Backup Legace could get playoff start for Wings
Detroit’s head coach has not
officially named a starting
goaltenderforthe playoffs
By Helene St. James
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
DETROIT — Manny Legace sat at his stall at
Joe Louis Arena, preparing to face his first round
of questions as the Detroit Red Wings' playoff
goaltender (or maybe not). He needed a hat,
though, because his hair was all mussed from
Monday's practice, so he shouted at teammate
Chris Chelios.
Chelios quickly lobbed his hat across the
locker room — after all, it was a Cheli's Chili
hat, and perhaps the only thing better than
playoff hockey is free publicity — only it did
n't quite fit.
"What a peahead!" Legace said after trying on
the cap and finding it barely came down over
the top of his scalp.
Chelios — that peahead — also is one of the
Wings' top four defensemen and will be one of
Legace's best friends when he and the Wings be
gin the first round of the playoffs Wednesday
against Nashville. Or maybe not.
Curtis Joseph is technically the Wings' No. 1
goaltender. But he has had a sore right ankle,
hasn't played since March 21 and only got back
on the ice last Friday.
Monday was his First all-out practice, and
though he said he felt "good and ready to go,"
it's unlikely he will start. Friday he said he would
continue to feel the effects of the injury for a
while and that he didn't expert to play because
he had been out so long.
Legace, technically the backup, has carried the
team for chunks of the season and finished with
a 23-10-5 record, a 2.12 goals-against average
and a .920 save percentage.
Coach Dave Lewis wouldn't reveal to reporters
who would get the nod, and Legace and Joseph
said they didn't know, either. But when asked
if the goalies knew, Lewis smiled and said,
"They might."
"1 feel comfortable with whoever 1 choose,"
Lewis said. "1 want to do what's right for the in
dividual, and what's more important, what's
right for the team."
Lewis said he might let everyone know who
the starter is today, and if not, then definitely by
Wednesday evening.
(c) 2004, Detroit Free Press. Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Adam Amato Senior Photographer
Luke Jackson leaves the Ducks with 1,970 career points, second-best in Oregon
history. He is expected to be a first-round selection in the upcoming NBA Draft.
FUTURE
continued from page 7
of seven games. I've got to take my hat
off to these guys how well they put us in
a position to be here today."
Now, they leave. They give way to the
core group of players that will make up
Oregon's roster for the next four seasons.
Or so the Ducks hope.
Those include Chamberlain Oguchi,
Bryce Taylor and Maarty Leunen, three
players who give the Ducks one of
their best recruiting classes in program
history.
"We're going to be young, which is
going to give me a few more gray hairs
to coach that group next year, but at the
same time, I feel good about the group
that's coming in the door," Kent said.
They'd better be as advertised, or
the Ducks (18-13 overall) may not see
the postseason for the first time in
four years.
Oregon returns a core group of play
ers to the 2004-05 team, headlined by
point guard Aaron Brooks and forward
lan Crosswhite. But it is a group that did
n't completely show its promise.
Crosswhite struggled late in the sea
son. Freshman Mitch Platt went down
with an injury early on and lost valuable
playing time. Brooks sat out 10 crucial
Pacific-10 Conference games. Some of
those contests the Ducks should have
won, and in turn they probably cost
Oregon a chance at an NCAA Tourna
ment berth.
The list goes on with Adam Zahn, Jor
dan Kent and Matt Short, individuals
who will need to find consistency that
wasn't there this season.
"We re going to be young,
which is going to give me
a few more gray hairs to
coach that group next year,
but at the same time, I feel
good about the group
that's coming in the door."
Ernie Kent
Oregon head coach
"I think the good thing about the
group that's coming back next year is
they have had the opportunity to sit here
and get a firsthand look at what it takes
to be a great player, have a great team
and great tradition," Ernie Kent said.
That group will try to outdo what the
four seniors accomplished during their
time at Oregon. That included a Pac-10
regular-season championship, a Pac-10
Tournament championship and three
visits to the postseason.
"I just really appreciate my team
mates," Jackson said. "I'm going to miss
just going out every day and working
hard and being with the guys you enjoy
so much. Just to appreciate the coaches
and the faith they've had in me all sea
son long."
Hard work is what got the Ducks
through the season. They battled to a 5-2
nonconference record to start the sea
son, then went 9-9 in Pac-10 play. Ore
gon defeated Cal in the first round of the
Pac-10 Tournament, probably a must for
the postseason, and hung with Stanford
for 38 minutes in round two before
bowing out.
For as much hard work as Oregon put
in, inconsistency became a problem. But
Jackson, Ernie Kent and the Ducks
fought through it and showed they de
served as much as a berth in the NIT.
"People thought we weren't even go
ing to make it to postseason play,"
Davis said. "Coming back from Col
orado, it was just a huge atmosphere
for us. To be one of the last eight teams
left, that's something in itself when no
body thought we'd be playing in the
postseason."
Contact the sports editor
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
HAGER
continued from page 7
only difference? It's Portland's
home-opener.
And yet, how close that could have
been to happening in Eugene.
The Beavers don't have an owner.
They've been taken over by the PCL.
That only happened last week.
Before that, the city of Portland was
thinking of locking the team out of
PGE Park because of unpaid debt ac
cumulated by one of the team's previ
ous management groups.
So where would the Beavers go?
One suggestion was Peoria, Ariz.,
the spring training home of the club's
parent organization, San Diego.
The other destination?
Civic Stadium in Eugene.
Just think of the possibilities. Imag
ine what it would have been like to
see potential major leaguers in our lit
tle city. I'd be interested.
Too bad it won't happen.
Guess we'll have to go all the way to
Portland to see the likes of pitcher
Dennis Tankersley and outfielder
Xavier Nady, two of the Padres' better
prospects at that level.
The opportunity to see the club in
Eugene was almost realized, even
though it wasn't set in stone. There
would have been obstacles to getting
the Beavers into Eugene, mainly
dealing with stadium issues, because
quite honestly, Civic Stadium is a far
cry from PGE Park.
There's a foundation of baseball
fans in Eugene, no doubt. Since the
sport left the University in 1981,
there has been a void that hasn't
quite been filled.
The school's Club program thrives,
somewhat, even though it appears to
suffer from the same setbacks that
dominate the level. There's little mon
ey with too much travel.
But it gets its share of fans. That was
apparent this weekend when the team
hosted Western Washington in a
three-game series.
Even as the doubleheader Saturday
wound down, the fans were there.
They were seen basking in the sun,
hoping the Ducks could pull out a
late-inning win in the second game of
the afternoon.
Oregon couldn't do that. But it's
presence was enough.
The fact the Beavers even consid
ered Eugene a possible destination is
enough to show baseball in this city
could thrive. In doing a story on the
state of baseball in Eugene, I learned
thanhe sport would be on the table if
the University could meet all the rules
stipulated by Title IX.
The thing is, that's not going to
happen for a while. There are a num
ber of factors that need to be cleared,
the most pressing being the equality
of women's sports to men's sports.
Women need to be given more
WWWWWWWWWWCWIWIIWQWHIHMIWHMi
opportunities at the college level. 1, for
one, am for that. Women's athletics
have proven to be competitive, to an
extent, and interesting to watch.
Hopefully lacrosse will prove to be
the same way when it starts next year.
For now, I'll stick to watching Club
baseball and ESPN and ESPN2 to
catch Major League Baseball action. If
I want to see high-level baseball in
person, I'll head to Portland, where
the Beavers are an underrated attrac
tion in a city that is dominated by
Blazers-mania.
Too bad the Beavers can't play in
Eugene. I'd be out there every night.
Contact the sports editor
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
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