Game 7 showdowns next for hockey’s elite
By John Mossman
The Associated Press
DENVER — Chris Drury scored
on a deflection with 3:51 left in the
third period as the Colorado
Avalanche staved off elimination
by beating the Dallas Stars 2-1 on
Thursday night.
Colorado’s victory tied the best
of-seven Western Conference fi
nals at 3-3, with a decisive Game 7
set for Saturday night in Dallas.
Ray Bourque assisted on Drury’s
goal and scored Colorado’s other
goal.
The Avalanche broke a 1-1 tie
when Bourque took a long shot
from along the left boards that
sailed high toward the net. Drury,
stationed in the slot, redirected it
with his stick past goalie Ed
Belfour.
Patrick Roy had 26 saves, ex
tending his NHL record for career
playoff victories to 121. Belfour
made 19 saves.
Bourque’s goal early in the sec
ond period put the Avalanche
ahead, but Brett Hull tied it with a
power-play goal later in the peri
od. It was Hull’s ninth goal of the
playoffs and fourth goal in the last
three games.
Dallas defeated Colorado in last
year’s conference finals, rallying
from a 3-2 deficit en route to cap
turing its first Stanley Cup.
Colorado outshot Dallas 9-6 in a
scoreless first period that saw the
Avalanche continue to flounder
on the power play, failing to capi
talize on two man-advantage situ
ations.
Each team lost a defenseman in
the period. Dallas’ Richard
Matvichuk, elbowed in the head
by Dave Andreychuk, went down
on the ice behind the Dallas net,
apparently losing consciousness
momentarily. Later, Colorado’s
Aaron Miller was high-sticked by
Scott Thornton and collapsed in
pain. Both players had to be assist
ed from the ice, but no penalties
were called.
Matvichuk, who suffered a mild
concussion, did not return, but
Miller was back for the second pe
riod.
Bourque, seeking his first Stan
ley Cup title in his 21st NHL sea
son, scored his first goal of the
playoffs early in the second peri
od. Joe Sakic intercepted a pass
and, after putting a spin move on
Sylvain Cote, fed Bourque in the
slot. Bourque’s shot went high on
Belfour’s glove side at 4:30.
Penalties against Drury and
Adam Foote gave Dallas a 5-on-3
advantage for 1:14 later in the peri
od, and the Stars capitalized on
Hull’s goal at 12:37. Sergei Zubov
passed from the right boards to
Hull, situated just inside the left
circle.
Dallas’ Mike Modano had to be
assisted from the ice after being
stunned by Foote’s hit that drew a
high-sticking penalty, but he re
turned late in the period.
Belfour had a key save off Milan
Hejduk in the third period, and
Roy stopped the dangerous Hull.
Sakic, his frustration continu
ing, missed an empty net in the
waning seconds. Sakic has scored
only one goal in the last 13 games.
Colorado is in a l-for-23 slump
on the power play and is only 3
for-30 in the series.
The Stars were without forward
Jamie Langenbrunner, sidelined
by a sprained knee sustained in
Game 5 on Tuesday night.
New Jersey and Philadelphia
tangle tonight
PHILADELPHIA — Nothing
beats playing in a deciding game
of a playoff series. Win, and the
quest for the Stanley Cup goes on.
Lose, and you go home with noth
ing.
That’s the prospect the New Jer
sey Devils and the Philadelphia
Flyers will face Friday night in
Philadelphia when they meet in
Game 7 of the Eastern Conference
finals.
Game 7... is one of
the greatest experiences
you will ever have as a
hockey player.
Craig Ramsay
Philadelphia coach
Highlighted by momentum
swings, physical play and out
standing hockey, the series has
been a wonderful border war for
the rivals and their fans.
“It will be nerve-wracking,”
said Martin Brodeur, the New Jer
sey goalie who will be playing in
the fourth Game 7 of his career. “It
will be a lot of pressure. People
will hate us and yell at us, but this
is hockey. This is Game 7. This is
the situation a lot of people would
like to be in, and this is the posi
tion we are in now.”
