Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 12

Hockey 4B TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2000 NHINOTEBOOK NHL Stampings, Summaries NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Okiiioh I 01 Ptt OF GA New Jersey 14 10 Pittsburgh 14 11 NY Rangers 15 15 Philadelphia 13 12 5 0 33 97 72 3 32 84 81 0 0 30102106 4 0 30 76 81 4 2 22 65 82 Gretzky now an owner; Lemieux an ownerplayer islanders 14 Northern Dhrtllon I (H. Pta GF GA 0 38 91 67 2 38 64 Ottawa Toronto ButlaK) Boston 17 8 16 7 15 9 10 14 1 33 77 70 3 26 76104 0 21 73 90 9 18 Montreal Southeast Division TOlPti GF GA Washington 10 11 6 1 27 67 74 Atlanta 10 12 6 1 27 80 94 Carolina 11 12 3 1 26 65 79 Tampa Bay 9 14 3 2 23 79100 Florida 5 13 5 5 20 59 82 WESTERN CONFERENCE Centra! Oivltlo I 01 Fit GF GA St Louis 20 4 3 0 43 95 51 Detroit 17 11 1 2 37 94 83 Nashville 11 13 5 1 28 67 77 Chicago 10 16 2 2 24 76 94 Columbus 9 18 2 1 21 59 93 Northwest Division 0L FK GF GA NHL ROUNDUP Lightning tie with late goal ASSOCIATED PRESS DENVER Mike Johnson scored 20 seconds into a late-game power play to help theTam-pa Bay Lightning secure a 2-2 tie against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night. Chris Drury and Ray Bourque had goals for the Avalanche, who had their three-game winning streak snapped but remained unbeaten in their last 10 home games (8-0-2). Colorado, which beat Tampa Bay 2-0 last Friday, led 2-1 before Stephane Yelle was called for hooking Vincent Lecavalier with 3:16 remaining in the third period. The Lightning quickly capitalized as Johnson pushed a shot from the slot past Avs goalie David Aebischer.

The shot came after Colorado defenseman Aaron Miller failed to clear the puck. The Avalanche, who own the NHL's best record (21-5-4), had a power-play chance in the final two minutes of regulation, but Peter Forsberg was stopped on a shot from the left circle with 52 seconds left. Both teams had quality chances in overtime, and the game ended with a flurry. Lecavalier saved a Columbus at Anaheim. 7:30 m.

NHL SUMMARIES LIGHTNING 2, AVALANCHE TimpiBiy (1 1 1 I Colorado 0 I I 0 1 First Period None Penalties Svo-boda. TB (slashing). 3:49. Cullimore. TB (holding), 7 37, Second Period 1 Colorado.

Drury 8 (Forsbeig). 39 3. 12 23 3, Colorado. Bourque 4 (forsbeig Sakic), 17 13 (pp) Penalties Bourque Col (holding) 14 22 Modm.TB (slashing). 15 41: Sanch TB (slashing), 16 58: Podein.Col(high-slicking).19 38.

Third Period 4, Tampa Bay. Johnson 8 (St. Louis, Kubina), 17 04 (pp). Penalties Gusarov, Col (holding). 5 20; Yelle.

Col (hooking), 16 44; Lecavalier, TB (slashing), 18 06. Overtime None. Penalties None. Shots en goal Tampa Bay 6-12-5-3 26 Colorado 1 1-14-4-4 33 Power play Opportunities Tampa Bay 1 of Colorado I ol 5. Goalies Tampa Bay, Kochan (28 shots-26 saves), Cloutier 2-6-2 (16:44 Third.

0-0), Kochan (17:04, 5-5). Colorado, Aebischer 5-1-1 (26-24). (18.007). Hnteroes Don Koharskl. Mick Mc-Geough Linesmen Lonnie Cameron.

Thor Nelson. DEVILS 4, THRASHERS 8 Atlanta 8 0 90 New Jersey 0 2 2 4 First Period None Penalties Skopintsev, Atl (interference), 1 28 Rafalski.NJ (holding stick). 11:15. Second Period 1 New Jersey, Madden 12 (Hohk. McKay), 4 42 2, New Jersey.

Nemchinov5(Elias. Ratalski), 14 08. Penalties Lambert, Atl (tripping) 7 44 Sylvester. Atl (holding), 17.27; Burt. Atl (cross-checking), 19 09.

