Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 30

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1 1, 1997 HOCKEY PJESL dj lues, iveenan maite ueai EASTERN CONFERENCE Team, former GM-coach avoid Bettman's hearing with settlement iu. i ISlttllSflg 1 NORTHEAST Pit CF CI Horn Away Dtv Buffalo 29 19 8 66 157 139 17-7-4 12-12-4 12-5-0 Prigulm 30 19 5 65 205 168 17-6-3 13-13-2 10-6-4 Montreal 21 27 10 52 183 208 14-12-4 7-15-6 4-10-3 Hartford 21 25 7 49 155 174 14-9-2 7-16-5 9-7-3 Boston 20 27 7 47 156 187 10-16-6 10-11-1 7-11-1 Ottawa 18 24 11 47 146 156 10-14-7 8-10-4 6-9-3 ATLANTIC Pt GF OA Home Away Dry Philadelphia 30 16 8 68 173 136 15-94 15-7-4 8-10-2 I Florida 27 15 13 67 156 126 14-6-4 13-9-9 9-6-6 Y. Rangers 28 22 7 63 197 158 15-11-4 13-11-3 7-13-4 New Jersey 26 17 9 61 139 128 13-7-8 13-10-1 8-6-1 Washington 21 27 6 48 139 150 11-11-2 10-16-4 12-7-2 TampaBay 19 27 6 44 140 163 6-12-6 13-15-0 7-9-2 Islanders 17 28 9 43 144 161 12-13-2 5-15-7 9-9-3 WESTERN CONFERENCE i CENTRAL Pts GF CA Home Away Dlv Dallas 32 20 4 68 172 138 15-10-2 17-10-2 10-6-1 Detroit 25 18 10 60 163 128 13-9-6 12-9-4 7-8-4 St. Louis 26 25 6 58 172 177 11-15-1 15-10-5 7-9-3 Phoenix 24 27 4 52 151 172 11-14-4 13-13-0 10-7-1 Chicago 21 27 8 50 143 148 8-16-3 13-11-5 7-8-3 Toronto 21 33 1 43 158 192 14-15-0 7-18-1 8-11-0 PACIFIC Ptt GF GA Home Away Dtv Colorado 32 14 8 72 184 128 16-5-4 16-9-4 14-3 Edmonton 27 23 5 59 174 156 16-11-2 11-12-3 10-9-1 Vancouver 25 27 2 52 174 184 14-10-1 11-17-1 8-9-o" Anaheim 21 28 6 48 154 170 13-12-2 8-16-4 7-7-3 Calgary 21 28 6 48 144 162 14-12-2 7-16-4 10-12-1 San Jose 20 28 6 46 142 171 10-14-3 10-14-3 10-10-0 Los Angeles 19 30 6 44 147 188 11-11-3 8-19-3 4-11-2 that provision, Keenan received a contract extension in July 1995. When Chairman Jerry Ritter fired Keenan on Dec.

19, sources said Ritter offered a lump-sum payoff of $1.2 million Keenan's salary for the rest of the year if Keenan resigned. Keenan had a half-hour to make the decision, and refused to resign. The Blues then withheld Keenan's paychecks, saying he had been fired "for cause." Led by Ritter, who was not available for comment, Blues officials and lawyers went to New York for a hearing with Bettman yesterday. That did not take place because of the settlement. A source familiar with the situation said Keenan probably received the present-day value of his original contract in the settlement, which would be a victory for the Blues' ownership.

Keenan had been criticized for his wild spending on free agents, his penchant toward older players, and his running feud with team captain Brett Hull. Since his firing, the team has enjoyed a mild resurgence under Coach Joel Quenneville, going 8-6-1. By Dave Luecking St. Louis Post-Dispatch ST. LOUIS The Blues reached a financial settlement yesterday with fired coach and general manager Mike Keenan, avoiding a hearing before NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

As part of the settlement, Keenan and the Blues agreed not to disclose terms of the deal. However, a source with league ties put the value of the settlement at $5 million, less than half the $11 million Keenan had said he was owed. Although published reports put the remaining term of Keenan's contract at Zxh years and $7 million at the time of his dismissal, sources close to Keenan insisted the deal had 4V4 years and $11 million remaining. If that's the case, then Keenan actually had a seven-year contract for $14 million, with a two-year, $4 million extension on his original deal. Blues officials have only acknowledged extending his original five-year, $10 million contract for one year and $1 million.

