Cup Finals

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New Jersey Devils, playing stunning team hockey, destroyed the talented Detroit Red Wings last night, 5-2, and are one victory away from winning their first NHL Stanley Cup championship.It was a performance that devasted Detroit coach Scotty Bowman, who has coached five Stanley Cup champions."I was embarrassed and humilitated," Bowman said of his Red Wings, who did not score until late in the third period. "I told my guys at the end of the second period. I told them it starts with the coach and we don't have many answers at this time."

The senior shortstop-outfielder led the Greyhounds (12-4) to a 4-1 record last week. Tilley came through offensively and defensively late in a dramatic 9-8 win over No. 14 Mount St. Joseph in the President's Cup semifinal game Saturday. He hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to give the Greyhounds the lead and then helped end the game in the bottom of the frame when he turned a double play at shortstop. Tilley batted .436 in the five games, including two home runs, two doubles, eight RBIs, eight runs scored, two stolen bases and a sacrifice fly. Gilman also had wins over Georgetown Prep, McDonogh and St. Paul's early in the week before losing to Archbishop Spalding.

The Washington Capitals awoke yesterday with mixed emotions. It was the day after they had seen their dream of a Stanley Cup championship cut short by the Detroit Red Wings. They found themselves filled with a mingling of disappointment, pride and even compassion for their conquerors.Peter Bondra, the NHL's leading goal-scorer over the past three years, was at home like most of his teammates, sorting out the positives and negatives following a 4-1 loss Tuesday that completed Detroit's four-game sweep.

Feeling a little blue Gary R. Blockus The Morning Call In a severely shortened season, health will be more important than ever in the quest to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. Look for the Blueshirts and Blue Notes to tangle in the final games for hockey's Holy Grail. The Rangers, with newly acquired Rick Nash ready to ride shotgun for Brad Richards, have to be considered the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. With Henrik Lundqvist in goal, there could be no stopping the Broadway Blueshirts.

WASHINGTON -- The Washington Capitals may want to study the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and emulate them from here on in this Stanley Cup Finals against the Detroit Red Wings.Those Maple Leafs lost the first three games of that series to the Red Wings and came back to win the Cup.So far, only those Maple Leafs pulled off such a feat in the Finals.If the Caps are to win this series, they will have to be the duplicate that accomplishment.Last night, they lost Game 3, when Sergei Fedorov held off Caps defenseman Calle Johansson and got off a shot with 4: 51 remaining in the game that left goalie Olie Kolzig shaking his head.

Are you paying attention to the Stanley Cup Finals? You couldn't write a better script. Bone-jarring checks, fast, wide-open scoring, a game-changing penalty-shot goal. It had it all. Even a fan named Stanley Cup! Neil Riordan Timonium I have paid even less attention to the Stanley Cup than I will to the FIFA World Cup. That would be none. Jim Kirby Columbia Sure, as long as it doesn't conflict with something more important, such as Deal or No Deal or one of those classic O's-Devil Rays matchups.

SAN DIEGO -- Things were looking bleak for Dennis Conner. He lost the first two races of the America's Cup defender finals by a combined 3 minutes 56 seconds and would have lost a third race had it not been abandoned because of a lack of wind.And things got worse. Wednesday, Conner lost to Bill Koch's America3 by 4 minutes 20 seconds to fall into an 0-3 hole in the best-of-13 series."At one point, it looked like we were going to need binoculars to see them," Conner said of America3, which led on 23 of 24 legs in the finals' first three races.

DENVER - Larry Robinson was grilled over the past two days about potential line changes and whether or not it would benefit his New Jersey Devils if he shortened his bench and threw his stars on the ice a little more often. Robinson said he was a true believer in rolling four lines and that in the long run, playing his full lineup would benefit his team most. They'll be no second-guessing now, not when a couple unpredictable defensive-minded heroes emerged for New Jersey during a 2-1 victory over Colorado in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals last night at the Pepsi Center.

