The Windsor Star from Windsor, Ontario, Canada • 18

Saturday, January 15, 2000 Hockey Ti ie Windsor Star Hockey PIO Away w-i-T-RT NORTHEAST DIVISION trt A Pts Home Toronto 44 25 15 43 132 107 57 18-5 2 7-10-2 6-40-1 43 23 14 62 120 106 54 12-6-4 11-8-2 7-2 1 1 Ottawa 44 17 21 61 114 122 41 11-10-3 6-11-3 3-6 1 0 Buffalo 44 14 19 112 111 124 41 7-9-7 7-10-4 1-6-3-2 Boston Montreal 43 14 24 51 94 112 34 6-11-3 8-13-2 3-4-3-0 ATLANTIC DIVISION 108 59 17-3-2 9-93 7-1-20 New Jersey 43 26 12 52 135 Plymouth on rebound with young players League-high five Whalers off to CHL-NHL Top Prospects game If the measure of a team's future is the ability of its young players, then the Plymouth Whalers are going to be very good next year. The Whalers had five players selected Thursday for the CHL-NHL Top Prospects game, which will be played at the Air Canada Centre Feb. 2. Defencemen Jared Newman and Libor Ustrnul along with forwards Tomas Kurka, Kris Vernarsky and Justin Williams will join 35 other players from across Canada. Philadelphia 42 25 11 61 134 96 57 15-4-3 10-7-3 7-1-20 Pittsburgh 42 18 21 35 135 125 44 12-6-2 6-15-1 5-5 0-1 NY Rangers 41 14 20 73 103 117 38 9-10-2 5-10-5 2-5-3-1 W.Cr' CS ''-'th.

0 vjX 1 1 NY Islanders 42 10 26 60 91 137 26 5 14-3 5-12-3 2-7-1-0 SOUTHEAST DIVISION Florida 41 24 14 33 130 101 54 14-3-2 10-11-1 5-4-1-1 43 17 18 80 110 115 42 9-9-3 8-9-5 4-5-1-0 Carolina Washington 40 16 17 71 103 107 40 10-4-6 6 13-1 4-4-2-0 Tampa Bay 41 11 24' 64 115 147 32 8-8-3 3-16-3 1-8-1-1 41 10 27 43 92 151 27 7 12 1 3-15-3 3-5-2 1 Atlanta CENTRAL DIVISION Pio trt A Pts Home Away w-l-t-rt Buffalo Sabres goalie Martin Biron makes a save on Montreal Canadlens centre St. Louis 44 27 11 60 136 93 60 15 5-4 12 6 2 6-2-2-0 44 27 13 41 155 112 59 18-5-2 9-8-2 5 4-1 0 Detroit Craig Daroy Friday during the Habs' 2-1 victory in Buffalo. ap photo: David Duprey Chicago 44 15 23 62 127 137 38 7 12-3 8-11-3 5 3-2 0 115 133 38 8 11-2 7-13-3 5 4-1-1 Nashville 44 15 24 53 NORTHWEST DIVISION Ex-Spit Ward 44 22 17 51 127 115 50 13-5-1 9-12-4 7-2-1-0 Colorado Pi 43 19 19 51 98 121 44 12-6-3 7-13-2 6-3-1-0 Calgary Edmonton 43 14 18 115 110 115 44 10-4-7 4-14-4 4-3-3-0 Vancouver 42 14 20 84 109 126 40 7-11-3 7-9-5 3-6-1-2 "It's a testament to the job our scouts have done for us," said Pete DeBoer, GM-coach of the Whalers. "It's often tough enough to get one top-quality QHL NOTEBOOK player from each draft. We feel we got three plus two more from the European draft.

