Roanoke Express weekly

February 2, 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 22-19-4, (48 pts., T-5th place in Southern Division).

LAST WEEK'S ACTION

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2004 at DAYTON 2-1 Shootout Loss

The Express began the week by gaining a point in the standings in a shootout loss to the Dayton Bombers at Hobart Arena in Troy, OH. Skating in a building, which neither team had played in, the game began with a cautious feel. Neither team netted a first period goal and saw only 17 shots taken by the two teams.

In the second period, the game picked up in its intensity, with each team seeing more scoring chances, and the physical play picking up. The game remained scoreless until the final minute of the second period. The Express notched the first goal when Dan Carney chipped home a centering feed from Rick Kowalsky with 46 seconds remaining in the frame. Roanoke's one-goal lead was short lived however, because the Bombers came out strong in the third period, and notched their only goal of the contest just 1:53 into the final period to tie the game at one.

The remainder of the game saw both teams mount offensive chances with the two goaltenders making spectacular save after spectacular save to keep the teams tied. The game moved to overtime, and again neither team could collect a goal, sending the game into a shootout.

In the shootout Bombers netminder Bujar Amadovski stopped all five Roanoke shooters, and Express goaltender David Belitski allowed only Dayton's first shooter, Janne Jokila to score, but it was enough to give the Bombers the extra point. Overall Belitski stopped 41 of 42 Dayton shots through regulation and overtime. The tie moved Belitski's record to 11-9-4.

The Expess is 1-0-1 vs. Dayton this season with two games remaining between the teams.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2004 at TOLEDO 4-1 Win

The Express picked up a 4-1 win in the first of back-to-back games between the Express and the Toledo Storm at the Toledo Sports Arena in Toledo, OH. The win moved Roanoke's record to 2-0-0 this season vs. the Storm in the three-game season series.

The teams skated to a scoreless first period, with Toledo out-chancing the Express throughout the period. But Roanoke held the fort with goaltender David Belitski stopping all 17 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes of play. In the second period, the Express took control of the game scoring three times to open the game up. Dan Carney continued his hot play notching the first goal of the contest at 6:25 of the second period. Dan Carlson, playing in his first game with the Express since November because of a call-up to the American Hockey League, picked up where he left off by notching his 12th goal of the season at 10:15 of the middle period. Defenseman Tim O'Connell closed out the scoring notching a power play goal at 13:20 to give Roanoke the 3-0 lead after two periods.

The Storm found their way on the scoreboard 1:08 into the third period, but the Express held tight through the remainder of the third period to keep the Storm two-goals down. Roanoke then sealed the win with an empty-net tally by Andrew McPherson with 57 seconds remaining in the game.

Belitski again stood strong in goal for the Express stopping 47 of 48 Toledo shots. The win moved his record to 12-9-4.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2004 at TOLEDO 6-0 Loss

Roanoke closed out the weekend suffering its fourth shutout of the season in a 6-0 defeat to the Toledo Storm at the Toledo Sports Arena. The Express finished the season series against Toledo with a 2-1-0 record.

In similar fashion to the previous night, neither team tallied a goal in the first period, however the tide of the game changed early in the second period. After David Silverstone was knocked out of the game on a hard check, Neil Posillico took a fighting major, putting Roanoke short a man for five minutes. Toledo scored twice during the five-minute power play to take a 2-0 advantage six minutes into the period. Toledo opened a 3-0 lead at 14:35 of the period. With the Express reeling, Toledo notched their third power play goal of the game at 16:07 of the middle stanza to open a 4-0 advantage. The Storm collected their fifth goal of the period, the most the Express has allowed in one period this season, when Dan Carney inadvertently banked a shot in off goaltender Jason Wolfe with 2:30 left in the period.

Trailing 5-0 into the third, the Express rallied to try to get a goal past Toledo netminder Jimi St. John, who was playing in his first ECHL game this season, but despite its best efforts could not dent the twine. Toledo closed out the scoring with 13:24 remaining the in the game.

Wolfe played a strong game in net for the Express and made several big saves, but suffered the loss allowing the six goals on 42 shots. The loss knocked Wolfe's record to 10-10-0.

