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Show DAILY Friday, February 10, 2006 HERALD NHL ROUNDUP Pair ofpower-play goals lift Atlanta over Ottawa THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. OTTAWA — The Atlanta Thrashers’ power-play and penalty-killing units produced their desired results while the Ottawa Senators’special teams had their problems, yaKovalchuk and Andy Sutton scored power-play goals and Kari Lehtonen made 34 saves, leading Atlanta to a 2-1 win over Ottawa on Thursday oval tied it late in the second with his 37th goal, which moved him ahead of the New York Rangers’ Jaromir Jagr for the leaguelead. Sutton put the Thrashers ahead midway throughthe third with his third of the season. MarcSavard and Niclas Havelid combinedto set up both power-play goals for Atlanta, which wonfor the second time in three games following a season-high seven-gamelosing streak. “Our powerplay was playing really well tonight, and our pen- alty killing did an unbelievable job,” Kovalchuk said. Thelow-scoring gamefeatured five of the NHL's top 10 scorers, including Kovalchuk, Savard and Marian Hossa, who failed to registera pointin his first gamein Ottawasince he and defenseman Greg De Vries weresentto Atlanta in the Aug. 23 trade that brought Dany Heatley to the Senators. “We worked hard,” said Hos- sa, who is third on the team in scoring behind Kovalchuk and Savard with 28 goals and 37 assists. “We know we haven't played our best the last few weeks.” The Thrashers, who beat the Senators 8-3 on Jan.2 in Heatley’s first.-game in Atlanta, went 2-for-5 with the man advantage. Ottawafailed to score duringits three power-play opportunities after going 0-for-8 in a 5-1 loss tothe teRaNgete the night before. teams tonight were ree difference,” said Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, who was in the penalty box serving his second holding penalty of the game whenSutton scored the go-ahead goal. “Fiveon-five, I think we werethe better team.It’s a toughloss.” >pres.5 Periens 3: a Tampa,Fla., John Gr: cameoff the bench aainnthe second period to make 28 saves, and Fredrik Modin had two goals for Tampa Bay. Grahamereplaced starter Sean Burke, who allowed three goals on eight shots,after Erik . Cole's goal put the Hurricanes ahead 3-2 at 4:08 of the second. Grahamestopped14 shots in the second, including Cole on a penalty shot at 11:39. Mods gare eeoue Bay Se first lead, at 4-3, on goal from the low slot that appeared to hit Carolina defenseman Aaron Ward with 9:48 left. Ruslan Fedotenko added an empty-net goal in the final minute. » Canadiens 3, Sabres 2: At Buffalo, N.Y., Alex Kovalev scored twice, including the winner 39 seconds into overtime,lifting the Montreal Canadiens. Radek Bonk hada shorthanded goal for the Canadiens, who appeared unfazed by news that goaltender Jose Theodore tested positive for a banned substance. The Canadiens improved to 3-0-1 in their last four while snapping the Sabres’ sixgame win streak. Jason Pominville, who scored with 27 seconds left to force overtime, and Jochen Hecht scored for the Sabres. » Devils 3, Bruins 2: At Boston, Brian Gionta scored his second goal in overtime and Martin Brodeur made 37 saves for the Devils. New Jersey snapped aa three-gameroadlosing streak whenSergei Brylin circled aroundthe net and connected with a streaking Gionta, who knocked the puck past goalie Tim Thomas while falling to the ice at 2:10 of overtime. 5 Avalanche 2, Wild 1: At St. After Todd Whitetied the score earlier in the third period, the Wild put pressure on Avalanche goalie David Aebischer and had several prime chances —as they did early in the game —totakethe lead. DRed 3, Predators 2: At Nashville, Tenn., Mathieu Schneider scored with6:31left and Detroit beat Nashville for a second victory in two nights over its Central Division rival. Robert Lang and Kris Draper also scored as the Red Wings, who won 6-0 in Detroit on Wednesdaynight, stretched their division leadto nine points withtheir fifth straight victory overall. D Stars 5, Coyotes 1: At Glendale, Ariz., Niko Kapanenscored threegoals, Sergei Zubov added three assists and the Dallas Stars beat the embattled Phoenix Coyotes. The loss was Phoenix's second straight since a criminal complaint was filed Monday accusing Coyotes assistant coachRick Tocchetof financing a gambling ring. Tocchet was granted an indefinite leave of absence by the NHL on Wednesday. TOM HANSON/Associated Press Atlanta's Marian Hossa, left, celebrates teammate Andy Sutton’s game-winning goal as Ottawa goalie Dominik Hasek looks on during third-period action in Ottawa, Canada, on Thursday. