St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 32

7 9 15 APR 17 131 IV ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH SECTION WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 1991 SPORTS linos BERNIE I MIKLASZ fj COMMENTARY .1 I'L. MUTM 7, i. 3-2 Victory Completes Comeback By Dave Luecking Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Detroit drove the Blues to limit The surprising Red Wings took the Blues to the final seconds of the final game of the Norris Division semifinals, but the favored Blues prevailed in the end. They eked out a 3-2 victory Tuesday night before a sellout crowd of 18,635 at The Arena in the scintillating seventh and decisive game.

Blues goalie Vincent Riendeau jumped up and down, his arms raised in celebration at game's end, and Rich Sutter gave Bob Bassen a big bear hug before the Blues', mob scene reached Riendeau In the goal crease. The teams exchanged the traditional postseries handshakes before the Blues left the ice to thunderous applause after surviving a first-round scare. "It's was a feeling of relief," Blues coach Brian Sutter said. "We worked so hard this season. To me, there's no satisfaction until you keep going on." The victory moved the Blues into the Norris Division finals for the fourth consecutive season and made them the eighth team in National Hockey League history to rebound from a 3-1 deficit to win a playoff series.

It also prevented the Blues from going the way of the Chicago Black-hawks, the NHL regular-season champs who were upset by the Minnesota North Stars in six games in the the other Norris semifinal. See BLUES, Page 8 Lit BLUES VS. RED WINGS Blues Win Series 4-3 Game 1: Red Wings 6, Blues 3 Game 2: Blues 4, Red Wings 2 Game 3: Red Wings 5, Blues 2 Game 4: Red Wings 4, Blues 3 Game 5: Blues 6, Red Wings 1 Game 6: Blues 3, Red Wings 0 Game 7: Blues 3, Red Wings 2 Respect: Blues coach Brian Sutter says he admires the play of Detroit's Bob Probert Page 60 Edmonton Wins: Edmonton tops Calgary In overtime 5-4 Page 6D Hull, Oates Make Their Magic Count We have seen the same scene of winter repeated so many times: The puck, momentarily owned by Adam Oates, is transferred to Brett Hull, who shoots to thrill with the most dangerous set of wrists in St. Louis since Stan Musial swung a bat. Oates to Hull.

A pass threaded, a I snap of those killer hands, and then a blur so fast that the goalie might not be able to track it on slow-motion replay. The puck is DOA in the net. Turn on the red light. Strike up the Budweiser song. Another collabora- tlon.

Another goal. A new memory. We've been spoiled. The lightning bolts have become redundant But late in the second period Tuesday night at. The Arena, Hull and Oates reminded us how extraordinary they are.

That's when Oates passed to Hull to save the Blues' season. The latest goal, their greatest, came at a time when the Blues needed Oates to Hull like never before. The hour was getting late in Game 7 of the Norris Division semifinals. The Detroit Red Wings had the audacity to show up and offer a contest. The Dread Wings of Game 1 were back, with Yzerman, Fedorov, Chevel-dae and a vengeance.

The Red Wings were making 1 8,635 fans terribly nervous, tricking the Blues into a dump-and-chase house of mirrors. And to think that this would be easy. After all, the Red Wings had been driven to the rink in a bus that i had a "Have A Nice Day" sign posted in the front window. Before the game, the Red Wings looked as wide-eyed as tourists from Iowa. The Red Wings figured to be less threatening than a Bo Schembechler team in the Rose Bowl, but packed some composure into their garment bags for this trip after two successive losses that erased their 3-1 series lead.

And the Blues were tight. They couldn't get their forechecking game going, couldn't force the Red Wings into the usual giveaways, couldn't even bait Bob Probert into taking a dumb penalty. An Oakland Avenue freeze-out. Just what Detroit needed to pull off the shocker. "It was a tentative game," Hull said.

"Not a lot of chances." In the final minute of the second period, the Red Wings were feeling stronger and more confident, about to return to their locker room to plot the strategy that would end the Blues' season. The game was tied 1-1. "If we go into the third period tied," Red Wings coach Bryan Murray said later, "then maybe there would have been some talk in the Blues' room that would have been disturbing." And then Probert carried the puck down the left side, weighing options, looking to make a play in the Blues' zone. The Red Wings had a chance to score. If nothing else time would expire in The period, and the Blues' anxiety level would grow.

Oates slid over to cut Probert off, displaying the dexterity of a pickpocket. In a flash, the puck belonged to Oates but only for an instant. Hull, as always, made a sneaky getaway. His destination was the Blues' bench. "I was going to go off the ice," Hull said, "when I saw Adam get the puck.

So I just turned and went up ice." With his back to Hull, Oates gunned a backhand pass through the neutral zone. It was a pass made through telepathy, a pass seemingly made possible only if Oates has eyes in the back of bis helmet The Red Wings would call it blind luck. But Oates, see, always has eyes for Hull. "As usual, Adam saw me," Hull said. "As usual, Adam made the play." And so the puck was on Hull's blade, and he had two strides on the pursuing Yves Racine.