"And I think the game is a fantastic concept because it gives scouts and GMs the chance to see the top 40 players in the country all under one roof. PACIFIC DIVISION scores to will Phoenix 43 23 15 50 134 116 51 11-7-2 12-8-3 4-4-2-0 Dallas 44 22 17 52 105 100 51 12-9-1 10-8-4 5-4-1-1 San Jose 46 20 21 53 126 118 48 11-9-2 9 12-3 3-6-1-1. Los Angeles 42 18 17 72 128 122 45 9-8-3 9-9-4 2-7-1-1 DAVE HALL STAR SPORTS WRITER Anaheim 43 18 20 51 104 110 42 10-9-3 8-11-2 2-7-1-0 overBMilMo FRIDAY RESULTS Montreal 2 Buffalo Carolina at Florida Washington at New Jersey Philadelphia at Atlanta Toronto at Edmonton St. Louis at Anaheim. THURSDAY RESULTS Buffalo 0 Boston 0 (OT) Chicago 5 Detroit 3 Tampa Bay 4 NY Islanders 2 Vancouver 4 Nashville 3 (OT) Colorado 4 Pittsburgh 3 St.

Louis 3 Los Angeles 2. Montreal edges And I think a player who plays well can make a huge jump in the rankings based on this game. "I don't think you drop on one game because everyone has a bad game now and then but I think you can go in the other direction." All-star games have a tendency to become shootouts but the prospects game is different. "It's different because there's something on the line for all of these players and the level of intensity is usually very slumping Sabres Today's Games Las Vegas Pro-Line Spread Line No OU high," DeBoer said. Star News Services Rookies Jason Ward and Francis NYR 14 1.60 5.00 2.75 5.5 NY Rangers at NY Islanders, 1 p.m.

Steve Ott and Ryan Aschaber will represent the Spitfires. Heated rivalry Rivalries come and go. And over the Bouillon each scored his second career goal and Jose Theodore made 14 saves to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 2-1 NHL victory Friday night over the Buf years, the Windsor Spitfires have been involved in some major battles. falo Sabres. First, it was the London Knights and then later the Sault Stu Barnes scored and Martin Biron Greyhounds.

Now, Windsor's focus seems to have shifted to the Plymouth Whalers. stopped 25 shots for Buffalo, which is 2- It's conceivable an announcement could be made next week on financial aid for Canada's cash-hungry NHL teams, a spokeswoman for Industry Minister John Manley says. The Ottawa Sun reported today that the federal government is about to announce a $20-million package to help subsidize all six Canadian teams. The report said the deal is ready and that Manley will make the announcement as early as Tuesday. Manley spokeswoman Jennifer Sloan said it's a little early to draw that conclusion but added it's possible something could be announced next week when Manley returns from a 10-day vacation.

The Sun report suggests teams like the Ottawa Senators would receive direct handouts of up to $3.5 million to compensate for the cost of the currency exchange rate. Canadian teams take in Canadian dollars but pay most of their bills, including salaries, in U.S. dollars. Canadian Press The reason? Rivalries develop when games are meaningful to both teams HQCKEY ROUNDUP Toronto at Tor 19 1.70 4.50 2.70 5.5 Calgary, 7 p.m. Boston at Mtl 20 2.20 4.00 2.00 4.5 Montreal, 7 p.m.

New Jersey at Phi 21 2.70 4.50 1.70 5.5 Philadelphia, 7 p.m. Pittsburgh at Pit 22 1.60 5.00 2.75 5.5 Nashville, 8 p.m. Florida at Fla 23 1.50 5.00 3.10 5.5 Tampa Bay, 8 p.m. vu Chicago at Col 24 4.50 5.00 1.30 5.5 Colorado, 8:30 p.m. Ri Anaheim at Pho 25 3.50 5.00 1.45 5.5 Hi Phoenix, 9 p.m.

Dallas at Dai 27 1.60 5.00 2.75 5.5 Vancouver, 10 p.m. Los Angeles at SJ 28 2.70 4.50 1.70 5.5 5 San Jose, 10:30 p.m. SUNDAY GAMES Ottawa at Washington, 1 p.m.; Atlanta at New York Rangers, 1:30 p.m.; Detroit at Edmonton, 9:30 p.m. and that's the case now between the Whalers and Spitfires. 6-1 since Christmas.

