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When Brandon McMillan hit Chilliwack’s Matt Strong hard into the boards late Saturday at Prospera Place, it shattered the glass, gave the fans something to cheer about and time to politely bolt for the exits.

Evan Pighin scored twice and Matt Esposito made 22 saves, as the Chilliwack Bruins beat Kelowna 4-1 in Western Hockey League play, heaping more misery upon the shoulders of the struggling Rockets.

”We got on them early,” Pighin told the Okanagan Sunday.

”I think we had a strong 40 (minutes), and then we made smart plays throughout the third period. They got more shots, but we played well.”

The Rockets have now lost four straight and six of their last seven.

Elsewhere in the WHL, it was: Regina 2 Moose Jaw 1; Saskatoon 3 Brandon 2 (OT); Prince Albert 2 Edmonton 1; Medicine Hat 4 Lethbridge 2; Everett 5 Prince George 1; Swift Current 3 Red Deer 0; Tri-City 7 Spokane 2; Kootenay 3 Vancouver 1 and Seattle 3 Portland 0.

At Kelowna, B.C., David Robinson and Nick Holden also scored for the Bruins, who have five points from their last five games.

Tyson Barrie replied for the Rockets midway through the game. Torrie Jung made nine saves on 12 shots before being replaced early in the second.

Kris Westblom, who allowed a goal on his first shot against, made 10 stops in relief.

”Our discipline early on wasn’t where it should be against a team that’s got a very good power play,” Rockets coach Ryan Huska said. ”I thought we pouted a bit until halfway through the second period, and we felt sorry for ourselves.”

Chilliwack converted two of four power plays and generally frustrated the Rockets for a 2-0 opening-period lead.

Luke Schenn followed Brady Leavold into the box, and the Bruins capitalized on a 23-second two-man advantage. Brandon Campos faked a shot before hitting Holden with a terrific cross-crease pass, and he had an easy tap-in at the far post at 3:07.

Three minutes later, McMillan was tagged with a kneeing penalty, and an extra two minutes for arguing, much to the chagrin of 6,128 amateur referees in the crowd. Oscar Moller found a loose puck in the slot, and Pighin tipped it by Jung as it travelled through traffic at 6:35.

”I think we’ve got to relax, get back to basics and realize we can’t take those penalties if we want to be in games, especially that early on,” said Leavold.

The penalty parade continued in the second, and Chilliwack led 4-1 after 40 minutes.

Robinson chased Jung from the game 49 seconds into the period when he converted his own rebound at the side of the net. Westblom came into the game, and Pighin welcomed him with another man-advantage goal at 2:10.

Barrie finally broke through for Kelowna when he rang a point shot off the post at 11:33.

That was it, though, and the Bruins went into trap mode after that, generating just three shots in the final period. It wasn’t until 2:30 remaining, when McMillan found that soft spot on the glass, that anyone had reason to take note. But by that time, anyone still in attendance was beating a hasty retreat.

Pats 2 Warriors 1

At Regina, Jordan Eberle and Victor Bartley each had a goal and an assist to lead the Pats (35-18-3-2) to a victory over Moose Jaw (30-16-4-6).

Blades 3 Wheat Kings 2 (OT)

At Saskatoon, Ondrej Fiala scored the overtime winner and added an assist as the Blades (20-32-3-3) edged Brandon (32-19-2-2).

Raiders 2 Oil Kings 1

At Prince Albert, Sask., Jared Jagow scored the game winning goal as the Raiders (19-33-3-2) edged Edmonton (18-29-4-6).

Tigers 4 Hurricances 2

At Medicine Hat, Alta., Colton Grant scored twice and added an assist to lead the Tigers (32-18-5-2) to a win over visiting Lethbridge (35-16-2-3).

Silvertips 5 Cougars 1

At Everett, Wash., the Silvertips scored three goals in a seven-minute span of the second period to break the game open, and Everett (31-25-0-2) defeated Prince George (15-37-1-3).

Broncos 3 Rebels 0

At Red Deer, Alta., Mark Guggenberger made 23 saves to post his third shutout of the season as Swift Current (32-20-0-5) blanked the Rebels (16-35-4-2).

Americans 7 Chiefs 2

At Spokane Wash., Colton Yellow Horn scored four goals as Tri-City (40-12-1-2) walked over the Chiefs (39-10-1-4).

