Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 12

2 2 2 1 1 1 1 HOCKEY RENO GAZETTE NHL ROUNDUP Lightning tie with late goal ASSOCIATED PRESS DENVER Mike Johnson scored 20 seconds into a lategame power play to help the Tampa 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 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 i 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 Wooden THE ASSOCIATED PRESS and his impact on the sport. Wooden, who won 10 NCAA titles and 664 games as the coach of UCLA's men's basketball team, will receive the award Wooden today during the 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 Wooden taping of 'Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year 2000" prime-time special. Wooden, the 1932 college player of the year, is in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player 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. NHL NOTEBOOK Gretzky now an owner; Lemieux an own ASSOCIATED PRESS 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 realgood business instincts. He's smart. I think it's a real plus for our PALM BEACH, Fla.

Wayne Gretzky assumed ownership of the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday, the Lemieux officially announced at a newsconference Pittsburgh that he is com- ed out of retirement at age 35 even play for the Penguins. the "It's ironic that the day I from assume ownership that my from partner for many years is go- from back on the ice," Gretzky SPORT Sports ethics. Carter said he would have found no conflicts even if Ventura were classified an employee. Bulmer tabbed as WAC's top diver University ofNevada 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 UNLV.

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 Cohen, a senior wide receiver for the University of Dayton and the younger brother of St. Louis COLLEGE 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 he drove toward the crease 10 seconds 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 EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -John Mad- 24.

den scored twice and Martin Brodeur had 19 saves in his third shutout of the season in as the New Jersey Devils ended a two-game ing losing streak by beating the Atlanta Thrash- to ers. Brodeur has three shutouts in six career starts against the Thrashers. He has 45 career shutouts. ing to receive MetroStars defender 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 Major 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 shooting turns cold in Montana 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 played 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 Bill Luther Sales, Leasing Internet Rep. 224-1851 Cell Phone (cars.com RENO MAZDA-KIA 2150 KIETZKE LN 825-1013 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2000 I NHL STANDINGS, SUMMARIES NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division TOL Pts GF 10 5 0 33 97 14 11 3 1 32 84 15 15 0 0 30102106 13 12 4 0 30 76 8 14 4 2 22 65 Northeast Division TOL Pts GF 17 8 4 0 91 16 7 4 2 38 96 15 9 2 1 33 77 10 14 3 3 26 76104 9 18 3 0 21 73 Southeast Division TOL Pts GF 10 11 6 1 27 67 12 6 27 80 11 12 1 26 65 9 14 3 2 23 79100 5 13 5 5 20 59 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division TOL Pts GF 20 4 3 0 43 95 17 11 1 2 37 94 11 13 5 1 28 67 10 16 2 2 2 2 2 24 76 9 18 2 1 21 59 Northwest Division TOL Pts GF 21 5 0 46 94 16 9 4 2 38107 15 12 4 0 34 89 8 13 6 4 26 68 8 16 4 2 22 59 Pacific Division TOL Pts GF 16 6 4 0 36 79 15 9 6 0 36102 15 8 4 1 35 75 13 8 8 0 34 74 10 15 4 3 27 75 for a win, one point for a loss. Sunday's games Minnesota 1 4, Detroit 3 5, N. Y.

Islanders 2 Anaheim 0 Chicago 1 1, Phoenix 1, tie 2, Vancouver Monday's games 4, Atlanta 0 2, Colorado 2, tie Today's games Boston, 4 p.m. at N. Y. Islanders, 4:30 p.m. at Nashville, 4:30 p.m.

at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday's games Montreal, 4:30 p.m. Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Pittsburgh, 4:30 p.m.

Minnesota, 5 p.m. at Colorado, 5 p.m. at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. New Jersey Pittsburgh N. Y.

Rangers Philadelphia N. Y. Islanders Ottawa Toronto Buffalo Boston Montreal Washington Atlanta Carolina Tampa Bay Florida St. Louis Detroit Nashville Chicago Columbus Colorado Vancouver Edmonton Calgary Minnesota San Jose Los Angeles Dallas Phoenix Anaheim Two points and overtime Nashville 2, Pittsburgh Philadelphia Dallas 1, St. Louis 6, Columbus Los Angeles New Jersey Tampa Bay Buffalo at Washington Philadelphia N.Y.

Rangers Calgary at Chicago at Florida at Toronto at Carolina at Philadelphia Edmonton Cohen, after a wooden rented 21-year-old Loveland, the coro- Montoffice, is based -defthat a dethe fire up to po- Triple-A World Series suspended for 2001 "I don't expect him to anything but play at a levthat he's capable of playat. I think he's going to be strong force for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He's going help the NHL both at the office and imagewise." Ellman said he hopes to the deal with Burke beChristmas. "We've got a great team, management, and very fans," Ellman said. "We a brilliant future ahead." In Pittsburgh, Lemieux the Penguins are close contending for the StanCup title.

"We have a great young team," said Lemieux, who remain chairman and of he Penguins, but not be as active as team that has a lot potential. This is someI want to be part of." Lemieux, a six-time NHL scoring champion, predictthis comeback would be more successful than ones he made in 1991 back surgery, in 1993 cancer and in 1995 a year's layoff for health reasons. DIGEST Illustrated's Rams linebacker Dustin was found dead Sunday fire gutted the two house near campus he from the school. The death of the economics major from was ruled a homicide by ner's office on Monday. Ken Betz, director of the gomery County coroner's explained that the ruling on the medical -not legal inition of homicide and termination on whether was intentionally set is lice and prosecutors.

a 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. BASKETBALL NHL SUMMARIES LIGHTNING 2, AVALANCHE 2 Tampa Colorado Bay 0 2 PO 0 0 NON First Period None. Penalties Svoboda, TB (slashing), Cullimore, TB (holding), 7:37.