The Sabres have Thursday night's 7-4 win by the Spits was a heated affair dropped four of their last five home with five fights and the usual after-whistle nonsense which has largely disappeared from the game. games. Theodore, who shut out Detroit on "These games are fun to play in," said Spitfires forward Tuesday night, had his bid for a second straight shutout dashed when Barnes scored with 6:33 remaining. Kyle Chapman. "When the crowd gets into it, there's lot of heavy hitting and the odd fight.

It gets you excited to go out for the next shift and it's much more fun than going through the motions in a dull game. 'We don't like each other. Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt but there's definitely more intensity when you go into a corner with a guy" Montreal won its second straight, recording back-td-back wins for the first time since a four-, game winning streak in.Novem-ber. Ward, an ex-Spitfire, gave Mon- LEGEND: G-Games; Pts-Points; W-Wins; L-Losses (including regulation ties); T-Ties; RT-Regulation Ties; F-Goals For; A-Goals Against; Home-Record in Home Games; Away-Record in Away Games; P10-Record in Past 10 Games; Vs EastWest-Record Vs Own Conference; GFPG-Goals For Per Game; GAPG-Goals Against Per Game; Las Vegas Line provided by America's Line by Roxy Roxborough. Interleague play Two of Canada's three junior leagues will begin interleague action Sunday with the first two of eight games scheduled for this year between Ontario teams and counterparts from Quebec.

The Toronto St. Mike's Majors will meet the Rockets in (does not include last night's games) Montreal and the Val d'Or Foreurs will battle the Centennials in North Bay JasonWard treal a 1-0 lead with a power-play Later in the year, the Centennials will visit Val d'Or and goal 2:35 into the second period. Bouillon tossed a shot through traffic from along the left boards, and Ward was able to de the Majors will travel to Montreal. The other matchups this year will see home-and-home series between Ottawa and Hull as well as Sudbury and Rouyn-Noranda. SPITFIRES STUNG IN SARNIA 4-3 The visiting Windsor Spitfires lost 4-3 Friday against the Sarnia Sting in Ontario Hockey League action.

The game was tied 1-1 after one period on power-play goals by Windsor's Patrick Finnegan and Sarnia's Kelly Paddon. The teams scored two goals apiece in the second period. Tim Gleason and Shawn Mather had the Windsor goals. Tyler Coleman and Robb Palahnuk replied for the Sting. In the third period, Palahnuk scored the game-winning goal at 10:58.

Windsor outshot Sarnia 28-17. The win went to Sting goalie Andrew Sim. Michael Leighton was in goal for the Spitfires. Windsor's next game is Sunday in Kitchener at 6:30 p.m. star staff PLAYER Jaromir Jagr, Pit Mark Recchi, Phi Pierre Turgeon, StL Owen Nolan, SJ Pavel Bure, Fla Jeremy Roenick, Pho John LeCair, Phi Tony Amonte, Chi Steve Yzerman, Det Eric Lindros, Phi Pavol Demitra, StL Scott Gomez, NJ flect it over Biron's right shoulder.

Bouillon put the Canadiens up 2-0 on GP A PTS PIM PP SH GW 41 33 40 73 19 18 7 0 3 42 18 38 56 8 20 6 1 3 39 21 32 53 21 6 7 0 3 46 27 25 52 2 68 12 1 5 33 29 20 49 15 6 4 2 7 38 21 28 49 13 72 4 1 8 42 24 21 45 3 22 7 0 3 44 21 23 44 4- 26 6 1 1 44 20 23 43 17 16 7 2 4 38 17 26 43 7 52 6 0 2 41 17 25 42 15 2 6 0 3 43 12 30 42 13 32 3 0 1 17 41 16 55 6 1 7 43 20 21 41 0 34 9 0 3 44 17 24 41 1- 14 6 0 1 40 17 24 41 17 29 3 0 2 42 18 22 40 17 14 5 2 0 44 16 23 39 7- 41 6 0 1 Oops dept Two more trades have been cancelled by OHL commissioner Dave Branch who has now ruled that a total of five were filed with the league office after Monday's 6 p.m. deadline. a slap shot from 35 feet away 1:51 into the third period. He recovered a loose puck just inside the blue line and Buf Brendan Shanahan, Det 42 24 42 24 In addition to three announced earlier, Branch also wiped falo defenceman Jay McKee lifted his leg to enable the puck to go through. vaieri Bure, coy Cliff Ronning, Nas Ray Whitney, Fla Paul Kariya, Ana Doug Gilmour, Chi out deals involving St.

