By Paul Gotham
A quick look at the sports world.
Mentionable milestones
Rochester’s Brian Gionta nabbed career goal No. 500. Gionta scored the eventual game-winner Thursday night as the Montreal Canadiens downed the Dallas Stars 5-3. No. 500 was of the power play fashion. Beniot Pouliot and Glen Metropolit assisted on the third-period goal.
After seven seasons with the New Jersey Devils, Gionta signed with the Habs over the summer. Gionta scored 12 goals and added 13 assists for the ’02-’03 Stanley Cup champion Devils.
Gionta attended Aquinas Institute in Rochester. He played college hockey at Boston College. His brother, Stephen, plays with the Lowell Devils of the AHL. Mike Gionta, a cousin of the NHLer, plays with the Queen City Steam of the CSHL.
Creighton’s P’Allen Stinnett notched his 1,000 career point Saturday. The junior scored 14 as the Bluejays held off the Wichita St. Shockers, 57-56 in Missouri Valley Conference action.
It’s the end of the world as we know it
Rob Schremp lit the lamp twice and Dwayne Roloson turned away 16 shots as the New York Islanders trounced the Detroit Red Wings, 6-0. The Wings have been shut out five times in their 16 games. If the playoffs were to start tomorrow, the Wings would be hitting the links. Is there reason for a frozen pond concern in Motown?
Tennis anyone?
The Austrailian Open began this weekend, and so too does the Grand Slam season. Questions abound. Can Andy Roddick get the job done? Will Rafael Nadal successfully return from injury? How long can Roger Federer hold the number one ranking? Will Juan Martin del Potro prove his U.S. Open victory was no fluke?
U.S. Soccer takes another hit
U.S. forward, Clint Dempsey expects an extended rehabilitation after injuring his knee in Premier League action Saturday. Dempsey suffered a posterior cruciate ligament injury while playing Fulham.
The injury is just another setback for the American gang of eleven. Charlie Davies is not expected to recover in time from injuries suffered in a car accident. Oguchi Onyewu is also sidelined with a knee injury.
Coaching Tilt-A-Whirl
While Lane Kiffin was busy rehearsing for the next few ‘days of his life,’ other coaches were on the move. Derek Dooley moved from La. Tech to Tennessee. Skip Holtz left East Carolina for South Florida, and David Cutliffe is staying with Duke. Norm Chow decided to stay clear of Peyton Place…errr…USC.
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U.S. Men’s soccer team is in trouble.. They can ill afford to lose anyone else at this point. Both Davies and Dempsey were a huge part of their attack. Davies won’t be there this summer, but hopefully Dempsey can make it back.
Smitty – I did not see the play, but it does not sound good.
I saw the game later in the day knowing that he was injured during the match but without knowing when. He got banged around early in the match, hit a wicked overhead shot that rattled the crossbar, and then in the mid- second half he was clipped from behind- not a nasty play, but he seemed to try to play through it. He remained in the game for about 7-10 minutes after trying to shake it off, but he was clearly hobbling (though no mention from the announcers) until he was forced to sit down on the pitch and motion for the physio (using a bit of the English version of the English language). He was able to get up and hobble off on his own, but knew that he had suffered more than a simple bump.
While Dempsey is a great talent, he has been a bit sporadic at the national team level. Always capable of spectacular things, he was also prone to defensive lapses which weakened his effectiveness in the midfield, though he was injured while playing up top as a striker for Fulham, his English club. I believe the more costly injury for the Americans is Oguchi Onyewu’s. He makes the back line nearly dependable- without him very ordinary.
Muels – Agreed Dempsey is sporadic at midfield which is why I think we have seen him being subbed for in the 2nd half – when teams typically try to become more defensive (if they are winning).
I agree Onyewu’s injury is more costly, but from updates I have seen – he will be healthy in time. Hopefully he can get into playing condition before the tournament starts.
I am worried about the U.S.’s ability to score.. Davies is out for sure, and Dempsey presented a legit scoring threat that forced teams to focus on someone else not named Donovan. Joey Antidore is too young and I think needs mature a little more before they can rely on him. Brian Ching and Freddy Adu are just note ready. Then again – they might not have a choice..
Changing gears – How are North Carolina and UConn still in the Top 25? Especially considering that Xavier is sitting there at 11-5 and isn’t getting a sniff of the Top 25.
Smitty – thanks for the segue into tomorrow’s college basketball splinters. 🙂
Smitty- Altidore is going to HAVE to be a force upfront for the US to garner any concern from opposing defenses, with the help of a veteran such as Ching. Davies spark will be missed- haven’t heard about his progress, but I am not thinking that he would be even a possibility coming as close to death as he did…
Muels – Completely agree with you.. However… The games I have watched, it seems like Altidore takes minutes off – not plays – minutes. Not sure if that is a conditioning problem or a maturity problem. He has been playing with Hull (I think) so you would like to think that some growing up has been happening. Conditoining as well.
If he can be a force, the U.S. can be dangerous. But like you said – if they can’t garner much of an offensive threat – it will be a quick tournament for them.
Last I hear about Davies was that he was released from the hospital in November and faced a 6-12 month rehab. I think rehab was more for returning to a normal life – not playing in a World Cup. I think it would be nothing short of a miracle if we see him in the World Cup. But can you imagine the emotional lift he would give them? Wow..
https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/01/19/dempsey.knee.ap/index.html?eref=twitter_feed
VERY good news- thanks for the link Casey!
Whatever I can do to help the team.