Amerks lose Lacroix to Bullies

By Kevin Oklobzija
Democrat and Chronicle

(Wednesday, January 30, 2002) -- Daniel Lacroix will not be on the Rochester Americans bench tonight when the Worcester IceCats come to town. Coach Randy Cunneyworth will, and he promises to stay there.

Rather than uproot family to stay with the Amerks, Lacroix will return to the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies of the East Coast Hockey League, where he is a player/assistant coach.

The 13th-year veteran played with the Amerks last weekend, scoring one goal while picking up 18 minutes in penalties. He provided toughness and grit, as well as pizzazz on the bench and in the dressing room.

But his wife and two children, ages 7 and 9, had just become comfortable in Atlantic City and Lacroix said over the weekend that he didn't think it would be fair to make them move again.

"It was understood that he'd come in and help us for two games," Cunneyworth said. "It was a situation where we needed some help and he filled in. But he's an assistant coach down there and he felt he needed to get back to his team."

If nothing else, Lacroix left Rochester with a story to tell. He can reminisce how he once watched his coach walk onto the ice in the middle of a period to chat with a referee.

The American Hockey League took no disciplinary action against Cunneyworth for his Saturday night stroll onto the ice in Syracuse.

Cunneyworth was upset at referee Wes McCauley's refusal to come to the Rochester bench to explain what could best be described as strange penalty calls at 5:16 of the third period.

So when McCauley did go to the Syracuse bench to talk to Crunch coach Gary Agnew, a mild-mannered Cunneyworth walked out onto the ice and joined their conversation, as if they were friends trying to decide where to go for lunch.

He was given a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct -- the Crunch scored the winning goal on the ensuing power play -- and the AHL was informed of the incident for review. The league apparently decided allowing the winning goal in a 2-1 loss was sufficient punishment.

"In filing his report, Wes said he was talking to Gary 'and I looked over and Randy was standing next to me,' " said Jim Mill, vice president of hockey operations for the AHL. "He said Randy was calm and he just said, 'So what are you guys talking about?' "

Cunneyworth apologized to his team immediately after the game for his lack of composure.

"Hopefully I can make it up to them," Cunneyworth said.

A lack of composure by any Amerk could be costly tonight against Worcester. The IceCats (23-20-5, including one overtime loss) have the league's fifth most potent offense, averaging 3.21 goals per game.

Center Eric Boguniecki leads the AHL in scoring with 31 goals, 34 assists and 65 points in 43 games. Center Justin Papineau is seventh with 30-19--49.

The Amerks are sixth in team defense at 2.72, but 25th in scoring (2.46).

Notes: The Amerks did pluck Kevin Colley, a 5-foot-9, 177-pound centerman, off the Atlantic City roster. Colley leads the Boardwalk Bullies in scoring and is eighth in the ECHL with 23-30--53 in 40 games. He also has 90 penalty minutes and his 10 power-play goals are more than half of what the entire Amerks' team has scored (19).

Center Marty Clapton was sent back to South Carolina of the ECHL. Center Francois Methot is expected to play after missing a week with a concussion.