Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 41

COURIER-POST, Sunday, January 25, 1987 3d ICE HOCKEY Propph injury time not very frustrating the stationary bike, stroking in the rowing machine. Then he goes through a series of stomach exercises. Then, every KEN ROSENTHAL This was supposed to be a story about the agony of an injured professionalathlete, the joyless grind of rehabilitation, the daily joust with frustration, the extended periods of isolation. Instead, it's about Brian Propp. Make no mistake, Propp is injured.

Has been since Dec. 8, when he underwentarthroscopicsurgery to repair damage in his left knee. The diagnosis called for him to miss nine weeks. Tomorrow makes seven. Proppbeganskatingonhis Of The Courier-Post -ft-" i 'i; slm ill; M'M w.

own last week, and will rejoin the Flyers at practice tomorrow. It's possible he could return before the All-Star break, which begins Feb. 8. It's almost certain he'll play when the season resumes in St. Louis Feb.

1 4, the day before his 28th birthday. ANYWAY, BACK to the agony. There is agony, isn't there Brian? Uh, not exactly. "It hasn't bothered me at all," the left wing said before SIDELINES Pro football Hall finalists named Tommy McDonald, who was one of 16 former stars being considered for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, won't be going in this year. McDonald, the exciting wide receiver and kick returner who was a member of the Eagles' last NFL championship team in 1960, was eliminated yesterday when the list was pared to seven.

The finalists are running back John Henry Johnson, fullback Larry Csonka, quarterback Len Dawson, defensive tackle Joe Greene, center Jim Langer, wide receiver Don Maynard and guard Gene Upshaw. The Hall of Fame said the 1987 inductees will be announced Tuesday at 6 p.m. Nehemiah wins in Oregon Renaldo Nehemiah won his first U.S. race in five years last night, pulling away over the final 20 meters to win the 55-meter hurdles at the Pacific Northwest Bell Indoor track and field meet in Portland, Ore. Nehemiah, the world record holder making a comeback in the hurdles after four years in professional football, was clocked in a hand-timed 6.9 seconds.

The event was hand-timed due to a malfunction of the electronic timing equipment. Nehemiah's winning clocking was just off his world best of 6.89 seconds set seven years ago. Nehemiah also holds the world's outdoor record in the 1 1 0-meter hurdles. Roger Kingdom, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist -in the 110-meter hurdles, was second at 7.1 seconds. Greg Foster and Tonie Campbell, who beat Nehemiah in last weekend's Sunkist Invitational, weren't entered in the Portland meet.

Johnson runs 9.7 100 meters Sprinter Ben Johnson of Canada clocked 9.7 seconds in winning the men's 1 00-meter dash yesterday at the America's Cup Festival of Sport track meet in Perth, Australia. But the time was not recognized as a world record. The clocking bettered the existing world record of 9.93 held by Calvin Smith of the United States, but was wind-aided and hand-timed. To be recognized officially, a race must be timed electronically and the wind reading must register 4 other day, he lifts weights. Skating, of course, has now been added to the routine.

There's Rendez-Vous '87, the two-game series pitting the NHL All-Stars against the Soviet national team next month. Propp would have been a certain selection had the injury not occurred. Now, he's a certain no-show. Again; though, Propp has adopted a philosophical approach. "There's not much I can do about it," he said.

"It would have been nice. There's a lot of pride involved. It's just always nice to get to go to something like that." Finally, there's the press box, Propp's home away from home. Some Flyers Ron Sutter, for one say they're more nervous watching games in street clothes than they are on the bench. Without question, Propp said, the perspective is different.

"It's more of a learning experience for me," he said. "The biggest thing I've noticed is that a player has more time with the puck than he thinks he does on the ice. It's tough, it's so much faster down there. But it seems like you have more time. Instead of shooting the puck away, maybe a guy has time to do a couple of things." Around the Flyers, there's a lingering feeling that when the injured players return, they'll be fresher, hungrier, more intense.

Personally, Propp really doesn't expect things to be any different. "I find it easy to prepare for every game," he said. HE HAS NOT played for nearly two months now. Others have assumed his responsibilities. The team, for the most part, has continued winning.

To be sure, the Flyers miss Propp. And to be sure, Propp misses the Flyers. Still, the view from the press box hasn't been bad. "I see a team where right now, we seem to have three or four good lines," Propp said. "Everyone's playing well this year, more than just a coupleof guys.

