Sakic Makes a $1 Million Ace

STATELINE, Nev. (AP) — Joe Sakic, a 13-time N.H.L. All-Star, picked a good spot for his first hole in one — a $1 million two-hopper into the cup on the waterfront par-3 17th on Sunday at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe.

“That’s a shot you never imagine hitting,” said Sakic, who won two Stanley Cups and a Most Valuable Player trophy with the Colorado Avalanche. “I’ve never even been close before.”
For the last three years, any player hitting an ace on No. 17 at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course earned a $1 million bonus from the tournament sponsor, American Century. The company stipulates that half of the prize go to its primary charity benefactor, so Sakic will split the $1 million with Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong Foundation for cancer research.
“If you’re going to do it, why not here?” he said. “When it went in, I didn’t believe it.”
Sakic said he used an 8-iron for the ace on the 167-yard hole. It was the fourth hole in one in the tournament’s 22-year history.
Sakic could not tell at first if the ball went in the cup, but he jumped in the air with his arms raised when he got the word it had bounced into the hole from in front of the pin. He exchanged high-fives with his playing partners, Trent Dilfer and Greg Maddux, then slapped hands with fans along the ropes as he made his way to the green.

Our Cup runneth over... all over

Lord Stanley’s Cup spent its first day in Boston getting ferried around the city in a baby carriage, posing for pictures with fans, napping with exhausted Bruins [team stats] captain Zdeno Chara — then partying into the evening at a waterfront bar. “We’re going to Tia’s!” a stoked Dennis Seidenberg told the Track shortly before Chara and Andrew Ference loaded the Stanley Cup into a baby carriage for the short walk from Chara’s Union Wharf condo to the Marriott Long Wharf bar. “It’s different,” said Dennis,

of partying with the Cup, “but it’s fun!” The Holy Grail of Hockey arrived in the Hub early yesterday morning along with the conquering rink kings, who took a red-eye from Vancouver. After making an appearance at the Garden, the Cup went home with Chara, the team captain and the first to get custody of the ice chalice. “I think I keep it about two days,” Chara told the Track. (According tradition, everyone on the championship roster gets to spend some quality private time with the Cup.) Lincoln Wharf resident Therese Russo was on her way to the dentist yesterday morning when she got the surprise of her life. “My neighbor came home with Lord Stanley hanging out the back window of his car!” she said. In front of his building, Chara posed for pictures with every fan and signed every autograph — including one for a lady who insisted that the disbelieving defenseman sign the inseam of her shorts! — then headed upstairs with the Cup and a security guard. “About an hour later, he came down in a T-shirt and Adidas sandals,” said Valerie Umana, who works at Regan Communications, in the same building where Chara lives. “He got on his bike and rode off to get his beard shaved.” At Firicano’s Barbershop on North Street, Richie Firicano did the honors. “It was about 2 1⁄2 months worth of growth there,” he said. “He had had enough of it. Mission accomplished, time for it to come off.” Like the rest of the team, Chara went unshaven during the playoff run, but by yesterday afternoon most of the hairy hockey hunks had lost the facial fuzz. Mark Recchi and Chris Kelly had the Barbershop Lounge on Newbury Street do the honors, but Chara returned to his neighborhood haunt for the shearing. “We had to bust out the heavy-duty clippers to take it down before I could put a blade to his face,” Firicano said. Z was so happy to lose the beard, he invited Richie and the rest of the barbershop crew over to his house to have their picture taken with the Cup. We heard he also invited the postman up for a private viewing, and later in the day some of his teammates arrived and they were spotted on a roof deck hoisting the trophy for crowds that had gathered below. After those festivities, Chara hit the hay for a few hours then rallied to load the Cup into a baby stroller, and he and Ference hit Tia’s, where they met up with teammates Recchi, Patrice Bergeron, Nate Horton, Brad Marchand, Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Shawn Thornton and Tuukka Rask. We heard baby B Tyler Seguin was also in da house, but he may have gotten broomed due to the fact that he’s underage. “It was pretty crazy,” said Tia’s server Kevin Estrela, who saw Chara, Ference and the Cup arrive at the waterfront watering hole shortly after 5 p.m. “I don’t think anyone in here had a clue it was coming. But when you see a 6-foot, 9-inch Slovakian guy come in with a Stanley Cup, you put two and two together.” The guys spent a few hours eating calamari and drinking champagne on the Tia’s patio before heading out to Stella in the South End for dinner, with their new best friend, a 2-foot, 11-inch guy named Stanley. File Under: B Cup. As expected, Tim Thomas [stats] is the hottest thing to come outta Boston since, well, Tom Brady [stats]! Ex-Bruin-turned-marketing guru Cleon Daskalakis reports that his phone was “ringing off the hook” yesterday with offers for the 37-year-old Conn Smythe Trophy winner. “I was going to go out to Vancouver for Game 7, but I decided I should be in the office (yesterday) if they won, and boy was I right,” the Celebrity Marketing cheese told the Track. “The phone has been ringing all morning with endorsement deals for Timmy.” Daskalakis said he couldn’t discuss anything until he discussed them with Thomas, but added, “I promise I won’t put him in panty hose . . . Unless it’s a great deal. Then, Timmy, we’ll have to talk.”

