NHL
HARTNELL’S HAT TRICK POWERS FLYERS
Scott Hartnell of the Philadelphia Flyers didn’t get to see hats flying onto the ice the way he would have liked. But that’s what happens when you score a natural hat trick on the road in the NHL—the opposing team’s fans rarely celebrate on your behalf.
Instead, Hartnell received the satisfaction knowing that his three goals led the Flyers past the New York Rangers 6-2 on Thursday night.
Hartnell tallied three consecutive goals to power the Flyers to their third-straight victory, and sixth win in seven games.
Flyers goalie Antero Nittymaki registered 39 saves to earn the victory.
The Rangers are now 0-4-
NHL SCORES
New Jersey 4, Carolina 1
Pittsburgh 4, Tampa Bay 1
St. Louis 4, Dallas 2
San Jose 3, Vancouver 1
Montreal 5, Boston 2
Edmonton 5, Phoenix 2
Los Angeles 5, Toronto 2
Ottawa 3, Buffalo 2 – OT Shootout
Florida 3, Atlanta 2 – OT Shootout
Minnesota 6, Detroit 5 – OT Shootout
NBA
UNEVEN PISTONS BEAT SPURS IN SA
Eleven in a row. Then two straight losses, including a disappointing showing in Dallas the night before. That’s not a formula for success as you head into San Antonio to play the Spurs. Yet that’s what the Pistons had in their background as they journeyed to the Alamo city to take on the Spurs, who had lost just twice at home.
When the dust settled, Detroit was walking out of the AT&T Center with a nifty 90-80 victory and their mini losing streak behind them.
The Pistons did their damage early, jumping out to a 30-15 lead after one quarter. The teams pretty much traded baskets the rest of the way.
Rasheed Wallace had a big-time game for Detroit, scoring 23 points and grabbing 15 rebounds to lead the way. Richard Hamilton scored 18 and Tayshaun Prince added 17.
As usual, Tim Duncan put up some big numbers—24 and 15—but he didn’t get much help. Two other players had double figures, but just barely. Tony Parker had 12 and Jacque Vaughn had 10.
The Pistons own the second-best record in the league at 27-9 and the Spurs are now 23-11.
OTHER NBA SCORES
Sacramento 116, Memphis 113
Utah 108, Phoenix 86
NBA NOTES
• No Nash. No Hill. No Marion. No fun for the Phoenix Suns. With those three sidelined, the Suns scored just 12 third-quarter points and just 86 against the Jazz—43 points fewer than they had Wednesday night.
• Grant Hill will be out for a couple of weeks as he heals up from having his appendix removed on Wednesday.
• The Cavs have King James. The Kings have King Salmons. They guy is on fire. He scored 28 for Sacramento on Thursday.
NFL
NFC PLAYOFFS:SEATTLE SEAHAKWS (12-5) vs. GREEN BAY PACKERS (13-3)
Wow, these two teams sure have a lot of connectedness! First, current Seattle coach Mike Holmgren coached the Packers to their last Super Bowl Championship. Current Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was once Packers signal caller Brett Favre’s understudy in Green Bay.
Can the pupil (Favre) rise up and beat his former coach (Holmgren) to get to the NFC Championship Game since both worked together? That’s what NFL fans will be treated to on Saturday.
Both teams throw the ball with effectiveness. Both teams struggled to run the ball effectively at different points during the season. Both teams have the potential to advance. Yet only one team will—the Green Bay Packers.
SS Pick: Green Bay 27, Seattle 17
NEW YORK GIANTS (11-6), DALLAS COWBOYS (13-3)
The last time the Dallas Cowboys won a playoff game was 1996. To end this drought, the Cowboys will have to beat their NFC East rival the New York Giants for the third time this season.
To beat the Giants, who looked impressive in their opening round win, the Cowboys will need a big game from young signal caller Tony Romo. While the second-year quarterback had a great season, he has yet to play well in December and January games. That could change this time around as Romo is a year older, and has his favorite target Terrell Owens appears healthy and ready to play.
Pressure defense and strong play from QB Eli Manning were the keys to the Giants’ victory over Tampa Bay last weekend.
Look for first-year Cowboys coach Wade Philips to get his first NFL playoffs coaching victory.
SS Pick: Dallas 24, New York Giants 20
AFC PLAYOFFS: SAN DIEGO CHARGERS (12-5) vs. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (13-3)
The Chargers are a very different team now than they were when they started the year 1-3. All-World running back LaDainian Tomlinson is a force once again, quarterback Philip Rivers has settled down and is playing good football, and the Chargers defense has solidified. That’s good, because the Chargers will need all of those key pieces if they are to beat the defending Super Bowl Champion Colts.
While Indy often struggles with the 3-4 defense the Chargers employ, they still have too much offensive firepower to be overlooked. And let’s not fail to mention the Defensive Player of the Year, Bob Sanders. He is a difference maker for the Colts.
While San Diego has played well against Indy in recent meetings, the Colts have too much at stake to lose this early in the postseason.