When we went on a 35-game winning streak (in 1 979-80), when one line didn't take over the brunt of scoring, another line would. That's what I see now. A more balanced team." So, Brian Propp reasoned, why get frustrated? BRIAN PROPP The nightmarish playoff against the Rangers zero goals, two assists, 1 ,000 questions was forgotten. A new, elaborate goal salute to the fans "the guffaw" was drawing rave reviews. And then Propp got hurt.

How bad has it been? Oh, just awful. PROPP HAS FOUND time to check out some of his favorite local rock bands, catching Tommy Conwell and the YoungRumblers twice in area clubs. And he hasbecome something of a star on Arenavision, waving from his seat in the Spectrum press box, doing an abbreviated "guffaw" from a seat in the stands. Before he resumed skating, Propp often visited practice wearing fashionable dark sunglasses. One day, he donned a white warmup suit that looked like something borrowed from thecre wof Kookaburra III.

Anotherday he napped on a training table. Some agony, eh? "I've kept myself very busy," Propp said, laughing. "I've got a lot of friends outside hockey. I've been able to associate with them quite a bit. That's something I usually don't get to do during the season, because you're so busy." Of course, it hasn't all been fun.

Physically and mentally, Propp has been tested: There's rehabilitation. Propp arrives at conditioning coach Pat Croce's fitness center in Broomall, Pa. by 7:30 a.m., limping in with other injured members of the Philadelphia athletic community, including teammate Ilkka Sinisalo. First, he performs a 30-minute aerobic workout, riding Friday night's game against the Chicago Blackhawks. "There's nothing I could really do about it, so I haven't worried about it.

"The other guys ha ve had a chance to play more and prove themselves. It's given them a chance. Maybe that's why the team's doing so well. "Why get frustrated being out when you have nothing to do with it?" PROPP'S ATTITUDE, then, is positive, just as it has been from the beginning of training camp. Before the surgery, Propp talked about how much fun he was having this season, how relaxed everything seemed.

Hescored 16 goalsand25 assists for 4 1 points in his first 27 games, and was the league's ourth-leadingscorer when the injury occurred. He again appeared capable of achieving a 100-point season, after missing by just three points in each of the two previous campaigns. TENNIS 2.0 meters per second or less. Johnson had the bene Kurvers lifts Sabres past Caps with late goal Mandlikova buries some bad raps Associated Press Buffalo's Tom Kurvers scored on the power play at 1 3:00 of the third period as the Sabres beat Washington 6-3 in the National Hockey League last night and snapped the Capitals' five-game winning streak. Washington was down 3-1 after Buffalo's Doug Smith scored his second goal of the night at 7:20 of the third period.

The Capitals rallied on goals by Craig Laughlin, at 9:31, and Larry Murphy, at 11:36, to tie the score before Kurvers scored his game-winner for Buffalo. Mike Ramsey got the only goal of the first period, scoring on a shot from the left point at 4:20 to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead. Smith got his second goal of the night when he deflected home a shot by Christian Ruuttu. Boston 5, Calgary 3 Steve Kasper and Rick Middleton scored two goals each and Dwight Foster had one goal and three assists as the Bruins defeated the Flames for their fifth consecutive N.Y. Islanders 2, Nordiques 1 Ari Haanpaa scored at 2:28 of overtime to give the Islanders a victory over the Nordiques.

Duane Sutter centered the puck from behind the Quebec net, before Haanpaa beat goaltender Mario Gosselin from the slot with a low shot to the stick side. Montreal 3, Chicago 1 Goaltender Patrick Roy made 19 saves and the Canadiens got second-period goals from Mats Naslund, Bob Gainey and Claude Lemieux in a victory over the Blackhawks. Edmonton 4, Pittsburgh 2 Wayne Gretzky set up three Edmonton goals and scored a controversial short-handed one to lead the Oilers to a vic tory. Hartford 3, Toronto 0 fit of a following wind of 3.5 meters per second. Johnson, though, still was surprised he turned in such a fast performance.

