St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 25

0ft 5 APR 2 6 2000 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH April 26 2000 St Louis marathon returns The St Louis Marathon, absent from the local scene for a year, has been reincarnated as the Spirit of St, Louis Marathon, which will be run on Oct IS. D2 SOT 2000 nhl playoffs round one sharks 3, blues 1 (D -StolB S(ldi(l(o No excuse Up next The Sharks advance to face Dallas in the conference semifinals The series Sharks win 4-3 The game San Jose goalie Steve Shields stopped 21 of 22 shots on goal. Regular-season champ loses in opening round for first time since '91 Another postseason brings another flop for the lifeless Blues Owen Nolan struck the puck from just inside the red line, and it took off like a missile. The rising, sizzling shot must have made Roman Turek blink as he tried to track it.

The puck was on the Blues' goaltender in an instant. Turek, startled by the rocket's red Bernie glare, flinched as the blur landed behind him, threatening to burn a hole in' the back of the net. Nolan's goal, coming with 10.2 seconds remaining in the first period, turned on the tmmmmmmmmmm'-mmammmmmmmr 1 'V nil -J I i I i 1 By Dave Luecking Of the Post-Dispatch The San Jose Sharks scored the biggest upset in nine years in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, beating the Blues the NHL's regular-season champions on Tuesday mght at Kiel Center in the decisive Game 7. The score was 3-1. The Sharks won the series four games to three and advanced to the second round of the playoffs against the defending Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars.

The Blues face a long, long summer as the first Presidents' Trophy winners to lose in the first round since the Chicago Black-hawks lost to Minnesota in 1991. The Blues got off to a horrendous start, playing timid and tight in the biggest game of the season. Not even Scott Pellerin's bone-jarring hit on defenseman Brad Stuart 2 minutes into the game could wake the Blues out of their early slumber. Just 40 seconds later, grinder Ron Stern scored the game's first goal. In the left faceoff circle, Mike Eastwood beat Ron Sutter on a draw, but Sutter stepped around Eastwood and backhanded the puck to the point.

Marcus Rag-narsson's point shot hit goalie Roman Turek and deflected behind the net, where Stern corralled it and bounced it in off Turek's blocker hand at 2:45. The goal took the crowd out of the game, and San Jose took control of the game. A high-sticking penalty on Al Maclnnis put the Blues in danger of falling behind 2-0, but Brad Stuart hit the post and Turek stopped two good chances by Vincent Damphousse as the Blues killed the penalty. The Blues got their first shot on goal against Steve Shields when Maclnnis emerged from the penalty box and swept a weak backhand at the net 6:06. The Sharks controlled the play, outshooting the Blues 9-3 before the Marcus Ragnarsson tripped Scott Young at 16:37.

Shields stopped two drives by Maclnnis and made a big stop on Marty Reasoner, preserving the 1-0 lead. Just when it looked like the Blues might escape the period down only 1-0, Dave Lowry knocked captain Chris Pronger off the puck at the right point and sent the puck ahead to Owen Nolan in the neutral zone. The play looked harmless enough as Nolan blasted a 65-foot slap snot, Turek misplayed the puck, and it deflected into the net off See Blues, D3 CHRIS LEE POST-DISPATCH Sharks winger Owen Nolan put the Blues in a 2-0 hole near the end of the first period by scoring on a slap shot from the neutral zone. red light and gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead after the first 20 minutes. The San Jose captain could have just as well turned off the lights on Tuesday night at Kiel Center, because the Blues' season was over.

The fans couldn't move. It was a stunning goal, delivered with a sniper's cold-hearted precision. The Blues couldn't recover from Nolan's nuclear strike, and after finishing off the Blues in a 3-1 victory, San Jose danced off the ice and into the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Blues, in full compliance with the franchise's weak postseason tradition, will go home early and quietly. Again.

Please, no whining. No gripes over the officiating. No yapping about the Sharks' butcher-shop tactics. There will be no mewling over lucky bounces, fluke goals, or near misses. No caterwauling over Pavol Demitra's injury.

Those excuses are as worthless as the Presidents' Trophy now. They are as meaningless as the Blues' regular-season resume. The Blues, champions of the long and devalued NHL exhibition season, have flunked another playoff test. For the 14th consecutive season, they've failed to get beyond the second round. For the sixth time since 1986, the Blues couldn't even reach the second round.

