Andrew McPherson notched his 13th goal of the season to tie the game at one. Rick Kowalsky followed that goal with his 20th of the season just 33 seconds later to give Roanoke a 2-1 advantage. The Express opened a two-goal lead at 13:07 of the second period on Dan Carney's 9th goal of the year. Roanoke saw the two-goal lead disappear in the third period allowing an even strength goal at 8:01, then giving up a power play goal with 4:21 remaining.

In overtime, the Royals collected the win 2:20 into the extra session to earn the extra point. The game saw Reading have 10 power plays to Roanoke's just three, including a questionable spearing major called against Carney with just over five minutes remaining in the third period, which led to Reading's tying goal. Overall, however the Express had success short handed, killing off nine of the 10 chances, including two 5-on-3 man advantages for Reading.

David Belitski earned a tie for his efforts in goal for Roanoke to bring his record to 11-9-3. Belitski stopped 43 of 47 shots by the Royals.

UPCOMING GAMES

TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2004 vs. GREENVILLE 7:00 p.m.

Roanoke begins a very busy week with their fourth game of the season against the Greenville Grrrowl at the Roanoke Civic Center. The game is the fourth of six total games between the two Southern Division teams. Roanoke is 2-1-0 this season against the Grrrowl, winning twice in Greenville both times by scores of 4-1, and the Grrrowl collected a 6-3 win at the Roanoke Civic Center for their win. Following Tuesday's game, the two teams won't skate against each other again until the final week of the season. The Grrrowl enter this week's action with 7-30-3 record (17 pts., 8th Southern Division). The 17 points, is the fewest in the ECHL. Roanoke is 5-1-1 all-time vs. Greenville.

Tuesday night at the Roanoke Civic Center is "Miracle Night" In honor of the new movie "Miracle" depicting the 1980 US men's Olympic Ice Hockey team winning the gold medal, the Express and Valley View Grande Cinemas are giving away a "Miracle" poster to the first 1,500 fans who attend. In addition, the Express will be giving away passes to attend the movie at the Valley View Grande Cinemas on February 6.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2004 at DAYTON 7:00 p.m.

The Express begins it longest road trip of the season on Wednesday when it travels to Dayton, OH to take on the Bombers for the second of four times this season. The game marks the first of a 10-game road trip, which will extend until February 15. Roanoke collected a 3-2 win over the Bombers on November 23 in Dayton in the first meeting of the season. The Express and Bombers will play twice more this season on February 28 & 29 at the Roundhouse. Dayton comes into this week with a 15-23-3 record (33 pts., 9th Northern Division). The Express holds an all-time record of 9-13-5 vs. the Bombers.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY, JANUARY 30 & 31, 2004 at TOLEDO 7:30 p.m. (Both Games)

Roanoke travels to Toledo, OH for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday nights. The games are the second and third between the teams. The Express earned a 3-2 shootout win over Toledo in the first meeting of the year on January 10 at the Roanoke Civic Center. The Storm begin the week with a record of 17-19-4 (38 pts., 8th Northern Division). Roanoke is 11-11-2 all-time vs. Toledo.

NEWS & NOTES

Special Teams: The Express enters this week ranked 14th on the power play (17.7%) and ranked 14th on the penalty kill (83.7%).

All-Star: Express forward Shawn Limpright represented the Express at the 2004 Par-A-Dice All-Star Game on Jan. 21, and picked up an assist in the Eastern Conference's 7-6 win. Limpright assisted on Sam Paolini's goal at the 16:00 mark of the second period. Limpright, currently on call-up with the Syracuse Crunch, was named to the All-Star team as a replacement for Express forward Dan Carlson, who remains on call-up with the Lowell Lock Monsters. The All-Star appearance was Limpright's first.

Roster Changes: The Express saw several changes to its roster prior to this week's games. The first of which saw the return of defenseman Tim O'Connell from the Norfolk Admirals, where he has skated in 12 games, scoring five points. The Express added forward Neil Posillico from the Elmira Jackals of the United Hockey League, where he collected two goals and 132 penalty minutes in 23 games. Roanoke also made its second trade of the season when they sent forward Jeremy Kyte to the Greenville Grrrowl for cash considerations. Finally, moves involving the injured reserve list saw the return of forward Rob Snowball after missing over a month with fractured jaw, and saw the Express place forward Joe Dusbabek on the IR with a knee injury.

Road Warriors: The Express is currently in the midst of its longest stretch of road games this season. Beginning on Jan. 16 when the Express traveled to Florida, the team plays 14 of 16 games away from the Roanoke Civic Center. Other than two games at the Roundhouse on Jan. 25 & 27, the Express doesn't see their home again ice until Feb. 17 when it hosts the Greensboro Generals. In all, that's a span of over five weeks with just two home games. Thus far during the stretch, the Express is 1-3-1.

In The Division: Roanoke is 14-4-2 against its Southern Division opponents this season. 30 of their 45 points have come against divisional opponents.

How are They Doing?: The Express currently has two players called-up to the AHL. Here's an update on how each have performed: Dan Carlson (Lowell Lockmonsters) - 20 games, 3 goals, 1 assist, 14 PIM. Shawn Limpright (Syracuse Crunch) - 6 games, 0 goals, 3 assists, 21 PIM.

Coach's Corner: The next Coach's Corner LIVE! progam will be held on Monday, January 26 from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. at the Village Grill in Roanoke. Fans can join Express broadcaster Kevin Reiter and Head Coach Tony MacAulay along with this week's guest, Jason Wolfe live, or can tune in to the program live on 3WR.

UPCOMING PRACTICE AND GAME SCHEDULE

Monday, January 26 OFF

Tuesday, January 27 10:00 a.m. pre-game skate @ The Roanoke Civic Center

7:00 p.m. GAME vs. Greenville @ The Roanoke Civic Center

Wednesday, January 28 7:00 p.m. GAME vs. Dayton @ Hobart Arena

Thursday, January 29 Travel Day to Toledo

Friday, January 30 7:30 p.m. GAME vs. Toledo @ The Toledo Sports Arena

Saturday, January 31 7:30 p.m. GAME vs. Toledo @ The Toledo Sports Arena

Sunday, February 1 OFF

(All practice times and locations are subject to change)

ALL EXPRESS GAMES ARE BROADCAST LIVE ON THE 3WR RADIO NETWORK, 910 AM IN ROANOKE AND 990 AM IN BLACKSBURG. ALL GAMES ARE LIVE ON THE INTERNET AT www.wcqv.com



ECHL Stories from January 26, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Roanoke Express Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central