Keenan got an extension after his LEAGUE LEADERS INCLUDING LAST NIGHTS GAMES Scoring Player, team GP A PTS PIM Lemleux, Pit 51 39 50 89 45 Jagr, Pit 53 44 41 85 40 Gretzky, NYR 57 16 58 74 14 Selanne, Ana 55 32 40 72 20 Sundin, Tor 55 32 35 67 41 Francis, Pit 54 20 47 67 8 Messier, NYR 51 32 32 64 65 Damphousse, Mon 58 21 40 61 64 Leetch, NYR 57 16 45 61 32 Tkachuk, Pho 55 34 26 60 134 LeClair, Phi 54 33 27 60 40 Kariya, Ana 42 24 36 60 6 Shanahan, Hfd-Det 52 32 27 59 100 Hull, StL 56 32 27 59 8 Recchi, Mon 58 26 32 58 44 Oates, Bos 54 18 40 58 6 Yzerman, Det 53 15 43 58 34 Paitfy, NYI 52 31 26 57 33 Sakic.Col 40 15 40 55 20 Turgeon, Mon-StL 53 15 41 56 10 Bondra, Was 60 32 21 53 62 Amonte, Chi 56 31 22 53 46 Savage, Mon 57 20 33 53 33 Weight, Edm 55 15 38 53 56 If Jjr 1 IN THE SPOTLIGHT Senators-Islanders: Tonight, 7:30. No TV. Ottawa and New York, doormats for years, are aiming for the playoffs. Both have a shot. NEWS NOTES Hasek out: Sabres Dominik Hasek will miss tomorrow's game against the Canadiens because of an illness in his family.

He plans to return to his native Czech Republic after practice today. He is expected back in the lineup Sunday against the Sharks. Sabres officials had no details. Honors: Stars Andy Moog was named NHL player of the week after going 2-0 with a 2.34 goals against average in consecutive overtime wins. Unbalanced: The Mighty Ducks have scored 10 goals in their past five games.

LW Teemu Selanne and RW Paul Kariya each has three. The rest of the team has four. "I think the frustration level is getting high for a lot of players," said RW Brian Bellows. Ousted Six? Four of the Original Six teams are in danger of missing the playoffs: Boston, Chicago, Montreal and Toronto. The Bruins and Blackhawks have qualified for postseason play the past 29 and 27 seasons, respectively.

The last time Jhe Bruins and Maple Leafs both missed the playoffs? Never. Doomed: Flyers Coach Terry Murray has broken, up the Legion of Doom line, replacing RW Mikael Renberg with rookie Dainius Zubrus. Return: Flyers Karl Dykhuis will resume skating this week. He has been out since Jan.28, when he dislocated his left shoulder. He should play Feb.

26. Revived: Stars Neal Broten, re-signed Jan. 28, has three goals in his past three games. "It's just been awesome coming back here; everyone has been so positive," said Broten. RUMORS REPORTS Wishful: Mighty Ducks RW Teemu Selanne on what it would be like to have Avalanche Peter Fors-berg, a free agent after this season, on a line between him and Paul Kariya: "If I could pick one player other than Paul to play with, it would be him.

He's the best all-around player in the game right now." Slumping: Capitals Coach Jim Schoenfeld is upset his team has averaged just 1 .9 goals over its past 1 0 games. "We've made mistakes trying to force goals; our guys feel very pressured by the lack of scoring." NUMBERS Doused: The Flames have won just 1 4 of their past 43 games, including their current 4-2 streak. Due West: The Capitals are 4-13-1 against the Western Conference, by far the worst Eastern mark. Milestone: Red Wings Mike Vernon needs four more victories to become the 13th goalie with 300. HE SAID IT Petr Kllma, veteran LW recently released by the Penguins: "If Pittsburgh was the only team in the world to play hockey with, I wouldn't go.

I'd rather just work in a car wash." Surprising PENGUINS FROM PAGE C-l Associated Press Since Mike Keenan was fired, the Blues have been on the upswing. first season on the job when the Blues fired Mike Shanahan as team chairman. Keenan had a clause in his original Blues contract that if Shanahan or President Jack Quinn left the team, then he had one month to seek employment elsewhere. In exchange for canceling NHL ROUNDUP Martin Rucinsky and Turner Stevenson also scored for the Canadiens, who are 6-0 in Montreal against the Sharks. Dody Wood and rookie Stephen Guolla scored San Jose's goals.

