For more than a year, excitement continually built up for the long-awaited return of professional ice hockey to the Roanoke Valley.
The announcement of a new team in October, 2015 brought out the die-hard hockey fans who had not had a team in a decade. The new ownership group, an energetic first-year coach in Sam Ftorek and a refurbished Berglund Center has fans buzzing over their new team, The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs.
Despite new faces and growing pains, things have gone well in the first two month for the Southern Professional Hockey League team, the Dawgs, who sit in the middle of the pack of the 10-team league. Ftorek said before the season began that his goal was to bring a championship to Roanoke in the first year. That would undoubtedly ignite a fan base that has supported teams through the years. After all, winning breeds winning, and winning breeds excitement. But, winning a league championship is easier said than done.
There could be no better proof of that than the 1973-74 Roanoke Valley Rebels. That team captured the imagination of local fans, brought out record crowds to the then-called Roanoke Civic Center and made ice hockey the talk of the town.
Two of the stars of that team, Claude Piche and Pierre Paiement, offered insight into that championship run. Piche continues to live in Roanoke and attended the inaugural Dawgs game in October.
The foundation of the ’73-’74 squad had actually been laid a year earlier by Rebel coach Gregg Pilling. Paiement, a key member of the ’73 team, recalled how Roanoke had reached the playoff final against the Syracuse Blazers in what would be Roanoke’s last year in the Eastern Hockey League. That championship series featured a bevy of hockey talent- along with the Syracuse tough-man style that often resembled tag-team wrestling.
Roanoke stunned Syracuse 5-4 in overtime in Game 1 when the Blazers, as Pilling noted at the time, spent more time showcasing their muscle than playing hockey. The loss was the Blazers’ first on home ice after 42 consecutive wins that season.
Game 2, again at Syracuse, took a bizarre twist that captivated the fan interest of both teams like a daytime soap opera. Word leaked out of a reported offer by Syracuse officials of $100 to each Blazer that put a Rebel out of commission. Apparently, the incentive worked as three Roanoke players were dispatched from the game with injuries. The seemingly intimidated refs let just about anything go.
Rebel Claude St. Sauveur took an intentional stick over the head and incurred a concussion. Goalie Danny Sullivan was slammed in the head in the crease and had to leave in favor of Rebel trainer Dave Settlemeyer, who had never played goalie in a hockey game in his life.
The Rebels fought back as Paiement, Serge Beaudoin and Jack Chipchase, among others, dropped the gloves. The result was a ridiculous 17-1 Blazer win to even the series.
“The dirty play by Syracuse was unbelievable,” Paiement recalled. “Early in the game I got pinned behind the net and pow-pow-pow, I got gut slugged and was totally dazed. It got worse as the game went on. I remember being on the bench beside our toughest player, Serge Beaudoin. Serge looked at me and said, ‘Pierre, I’m scared.’ “
Games 3 and 4 in Roanoke were split as the shenanigans continued to pile up. EHL Commissioner Norman MacLean required a $350 bond to be posted by every player, which would be forfeited on any “intent to injure” penalty. The fights, however, continued and Syracuse, back at home, won Game 5 by the amazing score of 15-1.
Game 6 returned to Roanoke where the Rebels let in anybody who could buy a ticket. A crowd of 8,159 packed the Civic Center only to watch Roanoke lose 4-1, and, subsequently, the series. For the 10 playoff games at the RCC in 1973, 49,111 fans were in attendance. St. Sauveur, the high-scoring center, commented after the loss, “I think that next year we can give the area a championship.”
The next season, the Rebels moved to the newly formed Southern Hockey League and Pilling returned as the coach. Playing off the ’73 success, he assembled a team that included returnees Paiement, Beaudoin and Chipchase along with new faces such as high-scoring Camille LaPierre and a blond center from Montreal that would become the league MVP – the only MVP in Roanoke hockey history, Claude Piche. It was an assemblage of players with a common heritage—14 French Canadians with a wealth of talent.
“Normally, the French-Canadian players (in the SHL) were a minority,” Piche said. “One or two on a team, but we had 12 of the top 40.”
Piche, who had played in the Minnesota North Star organization before stops in Baltimore and Phoenix, came to Roanoke in the second year of his contract with the Boston Bruins.
“I saw the talent on this team and ASKED to be sent to Roanoke,” Piche noted.
The ’74 Rebels breezed to the regular season championship with a 53-18-0 record, worth 106 points and an 18-point cushion over second-place Charlotte.
Right wing Paiement, nicknamed “Pistol,” was a sensational shooter known for his positional savvy. Piche, known as “Mr. Smooth,” was an offensive machine at center, finishing second in SHL scoring with 44 goals and 50 assists. The Rebel scoring attack was led by Piche and LaPierre, who combined for 92 goals, 93 assists, 15 game-winning goals and 9 hat tricks.
In the first round of the SHL playoffs, the Rebs were taken to the brink of elimination in an unusual fashion. They easily won the first three games against the Winston-Salem Polar Bears before losing the next three of the best-of-seven series. In Game 7, Roanoke trailed 2-0 after two periods before knotting the score in regulation and winning 3-2 in overtime on a goal by future New York Rangers coach Mike Keenan.
Roanoke advanced to the finals against Charlotte, the season culminating in thrilling fashion. Down three games to two, the Rebels won Game 6 in Charlotte to ruin the Checkers’ planned celebration.
“We didn’t come here to entertain these (Charlotte) fans,” Pilling quipped at the time.
Roanoke returned home for Game 7 in front of 6,073 fans who cheered every shift as the Rebels won, 3-2.
Aside from the talent, Piche and Paiement credited Pilling’s motivational tactics for the team’s success. “In Game 6 in Charlotte, Gregg had us on our hotel balconies at the coliseum to watch the Checkers arrive smoking cigars,” Piche laughed. “Watching the Checkers’ cockiness motivated us to win that game.”
The ’74 season was the last for Paiement; Piche played one more season before retiring.
The year 1974 was a time when few players wore helmets. Now, 42 years later, hockey has changed dramatically.
One can only speculate if another championship season, rare as it may be, is in the making in Roanoke.
Bill Turner
