Sports - National Hockey League Daily - 11/4/97

Trends end as Flyers render the Blues a loss Hurricanes' Burke arrested on charge of assaulting wife LeClair, Leetch headline USA Olympic team MRI negative on Flyers netminder Hextall Coyotes' Gartner out 4-6 weeks with knee ligament tear Stars' Modano named NHL Player of Month Devils rookie Elias garners NHL weekly honors

Trends end as Flyers render the Blues a loss

Eric Lindros played an atypical rendition of the Blues in St.Louis Monday, scoring a pair of goals during a four-goal firstperiod as the Philadelphia Flyers took a 5-1 victory from St.Louis, which had its five-game unbeaten streak ended. Garth Snowstopped 27 shots for Philly, which in turn snapped a four-gamewinless streak. Dainius Zubrus had a goal and two assists, JohnLeClair added a goal and an assist and Rod Brind'Amour scoredfirst for Philadelphia, which had been 0-2-2 in its last fourgames. With 19 points, the Flyers tied Boston and Ottawa for mostin the Eastern Conference. Blair Atcheynum tallied for the Blues,who were 4-0-1 in their previous five games. St. Louis sufferedjust its second home loss of the season following an 8-0-1stretch at the Kiel Center. Lindros suffered bruised ribs and didnot play the third period, but the injury is not believed to beserious. Blues goalie Grant Fuhr allowed more than three goalsfor the first time in 13 games this season.
SLAP SHOTS
Also coming to an end Monday was the Stars' five-game unbeatenstreak. Shayne Corson scored twice in a 2:12 span to break asecond-period tie and Valeri Bure also had two goals as Montrealheld on for a 6-4 victory over Dallas. Andy Moog made 18 saves inhis first game against his former team, helping the Canadiens winfor the fourth time in five contests. In the NHL's two othergames Monday, Pat LaFontaine scored the tying goal with 4:50 leftin the second period as the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilersskated to a 2-2 deadlock. And before a crowd of 7,257 inGreensboro, N.C., the Carolina Hurricanes took a 5-3 victory fromthe Vancouver Canucks, who suffered their seventh straight loss.

Hurricanes' Burke arrested on charge of assaulting wife

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Sean Burke was released Mondayafter his arrest on Sunday for assaulting his wife in suburbanRaleigh, N.C., authorities said. Burke was not with the teamMonday night for what a Hurricanes spokesman described as"personal reasons." A spokeswoman for the Wake County (N.C.)magistrate's office said Burke was released after court Mondaypending a pre-trial hearing. Details of the alleged incident werenot immediately available, but the magistrate's office confirmedlate Monday night that the alleged victim was Burke's wife. TheHurricanes are based in Raleigh, but are playing their home gamesin Greensboro while work continues on a new facility. Burke isexpected to rejoin the team at practice on Tuesday morning.Burke, 30, and his wife have two young children. He moved toNorth Carolina with his family after the franchise moved fromHartford, Conn., following the 1996-97 season. "We considerourselves an extended family," said teammate Kevin Dineen. "It'sa personal matter. We have no details, but whatever the situationis, the NHL has done a good job to support him and get help."
Burke began the season as the Hurricanes' No. 1 goaltender, buthas split time with Trevor Kidd following an 0-4-3 start. Burke,who has a 3.31 goals-against average, is in the final year of hiscontract and has expressed a desire to leave Carolina. BeforeMonday's 5-3 home victory over Vancouver, the Hurricanes recalledgoaltender Mike Fountain from New Haven of the American HockeyLeague.

LeClair, Leetch headline USA Olympic team

Philadelphia Flyers left wing John LeClair and Norris Trophywinner Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers headline the list of17 NHL players selected Monday to the United States Olympichockey team. General manager Lou Lamoriello and coach Ron Wilsonselected the team that will compete in February at the 1998Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. Lamoriello also is general managerof the New Jersey Devils and Wilson, who coached Team USA to astunning victory over Canada in the 1996 World Cup, is coach ofthe Washington Capitals. Defensemen Chris Chelios and Gary Suterand forward Tony Amonte of the Chicago Blackhawks were named tothe squad, the most representation of any NHL squad. Mike Richterof the New York Rangers, who backstopped Team USA to victory inthe 1996 World Cup, will be one of the goaltenders. He is joinedin net by former teammate John Vanbiesbrouck of the FloridaPanthers. Phoenix Coyotes forwards Keith Tkachuk and JeremyRoenick also made the squad.
Rounding out the initial 17 selections are forwards AdamDeadmarsh of the Colorado Avalanche, Brett Hull of the St. LouisBlues, Mike Modano of the Dallas Stars, Joel Otto of thePhiladelphia Flyers and Doug Weight of the Edmonton Oilers.Defensemen include the Hatcher brothers -- Derian of the Starsand Kevin of the Pittsburgh Penguins -- and Mathieu Schneider ofthe Toronto Maple Leafs. "We are pleased to have such a qualitygroup of coaches, led by Ron Wilson, to prepare and lead ourAmerican players in Japan," said Lamoriello. "Their collectiveexperience and success in professional and internationalcompetition will be important in helping our players perform tothe very best of their abilities." Six more players will be addedby Dec. 1 for the February tournament that will bring a break ofnearly three weeks to the NHL season. Joining Wilson on the benchwill be John Cunniff and Paul Holmgren as well as USA HockeyNational Coach Jeff Jackson.

