European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 18, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 26 the stars and stripes monday february 18, 1991 by Michael Janofsky Minneapolis not in a stunning Tonya Harding of Portland ore., skated a near perfect program on saturday to win the women a singles title at the . Figure skating championships. With an Eclectic mix of music that included the theme from a Batman a a Send in the clowns a and tone Loc s Junky version of a wild thing Quot she landed seven triple jumps one of them a triple Axel which made her the first american woman to Complete one in Competition she also became the first to Complete six different triple jumps Midori i to of Japan the 1989 world Champion is the Only other skater who has completed the Axel and six different triples in one program. A. 1 Landing s program was so technically proficient that one of the nine judges Roger a. Glenn of Appleton wis., awarded her a perfect 6.0 for technical Merit no woman skater since j a net Lynn Here in 1973, had been awarded a perfect Mark for the technical phase of her pc Mormance. The other eight judges gave her 5.9s. Those scores combined with her High Marks for artistic presentation earned Harding Superior voc All scores from seven judges As two others favored Kristi a Yama Gehi the 19-year-old favorite from Fremont Calif., who had led Harding and 13 others after the original program thursday night. / while Yamaguchi a program skated to music from the opera a Sampson and Delilah a was elegant and seamless with jumps that appeared effortless she land Bruins stay undefeated a. Quot a. A if a a. A a a in overtime . Championships de Only six of the seven triples she attempted falling on the one that has always Given her the most trouble the salchow and wobbling through another. As a result she finished second for the third consecutive year. In 1989 and 1990, she placed behind Jill i re nary who went on to become the world Champion last year. Trenary was forced to withdraw from the Competition this year because of recent . I. Nancy Kerrigan a 2i year old skater from Stoneham mass., who was third in the original program held her position to join Harding and Yar Yaguchi As qualifiers for the world championships next month in Munich. It was difficult enough to imagine Yamaguchi losing the Best Opportunity of her career to  singles title. But the Way it happened was simply electrifying. It came Early in Harding s  v she soared on her Takeoff spun three  half revolutions a one half More than All other triples a and landed with her fists clenched and saying a yes a. A it was the Best a Harding said when asked How it made her feel. A it made it so easy for me the rest of the program. Knowing in a the first american woman to do it is  a she had nearly three minutes More to skate but she sailed through with Only one minor glitch a slight hesitation Between a combination of two triple toe Loop jumps. With a soft cast on her foot Trenary marvelled at what she had just seen. A a that a a big risk to take and do it Quot she said of the triple Axel which is named after Axel Paulsen a norwegian who skated Early in the Century a if you fall on that thing you disrupt you whole program. I is totally impressed.�?�. Vern Taylor of Canada was the first Ever to land a triple Axel 13 years ago. Harding who was ill during the championships last year and finished seventh has been dabbling with it for four years she had tried it in four competitions since 1989 but fell twice Cut it Short once and stumbled after Landing during another one. In training she had More Success Landing three of five in practice before the Competition and one of two As she warmed up. With Trenary Hurt and Ito undergoing recent surgery on her jaw Harding could enter the world championships As a Strong favorite. No other skater can match the Range of her program and few have demonstrated comparable spirit and Energy. Yamaguchi meanwhile took the loss bravely even if reddened eyes suggested she had been crying. She has a been working on the triple Axel and pronounced it a very close a though she has not landed it cleanly. It a a in a a Little disappointed a she said. A i skated As Well As i could except for one mistake so i should feel a Good a a a a a a a a a a. A by the associated press Inglewood Calif. A Don Sweeney scored 49 seconds into overtime saturday night lifting the Boston Bruins to a 5-4 Victory Over the los Angeles Kings. The Victory boosted Bostons overtime record this season to 5-0-8. The fourth straight Victory a and 13th in 16 games by nil the Adams division leaders a increased