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE That's business: Al Michaels traded Pittsburgh’s Hampton sick from ABC to NBC for a cartoon bunny of officiating controversy es cain THE AS D PRESS NEW YORK — Al Michaels was traded from ABC to NBC for a cartoon bunny,four rounds of golf and Olympic highlights. OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT The rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a bunny created by Walt Disneyin the 1920s before he invented Mickey Mouse, weretransferred from NBC Universal to The Walt Disney Co. as part of the agreementto release the broadcaster from his concract with ABC and ESPN. “Asthe forerunner to Mickey Mouse andan important part of Walt Disney's creative legacy, the fun and mischie. vous Oswald is back where he belongs,at the home ofhis creator and amongthe stable of beloved characters created by Walt himself,” Disney president Robert Igersaid after Thursday's announcement Michaels had been with ABC for three decades and had been the play-by-play announcer for “MondayNight Football” for the past 20 years. “Oswald is definitely worth more than a fourth-round draft choice,” Michaels said, referring to what the KansasCity Chiefs gave the New YorkJets as compensation for releasing coach Herm Edwards from his contract. “I'm going to be a trivia answer someday.” A fourtime Emmy Award winner, Michaels agreed last Photo courtesy The Waitt Disney Co. This still provided by The Walt Disney Co. shows “Oswald the .” In exchangeforletting Al Michaels, whowill move to NBC and broadcast Sunday night NFL games, out of his contract with ABC and ESPN, NBCUniversal sold to The Walt Disney Co.therights to “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit,” a characterin silent cartoons made by Walt Disney from 1927-28. games on NBC with John Madden,his partner on ABC during the past four seasons. Aspart of the deal, NBC sold ESPN cablerightsto Friday coverageof the next four Ryder Cups through 2014, and granted ESPN increased usage of Olympichighlights through 2012 and other NBC properties through 2011. NBC,in turn, gets expanded highlight rights to ABC and ESPN events. NBCSports chairman Dick Ebersol said ABC Sports and ESPN president George Bodenheimercalled last month to July to stay with ABCIESPN as initiate talks, which culminated the Monday game switched to in an agreementTuesday. the cable networknext fall, but “Hetold me this incredible he asked to back out and instead story that Walt's first really will broadcast Sunday night NFL big production as a cartoonist for the cinema had keen a char- acter called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which was before Mickey,” Ebersolsaid. “And for reasonsthataren'tstill totally clear to me, Walt lost those rights. He didn't have the money to hold onto them.” Disneyandhis partner, Ub Iwerks,created the rabbit in 1927 at the request of Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Pictures, and made 26 silent cartoons, After Disney learned that Universal held the rights, he created a new character, eventually named Mickey Mouse, who resembled Oswald,but with shorter ears. Universal continued to make Oswaldfilms from 1929-38 — Mickey Rooney was one of his voices — and appeared in a comic book from 1943-62. “Weearn nothing from those rights; they've had no value in the United States,” Ebersolsaid. The Walt Disney Co. had been trying to reacquire the rabbit for some time. “When Bob was named CEO, he told me he wanted to bring Oswald back to Disney, and I appreciate that he is a man of his word,” Walt Disney's daughter Diane Disney Miller said in a statement. “Having Oswald around again is going to be lot of fun.” Michaels,61, began to think about hopping networks during the past season, realizing he wanted to work with Madden, producer Fred Gaudelli and director Drew Esocoff, who also are moving from ABC to NBC. “As the weeks wenton,I began to realize more and more how muchI was going to miss being with those people,” he said. “That's my family, that's my broadcasting family, and they're moving out of the house, and I wanted to move backin with them.” Cris Collinsworth, who had beenset to be NBC's play-byplay broadcaster,will instead be a studio analyst. Michaels wanted to finish the current NBA season as ABC/ ESPN'slead announcer. Heis being replaced by Mike Breen. Michaels’first television broadcast was on NBC, when Buffalo played Minnesota in October 1971. He'll get a chance to work withhis brother, who a producer of NBC's Olympic coverage. “Life comes full circle,” Michaels said. __John Nadel _ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KAPOLEI, Hawaii — Joey Porter passed on the chance to pile on Jerramy Stevens or weigh-in on the Super Bowlofficiating after taking part in his first Pro Bowlpractice. Casey Hamptonfilled in nicely for his usually outspoken teammate. Leading up to the Super Bowl,Porter called Stevens soft in response to Stevens saying he didn’t think Steelers running back Jerome Bettis would be leaving Detroit with the championship trophy. Pittsburgh won the Super Bow!21-10 and Stevens dropped several passes, though he did score Seattle's only touchdown. “It's hard to harp ona situation that’s over with,” Porter said Thursday. “It's tough enoughforhim to lose. I'm not going to dog him in the paper. Porteralso said he had no reaction to ongoing criticism of the officiating. “It really doesn't matter to me,” Porter said. “The game is over.” Hampton,a 28-year-old defensive tackle playing in his sec- ond Pro Bowl, had a muchdifferent take, expressing disgust with anyone who's comp! about the officiating. Several calls were