Second Period 1, Colorado, Drury 8 Tampa Bay, Kharitonov 3, 12:23. 3, Colorado, Bourque 4 (Forsberg, Sakic), 17:13 (pp). Penalties Bourque, Col (holding), Modin, TB (slashing), Sarich, TB (slashing), Podein, Col (high-sticking), 19:38. Third Period 4, Tampa Bay, M.Johnson 8 (St. Louis, Kubina), 17:04 (pp).

Penalties- Gusarov, Col (holding), Yelle, Col (hooking). Lecavalier, TB (slashing), 18:06. Overtime None. Penalties None. Shots on goal Tampa Bay 6-12-5- 3 26.

Colorado 11-14-4-4 33. Power play Opportunities Tampa Bay 1 of Colorado 1 of 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). A 18,007 Referees Don Koharski, Mick McGeough.

Linesmen Lonnie Cameron, Thor Nelson. Columbus at Anaheim, 7:30 p.m. First Period None. Penalties Skopintsev, Atl (interference), Rafalski, NJ (holding stick), 11:15. Second Period -1, New Jersey, Madden 12 (Holik, McKay), 4:42.

2, New Jersey, Nemchinov 5 (Elias, Rafalski), 14:08. Penalties- Lambert, Ati (tripping), Sylvester, Atl (holding), 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 Holik, NJ (hooking), 5:01.

Shots on goal Atlanta 7-4-8 19. New Jersey 9-19-16-44. Power play Opportunities Atlanta 0 of New Jersey 0 of 4. Goalies Atlanta, Fankhouser 2-1-0 (44 shots-40 saves). New Jersey, Brodeur 13-7-4 (19-19).

A 10,014 Referees Terry Gregson, Brian Murphy. Linesmen Steve Miller, Pierre Racicot. DEVILS 4, THRASHERS Atlanta 0 0 0 New Jersey 2 2 23 Trevor Linden, 30 RW Scott Young, St. 6-RW Theo Fleury, N.Y. 13 RW Alexei Kovalev, NHL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Oct.

16 Patrick Roy, Colorado Legacy 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. Nov. 20 Tommy Salo, Edmonton Nov.

27 Sergei Fedorov, Detroit Dec. 3 Patrick Lalime, Ottawa Dec. 10 Marc Denis, Columbus Players of the Month October Sean Burke, Phoenix November Joe Sakic, Colorado Rookie of the Month October Brad Richards, Tampa Bay November Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose said. do el ing a to box close fore great loyal have said to ley will CEO will fore. of thing 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 Donny 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 trouble led to downfall hurts 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, Quality Car Care Locally Owned and Operated Since 1982 NHL CALENDAR Dec. 19-27 Holiday roster freeze, restricting waivers, trades and other player assignments. Feb.

3-4-All-Star weekend, Denver. March 13- Trade deadline, 3 p.m. EST. April 8 Regular season ends. April 11 Playoffs begin.

June 11 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 first career goal the game winner -in Pittsburgh's 4-3 win over Detroit.

Ed Belfour, Stars, posted his ninth career shutout against Anaheim, making 29 saves a 1-0 victory. I Marc Denis, Blue Jackets, stopped 39 shots as Columbus tied Phoenix 1-1. STARTING OVER Craig Ramsay was fired Sunday as Philadelphia coach and replaced by assistant Bill Barber, a former linemate of general manager Bob Clarke on the "Broad Street Bullies" of the 1970s. Ramsay stepped in for ailing Roger Neilson 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 injuries. 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 four years as head coach of the Philadelphia Phantoms, the Flyers' AHL affiliate. SCORING Pittsburgh's Michal Rozsival scored his Oct. Oct. Nov. Nov.

burgh hitting 34 of them. Nevada made 18 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 I speed.

The last 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. "Itgets downto 17. 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 Erickson's 3-pointer with 11:30 left in the first half. Erickson's bas- first goal since Jan. 27 against Atlanta, a span of 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 (16 goals, 31 assists) in 39 career games against Pittsburgh. Montreal Louis Rangers Pitts- But eration, ty of Europe, minor United "We players, cause go," said attorney The dict, Jurors Press that the commissioner compiled players to of other But the ly 20 international were and or other eign "All between ment," Miami player Award a a after about a day of delibthe jury found that plencompetition existed in Latin America, and in and indoor leagues in the States. couldn't have told the 'Take it or leave bethey had other places to Michael Cardozo, an for MLS. players will appeal the verattorney Jeffrey Kessler said. told The Associated they were impressed by testimony of former deputy Sunil Gulati, who a chart noting that MLS had come from and gone professional leagues in dozens countries.

players argued that onpercent of MLS players had options. Others turned away because of visa work-permit requirements limits on forplayers. we want is an agreement labor and managesaid Garth Lagerway, the Fusion goalkeeper and representative. From 1B From 1B 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 of 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 outrebounded. We got a lot of fouls called on us," McCullough said. "I've never seen it that 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.

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