SS Pick: Indianapolis 30, San Diego 20
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (12-5) vs. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (16-0)
The New England Patriots had perhaps the best season of an NFL team in history. Not only did they go undefeated during the regular season, they also set new NFL standards for points (589) and touchdowns (79) in a season. Yet all of these marks would have little lasting significance if they were not part of a Super Bowl season. The quest begins now!
The Jacksonville Jaguars have played excellent football during the regular season’s home stretch. Quarterback David Garrard led his team with great efficiency (18 TDs/3 INTs). Veteran running back Fred Taylor had a renaissance year (
The Jags have had an impressive season. But here’s where it ends.
SS Pick: New England 38, Jacksonville 24
SS PICKS
Playoffs: 3-1
FACT OF THE DAY
PLAYOFF QUARTERBACKS
As a general rule, the best teams in the NFL are led by the best quarterbacks in the league. Who can argue with Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, et al? Here’s a look at the quarterback ratings of the eight starting quarterbacks in action this weekend.
Tom Brady, New England 117.2
David Garrard, Jacksonville 102.2
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis 98.0
Tony Romo, Dallas 97.4
Brett Favre, Green Bay 95.7
Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle 91.4
Philip Rivers, San Diego 82.4
Eli Manning, New York Giants 73.9
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today’s sports news
FUTURE SHOCK
This just in. Riders in a time machine have just returned from the year 2018, and they have reported that on February
TWENTY?
Guess what the Saint Louis Billikens will be working on today in practice. Layups. Ten-footers. Jump shots. Threes. Anything that can have the word “shot” after should be on the Rick Majerus’ practice schedule today. His Billikens, who were 9-5 going into their contest with George Washington on Thursday, scored just 20 points against the Colonials. The big guys’ kids took 48 shots from the floor, and they connected on just seven of them. That’s 14 percent. Those are better numbers than Mike Huckabee had in New Hampshire, but they’re not numbers that will get you far on the basketball court. The Billikens attempted 19 three-pointers, and they only missed 18 of them. The good news was that they got better in the second half, scoring 13 of their points after intermission. The Billikens won their first three games this season and five of their first six, including scoring 91 points in a win over Houston Baptist. Saint Louis had won three straight before running into George Washington’s defense.
CHUCK SPEAKS
Chuck Knoblach has finally responded to the fact that his name is mentioned in the Mitchell report, and his response is an interesting contrast to how Roger Clemens has reacted. Most interestingly, Knoblach reportedly said, “I don’t want anything to do with baseball.” That’s a curious thing to say about a sport that made him famous. Perhaps he simply means that his career is over, and he has moved on to other things. The fact that he is a bit bewildered that he’s mentioned, especially since he hasn’t play for 5 years, further indicates that he thinks his inclusion is much ado about nothing. It just goes to show that everyone reacts in his own unique way to unusual circumstances such as these.
WHO IS HE?
Testing your knowledge of past stars -- taken from the pages of Sports Spectrum magazine.
THURSDAY’S MYSTERY PERSON
• Was a two-time All-American at Indiana University (1976-77)
• Played on the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers team that went 32-0 and won the national championship.
• Picked as the No. 1 selection in the 1977 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers.
• Scored 6,186 points and grabbed 3,881 rebounds during his NBA career.
WHO IS HE? KENT BENSON
FRIDAY’S MYSTERY PERSON
• He developed his own memory methods while at Ohio State to help him get through college.
• While at OSU, he also was the collegiate Player of the Year twice.
• He was a gold medalist in the Olympic Games
• His OSU Buckeyes won the national championship one season
• Was named the NBA Rookie of the Year
• Won the NBA championship with the New York Knicks.
• His outside shot was so good, many called it the ________ Layup (with his name in the blank)
• He wrote a book about how to memorize Scripture. It was called Remember the Word.
WHO IS HE?
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER:
Getting to the heart of what matters in life
TODAY'S FEATURE: JOHN SALMONS
JOHN SALMONS, Sacramento Kings
BIO NOTE: In the Kings’ media guide, Salmons lists the Bible as his favorite book.
RECENT NEWS: On Thursday, Salmons had 28 points to pace Sacramento. He is averaging 17 points a game; before this season, his best ppg in a season was 8.5.
FAITH QUOTE: “God has blessed me with a lot of skills. He just wants me to go use all my skills and when I go out there—whatever the team needs at that time, that’s what I gotta do.”
—Sports Spectrum magazine
SS DAILY INTERVIEW:
To hear today's interview, go to the Sports Spectrum radio home page. It can be found at www.sport.org.
THE FRIDAY GUEST
CLYDE CHRISTENSEN, wide receivers coach, Indianapolis Colts
The Colts are about to make their first forays into the playoffs as defending champs in the NFL. Do they have a chance to do it again? What has Tony Dungy done this season that has helped the Colts ride out some key losses from last year’s team? That and more as Coach Christensen talks about the Colts and his own story of why he’s a coach.
