Francis’ 1,000-point milestone overshadowed by Mario’s return

Much of the hockey world focused its attention on the Civic Arena Oct. 28, when Pittsburgh Penguins’ center Mario Lemieux made the latest in a series of comebacks. But Lemieux’s teammate, Ron Francis, seized at least a few watts worth of the spotlight by becoming the 38th NHL player to record 1,000 career points. Francis secured his niche in hockey history when he deflected a Larry Murphy shot between the legs of Quebec Nordiques’ goalie Jocelyn Thibault at 5:39 of the second period. It was a goal worthy of a prominent place on Pittsburgh’s highlight tape. Unfortunately for Francis and his team mates, the Nordiques retaliated by scoring the next five goals en route to a 7-3 victory. Losing that way took away some of Francis’ satisfaction. “When you reach 1,000 points, it’s a…

Patrick out of chances, lands on trading block

James Patrick’s 10-year tenure with the New York Rangers apparently is over. At the same time, Sergei Zubov’s career has just begun to blossom. Patrick, 30, was not in the lineup for seven of 13 games, including five in a row. He was given a chance to win his job back Oct. 19. then fell out of the lineup, possibly permanently. Coach Mike Keenan said the only way for Patrick to get into the lineup would be through injuries. “This is as simply as it can be put,” Keenan said. “He has been beaten out of a job by the three other people at his position.” That would be the three right-side defensemen: veteran Doug Lidster, second-year man Zubov and rookie Alexander Karpovtsev. If the other three are healthy, Patrick doesn’t play. “It’s not…

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Youth movement now in full swing

Slowly, the Chicago Blackhawks are becoming a younger hockey club. Defenseman Keith Carney was the latest addition to the youth movement when he was obtained from the Buffalo Sabres Oct. 27 for 31-year-old defenseman Craig Muni. In Carney, 23, the Hawks got a player eight years younger who might be able to add more offensive skill. “This adds more skill and we get younger, plus we’re not giving up anything in size,” said coach Darryl Sutter. “I like our defense now. We have Chris Chelios, Steve Smith and five kids.” Not counting Chelios (31) and Smith (30), the average age of defensemen Carney, Neil Wilkinson, Bryan Marchment, Cam Russell and Frank Kucera is 24. Gone since the end of last season are veterans Keith Brown, Muni and Greg Gilbert. They are replaced by younger players…