Third Period 3 New Jersey Madden 13 (Holik), 4 28 4. New Jersey. Mogilny 8 (Niedermayer), 16 53. Penalties Arnott, NJ(holding), Holik, NJ (hooking), 5:01. Shots on goal Atlanta 7-4-8 19.

New Jersey 9-19-16 44. Power play Opportunities Atlanta 0 ot New Jersey Oof 4. Goalies Atlanta. Fankhouser 2-1-0 (44 shots-40 saves). New Jersey.

Brodeur 13-7-4 (19-19). A Relerens Terry Gregson. Brian Murphy. Linesmen Steve Miller. Pierre Racicot.

NHL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Oct. 16 Patrick Roy. Colorado Oct 23 Trevor Linden, Montreal Oct 30 RW Scott Young. St Louis Nov. 6 RW Theo Floury, Rangers Nov.

13 RW Alexei Kovalev. Colorado Vancouver Edmonton Calgary Minnesota 21 5 4 0 46 94 64 16 9 4 2 38107 82 15 12 4 0 34 69 82 8 13 6 4 26 68 89 8 16 4 2 22 59 76 Nov 20 Tommy Salo. Edmonton Nov 27 Sergei (edorov, Detroit Dec 3 Patrick Lalime. Ottawa Dec 10 Marc Denis Columbus Players ol the Month October Sean Burke, Phoenix November Joe Sakic. Colorado Rookie ot the Month October Brad Richards, Tampa Bay November Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose NHL CALENDAR Dec 19-27 Holiday rosier freeze restricting waivers, trades and other player assignments.

Feb 3-4 All-Star weekend. Denver. March 13 Trade deadline. 3p.m. EST.

April 8 Regular season ends. April 1 1 Playoffs begin June 1 1 Latest possible date for Stanley Cup finals Game 7. June 14 NHL awards presentation. Toronto June 23-24. NHL entry draft.

Sunrise. Fla. July 1 Eligible players transferred to free agent HOCKEY TODAY STARS Sunday Keith Primeau. Flyers, had two goals as Philadelphia beat the Islanders 5-2. Toby Peterson.

Penguins, scored his tirst career goal the game winner in Pittsburgh's 4-3 win over Detroit. Ed Beltour. Stars, posted his ninth career shutout against Anaheim, making 29 saves in a 1-0 victory. Marc Denis. Bluejackets, stopped 39 shots as Columbus tied Phoenix 1 -1 STARTING OVER Craig Ramsay was tired Sunday as Philadelphia coach and replaced by assistant Bill Barber, a former linemare ot general manager Bob Clarke on the "Broad Street Bullies" of the 1 970s.

Ramsay stepped in tor ailing Roger Neil-son late last season and lead the Flyers within a victory of the Stanley Cup finals, and was 12-12-4 this season despite a rash of iniuries. Barber had a successful debut as Philadelphia defeated the slumping Islanders 5-2 Sunday night He was in his first season as Ramsay's assistant coach after tour years as head coach of the Philadelphia Phantoms, the Flyers' AHL affiliate. SCORING Pittsburgh's Michal Rozsival scored his first goal since Jan. 27 against Atlanta, a span ot 49 games, in Sunday night's 4-3 win in Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman, who scored his second goal in as many games, has 47 points 1 6 goals, 31 assists) in 39 career games against Pittsburgh. Paclllc Division TOLPts GF GA San Jose Los Angeles Dallas Phoenix 16 6 15 9 15 8 13 8 10 15 4 0 36 79 57 6 0 36102 86 4 1 35 75 59 8 0 34 74 65 4 3 27 75 96 ASSOCIATED PRESS PALM BEACH, Fla.

Wayne Gretzky assumed ownership of the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday, the same day Mario Lemieux announced his plans for his return to the ice. At its league meetings in Palm Beach, the NHL's Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Coyotes from Richard Burke to a group that includes Gretzky and is headed by real estate developer Steve Ellman. Approval is pending the closing of the transaction by Dec. 31. "I think Wayne is going to be a great owner," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.

"He has really good business instincts. He's smart. I think it's a real plus for our league." Lemieux officially an-nouncedatanewsconference in Pittsburgh that he is com-ingoutofretirementatage35 to play for the Penguins. "It's ironic that the day I assume ownership that my partner for many years is going back on the ice," Gretzky said. "I don't expect him to do anything but play at a level that he's capable of playing at.