The Devils have gotten here the
hard way. They fell behind 3-1
and then game back to win the last
two games, 4-1 in Philadelphia on
Monday and then 2-1 on Wednes
day night, spoiling the return of
Flyers superstar Eric Lindros from
a series of concussions.
The last two wins have seem
ingly given New Jersey back the
momentum it lost after blowing a
3-1 lead in Game 2.
Craig Ramsay, who took over as
Philadelphia’s coach after Roger
Neilson was diagnosed with can
cer in February, isn’t focusing on
his team’s two recent losses. He is
focusing on Game 7 and the op
portunity it presents.
“It doesn’t matter how you got
there,” Ramsay said. “This is a
tremendous opportunity. There
will be tremendous excitement in
that building.
“To have a chance to play in a
Game 7, in this case to go to the
Stanley Cup finals, is one of the
greatest experiences you will ever
have as a hockey player.”
New Jersey coach Larry Robin
son played in a number of decid
ing games with Montreal.
“As far as the young kids, this is
something they are going to re
member for the rest of their lives,”
said Robinson, who has turned the
team around since replacing Rob
bie Ftorek late in the season. “A lot
of times it takes players from one
level to another level because of
the intensity and the importance
of the game and the things that
have to be done in pressure-filled
situations. It’s a great teaching
tool.”
WNBA continues its growth spurt
By Melissa Murphy
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The WNBA is
stretching out. Way out.
In just its fourth season, the
league has already doubled in size
from eight teams in 1997 to 16.
Teams in Seattle, Portland, Indi
anapolis and Miami join the
WNBA for the 2000 season.
Another theme this summer
will be the Olympics. The league
condensed its season to allow
players to join their national
teams for the Sydney Games.
“We had our origins with the
great success of the 1996
Olympics and see it as an impor
tant story line,” WNBA president
Val Ackerman said. “We see it as
an exclamation point at the end of
our season.”
Games begin Monday with a
nationally televised rematch of
last year’s championship, New
York at Houston.
The new season brings new
rules, too, including an unlimited
number of players from the de
funct ABL on all rosters and eight
teams, not just six, in the playoffs
in a best-of-three format in all
rounds.
The 32-game schedule will be
squeezed into 11 weeks, meaning
plenty of back-to-back games that
may affect play in a league that
sent two losing teams to the 1999
playoffs.
“If you did that in the NBA,
four expansion teams in one year,
you’d have four horrible teams,”
New York Liberty coach Richie
Adubato said. “They’d win 16-18
games. That isn’t the case. You
still have all those ABL players,
all the European players. They
can play.”
Last year’s collective bargaining
agreement allowed just three ABL
players per team, while the 1999
expansion teams in Orlando and
Minnesota were allowed five.
The coaches in Seattle and
Portland look to develop a rivalry
before someday challenging the
three-time defending champion
Houston Comets in the Western
Conference.
Linda Hargrove, coach of the
Portland Fire, said she and Seattle
coach Lin Dunn are “Northwest
expansion sisters.”
“Portland and Seattle have a
natural rivalry that will be very
healthy,” Hargrove said. “The
(( Portland and Seattle
have a natural rivalry
that will be very healthy.
Linda Hargrove
Portland coach tt
West is so strong, it’s important
that we win against each other,
making our rivalry even more in
tense.”
• Czech Republic star Kamila
Vodichkova, the No. 9 pick in the
draft, will be the centerpiece of
the Seattle Storm’s offense. Dunn,
who turned the last-place Port
land Power of the ABL into a con
ference champion in one season,
never saw Vodichkova play in
person before selecting the 6-foot
4 forward.
“We got a steal,” Dunn said.
“She’s 27, strong, physical, can
run and is just learning my sys
tem.”
Ackerman said eight of the 12
Olympic women’s basketball
teams will have current or former
WNBA players on their rosters.
The WNBA championships
will end no later than August 27
so players can rejoin their nation
al teams before the start of the
Olympics in mid-September.
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