The Prince George Citizen - Tuesday, May 2 3 , 2 0 0 0 - 11
H
o ckey
Devilsalivefor anothergame
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The New Jer­
sey Devils did not make their latest trip
down the New Jersey Turnpike in vain.
* The Devils, facing elimination in the
Eastern Conference final, got goals
from linemates Jason Arnott, Petr
Sykora and Patrik Elias and another
from Bobby Holik to beat the Philadel­
phia Flyers 4-1 Monday night.
' Philadelphia still leads 3-2 in the bestof-seven series that continues Wednes­
day night up the turnpike at Continental
Airlines Arena. Game 7, if necessary,
Would be Friday in Philadelphia.
Arnott and Holik scored first-period
goals and the lead grew to 3-0 early in
the second when Sykora scored.
“There was no tomorrow,” said Ho­
lik, who has all three of his playoff
goals this post-season in this series.
“We had to start playing well from the
first drop of the puck to the last.”
Philadelphia, which won three
straight after dropping the series open­
er, might have star centre Eric Lindros
back by then. Lindros, who has had
two concussions in the last three
months, was cleared by his doctor
Monday to resume full team practices.
Thirteen teams have rallied from 3-1
deficits to win a series, but never in a
conference final. That does not include
two teams which came back from 3-0
to win. The Flyers are 14-1 in series in
AP photo
Petr Sykora of the New Jersey
Devils celebrates his goal Monday,
a key marker which gave the
Devils a 3-0 lead in an eventual 41 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
which they have taken a 3-1 lead.
“We had to win this game, bottom
line,” New Jersey captain Scott Stevens
said. “We had our backs against the
wall here tonight coming into a hostile
building. We won the game and have
to go back to our building and get it.”
That might be easier said than done.
The road team has won each game in
this series except for Game 2, when the
Flyers got even. Philadelphia, 6-1 in
road playoff games this season, is only
5-4 at the First Union Center.
“Subconsciously you might be a little
bit more ready to play,” Holik said of
road games. “You’re more focused,
more determined to win on the road
than at home because at home you feel
too comfortable. That’s why the visit­
ing team catches you by surprise and
you get behind the 8-ball.”
It was only the second time in fran­
chise history that the Devils avoided
elimination on the road. New Jersey
won Game 7 of the division finals at
Washington in 1988.
Valeri Zelepukin had the lone goal
for the Flyers, who would be just as
happy to wrap up their eighth trip to
the Stanley Cup final in New Jersey.
“We don’t want to get too down here,”
Flyers goalie Brian Boucher said. “We are
still up 3-2 and we have a wonderful op­
portunity to go up there and do it.”
N e m c h i n o v
c u t
fo r
4 0
s t i t c h e s
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — New Jer­
sey Devils centre Sergei Nemchinov
needed 40 stitches after he was
bloodied early in the second period
of Monday night’s Game 5 of the
Eastern Conference final when he
was checked into the boards and his
head struck a metal partition.
Nemchinov was skating near the
penalty box when Philadelphia’s John
LeClair drove him into the boards with
a forearm. The glass shook, and before
it could settle back into place Nemchi­
nov ran into the metal support.
D o c to r s te m s c o n c e rn s
MONTREAL (CP) — Gloomy reports
that Maurice (Rocket) Richard was on
his death bed during the weekend once
again drew attention to how revered the
hockey legend is in his home province.
A hastily called news conference at
Hotel Dieu hospital on Sunday drew a
swarm of media who expected to hear
that the former Montreal Canadiens
great had succumbed to cancer.
Instead, chief of surgery Dr. Andre
Robidoux had a calming message.
The 78-year-old Richard’scancer had
not spread throughout his body, he
a b o u t R o c k e t R ic h a r d
was not semi-comatose and he did not
also have Alzheimer’s disease, said Ro­
bidoux, shooting down a week’s worth
of panic-tinged reports.
The Rocket remains very ill, he said.
