Malarchuk Did Not Have to Wait in Vein

Buffalo Sabres goaltender Clint Malarchuk, who had his jugular vein cut in a collision with St. Louis Blues forward Steve Tuttle last week, recalled the gruesome incident after being released from a Buffalo hospital.

Malarchuk, 27, said he struggled to his feet and refused to be taken off the ice on a stretcher after Tuttle’s skate opened a six-inch gash in his neck.

“The day I go off on a stretcher is the day they have to make funeral arrangements,” he said.

Malarchuk said he remembered telling the team trainer: “It’s my jugular vein that’s cut, and I’ve got three minutes.”

He wasn’t sure why he said it.

“I don’t know why three minutes. I’ve heard that. I thought that’s what I had. When they got me into the dressing room, I said: ‘I’ve got two and a-half now.’ ”

Doctors made sure he has a lot more.

Just asking: Has any father-son duo ever before hit home runs on the same day during the exhibition season?

Last Friday, veteran Ken Griffey, 39, homered for the Cincinnati Reds at Plant City, Fla., against the Boston Red Sox, and Ken Griffey Jr. helped the Seattle Mariners beat the Milwaukee Brewers with a home run at Tempe, Ariz.

50 years ago today: On March 27, 1939, Oregon beat Ohio State, 46-33, in the championship game of the first National Collegiate Athletic Assn. basketball tournament.

A weighty matter: Jockey Kent Desormeaux, who is intent on breaking Chris McCarron’s record of 546 winning rides in one season, has a good chance this year, barring injury.

Riding primarily at Laurel and Pimlico, he already has more than 160 winners. If he keeps that pace, he would finish the year with at least 640.

According to the Baltimore Sun’s Dale Austin, Desormeaux, who used to be known as “Pee Wee,” has grown some.

Well, maybe. He now rides at 114 pounds instead of 112.

The new Mariano: One of the many players trying to earn the last spot on the Dodger roster is an old face--infielder Mariano Duncan. Duncan, 26, had a sensational rookie season in 1985, but was sent to Albuquerque last year after two mediocre seasons filled with injuries and error-filled play.

“I have a good attitude now,” he said. “People think Pete (Pedro Guerrero) was a bad influence on me, and because he isn’t here anymore it will help me. But Pete tried to help me. He said I got mad too fast. He never tried to teach me bad things.”

An icing call: NHL referee Andy van Hellemond has an odd perspective on violence in the game.

“I, for one, really don’t have any concern about fighting,” he said. “Seldom do you see anybody get hurt, and the cheering indicates to me that nobody minds much. To me, things are under control.”

Quotebook: Bucky Waters, basketball analyst for NBC, after watching the Broadway show “Metamorphosis,” which stars Mikhail Baryshnikov and is based on Franz Kafka’s story of a man transformed into a bug: “Baryshnikov was great, but the play needs a shot clock.”

Clint Malarchuk