MRI negative on Flyers netminder Hextall

Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall underwent an MRIMonday, revealing he had no significant injuries after sufferinga strained neck and back in Sunday's 3-3 tie with the DallasStars. Hextall did not make the trip to St. Louis for Mondaynight's 5-1 victory over the Blues, leaving Garth Snow as thestarting goaltender. Neil Little was called up from thePhiladelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League to replaceHextall on the roster and serve as Snow's backup. "He had an MRIobtained from both his neck and back," said team physician Dr.Art Bartolozzi in a teleconference Monday. "There were nosignificant findings. Based on symptoms that were present, wewere rather concerned about a narrowing of his neck and backwhich the MRI did not find." Hextall was examined Monday byanother doctor and also saw a neurosurgeon for clearance, and itwas concluded Hextall had no serious injury to prevent him fromplaying. The injury occurred with 77 seconds remaining in thesecond period. Hextall dove from the crease and collided withteammate Paul Coffey in an attempt to block a shot by Bob Errey.Hextall remained in the game until the conclusion of the periodbut was replaced by Snow at the start of the third.

Coyotes' Gartner out 4-6 weeks with knee ligament tear

Phoenix Coyotes right wing Mike Gartner, who needs two goals tobecome the fifth player in NHL history to reach 700, will be outfour to six weeks after suffering a torn left medial collateralligament in Sunday's victory over Calgary. Gartner, who turned 38Wednesday, went down in the final minute of the first period whenhe was tripped by Calgary's Theo Fleury. No penalty was called onthe play. Gartner has been one of hockey's most durable players,having not missed a game since the 1994-95 season. The seven-timeAll-Star had 32 goals and 31 assists last season, his 18th in theNHL. He was off to a slow start this year, picking up just twogoals and four assists in 13 games. Until the lockout-shortenedcampaign of 1994-95, Gartner scored at least 33 goals everyseason since entering the league in 1979-80. He has reached the30-goal mark all but once in his career and ranks fifth on theall-time list, trailing Phil Esposito by 19 goals.

Stars' Modano named NHL Player of Month

The Dallas Stars' restricted free-agent signee Mike Modano wasnamed Monday NHL Player of the Month for October. Modano, whorejected a five-year, $26 million offer before signing anundisclosed one-year deal, collected 19 points (nine goals and 10assists) and had a plus-nine rating in 14 games while leadingDallas to a 9-4-1 record, third best in the Western Conference.The 27-year-old American, who was also named to the 1998 UnitedStates Olympic Team Monday, ranks third in the league with 20points, trailing only Philadelphia's Eric Lindros and Colorado'sJoe Sakic. Modano, who has received two of the last three NHLPlayer of the Month awards after winning in March of last season,recorded six multiple-point games in October. He tallied hisfourth career hat trick in a 7-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawksand collected three assists in a 5-4 come-from-behind win overthe Calgary Flames. He also leads the league in short-handedgoals with two. Modano edged Lindros, St. Louis goaltender GrantFuhr and Detroit netminder Chris Osgood to win the award.

Devils rookie Elias garners NHL weekly honors

New Jersey Devils rookie right wing Patrik Elias, who helped theteam to three wins in as many games last week, Monday was namedthe NHL Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday. Eliasscored two goals in New Jersey's 5-0 whipping of the PhiladelphiaFlyers last week. He added two goals and an assist as the Devilsdrilled the Vancouver Canucks, 8-1, Thursday. He had anothermarker in a 3-1 victory over Washington Saturday. Elias, wholeads NHL rookies with six goals, is fourth among rookies withseven points. He edged out teammate and goaltender MartinBrodeur, who won all three games while allowing only two goals.Other players considered for the award included Islandersdefenseman Bryan Berard and Blackhawks right wing Tony Amonte.

