Sports
The Prince George Citizen - Wednesday, January 30,1991 - 13
Don Schaffer
Sports Editor
562-2441
Local 517
Lemieux makes impact in first home game
By The Canadian Press
Mario Lemieux says he has a
long way to go before he regains
the form that made him one of the
NHL’s premier players.
Lemieux, playing his first home
game since last March 31, tied the
score with 5:21 remaining Tuesday
night and rookie defenceman Paul
Stanton scored 2:46 into overtime,
rallying the Pittsburgh Penguins to
a 3-2 victory over the Washington
Capitals.
“ I’m still not in shape and I
have a long way to go,” Lemieux
said. “ But it feels great to be
back.
“ The first goal is always tough
to get after a long layoff, J’m glad
I scored here in Pittsburgh.
‘‘If I keep playing like this —
22, 25 minutes a game — I’ll get
in shape quick.”
Lemieux played in only one of
the Penguins’ last 22 games last
season because of a back injury,
then missed their first 50 games
this season due to back surgery
and a subsequent lower back infec­
tion. He returned to action last Sat­
urday, getting three assists to help
the Penguins win in Quebec.
Washington’s
Kelly
Miller
scored twice in the first three
minutes but Lemieux had an assist
on Bob Errey’s goal and then
scored the tying goal to delight a
sellout crowd of 16,164 that waved
black-and-gold signs imprinted
with Lemieux’s first name to cele­
brate his return.
“ Mario’s not there yet, but he’s
going to get a lot better — a lot
better,” coach Bob Johnson said.
“ His shooting was a little off, but
he put the shot on the net and
made things happen.”
In other games, it was: Win­
nipeg Jets 5, Quebec Nordiques 2;
St. Louis Blues 8 , Buffalo Sabres
3; and New York Islanders 8 ,
Hartford Whalers 1.
Jets 5 Nordiques 2
Winnipeg outshot the home team
34-20 and got goals from Pat Elynuik, Paul MacDermid, Phil Sykes,
Gord Donnelly and Thomas Steen.
The two points moved the Jets past
idle Vancouver into fourth place in
the Smythe Division.
The Nordiques had the game’s
first six power-play chances, but
they couldn’t score on any of
them. Mats S undin and Scott Pear­
son beat Jets goalie Rich Tabaracci
with Quebed at even strength.
Quebec announced a trade after
the game: forward Tony McKegney to Chicago for goaltender Jac­
ques Cloutier. McKegney moves
to his seventh NHL team.
Blues 8 Sabres 3
In St. Louis, Sergio Momesso,
Dave Lowry, Rod Brind’Amour,
Paul MacLean, Ron Wilson, Paul
Cavallini, Dave Bruce and Geoff
Courtnall chipped in with a goal
each as 52-goal shooter Brett Hull
sat out with a sore ankle.
Adam Oates earned three assists,
giving him 15 in his last four
games.
Pierre Turgeon, Doug Bodger
and Dave Snuggerud scored for
the Sabres, who have lost three
straight.
Islanders 8 Whalers 1
Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter
scored two goals each and Bill
Berg, Derek King, Mick Vukota
and John Tucker added one each
for the Islanders, who scored six
goals on 10 shots on Peter
Sidorkiewicz in the second period.
Hartford outshot the visiting Is­
landers 31-26 but New York
goalie Jeff Hackett yielded only a
lone goal to Sylvain Cote.
KINGS
BATTLE
MUSTANGS
\
mm
■'m
Wk. V
f
^
t
m.
s
M
|
l
l
V .*•**••
4 'V
4P*
'•
T
Quebec's Guy Lafteur (10) and Mike Hough (18) pile up wtth Phil Housley (6) and Gord Donnelly of
the Jets. Obviously a result of watching too much football Sunday.
Linden to fill centre role for Canucks
By Grant Kerr
VANCOUVER (CP) — The ag­
onizing search for a dominating
centreman continues for the Van­
couver Canucks.
It’s become so desperate that the
NHL team’s best winger — and
top goal producer with 23 — has
been shifted into the middle.