NBA NOTES -Title gives Dallas a reason to cheer

The Dallas Mavericks returned home in triumph Monday, cheered by hundreds of fans celebrating the franchise's first NBA title and the first professional championship of any type in the area in more than a decade. Owner Mark Cuban walked off the plane at Love Field carrying the championship trophy he was handed after Sunday's Game 6 win over the Miami Heat. Next came forward Dirk Nowitzki with hardware of his own: the NBA Finals MVP trophy that was awarded after he overcame a finger injury,

illness and smothering defense from the Heat to power fourth-quarter comeback wins. Cuban, the Dallas billionaire who bought the team in 2000, had the championship trophy in a seat next to him on the plane, and he apparently kept it close throughout the Sunday night celebration. "This will sound weird," he wrote on Twitter. "I'm laying in bed. With the trophy next (to) me." Cuban will keep the party going at least through Thursday morning, the date set for the team's victory parade through the streets of downtown Dallas. Cuban has said that he will pick up the tab for the city's parade costs. The championship is the first in the 31-year history of the Mavericks and the city's first since the Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999. And it comes four months after the Super Bowl in suburban Arlington included not the hometown Cowboys but Green Bay and Pittsburgh along with a spate of bad weather. The Texas Rangers advanced to the last World Series, but lost to the Giants. Cho to Charlotte: The Bobcats have hired former Portland general manager Rich Cho for the same job and are promoting Rod Higgins to president of basketball operations. Cho, who was fired by the Trail Blazers three weeks ago, will assist Higgins and owner Michael Jordan in the operations of a franchise that has made the playoffs once in seven seasons. Cho became the NBA's first Asian American GM last year when he was hired away from Oklahoma City's front office. Newspaper's turnover: The Mavericks' win over the Heat is a huge upset for fans in Miami. Making matters worse, an ad in the local paper mistakenly congratulated the Heat on winning. A full-page ad that ran in Monday's Miami Herald reads "Congratulations Miami" next to photos of Heat championship T-shirts and hats from Macy's. The newspaper issued a correction and an apology, and a Macy's spokeswoman called it an unfortunate error.

Roberto Luongo full of hot air

Tim Thomas understands what his job is, and it does not involve public-relations work for Roberto Luongo. Of that and not much else we can be sure as the Bruins [team stats] skate into tonight’s potential Stanley Cup elimination game at the Garden. Seldom has so much been made of so little after Luongo simply made clear that he was playing for the right team when he whined Saturday about not having heard Thomas say anything “nice” about his play. Playing goalie for a team that has produced more whine in these