Mike's, Peterborough, Guelph and Brampton. Barnes scored his 12th of the year on In one, the Petes tried to send overager Adam Dewan to the power play to bring the Sabres within a goal. He wristed a snap shot from the slot just under the left arm of the Majors for a draft pick and in the other, Guelph and Brampton tried to swap third-round picks. fcgfr WINGS OILERS Theodore. All the teams involved claimed the OHL fax machine was WHAT: Detroit at Edmonton busy at the deadline but none tried to get through on any of the office's six telephone lines.

WHEN: Sunday, 9:30 p.m. (WJR-760 AM) A few years ago, the deadline was midnight and teams Malakhov return delayed Canadiens defenceman Vladimir Malakhov has been ordered to rest until Monday, when doctors will evaluate his were still trying to hustle each other until 11:59 p.m. or later. The deadline could be any time of the day and there would still be teams squeezing the last few seconds out of it. re-injured right knee.

Malakhov collapsed in pain during And in trying to do so again this year, a group of chas practice at the Molson Centre on tened general managers and coaches must now welcome Thursday after an awkward fall. NOTES: The Detroit Red Wings have a 9-3-1-1 mark against Dallas, St. Louis, Philadelphia, San Jose, Phoenix and Toronto. However, Detroit has struggled against some of the league's weak sisters losing games to Nashville, Edmonton, Calgary, Tampa Bay and Chicago Steve Yzerman has 612 goals, leaving him one short of Mario Lemieux for seventh place on the all-time goal-scoring list The Wings are fourth in the league in both power play and penalty killing percentage The Oilers finally seem to be adjusting to rookie coach Kevin Lowe. "If you don't play hard, Kevin will tell you to your face," Doug Weight said.

"He'll say, 'Get off your and he'll sit you on the bench. And if you're going to pout, you'll be in the pressbox, but he doesn 't hold it Over you. Dave Waddell these players back into the fold. He underwent an MRI exam, after les more prevalent The novelty of playing four-on-four which team doctors ordered complete rest over the weekend. in overtime to settle tie games appears to have worn off.

Canadiens doctor Eric Lenczner is to As of this week, only 29 per cent of games tied after regu lation were settled in overtime. consult on Monday with Dr. William Clancy of the Alabama Sports Medi Last year, when teams played five-on-five, 42 per cent of cine Orthopedic Centre in Birming games were settled. ham, Ala. LEAFS FLAMES Legwand gone 3-6 weeks Preda WHAT: Toronto at Calgary WHEN: Tonight, 10 p.m., (CHYR 96.7 FM, CBC) tors centre David Legwand.

19. will be out three-to-six weeks after suffer PLATERS FIRE SICILIANO: The Owen Sound Platers fired head coach and general manager Dave Siciliano. The Platers stumbled to an 11-26-3-4 start this season which put them last in the OHL's Midwest Division. Owen Sound ing a fractured bone in his left foot in a 4-3 overtime loss to Vancouver on Andreychuk out Bruins winger Dave Andreychuk is listed as day-today with pain in his knee joint. Andreychuk hurt his kneecap in the final seconds of Tuesday's loss when he was knocked down by Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin.

Head coach Pat Burns said he wouldn't be available for tonight's game against the Canadiens. Burns said it's possible left-winger Sergei Samsonov (knee) could be ready to return. Milbury, Luongo at odds islanders GM Mike Milbury infuriated goalie Robert Luongo after complaining about the rookie looking at apartments all day before his Jan. 8 start, a 7-3 loss to Boston. "I don't want to say Mike is lying, but after practice, I went and looked at a place," Luongo told Fox Sports Net.