Ice 3 Giants 1

At Vancouver, Arnaud Jacquemet, Dustin Sylvester and Steele Boomer all scored as the Ice (33-18-4-2) upset B.C. Division-leading Vancouver(36-13-1-5).

Thunderbirds 3 Winter Hawks 0

At Seattle, Jacob DeSerres made 22 saves for the shutout as the Thunderbirds (28-18-5-2) blanked Portland (9-47-1-1).

Source: WHL: Bruins beat struggling Rockets

1. Gamboa / Calcaterra def. Herb / Petruzzi (9-8, 7-5)
2. Baffa / Lucido def. Steinert / Rosenberger (8-4)
3. Dwojewski / Weissend def. Sarson / Adams (8-3)

Source: Bucknell Women’s Tennis Picks Up 6-1 Win Over Quinnipiac

In her second career start Joyce Novacek recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds and Lauren Schober led five Bison in double figures with 17 points as the Bucknell women’s basketball team held off a pesky Navy squad for a 65-50 victory. The Bison have now won two straight games and are 10-12 overall and 5-3 in Patriot League play, just one game behind first-place Army and Holy Cross. The Mids fell to 5-18 overall and 1-7 in conference play.

Novacek, who has 25 rebounds over the last two games, hauled in eight boards in the first half. She had the first five rebounds overall for Bucknell, who outrebounded Navy 41-30. It was the fifth opponent this season the Bison have won the battle of the boards against and they are 4-1 in those games. Seven of Novacek’s caroms came on the offensive end. She also added a career-high 11 points, with eight of those coming in the second half when she made 4 of 5 field goals.

Bucknell overcame an 0-for-13 start from the field to claim the victory. It followed by making 10 of its next 16 field goals as it used a 14-0 run to take a 20-10 lead with five minutes left in the first half. Both teams then got hot, totaling 29 points over the final five minutes of the stanza. The Bison held a 27-17 lead with two minutes left, but Navy’s leading scorer Cassie Consedine tallied eight points in just over a minute, including a pair of 3-pointers, to help slice the Bucknell halftime advantage to 32-27.

Navy would not draw closer the rest of the game, although the Bison could not extend their lead over the team they have now defeated seven consecutive times, and 20 of the last 22 meetings.

A fast-break layup by Kristina Collymore after a steal put Bucknell up 40-30 and forced the Mids to call a timeout. Emily Cordle scored on a jumper from the top of the key and Consedine hit a pair of jumpers around the foul line to cut the Bison lead to 42-36, the closest score of the second half. Bucknell’s defense, which forced 18 turnovers and had 10 steals, limited Navy to one field goal over the next six minutes as the Bison opened up a 54-40 advantage.

The final 15-point margin of victory equaled the largest of the game for Bucknell, which led the final 28 minutes of play.

The Bison placed five players in double figures for the second time this season, led by Schober’s 17. Hope Foster, Kesha Champion, who went over the 900-point mark for her career, and Taylor Phillips added 10 apiece.

Schober played a solid all-around game, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists while not committing a turnover. Foster added eight rebounds, while Phillips came off the bench to hit a pair of key 3-pointers in her 27 minutes of play.

After starting 0-for-13 from the field, Bucknell finished the first half 12 of 34. It continued its strong shooting in the second half, going 15 of 28 (53.6 percent). The Bison were 27 of 49 (55.1 percent) over the final 33-plus minutes of play.

Navy, which lost for the eighth time in its last nine games, outshot Bucknell in the first half, connecting on 10 of 25 (40.0 percent) of its field goals, but it fell to 10 of 29 (34.5 percent) in the second half. Overall, the Mids made 37.0 percent of their field goals.

Consedine led Navy with 14 points and six rebounds, while Kalen Kropa added a career-high 13 points and a season-high eight assists. Only one other Midshipmen (Cordle) had more than four points.

Bucknell, which is in the midst of its second winning streak of the season, will wrap up its two-game homestand Wednesday night against American. Tip off for the game is at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison upended the Eagles 67-64 in overtime at Bender Arena last month.