finals than Ernest and Julio Gallo, Luongo’s comments seem right in line with the way the Vancouver Canucks have approached things from the start. They have played and acted (particular emphasis on the word “acted”) as if they are the Montreal Canadians of the west. They’ve taken more dives than Greg Louganis, cried wolf more often than Little Red Riding Hood, and whined louder than a rain-soaked alley cat. Having said all that, they’re also up 3-2 in the series, so they must have done something “nice.” That Thomas, in the opinion of Luongo at least, failed to make due note of that may be true, but don’t the Canucks have their own PR staff? Thomas does a lot of things for hockey, but he’s only paid to do them for the Bruins. If Luongo needs a publicist, he should call George Regan. “I guess I didn’t realize it was my job to pump his tires,” Thomas said yesterday. For a guy who claims not to be paying attention to what’s being said and written, Thomas’ reference was an aptly worded direct response to Luongo’s comments a day earlier when he said, “I have been pumping his tires ever since the series started. I haven’t heard one nice thing he had to say about me. That’s the way it is.” Well, yeah it is. You want your tires pumped, go to First Foreign Auto in Arlington; they’ll do it for free. But if you’re waiting for Tim Thomas [stats] to do it at the same time you’re trying to wrestle the Stanley Cup out of his hands you’re barking up the wrong goaltender. “I mean his whole career has been like that,” Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said of Thomas. “He started over in Europe, then came over here and became a star late in his career. Ever since, he’s been outstanding and proving everybody wrong, so I don’t think that (criticism) is a big deal for him. “I mean he’s been bailing us out every game, making huge saves for us. There is no reason for us to think about whether he did something wrong or right. It’s just something known for him to be great.” Apparently not always, in Luongo’s opinion. After Vancouver’s 1-0 win in Game 5 on Friday night, Luongo claimed he would have made the save Thomas did not on the contest’s only goal. It came off a rebound from the backboards that sent the puck onto the stick of Maxim Lapierre, who dumped it behind Thomas after he’d charged out more from the net than Luongo would have. “It’s not hard (the save) if you’re playing in the paint,” Luongo sniped. “It’s an easy save for me, but if you’re wandering out and aggressive like he does, that’s going to happen. He might make some saves that I won’t, but in a case like that we want to take advantage of a bounce like that and make sure we’re in a good position to bury those.” As verbal shots go it didn’t exactly rank with Mike Tyson saying after a quick knockout victory, “Lennox Lewis, I’m coming for you man. My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I’m just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah!” Luongo not only left Allah out of the Stanley Cup finals, but Thomas’ children, too. Tire pumping, or lack thereof, is far down the trash-talking food chain. That being said, in hockey there is supposed to be some sort of goalie’s union where nobody says anything disparaging about the other guy because they’re all in the puck-stopping business and it ain’t easy. Thomas noted that while at the same time dismissing Luongo’s comments about his style as something less than paramount on his mind at the moment. “I still think I’m a goaltender on the ‘union’ side,” Thomas said. “I stick with all the other goalies. In being one and knowing what it takes to perform at this level and with this amount of pressure. I understand, to a certain extent, what every other goaltender is going through. I guess that’s that. “I did hear about what he said but I don’t really want to go into that. My focus is on what I can do to help my team win going into Game 6 here. I think we’ve done a good job of focusing on the important things, which is what you can do on the ice. As a player, I think that’s your job.” In other words, Tim Thomas [stats] is not in the tire-pumping business tonight. He’s in the tire-deflating business.

Bruins reach Stanley Cup finals, top Lightning 1-0

Vezina Trophy finalist Tim Thomas stopped every shot and gave the Boston Bruins a chance for the biggest prize of all -- the Stanley Cup. Forget their 20-year absence from the finals. Don't talk about their epic playoff collapse of last season. And certainly don't mention their powerless power play. None of that matters after the Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 1-0 on Friday night on Nathan Horton's goal with 7:33 left in the penalty-free Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

