Copyright 2000 P.G. Publishing Co.
Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
January 30, 2000, Sunday, TWO STAR EDITION
SECTION: SPORTS, Pg. D-12, NOTEBOOK
LENGTH: 716 words
BYLINE:
DEJAN KOVACEVIC
BODY:
Scratches: The
Penguins played without G Tom Barrasso (groin/hip), D Peter Popovic (groin), RW
Aleksey Morozov (back spasms) and D Brad Werenka. Werenka has been a healthy
scratch in three of the past eight games. The Mighty Ducks did not dress LW Stu
Grimson (hand), D Niclas Havelid (finger), LW Marty McInnis and D Jason
Marshall.
Injury update: Barrasso missed his second consecutive game.
... Morozov had expected to play but was scratched for the second game in a row.
... Popovic is eligible to come off injured reserve tomorrow. Waive hello: RW
Tom Chorske and RW Steve Leach cleared waivers and remained in the Penguins
organization. Chorske stayed in Pittsburgh and played last night, but Leach was
demoted to the Penguins' AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre.
Tocchet talk:
There has been rampant speculation that the Penguins are trying to acquire RW
Rick Tocchet from the Coyotes, but that apparently is news to management of both
teams. A Coyotes official disavowed knowledge of any deal involving Tocchet, and
Penguins GM Craig Patrick said last night that he hasn't looked into such a
move. "I haven't even talked to Phoenix. I'm not even aware that Tocchet's being
traded." Still, Tocchet's appeal to the Penguins would be obvious: He's a
physical player willing to hang around the net on power plays and a proven
leader on a team that could use direction.
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0002030174 00003287 IT R
In a gambit that critics dismissed as political
theater, Vice President Al Gore abruptly left the campaign trail yesterday and
returned to Washington for a possible tie-breaking Senate vote on an abortion
amendment.
But Senate Republicans quickly made sure Gore's vote would
not be needed on an issue that has troubled him in recent days.
Meanwhile, former Sen. Bill Bradley turned up the heat on Gore in the
Democratic presidential contest over the vice president's controversial
fund-raising role in the 1996 campaign.
Bradley, who lost Tuesday's
primary in New Hampshire despite a strong finishing kick, said for the first
time that Gore needs to tell the country more about his role in the Clinton-Gore
fund-raising effort.
"The scandals of 1996 still hang over his head, and
he's got to make further explanations," Bradley said.
Bradley contends
that he would be a more electable nominee than Gore because Republicans will
make the Clinton-Gore fund-raising controversy an issue in the fall campaign.
But until yesterday, Bradley had refused to criticize directly Gore's role,
which included his participation in a fund-raising event at a Buddhist temple in
California and fund-raising calls from the White House.
Bradley also
said he had no intention of abandoning his attacks on Gore, which brought him to
within 5 points of the vice president in the New Hampshire vote.
Exit
polls indicated that Bradley had gained support with his attack on Gore's
abortion record.
As a Tennessee congressman in the 1980s, Gore opposed
federal funding of Medicaid abortions and cast other votes with anti-abortion
forces.
By the time of his 1988 presidential campaign, he had adopted a
position in line with those who favor abortion rights.
It was against
that backdrop that Gore's campaign announced yesterday that Senate Democratic
Leader Tom Daschle, a Gore supporter, had urgently requested the vice
president's help in breaking a possible tie vote on an abortion amendment in the
Senate.
But Republicans denied Gore the chance to break a tie on a
provision that would prevent protesters who are convicted of criminal acts
against abortion clinics from declaring
bankruptcy to avoid fines and court judgments.
The
provision was inspired by court cases involving anti-abortion groups that stage
clinic protests.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, who
had denounced the provision, suddenly switched tactics and urged colleagues to
vote for it. Hatch explained to the Senate that he wanted to ensure that "no one
will be able to politically demagogue" the vote. The provision passed 80 to 17.
By that time, Gore had already tried to make his point, describing later
at a rally how he had been summoned from New York City's Grand Central Station,
where he was shaking hands with commuters.
THE ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE
LOAD-DATE: February 4, 2000 