Source: Bucknell Women’s Basketball Holds Off Navy for 65-50 Victory

SAN FRANCISCO — Kirk Radomski, the former New York Mets clubhouse attendant, doesn’t have a smoking needle. He never witnessed Roger Clemens being injected with steroids. Nor did he ask Brian McNamee, Clemens’ former personal trainer, what he did with the performance-enhancing drugs Radomski supplied him.

But with the seven-time Cy Young Award winner and McNamee primed for a showdown on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and engaged in a vicious he-said, he-said battle over McNamee’s allegations that Clemens used the drugs, Radomski strongly believes that McNamee is telling the truth.

“I’m defending Brian, that is right,” Radomski told ESPN.com. “I believe him over Clemens and his lawyers. I think he is very believable. He was a cop. He knows the consequences of lying. He has more to lose than to gain by lying.”

Federal investigators learned through Radomski, who was sentenced to probation Friday for his role in distributing steroids to major league players, that McNamee was one of his steroids customers and a possible subdistributor. McNamee later told investigators he injected Clemens at least 16 times with steroids and human growth hormone. Clemens and his legal team have aggressively denied the allegations.

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Richard Drew

Kirk Radomski, right, former assistant equipment manager for the Mets, unpacks the team’s uniforms at spring training in this Feb. 17, 1989 file photo.

Radomski told ESPN.com that he often obtained the growth hormone from AIDS patients looking to sell a monthly supply of it for upwards of $1,600. He said they sought out bodybuilders such as himself in gyms or on the street.

He said he met McNamee, who like himself lived in the New York area, through a ballplayer. They occasionally met for lunch or pumped iron together. He also trained some of McNamee’s clients, mostly business types looking to stay fit.

Radomski worked for the Mets from 1985 to 1995, then became a personal trainer. He claims he didn’t begin finding steroids for players until after he left the club.

He said he has not spoken to McNamee since his own legal troubles began.

Radomski said he knew the performance-enhancing drugs sold to McNamee were intended for his baseball-playing clients, but he didn’t inquire about their identities.

“I knew who his guys were, but I never asked questions,” Radomski said. “I didn’t want to know. Can I assume? I can assume anything, but that is not my deal. He could have took the stuff and threw it out the window — what do I know? But if Brian is saying this stuff [about injecting Clemens and pitcher Andy Pettitte], then I have to take Brian for his word.”

Pettitte, a longtime friend and teammate of Clemens, has confirmed McNamee’s account of receiving HGH injections. The pitchers share the same agent, but Pettitte has been positioned to potentially damage Clemens’ cause in a deposition given to congressional lawyers last week and when he’s put under oath before Congress on Wednesday.

“This [Pettitte] is supposed to be a God-fearing man,” Radomski said. “I want to see what he says.”

But in his own discussions with McNamee about doping regimens, Radomski doesn’t recall McNamee speaking of Clemens or other specific players.

“Basically, he’d ask me how pitchers and position players should use different things,” Radomski said. “Or himself, when he had surgery and he wanted to heal. Because he has to train people, he has to be out there at all times.”

McNamee put himself in Clemens’ crosshairs when he signed a proffer agreement with federal prosecutors, stipulating that he could not be charged with steroid distribution as long as everything he told the prosecutors was truthful. He also was asked to cooperate with the baseball-commissioned steroids investigation led by former Sen. George Mitchell, which made public McNamee’s claim that he injected Clemens with steroids and growth hormone in 1998, 2000 and 2001.

BRISBANE stars Darren Lockyer and Karmichael Hunt will not follow Wayne Bennett out of Red Hill, quelling fears the Broncos are facing a player exodus.

The duo’s commitment to the Broncos came after it was revealed Brisbane skipper Lockyer would be consulted on which coach is the appropriate successor to six-time premiership-winner Bennett.

The Broncos face a $1 million retention battle in the coming months, with Sam Thaiday, Corey Parker, Joel Moon, David Stagg, Steve Michaels, Michael Ennis, Ben Hannant, Darius Boyd and Rodney Davies still without contracts for next year.

Maroons hopeful Hannant underscored the contractual headaches ahead for Broncos boss Bruno Cullen on Thursday when he said Bennett’s successor would play a "big part" in whether he remained at Red Hill.

Off contract at the end of next year, Lockyer is the jewel in Brisbane’s crown and his agent George Mimis revealed the Test captain would begin assessing his career options over the next six months.