"I'm just happy to see those guys smiling in the dressing room," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "Right now we're four wins from winning the Stanley Cup." The Bruins will open the Stanley Cup finals in Vancouver against the Western Conference champion Canucks on Wednesday. Boston won its most recent championship in 1972 and hadn't reached the finals since 1990, when it lost to the Edmonton Oilers. The Bruins left far behind the specter of last year's playoff failure. They blew a 3-0 lead in games and a 3-0 lead in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, losing 4-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers. "From the beginning of the season, we knew we had some unfinished business," Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. "Guys were hungry throughout the playoffs." This season, they squandered 3-2 series leads in the first round against Montreal and then against Tampa Bay. But they beat the Canadiens 4-3 in overtime in Game 7, with Horton scoring the winning goal. Then the forward, playing in the postseason for the first time in his career after five seasons with the Florida Panthers, came through again with his eighth playoff goal. "He certainly has played like a big-game player," Julien said. So has Thomas -- all season. The 37-year-old goalie led the NHL in goals-against average and save percentage after missing all of last year's playoffs because of a hip injury. After offseason surgery, he was as good as ever, and that includes the 2008-09 season when he won the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie. "I think a lot of people thought I was over the hill," Thomas said. "I knew it wasn't true. I put in a lot of work over the summer and I've had an unbelievable year. I've been blessed." He made 24 saves in his third career playoff shutout and second of the Lightning series. Horton's goal spoiled an outstanding game by Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson, who stopped 37 shots. Thomas' playoff performance is even more remarkable because the Bruins scored just five goals on 61 power plays in the postseason. But there were no power plays for either side on Friday night in the clean, hard-hitting game. "There wasn't anything out there to call," Roloson said. "Give the referees credit. for not disrupting the flow of the game." Horton beat Roloson by deflecting a pass from left to right across the slot from David Krejci. "It is hard to explain how good this feeling is," Horton said. His goal set off a loud celebration among Bruins fans, who have waited a long time for a trip to the finals. With 3 seconds left and the puck in the Lightning zone, Bruins center Patrice Bergeron raised his stick while standing in the "spoked B" logo symbolizing the Bruins at center ice. And when the game ended, Thomas raised both arms and arched his back against the net that the Lightning never reached in the decisive game as yellow and black towels given to fans fluttered to the ice. "It's great to be a part of something amazing. That was the highest level of concentration I have experienced," Bergeron said. "I couldn't wait to jump on Timmy and enjoy the moment." The Bruins improved to 2-3 in Game 7s under Julien but have won the last two. They're 11-10 overall in Game 7s. Andrew Ference started the only scoring play on the left side behind the red line with a pass to Krejci, also on the left. Horton was on the same side, but when Krejci got the puck, Horton veered to the right. Krejci skated in and threaded a pass to Horton, who put the puck in the open side between Roloson and the left post. "I don't think he could have stopped that puck and I don't think he could have done better than he did tonight," Lightning coach Guy Boucher said. "It's hard to look at. One little defensive mistake." And the Bruins weren't about to squander this lead. "Once they went up 1-0, they really came back (on defense) with five guys and it was tough to get anything," said Vincent Lecavalier, who had 6 goals and 13 assists in the playoffs. "We got a few shots, but it was tough to get the rebounds." Roloson fell to 7-1 in elimination games during his career, including 4-1 this postseason. Tampa Bay rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat Pittsburgh in the first round, with Roloson shutting out the Penguins 1-0 in Game 7 on the road. But after beating the Bruins in Game 6 to force one more contest, the Lightning's comeback fortunes changed. "They have guys that can put the puck in the net and defend," Boucher said. "Obviously, they've got it all." Tampa Bay forward Steven Stamkos was struck in the face by a puck early in the second period and briefly left the game. He was hit on the left side of the head off a hard shot from the right point by Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk and he immediately dropped to the ice. There was some blood on the ice when the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2008 got up and skated quickly to his bench, holding his face. He missed about five minutes of game time, then returned with a full cage face shield in place of the visor he had been wearing. Boston's Milan Lucic had the best scoring opportunity in the first when Krejci fed him for a breakaway. But Lucic shot the puck into Roloson with just under five minutes left. The Bruins also had solid chances late in the second. Roloson made a pad save on Mark Recchi's shot from a few feet away then made another when Recchi shot the rebound with just under 2 1/2 minutes left in the period. "This is a great moment. (It's) been a long time for Boston. How long has it been actually?" Thomas said, "also a long journey for me to get here. Can't be too happy too long, though, unless you are the last man standing." Notes: Tampa Bay's Sean Bergenheim, third in the playoffs with nine goals after scoring just 14 in the regular season, missed his second straight game with an undisclosed injury that also kept him out of the last two periods of Game 5. ... The 41-year-old Roloson played in his 50th postseason game. Thomas appeared in his 36th. ... The date of the game, May 27, is the latest the Bruins have played in club history. ... The Lightning have three players remaining from their 2004 championship team -- Martin St. Louis, Lecavalier and Pavel Kubina, who missed the last 10 games with an upper body injury. ... Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling attended the game wearing a Bruins jersey.