Trevor Linden skated at centre
for two games and could be there
again tonight when the Canucks
play in Edmonton against the
Oilers.
In addition, the team’s leading
playmaker, centre Dan Quinn, has
been benched for two games for
not playing hard enough.
The Canucks have searched for
a big centre almost since they
entered the league in 1970.
They’ve had some productive
smaller centres in Andre Boudrias
and Thomas Gradin, but never a
pivot with size and strength to en­
dure the season-long grind.
Canuck coach Bob McCammon
hasn’t been happy with the per­
formance of his centres — Van­
couver is 10 games under .500 at
19-29-4 — and wants to develop
stronger pivot play.
“ When Dan Quinn’s jumping
(skating), he’s as good as there
is,” McCammon said. “ When he’s
not skating, his game’s gone.”
Quinn, 25, has been a major dis­
appointment At one stage, the
five-foot-11,180-pound pivot went
25 games without a goal.
In 48 games, the eight-year
NHL veteran has nine goals and
26 assists for 35 points.
Quinn’s defensive play concerns
McCammon. Quinn has a minus23 rating, meaning he’s been on
the ice for 23 more opposition
goals than Vancouver goals with
the teams at even strength.
Linden, 20, has fashioned a
comeback this season after slip­
ping to 2 1 goals in his sophomore
NHL season.
The lanky, six-foot-four forward
has scored 13 times on the power
play and is one of the few con­
sistent Canuck forwards.
“ Linden is very good in our
end,” McCammon said. “ Big
centres really help with down-low
coverage.”
One part of Linden’s game that
suffers when he plays centre is
passing because he often tries to
make rushes on his own.
“ He doesn’t move the puck as
well as he will in two or three
years,” said McCammon. “ When
he starts finding people. . . . ”
The Canucks have difficulty
matching lines with the Oilers be­
cause Edmonton boasts the most
physical centre in the pro game in
Mark Messier.
When the Canucks play Edmon­
ton at home, and the Canucks have
the last line change, the assign­
ment usually goes to 165-pound
Igor Larionov. The Soviet veteran
can skate with Messier, but often
is manhandled along the boards.
In Edmonton, the Oilers usually
send Messier against one of the
smaller Vancouver centres, usually
Quinn.
“ Not many guys can check
Messier down low," McCammon
said. “ He's strong on faceoffs and
in the comers.”
The Canucks may elect to play
Linden in the middle tonight, but
there’s no guarantee Linden will
be matched against Messier be­
cause the Oilers have last change.
Meanwhile, McCammon plans
to continue using youngsters Petr
Nedved and Rob Murphy at centre
as often as possible.
* Nedved, 19, has only three goals
and three assists in 33 games in
his rookie season. He’s six-three,
but weighs less than 180 pounds.
Murphy, 21, is a six-three, 200
pounder who may become a de­
pendable checking centre with ex­
perience. He has three goals and
one assist in 16 games.
WHITE R O C K A B S E N T
Peewees collide in Tournament of Champions
by BILL SEYMOUR
Citizen Staff
Stewart Malgunas remembers the thrill of
playing at home.
The defenceman with the Adirondack Red
Wings of the American Hockey League
easily recalls his days as a 1 2 -year-old
skater with the Viking Construction Peewee
Kings. Back in 1982, Malgunas and his
peewee teammates played in the second an­
nual Prince George Citizen sponsored
peewee Tournament of Champions.
“ Whenever we had a tournament in town
it was always exciting to play, and I knew
my friends would come and be watching,”
said Malgunas from his New York home.
“ You were always excited playing in front
of your home town.”
Two city teams take to the ice Thursday
in the opening day of the 11th annual Tour­
nament of Champions. Clubs from Kam­
loops, Williams Lake, Quesnel, Fort St. John
and Fort S t James complete the eight-team
lineup.
The four-day round-robin at the Kin
Centre features the Viking Construction
Peewee Kings and the Five Seasons Sports
Peewee Spruce Kings sharing duties as host
club.
Last year’s winners from White Rock de­
clined to make the return trip to the city.