Lockyer is rumoured to have a get-out clause he can activate if Bennett leaves the Broncos - but Mimis maintains Brisbane’s most capped player is going nowhere.

"Darren is locked into the Broncos until the end of 2009 and he is committed to the club," Mimis said.

"Wayne Bennett has been Locky’s one senior coach during his career and Locky has learned a lot from Wayne but I don’t think their relationship will change his career path.

"He’ll still continue on full-steam ahead at the Broncos, whether that’s with or without Wayne. Wayne’s departure won’t alter his decision-making process.

"Over the next six months we will develop a view beyond 2009 from a career-planning perspective for Darren.

"Locky has thoroughly enjoyed playing football under Wayne. But, whoever the club signs, Darren will embrace the new regime just as much."

Lockyer’s commitment is shared by Hunt, who is off contract at the end of next year.

Hunt’s agent David Riolo said Bennett’s impending exit would have no repercussions for the future at the Broncos of the Maroons custodian.

"Karmichael is a big fan of Wayne but he’s got another two years on his contract," Riolo said.

"He’s happy at the Broncos, he won’t be going anywhere."

While Lockyer is on deck at Brisbane for two more seasons, a career swan song in England remains a strong possibility.

Lockyer declined to comment on Bennett’s departure but said last September a stint in Super League was an increasing attraction following a trip to the UK to promote the World Cup.

"Thinking about it (finishing in the UK) now, it’s something that appeals to me - not only because of the football experience," Lockyer said.

"I’ve got two years at the Broncos, so until midway through that last season (2009), I don’t know where I’ll be at. Whether I want to continue playing is another one.

"I started playing first grade with the Broncos at 18, and most young people get to travel before they settle down.

"While I’ve been able to see a bit of the world with rugby league, I’ve never really been able to travel for a long period of time, so that’s the other appealing part of it."

Mimis said: "There’s always expressions of interests in Locky from Super League clubs. It’s about the timing for Darren.

"Darren showed an interest in the game when he was over there last year and the next step is determining when that might be, if at all.

"But he is definitely with the Broncos until the end of 2009 and that won’t change."

The Sunday Mail (Qld)

Source: Big names vow to stay at Red Hill

Sooners record seven top-five finishes at Adidas Classic.

Feb. 9, 2008

Complete Results

LINCOLN, Neb. –  While the majority of Oklahoma track athletes were in New York City, a small group of Sooners traveled to Lincoln, Neb., for the Adidas Classic Saturday and came away with seven top-five finishes at the event hosted by the University of Nebraska.

Dominique Jacobs led the way, finishing second in the women’s long jump with a top mark of 18 feet and eight inches (5.69 meters).

Katherine Johnson tied Rachel Hakk of South Dakota State for fourth in the high jump with a top jump of 5-5.00 (1.65).

Shardae Boutte’s personal win streak came to end in Lincoln as the senior jumper finished fourth in the long jump, posting a mark of 23-3.50 (7.10). Coming into the meet Boutte had recorded a win in either the long jump or triple jump in every meet he had competed in this year. Boutte did not compete in the triple jump Saturday.

Tydree Lewis usually competes in the horizontal jumps but switched events Saturday, running in the 60-meter dash where he finished fifth with a time 6.95.

Frankie Green matched his season high of 47-9.00 (14.55) en route to a fifth-place finish in the triple jump.

Kevin Snyder and Paul Gill took fifth and sixth, respectively, in the high jump. Both recorded a top jump of 6-8.75 (2.05) with Gill recording a miss at an earlier height.

Oklahoma’s next competition comes next weekend, Feb. 15-16, in Fayetteville, Ark., with the Tyson Invitational.

Source: Jacobs Takes Silver in Long Jump

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Many people questioned New York Islanders owner, Charles Wang’s sanity when he took the team’s backup goaltender, Garth Snow and made him the team’s General Manager finally replacing Mike Milbury.  While that move seemed strange, the move just prior to that was even more unusual when Wang signed starting goaltender, Rick DiPietro to a 15-year deal, and made Ted Nolan head coach.  While the sense of DiPietro’s contract has been debated, Nolan has been rather effective as the bench boss of the Islanders.  This season, the scoring has been hard to come by and the Islanders are sitting at the bottom of a very tough Atlantic division.  Meanwhile back in the State of Hockey, the team has weathered two very tough home losses.  The first a late game collapse that saw the team lose to Detroit, and then a 1-0 loss at the hands of the Dallas Stars.  The Wild should be a bit “angry” tonight, so will they use that to earn a victory over the struggling Islanders tonight?