I think he's going to be a strong force for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He's going to help the NHL both at the box office and imagewise." Ellman said he hopes to close the deal with Burke before Christmas. "We've got a great team, great management, and very loyal fans," Ellman said. "We ha vea brilliant futureahead." In Pittsburgh, Lemieux said the Penguins are close to contending for the Stanley Cup title. "We have a great young team," said Lemieux, who will remain chairman and CEO of he Penguins, but will not be as active as before.

"A team that has a lot of potential. This is something I want to be part of." Lemieux, a six-time NHL scoring champion, predicted this comeback would be even more successful than the ones he made in 1991 from back surgery, in 1993 from cancer and in 1995 from a year's layoff for health reasons. Anaheim Two points tor a win. one point lor a tie and overtime loss. Sunday's Associated Press TACKLE: Tampa Bay Lightning left winger Todd Warriner, right, collides with linesman Thor Nelson in the first period against the Colorado Avalanche Monday in Denver.

goal when he blocked Drury's shot with his stick at the goal line with 15 seconds remaining, and Aebischer denied Pavel Kubina as hedrove toward the crease lOsec-onds later. Aebischer finished with 24 saves and improved to 5-1-1 as Patrick Roy's backup. Tampa Bay rookie Dieter Kochan had 31 saves in his second straight start. DEVILS 4, THRASHERS 0 EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. John Madden scored twice and Martin Brodeur had 19 saves in his third shutout ot the season as the New Jersey Devils ended a two-game losing streak by beating the Atlanta Thrashers.

Brodeur has three shutouts in six career starts against the Thrashers. He has 45 career shutouts. Nashville 2. Minnesota! Pittsburgh 4. Detroit 3 Philadelphia 5.

Y. Islanders 2 Dallas 1, Anaheim 0 St. Louis 6. Chicago 1 Columbus 1. Phoenix 1, tie Los Angeles 2.

Vancouver 1 Monday's games New Jersey 4, Atlanta 0 Tampa Bay 2. Colorado 2. tie Today's games Buffalo at Boston, 4 m. Washington at Islanders. 4:30 p.m.

Philadelphia at Nashville. 4:30 p.m. N.Y. Rangers at San Jose. 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday's games Calgary at Montreal. 4:30 p.m. Chicago at Atlanta. 4:30 m. Florida at Detroit.

4:30 m. Toronto at Pittsburgh. 4 30 m. Carolina at Minnesota. 5 p.m.

Philadelphia at Colorado. 5 m. Edmonton at Dallas. 5:30 m. Sport Digest Wooden to receive Sports Illustrated 's Legacy Award Lie A An t-t-i- tin rrr n' THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ethics.

Carter said he would have Rams linebacker Dustin Cohen. MetroStars defender NEW YORK Hall of Fame coach John Wooden will be the first recipient of the Sports Illustrated Legacy Award for his contributions to college basketball and his impact on the sport. Wooden, who won 10 NCAA titles and 664 games as the coach of UCLA's men basketba 11 team, will re- 2C'm But after about a day of deliberation, the jury found that plenty of competition existed in Europe, in Latin America, and in minor and indoor leagues in the United States. "We couldn't have told the players, 'Take it or leave because they had other places to go," said Michael Cardozo, an attorney for MLS. The players will appeal the verdict, attorney Jeffrey Kessler said.

Jurors told The Associated Press that they were impressed by the testimony of former deputy commissioner Sunil Gulati, who compiled a chart noting that MLS players had come from and gone to professional leagues in dozens of other countries. But the players argued that only 20 percent of MLS players had international options. Others were turned away because of visa and work-permit requirements or other limits on the use of foreign players. "All we want is an agreement between labor and management," said Garth Lagerway, the Miami Fusion goalkeeper and player representative. Former Steeler, Florida star dies TALLAHASSEE, Fla.

Tyrone McGriff, a guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1980s and one of Florida greatest football players, has died at 41. He died Saturday in Melbourne, two weeks after having a heart attack, the school said Monday. A three-time Division I-AA All American, McGriff played three seasons in the NFL with the Steelers and three more years in the U.S. Football League. Jury finds for league in soccer lawsuit BOSTON Major League Soccer scored a victory over its players on Monday when a jury decided that the league was not a monopoly with the power to depress salaries.

