European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 27, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 22 b the stars and stripes commentary shootouts would end boredom of nil ties by Steve Springer shootout. That word conjures up images of dramatic finishes and legendary games. Indeed those who were in Meribel France last week for Canadas shootout hockey Victory Over Germany in the Winter olympics talked about the hushed crowd As the drama unfolded about tension so thick it was hard to catch ones breath. The father of Canadian goalie Sean Burke was so nervous he left the Arena and was walking the streets while his son was saving Canadas Hopes. That was the first time the shootout was used As a tiebreaker in the olympics. Under that format a game that ends in a tie is followed by 10 minutes of sudden death overtime. If there is still a tie each Side gets five shots in the shootout which consists of a skater going one on one against a goalie As is done in a penalty shot situation in the nil. If the sides Are still tied after the five Man shootout it comes Down to a sudden death shootout each Side getting one shot until there is a Winner. The canadians had to go into the sudden death shootout to beat the germans. Great hockey. But great enough for the nil Why not the los Angeles Kings have already played 13 ties this season leaving 13 crowds with the feeling they paid a lot of Money for a game without a Resolution. In the postseason nil teams play to a conclusion regardless of the number of overtimes required. But that a not practical during the regular season when players Are already pushed to their physical limits by an 80-game schedule sometimes involving Back to Back games in different cities. At first games ending in a tie after 60 minutes simply stayed that Way. Then the nil Bent a bit and permitted the present five minute sudden death overtime before settling for a tie. Now Marcel Aubut president of the Quebec Nordques and the Man who pushed the five minute overtime through is going to try and do the same thing with the shootout. The Best argument against the shootout is that it has nothing to do with hockey. It would be like deciding a basketball game with a free throw shooting contest a football game with a Field goal kicking Competition or a baseball game with a Home run Derby. That May be but All those sports with the exception of a rare football game get a Winner and loser. Besides the comparison with other sports does no to hold. The shootout might not be pure hockey but it does Combine two of the key elements of the sport a offence and goal ending. Soccer has successfully used the shootout format and hockey is even better suited because it is More difficult to score a goal on ice thereby creating More uncertainty More tension. A i done to think id be in favor of it a Kings owner Bruce Mcnall said. A a unless the fans really go crazy for it. Then maybe we should consider it. But you a be going against tradition by eliminating the Point  that is True. The no la a unique standings based on a Point for a tie and two for a Victory would go by the Wayside. Teams could get to the top Only by winning the most games. What a Radical idea that is. Eric Lindros who won the shootout for Canada has derided the format calling it a a backyard hockey. The fans done to seem to agree. They loved it in Meribel. They would love it in the nil. For a league dying to get More exposure and a better television contract which would nil officials prefer fans leaving the Arena with the excitement of a shootout or the boredom of yet another tie does the answer seem obvious done to bet on it. Tha Loa angelas Timas streaking capitals handle pens again by the associated press Landover my. Dale Hunter had two goals and the Washington capitals continued their dominance of Pittsburgh with a 5-3 Victory on tuesday night extending the penguins wingless Streak on the Road to seven games. Don Beaupre stopped 24 shots to help Washington notch its fifth Victory in six games against Pittsburgh this season. The streaking capitals Are 71-1 in their last nine games. Washington a sixth straight Home Victory ruined the Pittsburgh debut of goalie Ken Wreggit acquired last week from Philadelphia. Wreggit now 2-14 lifetime against Washington had 22 saves. Defens Eman Kjell Samuels son who also came in the Trade _ committed a mistake that gave Washington the Lead for Good at 12 01 of the second period. Hunter skating in against Samuelsson passed the puck across the crease. Samuelsson tried to keep it from Dino Ciccarelli but acc Dently tipped it in. That made it 3-2. Dimitri Khz Ristich got his 26th goal of the season Early in the third period to make it 4-2. Mario Lemieux Cut it to 4-3 with a Power play goal with 9 40 left but Mike Ridley wrapped up the Victory with an empty net goal. In other games tuesday rangers 4, Blackhawk 1 new York Darren tur Cotte and Doug weight scored just Over two minutes apart in the third period leading new York Over Chicago. The Quick goals extended the rangers Home unbeaten Streak Washington a Dale