their nil leading Point total to 80, three ahead of the Idle St. Louis blues. Boston tipped its Overall record to 36-18-8. The Bruins won the nil regular sea son championship Lasty Earith 101 Points. The winning goal was set up by Petri ski Iko who took a Cross ice feed from Cam Neely and found Sweeney parked in front if the crease. In other games saturday. Devils 3, flyers 2 / East Rutherford . Rookie Zeno cd Igor had a goal and assist and Chris terreri.madc.34 saves As new Jersey heat Philadelphia. \ Kirk Muller scored 21 seconds into the game As new Jersey pulled within one Point of the third place flyers in the Pat a Rick division Phi Adelphia lost for the fifth time in it last six games 1-5. Muller drilled the first shot of the game from the left Wing to heat Roi Hextall. It was the first goal in 12 games for Muller who had Noi recorded a Point in his last six contests. A  a Tom Barrasso and the . Islands David Cha it ski collide after the goal was toppled saturday in mandate. . North stars 3, red wings 0 Detroit Jon Casey made is saves and Bobby Smith and Brian Bellows scored on Power plays As Minnesota blanked Detroit. A. A the Victory moved Minnesota within seven Points of third place Detroit in the. Norris division. The North stars 7-3-2,in the Hast 12 games have gained 12 Points on Detroit in less than a month since trailing the wings by 19 Points at the Jan. 19 All Star break. Casey felled twice by shots and once by Bob proberts Elbow recovered each time to record his third shutout of the season and Sci a Cath of his six year nil career. T. Brian Bellows added his 25th goal in the third period. Canucks 4, capitals 2 Vancouver British Columbia Dan Quinn keyed a  in the third period with the winning goal ast the canucks heal Washington to end a three game losing Streak Rel the canucks trailed 2-0 before Ron Stern and Gerald Didrek scored-39 s e c ones apart Early in the third to tie the game. A. Quinn got the Winner at 11 53 by converting a goal Mouth pass from Toni Kurvers after Washington goaltender Don Blu pie stopped Gary Valk Petr Nedved. Added the final Vancouver goal into an empty net in the last minute after Beaupre a is Puhl d for an extra attacker. Maple Leafs 3, oilers 2 Toronto a Lucien a Deblois and Peter Zezel scored goals nine seconds apart in the second period to lift Toronto Over slumping Edmonton. Mike  also scored for the Maple Leafs w to won for Only the 11 the time in 33 Home games. Craig Simpson and Petr Klima scored for Edmonton. Klima with his 28th, Cut the Toronto Lead to one with 32 seconds remaining in regulation off a goal Mouth scramble. J Quot t j he defending Stanley cup Champion oilers Are 3-6-0 in february. Whalers 2, canadians 1 Montreal a Rob Brown and Brad Shaw scored first period goals and Daryl Reaugh made 31 saves As Hartford held of fora Victory Over Montreal Brown got his 19th goal and Shaw his third of the season As Hartford evened its a record at 27-27-6. A a a. The l7, r -2 forum fans booed the defensive struggle until Denis Savard scored on a timid period Power play for the Ca Nadie Jis 32-23-7. A Quot islanders 4, penguins 3 Union Dali. . A Patrick Latley voted two goals including the Liam win nor with 7 03 Leit As new York beat Pittsburgh Tor the islanders second Victory in their last nine games. Hatley deflected sutters backhand from the Leit Circle to break a 3-3 tie As the islanders 2-5-2 in their last nine games a n their Home and Home Sev . The penguins won 5-2 thursday night in Pittsburgh. B. Islanders Poulshot the penguins 19-7 m the third period a a Pat la Fontaine embroiled in a contract dispute tied the game at 6 27 of the third period before Sutter scored the name Iii Ner Tor the islanders. Being formed Paul Minn. A formation of the Continental hockey association a new professional hockey league that plans to begin play in october has begun. Charter Frame fuses will be in St. Pault Saskatchewan and a third City somewhere in the Southeastern United states said Pat o Halloran president and one of four partners in the Minnesota club. Organizers Hope that rules designed to Speed up the game International Syle Competition and Low overhead will translate into Success for the league which has set a goal of having six to 10 teams in North America and four to six in Europe. The league president is . Bill Hunter who helped found the world Lockey association was later president of the Edmonton oilers Ami was involved with a group that recently sought an nil expansion franchise. Hunter said a draft would be arranged in the next few months and that the league would not go after any nil players under contract