The class-action antitrust lawsuit filed in federal court claimed that MLS owners conspired with the U.S. Soccer Federation to eliminate competition for premier soccer players. was found dead Sunday after a fire gutted the two-story wooden house near campus he rented from the school. The death of the 21 -year-old economics major from Loveland, was ruled a homicide by the coroner's office on Monday. Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County coroner's office, explained that the ruling is based on the medical not legal definition of homicide and that a determination on whether the fire was intentionally set is up to police and prosecutors.

Triple-A World Series suspended for 2001 DALLAS The Triple-A World Series will not be held next season because of poor attendance. For the past three seasons, the champions of the International League have played the champions of the Pacific Coast League. The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues said it will try to find a new format to implement in 2002. found no conflicts even if Ventura were classified an employee. Bulmer tabbed as WAC's top diver University of Nevada freshman Christy Bulmer was named the Western Athletic Conference Diver of the Week on Monday.

The Edmonton, Canada native finished first on the 3-meter board and second on the 1 -meter board on Saturday as the Wolf Pack upended in-state rival UN-LV. Bulmer earned scores of 321.15 on the 3-meter and 295.65 on the 1-meter. Nevada won 11 of 16 swimming and diving event on the afternoon as the team cruised to a 174-126 victory. Bulmer's total on the 3-meter ranks as the top mark in the conference this season. Hou se fire kills Dayton wide receiver DAYTON, Ohio A.J.

Cohen, a senior wide receiver for the University of Dayton and the younger brother of St. Louis Dooley retires SECAUCUS, N.J. New York-New Jersey MetroStars defender Thomas Dooley announced his retirement Monday, ending a 21-year career that included two World Cups and four seasons in Majo League Soccer. "I consider myself very fortunate to have made a living playing the sport which I love very much," Dooley said. State official finds for Ventura in XFL dispute ST.

PAUL, Minn. Gov. Jesse Ventura's new broadcast job with the XFL does not pose a conflict of interest, a Minnesota official ruled Monday. "There are no issues concerning the XFL that would affect the governor's independence of judgment in the exercise of his official duties," said Julien Carter, the state's commissioner of employee relations. Carter determined Ventura is not a state employee who must abide by a prescribed code of today during theWooden taping of "Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year 2000" prime-time special.

Wooden, the 1932 college laver of the vear. is in the Ras- etball Hall of Fame as a olaver and a coach. Chris Coy of Elk City, Oklahoma, the U.S. Junior Olympic Racquetball silver medalist, will be named Si's first Young Sportsman of the Year. The special will be broadcast on Thursday on CBS.

College Basketball SneddonPack shooting turns cold in Montana PackFoul trouble led to downfall hitting 34 of them. Nevada made 1 8 of 24 free throws. The Pack, which is 5-2 with both of the defeats coming to Big Sky schools on the road, fell behind 48-31 when Justin Brown hit both foul shots after the second technical. Soon, the Bobcats extended their lead to 54-32 at the 14:04 ark. Bayless scored six points in a little more than two minutes and three Guerinoni 3-pointers got the run going full speed.

The fast of Guerinoni's 3-pointers made it 64-60 with 5:50 left, but Nevada couldn't get any closer. "Holding a 20-point lead isn't as easy as everybody thinks," said Montana State coach Mick Durham. "It gets down to 1 7. Then it goes down further. The good thing is it never went below four, when one shot could' ve tied it.

"We were so tired. We've been on the road forever. We almost ran out of gas." The Bobcats took advantage of a slow Pack start to take a 19-5 lead on freshman Jason Erick-son's 3-pointer with 11:30 left in the first half. Erickson's bas ket capped an 8-0 run. A combination of a 2-3 zone and man-to-man defenses kept Nevada off balance at the beginning.

In the first minutes, the Pack hit only two of nine field goal attempts, including one of six 3-point attempts, as the Bobcats hit seven or 13, including three of four 3-pointers. "I thought we did a good job on their inside guys," Durham said. "I thought our zone helped us. Look at the rebounds. We got thrashed on the rebounds down there." The Bobcats, who had 23 offensive rebounds, outrebounded Nevada, 42-28, after the Pack had taken a 40-20 advantage on the boards in Reno three weeks ago.