From the drop of the puck, the game had a furious pace.  Both teams were skating with lots of intensity, and the game would have the Wild and Islanders trading rushes up ice.  Minnesota seemed to want to get on the scoreboard early, as they were swarming in the Islanders’ zone.  The Wild were content to set up Kurtis Foster who was launching slappers from the point but few of the big blasts actually ended up reaching the Islanders’ Rick DiPietro.  Minnesota’s pressure would yield an Islanders’ penalty when Blake Comeau earned a double-minor for high sticking that cost Mark Parrish a tooth.  Parrish calmly bent down and picked up his loose chicklet and skated to the bench shaking his head, before showing off his new ’smile’ to his teammates.   The Wild were very patient on the man-advantage, perhaps too patient as the team did not exhibit good, quick puck movement which allowed the Islanders penalty killers to get into the shooting lanes.  Making matters worse the Wild would lose their power play when Marian Gaborik hooked an Islanders defender.  The Islanders would get a good cycling shift from its line of Ruslan Fedotenko, Trent Hunter and Josef Vasicek.  This line of big forwards were able to operate down low and created some space that gave Trent Hunter the chance to rip a wrister that narrowly missed the Wild’s net.  Minnesota would respond with a good cycling shift of its own, from Branko Radivojevic, Stephane Veilleux, and Eric Belanger.   The Wild would continue their pressure and Veilleux would slide a pass back to a waiting Kurtis Foster who would launch a one-timer that DiPietro clearly didn’t see until it was in the net to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.  After the goal, Minnesota would ease up and New York was able to create a little bit of pressure on Niklas Backstrom.  The shots were even at six apiece but Minnesota was creating more high quality offensive pressure going into the 2nd period.

In the 2nd period, it did not take very long for the Islanders to tie the game, as former Michigan Wolverine star Mike Comrie would work a 2-on-1 where he was able to deliver a perfect saucer pass to Bill Guerin who buried the chance knotting the game 1-1.  The Islanders goal seemed to be the wake up call the team needed to start skating again.  The Wild started skating well again but at times they would try too many passes; with a classic example being Kurtis Foster leading a 3-on-1 rush only to  try an ill-advised drop pass to no one.  The Isles big line of Hunter, Fedotenko and Vasicek would again start working the puck down low and create a variety of close chances that were coming uncomfortably near to giving New York the lead.  The State of Hockey would struggle to find away to create offense, and so it would be their energy line that would create it.  Some good work down low by Mark Parrish would allow him to find Foster with a pass who quickly pushed it up to James Sheppard.  Sheppard, working near the dasher and he’d skate just underneath the right faceoff circle looking to pass but no one was open so he flung a wrister that somehow found it through a mass of bodies  and into the net to give the Wild a 2-1 lead (Rolston would later get credit for that goal).  With the 18,568 in attendance roaring, a great outlet pass allowed Brian Rolston to get behind the defense and he would race in on a breakaway.  Rolston would try to beat DiPietro on a wrister that he would block deflecting the puck high into the air but Islanders defenseman Radek Martinek would close his hand over the puck drawing a delay of game penalty.  On the power play, Minnesota tried to work the puck back to Foster but overall they were unable to generate much pressure with the man advantage.  The Islanders, meanwhile did their best to outwork the Wild.  Sean Bergenheim and Miroslav Satan would create great forechecking pressure, even generating a few shots on goal and Minnesota had to feel it lost a little of the momentum created by the Sheppard goal, giving them a 2-1 lead going into the 3rd period.