They would race for the angle up the right side, sprint to the moment that would decide this series. Hull chugging forward, Racine catching up, Hull lurching ahead, Racine closing the gap. Just when it appeared that Racine would win the speed-skating duel and drape enough of his body on Hull to prevent a hazardous shot Hull got to a sweet spot in the right circle. Just enough room to let it rip. Racine lunged.

Too late. The wrists flexed. The puck flew. The blur ap-. peared before Tim Cheveldae's eyes.

What happened next was the Jack Gark home run in Dodger Stadium during the 1985 National League playoffs. The red light came on with 21 seconds remaining in the second period. Oates to Hull. Lightning bolt Bud-, weiser song. Hull's eighth goal of the series, 94th of the National Hockey League season.

Oates' ninth assist of the series, 99th of the season. A 2-1 lead for the Blues. The Blues would score again after the break, riding the Oates-to-Hull momentum, with Rich Sutter making it 3-1 on the second shift of the third period. Then the Blues would hold off the Red Wings for 18 pulsating minutes. The Red Wings came so close that the Blues needed to dial 911.

But it ended 3-2. The Hull goal stood. And so did the dream of a Stanley Cup. Oates to Hull, one chance, and the goal from no-' where. The biggest goal yet The story of the season.

The best part? More to Kevin ManningPost-Dispatch Rich Sutter of the Blues celebrates after scoring early in the third period Tuesday against Detroit. Sutter's goal gave the Blues a 3-1 lead, and they held on to win 3-2. A I 'Junkball' Mahler Wrecks Cardinals Pitches Expos To 4-1 Victory 4. .1 I 1 By Rick Hummel Of the Post-Dispatch Staff MONTREAL Joe Torre ran Into an old friend sort of Tuesday night when Rick Mahler and the Montreal Expos defeated the Cardinals 4-1. "My first recollection of Rick Mahler was opening day 1982, when he beat San Diego 1-0," Torre said.

"Then, five days later he came back with a 5-0 shutout. That was in the middle of our 13-0 streak." Both Torre and Mahler were with the Atlanta Braves, who won the National League Western Division title that year. Mahler finished 9-10, but the next year he found himself the ace of the Class AAA Richmond (Va.) agreed on a lot of things. My feeling was that his other stuff would be better if he threw more fastballs." "Junkball Mahler," as Cardinals catcher Tom Pagnozzl called him, threw plenty of fastballs In the early innings before switching to his off-speed stuff Tuesday night "He Impressed the hell of out of me," Torre said. Mahler held the Cardinals to one run and four hits in six Innings as he gained his first victory for the Expos.

Ken Hill was even with him through five innings but tired in the sixth, when the Expos scored three runs. Hill had escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the fifth, but then Mahler retired the Cardinals on six pitches in the sixth. "Kenny had to come right back out there again and that's what spelled the See CARDS, Page 5 staff. Reuters "I just didn't think he threw his fastball enough," Torre said. "We disagreed on a lot of things.

We respected each other, but we dis Cardinals third baseman Todd Zeile tags out the Expos' Tim Wallach as umpire Ed Montague watches in the second inning Tuesday night in Montreal. Baseball's Loss: Costas Frederickson Likes Storm's Chances Against Sockers By Alan Fredman Of the Post-Dispatch Staff It isn't true that the likelihood of Storm defender Mark Frederickson recording a hat trick is the same as that of Nancy Reagan and Kitty Kelley sitting down for an amicable chat. When Frederickson scored three goals in the Storm's 9-2 Western Division semifinal series-clinching rout of the Tacoma Stars on Saturday night at The Arena, it was his first hat trick in 475 Major Soccer League games, Including 26 playoff contests. It came from a guy who had scored only six of his 84 career goals during the 1990-91 regular season, his 10th in the MSL, and who had scored only three previous playoff NBC Announcer Busy, But Misses His 1st Love By Thomas D.EIias Scrlpps Howard News Service HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Quite simply, Bob Costas misses baseball.

It's obvious he does, even as he leans back in a chair, clearly enjoying the fact that he's in Los Angeles to visit with famous people while taping a few weeks worth of "Later," his late-night NBC-TV talk show normally filmed In New York. But this Is spring, so Costas would rather be broadcasting a baseball game. The trouble is, CBS-TV has baseball this year and for two more. And Costas is tied to NBC for that time. "I never get tired of baseball," he said.

"It's just endlessly interesting to me. It's an emotional boost I like standing around the batting cage, I like spring training, I like everything about the game, the whole ethos and atmosphere." So Costas lets folks know what he'll be thinking about when his NBC contract expires in 1993. The message to NBC: Buy baseball, or it may be bye-bye Bob. George Foreman Enormously popular BOXING Foreman-Holyfield At long last, the hype for a heavyweight title fight is emanating naturally from the fans and not from the boxing press agents. 2.

Ml I never get tired off baseball. It's just endlessly interesting to me.ff BOB COSTAS goals. "It's funny, actually. I have to laugh a little," he said of all the attention he's received for his feat "As a defender, you can play one of your best games and know when you do a good Job." But when a defender doesn score, Frederickson said, a l..