Monday's results

                    1ST  2ND  3RD     FINAL                    ---  ---  ---     -----DALLAS               1    1    2        4MONTREAL             2    2    2        6
                    1ST  2ND  3RD     FINAL                    ---  ---  ---     -----VANCOUVER            1    2    0        3CAROLINA             2    2    1        5
               1ST  2ND  3RD  OT      FINAL               ---  ---  ---  ---     -----EDMONTON        1    1    0    0        2NY RANGERS      0    2    0    0        2
                    1ST  2ND  3RD     FINAL                    ---  ---  ---     -----PHILADELPHIA         4    0    1        5ST LOUIS             0    1    0        1

Atlantic Northeast Central Pacific

Atlantic

                   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   HOME    ROAD                  --- --- ---  ---   --   --   ----    ----PHILADELPHIA       8   5   3    19   48   40   5-3-1   3-2-2NEW JERSEY         8   4   0    16   41   23   6-1-0   2-3-0WASHINGTON         7   5   2    16   44   36   3-1-1   4-4-1NY ISLANDERS       6   5   2    14   40   33   3-3-0   3-2-2NY RANGERS         3   6   6    12   36   41   2-3-4   1-3-2FLORIDA            3   7   3    9    28   42   1-3-2   2-4-1TAMPA BAY          2   9   2    6    23   43   1-4-1   1-5-1

Northeast

                   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   HOME    ROAD                  --- --- ---  ---   --   --   ----    ----BOSTON             9   5   1    19   41   35   2-3-1   7-2-0OTTAWA             8   4   3    19   47   36   4-2-1   4-2-2MONTREAL           8   4   2    18   44   30   4-3-2   4-1-0PITTSBURGH         8   6   2    18   47   44   2-2-1   6-4-1BUFFALO            5   7   2    12   35   45   2-2-0   3-5-2CAROLINA           4   8   3    11   38   47   3-2-2   1-6-1

Central

                   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   HOME    ROAD                  --- --- ---  ---   --   --   ----    ----DETROIT            11  2   2    24   56   33   5-2-2   6-0-0ST LOUIS           11  3   2    24   51   34   8-2-1   3-1-1DALLAS             9   5   2    20   50   40   4-2-0   5-3-2PHOENIX            6   5   2    14   41   36   5-2-1   1-3-1CHICAGO            5   10  0    10   27   41   4-5-0   1-5-0TORONTO            3   7   2    8    25   39   1-4-1   2-3-1

Pacific

                   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   HOME    ROAD                  --- --- ---  ---   --   --   ----    ----COLORADO           7   2   6    20   49   38   4-0-4   3-2-2ANAHEIM            5   5   4    14   32   35   2-3-2   3-2-2LOS ANGELES        5   6   4    14   48   44   3-3-0   2-3-4EDMONTON           5   7   2    12   29   43   3-4-1   2-3-1CALGARY            3   9   3    9    39   50   3-4-1   0-5-2SAN JOSE           4  10   0    8    34   46   2-5-0   2-5-0VANCOUVER          3  10   2    8    36   55   2-4-2   1-6-0

LOS ANGELES AT NEW JERSEY     7:30VANCOUVER AT WASHINGTON       7:30TORONTO AT SAN JOSE          10:30
(TIMES LISTED ARE EASTERN)

Carolina Hurricanes -- Recalled goaltender Mike Fountain from theBeast of New Haven of the American Hockey League.
Colorado Avalanche -- Assigned left wing Yves Sarault and centerJosef Marha to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League.
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim -- Recalled defenseman Pavel Trnka fromthe Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League.
New York Rangers -- Recalled right wing Vladimir Vorobiev, centerMarc Savard and left wing Pierre Sevigny from the Hartford WolfPack of the American Hockey League.
Philadelphia Flyers -- Recalled goaltender Neil Little and rightwing Brantt Myhres from the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AmericanHockey League.
Toronto Maple Leafs -- Recalled defenseman Yannick Tremblay andgoaltender Marcel Cousineau from the St John's Maple Leafs of theAmerican Hockey League; assigned center Kevyn Adams to St John's.
Detroit Vipers (IHL) -- Loaned goaltender Marc Magliarditi to theFort Wayne Komets of the International Hockey League.
Baton Rouge Kingfish (ECHL) -- Announced forward Reed Low wasrecalled to Worcester of the American Hockey League.
Dayton Bobmbers (ECHL) -- Added right wing Sergei Olympiev to theroster.
Johnstown Chiefs (ECHL) -- Waived left wing Denis Lamoureux.
Louisville Riverfrogs (ECHL) -- Placed forward Jim Jensen on14-day injured reserve; placed defenseman Andrew Will onseven-day injured reserve; activated defenseman Ian Smith frominjured reserve.
New Orleans Brass (ECHL) -- Placed defenseman Bill McKay on14-day injured reserve.
South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL) -- Placed center Wayne Strachanon seven-day injured reserve; activated right wing Dan Fournelfrom injured reserve.