In an eerie parallel to the previous period the New York Islanders would waste little time to tie the game.  Mike Comrie would skate into the Wild zone and work feint at a short-side chance and then move behind the net before working the puck to the front of the net where Bill Guerin was there to fire the puck that Nick Schultz stopped but Andy Hilbert was able to chop it over the spwraling Backstrom to tie the game, 2-2.  The goal came just 27 seconds into the period.  The Wild would try to counter attack as Marian Gaborik tried to beat DiPietro with a wrister he fired from the high slot that the Islanders goaltender would deflect to the wall.  The game would see the two teams trading rushes with one another.  The Wild would try pinch a bit with its defense and this would allow the team to sustain offensive pressure, but it would also make the team rather vulnerable to the stretch pass.  One such instance was a nice pass that found Jeff Tambellini all alone for a breakaway.  Tambellini would move in and give a deke as he tried to finish by lifting a backhander but the sprawling Backstrom lifted his leg ever so slightly and came up with the huge save.  The game seemed to crank up in terms of physicality, as Todd Fedoruk would deliver a big hit at Trent Hunter’s expense, Hunter would try to return the favor but just bounced of the ‘Fridge.’  A fairly marginal slashing call on Sean Hill would give the Islanders a power play, but Minnesota’s penalty killers again stood tall to preserve the tie.  Minnesota would try to renew the attack, and Marian Gaborik would give a great cross-ice feed to Pavol Demitra who’d fire a shot that DiPietro would stop and Demitra would then give a no-look backhanded pass to Sheppard who fired a shot that hit the right post and out and the Islanders goaltender would cover.  The Islanders would counter attack with a great forechecking shift with its power line but Backstrom would be up to the task, yet the shift gave them some momentum.  After an initial rush by the Wild the Islanders would counter attack and former Wild defenseman Andy Sutton would give a pass to a racing Sean Bergenheim and his initial chance appeared to be stymied but Bergenheim would lift a shot off the crossbar and in to give New York a 3-2 lead.  Minnesota would respond as Pierre-Marc Bouchard would forward a pass to Mikko Koivu who would wind up and blast a shot on DiPietro that he’d stop but he’d give up a big rebound that Brian Rolston would pounce on to shovel the puck in a virtually empty net to tie the game, 3-3.  The closing minutes were frantic as both teams did not want to go to overtime; yet just under 2 minutes left a terrible hooking call on Mikko Koivu would give the Islanders a late power play.  Once again, Minnesota’s penalty killers did a good job of pressuring the puck carrier sending the game to overtime.

In overtime, the Wild were able to kill off the closing seconds of the power play and Minnesota seemed to be the team that wanted to earn the win more.  Minnesota started out fairly patient, but with its most potent forward tandem of Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra  it was not a big shock to see them create some chances.  A great 2-on-2 rush had Marian Gaborik nearly splitting the defense but he could not get a pass to his fellow Slovak.  Yet, they would not be denied as Marian Gaborik would lull the Islanders defense to sleep before going full-throttle to put a puck near the crease that Brent Burns was able to bury the loose puck to give Minnesota a huge 4-3 win.

Niklas Backstrom had a fairly decent game, making 26 saves including some real clutch ones in the 3rd period to give the Wild a chance to tie the game.  The save on Tambellini was incredible, and quite literally a game saver for the Wild.  Minnesota should take a lesson from its last two goals; both coming off of rebounds.  Too often the team was working for the perfect shot when it needed to fire pucks on DiPietro and work for rebound chances.  Rookie James Sheppard had a strong game, and by all rights the Wild goal in the 2nd period really should’ve been his as he continues to show why the team drafted him 9th Overall in 2006.

The two points were huge for the Wild and it will keep Minnesota atop the Northwest Division standings.  Hopefully the Wild can enjoy the good feelings, but then refocus for what is shaping up to be a big game against the St. Louis Blues tomorrow night.  The Blues are a team on the outside looking in, and they’ll want nothing more than try to gain some ground by beating Minnesota so the Wild cannot afford to overlook former Minnesota North Stars Assistant Coach Andy Murray’s squad.

Wild Notes:

~  Wild roster tonight was as follows: Marian Gaborik, Pavol Demitra, Brian Rolston, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Mark Parrish, Eric Belanger, Mikko Koivu, Branko Radivojevic, Stephane Veilleux, Todd Fedoruk, James Sheppard, Aaron Voros, Kim Johnsson, Brent Burns, Sean Hill, Nick Schultz, Kurtis Foster, Martin Skoula and Josh Harding backed up Niklas Backstrom.  Healthy scratches were Matt Foy, Keith Carney and Petteri Nummelin.  Derek Boogaard i out of the lineup with injuries.

