Friday, March 14, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
It takes more than a rolled-up newspaper to chase off these dogs. And here they come, sniffing around the Thomas & Mack Center again.
But in their 10th and final meeting of the regular season, the Las Vegas Thunder hopes to get a leg up before the Long Beach Ice Dogs do. They play tonight at 7:05.
Long Beach is in first place in the Southwest Division at 43-16-7 for 93 points. Las Vegas is fourth at 33-27-6 for 72 points. Both teams have 16 regular-season games remaining.
"There will be a playoff-game atmosphere," Thunder head coach Chris McSorley said.
"It appears the road to the Turner Cup this year might have to go through Long Beach. It's important for us to prove to them and ourselves, now that we have a full roster, we are a team capable of beating anyone in the league."
But the Ice Dogs have chewed up the Thunder this season. They are 7-1-1 and hold an 82-22 edge in the scoring department.
"It's imperative we establish dominance in all areas of the ice," McSorley said. "We are playing the best team in the International Hockey League, but I feel we're going to be able to go head-to-head on the score sheet and in the corners."
Long Beach boasts a pair of potent lines with Stephane Morin, John Byce and Darryl Williams and Domenic Pittis, Patrik Augusta and Valeri Karpov.
"They've got two of the most skilled lines in the league," McSorley said. "We need to be able to control and contain these lines and yet still outscore them."
The Ice Dogs also own two of the league's top four scoring defensemen in Victor Ignatjev (15 goals, 39 assists) and Dan Lambert (12 goals, 40 assists). Also, Tom Draper ranks among the league leaders in nearly every goaltending statistic. He's 22-6-2 with a 2.25 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
Thunderbolts
* DUFFUS -- REMEMBER HIM? The return of Thunder goaltender Parris Duffus won't come any time soon. Duffus still is in Phoenix, filling in for Coyotes backup Darcy Wakaluk, who is out with an injured right knee. Duffus won't be back in Las Vegas until Wakaluk can play. "Wakaluk's still two weeks away," Coyotes spokesman Jeff Hecht said Thursday. "It's been holding steady at about 10 days to two weeks for a while now. He's progressing slowly." Wakaluk is undergoing off-ice rehabilitation, but has yet to skate since his second surgery two weeks ago. The Coyotes, fighting for the playoffs, have said they will retain Duffus if Wakaluk isn't ready for the postseason.
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