"That first half, we got outre-bounded. We got a lot of fouls called on us," McCullough said. "I've never seen it that bad a lot of touch fouls. I know they (officials) are going on finesse, but it was different than the other. It's hard to play five on eight." Durham said he had similar feelings at times in the game against Nevada in Reno.

From 1B hu rts to lose, but it was encouraging." Johnson was critical of himself for getting ejected. When referee Pete Waylett called the final technical at 15:02, Johnson tried to follow him on the court, but was headed off by veteran official Bill Kennedy who pointed for the coach to leave the floor. "What happened (in the game) is the kids' coach lost his composure," Johnson said. "He did exactly what he told them not to do. "What happened, what you're going to print, they played hard, they competed.

They're good kids. I didn't watch (the last I know how my kids are going to respond. I apologized to them. Regardless of what the circumstances are, you have to keep your composure and do the job. "They weren't flat.

They were trying to be aggressive, go to the basket. It's hard to get in the flow. The (officiating) emphasis is on finesse and movement" Thirty-eight fouls were called on Nevada and 24 on Montana State. Three Pack players, Sean Paul, Green and Andre Hazel, fouled out. The Bobcats attempted a school-record 56 foul shots, Pete Waylett, Mike Littlewood and Bill Kennedy acted differently than the crew had in Portland.

Littlewood and Waylett each tagged Johnson with a technical. After the game, Johnson apologized to his team. He said he lost his composure and did exactly what he tells his players not to do. The game wasn't about Johnson. It was about the players.

"It showed we can always be in the game no matter how far we are down," said guard Don-ny Guerinoni, who hit three 3-pointers in the 28-10 Nevada run. "If you do come back, you have to do the little things, rebound, keep blocking out. I think it'll help us in the long run." Did Johnson's ejection fuel the Nevada run? "It got me fired up. It did," Guerinoni said. "He apologized to us.

He said to blame the loss on him. It's no excuse that we lost because he got kicked out." The Pack players and Johnson are learning at the same time. The lesson hurt at times Monday night, but once they thaw out and look at the game tape at home, they'll learn from it. Steve Sneddon can be reached at (775)788-6358 or FromlB losing to Montana State, 83-74, at Worthington Arena Monday night. It's somewhere in the middle.

It could get considerably better. But it's last two road performances against Portland State and Montana State have had troubling aspects after an impressive win to open the season at the University of San Francisco. The Pack, which has a 5-2 record, had stopped Montana State, 79-62, in Reno three weeks ago. "I thought Reno was very, very flat," said Bobcat coach Mick Durham after Monday's victory. "I can go on Bobcat-(Montana) Grizzlies games.

Going from that (UNLV) game to 23 degrees below zero had to be hard." Right now, the state of Montana is the world's largest Frigidaire, and although Worthington Arena was comfortably heated, it isn't easy to find yourself in the deep freeze to play a basketball game. Especially, to do it after reaching such an emotional high against UNLV. Pack coach Trent Johnson, who was ejected after picking up his second technical with 15:02 left in the game, insisted his team wasn't flat and like he says, nobody knows that team better than him. Shots weren't dropping and sometimes that can look an awful lot like being flat. When the Pack started hitting shots as it cut the deficit from 22 points with 14 minutes left to four points with 5:50 remaining, it looked a lot more like the team that stunned the Rebels.

But it took a while to warm up to that point and by that time the cumulative effects of 38 fouls being called on the team were too much to overcome. It was an impressive run for a team that could have folded at that point, but didn't. "You hope they (the Pack players) get something from it," said Nevada assistant David Carter, who ran the team after Johnson's ejection. "You hope they learn from every game. You hoped they would learn that after Portland State.

This game had the same feel in the first half." At Portland State, Nevada plaved as poorly as it can play and still had a chance to win the game in the final two minutes before losing, 61-56. It was easy to remember the Portland State game for another reason Monday night. In that game, Johnson had verbally worked the officials hard, trying to get as much of an even playing field from the officials as he could. He didn't say or do anything much different Monday, but the officiating crew of referee Auto Painting fi 35 Greg Sparks oete 359-8312 COtPr 751 N. Edmonds Carson Servce ftftft-OOOO Quality Car Care 1 3 Free Estimates Backed by 30 Years Experience 0ljDQ0D Hri6Jri)BJiBjrjs -MM n3vnr Gift Certificates mF)mmmmS- Locally Owned and Operated Since 1982.