~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by “Let’s Play Hockey” were: 1st Star Brian Rolston, 2nd Star Kurtis Foster, 3rd Star James Sheppard

~ Brent Burns became the 3rd defenseman in Wild history to score at least 10 goals in a season joining Kurtis Foster (2005-06) and Lubomir Sekeras (2000-01).  Burns also joins the double digit goal scoring club this season, joining Marian Gaborik (28), Brian Rolston (22), Mark Parrish (13), Eric Belanger (12), Pierre-Marc Bouchard (11), and Pavol Demitra (11).

~ The Girls High School Hockey teams are in the midst of Sectional play, and the Eden Prairie Eagles trounced Bloomington Jefferson, 6-2 in a game last night in Eden Prairie.  The Eagan Wildcats, led partially by U.S. Olympian Natalie Darwitz (and Eagan High School alum) managed to hold on to defeat rival Burnsville Blaze 2-1.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 9th, 2008 at 7:58 pm and is filed under 2007-08 Game Reports & Previews, Minnesota Hockey News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: Hockey Day in Minnesota: Wild win 4-3 overtime thriller over Islanders

Rafael Van der Vaart

BERLIN - Hamburger SV and Bayer Leverkusen drew 1-1 Saturday in a match that did little for either team’s chances of winning the Bundesliga.

Netherlands captain Rafael van der Vaart put Hamburg ahead with a 27th-minute volley, and Leverkusen equalized through Manuel Friedrich in the 60th with a header but stayed winless against the top five teams in the standings.

Huub Stevens, the coach of fourth-place Hamburg, said the draw was a lost opportunity for both teams.

”The teams at the top are probably relieved,” Stevens said. ”If someone had won, we could have still mixed it up (for the title). But no one won.”

Bayern Munich leads with 39 points and faces second-place Werder Bremen on Sunday. Bremen is three points back, while Leverkusen and Hamburg each have 34.

Leverkusen came into Saturday’s game with six wins in seven games, stirring talk that the club’s mix of young stars and veterans could emulate last year’s surprise champion Stuttgart.

Leverkusen dominated the opening 20 minutes in front of its home fans and forced Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost into three top saves at both posts.

But Van der Vaart sprinted forward to get his foot on Piotr Trochowski’s cross and stunned the home side with a goal against the flow of play.

The shot went in off the inside of the right post for his 10th goal of the season, tying him with Bayern’s Luca Toni for the Bundesliga lead.

”We had those 10 bad minutes,” Leverkusen’s Sergei Barbarez said. ”But for 75 minutes we were better. We deserved to win.”

Hamburg failed to win for the fifth straight match.

Stuttgart coach Armin Veh wrote off his team’s season after a 3-1 loss to Hertha Berlin dropped it into 10th place.

”We just have to let go,” Stuttgart coach Armin Veh said. ”We can’t do it, European play, with a performance like this.”

Germany forward Mario Gomez levelled the match for Stuttgart with a 40th-minute header, but the team fell apart when forward Marko Pantelic restored Hertha’s lead five minutes later with his second goal of the game.

Raffael scored Berlin’s final goal in the 49th to send Stuttgart to another one-sided loss after last week’s 4-1 against Schalke.

Veh has tried to shake up the team, and gave 19-year-old goalkeeper Sven Ulreich his Bundesliga debut.

Jan Rosenthal’s 87th-minute goal gave Hannover 96 a 2-2 draw against Karlsruher SC. That kept Karlsruhe, a small promoted club, sixth in the standings and fended off the eighth-place club, a challenger for UEFA Cup berths.

In other games, it was: Bochum 3, Cottbus 3; Nuremberg 1, Hansa Rostock 1; and Wolfsburg 2, Duisburg 1. On Friday, Frankfurt edged Bielefeld 2-1.

Source: GER: Hamburger SV, Leverkusen draw

• Wal v Sco report
• Wales reaction
• Fra v Ire report
• As it happened
• Photos
• Ita v Eng

Clerc was in sparkling form during the first half in Paris

France (19) 26
Tries: Clerc 3, Heymans
Cons: Elissalde 3

Ireland (6) 21
Tries: Penalty try, Wallace
Con: O’Gara
Pens: O’Gara 3

Vincent Clerc’s first-half hat-trick of tries gave France enough daylight to win at the Stade de France despite Ireland’s stirring fightback.