questioned during and after the game, mostly by the Seahawks and their fans. “I don't care anything about that,” Hampton said. “People crying about what happened, thats criy: It doesn’t matter. You can’t talk about what might have happened. Two or three years from now,people won't remember who webeat in the Super Bowl, just that we won, “Wewentin feeling like we were going to win. Wegot that ring. Believe me, nobody on our team is worried about that. Whatis crying going to do? Whoeveris supposed to win iseels.” going to win. That's howit Seahawks coach Mike Holmgrenhas expressed dismay overthe officiating since the Super Bowllast Sunday,but neither he norhis players have publicly denigrated Pittsburgh's victory. Porter, Hampton, center Jeff Hartings, guard Alan Faneca and safety Troy Polamalu are Pittsburgh's Pro Bowlrepresentatives. Several high-profile Steelers, including Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward, Jerome Bettis, Ben Roethlisberger, Willie Parker and Antwaan Randle El, weren'tselected. “There were noreal stars on our team,” Polamalusaid. “I think that’s been the key to our success.” Said Faneca: “We're a teamteam.It's not one person,it’s not one group.It takes all of us to get the job done.” _Andthat's whatthe Steelers per Bow!title andfirst in 26 years. They were11-5 this year and the sixth andlast seed in the AFCplayoffs. But they beat Cincinnati,| and Denveron the road on their wayto the Super Bowl. Harvick: No one has filled Earnhardt’s shoes ates Harris ATED PRE DAYTONABEACH, Fla. — In at least one way, Dale Earnhardt may have been irreplaceable. Kevin Harvick, yeaa into his seat at Richard Childress Racing the week after the seven-time champion died in a crash during the 2001 Daytona 500, says no one has beenable to replace Earnhardt as a voice for the drivers in the NASCAR Nextel Cup garage area. Speaking Thursday during NASCAR's annual Media Day, Harvick said longtime Cup star Rusty Wallace filled some of that void until he retired last year. “With him gone, J can't tell you who is going to step up,” Harvick said. “It's like our biggest stars are involvedina lot ofother things and not taking|100 percent interest in the sport now. Without saying his name, Harvick made it clear that he believes four-time champion Jeff Gordon should be filling Earnhardt’srole as the unofficial drivers’ representative to NASCAR. criticism, saying ee eet ee eee “Everybody really looked up to him. and no one can really replace the Bikestad they enjoyed racing with him paryeeAbeer haat having dinner with him or not, they “I know have asked me, ara And he enjoyed that ‘Why haven't you done that? Why using his voice and his opinhaven't you done that?’ I've never really felt like it was my todo Lingtion NASCARofficial Jim that,” Gordon said. “I like over Hunter Earnhardt “unique,” vens cetye Deen mare Grave ce adding,“I don't know if there will ever pee repere but I don't know be another Earnhardt in that respect. fTtever have type of respect that “Earnhardt used to just amble over Dale had. to the (NASCAR) truck and walk “{ think weall play a certain role in in and sit down and say thingslike doing it together as drivers. It is our “What's going on? Are you looking at repens‘0 bring up certain issues so and so? You all need to take a look try to do our best to keep the sport at so and so.’ FrasBut got thesport is growing.It's “But Jeff Gordon does that. Tony’ it on himself to do that.” Richard Petty, the sport's biggest star before Earnhardt, Sea HeEee area when he was ri But Ky , Richard's son now an owner-driver, said the days when one driver could speak for everyone is history. “That dayis long gone,” he said. Serenareas before Earnhar: Now there are 80 manyoutside influences, ete: manufacturers and sponsors are much more involved than everbefore. dicta me, at 45 years old, could speak for (; ear-old) Kyle Busch, He has different aspirations Cardone Earriuech Wa ik ee on eae arta is fi with NA: bineil France and MikeHet Heton with the fans. wi dont think Dale chose tobe the leader,” Gordon said. “It just kind pete pentcnerie ik ality and his success on the racetrack kind of led to that. way Earnhardt handled things, i wis fat rid betta It just doesn’t . workin this model. I do believe it oc rerepanyea Kael cut, even if he had not Gordsheg ing, “The sport's diferent today than was and I don't Know if there's ever going to be one Soe area that feels tke theyvegtv . And I don't be.” Stewart does that. Jeff Burton Associated Press File Photo Kevin Harvick said no one has been able to replace Dale Earnhardt, above, as voice for the drivers in the NASCAR Nextel Cup garage area. a eee “There are people who should be gore orci ec bee Sou aos et mean,” he said. Cordon shrugged ofthe apparent Dale Jarrett are listened to. “I don’t think they present things the pa eee Hunter added. “Dale a wayofcutting throughall the stuff. He wouldn't tell them somet! until he had all the facts. It wouldn't be just his . It would be his ion on talking to a lot of ofl people in the garage. And it wasn't like other people altoNASCAR"Daleyou ook goin and talk to NA: and goals, |