He has been training mainly for the 60-meterdashes commonly run dur-' ing the winter's indoor season and had little time to adapt to the longer distance. Two weeks ago, Johnson set a world best of 6.44 for the 60-meter indoor dash at a meet in Japan. Christie wins English 200 meters Linford Christie, the 100-meter gold medalist at last year's European Track and Field Championships, ran his first indoor race of the season Saturday and won the 200 meters. Christie was pushed all the way by John Regis before prevailing in 21.23 seconds, a record for the British National Championships in Cosford. "I wouldn't bet against me in the world indoor championships in March," Christie said.

"But this may well be my last indoor season. My stride has become so long, it's difficult to negotiate the bends on the tricky track." John Ridgeon was a surprise winner in the 60-meter hurdles, outpacing Colin Jackson, the 19-year-old world junior champion. 1 America's Tonie Campbell, running as a guest, was favored to win the race after an impressive performance in the heats. But Campbell, the third-fastest runner of all time over the distance, pulled up during the final with a hamstring injury. Bridgeman will remain a Buck The Milwaukee Bucks signed Junior Bridgeman, whose second 10-day contract was to expire yesterday, to a contract for the rest of the National Basketball Association season.

In order to retain Bridgeman after the second 10-day contract expired, the Bucks had to sign him for the rest of the season. "It's definitely nice to know that I'll be here," Bridgeman said. "But coming into it, I just wanted to see what would happen. If it did't work out, there wouldn't have been any bad feelings toward anyone." Bridgeman, who was traded by the Bucks in 1984 to the Los Angeles Clippers, was released at the start of the current season by the Sacramento Kings. Bucks Coach Don Nelson called Bridgeman the day before his personal deadline for retiring from the NBA.

Fog postpones downhill skiing The men's World Cup downhill ski race, scheduled to take place yesterday, was canceled due to persistent fog in Kitzbuehel, Austria, and later tentatively rescheduled for today. This meant that both the downhill and the slalom would be held on the same day. Swiss seek record medal total The Swiss team that has dominated both the men's and women's World Cup races this season aims for a record number of gold medals in the World Alpine Ski Championships starting today in Crans-Mon-tana, Switzerland. Back in 1962 at Chamonix, France, Austrian skiers captured five of the six races then on the World Championship schedule, a mark that still stands for the most golds by one team. BOB TENNANT TELEVISION Pro Football ESPN-Super Bowl Matchup, 3 p.m.

10-Super Bowl Today, 4 p.m. 3-Road to Super Bowl '87, 5 p.m. 10-Super Bowl XXI: Broncos vs. Giants, 6 p.m. Pro Baskttball 10-Sixers at Celtics, 1:30 p.m.

Collega Basketball 10-DePaul at Georgetown, 11:30 a.m. 3-North Carolina State at Kansas, 1 p.m. 6-Navy at Kentucky. 2 p.m. 57-Rollie Massimino Show, 10 p.m.

Golf ESPN-Phoenix Open, 4 p.m. Sports in General 3-SportsWorld, 3 p.m. Hartford goaltender Steve Weeks turned in his second shutout of the season as the Whalers defeated the Maple Leafs for their fourth consecutive victory. MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -Hana Mandlikova hopes she has finally buried the tag that has dogged her throughout her sparkling tennis career. The 24-year-old Czech defeated defending champion Martina Navratilova, the world's top-ranked tennis player, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) yesterday to win the women's singles title in the Australian Open and then pleaded not to be called inconsistent.

"I'm always called inconsistent, or unpredictable," she said, "but I know I'm one of the hardest workers. I can face myself in the mirror. I've been motivated for five years, not just for this tournament. "I've concentrated very hard all tournament and worked very hard and it has paid off." Stefan Edberg of Sweden, the defending men's champion, met Australian Pat Cash in the final today. Cash ousted the world's top-ranked men's player, Ivan Lendl, in the semifinals.

Mandlikova, who has applied for Australian citizenship, previously won the Australian Open in 1980. This was the fourth Grand Slam title of her career. The 30-year-old Navratilova went into the final riding a 58-match winning streak, but had no answer to Mandlikova's great returns and stinging passing shots. Mandlikova, seeded second, scored her first victory in her last 1 0 meetings with Navratilova and her first since she defeated her in the 1985 U.S. Open final.