A turnover gifted Clerc his first score and the winger’s two other tries came after Irish mistakes.

Ahead 19-6 at the break, Cedric Heymans’ try increased the lead before Ireland hit back with a penalty try.

David Wallace’s try and a Ronan O’Gara penalty cut the gap to five but despite intense pressure, France held on.

Ireland started brightly but Aurelien Rougerie’s break forced the scrambling Irish defence to concede a penalty, although Jean-Baptiste Elissalde missed the chance.

Moments later, Julien Bonnaire crossed the try-line but he was held up by the Irish defence as he attempted to ground after running onto Heymans’ pass.

Ireland responded with Andrew Trimble’s charge putting the French defence under pressure in the 11th minute but a knock-on by John Hayes ended the opportunity.

A turnover in a ruck gifted France their opening try as Elissalde’s kick behind the Irish defence was gathered by Clerc who had the simple task of touching down.

After Elissalde had added the conversion, O’Gara’s quick reply from a penalty gave the Irish some respite but Clerc, the man who had broken Irish hearts at Croke Park last year, was at it again in the 19th minute.

Rob Kearney had initially failed to hold on to the restart and slack Irish midfield tackling enabled the barging David Skrela to set up Clerc for the simple finish.

Ireland squandered a glorious chance to hit back in the 27th minute after a turnover but Eoin Reddan’s wild pass meant that Girvan Dempsey was quickly gobbled up by the French defence.

O’Gara’s second penalty in the 29th minute undid some of the damage to cut France’s lead to 12-6.

But the Munster fly-half was at fault in the 37th minute as he was caught in possession and the turnover culminated with Clerc completing his hat-trick after Heymans’ pace had ripped apart the Irish defence.

Elissalde added the conversion and France led 19-6 at the interval.

Ireland’s Rob Kearney is tackled by Damien Traille

Heyman ran in France’s fourth try after Brian O’Driscoll’s charge-down of a Skrela kick sat up perfectly for the full-back.

Despite trailing 26-6, the Irish, to their credit kept battling and sustained pressure resulted in Welsh referee Nigel Owens awarding a penalty try in the 58th minute.

The introduction of Mick O’Driscoll and Rory Best boosted the Irish pack as the French appeared to tire.

Amazingly, the Irish were back in with a glimmer of hope in the 61st minute when David Wallace barged his way over the French line as the home defence started to look decidedly vulnerable.

But crucially, O’Gara missed the conversion as France still led by more than one score at 26-18.

Ireland continued to put France under intense pressure and another great chance was squandered when Brian O’Driscoll’s pass failed to find a team-mate when a try seemed on.

There were only five points in it with six minutes left when O’Gara struck a superb long-range penalty.

Ireland produced intense pressure in the closing seconds and they drove at the French line in injury time, but the chance was lost and the home side were mightily relieved to hear the final whistle.

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Ireland: Dempsey; Murphy, B O’Driscoll (capt), Trimble, Kearney; O’Gara, Reddan; Horan, Jackman, Hayes, O’Callaghan, O’Kelly, Leamy, D Wallace, Heaslip.
Replacements: Best, Buckley, M O’Driscoll, Easterby, Stringer, P Wallace, Horgan.

France: Heymans; Rougerie, Marty, Traille, Clerc; Skrela, Elissalde; Mas, Szarzewski, Faure, Mela, Nallet, Ouedraogo, Dusautoir, Bonnaire.
Replacements: Servat, Brugnaut, Jacquet, Picamoles, Parra, Trinh-Duc, Floch.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Source: France 26-21 Ireland

2008-2009 Maryland Terrapins Football Schedule

Aug. 30   Delaware
Sept. 6   at Middle Tennessee State
Sept. 13   California
Sept. 20   Eastern Michigan
Sept. 27   at Clemson
Oct. 4   at Virginia
Oct. 18   Wake Forest
Oct. 25   NC State
Nov. 6   at Virginia Tech (Thu.)
Nov. 15   North Carolina
Nov. 22   Florida State
Nov. 29   at Boston College
   

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Source: 2008 Maryland Terrapins Football Schedule