European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 8, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 22 c the stars and stripes Quot Friday May 8, 1992 Hawks Back up wings to Brink of elimination by the associated press for the Detroit red wings a Sweet season is rapidly turning into a sour Spring. The red wings won the no la a Norris division title by 11 Points leading the Campbell conference with 43 victories and 320 goals. Now after losing three straight playoff games to Chicago the latest 5-4 wednesday night their season hangs by the slender est of threads. Detroit tries to stay alive tonight in game 4 of their series with the Blackhawk at Chicago. In the other Campbell conference semifinal Vancouver plays at Edmonton with the oilers owning a 2-1 Lead in their Best-of-7 series. The Wales conference semifinals a Battle of superstar attrition were to continue thursday night with Pittsburgh entertaining the new York rangers and Boston at Home against Montreal. The penguins and rangers were tied 1-1, while the Bruins had a 2-0 Lead Over the canadians. Pittsburgh was without scoring Champion Mario Lemieux who suffered a broken hand when he was slashed by new Yorkus Adam Graves in game 2. Mark Messier of the rangers missed that game with Back spasms and was questionable for thursdays game. Boston Wasny to certain whether defens Eman Ray Bourque who suffered a broken Bone in his right hand when he was slashed in game 2, could play against the canadians. During the regular season Chicago had Little Success against Detroit winning Only one of eight games. A during the season we tried to play their style against them and we re not very Good at it a Sai Stanley cup playoffs Blackhawk Captain Dirk Graham who had two goals including the game Winner in wednesdays 5-4 Victory. A in the playoffs we re playing our own bump and grind style. And when we re on top of that we re  a a we re a club on a Mission a Chicago a Jeremy Roenick said. The Blackhawk have won six straight playoff games the first three to recover from a 3-1 deficit in the opening round series against St. Louis and the last three to put Detroit in a Hole. A three games went by so quickly a red wings Captain Steve Yzerman said. A fall the Guys had great expectations for our team this year. Now we just want to win Friday to stay alive and go  Only two nil teams a Toronto against Detroit in the 1942 Stanley cup finals and the new York islanders against Pittsburgh in the 1975 quarterfinals a have Ever recovered from 3-0 deficits. Vancouver coach Pat Quinn said the canucks lost game 3 of their series at Edmonton because they were a a dips doodling around a instead of playing hard nosed hockey. A pretty hockey is Nice a Quinn said after the 5-2 defeat a but sometimes you have to grind it out. We weren to ready to grind it  the canucks like the red wings won their division title easily and finished 14 Points ahead of third place Edmonton. But the North lands coliseum Home of the oilers Hasni to been Friendly to Vancouver which is 2-10 in its last 12 visits to Edmonton. Chicago a Mike Hudson left congratulates Greg Gilbert for Gilberts goal wednesday  Riddle Leblanc team Usa 8-1 Prague Czechoslovakia a Ray Leblanc conceded four goals within a Span of 7 41 in the opening period As Czechoslovakia routed team Usa 8-1 in thursdays quarterfinals at the world hockey championships. Leblanc the . Olympic hero did no to get much defensive help As the Home team playing before a noisy Flag to waving sellout crowd at Prague a sports Arena blitzed the americans from the outset. Ray can to be faulted for the oals that he gave up a said in Taylor of Yale the . Head coach. A they were excellent plays by Czechoslovakia and defensive breakdowns by us. Not poor  Leblanc who played one game for the Chicago Black world hockey Hawks after the olympics was replaced by backup goalie Mike Dunham of the University of Maine Midway through the game. Next up for Czechoslovakia is Finland which edged Canada 4-3 wednesday. Switzerland the biggest Surprise of the championships beat Germany 3-1 earlier thursday and takes on Sweden in the other semifinal also set for saturday. Sweden the defending world Champion blanked Russia 2-0 wednesday with a Young team featuring 16 world championship rookies. Czechoslovakia which whipped the . 6-1 in the Bronze medal game at the olympics in february carried the play throughout the first period out shooting the americans 18-6. Barry Richter a defens Eman from the University of Wisconsin scored the Only . Goal at 8 41 in the second period Czechoslovakia a Victory avenged a 4-1 loss in last years worlds when the . Finished fourth. Ohio state s Jackson will enter Aba draft by Rusty Miller Columbus Ohio a Jim Jackson saying he wanted to be remembered As a team player announced wednesday he will pass up his senior year at Ohio state and make himself available for next months Aba draft. A these Are not tears of anger they re tears of Joy a the All american said. Jackson the big ten player of the year the last two seasons said concerns about his family were a major reason for his decision. A i had to weigh the pros and cons what was Best for me a he said at a news conference accompanied by his family. Jackson had said through most of last season that he intended to remain at Ohio state for his senior year. But late in the season he said would meet with his parents and coach Randy Ayers after the season to determine what he would do. The 6-foot-6 swing Man said he reached his decision three weeks ago after a meeting with those people in Toledo. Tracy Murray a clan a 6-8 Forward also announced wednesday that he was up his senior year of eligibility. Surs two time All America Center Sha Rauille of Neal had already announced that he would leave school Early and other Mcaa underclassmen have until saturday to do so. Jackson was known for his unselfishness on the court but said that Wasny to True when it came time to make up his mind. Projected As one of the earliest draft picks Jackson was asked what he would do with the millions he would undoubtedly receive. A a that a a Tough question a he said with a laugh. A i done to have  Jackson said deciding to leave Ohio state was difficult. A i do have mixed emotions a he said. A coach Ayers was like a father figure. My teammates have been very great understanding. A but i think its time for me to move Onward. Get a better appreciation for the game of  last season he averaged 22.4 Points 6.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists As Ohio state went 26-6 and won the conference title. Jim Jackson will pass up senior  voted most improved Landover my. A it took three years for Pervis Ellison to fully adjust to the Aba and now he a reaping the benefits. Ellison the top Overall pick in the 1989 draft received the a bad a most improved player award wednesday. He was honoured after almost doubling his scoring average from the 1990-91 season and leading the Washington bullets in four important categories a scoring , blocked shots and Field goal percentage. After playing in just 34 games during his injury plagued Rookie season and then averaging Only 10.4 Points last season the 6-foot-10 Ellison this season established himself As one of the a bad a Premier centers. A in the beginning the Only thing i was dog was fouling. It took me some time to learn what you can do and what you can to do on defense a he said. Quot once i was Able to get an understanding of that my playing time started to  Ellison received 40 of the 96 votes cast by a nationwide panel of sportswriters three from each Aba City and 15 National writers. Drazen Petrovic of the new Jersey nets finished second with 22 votes