Chuck Mulholland, one of three origninal
tournament directors still with the event,
said approximatley 160 players and coaches
are expected. The idea is to give younger
players an event to look forward to, he said.
“ There was always something for the big­
ger kids but nothing for the little guy,”
Mulholland said Sunday.
Yet after more than a decade in existence
the tournament still has not established itself
as a drawing card for the province’s top
teams. As a result the directors open the
doors to whatever teams are willing to
come.
Scott Buchanan, president of the Semiahmoo Minor Hockey Association, said his
squad from last year was pleased with the
tournament. But cost and time constraints
ruled out a return trip, he said.
“ Our peewee team this year is a little
weaker and our parents were not prepared to
pay the dollars to go up there,” Buchanan
said Monday.
The Kamloops Jardine Blazers, Kamloops
Dapper Sports and Fort SL James K and D
Logging are expected to provide the best
competition for the Vikings. The Peewee
Kings play the Blazers at 7 p.m. in Kin I in
Thursday’s feature game.
Whatever the result or level of play the
tournament is still important for young play­
ers, said Mulholland. The name says it all.
“ We think every young player is a cham­
pion in his own way,” added Mulholland.
Malgunas went on to join the gold-medal
winning Canadian junior team that took top
prize in 1990. He was later drafted by the
Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey
League.
He said he always thought the visiting
peewee teams put on a good show. Even
with the pressure of playing at home the
memories are good, he added.
“ It was always pretty good competition,
but we always seemed to get hammered in
our own tournament,” he said. “ Any tour­
nament that you play in front of your home
town is important
“ It is a little added pressure for a young
guy but it made it more fun. I always
thought I thrived under pressure so I liked
that situation.”
The opening whistle is at 8:15 a.m. Thurs­
day in Kin I when Fort S t James meets
Williams Lake. The Peewee Spruce Kings
meet Quesnel 15 minutes later in Kin II.
■ The Prince George Savings and Credit
Union Bantam Kings are at a major tourna­
ment in St. Albert, starting Thursday. The
team plays Winnipeg in its first game.
Three Prince George rinks still hanging on
by DON SCHAFFER
Sports Editor
Just three Prince George rinks
remained at the B.C. Interior Curl­
ing Association men’s champion­
ship in Kamloops after a Tuesday
that saw five rinks eliminated.
Northern zone winner Les Abriel
had a terrible week, finishing the
zone-winners’ round-robin at 0 - 6
after a 9-4 loss to Gene Puetz of
Salmon Arm.
Rick Folk of Kelowna won the
round-robin and earned one of four
Interior berths at the B.C. cham­
pionship in Victoria Feb. 7 to 10.
None of the 10 Prince George
rinks involved in the bonspiel por­
tion of the week-long BCICA
championship qualified through the
A or B events. Doug Engstrom
and Mel McMillan were playing in
this morning’s C qualifiers.
Abriel was to begin play later in
the moming in the playoff portion,
which features the other five
losing rinks from the zone-win­
ners’ round-robin and the 1 0 quali­
fiers from the bonspiel.
“ We’re not down about it at
all,” said Abriel, referring to his
winless record. “ We played well
in five of the six games.
“ We were up on every rink we
played until yesterday moming.
We talked about it afterward, and
we’re not upseL We just have to
play better.”
McMillan beat Fred Thompson
of Nelson 8-7 and eliminated Pete
Delver of Vemon 6-5 in the C
semi-final. He played Rick Cotter
of Kamloops this moming in his C
qualifier.
Engstrom started Tuesday with a
win, beating Sandy MacDonald of
Prince George 6-3 in the B event,
but fell 6-5 to Mark Longworth of
Vemon in the B qualifier.
Engstrom then beat Jim Hill of
Trail 7-5 to advance against Gerry
Kent of Cranbrook in this morn­
ing’s C qualifier.
After his loss to Engstrom, Mac­
Donald beat Bob Bass of Houston
10-9 but lost 7-4 to Brian Scott of
Kelowna and was eliminated.
Earlier Tuesday, Scott bounced
Dean Doyle of Prince George 8-5
and ousted Frank Boyle of Prince
George 8-5. Earlier, Boyle lost 9-6
to Longworth in the B.
