The Buffalo News from Buffalo, New York • 19

Schools 2 Wednesday ebruary 3 1988 NHL 3 Horoscope 12 SOUTH EDITION THE BUALO News SOUTH Sports Classified 6 Scoreboard 4 Sabres Like the View rom Up Above By JIM KELLEY Netrs Staff Reporter QUEBEC At this time a year ago the Buffalo Sabres were looking up at the Quebec Nordiques Most of them concede the view is a heck of a lot nicer looking down can remember a year ago when we were coming after said Scott Arniel after the Sabres beat the Nordiques in Le Colisee 6 3 Tuesday remember the feeling we had in the room then I want them to have that That feeling was one of a team on the rise and though the Sabres eventually caught the Nordiques they never did overtake them Tuesday the Sabres were the team being pursued but they never gave the Nordiques a chance to get in the hunt Arniel and Phil Housley each scored two goals and Dave Andreychuk and Christian Ruuttu had single tallies as the Sabres crushed their former tormenters in an oft times one sided contest The victory marks the fourth time this season the Sabres have beaten the Nordiques (4 1 1) and the sec Lemieux nets 50th goal PAGE 3 Sabres and six back of the fourth place Hartford Whal ers Buffalo has 57 points in 54 games Quebec has 45 points in 50 games That gap isn't too much for the Nordiques to overcome there are far too many games left and they have four games in hand What the victory by Buffalo did is remove from Quebec a ploy the Sabres employed last year in their pursuit of the Nordiques remember when we came up here last year and we took a big game from said Housley (and the one that followed in Buffalo) was pretty important for us what I heard they were saying this game was pretty important to them and they were really building it up I thought our guys accepted the chal lenge though Right now I think got a pretty good shot at the The Sabres ran off to a 2 0 first period lead faltered for all of 59 seconds then took command of the game in impressive fashion In fact the Nordiques got on the board only when the Sabres let them That happened early in the second period Buffalo was riding the high of a short handed goal by Arniel and a monstrous blast by Ruuttu when Lane Lambert and Jean Marc Richard scored less than a minute apart On both occasions the Sabres gave up the puck in their own end and retrieve it In past seasons blowing a two goal lead would be cause for concern for the Sabres especially in Le Colisee but this time they came right back on a goal by Housley The defenseman received a perfect lead pass from Ray Sheppard and took off on a two on one break with winger Mike Donnelly Quebec goaltender Mario Gosselin leaned toward Donnelly showing just enough space between his pads for Housley to bury a shot ond time they have beaten them in Le Colisee (both by a 6 3 score) It also left the Nordiques dead last in the Adams Division race 12 points behind the third place Donn Esmonds Olympic Ice Dance Is WNY Oriented WE HAVE finally located the sport for which Buffalo produces an abundance of talent It has not been an easy search Baseball? less than a handful of Buffa lo bred players in the majors and none is a star ootball and basketball? Buffalo isn't known as a developmental hotbed for either although occa sionally a Ron Jaworski or a Bob Lanier comes along The area can claim Jimmy Arias in tennis and Jim Thorpe in golf but that virtually exhausts the list of talent in those sports and Thorpe is a member of the Buffalo family only by marriage Bowling is big here but the only locals making a mark professionally are Tom Baker and Cindy Coburn Pick any sport and the Buffalo contribution to its upper echelon overwhelming Except for one Ice dancing OK it may not be a topic of nightly conversa tion around area dinner tables But it is an Olym pic sport and as such it will appear on tens of millions of televisions within the next few weeks And lo and behold the only United States men involved in the Olympic ice dancing pairs compe tition actually lived for a few years within an Eggertsville block of each other Joe Druar 25 is a born and bred Buffalonian who along with partner Susan Wynne danced to a second place finish in last month's national cham pionships at Denver inishing first in the Nationals were Scott Gregory and Suzanne Semanick Gregory 28 is a native of Skaneateles who lived here for about four years in the 1970s During that time Gregory like Druar was a member of the Buffalo Skating Club or some of those years Gregory lived with a family on airchild up the block from Druar's house on Hendricks Boulevard If there is one thing the Olympics makes obvi ous it's that this indeed is a small world (Gregory) was my idol for said Druar by phone recently from his training base in Detroit a few years older than me so he was ahead of me then But he'd come over with his skateboard sometimes or take off on the tandem bike he Gregory was in a few classes with Carolyn Druar Joe's older sister at Amherst High School and occasionally stopped by the Druars for dinner Joe Druar in fact retains a vivid reminder of Gregory's friendship on one of his legs Druar was practicing one day at the same time as Gregory and his partner the former Judy erris As Druar skated by Gregory slipped and his leg jutted out the skate slashing leg Twenty two stitches closed the wound and the scar remains The accident set Druar back a bit but affect the relationship See Esmonde: Page 3 Column 1 41 They probably do given the fact the Nordiques Tuesday were largely a listless bunch who seemed to quit in