A cancerous tumour in his abdomen
that first appeared nearly three years
ago had recurred and doctors were
monitoring his condition to see what
treatment they could use.
But there was “no indication that Mr.
Richard was in a terminal condition,
although anything’s possible,” added
Robidoux.
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Whether his teammates want
him back or not, Eric Lindros is returning to practice with
the Philadelphia Flyers today.
Lindros, the Flyers’ banished captain who has had two
concussions in the past three months, was cleared Monday
to practice with the team. Hours later, the Flyers lost 4-1 to
New Jersey in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals and
had their lead in the best-of-seven series cut to 3-2.
Philadelphia can close out the Devils with a victory in
Game 6 Wednesday night at Continental Airlines Arena.
“I don’t know that he’s ready for that,” Flyers interim coach
Craig Ramsay said after Monday’sloss. “He’scleared for practice;
doesn’t mean he’sready for die game. We’ll see how it goes.”
Lindros suggested last week that one day of practice will
not be enough to get him in game shape.
Lindros flew to Chicago on Monday afternoon to see con­
cussion specialist Dr. James Kelly, who has been treating
him and issuing workout guidelines.
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The Flyers issued a statement during the first period of Mon­
day night’s game saying only that Lindros was examined by
Kelly and cleared to participate in full team practices.
“If he’s ready to go, he’s ready to go,” forward Rick Tocchet said after Monday’s game. “If Eric is ready to play and
wants to play, how can that be a distraction?”
Lindros returned to the ice last Tuesday for the first time since
sustaining his third concussion of the year earlier this month.
During his most recent workouts, Lindros was able to
skate with another player and a goalie in non-contact drills.
Lindros hasn’t played since March 13 because of a concus­
sion suffered nine days earlier from a check by Boston’s Hal
Gill. After criticizing the team’s medical staff for failing to di­
agnose that concussion, he was stripped of his captaincy in
favour of Eric Desjardins.
Lindros’ latest concussion came at practice on May 4. He
needed 20 stitches in his lip after colliding with Francis
Lessard of the AHL’s Philadelphia Phantoms during a drill.
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CHICAGO (AP) — There’s much more to the new coach
of the Chicago Blackhawks than pucks and power plays.
Alpo Suhonen has produced a Finnish version of Cat on a
Hot Tin Roof, been a consultant to the movie The Icebreak­
ers and last year ran for a spot in the European Parliament.
Now he’s the first European-born NHL coach in 50 years,
given the job of taking the Blackhawks back to the playoffs
after a three-year absence.
Suhonen, 51, is indeed a man for all seasons, coaching for
nearly 30 years, first in Europe, then as an NHL assistant in
Winnipeg and Toronto.
When he needs to get away from the game, he has done so,
turning to the theater and even politics for a rare perspective.
“Systems and tactics are key things but also to be able to
relate with people and understand as much as possible how
humans behave individually and together,” Suhonen, a na­
tive of Finland, said Monday when the Blackhawks officially
introduced him at a news conference.
“It’s no different if you go into theater or into business or
into hockey or wherever. Humans operate there.”
Suhonen worked with Blackhawks director of hockey op
erations Mike Smith in both Winnipeg and Toronto and
they have more in common than their love for hockey. Both
have outside interests. Smith holds a doctorate in political
science and Russian studies.
Suhonen said his first meeting with former Philadelphia coach
Fred Shero in 1974 made a big impact on his life and career.
“Almost his first comment to me — I was a young starting
coach — was: ‘What are you doing with your life?’ I asked him
what he meant and he said the key thing is a young person re­
alizing what he’sdoing with his life, not with his hockey first.”
Suhonen wants to play a fast brand of hockey, incorporat­
ing the speed and puck control of the European game with
the necessary physical defensive play in the NHL.
“I think it will be a lot different with Alpo behind the
bench. We’ll start to bring in some European stuff,” said
Blackhawks star Tony Amonte. “He and Mike like the crafty
forwards who can stick handle and move. Mike has a game
plan and this is the first step.”
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