WASHINGTON -- A little over 18 minutes remained in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals last night, but by that time the Detroit Red Wings had overpowered the Washington Capitals and their fans had taken over MCI Center.As the Red Wings put a finishing exclamation point on this championship sweep with a brilliant two-on-one power-play goal by Doug Brown that emphasized the Red Wings' power and might with 1: 32 gone in the final period, their fans drowned out the Capitals' faithful with chants of "Vladi, Vladi".

Bernie Parent says he remembers clearly the last game of the 1973-74 Stanley Cup finals against the Boston Bruins. There were five minutes to go, and the score was 1-0. Parent was in goal for the Philadelphia Flyers."

As the Indiana players hooted and hollered at midfield, celebrating a 1-0 victory over Georgetown on Sunday for their eighth NCAA men's soccer championship, the Hoyas began to come to terms with the end of a wondrous season. Goalkeeper Tomas Gomez fell face-first, not a soul within 30 yards. Defender Tommy Muller sat on the field, running through his mind the last-minute header that had struck the intersection of the crossbar and right post. Brian Wiese, who had guided a middling program to a record number of victories and its first College Cup appearance, consoled his players, one by one, from sideline to penalty area.

Players for both Gilman and Mount St. Joseph will be trying to control their emotions Saturday when they meet in a rematch of the inaugural President's Cup final Saturday at Camden Yards. The two long-time Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference rivals will be trying to take in the scene and dwell on the moment at the second-annual event. But the teams will be approaching the game differently. A year ago, Gilman won the President's Cup title but turned around a week later and lost to the Gaels in an MIAA A Conference game.

It seems Baltimoreans fell in love with the United States women's national team during its run through the World Cup this past month. According to Mac Nwulu, a member of ESPN's public relations team , Baltimore had the highest overnight rating for any U.S. city during Sunday's title game, when the United States fell to Japan in penalty kicks, 3-1, after ending overtime tied at 2. Baltimore (12.3) was nearly four points higher than the national overnight rating of 8.6. The rest of the top-five markets were San Diego (11.8)

Mexico will romp Grahame L. Jones Los Angeles Times Mexico has Javier Hernandez and 10 other quality players. The U.S. has Tim Howard, Steve Cherundolo and Clint Dempsey. Mexico has players who know what they're doing on the field. The U.S. has players who do what they're told to do on the field. Mexico has a coach, Jose Manuel "Chepo" de la Torre, who played professionally and on the international level. The U.S. has a coach, Bob Bradley, who played on the collegiate level.

On Sunday afternoon, Gehrig pitched to Ripken at Oriole Park at Camden Yards . No, it wasn't some otherwordly "Field of Dreams" moment. It was Mount St. Joseph's Gehrig McCracken facing Gilman's Ryan Ripken — the son of Orioles Hall of Famer Cal Ripken — in the inaugural President's Cup championship game Sunday at Camden Yards. Ripken singled and scored a run and teammates Steve Llanio and Charles Cross comined on a one-hitter as the Greyhounds defeated the Gaels, 2-0. The only scoring in the game — which was part of a tournament that featured five Baltimore City schools and three private schools — occurred in the third inning.

Frank Robinson, a member of the baseball Hall of Fame and two-time World Series champion with the Baltimore Orioles, will throw out the first pitch prior to the final of the President's Cup Saturday at Camden Yards. He'll be joined by Geraldine Day, widow of former Negro League star and Hall of Famer Leon Day. Robinson, who currently serves as senior adviser to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, said he was excited to return to Baltimore. "I am very pleased to attend the championship game of the President's Cup. Baltimore has always been very special to me because of all my time there, when I was privileged to be a part of two World Championship clubs as a player and then to serve as the manager and an executive with the Orioles.

Tonight, Detroit Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman is scheduled to walk onto the ice at the Star Center in Dallas and make history -- again -- by coaching in his record 1,607th game."