Theodore allowed Guolla's goal 81 seconds into the game on the Sharks' second shot, but nothing else until Wood beat him with the Sharks' 40th shot of the game at 13:15 of the third period. Only last week, Theodore and fellow goaltender Jocelyn Thibault were hearing much criticism for the Canadiens' slumping ways, some of it reportedly from teammates. After giving up three goals in the first period, San Jose goalie Kelly Hrudey was replaced by Wade Flaherty to start the second period. The' loss dropped the banged-up Sharks to 1-2-1 in their past four. San Jose, which opened a five-game road trip with a tie Saturday in Ottawa, was without Ed Belfour, Al Iafrate, Darren Turcotte and Andrei Nazarov due to injuries.

Y'i Canadiens defenseman Peter Popovic rubs out left winger Bob Errey, who Rookie goalie boosts Shaun BestReuters rejoined the Sharks this week. Montreal Coyotes 4, Blues 2 ST. LOUIS Nikolai Khabibulin made 37 saves and Keith Tkachuk scored his 34th goal to lift Phoenix over St. Louis. Craig Janney assisted on two goals and Jeremy Roenick had a goal and an assist for Phoenix, which struck quickly, scoring three times in the first period.

The loss was St. Louis' fourth in its past six games at home and dropped the Blues' record to 11-15-4 at Kiel Center. Tkachuk scored 33 seconds in when he took a pass from Craig Janney just inside the blue line and skated in alone to beat St. Louis goalie Grant Fuhr. Roenick made it 2-0 at 2:30 on Janney's second assist, and Mike Gartner scored his 22nd goal when he deflected in Dave Manson's shot on a power play.

Khabibulin, who entered game with a 1-5-1 career mark against the Blues, protected Phoenix's three-goal advantage by stopping point-blank shots by Brett Hull and Geoff Courtnall in the second period. RESULTS MONDAY Montreal 4 San Jose 2 Phoenix 4.. St. Louis 2 SCHEDULE TUESDAY Ottawa at N.Y. Islanders, 7:30 p.m.

Los Angeles at Colorado, 9 p.m. Boston at Calgary, 9:30 p.m. Washington at Vancouver, 10 p.m. WEDNESDAY N.Y Islanders at Penguins, 7:30 p.m. New Jersey at Hartford, 7 p.m.

Montreal at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m. Tampa Bay at Florida, 7:30 p.m. San Jose at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. Phoenix at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. Boston at Edmonton, 9:30 p.m.

Toronto at Anaheim, 10:30 p.m. MONDAY'S GAMES Phoenix 3 0 1 4 SL Louis 0 0 2 2 First period 1, Phoenix, Tkachuk 34 (Jan-ney), :33. 2, Phoenix, Roenick 16 (Tkachuk, Janney). 2:30. 3, Phoenix, Gartner 22 (Manson, Ronning), 10:34 (pp).

Penalties Tkachuk, Pho (tripping), Bergevin, StL (tripping), McKenzie, Pho, major (fighting), 1 Twist, StL, major (fighting), Doan, Pho (tripping), York, StL (tripping), Maciver, Pho (high-sticking), 19:48. Second period None. Penalties Murphy, StL (holding). Pellerin, StL (slashing), Roenick, Pho (holding), Khabibulin, Pho, served byTverdovsky (roughing), Courtnall, StL (charging), Conroy, StL, major-game misconduct (checking from behind), Cor-kum, Pho (holding), 17:45. Third period 4, St.

Louis, Peluso (Bergevin, Matteau), 7:54. 5, St. Louis, Rivers 2 (Hull, Turgeon), 15:34 (pp). 6, Phoenix, Corkum 7 (Shannon, Roenick), 18:58. Penalties Tver-oovsky, Pho (holding), Doan, Pho (holding), 1 1 :31 Maciver, Pho (tripping), 13:48.

Shots on goat Phoenix 7-6-821 St. Louis 15-14-1039. Power-play opportunities Phoenix 1 of St. Louis 1 of 7. Goalies Phoenix, Khabibulin 16-24-3 (39 shots-37 saves).

St. Louis, Fuhr 24-18-6 (21-17). A 14,623 Referee Paul Stewart. Linesmen Andy McElman, Dan Schachte. San Jose 1 0 1 2 Montreal 3 0 14 First period 1 San Jose, Guolla 6 (Wood), 1:21.

2, Montreal, Damphousse 21 (Rucinsky, Bure), 6:15 (pp). 3, Montreal, Stevenson 5 (Tucker, Rivet), 7:56. 4, Montreal, Malakhov 6 (Kotvu, Damphousse), 18:11. Penalties Wood, SJ (holding stick), Ragnarsson, SJ (slashing), Bure, Mon (slashing), 13:35. Second period None.