But this was their most embarrassing, and humiliating, playoff flop. Because this year was supposed to be different. This was the year the Blues would bust their mediocre pattern and break on through to the other side of the NHL postseason. The Blues entered the NHL playoffs with the league's No. 1 overall mark, having registered a franchise-record 114 points.

That, and about $1,000, will get them a few tickets to the next round of playoff games. The Blues couldn't survive the first round. They couldn't beat the No. 8 seed Sharks, who had a losing record during the regular season. The Blues, having saved face by winning Games 5 and 6, returned home to Kiel and keeled over.

The Blues were outworked early in Game 7, plain and simple. They only had two shots in the first 14 minutes, as San Jose dictated the tempo and controlled the action. The Blues couldn't handle the Sharks' desperation. The Sharks outhit the Blues 15-10 in the first period, and outscored them 2-0, and the Blues were too late in responding. Forgetting the earlier lessons of this series, the soft Blues apparently believed the Sharks would come to town and conveniently play dead.

The Blues underestimated their opponent again, but there would be no chance to recover this time. Their miscalcula-. tion ended in shame. How can a team be so emotionally unprepared to play something so crucial as a Game How could the Blues be so dull in the game's pivotal early minutes? This is a tremendous blow to coach Joel Quenneville's reputation as one of the game's bright young coaches. Here are the facts: In the NHL postseason, Quenneville has now lost four of sue series, with an overall record of 17-19.

See Miklasz, D3 Catcher pitches in for Cardinals in win 7 2 CARDS MILWAUKEE Matheny has two hits, drives in two runs in win over Brewers age with four runs scored and 10 driven in on this home stand. Matheny took his turn Tuesday, when he had two hits and drove in two runs. That extended his hitting streak to six games, during which he has eight hits in 17 at-bats. A .471 batting average in six games. Not too shabby for a guy who batted .219 in limited duty with the Blue Jays last year.

Strengthening their early grip on first place in the National League Central, the Cardinals improved their record at Busch Stadium to 10-4 this season including a 5-2 mark on this home stand. A crowd of 28,232 saw some power pitching from starter Dar-ryl Kile (4-1). He struck out 10 and scattered seven base run- Inside the game Edgar Renteria and Mark McGwire homered in the first inning. McGwire has homered in three straight games and has six home runs this season. Up next vs.

Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m. today, (Fox Sports Net) ners in seven innings. And they saw some power hitting, as Mark McGwire, Edgar Renteria and Ray Lankford hit home runs. See Cardinals, DS By Mike Eisenbath Of the Post-Dispatch The Cardinals turned on the power, as usual, in Tuesday's 7-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. But the little shocks from catcher Mike Matheny were just as important.

Supposedly the weak link in the lineup, Cardinals starting catchers have combined for a .391 aver TOM CANNAMTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS Mark McGwire hits his sixth home run of the season in the first inning Tuesday off Brewers pitcher Jason Bere. TUESMY'S BASEBAl! SCOREBOARD NBAPlaniffs Miami 84, Detroit 82 Heat lead series 2-0 San Antonio 85, Phoenix 70 Series tied 1-1 NHL Pludffs San Jose 3, Blues 1 Sharks win series 4-3 Illinois' lauja Catchings (left), who had 1,502 points and 825 rebounds in four years with the IIEni, was the 37th overall pick by Phoenix. WNBA selects Wauters No. 1 Ann Wauters, considered the best prospect in Europe, was the No. 1 pick in the Women's National Basketball Association draft, going to the Cleveland Rockers.

Wauters, a 6-foot-4 center from Belgium, averaged 13.8 points and 6.8 points for USV Orchies in France. Shell bring an inside threat to a Cleveland team that finished 7-2S last season. D2 American League Minnesota 6, New York 1 Baltimore 12, Chicago 6 Kansas City 7, Tampa Bay 6 Boston 6, Texas 3 Detroit at Anaheim, night Toronto at Oakland, night Cleveland at Seattle, night Baseball coverage, D4-5 National League Cardinals 7, Milwaukee 2 Montreal 10, Colorado 4 Arizona 10, Philadelphia 2 Pittsburgh 4, San Diego 3 New York 6, Cincinnati 5 Atlanta 1, Los Angeles 0 San Francisco 6, Florida 4 Houston 10, Chicago 7 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.