"I kept my routine, had lunch, had my pre-game nap like usual. So I don't see why that would have affected me. It wasn't a matter of the whole day, like he said." Milbury publicly chastised Luongo a few days after the loss, saying he'd been out apartment-hunting until 5 p.m. Milbury added, "Hello? You can't do that in the NHL. You have to prepare yourself." Smith, Tkachuk talkwhen word spread through the NHL that the Coyotes nearly traded star left-winger Keith Tkachuk to the Hurricanes for unsigned centre Keith Primeau, nobody was more surprised than Jaromir Jagr of the Penguins.

"I couldn't believe it. That was wild," Jagr told the Arizona Republic. "That's not a good situation. That's got to be hard on the team and hard on the player. It's a tough position to be put it, but you just have to forget about It." finished second in.

the division last season and advanced to the Western Conference final. Siciliano was hired in Thursday night. Legwand, in his first NHL season. 1997 to replace fired coach and general manager John Lovell. He had a 70-72-9-4 overall record with the Platers.

had nine goals and 11 assists and 44 NOTES: The Calgary Flames' Phil Housley is one goal shy of tying Denis Potvin for third on the all-time goal scoring list for defencemen. Housley has 309 goals Calgary is 10-1-1 in its last 12 home games, but faces stern tests in the Leafs and Detroit in their next two starts at the Saddledome Forward Jarome Iginla appears to have shaken himself from a season-long funk with three goals in his last four games Robyn Regehr, who broke both legs in a summer-time car accident that killed two people, has made a miraculous recovery to crack the Flames' lineup as a 19-year-old rookie. Regehr was obtained in the Theo Fleury trade with Colorado. Dave waddeii games this season. Assistant coach Brian O'Leary takes over as interim coach and was to be behind the bench tonight for the Platers' game against the North Bay Centennials.

ZULTEK CLEARED TO PLAY: Power forward Matt Zultek of Windsor was cleared to play Friday for the Ottawa 67's after sitting out the season with a knee injury. The six- Hlinka to coach Penguins? a Prague newspaper says Czech national team coach Ivan Hlinka may become the next coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the NHL's first foot-four, 222-pound forward was expected to play Friday HABS BRUINS night in the 67 game against the Erie Otters. Zultek, a member of last season's Memorial Cup winning 67's, European head coach. was drafted In the first round by the Los Angeles Kings in WHAT: Boston at Montreal The Dnes (Todav) newsnaner said 1997. The Kings were unable to sign him last June and WHEN: Tonight, 7 p.m., (CBC) notes: Detenceman Vladimir Malakhov.

who Penguins star Jaromir Jagr was trying to convince team owner Mario Lemieux to hire Hlinka. who led the he went back into the draft where he was taken in the second round by the Boston Bruins. Zultek had 33 goals and 33 assists in 56 games for the 67's last season as Czech Republic to gold medals at the 1998 Olympics and the 1999 world championships. well as six goals and two assists in nine playoff games. CAPTAINS NAMED FOR WHL ALL-STAR TEAM: Spokane Chiefs forward Derek Schutz and Calgary Hitmen forward Brad Moran have been named captains for the WHL's all-star game to be played Wednesday in Kelowna, B.C.

Schutz will lead the Western Conference squad. Moran lis earning US this season, surprised Habs fans by announcing he'd like to re-sign with the club. Malakhov is an unrestricted free agent next season. "I have a pretty good Idea of what I'm worth," Malakhov said. "I'm not going to be sitting and waiting.

I know somebody will call." forward Saku Koivu (shoulder) is still a month away from returning to the lineup With Jason Allison lost for the season, the Bruins are rumoured to be In the market for a veteran centre. The names being tossed around include Adam Oates and Mark Messier Bruins winger Sergei rSamsonov (knee sprain) is listed as day-to-day. Dave waddeii Hlinka is to loin the Peneuins on Tuesday as part of what the club calls an exchange program, but there has will captain the Eastern Conference squad. The game will been no word on the former Czechoslo be played in Kelowna new 6,000 seat Skyreach Place. vak forward becoming a coach..