For every superstar athlete, there are scores of players who ride the team bus from game to game. This is a snapshot of how Roanoke's minor league ice hockey players live on the road.

After an all-night drive following a game in Cincinnati, the Roanoke Express bus pulled into Johnstown, Pa., before the January sun had climbed above the rough mill town. With gear unloaded into the visitors' locker room by 6 a.m., the exhausted Express players climbed back on the bus, eager for a few hours of hotel rest. Practice and the second game of a two-game road trip would come soon enough.

How do these guys do this weekend after weekend, year after year?

The Express have 36 road games this season in the East Coast Hockey League. Lots of driving. Little sleep. But before the bus pulled on to Interstate 81 this Thursday, a few guys had broken out a deck of cards and a few dollars were changing hands while ESPN was tuned in on the bus' television. "Who brought the N' Sync CD?" asked Vern Fiddler, causing laughter to erupt from the back of the bus.

"We have fun in the hotels when we can, playing cards, pranks and stuff," explains Mike Peron, team captain.

But for guys like goalie Jordan Willis, who made for the phone at every stop to call his wife and son born only two weeks before, a road trip is primarily business.

"This is a job to us. We're all professionals here," says left wing Stefan Brannare. "Every time you go out on the ice, your job is on the line."

That's not to say the guys don't have fun, it's just that they keep it at home. Mostly.

While others read magazines, Brannare studied for the stockbroker exam. Like many, he's planning for life after hockey. In fact, most of the players are not the loud, brash and raucous types depicted in movies like "Slap Shot."

The well-known hockey movie was filmed in 1976 at the aging Cambria County War Memorial rink in Johnstown, the site of this final game of the road trip. Built in 1950, its dank, cave-like atmosphere causes one to think seriously about finding a clinic for a tetanus shot.

Not much has changed since Paul Newman and crew were here filming the movie. With its ash-colored piles of snow and cars left from decades past, Johnstown is the kind of place Bruce Springsteen sings about. The glass in the arena is opaque from grime and age. But one thing is sure: this town takes hockey seriously.

The Express lost the first game of the road trip in Cincinnati 4-2 on Friday night and they knew they had a tough game ahead of them on Saturday.

The smell of sweat and muscle ointment filled the small locker room as the guys suited up. Trainer Rick Hanlon poked and prodded a long queue of sore players, while others carefully taped their sticks, a pre-game ritual. Save the sound of the radio pumping out music from a local station, the room quieted as the game grew closer.

"All right, let's go, boys," said Chris Cava in a distinct Canadian accent. His call was echoed by other players who picked up the theme. These guys were pumped.

Out they went, cramming themselves onto a bench too small to contain them all.

The puck dropped and the game was on.

By the end of the second period, the Express were down 1-0, but they felt victory within reach. Coaches Perry Florio and Mark Bernard strategized before delivering their third-period plan. The Express were faster, Florio said, and the Chiefs were getting tired. It was only a matter of staying focused.

Things didn't go as planned, however, and the Express were handed their second loss of the road trip. All that was left now was another long bus ride back to Roanoke. The players settled angrily into their bunks.

The following week, two players were traded. Since then, several more who had time on the ice that January weekend have been traded or are on the injured list for the rest of the season.

Hockey can be tough, but these guys come back game after game. Some are lifers. "No matter what," says Daniel Berthiaume, the senior Express player and former NHL goalie, "it's the best job in the world."