UPCOMING GAMES

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2004 at SOUTH CAROLINA 7:05 p.m.

Roanoke played game four of their season-high 10-game road trip on Thursday night at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, SC against the South Carolina Stingrays. The game is the third of five between the two Southern Division rivals, and the second of three in Charleston. Thus far in the season series, the Express is 2-0-0 vs. the Stingrays, picking up wins of 3-1 on November 16 in Roanoke, and November 29 in South Carolina. The Stingrays begin this week's action with a record of 25-14-2 (52 pts., 4th, Southern Division) and have won four straight games. Roanoke is 19-13-4 all-time vs. South Carolina.

FRIDAY, FEBURAY 6, 2004 at AUGUSTA 7:35 p.m.

The Express travels to Augusta, GA for the second time this season on Friday night to take on the Lynx. The game is the third of four games between the teams, and the second of three in Augusta. The Express holds a 1-1-0 record vs. Augusta this season. Roanoke picked up a 5-1 win in the first meeting of the season on November 7 at the Roanoke Civic Center, and the Lynx earned a 6-4 win on January 2 in Augusta. The Lynx are 18-22-4 coming into this week (40 pts., 6th Central Division).

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2004 at CHARLOTTE 7:30 p.m.

Roanoke travels to Charlotte for the first time this season on Saturday night to take on their long time division rival. The Express and Checkers have met twice this season, with Roanoke both by scores of 2-0 and 2-1. The game is the third of six, and the first of three at Cricket Arena. Entering this week, the Express and Checkers are tied for 5th in the Southern Division with 48 points. Charlotte is 21-18-6 (48 pts). On Thursday of last week, Charlotte fired Head Coach Don MacAdam, replacing him with assistant coach Derek Wilkinson. MacAdam had been head coach of the Checkers since the '99-'00 season. The Express is 41-18-13 all-time vs. Charlotte.

NEWS & NOTES

Special Teams: The Express enters this week ranked 14th on the power play (18.1%) and ranked 14th on the penalty kill (83.3%).

League Leaders: Express captain Rick Kowalsky is ranked 13th in the ECHL scoring race with 48 points

(20g, 28a)...defenseman Duncan Dalmao is 7th in scoring among ECHL defenseman with his 35 points (5g, 30a). He is also third in the ECHL with 18 power play assists, and 4th among defenseman with 22 power play points...Tim O'Connell is second among ECHL defenseman with 166 shots on goal...goaltender David Belitski is 4th among ECHL goalies in shootout save percentage (.833).

Road Warriors: The Express is currently in the midst of its longest road trip of the season. The 10-game trip will go from January 28 – February 15. During the trek, the Express will face Dayton, Toledo (twice), South Carolina, Augusta, Charlotte (twice), Greensboro, Florence, and Gwinnett. So far on the trip, Roanoke is 1-1-1, picking up a win and loss to Toledo and a tie against Dayton.

Roster Changes: Only one change to the Express roster last week, and that was the return of Dan Carlson to the lineup after spending almost eight weeks with Lowell of the American Hockey League. While with the Lock Monsters, Carlson played in 20 games and picked up four points (3g, 1a) and collected 13 penalty minutes.

Who's Hot: Forward Dan Carney has picked up four goals and two assists in the last six games...Andrew McPherson has points in six of the last nine games...Dan Carlson has picked up points in five of the last six games he's played in (6g,6a), and in 12 of the last 14 games (9g, 13a)...Rick Kowalsky has scored a point in three straight and four of the last five games (2g, 4a)...goaltender David Belistki has a 1.93 goals against average in his last three starts, and a save percentage of .956 in that span.

In The Division: Roanoke is 14-6-2 against its Southern Division opponents this season. 30 of their 48 points have come against divisional opponents.

How's He Doing?: Shawn Limpright remains on call-up with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League. Limpright has skated in 9 games, picking up one goal and three assists, while collecting 27 penalty minutes.

Coach's Corner: The next Coach's Corner LIVE! progam will be held on Monday, February 9 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, Duncan Dalmao live, or can tune in to the program live on 3WR.



ECHL Stories from February 2, 2004


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