Penalties Borde-teau, Mon (slashing), Hawgood, SJ (slashing), Donovan, SJ (holding), McSor-ley, SJ (roughing), Recchi, Mon (roughing), Wood, SJ (roughing), Tucker, Mon (roughing), Stevenson, Mon (high-sticking), Donovan, SJ (boarding), Baron, Mon (high-sticking), 14:57. Third period 5, San Jose, Wood 2 (Nolan), 13:15. 6, Montreal, Rucinsky 19 (Damphousse, Bure), 13:26. Penalties Baron, Mon (tripping), Friesen, SJ (tripping), Rivet, Mon (hooking), Ragnarsson, SJ (slashing), 10:56. Shots on goal San Jose 13-21-1549.

Montreal 11-11-8-30. Power-play opportunities San Jose 0 of Montreal 1 of 5. Goalies San Jose, Hrudey 13-15-3 (13 shots-10 saves), Flaherty (0:00 second, 19-18). Montreal, Theodore 4-4-2 (49-47). A 20.61 5 (21 ,273) Releree Mark Faucette.

Linesmen Ron Asselstine, Ray Scapinello. COME ON IN. THE BEt R'S ON US! OFF COUPON 331-4068 Cod us for our Internet Address' UPSCAlf TOTflliy NUDt GENTLEMAN'S ClUB OPEN i flam Weekdays r.WiwH T.nAf.ktnTf 3100 1 ihflty i km Theodore's 47 saves stymie Sharks, 4-2 From wire dispatches MONTREAL A week ago, they were roasting the Montreal Canadiens' young goalies in the media. Last night, the crowd at the Molson Centre couldn't stop cheering the man in the crease. Rookie netminder Jose Theodore made a season-high 47 saves and Vincent Damphousse reached the 800-point plateau with a goal and two assists last night, leading Montreal to a 4-2 win over the struggling San Jose Sharks.

Theodore, who was making his 10th career start, made 21 saves in the second period alone while Montreal was protecting a 3-1 lead. Damphousse scored his 21st goal on a power play at 6:15 of the first period, his first goal in 10 games since Jan. 22. He got his 800th career point with an assist on Vladimir Malakhov's goal at 18:11 of the first period. Goaltending (Minimum 16 games) GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE GP Mln GA Avg Brodeur, NJ 43 2426 86 2.13 Vanbiesbrouck, Fla 39 2254 81 2.16 Moog, Dal 38 2149 78 2.18 Hackett, Chi 21 1265 47 2.23 Fitzpatrick, Fla 21 1121 42 2.25 WINS GP Mln Hasek, Buf 51 3065 28 16 7 Richter, NYR 41 2433 25 13 3 Roy, Col 43 2549 25 10 6 Hextall, Phi 39 2220 24 11 3 Fuhr, StL 50 2859 24 18 6 SAVE PERCENTAGE GP Mln GA SA Pet.

Lallme, Pit 25 1379 55 774 .929 Hasek, Buf 51 3065 1211652 .927 Vanbiesbrouck, Fla 39 2254 811086 .925 Roy, Col 43 2549 961271 .924 Hackett, Chi 21 1265 47 621 .924 SHUTOUTS GP Mln SOW I Roy, Col 43 2549 6 25 10 6 Joseph, Edm 47 2723 6 23 18 5 Hasek, Buf 51 3065 5 28 16 7 Osgood, Det 33 1911 4 15 10 6 Brodeur, NJ 43 2426 4 22 11 8 Hebert, Ana 44 2564 4 17 20 6 PENGUINS STATISTICS Player GP A PTS PM Lemieux 51 39 50 89 45 Jagr 53 44 41 85 40 Francis 54 20 47 67 8 Nedved 50 26 26' 52 42 Hatcher 53 11 29 40 57 Barnes 54 15 22 37 24 Olausson 50 5 21 26 26 Woolley 37 4 22 26 18 Johnson 48 6 12 18 12 Hicks 48 5 12 17 73 Daigneault 50 3 14 17 32 Kasparaitis 50 1 16 17 42 Murray 51 7 8 15 20 Dziedzic 33 6 8 14 38 Mullen 35 3 10 13 4 Johansson 36 4 8 12 18 Roche 50 4 5 9 100 Stojanov 29 1 4 5 75 Muni 48 0 4 4 30 Wright 42 2 1 3 68 Moran 12 1 2 3 6 Tamer 21 1 1 2 85 Wregget 28 0 1 1 4 Leroux 42 0 1 1 55 DeRouville 1 0 0 0 0 Wilkinson 6 0 0 0 17 Lalime 25 0 0 0 0 Goaltenders GP Mln Avg GA DeRouville 1 59 2 03 0 1 0 2 Lalime 25 1379 2 39 18 3 2 55 Wregget 28 1554 3 09 12 10 3 80 Barrasso 5 270 5.78 0 5 0 28 Big Chest Kite THs Thursday Deo Shows Tins Friday Saturday firJay Matinee 12:45 HE HDftKWTl 21697 X-Rated Supers M. 17 ftri 0 LETS DO LUNOrl Join me today for our ndiUr TO noon til Its the ultimate mid-day stress telief. In to Strip Mxt flrn Noon til lm TV-l II MlmmU I WMI I lllUHIil I MB 'ii Sabres are getting Penguins' attention compared to 3.08 for the Penguins. That speaks directly to the work of Hasek. There is growing sentiment for him to receive the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player, an honor no goalie has earned since Montreal's Jacques Plante in 1962.