Kevin Smale was eliminated by
Bass 10-4, and Ted Moffat fell 7-6
to Ron Townley of Terrace and
was eliminated.
The top three rinks from the
playoff round advance with Folk
to the B.C. final.
i
by DON SCHAFFER
Sports Editor
Between Gord Lennox and
Derek Prue, the Williams Lake
Mustangs and Prince George
Spruce Kings put on quite a show.
Lennox and the Kings got the
better of the night Lennox outscored Prue 6-5 and the Kings beat
the Mustangs 7-5 in the Peace
Cariboo Junior Hockey League
game at the Coliseum.
Lennox not only had more
points, he was the focus of the
Mustangs’ frustrations, an irritant
that Williams Lake coach Kevin
Therrien said was the cause of a
brawl between the first and second
periods.
Therrien said Lennox ran
Mustangs’ goalie Bob Crockett in
the first period. ThaL followed by
what Therrien described as a re­
peat of the incident involving
Crockett and Mario LeBlanc late
in the second period, caused Grant
Jobe of the Mustangs to take a run
at Spruce Kings’ goalie Glen
Nazanik as the teams were leaving
the ice after the second period.
“ Lennox speared Crockett,”
Therrien said. “ He does that once
a game. Then Mario LeBlanc tried
to take him out, he took a run at
him, and I figured it was time to
send back a message.”
Therrien said Jobe, billed as Jus­
tus instead of Grant on the scoresheet, “ gave Nazaruk a shot in re­
taliation for them taking a run at
Bob.
“ That’s the way it’s going to be
from now on,” he hinted darkly.
“ Things are going to be tense. We
play them six more times. I don’t
think there’s bad blood between
the teams, but you have to like to
play these games.
“ It’s time Mr. Lennox has got
to learn he’s not going to be stick­
ing Bob without paying for i t . . .
There’s two ways to do it go out
and get the guy that did it or get
their goalie.”
After the LeBlanc-Crockett inci­
dent, LeBlanc and Davey Jones of
Prince George and Rino Buttazzoni and Jason Hueppelheuser of
Williams Lake were ejected for
fighting. During the post-second
period ruckus, Jason Mager, Rick
Kooses, Derek Trainor, Preston
Roulette and Darren Watson of the
Kings and Jobe, Phil Valk and
Scott Cross of Williams Lake got
the toss.
Spruce Kings’ assistant coach
Mike Mesic said the incident was
a bit overblown.
“ It wasn’t all that bad,” Mesic
said. “ There were three fights
after the second period, and a
couple before that
“ Gord took a foolish penalty in
the first period. He went in late
after the whistle after the puck.”
Mesic discounted the LeBlancCrockett mixup as a dive on
Crockett’s part
“ He was trying to draw a
penalty,” Mesic said.
All that overshadowed a close
game and the outstanding perform­
ances of Lennox and Prue. Lennox
opened the scoring and assisted on
Troy Johnson’s goal that gave the
Kings a 2-0 lead.
Darcy Quiring got the Mustangs
on the board with five minutes to
play in the first period, assisted by
Prue, but the Kings outscored Wil­
liams Lake 4-2 in the third period
and put the game away.
Sterling Delitzoy had two
power-play goals for Prince
George, while Jason Van Buskiik
and Lennox had the others. Jason
Warren and Dennis McKinnon
added singles for the Mustangs in
that period.
Both of Prue’s goals came in the
third. Shawn Ledinski had the last
Prince George goal.
Mesic said the shots-on-goal re­
flected the Kings’ tendency to take
penalties more than the Mustangs’
dominance. Williams Lake outshot
Prince George 47-39.
He also said he doesn’t expect
any bad blood to develop.
“ I hope not,” he said. “ It’s not
something we need. When we’re
in the penalty box, it’s just two
minutes of offence we miss.”
The Kings visit the Millionairesin Quesnel tonight. Mesic said
there won’t be any lineup changes.
Frank Crosina, who is expected to
get his cast off today, will be
given some time to practice
without it, Mesic said.