Rail Yard Dawgs Looking For That Good Groove

Rail Yard Dawgs head coach Sam Ftorek.
Rail Yard Dawgs Head Coach Sam Ftorek.

Snapping an 8-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over Fayetteville at the Berglund Center in late December was a welcome tonic for Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs Head Coach Sam Ftorek and his expansion club as they strive to find the style needed to be a consistent winner. “We can’t play not to lose, we have to play to win,” Ftorek preaches to his players, many of whom are getting paid for the first time as members of the Southern Professional Hockey League franchise that is currently drawing about 3000 paid patrons to home games at the Berglund Center. The SPHL regular season concludes in March after a 56 game schedule.

“We know we’re good enough to win games, we just have to go out and get it,” says Ftorek, a first year head coach after a 17 year minor league playing career. His father Robbie spent time in the National Hockey League.  The Dawgs have been plagued at times by not playing the same game for all three periods – often lapsing after starting a contest impressively.

It’s a lesson for his team, says Ftorek – a squad that has also dealt with some injuries and with the call up of players to the higher-rung ECHL. Of course, says Ftorek, that’s the mission for coaches in lower-level pro leagues like the SPHL – to groom players for advancement. In the meantime “they understand if we play 60 minutes the proper way than we can get results. That’s something we can build on going forward.”

In the 4-2 win over Fayetteville the crowd was into it early after the Dawgs scored two first period goals – the first one less than three minutes into the game led to the pre-Christmas “Teddy Bear toss,” with fans throwing stuffed new toys onto the ice. Players helped deliver those teddy bears to local children’s hospitals and other organizations before the holiday. Ftorek’s message to players of “stay the course, don’t make any soft plays. Make them earn it,”  helps keep fans, happy to see pro hockey return after a decade, on their side.

Gene Marrano

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