Hunter to 10 8-0-2 and they reached the 40-win Mark for the first time since 1982-83.sabres 5, flames 3 Calgary Alberta Pat Lafontaine who had his jaw broken in Calgary on nov. 16, had a goal and three assists in his first visit since the injury to Lead Buffalo past the flames. The Star Center set up goals by line mates Alexander Mogiln at 10 43 of the first period and Dave Andreychuk at 17 51 before scoring his 32nd of the season at 19 22 to give the sabres a 3-0  4, canucks 3 Vancouver British Columbia a Tomas Sandstrom playing his second game after missing 26 with a dislocated shoulder scored two goals As los Angeles edged Vancouver despite losing Wayne Gretzky. The nil scoring Leader left the game seven minutes into the third period with a sprained knee after colliding with Vancouver a Dana Murzyn. Corey Millen and Luc Rob Taille got the other Kings goals with Robitaille getting the game Winner late in the second period. Sergio Somesso scored twice for the  4, islanders 1 Philadelphia newly acquired Mark Recchi had a goal and two assists As Philadelphia extended its Home domination of the islanders to 15 games. The Victory increased the flyers unbeaten Streak against new York to 12-0-3 since the islanders last Victory at the spectrum on nov. 21, 1987. Overall Philadelphia is 7-0-1 in its last eight Home  5, whalers 2 Hartford Conn. A Bob Bassen scored two second period goals to break a tie As St. Louis beat Hartford. The line of Bassen Craig Jan Ney and Brett Hull accounted for three goals and Drew the penalty that led to another. Hull had his league leading 59th goal and an assist Janney had three assists and Ron Wilson and Dave Christian each had a  5, Maple Leafs 5 Toronto Doug Gil mourns 20th goal of the season with 1 46 remaining in the third period enabled Toronto to Salvage a tie with new Jersey. Randy Mckay and Claude Vilgrain each scored twice for the devils who were out shot 4828. Lbs Breaks even on olympics new York a lbs said tuesday that it broke even financially on the Albertville Winter olympics because ratings were 10 percent above the guarantee to advertisers. The 16 nights of prime time coverage got an 18.7 rating and a 29 share according to figures released tuesday. That was three percent below abcs 19.3 rating and 30 share for the 1988 Calgary games. Howard Stringer president of the lbs broadcast group said lbs inc. Broke even on its in vestment of $243 million in rights fees and approximately $70 million in production costs. Lbs ran 10 /2 minutes of commercials during each hour of prime time at an average advertising rate of approximately $250,000 per 30 seconds. Because of the six hour time difference Between the East coast of the United states and France All prime time coverage was shown on tape delay. Stringer said lbs helped its ratings by showing Premier events late in broadcasts after promoting them Early in shows. A the bait and switch move worked very Well a he said. The ratings for the 1992 Winter games were two percent higher than abcs ratings for the 1984 Sarajevo games the last olympics televised largely on videotape in the United states. Each ratings Point represents 921,000 Homes. The rating is the percentage of to sets in the United states and the share is the percentage of sets on at the  reports but he s not Happy Vero Beach Fla. A Ramon Martinez a 17-game Winner last season still Hasni to signed a contract for this year but he a in Camp and says he wont repeat his holdout status of last Spring. Martinez who participated in his first workout of Spring training with the los Angeles dodgers on tuesday after arriving in Florida the night before lacks the necessary service time to qualify for Sala in arbitration. A i decided to come Here do my work and see what happens with my agent Handspring training the organization a Martinez said. A a in a not worried about it. A a in a not saying in a Happy about it but in a trying not to think too much about my contract. Ill let my agent handle  in 1991, Martinez missed the first 11 Days of Camp and eventually signed a contract Worth $480,000. The dodgers Are reportedly offering $900,000 this year. Martinez is believed to be seeking a $1.2 million Deal for one year. The dodgers naturally Are pleased that Martinez has decided to focus his attention on his season and not his contract. A Ramon knows the value of this season a said executive vice president Fred Claire. A the important thing for Ramon is to simply look at the 1992 season and what it Means to him. A we presented Ramon and agent Jim Bronner with the salary after a Long bit of discussion and thought. You can to escape the fact that Ramon is not eligible for  Martinez who turns 24 next month was 17-13 with a 3.27 earned run average and six Complete games in 33 starts last season. Playing his first full season with the dodgers in 1990, he was 20-6 with a 2.92 Era and 12 Complete games in 33 starts. Martinez first saw action with the dodgers in 1988, going 1-3 with a 3.78 Era in nine games six of them starts. In 1989, he was 6-4 with a 3.19 Era in 15 starts with los Angeles