It's not easy to make history in Detroit, but these Red Wings are close

The history, it’s everywhere. Joe Louis Arena oozes with reminders of the past, from Steve Yzerman Drive out front to walls painted with the name of every Stanley Cup-winning player.

Sometimes it's living history. Like when Ted Lindsay strolls by following a morning skate.

Or like Tuesday night, when Gordie Howe walked through the Red Wings’ dressing room, following one of the best games of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Red Wings won 3-1, bringing a smile to the face of Mr. Hockey.

His franchise was still alive.

He’s one of the great players of all time. Arguably the greatest. He led some of the best teams to ever play the game.

And yet, none of the Red Wings greats accomplished what this 2011 squad is on the verge of doing. None of the names on the wall did this.

After dropping the first three games of the Western Conference semifinals to the Sharks, the Red Wings have now won three straight. They could become just the fourth team in the history of the NHL to win a playoff series after facing a 3-0 deficit.

The first in Red Wings history.

“We’re not worried about putting something in history. That’s not what we’re here for,” Red Wings forward Dan Cleary said. “We’re here to win a game. We’re here to move on. We all know we want to win at the end.”

It’s about Stanley Cups, we know that. But by carving a story for the ages, this one has the potential to be more special than some of the rest.

The fans in Detroit felt it.

With 9.5 seconds left, and the outcome settled, a frenzied Joe Louis crowd cheered as the lyrics “California, California, here we come!” blared over speakers. The Red Wings were headed back to San Jose for Game 7 on Thursday. Usually it’s Eminem or Kid Rock firing them up, not theme music from The O.C. But it was fitting.

They were witnessing history. Potentially, at least.

“It was fantastic,” Henrik Zetterberg said. “You know what? I don’t think it’s been as loud since I got here.”

It provided the Red Wings the energy they needed in the third period. They dominated this game -- absolutely dominated -- yet it was scoreless after two periods, despite Detroit enjoying a 32-13 shot advantage. Credit Sharks goalie Antti Niemi for that, along with a couple missed opportunities, like when Darren Helm failing to convert a pass from Zetterberg into a goal, or Cleary missing an open net after beating Niemi.

The energy from the building was sapped momentarily when a Logan Couture shot trickled past Jimmy Howard to give the Sharks an improbable 1-0 lead in the third period.

But one bad goal doesn’t beat these Red Wings. We’re having a hard time figuring out what does.

“You keep playing,” Howard said. “That’s the beauty of this game is that you know it’s never over until the final buzzer. No matter what the score is, you keep going.”

That goes for games. That goes for this series.

The final buzzer didn’t sound when the Sharks took a 3-0 series lead. Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said there were conversations among the players after the Red Wings dropped the first three games of the series, and the message from the captain was consistent.

All they had to do was win one game to keep this thing going. When they did that, the focus shifted to the next one.

Here they are.

“We can’t relax because every game has been so tight and so close,” Lidstrom said. “We’re not done yet.”

Sharks forward Joe Pavelski made a wise observation after his team beat the Red Wings to take a 3-0 series lead. Every one of the teams left in the playoffs has had four-game winning streaks this season. He knew the Red Wings were capable of this.

So it’s not a stunned Sharks team that heads back to San Jose. Every game has been close, and chances are the final one will be too. These Sharks won’t just roll over and let the Red Wings coast into history.

“Just ask Detroit. They lost three in a row and their confidence wasn’t frayed. We’re a confident group still,” Sharks center Joe Thornton said after the loss. “You work 82 games to get home ice in these Game 7’s. Now we just have to make it work.”

These are two franchises with dramatically different histories. If the Sharks win, they can alter theirs. If the Red Wings win, they add to theirs.

Until one of those things happen, the significance of Game 6 remains unclear.

“We haven’t really done anything yet,” Zetterberg said. “It’s first to four. You have to go in and play a good Game 7 and win that. If we don’t do that, no one will remember us.”