Although the Penguins are biased toward Lemieux or Jaromir Jagr for the Hart, they appreciate Hasek's value to the Sabres. "The guy in nets has just been incredible," Johnston said. Helpless and hopeless' as Buffalo would be without Hasek, he isn't a one-man operation. He does not, for example, have a single game-winning goal, so clearly someone else has been contributing to those 29 Sabres victories. Hasek is surrounded by guys with small reputations, but good speed and a great work ethic.

And Coach Ted Nolan has Buffalo playing an intelligent, disciplined game that is testimony to the power of perspiration. i "They play as a team," Hicks said. "It goes to show how far playing as a team can take you." Whether that is enough to keep the Sabres there is another issue. The Penguins aren't bashful about predicting how, the race for supremacy in the Northeast will play out the end of the year comes, when everybody's played 82 games, we'll be on top," Hicks said. "We all feel confident of that." NOTES The Penguins returned goalie Philippe DeRouville to Kansas City in the International Hockey League.

Wregget is expected to back up Patrick Lalime tomorrow and start in Philadelphia Saturday. defenseman Neil Wilkinson (broken cheekbone) have been penciled into the lineup for tomorrow, along with goalie Ken Wregget (hamstring). Rugged winger Alek Stojanov (head, shoulder) skated yesterday, and might return when the Penguins visit Philadelphia Saturday at 3:05 p.m. After the Sabres beat Ottawa, 2-1, Sunday night, center Mike Peca told reporters that "we want to make it tough for them to stay with us." Well, Buffalo might not have to try hard to make that happen, at least for the next few weeks. The schedule-maker might have handled that all by himself.

Buffalo next five games are at home, all against teams facing the very real threat of sitting out the playoffs Montreal, San Jose, Calgary, the Islanders and Boston. The Penguins will play four of their next five at the Civic Arena, but the lineup of opponents is far more impressive: Islanders, Philadelphia (away, then home), Florida and Chicago. It's not hard to envision Buffalo running its 4-0-3 unbeaten streak to a dozen games, while the Penguins struggle to get through this stretch with much better than a .500 record. Especially if they continue to give up nearly 50 shots per game; they have allowed 49 and 47, respectively, during the past two. "This week, we're going to have to do a lot of work in our own end," Johnston said.

"We play our best when we give up between 25 and 30 shots." The Penguins have given up an average of 34.6 shots per game; Buffalo isn't much better, giving up 33.2. Nonetheless, the Sabres' goals-against average is 2.44, tied for fifth-best in the NHL, f. "You just have to respect them, because they've got a great team, and I think they're starting to get a lot of respect," Hicks said. "The next time we play them March 5 in Buffalo, we're going to Know that they're a good team. I don't think we fully believed they were a great team the last time we played them." That attitude was reflected in the Penguins' disinterested performance during a 3-1 loss at Marine Midland Arena Jan.

29. Their lead over the Sabres shrank to two points that night, and has dwindled to a memory since. Finishing first is important for reasons that go beyond the right to sell T-shirts and hang banners. A division title assures nothing worse than the No. 2 seed in conference playoff seedings, and that translates to home-ice advantage for at least the first two rounds.

Finish second or lower, and there are no guarantees. That is why defenseman Jean-Jacques Daigneault was so emphatic yesterday that "it should be our focus to finish first in our division." The Penguins healt will be a key to their chances of success, and yesterday's medical updates offered a mixed message. Forward Petr Nedved (charley horse) and defenseman Kevin Hatcher (stiff neck) did not practice, and are questionable for the Penguins' game against the New York Islanders tomorrow at 7:35 p.m. at the Civic Arena. Defenseman Fredrik Olausson (broken cheekbone) is skating, but not expected to play until next week.

Conversely, Hicks (bruised leg) and A i a lii hn.