the crunch He did it perfectly The goal seemed to unnerve the Nordiques especial ly Gosselin Housley unnerved them further with his Associated Press Xs XXp XX xxxv a lxsssx XX WteX ISM kXXXSlM XiililJ Wmwbs SWIiiBaii KSI Illi ilfel' I dlffllilliil i BtteJX I An Olympic flag is framed by the 90 and 70 meter ski jumps in Calgary's Olympic Park Calgary Has Olympic ever Calgary Associated Press CALGARY Alberta rom torchbearers to ticket buyers this Canadian Rocky Mountain city was full of signs Tuesday that the opening of the Winter Olympics was just 11 days away In bitterly cold w'eather Calgary was busy putting the final touches on preparations for 16 days of skiing skating and sledding The Olympic flame ignited late last year by the sun in the warmth of ancient Olympia in Greece was moving toward its final destination atop the 623 foot high CP Tower most visible landmark It will be lighted in a cauldron during opening ceremonies eb 13 The torch run which has carried the flame across Canada covered 40 miles Tuesday to Cranbrook in British Columbia about 250 miles to the west of Calga ry The torch is scheduled to enter the province of Alberta on Thursday Large crowds and good weather have followed the run which rank King the chief executive officer of the Calgary Olympic Organizing Committee said had created a of Olympic anticipa tion King carried the flame for nine kilometers on Mon day and was prepared to help greet the torchbearers at border Some athletes already were in town and were get ting acquainted with their surroundings Soviet figure skater Ekaterina Gordeva who with her partner Ser gei Grinkov is favored to win the gold medal in the pairs worked out at Okotoks a training site outside Calgary atmosphere is cozy here like at the 16 year old Gordeva said through an interpreter At Canmore the site of the nordic events Canadian medal hope Pierre Harvey said he was taking it easy time to he said we are not ready now we just have to watch the There was no rest however for others getting ready for the Games All around Calgary Olympic fever could be felt Workers were busy with final cleanup and construc tion at the venues Canmore Nordic Center Nakiska Alpine slopes Canada Olympic Park the Olympic Sad dledome the Olympic Oval speed skating rink and the Olympic Plaza downtown where medal ceremonies will be held each night of the Winter Games lags of the organizing committee knowm as OCO were everywhere in the city They were whipped by winds that made the temperature of minus 4 degrees seem even colder Snow flurries dusted the city overnight but Tuesday was generally clear The cold weather which arrived late last week has given organizers a chance to stock pile snow and cover skiing areas with man made snow See Olympics: Page 3 Column 1 team leading 24th goal and although the Nordiques got a short handed goal from Normand Rochefort to close to 4 3 the Sabres controlled the rest of the game Andreychuk scored his 20th of the season off some good hustle by linemates John Tucker and Mike olig no Arniel followed with his 11th of the season lifting his own rebound over Gosselin after set up passes from Adam Creighton and Sheppard Sheppard who had two goals in 4 4 tie with Winnipeg finished with three assists giving him 20 goals and 20 assists (40 points) in his 48 games Uwe Krupp also made a nifty play intercepting a clearing pass along the sideboards and flicking a quick pass to Arniel for the short handed goal early in the game had a lot of guys jumping up to make the big said Housley think when we ran off that six game win streak we got a lot of confidence and it seems to carry over into the big games We get the power play working (the Sabres were two for four in that regard) and the good goaltending (Barrasso stopped 27 of 30 shots) and a hard team to Perhaps even a harder team to catch 20 Bison Games To Be Carried By Channel 49 By ALAN PERGAMENT Neus Television Reporter The Buffalo Bisons were to announce today that Channel 49 will carry a minimum of 20 games this baseball season may include the April 14 home opener against Denver in Pilot ield Robert Rich Jr president of the Bisons con firmed the deal He said ticket demand for the opener is so strong he is considering televising the game pretty excited about Rich said re member the old days when selling Bison television wasn't a very popular A year ago the Bisons convinced Channel 7 to carry only four games The almost simultaneous birth of Pilot ield and WNYB TV made for a logical marriage between the Bisons and the new station Channel 49 which is owned by a subsidiary of the Buffalo Sabres and carries a schedule of Sabres games wants to expand its sports image Because it is not affiliated with a network Channel 49 also have to worry about preempting popular shows and could carry a more extensive schedule than local network affiliates Nor does it have to worry about generating network level ratings Rich said he expects the 20 game broadcast sched ule to be an equal mix of home and away games with the majority of them to be carried in the evening Although home telecasts might reduce stadium crowds Rich said he would like to showcase Pilot ield as much as possible The TV schedule be formu lated for a couple of weeks like to establish one night for Bison baseball but we may not be able to do it every said Rich Announcers for the games have not been deter mined Channel 49 has the right to select the announc ers with the approval Rich said the fact he is vice chairman of the board influence his decision to team with Chan nel 49 