NORTH SHORE Winter Club goalie Vikram Gupta displayed playoff form Sunday night while backstopping the Flames to a Pretos submitted 6-5 victory over the Abbotsford Pilots. First-round series evens up as Flames defeat Abbotsford Edwards scores hat trick i in 6-5 win IN A fast-paced, hard-hit- ting game on Sunday night, the North Shore’ Winter -Club’s Flames defeated the Abbotsford Pilots 6-5 to push. their first-round playoff series to a fifth and deciding game. By Kevin Gillies Contributing Writer The Flames’. win knotted the Pacific intecnational Junior Hockey League series, which forced the teams to return to Ab- botsford for the deciding game Tuesday. No score was available to press time. ; Flames forward Ryan Edwards scored his first hat trick of the season and added an assist to lead the team in scoring. " When he wasn’t putting the puck in the net, he was in the corners digging or throwing his weight around. “Tonight he came through with Jekyll an Greg Dougias GOAL LINES A STORY datelined Gulf Breeze, Fla., last week quoted a-zoo director about the problems he’s been hav- "ing trying to breed a couple — ———— — THE WEEK a yeoman performance, scored his first hat trick of the year, and was principally responsible for us win- ning this game tonight,’’ team president Ray Storehouse said after the game. Edwards had previously been used sparingly as a role player on the third line. He joined the Flames this year after being cut from the New Westminster Royals early in the season. The score was tied at four after the first two periods, but Edwards scored 7:25 into the third to take the lead, then hammered home the winner at 11:07. The first of his third-period goals was indicative of his game. He took a man out behind the Pilots’ net, skirmished with two other Pilots, then took the puck to the front of the net. “He played a very large role,” See Flames page 22 Se ora irprnres verre ante NEWS photo Neil Lucente A ST. Thomas Aquinas player out jumps a Nisga’a player in an attempt to score two points during a game fast week at the B.C. Single A Boys Basketball championships held at the North Vancouver school. St. Thomas Acuinas managed to defeat the Nisga'a squad before going on te the finals to defeat St. Patricks 89-54, givirig St. Thomas Aquinas the championship win. tiyde Canucks confound their keeper of gorillas named Muke and Colossus. No kidding, the zoo direcior’s name is Pat Quinn. Little does the guy in Florida know there’s another ‘‘zoo keeper’ in Vancouver by the same name. Coming off back-to-back losses in Boston and Hartford, our Pat Quinn was heard to lament: *‘Our defencemen right now are in the twilight zone and if our forwards don’t work, that doesn’t help ei- ther.” With the NHL’s trading deadline just over a week away (March 20), the frustrated Canucks’ boss most assuredly is rethinking his stance of a month ago when he was insisting the trade route might not necessarily be the solution as teams prepare for the playoff run. “Right now we're a Jekyll and Hyde club’? Quinn suggested after losing 5-1 in Hartford. ‘‘t don’t know which team: is going to come out on any given night.”’ Nobody has to remind Quinn a powerplay that had gone 2-for-56 prior to last night’s game at the Coliseum against New Jersey just won't cut it come playoff time. He’s tied every conceivable combination to snup the Canucks out of their coma when they have the man advantage. The cumor-of-the-week had Quinn ieaning on his al’ buddy Brian Burke, gencral manager of the pitiful Hartford Whalers, with the hopes of landing offensive- minded defenceman Zerley Zalap- ski. At press time, Burke was. still playing hardball. “We've received trade offers for 12 of our players and | feel they will only improve,’? Burke said. “I’m going to beat this thing to death until the trading deadline.”” Burke also indicated he would insist on Canucks’ rookie Jiri Sleer being part of any. deal in- volving Zalapski. This at a time, of course, when Slegr is finally showing-signs of telonging in the NHL. H’s possible the Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks will meet in the Campbell Conference final. And as fuck would have it, the - Hawks have also been pursuing Zalapski. “We're not suggesting Zarley ‘Zalapski is going to single- handedly. turn things around,” said one Hawks’ front office worker. “All we're saying is that his work on the powerplay in Hart- ford would indicate he has the potential to help in that area.”’ Quinn, obviously, shares those sentiments. The way things have been going in recent weeks, Quinn might even look “at those Florida gorillas named Muke and Col- ossus if the other Par Quinn was able to teach them to skate. ove STOPS ’N STARTS: Tampa Bay general manager Phil Espusito has made it known cen- tre Adam Creighton and goaltender Wendell Young are available on the trading market. Espo refers to them as having a “dubious influewce”’ in the Light- ning dressing room ... New Jersey Devils’ head coach Herb Brooks isn’t happy with forward Claude Lemieux. “Io want him out of here,’’ Brooks has been quoted as saying. ‘‘He’s a cancer.”’ To which the unflappable Lemicux coyly replied: ‘They knew I was a cancer when they got me. I was born in July!’ ... How badly do the San Jose Sharks want to lure Edmonton Oilers’ general manag- er Glen Sather into their fold? The latest story making the rounds is the Sharks have offered Sather a $3 million signing bonus and $1.5 million. @ year.