"Beating Martina is like beating a legend," said Mandlikova. "I respect her as a player and a person and I've learned a lot from here. It's always nice to beat her. She is the player I have nothing to lose against." The top-seeded Navratilova, foiled in her bid to win the event for the fourth time after previous victories in 1981, 1983 and 1985, had problems finding her range and her graceful and fluid opponent was deadly accurate with her passing shots. Mandlikova exerted such pressure that Navratilova's usually solid volleys were woefully off target.

"I never got my rhythm on the serve-and-volley," she said. "The whole match I was struggling. I missed more first volleys today than in the whole tournament in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. "I could never really get my confidence going. It was always an uphill bsttle.

Th3t's the worst I've played irt a final for a long time, but Hana played a really good, solid match." Mandlikova, ranked No. 4 in the world, collected $115,000 for her win. Navratilova's Grand Slam finals record dropped to 15-8. She received $55,000 as runner-up. Mandlikova said her victory was especially pleasing, coming so soon after her announcement she had decided to seek Australian citizenship.

"Winning here gives me a very special feeling. This country means something special to me and it is great welcome," she said. Associated Press Celebration St. Louis 5, Detroit 3 Def enseman Rob Ramage scored his first two goals of the season, helping the Blues to a win in a game marred by 164 minutes in penalties. Devils defeat Flyers Continued from Page 1D Tn he fa ir the Fivers were nla vine their third game in four Hana Mandlikova drops to the ground after defeating Martina Navratilova, 7-5, 7-6, in the final of yesterday's Australian Open.

ninhfo urith fhoiriicnal n9 th wnrlr linpnn The delayed flight from Chicago might not have affected their performance in a Rntthernn. N.J, scribes to honor Lockbaum, Rakoczy ditions certainly have not been ideal lately. "It's just the travel schedule the last couple of days, sitting around in Chicago waiting for a airplane (Thursday), then deciding you're not going to go it just took its toll," Holm gren said. "It was just ditticult circumstances wai we re noi used to. It's not an excuse, but this team is used to easy travel.

Everyone tried hard, everyone worked hard. We just didn't have enough to put us over the hump." "We certainly wanted to get out in front and we didn't," Resch said. "That was a big factor tonight. If we were tired it would be a lot easier playing if we were in front. But the first ,01.1, rcy pUb us 3 ctm.

So. shall we end with the brawl or the game? Better a vignette from the brawl. At one point, Resch said, KoharsM was pieaaing wiin Chevrier to stop yapping at Hextall, for it was only continu ing his beating. But it took a wniie lor uievner ro cauu down. EDISON Gordon Lockbaum and Gregg Rakoczy will be among those honored at the 51st Anniversary Banquet of the New Jersey Sportswriters Association, next Sunday in the Pines Manor.

Lockbaum, a Glassboro high product, has been named College Player of the Year for his outstanding two-way performance at Holy Cross. Rakoczy, a Shawnee graduate, will be cited as the College Offensive Player of the Year for his play at Miami University where he played center and received several all-star honors. Rutgers University linebacker Tyronne Stowe will be honored as the College Defensive Player of the Year. It will be the 12th major honor for Lockbaum, a junior, who finished third nationally in all-purpose yardage. He rushed for 827 yards on 144 carries, caught 57 passes for 860 yards, returned kickof fs for 452 yards and led the nation in scoring with 22 touchdowns.

Lockbaum was also one of the five finalists in the running for the Heisman Trophy. He finished fifth, but was second in receiving No. 1 votes behind Vinny Testaverde, the winner of the award. Other major award winners include New York Mets General Manager Frank Cashen as the Man of the Year, Texas Rangers' pitcher Mike Loynd as Pro Rookie of the Year; New Jersey College Athlete of the Year (male) Walter Briggs, Montclair State quarterback; (female) Debbie Daniel, Trenton State tennis, and Trenton State pitcher Jim Giglio as the Most Courageous Athlete. "Once it was obvious it was a hea wweieht against a Iieht- weicht Ronnie backed off and the ref said, that's it," Resch said.

"Chevrier kept talking. The ref said don't open your mouth again. "He opened it," Resch said, "but nothing came out. There you go. Good night and good hockey.

OVERTIME Ron Sutter missed his seventh straight game with a lower back sprain. Ed Hospodar missed his third straight game after having fluid drained from his knee Flyers are no 1 0-10-3 on the road, 1 2-6-2 against the Patrick Division..