Channel 29 the other independent station in town had complained to the ederal Communications Commission last September about the possible conflict of interest very aware of that and because of it gone out of my way to stay length away from any (Sabres) discussions about the television said Rich Sources confirm that Channel 49 will have to pick up the considerable expense for the production of the games but that the station will pay the Bisons little or no rights fee Even without revenue the Bisons stand to gain from the deal by the exposure Channel 49 will offer the team Ski Marathon Canceled By SHARON L1NSTEDT The 10th annual Chautauqua Overland Ski Mar athon scheduled for Saturday has been canceled because of poor snow conditions A record field of 1300 cross country skiers reg istered for the 55 kilometer (34 mile) event which covers a winding course from Clymer to Mayville Race director Jack Voelker said last weekend's rain ruined the remaining snow cover in the open sections of the course The race was also called off in 1983 because of unseasonably warm temperatures and lack of snow UB Comes rustratingly Close to Major Win By MARK GAUGHAN University of Buffalo basketball Coach Dan Bazzani stood in his locker room Tuesday night and contemplated what went wrong He had just watched his team reach the brink of its biggest win of the season only to blow a 12 point lead and lose 75 70 to LeMoyne College LeMoyne while not among the Division II top 20 has an excellent program The Dolphins (15 4) came within a breath of beating Division I Siena the North Atlantic Conference leader and are pressing Gannon the No 4 Division II team for the title in the Mideast Collegiate Conference Bazzani however take much solace in his team's near miss mean a he said had the chance to win the game right there in front of The fact Bazzani can take that attitude is a positive sign for the Bulls UB upgraded its schedule from Division III to Divi sion II this season but because its bid to become a full fledged Division II member was put on hold last June it was not able to hand out athletic grants like the rest of the Division II world aced with that dilemma Bazzani said he was aiming for respectability at the start of the season The Bulls are respectable Entering the final month the Bulls stand 10 11 and have a legitimate shot to win five of 1heir last six games That would bring them to 15 12 and equal their win total of last season when they played a Division III schedule somebody told me we could win as many games as we did last season have called for the white coats and have them Bazzani said Tuesday night before 550 at Alumni Arena the Bulls showed they belonged with LeMoyne but a few short comings separate the teams not a good outside shooting Bazzani said one thing we have to do it's recruit a good outside shooting forward and an outside shooting The Bulls led LeMoyne 51 39 with 13:22 to go But then the Dolphins packed themselves in a zone defense UB turned the ball over by forcing passes inside and couldn't connect from the perimeter The Bulls shot 388 percent for the game also need a Bazzani said have a true LeMoyne has a center His name is Lenny Rauch and while only 6 foot 6 he plays like a pit bull Rauch a muscular freshman scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and grabbed 13 rebounds to key the LeMoyne rally Shortcomings aside the Bulls should better the 500 mark because of some bona fide Division II talent has proven they can play at this Le Moyne Coach John Beilein said after game fact I know if they can get better Division II players than they already have when they start to give said Beilein who has eight grants at his disposal at LeMoyne not going to get appreciably better as far as talent goes I think and a credit to Dan Bazzani that he could get players that are this caliber" While that may be viewed as an overstatement the Bulls didn't enter the season defenseless Darryl Hall a 6 7 forward Bazzani recruited from a Maryland junior college is an offensive force aver aging 155 points a game He scored 22 points against LeMoyne and grabbed 13 rebounds last six or seven games been more Bazzani said a good offensive player and if he ever develops an outside shot be unbelievable" Guard Brace Lowe another junior college product has been a steady scorer (134 ppg) and had 18 against LeMoyne Mike Washington a 5 7 junior point guard is aver aging a gaudy 75 assists a game The Bulls also have a talented freshman in Rick Coleman a 6 2 guard who was on a football scholarship at Massachusetts before transferring to UB have closed the gap very Bazzani said we have to develop some continuity Get 75 percent of these players back next year and bring in some freshmen who will be with us four Lack of experience was a factor against LeMoyne The Bulls went six minutes without scoring and Le Moyne repeatedly beat them down the court to turn the 51 39 deficit to a 55 51 lead The Bulls tied it once 57 57 but could not swing the momentum LeMoyne pounded the ball inside to its strong front line down the stretch orward Scott Hicks scored 17 points for LeMoyne as did guard Russell Barnes a sophomore out of Lack awanna Pete Jerebko a senior from Depew added 13 Bill Smith a 6 6 sophomore scored 17 and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Bulls The game was just the second at home for the Bulls in their last 11 outings UB hosts Adelphi riday JAMES McCOYBuffalo News JiM UB Coach Dan Bazzani agonizes during the second half of Tuesday's game South edition SOUTH EDITION Il i I I I I ll.